Winter settled in and meteorologists across the nation called for Snowmageddon for the Ohio Valley and Southeastern states. So, what do you do? Load up your racecar and head south to Savannah, Ga., before the snow arrives, and go racing at Roebling Road Raceway with NASA Southeast.
Saturday morning started early with cold temps and a damp track during warmup and qualifying, but once the morning sun warmed up the track surface, cars, tires and racers came alive. In Saturday’s Thunder race, Honda Challenge started in the third wave, and on pole was Stephen Pearce. P2 was Boston Maler, P3 was Andrew Hicks and P4 was Shane Lovely. P5 was Michael Kramer and P6 was Ian Carrillo, but to add a little fun and challenge for the faster cars, P5 and P6 started at the back of wave two to allow a 15-20 second head start.
The green flag dropped for the second wave with Kramer and Carrillo at the tail end of the field, which allowed them to be at Turn 1 apex by the time the third wave got their green flag. Maler and Lovely got a good start and bump-drafted past Pearce and Hicks down the front straight. As they went into Turn 1, Lovely lifted early and Pearce held onto P4. Lovely moved into P5, putting Hicks in P6. By Turn 4, Hicks passed Lovely, but Maler and Pearce had already put a two second gap on them.
Pearce was right on the bumper of Maler going into Turn 5, then Pearce gets a little oversteer allowing Maler to pull a 1-second lead by the time they completed lap one and set their sights on the two leaders. On lap two, Carrillo passed Kramer for the lead as they managed their way through slower traffic and at this point everyone settled into their positions for the next few laps.
On lap four, Carrillo P1 and Kramer P2 had worked their way around several slower cars and kept a good lead on the rest of the class, but that lead was dwindling. On lap six, Maler and Pearce managed their way around the same slower cars and continued to gain ground on the leaders. On lap right, Maler passed Carrillo and Kramer coming out of Turn 2, Carrillo overshot Turn 4 and went four wheels off and went from the Penthouse to the Outhouse, allowing Kramer, Pearce, Hicks and Lovely an easy pass. On lap 10, Pearce passed Kramer moving to P2 and tried to catch the leader Maler. When the checkered flag came out, the Honda Challenge race winner was Maler followed by Pearce in second and Kramer in third. Rounding out the H1 class for race one was Hicks in P4, Lovely in P5 and Carrillo in P6.
Saturday’s race had the same grid and similar results. Carrillo was on pole but Kramer passed him on lap one. Pearce and Maler battled under brakes going into and through Turn 1, but Pearce came out in the lead at the exit of Turn 2. Lovely pushed out on Turn 5, put four wheels off but came back on track without losing a position. On lap three, Maler got under Pearce going into Turn 1 and they both spotted the slower car ahead.
Maler stayed on the inside as they approached the slower car, pulled beside him at track exit and used him as the perfect pick to block Pearce as he completed the pass on both of them. Lovely was right on their tail pulled door to door with Pearce but as they entered Turn 3, Lovely was out in the marbles and had to fall back staying in position. On lap eight, Maler passed Ian Carrillo and so did Pearce on lap nine.
On lap 10, Maler caught Kramer and made the pass for the lead. Lovely caught and passed Carrillo then Pearce made the pass on Kramer on lap 11. Lovely closed in on Kramer and passes him in Turn 1, ran wide on the exit of Turn 2 and put four wheels off allowing Kramer and Carrillo to pass him back. At the checkered flag, the race winner was Maler followed by Pearce in second and Kramer in third. Rounding out the H1 class for race two was Carrillo in P4, Lovely in P5 and Andrew Hicks in P6.
Keep an eye on the newest NASA Southeast Honda Challenge racer Ian Carrillo, who relocated from NASA Texas. He is a fast racer and learns tracks quickly.
