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Round 6 of the American Iron West Series took place at Willow Springs Raceway in Rosamond, CA on September 10-11, 2005. Racers arriving for the weekend included Ernesto Roco, Gary Umphenour, Ryan Walton, Jonathan Witherow, Bryan MacMillan, Hal Massey, Guy Cunningham and Andy Bowman. The drama began early on Friday during practice when Umphenour had a minor off-course trip in Turn 9 that severely damaged the front fascia and radiator of his Saleen SSC requiring major repairs to make the grid on Saturday. Interest was also piqued by the re-introduction of Ernesto Roco’s former AI #2 car as a much changed AIX entry complements of new Tiger Racing body panels and a fresh coat of paint from Royalty Auto Body. As Saturday dawned, the wind picked up to add a challenge to the high-speed corners of the track but the weather was close to the sort of day that normally produces lap records. Bad luck again befell the Massey/Cunningham team when low oil pressure in their new motor caused them to pack it in for the weekend rather than risking a catastrophic failure. As qualifying commenced, Roco proved the track was indeed primed by thundering along to a 1:28.081 lap which was a second quicker than the current 1:29 record time. Roco easily secured the pole for the group with Ryan Walton setting the mark for the AI class. The race start saw Roco and Walton take off to a sizable lead with Umphenour being forced to drop out due to an overheating problem that was later traced to airflow problems with the replacement radiator. As the laps began to fall, Bowman, MacMillan, and Witherow were locked in three-way slugfest for the remaining sports on the podium. Bowman held off his colleagues for a few laps until his tires began to heat up which allowed Witherow and MacMillan to slip by. With Bowman just behind, the battle was on between Witherow and MacMillan with both of the competitors swapping positions multiple times on each lap. At the end of the day, Witherow managed to edge out front to take his place on the podium just ahead of MacMillan and with Walton taking the win. Roco headed out to a commanding lead on the field to take the AIX win, but fell just short of resetting the lap record. Sunday saw the weather improve with lighter winds and even milder lap record temperatures. Roco again set a low time to take the pole with Walton again on the AI pole. As the race began, Umphenour and Walton started what would be an outstanding battle for the lead in AI with MacMillan, Witherow, and Bowman again duking it out just behind. Unfortunately, Bowman’s engine locked up solid which left Witherow and MacMillan to dice for the third spot. As the race went on, the timing computer blinked out a 1:28.932 lap time for Roco, securing his spot in the AIX history books with a new lap record. Umphenour and Walton kept up their battle until the very last lap when Walton sealed his sweep of the weekend and added his patented “drift style” Turn 9 exit to thrill the fans. An unfortunate rub between Witherow and MacMillan left MacMillan with a cut tire and Witherow retiring due to front end damage. MacMillan retained his third spot on the podium with Umphenour in second and Walton up front. As the season winds to a close, Walton’s strong charge to the front over the last two events has put Gary Umphenour’s grip on the championship in serious jeopardy. Brian MacMillan is also steadily moving up in the standings looking for a podium finish for the year and many of the other spots are still very much in play. The next race will take place at Buttonwillow, CA on October 8-9, 2005. This event will see the return of the #22 and #27 AIX cars to challenge Roco’s Rocket to a battle royale and is certain to see more exciting action as the AI points chase draws to a close. Submit Article |
