2019CalSpeedMagazineMarch

T he third round in the 2019 IronMan Series championship took to the longest track on the calendar, Grande. Drivers would be heading in the clockwise direction for the first time this season, and would be welcomed by perfect weather - certainly the nicest yet this year… Leading the field of thirty drivers away at the start would be Max Demoss Sr, and he would maintain the top spot for the opening 11 laps of the event, only briefly losing the lead to Diego Morales, who served a drive through penalty before crossing the line to get the credit. Having started 10th, Morales had made quick inroads to the sharp end from the drop of the green, and even after serving the penalty, would not be deterred. Dropping back to 9th after the penalty, Morales attacked once again, and began his march back to the front. While Demoss commanded the front, he carried with him a train of karts whose constant squabbling for position would keep them from making moves for the lead. The first driver to break the mold -and the infighting- was Sean Fite, taking over the top spot from Demoss after the aforementioned 11th lap. His reign would be short lived however, as the push to snag the bonus points for leading a lap were strong in the front pack. Chris Huerta would take his turn at the front after Fite had it for only two circuits, but even his rule would be cut short as Morales finally made it back to the point. From there Morales would pull out to a commanding lead, staying out front for the next 23 laps before ducking down pit road on lap 40 - the first of the leaders to do so. This opened up the opportunity for other drivers to potentially snag their own bonus points for leading, but not until both Fite and Huerta had finished their stops. The lucky drivers able to steal away those valuable points would be Jose da Silva and Paulo Franca, making the most of the opportunity afforded them. But the driver really making the most of a great opportunity was Diego Morales, retaking the lead just before two laps to go, cruising to the win while leading the most laps as well. It was not so cut and dried behind him however, as varying strategies and some strong runs through traffic late in the race would shake up the top 5 finishing order. Though he spent nearly the entire race inside the top five, it wasn’t until the pit stops began that Steve Spring made his move inside the top three; he first moved up when Morales ducked in, but then took over another spot from Chris Huerta before making the first of his own stops. He would have to get the second pot on the track however, coming out of the pits after his second stop just behind Fite, eventually making the move happen on the final lap to steal away P2 from Sean Fite, who had to settle for the final step of the podium. And to the credit of TJ Blackledge and Luis Calderon, their alternate strategy of pitting early -before lap 10- would pay off in a big way, leapfrogging the likes of Chris Huerta to nab the 4th and 5th places respectively, having spent most of the racing just burning down laps on their own. They would come up just short of the podium in the end, which was still a very impressive run from Blackledge, especially having worked up from the 26th starting position… Round 3 March 30