The 41st US Indoor Championship just wrapped up in Cleveland, Ohio. Team Awesomatix walked away with 4 new TQs and 5 Wins!
Sam Isaacs - Mod TC TQ + Win
Donny Lia - Super Stock 1/12 TQ + Win
Craig Xavier - Stock TC TQ + Win
Dave Johnson - USGT Win
Kevin Nestor - FWD TQ + Win
Modified TC
Modified Touring had a great showdown between Sam Isaacs [Awesomatix] and Alex Hagberg. In rocket round qualifying Sam would re-set TQ every round to start on pole position. Kemp Anderson [Awesomatix] would line up 4th on the grid.
During the single A-main Sam would lead lap number one but then tap out allowing Alex and Keven Hebert to get by. Sam would grind over the next 5 minutes to get himself back into the lead making his final move on Alex into a 180 degree corner on the far right side. Sam would gap Alex in the last minute to have a commanding win to top off a perfect weekend of TC racing. Kemp would race up one position to fill out the last step on the podium!
A-main finishing order-
- SAM ISAACS [Awesomatix] + TQ
- ALEXANDER HAGBERG
- KEMP ANDERSON [Awesomatix]
- KEVEN HEBERT
- MAX KUENNING
- DREW ELLIS
- MIKE GEE
- PAUL LEMIEUX
- LUKE PITTMAN
- TIM MCINTYRE
Super Stock 1/12th
Qualifying for Super Stock 1/12th looked a lot different between Friday night and Saturday night. On Saturday Donny Lia [Awesomatix] would throw down two consecutive TQ runs in round 3 and 4 with the 4th round TQ putting him on his own lap at least 4 seconds up on Friday night's TQ holder Andrew Knapp. Joe Trandell, Ray Darroch and John Wiita would qualify their Awesomatix A12 cars 5th, 6th and 8th respectively in the highly competitive field that had a stacked B-main of usual A-main contenders.
At the start of the A-main, Andrew would apply pressure to Donny for the first 1-2 laps but after that the race for the win was over as Donny's car came in and he cruised to the win putting in a perfect 8 minute run nearly lapping the entire field. Further back, Joe would was working on his podium appearance the hard way by racing past Jeff Dayger and Max Kuenning to finish 3rd less than 2 seconds behind Knapp.
A-main finishing order-
- DONNY LIA [Awesomatix] + TQ
- ANDREW KNAPP
- JOE TRANDELL [Awesomatix]
- MAX KUENNING
- JEFF DAYGER
- RAYMOND DARROCH [Awesomatix]
- JOHN DICKSON
- TROY GUBBINS
- TOM FIRSCHING
- JOHN WIITA [Awesomatix]
Stock TC
Stock Touring Car is always a highly competitive class no matter the race. Qualifying was owned by Awesomatix drivers with 7 of 10 making the A-main. The top 3 in qualifying were all Awesomatix runners - Craig Xavier, Eric Anderson and Dave Johnson.
In the A-main, the top 2 - Craig and Eric - would break out into the lead and finishing in starting order. Behind them Dave would tap out on the 3rd lap causing some excitement and battles behind him throughout the race. Michael Skeen [Awesomatix] and Manny Flores [Awesomatix] would promote themselves to 4th and 5th by the end of the race in front of Johnson.
A-main finishing order-
- CRAIG XAVIER [Awesomatix] + TQ
- ERIC ANDERSON [Awesomatix]
- MARC LIVERMORE
- MICHAEL SKEEN [Awesomatix]
- MANNY FLORES [Awesomatix]
- DAVE JOHNSON [Awesomatix]
- JIM PIERSOL
- JEFF ROWLAND [Awesomatix]
- BOBBY RORISON [Awesomatix]
- LUKE PITTMAN
USGT
TQ for USGT was determined by just 0.04s in the 4th and final round between 3rd round TQ Dave Johnson [Awesomatix] and 4th round and overall TQ Cory Craig. Awesomatix would put 5 cars into the A-main, more than any other brand.
In the A-main, pole sitter Cory Craig and Dave Johnson would go door to door allowing Manny Flores [Awesomatix] to promote himself to first. After a minute of hard charging Dave would catch Manny and after a small roll Dave would promote himself to the lead and never look back.
