CalSpeedMagMay2018

T he Sport Class in the Ironman Series would not only see a fight for the round win, but also the battle for the first title in 2018, the Winter Series sub- championship. The best 4 out of 5 competition across the opening rounds of the season saw three drivers in attendance still with a shot at it, with overall point leader leading the chase over Chris Huerta and Alyssa Yauney. Coming up from the 14th, 11th, and 13th positions respectively, eyes would be split following both the action at the front, and the progress of the title contenders. Brian Starr would be the first of the sport drivers to work through the opening few corners, his time in the lead cut short after just one lap as Nicolas Bel took his turn at the front. Bel too would lead a short leading life, as Sean Fite made the most of his top ten starting position to taking over leading duties by lap three. There Fite would stay with the help of round number three winner Chris Carter in tow, while the duo of Chris Huerta and Steve Spring pushed to reel them in from a little over a second back. The dutiful pushing from Carter ended after about ten or so circuits however, taking his turn at the front, but also giving a little bit more life to the chasing duo, as two became four at the front by lap 13. Once in the lead group, Huerta wasted little time asserting himself as the front man, grabbing his bonus points for leading lap 14, and with it, putting himself in a strong position to earn his first individual championship. The opening laps were a different story for the other two title contenders however, as both Taylor Hays and Alyssa Yauney found themselves fighting inside a hornet’s nest of drivers, albeit slowly making progress to the front. When Huerta was leading his first lap of the 60-minute contest, they would sit 7th and 8th respectively, while third and fourth in the pack chasing the leaders who were about 5 seconds up the road. For the rest of the race it was about chipping away at that lead for the trailing group, but not all the drivers in the group would stay in the conversation; for her part, Yauney would be the victim of poor decision making by lapped traffic, seeing her shot at the front -and the title- killed all at once. In the waning laps of the race it was Fite and Huerta that had passed the lead back and forth, having commanded the front for nearly the entire race, while Hays had made it up to just 2.5 seconds astern. Pit lane became a flurry of action in the final five minutes with all of the leaders yet to stop, and it was Huerta the first to blink, actually knocking his two stops out back to back. Fite was next with his pair of trips down pit lane, mimicking Huerta just a lap later; his two stops were over a second faster than Huerta’s combined however, and it was Fite with the advantage. Hays left his two stops for the final two circuits in a hail-mary attempt to catch Huerta… And it worked. With pit stop times approaching 2 seconds faster than Huerta, he came out right with him for the final run to the checkers, the two rubbing ‘fenders’ all the way to the checkers. While Huerta held on for second, Hays did enough to maintain third, and with it, secure his second career Winter Series Title. Out front however was Sean Fite, coupling a strong start, smart strategy, and quick pit stops to earn his first career IronMan Series victory, a popular win amongst his fellow drivers. Round 5 May 26