NASA's American Iron series was in action at Lowes Motor Speedway in Charlotte Friday night under the lights. This was a single event race as opposed to the usual two race weekend scenario.
The event brought out 12 cars with 8 of those being AI Extreme cars and the remaining in the AI category. An unexpected and very welcome sight was Bryan Shugg who managed to repair his 1998 Mustang Cobra after his 130+ MPH drive through the woods two weeks ago at Summit Point. Nicely done.
Th event started off a bit rocky with the cancellation of the first practice session due to some track difficulties. Drivers were then faced with one short practice session followed by a qualifying session and the race. Things got a bit worse from there as Richard Koehler rolled his car at the exit of the infield. He appeared to "annoy" some tire barriers which responded by turning him on his side across the track, blocking the entrance to the high banks. Thankfully, Richard was unhurt. He walked to the ambulance and was later seen in the pits tending to a seriously damaged race car. He would not be able to start the race, however.
With that session cut short, the racers were faced with a short qualifying session to learn the track. Come qualifying time, the sun was going down and the lights coming up. The AIX pole went to Lester Lesneski in his 1987 supercharged Mustang and the AI pole to Mike Schlickenmeyer in his 1979 Pontiac Trans Am. Both very impressive drives considering the lack of track time.
With qualifying finished, the drivers had a scant 25 minutes before gridding for the race. Besides Koehler, Lesneski was unable to make the grid call due to a sheared water pump shaft and Tim Swain due to various mechanical difficulties.
With the sun nearly down, the AI competitors took the green flag. Dan Schlickenmeyer ('93 Mustang) jumped out to an early lead followed by Brian Tone ('93 mustang) and David Smith ('75 Camaro). The front of the field began to thin out some as the racing mid-pack seemed to get tighter as the race went on. Shugg, Jim Pantas ('85 Mustang) and Brion Gluck ('71 Mustang) found themselves in a good dice and a bit further back Mike Schlickenmeyer, Gary Henkel (''69 Boss Mustang) and James Hoover ('94 Mustang) wound up in a race long battle for 7th, 8th and 9th overall but 2nd and 3rd in AI. Back at the front of the pack, Brian Tone was mounting a furious charge from 2nd place and was closing in on Schlickenmeyer. It appeared Tone had the measure of Schlickenmeyer in the infield but was unable to close much on the high banks. David Smith had settled comfortably into third with Shugg leading all AI competitors in fourth. In the end, Schlickenmeyer would hold onto the win over a charging Tone with the margin of victory a scant 2 seconds.The rest of the battles on the track provided the most excitement with fans getting to see three distinct races as the groups broke out to battle each other. Shugg would win his battle with Gluck and Pantas and Mike Schlickenmeyer would come out ahead of Henkel and Hoover. David Smith (who turned 50 on Friday-Happy Birthday) came home third overall. The final finishing order read like this:
AIX: D.Schlickenmeyer , Tone , Smith , Gluck , Pantas , Henkel.Overall it was a successful evening (Koehlers incident not withdstanding). The racing proved interesting and unusual with the high bank circuit being a new experience for many.The lighting contrast between the the infield and the big track also provided some challenging moments for the competitors. Most everyone seemed to enjoy the racing and were looking forward to our return there on Sept. 7th and 8th. The fans really seemed to enjoy the racing as was evidenced by the great post race turnout in the paddock area.
AI: Shugg , M. Schlickenmeyer , Hoover.
Much thanks to NASA and the LMS staff for a safe and fun evening of racing.
American Iron competitors will next find themselves in action at Carolina Motorsports Park August 3rd and 4th.
Regards,
Dan Schlickenmeyer, Director AI East