 |  |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
 |
Updated: August 18, 2008 
Print
Round 7 of the NASA-SE AI/X/CMC/MC was held on the weekend of Aug 9-10, 2008 at Road Atlanta. Always a favorite track, the “Hotlanta Challenge” once again brought out the big fields with 9 AI, 4 AIX, and 2 CMC competitors. And once again, the racing was close and exciting! Saturday’s race started out clean with the AI/X/CMC group having their own split start. Number one AI qualifier and hot-shoe Chris DeSalvo jumped out in the lead by turn one in his Mustang with Landon Ball in his Camaro and Ken Goldwasser in a Mustang hot on his heels. Ball and DeSalvo would battle back and forth swapping 1st and 2nd positions the whole race with Goldwasser waiting in the wings for one of them to make a mistake. When the checkered was dropped, DeSalvo would be the lucky one in the number one position to take the win. Unfortunately for Goldwasser the front two would make few if any mistakes and Ball was able to hold off Goldwasser for the 2nd place finish with Goldwasser taking 3rd. In AIX, number one qualifier Ed McGuire (in a Mustang) was caught napping at the start and was overtaken by Rob Bodle (in a Mustang), the number 2 qualifier, by turn one. After several turns, McGuire was able to get back around Bodle to regain the number one position with Bodle, Jim Pantas (in a Mustang), and Tony Cook (in a Pontiac TA) all in pursuit. McGuire checked out from the rest of the AIX group after several laps and appeared to have the win in the bag. However, about half way through the race, McGuire suffered a broken clutch cable which left him stuck in 4th gear for the rest of the race. Bodle, running in 2nd at the time, was able to catch and overtake McGuire on the last lap of the race to take the win. McGuire would finish 2nd and Tony Cook would end up 3rd after Pantas suffered from ignition problems and had to come in early. The CMC battle would continue between Gregg Houseman and Pete Urbanski with Urbanski definitely on his game and running fast. He would get out in front of Houseman (still sorting out his new Mustang) at the start and stay there running times faster than some of the AI racers. Urbanski would finish with the win in his Mustang with Houseman taking 2nd. Sunday’s race also started clean as the group once again had a split start. However, before a complete lap was made, a red flag incident caused a short pause in the race. Once the field got back under way under the yellow, the top 3 AI racers were number one qualifier DeSalvo, Ball, and Goldwasser. In AIX it was number one qualifier McGuire (after installing a new clutch cable), Bodle, and Cook. When the track went green, the AI/X/CMC racers were on the back straight, between flag stations, and out of sight of the start/finish line. With one of the cleverest moves so far this season, Goldwasser’s spotter radioed to him of the green flag at the start/finish line. This enabled him to pull out and get a jump on the other top AI racers before they realized that the track had gone green. Passing the surprised DeSalvo and Ball to take the number one spot, Goldwasser would spend the rest of the race holding off DeSalvo and Ball and end up taking the win. DeSalvo would end up finishing 2nd and Ball 3rd. In AIX, McGuire would check out after the restart and not be challenged taking the win with Cook finishing in 2nd and Bodle 3rd.
The two CMC racers, Houseman and Urbanski, would again do battle after the restart, but again, Urbanski was too much for Houseman and he would take the checkered flag first with Houseman right behind him in 2nd. Next on the schedule is Rockingham with it’s high banks and tight road course. With the point races in all groups still up for grabs, round 8 at “The Rock” is definitely shaping up to be a nail-biter!!! Respectfully submitted, Ed McGuire AI/AIX/CMC/MC Director NASA-SEAIX #89 Submit Article |
