On August 1 and 2, NASA Midwest and Great Lakes regions held a crossover event at the famed Road America in beautiful Elkart Lake, Wisc. There was no shortage of excitement as a well-rounded field of competitive American Iron, American Iron Extreme and Spec Iron cars took the field on the demanding 4- mile-long road course.
Saturday’s qualifying for race one saw the No. 41 Boss 302S of Mickey Remen take the pole with a fast lap of 2:35.341, followed closely by the No. 369 Buick GNX of Todd Davis. Due to an early accident in qualifying, Jerry Sarsfield and Elliott Fisher failed to complete a full lap, forcing them to start at the rear of the field.
When the green flag flew, Todd Davis in his No. 369 Buick GNX got off to a great start and took the lead — followed closely by Remen in his No. 41 Boss 302S — No. 12 Fisher also in a Boss 302S and No. 29 of Jerry Sarsfield in his Mustang shuffled behind in that order. Davis controlled the race for the first three laps in convincing fashion, but Remen found some daylight on the high-speed back stretch just before the big braking zone and executed a perfect pass, putting his Boss 302S in the lead by lap five. Davis remained firmly in second, now followed by Fisher and a close Sarsfield. Fisher made his way past Davis heading into Canada Corner and started pressing Remen. Sarsfield started overheating the brakes and fell slightly off the pace. Fisher, working hard on Remen, made a pass on the front straight to gain control of the race with four laps to go. Remen stayed tight right until the end, looking to regain the lead, but Fisher defended his position to the checkered flag. The finishing order was Fisher netting the win over Remen by 0.209 seconds. Sarsfield was third and Davis was fourth.
In American Iron Extreme, the No. 124 of John Jung was on the pole for Saturday’s race with the No. 19 of Jeff Henderson in second. John Jung got the win with a fast lap of 2:27.869. Jeff Henderson came in second.
In Spec Iron, Audrey Zavodsky got the win on Saturday. Fastest race lap was a 2:38.148.
Sunday featured two races, with qualifying first thing in the morning. In American Iron, the order for race two shook out like this: Fisher set the pole with a fast lap of 2:33.329, followed by Remen and Sarsfield. Davis unfortunately experienced mechanical issues with his Buick GNX and could not qualify or compete in Sunday’s first race.
When the green flag flew for the first race on Sunday, it was Remen who got the jump and advanced to the lead. He was chased by Fisher and Sarsfield. This race would prove to be the closest finish in American Iron history. Still hampered by brake issues, Sarsfield ended up retiring his Mustang on lap four. The race was then a two-horse battle between the Remen and Fisher. The two well-prepared Boss 302S’s turned lap after lap right on top of each other. Remen drove perfectly and stayed in front of an aggressive Fisher at every turn. There were many late-braking pass attempts and door-to-door sprints to the corners that had everyone on their feet, but the well-seasoned Remen cleanly defended every attack.
On the last lap and last corner heading to the checker, Fisher got a run off the exit of Turn 14 and got to Remen’s bumper, drafting Remen and pulling out a few hundred yards from the flag stand. It was a good old-fashioned drag race to the checker. Close, you say? Check out the official time: Remen 21:36.414 and Fisher 21:36.452. That’s just 0.038 seconds, and the closest finish in American Iron history! American Iron Racing at its best with Remen coming out on top.
A .038-second distance at the Road America finish line is approximately 80 inches. It’s a very fast track!
For the second race on Sunday, Davis and Sarsfield made it back on track. They had a good battle going for most of the race. Davis came through in the end with the win.
In American Iron Extreme, John Jung won the first race on Sunday. He lowered his time to a 2:24.261! Jeff Henderson came in second. For Sunday’s second race, Jung cooled it off to a 2:25.695. That was good for the win.
In Spec Iron, Audrey Zavodsky got the win on Sunday. She lowered her lap time down to 2:37.384.
Results
