By Dane Simpson
Premier Series
Race 11 of the Core Premier Series was an hour-long battle from Belgium. Circuit Zolders many chicanes and long straights provided an exciting venue for some of Premiers best to compete. Nick Nickerson #2 and Carl Handwerk #18 would fight for the top spot with Handwerk leading 34 laps, while Nickerson would go on to win. Race upsets included Mason Smith #6 and John Nobinger #44 retiring early. Kevin Foster #8 would be the lone driver to score 0x as Zolder is an easy place to run just wide and score an off track.
Nickerson grabs his 2nd victory of the season
GT3 Road to Rio Challenge
Sprint Race
The penultimate night of racing for the series was an eventful one, as drivers attacked the curbs of Autodromo Nazionale Monza. Nick Nickerson #2 would lead his teammate Mason Smith #6 to the green flag, leading all 12 laps of the sprint race. Carl Handwerk #18 and his teammate Mark Thomas #50 would cross the line in 2nd and 4th respectively, with Adam Jones #46 rounding out the podium. Recent Developmental Series graduate Thaddeus Marshal #89 showed his versatility qualifying 7th and maintaining his position until the checkered flag.
Endurance Race
Az Motorsports (Smith and Nickerson) would continue to dominate the evening and the series, finishing the race 1st and 2nd. A total of only six drivers would end the race on the lead lap and several drivers would be claimed by high incident points. Heading into the last race of the season both the drivers championship and team championship are locked up, but elsewhere there are still battles to be fought. Team 1x Racing sits only 22 points back of Down To Bump Motorsports for 3rd place in the team championship, and 12th through 15th in the drivers championship are separated by merely 61 points.
TNT Late Model Series
The final race of the season brought the boys of Core Late Model series to New Hampshire for 80 action packed laps. Four different drivers would lead the field throughout the race including race winner and runner up Adam Jones #46 and David Gargaro Jr #42. Paul Butler #77 and Eric Andrews #9 would also both find their way to the front to lead laps. With the last race of the season in the book it would be Gargaro Jr. who would clinch the championship with an impressive 14 top 5s in 15 starts throughout the season. Brandon Mettler #15 and Jones would round out the top 3 for the championship, separated by only 51 points.
Jones finds the “Magic” in New Hampshire
