By Dane Simpson
Premier Series
October Rallyfest from the Phoenix Rallycross circuit was certainly 15 laps of furious action. Many drivers would struggle through the heat races and on into the B-main. Bad luck would strike both Paul Butler #77 and John Nobinger #44 as they would be eliminated in the B-Main. The struggles would continue for many drivers with four drivers being eliminated by mechanical failures in the first four laps of the race. Up front Carl Handwerk #18 would lead all but one lap of the 15, bringing home the race edging out Adam Jones #46 and Mason Smith #6. D-Series driver (at the time) Thaddeus Marshall #89 would cross the finish line 4th, after an opening lap crash in his heat race nearly ended his night.
GT3 Road to Rio Challenge
Sprint Race
The Drivers of the Core GT3 Series took on the winding esses of Road Atlanta in week 8 of the series, dubbed “Really Petit Le Mans”. Fuel strategy was the story in the sprint race, as Mason Smith #6 would lead the first 12 laps of the race before needing to pit. Catching up with Smith about his pit strategy he commented “I miscalculated my fuel consumption, it burned a lot more than I thought it would, looks like I need to learn the basics of math again”. Adam Jones #46 and Matt Goering #07 would seize the opportunity to take 1st and 2nd place respectively. The big mover of the race was Nick Devos #39 who gained 9 places throughout the race to end 8th.
Jones nails the strategy for the Sprint win
Endurance Race
With some very talented drivers populating the field each week, having a new face finish on the podium is refreshing. D-Series driver Sean Goodwin #66 would lead the field to the green flag and drive his way to a very respectable 3rd place finish behind only Mason Smith #6 and Carl Handwerk #18. Goodwin would also score bonus points for the lowest number of incident points in the race. An intense battle between Smith and Handwerk would dominate the closing laps of the race until a mistake would send Handwerk briefly off track.
Smith schools the Endurance field
Developmental Series
The final race of season 6.1 for the Core Developmental Series would decide the championship, with multiple drivers still in contention for the victory. After 90 laps around Legacy Phoenix it would be Marc Gonzales #88 who would bring home not only the Victory, but the points championship! 75 laps of the race saw Gonzales leading the pack while Thaddeus Marshall #89 and Adam jones #46 would also take turns leading a handful of laps each. Marshall would finish both the race and the points championship in 2nd place, only 17 points behind Gonzales. Congratulations to both Gonzales and Marshall for punching their ticket to the Core Premier Series.
Gonzales shines brightest in the Phoenix sun for the championship win
TNT Late Model Series
Race #1
The TNT Late Model Series headed to Thompson International Speedway for a Thursday night double header. After a rough lap one for multiple drivers, Chris Storey #67 would bring the field back around to the green flag. Storey would fall back to 8th by race end after leading 13 laps. Adam Jones #46 and Kevin Foster #8 would battle it out for the win with Jones winning race number one by a narrow margin.
Jones finds a way through for the Race 1 win
Race #2
Cold tires seemed to be the killer Thursday night as another first lap wreck claimed the leaders. The early wreck put Eric Andrews #9 in the lead where he would stay for the duration of the race. Brandon Mettler #15 would be the only other driver to finish on the lead lap, while Dave Lohr #17 would run a clean race bringing home a top five and a 0x.
Andrews holds off the field for the Race #2 win