A-main finishing order-
- DAVE JOHNSON [Awesomatix]
- MANNY FLORES [Awesomatix]
- ZACHARY FUGE
- CORY CRAIG + TQ
- EVAN BANTA
- ARVIN NANO [Awesomatix]
- KEVIN NESTOR [Awesomatix]
- ANDREW MOWERY
- MAX BUCA [Awesomatix]
- ALBIN MELENDEZ
FWD
Front Wheel Drive is popular in pockets of the country but hasn't been widely accepted across the USA. Local track owner, Kevin Nestor, of Austintown Hobby & Raceway, has weekly racing featuring FWD cars, so it was no surprise to us that Kevin with his Awesomatix A800FX was able to TQ in the 4th round.
In the A-main, Kevin would tap on the first corner allowing Mark Tiamson to get into the lead. The lead would change between Kevin and Mark 5+ times throughout the race. The best way to describe this battle was "rubbing is racing". Kevin would even survive a peeling on the straightaway for the win.
A-main finishing order-
- KEVIN NESTOR [Awesomatix] + TQ
- MARK TIAMSON
- JIM KESERICH
- JASON HRINKA
- SHAWN STEPHENS
- KEITH KELLER
- CARY CONKLIN
- BRUCE LAMBE
- CHARLES MACKIN
- MIKE MURPHY
Modified 1/12th
Modified 1/12th would be one of the 3 classes featuring triple A-main races. In qualifying, Awesomatix USA drivers Sam Isaacs, Donny Lia and Kemp Anderson would battle the tough layout and often back markers for the overall TQ. Sam, Donny and Kemp would start the A-mains 2nd, 4th and 6th respectively.
In A1, after the first lap the running order was TQ holder Ollie Payne, Sam and Donny. Sam would chase Ollie for the entire 8m but overall had less luck with traffic and was never able to close the lead down to less than 0.3s. Finishing order would be Ollie, Sam and Alex Hagberg
In A2, the top 3 would run out in qualifying order - Ollie, Sam and Alex. The top three would ebb and flow through traffic over the next 7 minutes never being more than 1.5s apart. In the last 30 seconds Sam would catch a board dropping him to 3rd. The last two laps were very close with Alex challenging Ollie but Ollie would hold on for the overall win.
In A3, with Ollie sitting out, Sam would lead Alex and Donny for the first lap. Sam would tap in the center of the track allowing Donny to get into the lead and never look back. Donny ran a perfect 8m race for the win followed by Sam and Alex.
Triple A-main finishing order-
- OLLIE PAYNE + TQ
- SAM ISAACS [Awesomatix]
- DONNY LIA [Awesomatix]
- ALEXANDER HAGBERG
- KEMP ANDERSON [Awesomatix]
- KEVEN HEBERT
- MAX KUENNING
- ANDREW KNAPP
- STEVE RADECKY
- TROY GUBBINS
Stock 1/12th
Stock 1/12th was the most popular class at this year's event and as such was granted to have triple a-mains. In qualifying, Awesomatix USA drivers John Wiita, Joe Trandell and Kevin Van Ert would lead the charge qualifying 3rd, 9th and 10th respectively.
In A1, the top 3 qualifiers, Andrew Knapp, Jeff Dayger and John ran in qualifying order with Kevin racing up to 6th.
In A2, the battle up front continued to rage on with Jeff getting the better of Andrew for the win, behind that Joe raced up to 5th.
In A3, the Awesomatix gang got their setups right allowing Joe to race up to 3rd just 2 seconds behind Andrew. Right behind Joe was John and Kevin.
Triple A-main finishing order-
- JEFF DAYGER
- ANDREW KNAPP + TQ
- JOHN WIITA [Awesomatix]
- JOE TRANDELL [Awesomatix]
- DANA BAILES
- TOM FIRSCHING
- KEVIN VAN ERT [Awesomatix]
- BRAYDEN BOWLING
- JARED BARDIN
- WALTER HENDERSON
GT12-R
Super Stock TC
Big Thanks
To the entire Awesomatix USA team and customers for all of their efforts over the Thanksgiving weekend. Yet another great example of racers helping racers ---- including bring some home cooking to the event!
Looking forward to the next race in just two weeks -- The Winter Warrior at 180 Raceway sponsored by Awesomatix USA December 10-12th 2021 in Middle River, Maryland
