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American Iron West
Series Final Standings Report
By John Lindsey, American Iron #22
The American
Iron West Championship Series for 2002 was an amazing ride. The
racers and the spectators were treated to some amazing battles and the
show the field put on was second to none. The long-gone thunder from the
ponycar wars of the past has returned in a big way and we were very
happy to be the catalyst for that rebirth.
In the American Iron class, Guy
Cunningham won the championship despite losing an engine on the first
weekend of the season and having to finish near the top from there on
out to hold off hard charging competitors at every turn. Vageli Karas
finished just behind Guy and appropriately the two of them engaged in a
remarkable duel over the last weekend of the season at Infineon Raceway.
Third place belonged to Ryan Flaherty just ahead of Kevin Chambers, who
joined the series late in the season but consistently finished near the
top of the charts. Ernesto Roco was heading toward a challenge at the
top three positions until a collision and subsequent absence from two
weekends ended his bid for the top spots and left him in fifth place for
the year. Ed Varon took the next position after also overcoming a
phalanx of gremlins and finding his groove. Next up was Rob Ainscough,
who was a solid competitor until his engine expired at the final
Thunderhill race and limited his ability to meet the call for the grid
for the rest of the season. Everyone's favorite competitor, Christine
Knight, took the next spot proving that girls can play in American Iron
too while setting a standard for poise and attitude that all of the
competitors can aspire to reach. Tim Gilpin from Brothers Performance
secured the ninth position running a limited calendar while tweaking and
tuning his car for a strong charge next season. Per Helldin in his
Firebird was next in the order with Jim Wilson just behind. Rookie Keith
Videtto took the next spot by finishing well in his three-weekend run
while CMC (defected for a race) Director Tony Guaglione took the next
position. BBK boss Brian Murphy was next, followed by ex-CMC ace Mike
Armstrong, NASA Las Vegas Chapter Director Ray Hampton, Camaro pilot
Bill Downing, and our favorite law enforcement officer and all-around
good dude Tim Nichols rounding out the field.
In American Iron Extreme, Ross
"Kiwi" Murray turned in a dominating performance to take the
championship despite missing the last two weekends of the year. Mike
Arnheiter was second with a string of solid finishes and a few pole
qualifiers to his credit after he bolted on some steamroller-spec tires
mid-season. John Lindsey was next up in third after installing three
different motors over course of the year and just managing to hold off a
hard-charging Bill Daffron who took fourth for the year after entering
late in the season. Bruce Griggs took the next spot by filling in for
Ross Murray on a few weekends and running the table smartly when he did.
Chaka Milby ended his rookie season in sixth behind the wheel of his ex-showcar-turned-racecar
with seasoned open road race competitor Alan Blaine just behind him.
Deputy Tim Nichols secured the next spot by scoring points in both AI
and AIX, with cigar aficionado Evan Ginsberg and online-racer.com's Ed
Inclan taking the final two spots.
We would like to thank all of our
sponsors including BBK, Brothers Performance, Carbotech Engineering,
Griggs Racing, Maximum Motorsports, and Toyo Tires. We would also extend
our heartfelt thanks to all the racers, workers, officials, and crews
who came out and made the series happen. We look forward to the season
opener at California Speedway in March as we welcome back old friends
and add some new players into the mix as we begin the next chapter of
the American Iron West saga.
Photos courtesy of www.teamvenomracing.com
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