ASC RACING LAGUNA SECA RACE SUMMARY

The highs had Michelle Nagai and Mike Arnheiter winning in their respective classes during Saturday's race, but five competitors experienced the lows. One such driver was Jeff Glowniak, who entered the weekend with a nine-point lead over Dave Arnheiter in the ASC spec class championship point standings, but a loose lug nut found Glowniak trapped in the pits. Glowniak rebounded with a second-place finish Sunday but he still left the Monterey Peninsula trailing Dave Arnheiter by 16 points.

Dave Arnheiter, who was faced with sound penalties during Friday's practice, finished third on Saturday, but a battery problem left him sitting on the grid prior to Sunday's race. After being push started, a spin, another push start, he was only able to finish sixth.

Nagai, who won two races at Thunderhill Raceway earlier in the season, easily covered the field in the ASC-Unlimited class. After setting the group’s fast time in Friday afternoon qualifying, covering the 11-turn track in 1 minute 34.811 seconds with an average speed of 84.977 miles per hour, Nagai only got better. The Auburn, CA resident capped the weekend with a second win on Sunday and a race lap of 1:30.896 (88.638 MPH).

As for the rest of the ASC-U class, after Saturday’s race, the only way to go was up. Fred Lind cut down a tire in Saturday’s race, but came back with a strong second-place run on Sunday. Al Balding, Jr. suffered a blown head gasket in Saturday’s race and chose to set out Sunday. Manuel Gil del Real had a shifter linkage problem on Saturday and returned to finish third on Sunday.

In the Spec class, Mike Arnheiter won his second race of the season on Saturday and slipped past Dale Hartman on a late-race restart to finish third on Sunday. Mike Arnheiter is currently fifth in the overall points battle.

Hartman, who had a great run on Saturday finishing second, was pressuring Glowniak for the second-place spot on Sunday before the last of three full-course cautions came out. But on the restart, he didn’t hear his spotter tell him to go and was passed by Mike Arnheiter, finishing fourth. Hartman is now fourth in the season standings.

When money is on the line, Robert Davis always seems to be there. Davis who has competed in only half of the events this season, increased his season earnings to $925 by winning Sunday’s race and turning in the fastest race lap of the weekend .

Davis got off to a really low start in Friday’s practice when he exited the track on fire. It took four fire extinguishers to put out the blaze, damaging the engine compartment in the process. The crew worked feverishly to repair the damage. However, it took two more trips onto the track before all the melted wires would make themselves know.

The win was Davis’ fourth of the season and it was the third time this season that he has won the Ghaster Painting Superior Performance Award. The award is given out by Brad Ghaster to the ASC Spec driver who turns in the fastest race lap of the weekend. Davis won the award with his last lap in Sunday’s race of 1:33.117, 86.523 MPH.

Noticeably absent this weekend was Ed Ochylski. The Phoenix resident came into the weekend third in points, only 26 behind the leader. Although still third, he now sits 172 points behind Dave Arnheiter.

Following the two races, the Taleo Grill Awards Ceremony took place with each o f the top three finishers from each race in ASC and ASC-Unlimited receiving trophies provided by the upscale Mexican Restaurant located in Irvine, CA.

The ASC concludes its season in two weeks at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. For more information, please visit www.ASCRacing.com.

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