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The next round of the series took place at Willow Springs International Raceway in Rosamond, CA on July 10-11, 2004. Racers in attendance included Bill Daffron, Ross Murray, Ryan Walton, Keith Videtto, Christine Knight, John Joyce, Neil Hershorin, Gary Umphenour, Guy Dreier, Nick Steel, Mike Armstrong, and Vageli Karas. Saturday qualifying saw Murray on the AIX pole just a few ticks ahead of Dreier and Videtto on the AI pole with Karas and Walton in hot pursuit. The qualifying results were a preview of the race that saw both the AI and AIX wins hotly contested between the top qualifiers. The race start was clean with Dreier out in front with Murray glued to his bumper. A fast AI pack with Karas, Videtto, and Walton was just behind. As the race went on, Karas began to drop back when his gearbox stuck in fifth gear, which left Walton and Videtto to dice for the AI win. The two were inches apart for most of the race, but Videtto managed to keep ahead for long enough to take the win with Walton just behind and Umphenour in third. Murray finally bested Dreier and extended his lead to finish the race with the AIX win with Neil Hershorin taking the next spot on the podium behind Murray and Dreier. Sunday's qualifying was a repeat of Saturday's result, but the AI battle was even closer with Videtto and Walton just fractions of a second apart. The race again began with a clean start, but Walton managed to slip ahead of Videtto on the first turn. Murray again thundered away from the pack, but overheating and ignition problems soon felled the Team Daffron entry and Murray retired. Walton and Videtto kept up their duel on every turn with Videtto trying every move in the book to get by while Umphenour was just a beat or two behind the two frontrunners waiting for his chance to move up. Videtto finally edged Walton with a daring high-speed pass and held on for the win with Umphenour in the third spot. Dreier managed to keep up a blistering pace after Murray's demise to take the AIX win with Neil Hershorin taking second even after blowing his engine in a spectacular fashion on the last lap. Murray took third for Team Daffron as John Joyce was out of the running early with a flat tire. There was also an excellent battle for fourth position in AI between Nick Steel and Mike Armstrong that resulted in Armstrong winning by less than a fender at the checker. The next round of the series will take place at Infineon Raceway on September 11-12, 2004 and should be another battle royale as the competitors attempt to firm up their positions on the year-end podium. Videtto still has a commanding lead in AI, but Walton is mounting a strong charge and some of the other drivers are still in the hunt with their consistent finishes. AIX is also still an unknown with Team Daffron nipping at the heels of Guy Dreier at every turn. Stay tuned to see who will walk away with the big win out West. Submit Article |
