Starting off the New Year, drivers took to the 2020 Season Opener of the Sprint Series on the Classico CCW configuration and it would not be without excitement. A 2-month hiatus since the 2019 finale would not blunt any of the talent and we would see both new and old faces atop the podium for the first race of this season…
Qualifying
Weather would be sunny and perfect for racing over the weekend and we’d see drivers mainly in the 3rd qualifying session pull off the fastest times. It would come as no surprise that last year’s 2nd overall winner, Ayrton DeMoss [2R], knabbed pole position with 58.508s. Up and coming drivers Devins Baker and Tommy Haake didn’t linger too far with a 2nd and 3rd respectively, one of their best showings as well.
Qualifying Top 5
| 1) | Ayrton DeMoss [2R] | 58.508 |
| 2) | Devins Baker | 58.656 |
| 3) | Tommy Haake | 58.944 |
| 4) | Ivan Martinez | 59.090 |
| 5) | Vladimir Orlov | 59.127 |
Heat 1A
Pole sitter DeMoss had the green flag and hopefuls Ivan Martinez and Diego Alvarado trailed behind. The latter pair would not sit still however, and would exchange positions every few laps. Eventually, Alvarado would take the fight to DeMoss, holding the lead with less than 3 to go. Meanwhile, Michael Chen dueled with Martinez, now poised in 3rd. Eventually, DeMoss stole back his front position and went on to the heat 1A win ahead of Alvarado.
Heat 1A Results
| 1) | Ayrton DeMoss [2R] |
| 2) | Diego Alvarado |
| 3) | Michael Chen |
| 4) | Ivan Martinez |
| 5) | Mike Carlson |
Heat 1B
For heat 1B, Devins Baker would lead the race at the get go but would succumb to the attacks fo Vladimir Orlov and Matt Steele early on. As the three fought, eventually Orlov would escape the infighting and begin inching away. The fight between Baker and Steele went dramatically on to the last lap, with Steele making a final move to grab second place behind Orlov.
Heat 1B Results
| 1) | Vladimir Orlov |
| 2) | Matt Steele |
| 3) | Devins Baker |
| 4) | Cameron Rose [2R] |
| 5) | Chris Millar |
Heat 1C
At the green flag for heat 1C, Tony Wika took the reigns ahead of the bustling swarm behind him. The top group would shuffle quite a bit until both Ronnie Swaim Jr and Haake finally managed to set themselves in position behind Wika. With 2 to go, Swaim would pass Wika, with Haake pushing through as well, the pair now 1-2. The checkered would fall with Swaim in the lead followed by Haake and Wika.
Heat 1C Results
| 1) | Ronnie Swaim Jr |
| 2) | Tommy Haake |
| 3) | Tony Wika |
| 4) | Stephen Greene |
| 5) | John Hennessey |
C-Main
In the C-Main, the first round of the year looks no different from the rest of the season as a slew of first-time series drivers took to the track for their final race of the day. Two drivers who were certainly not rookies were Nathaniel Small and Michael Hottinga, who after separate unfortunate incidents earlier in the day, were relegated to a C-Main start. Small quickly dispatched pole-sitter Feras Feraj and stormed off to a convincing lead while Hottinga made immediate inroads towards the front pack to chase down Small. The latter never looked back and by the time the checkered flew, the win would be his ahead of Feraj and Hottinga 3rd after gaining over 20 positions.
C-Main Results
| 1) | Nathaniel Small |
| 2) | Feras Faraj |
| 3) | Michael Hottinga |
| 4) | Brett Lopinsky |
| 5) | James Lieser |
B-Main
The B-Main began with Vince Azua as leader but it would seem that a huge scuffle behind him saw drivers fall back deep in the pack. Meanwhile, drivers Christopher Lovell and Frank Hsu began their ascent, sneaking towards Azua lap after lap. Lovell, once in the lead, began extending his advantage over the field. Hsu’s fight towards the front wasn’t an easy one but with the white flag in the air, he’d be ready to make the move on Azua. The win went to Lovell and Hsu successfully pulled off a last lap pass to score second in front of Azua.
B-Main Results
| 1) | Christopher Lovell |
| 2) | Frank Hsu |
| 3) | Vince Azua |
| 4) | Jeff Latimer |
| 5) | Michael Collins |
A-Main
Now on to the A-Main: Ayrton DeMoss had a great start and quickly made it clear why he was on the podium for the 2019 Sprint Series championship. It wouldn’t be long until the infighting behind him allowed him to sail away comfortably to over a 1.5 second lead. The 3-pack behind him saw the likes of Orlov, Haake, and Alvarado all shuffling for the last 2 pieces of the day’s hardware. At the final lap, Alvarado made the move for second but the fight for third would be settled post-race; with the dust settled, DeMoss had the win ahead of Alvarado and Haake, the bearer of his first-ever podium hardware in the Sprint Series.
A-Main Results
| 1) | Ayrton DeMoss [2R] |
| 2) | Diego Alvarado |
| 3) | Tommy Haake |
| 4) | Vladimir Orlov |
| 5) | Chris Millar |
| 6) | Devins Baker |
| 7) | Matt Steele |
| 8) | Tony Wika |
| 9) | Cameron Rose [2R] |
| 10) | Michael Chen |
Sprint Series 2020 Current Points Standings
| 1) | Ayrton DeMoss [2R] | 300 |
| 2) | Diego Alvarado | 290 |
| 3) | Tommy Haake | 285 |
| 4) | Vladimir Orlov | 285 |
| 5) | Matt Steele | 267 |
| 6) | Devins Baker | 265 |
| 7) | Chris Millar | 260 |
| 8) | Tony Wika | 259 |
| 9) | Ronnie Swaim Jr | 254 |
| 10) | Michael Chen | 253 |
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