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With qualifying positions set it was time for the teams to take their 3+ hour break before the race. A good thing for those of us who were still in the testing stages and sorting out new set-ups. For the rest of the teams, this was the perfect time to find shelter from the elements and rest up for the race.
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| No resting for 70/30 Racing as we found some witness marks on our rear tires from where they were making contact with our inner fenders. We spent a good portion of our break literally “rolling” our rear fenders. Safety first! |
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| BOUNCE…CHECK…BOUNCE…RE-CHECK…BOUNCE…ROLL…BOUNCE…CHECK AGAIN! |
Fast forward to race time and our racers line up in front of the field. With MPTCC cars holding two of the three top lap times of the day, the MPTCC field would line up in front of the pack of NASA's race group C. As the cars came around the last turn (infamous turn 9) and hit the straightaway the green flag dropped! It caught NASA veteran Edik Stepanyan off guard, and Michele, Steve and Justin were able to get the jump on him. ”They never throw the green flag that early. Usually it's not dropped till we're close to the start/finish line”, said Edik after the race.
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| Though the field was able to get the initial jump on the start, Edik held strong to his line and was able to hold off the charge and retain first place through turn 1. As they entered turn 3 the Tuner Under cars were all in close proximity to each other. |
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| With each passing lap Edo kept slowly but surely pulling away from the rest of the field. By lap 5 he had created a gap almost the length of the front straightaway! |
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| While Edo was enjoying his weekend cruise, a battle between the remaining three Tuner Under cars was developing. Once again the Infiniti G20 and Honda S2000 would find themselves dicing it out. Almost at the half way mark of the race Justin has a little more speed entering turn one and managed to complete this pass. Steve held his outside line and Justin simply did not have enough room to track out without losing speed. This allowed Steve to exit turn one with more speed and he was able to immediately take the position back. |
