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Round 4 of the American Iron West Series took place on June 9-10, 2005 at Buttonwillow Raceway Park. The weekend saw the return of the #22 AIX and #17 AI cars to the grid and the first ever American Iron entry into a 3-hour Enduro race. Racers in attendance included Bryan MacMillan, Hal Massey, John Lindsey, Guy Cunningham, Gary Umphenour, Dave Royce, Ryan Walton, Bill Daffron, Ross Murray, Tim Nichols, and Ryan Flaherty. In Saturday morning practice, the top AI time was a 2:03 for Dave Royce in the MM shop car, which put the previous 2:06 AI track record in serious jeopardy for the race. In Saturdays qualifying, Royce took the AI pole with John Lindsey on the AIX pole. Saturday’s race began with a standing start that put Royce in the lead, Walton in second, Flaherty in third and Umphenour in fourth heading into the first turn. Royce checked out with Walton, Flaherty, and Umphenour locked in a battle just behind. After catching Walton, Flaherty used a lapped car as a pick to pass Walton entering the Esses, but Walton pulled back to be side by side with Flaherty entering the Star Mazda turn. Flaherty and Walton then drag raced side by side up to Magic Mountain, with Walton ending up ahead after the turn. On the same lap, Walton ran wide going through the Off Ramp turn, which let Flaherty and Umphenour pass. Flaherty and Umphenour went two wide through the Sunrise corner, which slowed both of them down and let Walton catch up. Walton got a good run though the same corner and by the start finish line, they were three wide going down the straight. Walton was on the inside line and was not going to let off with Flaherty in the middle as they approached the Sunset turn. Both missed their braking points badly, with Walton doing a few 360’s and almost hitting Flaherty. Walton ended up in the grass with a stalled motor and a hot starter that would not turn over, which resulted in a small grass fire that was quickly extinguished by the safety crew. As the checker flew, Royce set the track record with a time of 2:05.651 and won with Umphenour in second and Flaherty in third. For AIX, Lindsey had a rough start with a near stall but continued on until Ross Murray worked his way from the back to pass for the lead. Murray thundered away for the win with Lindsey retaining second place. Guy Cunningham started strong but had to retire due to electrical issues after a few laps. As night fell and the 3-hour Enduro race began, Bryan MacMillan saddled up to do battle in the E0 class. MacMillan served as both driver and pit crew for the race, as he would come into the pits, fuel the car, have a quick refreshment break, and then head out to continue the charge. This was a remarkable effort and earned MacMillan the Ironman Award for the weekend as well as a respectable finish in the Enduro. Sunday qualifying saw a qualifying race with the grid based on an invert of Saturday’s race finish. Walton was up front for AI with the others close behind. An unfortunate contact after a few laps between Flaherty and Royce sent Flaherty back to the pits with major damage, but Royce was able to continue. Walton continued to lead with Umphenour in second holding off Royce for many laps. Walton then spun going into the Off Ramp turn letting Umphenour and Royce get past. Near the end of the race, Umphenour got rear ended by Royce which sent Umphenour off track and resulted in a DQ for Royce. For the race, Walton started behind Umphenour and the two were within a few car lengths and sometimes inches for the entire race. Umphenour held on to take the win with Walton in second and Hal Massey in third after suffering a clutch failure to round out a tough weekend for the Massey/Cunningham team. In AIX, Bill Daffron stomped away for the lead after another stall by Tim Nichols in the #22 car (darned clutch!) to preserve the perfect record for the #27 team. The next race will see the grid returning to Infineon Raceway on August 6-7, 2005. Submit Article |
