AI:

Saturdays practice, qualifying, and race sessions turned out to be basically survival sessions as the rain kept falling and the track stayed wet.  Thankfully, after it was all said and done, none of the competitors experienced any major “offs” that resulted in damage.  Landon Ball, in his #91 Camaro, proved to be the one who mastered the rain as he not only won the pole in qualifying, he would also go on to bring home the win in AI.  Ken Goldwasser (#5 Mustang) would finish a close 2nd  and Brad Hurley (#86 Mustang) would round out the top three finishing in 3rd place with a very impressive run.

As mentioned earlier, Sunday turned out to be a gorgeous day for racing with sunny skies and mild temperatures in the 70’s.  Qualifying times were a little slow as the track was still damp in the morning and traffic was heavy.  The top three qualifiers were Goldwasser, Hurley and Norman Phelps (#77 Mustang).  The race start went off without a hitch, as Carl Wooten (#421 Mustang) and Ball began the chase to the front from behind.  After several laps they had caught the leaders and the battle was on.  Wooten and Goldwasser put on an awesome show for the spectators and other racers as they swapped the lead several times.  As the top two battled, Ball was gaining on them with every lap and eventually caught them.  The chase was now on between the top three and the battle raged for several laps as each competitor lead the race at least once or twice. Finally, the lead swapping came to an end as the trio ran upon other traffic and got separated with Wooten in the lead, Ball in 2nd and Goldwasser in 3rd.  The race would finish in that order with Wooten taking the checkered flag.  With the multiple 3-way lead changes and very close and exciting racing, it made for a great show for the spectators and a fun race for the racers.

CMC:

As mentioned above, Saturday’s weather was also a force to reckon with for the CMC racers.  The traditional duel between Gregg Houseman (#481 Mustang) and Pete Urbanski (#53 Mustang) continued but two newcomers were also added to the mix - and, boy, did they leave a mark.  Joe Lee Middlebrooks (#6 Camaro) would not only grab the pole position for Saturday’s soaked event but he would also take the win.  Houseman would bring home a close 2nd  place finish with the other newcomer, Jim Pastorius (#92 Camaro) rounding out the top three in 3rd.

Sunday’s better weather and dry track was not any nicer to the regulars Houseman and Urbanski as Middlebrooks proved he was not only fast in the rain but he was also fast in the dry.  He again grabbed the pole and would be the main force to contend with.  All the racers got off to a good clean start and Middlebrooks would stay out ahead of the rest of the pack.  Pastorius also showed how fast he was as he worked his way through traffic trying to catch Middlebrooks along with Houseman and Urbanski.  When the checkered flag was finally thrown, it was Middlebrooks taking the win once again with Pastorius finishing 2nd and Urbanski 3rd.  All of a sudden it looks like there may be some new “sheriffs” in CMC…

Round 4 for the AI/AIX/CMC championship will be held on May 17-18 at Roebling Road in Savannah and from the looks of the points standings, there will be several racers from both the AI and CMC camps out to better or protect their point positions.

Respectfully Submitted,

Ed McGuire, AI/X/CMC Director, NASA-SE (AI #89)

Landon Ball, AI #91