American Stock Cars (ASC) and Pro Trucks (PT) Bring Their Thunder to Fontana
After a rainy weekend in Phoenix, the second stop of the American Stockcar Challenge (ASC) took place in sunny California at the very fast California Speedway in Fontana. Labeled as the most successful event ever by NASA, ASC competitors found themselves sharing track time with a great number of Camaros, Mustangs, Porsches, Cobras, along with their traditional rivals in the Pro Truck (PT) Series. With over 50 cars in the same race group, getting a clean and fast lap in qualifying proved to be a challenge, yet Scott Ivie's # 43 Grand Prix managed to get the pole for ASC on Saturday, just two hundreths of a second ahead of Symbolic's #27 Taurus driven by Manuel Gil del Real. David Arnheiter's #88 T'Bird was third in the ASC starting grid. The race started with plenty of action including a long drag race through turns one and two ending with cars and trucks going four wide while trying to outbreak each other through turn three. Scott Ivie was the first victim of the melee spinning out of the corner and leaving him out of contention. Manuel Gil del Real was able to slip through the mess and take the ASC lead for the remainder of the race... or so he thought. With just one lap to go, a very late waving local yellow flag surprised him in the middle of passing a back marker. Just as he acknowledged the flag to the corner worker, it was too late to abort the pass without causing contact with the other car. After finishing the race in first place he was notified that he would be placed in second place as a result of the yellow flag incident. Ed Ochylski, who started in the back of the pack and finished second, ended up with an inherited win. Final Official ASC Results: 1. Ed Ochylski #55; 2. Manuel Gil del Real, #27; 3. Steve Carvajal, #90.

In contrast with the incident filled race on Saturday, Sunday's race was clean from start to finish. Once again, Manuel Gil del Real's #27 Taurus was the car to beat over the weekend. He took the overall pole position, this time almost a full second ahead of David Arnheiter's #88 T-Bird and Scott Ivie's #47 Grand Prix. Although Ken Stinnett took the official pole for the PT class, a nasty accident at the end of qualifying left him and his truck out of contention for the weekend. Fortunately, he was able to walk away unharmed. At race start, Manuel Gil del Real immediately fought for the overall lead with Mark Cross, #03 in the PT Class. By turn 3, Mark Cross was first, closely followed by Manuel while the rest of the pack fought for position behind them. Once again, Ed Ochylski's #55 who started in the back of the grid, somehow managed to charge all the way to the front, passing Scott Ivie for second place with just one lap to go. At checkered flag it was Mark Cross first in PT Class, Manuel Gil del Real first in ASC, followed by Ed Ochylski and Scott Ivie in third place, and completing the top ASC positions. Don Cross #41 and Nathan Swartzbaugh #17 completed the podium finishes for the PT Class. Next stop, Buttonwillow, CA, April 3-4, 2004.