Day 2 of the Classico GP weekend sees the Ironman Series take to the course first, the hour-long contest many times being a springboard for a success GP event later in the day. But it is also round #8 of a 10-race championship, and it was one of those title contenders coming out on top when the checkers flew…
John Rice would handle the pole-sitter duties for round #8 on the season, leading the field of 28 towards Kimbrell for the first time, but as he lined up on the wrong side of the start cone, he would immediately see the spot stolen away by Michael Martin. Starting in P3, Bill Kreig would bump up past Rice a lap later, and then take over the pace setting duties after a pair of circuits. Martin would fight back however, stealing back the top spot after just a few of laps, before yet another driver took their shot at the top spot: point leader Ayrton DeMoss. However even DeMoss would play 2nd fiddle to another driver this day, as fellow title rival Donnie Clarke -who had followed DeMoss up through the pack- would stake his claim on the lead on lap 12. From There it was seemingly all Clarke, as he was able to build his advantage from DeMoss, Kreig, and the rest of the chasing pack over the next nearly 40 minutes, electing to leave his first pit stop to inside the final 10 minutes.
Donnie had worked up from the 12th starting spot, and while he quickly linked up with DeMoss and eventually took charge, the strategy was different elsewhere, namely from round #6 winner Chase Nickells. After missing round #7, it was a 25th starting spot for Nickells, and on a twisty and tough to pass on Classico circuit, his pit strategy was clear: pit early. With a duck down pit road on lap 3, Nickells just behind Classico ace Taylor Hays, the pair well into clean air as the first two to blink. That clean air became dirty quick however, as other drivers starting in the mid-pack decide to follow suite with the strategy, with Nickells finding his way past Hays, and eventually linking up with the likes of Diego Alvarado, Michael Hazlewood, and Sam Hunt. Slowly but surely Chase worked his way to the front of the pack, and by about quarter distance, it became obvious he had the mustard to go the distance.
When the stops finally started to come in earnest during the last few minutes, Chase Nickells finally led his first laps, having made his second stop at about the halfway point to maintain clean air. Comfortably in the lead, the battle would look to instead be for second, as Clarke led over Sam Hunt, the latter giving chase after once rolling with Nickells. The pace was nearly equal between all of the drivers though, and the gaps would maintain, Nickells scoring win #2 on the year, and taking over the Overall point lead in the process, while Clarke used his second place and maximum bonus points to slot into P2. For Hunt it was his third strong finish in as many races, moving into second in the Summer Series sub-championship, edging even closer to his first Ironman Series silver cup at season’s end…
Round #9 takes to the Classico Counter Clockwise course in September, the second and final 2-Hour race on the season, and a fantastic test bed for the 15th annual Machismo 12 Hour race! Sign up today!
IronMan Series Round #8 Top 10
- Chase Nickells
- Donnie Clarke
- Sam Hunt
- James Lieser
- Diego Alvarado
- Andrew Wood
- Ayrton Demoss
- Alyssa Yauney
- Ariel Rubio
- Max Demoss
Overall Point Standings Top 10
- Chase Nickells 539
- Donnie Clarke 523
- Ayrton DeMoss 519
- Diego Morales 467
- Sean Fite 449
- Jose da Silva 438
- Bill Kreig 434
- Alyssa Yauney 429
- Max DeMoss 406
- Kiron Chakraborty 394
Summer Series Top 5
- Chase Nickells 208
- Sam Hunt 180
- Donnie Clarke 178
- Ariel Rubio 175
- Emerson Thieman 165
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