NASA Great Lakes
American Iron, Spec Iron, AIX
Race Report
NCM March 19-20, 2016
NASA Great Lakes region opened up the year at the new National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park (NCM) in Bowling Green Kentucky. The Grand Full Course was used all weekend. This 3.2 mile configuration includes 23 turns, the Sink Hole area and a chicane at the end of the front straight away. This challenging course was difficult for all to master. Even those who had driven this configuration last year had a difficult time.
In American Iron (AI) qualifying Jeremy Moen was on pole. Followed by Todd Rogers, Jason Lakomiak, Todd Dave and Mark Adams. At the race start Moen got the lead and the other cars followed in order. Rogers got past Moen, but then spun in T3. Moen push too hard in T7 and spun in place. Lakomiak and Rogers stayed outside, just missing the spinning Moen. Lakomiak kept the lead, but a car stuck in T8 brought out the double yellow flags and bunched up the field. On the double yellow restart Rogers and Moen made their way through traffic and by Lakomiak. Rogers was in the lead with a lot of pressure from Moen. Rogers spun way off of the track in T7, going almost completely out of sight. Leaving Lakomiak to chase down Moen. Moen put in some fast laps with clear track and warm tires. Lakomiak suffered a miss in the engine and fell back on last lap. The miss luckily turned out to be a spark plug wire that fell off! Rogers was somehow able to get back on track and was pressured by Adams for third with Davis just behind. Rogers held on to third, Adams was forth and Davis in fifth.
American Iron Extreme (AIX) Jeff Henderson got the win.
Spec Iron (SI) Steve Revelette got the win in his beautiful burgundy red Mustang.
Sunday quickly turned into a rainy day. The rain moved in just like the weather person predicted and stayed around for the race. Qualifying was extremely wet. Lots of rain coming down and lots of rain on the track. The smooth and consent pavement helped finding the rain line amongst the 23 turns! Drainage at the new facilities is excellent. But any track with elevation will have water running down hill and that created a few streams that you have to ford.
The rain calmed down a little for the race. We also had more cars on track before the race clearing a rain line. Moen was on the pole followed by Davis, Lakomiak, Revelette and Henderson. Moen spun in T3 soon after the start. Davis picked up the lead followed by Lakomiak and Revelette in SI. Lakomiak pressured Davis, but the spray from following too close keep him back. Revelette pressured Lakomiak, but held back looking for grip. The CMC field caught Revelette, Lakomiak and Davis after a few laps. The spray from the passing cars was a serious issue. Lakomiak had to pit because of windshield fogging issues. Davis spun and gave the lead back to Moen. Lakomiak came back on track after a few laps away with a clear windshield. He picked up the pace and had some good laps at the end of the race. Davis spun and gave the lead back to Moen. Moen kept the car on track and got the win in AI, Davis came in second. Revelette cruised to a win in SI. Jeff Henderson got the win in AIX.
Submitted to NASA SpeedNews by: Jason Lakomiak, NASA Great Lakes AI/SI/AIX Series Director