American Iron Race Report
June 9 & 10, Buttonwillow Raceway Park,
Buttonwillow, CA- The fourth race of NASA’s new American Iron Series
was shaping up to be a serious battle even before the event took place.
After watching the Griggs Racing-equipped entries wipe up the field in
the last three races, Maximum Motorsports decided it was time to throw
their hat in the ring by putting a proper roll cage and safety gear into
their shop’s Mustang in preparation for the event. The race also saw
the debut of newly licensed drivers Ernesto Rocco, Darin Smedberg, and
Vageli Karas who brought their ponies out of the barn to run in their
first American Iron race. Veteran racer and Brothers Performance manager
Tim Gilpin also showed up in his SN95 GT to compete in what is fast
becoming the most popular “horse race” in Southern California.
Unfortunately, American Iron Extreme class leader John Lindsey had to
sit this race out due to other family obligations which gave AIX
competitors Mike Arnheiter and Ed Varon a chance to gain some series
points and catch up to the point tally achieved by Lindsey’s Griggs
Racing #22 “White Lightning ” Mustang.
However, the weekend turned out to be rough for both Arnheiter
and Varon because of mechanical problems that kept them from charging
ahead to the front of the pack and putting Lindsey’s lead in serious
jeopardy.
The action started early in Friday practice when
American Iron class leader Ryan Flaherty in his Griggs Racing #17
“Blue Thunder” and rookie racer Mike Croutcher in the #30 Maximum
Motorsports car got together for a little “sheetmetal test” when the
two drivers ran out of room in a turn. Luckily, Flaherty only had a bent
rim and broken control arm and Croutcher escaped with only a bent body
panel. When asked about the incident, Flaherty said, “Mike is damn
fast, this is just an indication of how competitive things will be
tomorrow and how tough this track is.
I’m going to need some strong sauce to win this one.”
As luck would have it John Lindsey’s White
Lightning was at the track this weekend sitting idle because it was
getting ready to go into the shop for service while Lindsey was away.
Being that Lindsey and Flaherty are teammates and good buddies,
Flaherty took advantage of the interchangeability of the Griggs Racing
parts on the two cars and went to work making Lindsey’s car look like
it had been parked in a bad neighborhood overnight. After a few hours of
mad thrashing, Blue Thunder was again ready for action.
This is not the first time that the two points leaders have ended
up swapping major mechanical components and goes to prove that the
American Iron drivers will go to great lengths to help each other out in
a pinch. This spirit was also evident when rookie Darin Smedberg ended
up also benefiting from Lindsey’s absence by borrowing a set of front
tires and brake hub off of White Lightning as well.
When asked for comment later, Lindsey said “Well, that’s what
I get for staying home, but I’m glad those guys didn’t have to put
their cars back on the trailer early.
You can bet I will be there next time and the only spare parts on
the track will be the doors that get blown off by me and ol’
Lightning.”
Saturday’s qualifying results proved that
American Iron class is set up for very close racing with Flaherty
earning the pole position only .9 seconds ahead of Croutcher. Third
place qualifier Darrin Smedberg also had some serious competition to
contend with since Ernesto Rocco and Tim Gilpin were both a scant .3
seconds behind him. When the green flag dropped, Flaherty took the lead
and Croutcher turned on pressure for 9 laps.
In the second to last lap, Flaherty spun and Croutcher’s
patience and consistency allowed the rookie racer to capture the lead in
his first race ever!. Although
Flaherty worked hard to make up the time and position lost, the race
came to an end too soon and Croutcher captured Maximum Motorsports’
first American Iron victory with a frustrated Flaherty only 3 seconds
behind pounding on his steering wheel as he crossed the finish line.
Darin Smedberg in his Griggs Mustang easily captured the third
spot to round out the podium. Ernesto Rocco finished a respectable
fourth in his Griggs Cobra. Mike
Arnheiter, Per Helldin, Jason Swindle and Tim Gilpin all had to bow out
due to mechanical problems encountered during the race.
Sunday’s race saw a new gladiator enter the ring
when Vageli Karas in his #3 Griggs Mustang arrived to give the field
some more competition. After
Saturday’s disappointing finish, Flaherty decided to correct some
problems he had been fighting by replacing his old tires with a new
brace of ultra-sticky Hoosiers. Once the new tires were fitted on the
car, Flaherty easily managed to qualify on pole followed again by
Croutcher, Smedberg, Karas, Rocco, Arnheiter, and Helldin. The race on
Sunday was exciting to watch as the #17 Griggs Mustang was chased lap
after lap by the #30 Maximum Motorsports Mustang as they diced through
traffic and lapped some of the slower cars in their race group multiple
times. The battle for third was intense as well, with Smedberg having to
fend off a hard charging Karas until Karas overcooked a turn and did
some landscape rearrangement as he “went agricultural” near the
tight Star Mazda turn. Mike
Arnheiter in his AIX Camaro defeated his mechanical gremlins and managed
to drive the car without a hiccup to capture the fourth position overall
and his first victory in AIX. Camaro Mustang Challenge veteran Jason
Swindle joined the AI class for some seat time and proved that driving
experience is the key to success by finishing ahead of some of the
American Iron cars who had Swindle outhorsepowered and outbraked.
Ernesto Roco managed a solid finish with some impressive late braking
passes and ended his rookie weekend with his flawless Cobra unscathed.
The next scheduled race for the American Iron
Series is July 7th and 8th at Willow Springs
International Raceway in Rosamond, CA. NASA’s Camaro Mustang Challenge
class will be running with American Iron this time, so 20-30 Mustangs
and Camaros will be gridding up and going door handle-to-door handle in
the never ending battle between the Blue Oval Mob and the Bowtie Gang.
The event will also feature a 3-hour Night Enduro as well as
NASA’s popular High Performance Driving Event classes for enthusiasts
who want to run their street cars on the track and learn to safely push
the performance envelopes of their machines.
For more information check out www.open-track.com
or call 310-772-8202.
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