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Round Two of the American Iron West Series took place on April 9-10, 2005 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA. Racers in attendance included Hal Massey, Guy Cunningham, Erick Van Wagenen, Gary Umphenour, Ryan Walton, Bryan MacMillan, Vageli Karas, Mike Armstrong, Nick Steel, and Jason Swindle. On Saturday Guy Cunningham started in the pole position, but when the green flew Vageli Karas started out with a bang and a 3 car length lead going into the first turn. Unfortunately, on the second lap the rear end in the Team Armstrong car failed, putting Karas out of the running. The CMC entry of Tony Guaglione hit the wall in Turn 10 and ended up on the roof, which caused a full course yellow. Thankfully, Tony was fine and he got out and walked away on his own. The yellow bunched up the pack and as the track went green again, Ryan Walton arrived to give Guy a run for his money. Ryan lost control in Turn 6 and backed it into the mud off of the course. The mud collected in his wheel caused a bad vibration so he pulled off. Gary Umphenour was close behind and finished 2nd with Bryan MacMillan bringing home third. When Ryan Walton spun he also flat spotted his tires, but thanks to the guys at the Griggs shop onsite at Infineon he got a tire and was able to use their facilities to change his tires so he could be competitive on Sunday. In Sunday morning practice Mike Armstrong had a simple off track excursion, but found a TV camera box off the course which hit the radiator core support and punctured the radiator. The damage put team Armstrong out for the day and on the trailer back home. Guy Cunningham again qualified on the pole with a 1:49.637. The start was close with Guy leading into turn one, but Ryan then passed Guy in turn 7 on the first lap. Ryan led for a few laps until Guy got side by side with Ryan exiting Turn 11 and they raced side by side all the way up to Turn 2 where Guy got the lead and then thundered on to take the checkered flag with Ryan just behind. Gary Umphenour again took the third spot on the podium. The weekend featured plenty of good old fashioned racing and was a lot of fun to watch. The next round of the series will visit Thunderhill Raceway Park on May 14-15, 2005. Submit Article |
