By Dane Simpson
Premier Series
A non-points week for the Midseason Classic, the boys of Core battled it out in the Tour Modifieds at New Hampshire. D-Series drivers Thaddeus Marshall #89 and Marc Gonzales #88 would qualify their way into the show finishing 7th and 15th on the night. Marshall had been battling for 2nd when he ran out of gas and had to coast across the finish line. “I’ve gambled a couple times on fuel and ran out” Marshall replied about his bad luck. Jon Crain #199 found success in his fuel strategy “It was going to come into factor and on my last stop I put right sides on and made the bottom work to be able to save just enough”. Crain finished with a season high 4th place finish. Mark Thomas #50 would go a lap down after pitstops allowing Carl Handwerk #18 to make a run for the win over Mason Smith #6
Handwerk with the magic at New Hampshire
GT3 Road to Rio Challenge
Sprint Race
The sprint portion of the German Grand Prix was swept by Mason Smith #6, followed closely by Carl Handwerk #18 and Nick Nickerson #2. Less than 2 seconds separated the top 3 drivers at the end of the first race. 5th through 8th would be another close race to the line as Adam Jones #46, Abhi Visuvasam #08, Chris Hamilton #64 and Matt Goering #07 would be separated by just under 3 seconds.
Smith holds off a hard charging Handwerk
Endurance Race
A pair of nasty turn one incidents would see a slew of drivers races ended just as quick as they began. The race would see a high incident count through 1x off tracks around the course, with Nick Devos #39 scoring points for the least incident points during the race. Mark Thomas #50 would lead early before his REVolutionary Racing teammate Carl Handwerk#18 took the lead until the checkers. Mason Smith #6 and Nick Nickerson #2 would round out the podium Monday night. Abhi Visuvasam #08 would finish 7th for his best combined finish for the season. Next week the league heads down under to the long straights and winding hills of Bathurst.
Handwerk holds off a hard charging Smith
Developmental Series
The last dirt race of season took the boys of the D-Series to USA international for a good old-fashioned night of street stock racing. In the likeness of any night at your local track, drivers practice was restricted to a couple hot laps, making for a more authentic feel to the night. Thaddeus Marshall # 89 would find himself in some trouble as the race progressed “Unfortunately made contact late and had to repair the car with 10 to go, but I fought my way back up to the front to win.” The lone Premier driver in the race John Nobinger #44 would claim second, moving Terry Jenssen #78 and his Hackergolf.com car to the 3rd spot. With only 2 races left in the season, and both double points anything could still happen in the race for the championship.
Marshall schools the field at USA
TNT Late Model Series
An exciting evening of racing was on tap Thursday night from Myrtle Beach, as the gentlemen of the Core Late Model Series took to the track. Eric Andrews # 9 and Paul Butler #77 would bring the field to the green, but an unfortunate pit stop would send Butler to the back of the field before working back up to 6th. Both Brandon Mettler #15 and Jeremy Line-Watkins #71 would find themselves leading a lap for those important bonus points coming into the final couple races of the season. In the end it would be David Gargaro Jr #042 who would lead 77 of the 100 laps to win the evening. Gargaro Jr Was able to extend his lead in the series now sitting 36 points ahead of Mettler.
