April 21, 2024

The sun was shining as always out at Atlanta Motorsports Park for Round 2 of the AMP Championship series! The adrenaline was pumping, hearts were racing, and in a few circumstances, said hearts were breaking. Drivers gave it everything and even pushed some boundaries to chase glory.

We kicked off Round 2 of the AMP Championship Series a little shorthanded. Due to the number of signups, the Spec Miata Class had to cut Round 2 from their schedule. With that being said, this made way for the entertaining Down-Force division to take center stage in this weekend’s race. Three total divisions would take the green, lead by Jack Rambo (16) in his Praga R1.

Lap 1 of the Pre-Final was slightly eventful. At the drop of the green, Raiden Nicol (93) and his Radical R10 would push from the tail of the 13-car field all the way to P2 by the 6th turn. Nicol started in the rear due to a penalty that was issued during qualifying. Pete Folger (26) spun in turn 12 on the first lap, getting stuck right before the sand trap. This would bring out a full course caution for 3 laps. Rambo and Nicol would lead the field back to green for lap 4. By turn 6, Nicol had already put a full second gap between himself and Rambo.

Lap 8 would be very eventful. Rambo entered turn 4 in second place and spun to the high side of the corner. With no time to react, the no. 88 car, driven by Callahan Warlick, swerved to avoid contact and was hit from behind by Will Leighton. Pete Folger had nowhere to go and made impact with the right front of Rambo. All drivers walked away from the accident, but unfortunately this would lead to all drivers involved being done for the day. This accident would bring out the red flag and freeze the grid for the second race. Nicol would be declared the winner of race one. With this race ending before the halfway point, there would be no City Line Nutrition Mid-Race top five.

After a lengthy red flag, we would go back racing. Nicol would lead the field to green, followed by Chris Huhn (01) in his SR3 Radical. Nicol would take the green and immediately put a whole football field between himself and Huhn. William Leighton (91) would be entirely sideways entering turn 12, as Leighton battled issues with his steering wheel, drifting through turn 13 but ultimately saving it. Your City Line Nutrition Mid-Race top 5: Nicol (93), Folger (29), Huhn (01) and Mason (28), Blakely Fabiani (85).

Lap 7 would bring out a full course caution. Jose Aveilez (98) would have a mechanical failure in turn two. Speaking with Aveilez after the race he stated that he believed he lost his transmission.

“I entered turn 1 and downshifted. This put the car in neutral so I shifted up and had no power. I shifted back into neutral and killed the car to see if it was a possible electrical issue. I never gained back power and that was the end of my day.”

This caution would set up a green-white-checkered finish. Nicol would continue his day of dominance, securing the win. P2 would go to Greg Folger and P3 would belong to David Mason. For full results, visit Race Monitor. Here you will find results by time and division. Next month’s race is scheduled for Saturday, May 11th at 11:00 am right here in Dawsonville, GA.

Photos: Connor Cochran, Liberty Racing Review