This week would start the second half of the league series and we start to see some development in the overall points. As mentioned last week, Jace would be back in points but would return this week. He was looking to drop week 3 and be back in the battle for the overall points. In the end, it was a close battle for the top five spots.

The C main would have seven drivers leaving more room on the track as well as better racing. John M. would start and look to pass quickly on Michael D. on the first lap but would be blocked. After two more laps he would be able to go to the lead entering the split while Michael took the outside. Derek B. would also make the move on the inside and quickly close the gap on Derek. This would turn into a good three-way battle very quickly. In the heat of the battle Toni would try to make the move on Derek bumping him and taking him out. He would earn a black flag loosing one position while depowered. This would put Derek to the back of the field and a lot of ground to make up in a short amount of time. He would make some great passes at the finish line moving through the pack, having speed that would make it look like drivers just moved out of his way. Back to back lap passes would be made at the finish line and with only one lap remaining he would catch the leader John M. with the pressure on he would again make the pass across the finish line and win by just Two hundredths of a second making four passes at the finish line on the last four laps. The second race wouldn’t see quite as much action. John M. would turn the fastest time by two tenths. Cody S would have a pretty good race as he would make the pass on John and hang with the quick driving of Derek until the last couple laps when Derek would gap him just a little to make it an easy finish of a one-one for him.

B main would start off clean and have Brian C. starting on the poll. Randy G. Last weeks winner of the A main would look to make the pass going into the second one eighty with a slight bump that was not enough to earn him a black-flag. Brian would hang right there for the next few laps and randy would take the outside of the split with seven laps to go allowing Brian to close the gap. Next lap around Randy would again take the outside letting Brian make an easy pass on the inside. Chase T. Jon R. and Sean P would have a good three-way battle for third going at one point going three wide across the finish line. Chase would be on the inside and be able to get around to take a comfortable third place. With the race on the last lap Randy would again have closed the gap on Brain but take the outside on the split loosing time and having no chance at a last min pass for the lead. The second main would have Brian slowly start to pull away as the race went on. James P. would pass John R. at the finish line with a better drive but would get passed back one lap later going into the second one eighty. John would turn the fastest lap time with a 20.2 a full two tenths faster then the rest of the field. Chase would also be tuning fast laps and catch up to Randy. With a failed attempt at a pass going into the second one eighty with three laps to go would lose ground that he made up and have no time to make it back up. Ending with Brian in first Randy in second and Chase in third.

The A main would see the randomizer set the fastest qualifier Jace H. on the pole and our top two in points Jeremy W. and Michael M. seventh and eighth. This would mix things up a bit and allow anything to happen. There would be a clean start and drive single file for about 4 laps. Then Jeremy and Michael would start trying to make their move. Jeremy would have the drive around the finish to pass Jacob U. and allow Michael to follow through on the inside. They would catch up to Matt A. and Jeremy would again show a wheel at the finish but this time not able to make the pass. At about the halfway point the field would start to spread except Jace H. and Philip R. in the front. There would be cart distance between them for the next two laps before Philip would catch Jace. Jace would start to Drive slightly defensive and allow Scott R to close the gap. Only five laps remaining it would be a battle for the top three. Scott would get around Philip quickly and set his eye on Jace. Scott would be looking for any way around. Coming around for the last lap Jace would drive extremely defensive making sure not to make any mistake. Jace would leave a slight opening coming into the last corner and Scott would make a push pulling up to the side of Jace but not be able to get the pass before crossing the finish. Jace would take the win with Scott right behind in second and Philip in third. Going into the second main would see a clean start. Michael M. who started in last the first main would be in fifth hoping to catch two very strong front-runners although they would prove to be strong and with in the first few laps would start to sneak away. Philip would feel the pressure and Matt A. to get to the inside going into the second one-eighty then going outside across the finish allowing Michael and Jeremy to make the pass on the inside. Michael would see the front-runners pulling away and see the urgency to make the pass on Matt and close the gap before it was to late. Michael tried to make a tough pass going into the first one-eighty Matt would shut the door and trying to avoid taking him out Michael slid and wedges himself into the barriers dropping back into last. We would see everyone pretty spread out after this with Michael making a last lap pass for a few needed points for the overall standings. Jace would go one-one after pulling away from Scott who had a big lead on third place Jeremy who started in Eighth for the second main.

There would be a clean sweep in all classes seeing Jace, Brian, and Derek all going one-one in there respected main events. This would make it the first time anyone has swept the A main. After missing last week Jace will drop that round in the overall points needing the sweep to make up those points. If the consistent driving keeps up it could lead him to a three-peat in leagues. Make sure to come to leagues Wednesday nights and see if you have what it takes to claim a win!

Yesterday at Saint Pete was our first IndyCar race, with new cars, engines and race officials it was a crap shoot to see if it was all going to work. Beaux did a great job in the drivers meeting explaining all the procedures and mainly explaining the protocol for on track behavior which includes blocking.

Arie and myself are there to sort of be a liaison between the drivers and the calls that Beaux makes in race control, if we feel that Beaux is out of line we are there to speak up on behalf of the drivers. We also look at on track incidences and help determine if any action should be taken. The only real incident that took place was between Ed Carpenter and Helio. Helio was on Ed’s gear box coming out of 14 on to the front straight, Ed was pitting and Helio didn’t know it so when Ed checked up to get into the pits Helio tagged him in the rear which spun him off into pit entrance. We didn’t penalize Helio as it is the responsibility of the driver entering the pit to either let the guy behind know he is pitting or get off line before slowing down. Other than that we saw some defensive lines on track and some very close racing but the drivers really took care of each other and respected the new rules.

My hats really off to Beaux, as the new race director there is a lot of pressure on his shoulders and a lot of people ready to jump down his throat the minute something goes wrong. The guy is really smart and thinks through thousands of possible scenarios so he is prepared for what might happen in a race situation. He keeps a cool head and focuses on making the race safe and fair to everyone regardless of what team they drive for.

The next IndyCar race is next week at Barber in Alabama, I won’t be at that one but will be back on the circuit starting at Long Beach April 14/15.

Stay tuned, ya never know what will happen next race!

Johnny Unser
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