American Stockcar Challege Has Its Best Turnout Yet at Infineon Raceway.
NASA held it's "HYPERFEST " event at Infineon Raceway, September 11th and 12th, and the American Stockcar Challenge put fifteen cars in the field,along with two Protrucks, and five entries from GT America.  There were four new ASC cars entered in the field, the # 71 of Al Balding Jr., the # 23 of Dan Ryan, and the # 1 of Felipe Loza, (which is David Brown's old # 11 car...).  Chris Evans brought his new Ford entry, the # 10 car.  This is a purpose built chassis designed and built by Evans' business, Evans Metal Fabrication specifically for the American Stockcar Challenge series. Notably missing was the # 55 car of Ed Ochylski, who lost his wife, Wanda, on Thursday, September 9th.  Our thoughts and prayers were with Ed and the family all weekend and we look forward to his return. 

The weekend's race action pitted three different classes of stockcars,American Stockcar Challenge, (ASC), GT America, (GTA), and Protrucks, against each other. After the dust cleared from the rolling thunder, the GT America group had the top four positions overall both Saturday and Sunday. GT America's home track advantage and greater horsepower simply was too much for the American Stockcars or the Protrucks to overcome.  Rudy Revak, in the # 99 Symmetry sponsored GTA car, started at the back of the field both days and was able to get to the podium each race.   He was third on Saturday, behind the GTA # 09 of Jesse Rhoads and the # 51 GTA car of Robert Smeltzer, who was the overall winner on Saturday.  The ASC field followed closely behind the GTA cars, with Scott Ivie and the California Financial # 47 car, winning the ASC class, followed by Manuel Gil del Real, # 27 Symbolic Ford, and Dave Arnheiter and the # 33 Ideco Ford cars.  This race also determined the starting grid for Sunday's feature event.

On Sunday, the top three positions were all GTA cars, followed by the ASC contingent with one lone GTA car, the # 54 of Steve Schmalz starting among the ASC cars.  The two lone Protrucks were at the rear of the field.  The grid took the green and worked through turn one.  Scott Ivie and Manuel Gil del Real were 4th and 5th overall fighting with the GTA cars the first few laps.   Both passed GTA #25 on the second lap and moved to 3rd and 4th overall.  The # 33 Ideco Ford of Dave Arnheiter and # 90 Carvajal Motorsports Chevrolet of Steve Carvajal leaned on one another in turn two and provided an opening for Ken Stinnett in the # 43 Sundance Carpentry Monte Carlo and Kevin Culver in the Evans Metal Fabrication # 96 Chevrolet an opportunity to squeeze through in 3A. Ivie moved to second overall just before the safety car picked up the field.  Chris Evans' brand new # 10 Taurus started near the back of the field but diced through traffic to catch the front-runners.  Alan Huston, Al Balding, Jr. Felipe Loza, and Dan Ryan had a fierce battle going for several laps, each taking turns at the head of that pack. On lap two, Carvajal flatted the left front tire, managed to hang on to the car in turn 10, get to the pits, where the Carvajal Motorsports crew quickly change it.  He was able to keep from going a lap down to the leaders and was chasing the pack half a lap behind, when Ray Hampton's # 64 car caught fire entering turn 6, the carousel.  Hampton was able to escape the car without injury and the safety crew reacted quickly to contain the fire, preventing major damage to the car.  This brought out a full course yellow, allowing Carvajal to catch up to the field.

As the field went back to green flag racing, the GTA cars worked themselves into the lead. However, ASC # 47  took the overall lead in turn 7.   The # 99 and #09 GTA cars fought back to retake the lead.     Rudy Revak had passed everyone in the field and was leading.
Scott Ivie and Chris Evans were right in the mix with them when Evans' new Ford was black flagged for sound.  Ivie was leading the ASC group when Gil del Real passed him in turn 11. Ivie had a mechanical failure after contact with the # 27 making the pass. Ivie, who is the points leader in ASC, was later forced to limp around the track with an apparent broken axle, finishing ninth.

Carvajal was able to pass the # 5, # 1, # 17, # 23, and the # 54 GTA car and was chasing down the rest of the ASC pack.  Stinnett in the # 43, followed by Culver in the # 96 were stalking Gil del Real.  The # 96 spun in turn 4 and Stinnett's hood crumpled and broke from previous abuse and he was forced into the pits for quick repairs.  Dave Arnheiter, in his typical sneaky fashion, had crept up behind his brother in the # 80 and behind the ASC leader in the # 27.  Carvajal got past Culver when the # 96 spun in 4, and was gaining on the Arnheiter brothers.  Culver, in the # 96, had picked up the # 90 of Carvajal in his sights however, and the two battled for the fourth position for five laps, before contact exiting turn 11 spun Carvajal. Alan Huston had dispatched the other ASC cars and was attempting to run the # 90 down, while not allowing the # 43 around him.  Manuel Gil del Real held off a late charge by Mike Arnheiter, who ran out of gas one lap from the finish, and cruised to a win, followed by Dave Arnheiter, and Kevin Culver. Culver was DQ 'd after the race for passing under yellow, which gave Carvajal a podium position, even after pitting with a flat front tire.

The race at Infineon was certainly one of the finest examples of stockcar road racing in the USA.  Taking place at NASA's Hyperfest weekend helped a great many spectators view three different classes of stockcars battle for the win, both in class and overall.  The longer race format was enjoyed by everyone and will be sought after from promoters in future events.  The American Stockcar Challenge series is the largest and fastest growing stockcar road racing series in the nation, providing an affordable platform for those who love the excitement of road racing and the thrill of the stockcar thunder!  Don't miss the next race at Buttonwillow Raceway Park, October 9th and 10th, or the season finale' at Las Vegas, November 6th and 7th. Be sure to visit the ASC website to learn more at www.ascracing.com