August 3, 2024

Chris Huhn scored a resounding victory in Round 5 of the AMP Summer Championship at Atlanta Motorsports Park. This victory came after Huhn missed the first two races of the series, and the win will hold current points leader Greg Folger from running away, with a total separation of 100 points between Folgers and Huhn. This marked Huhn’s third win of the 2024 season at AMP.

The number 29 of Greg Folger led practice with a fast time of 1:19.804. Speaking with Folger after his practice run, the driver stated that the heat played a major factor. Folger would go on to qualify in first position with a time of 1:19.781, setting the pole for the SR3 division. Evan Lowery would lead the SR1 field in his number 97 machine, with a time of 1:22.908.

In Heat 1, Greg Folger and Chris Huhn would lead the field to the green flag. Folger would lead the fourteen-car field around for two laps until trouble erupted. Folger had a sizeable lead over Huhn entering the backstretch, but when entering Turn 8, Folger would dip ever so slightly off track and venture into the grass for a long skid. This gave Huhn a chance to recover his lost positions and catapulted him seven car lengths ahead of Folger. Further back in the field, the number 85 of Blake Fabiani would suffer a brake failure, ending his first heat race of the day.

Halfway through Heat 1, Folger would recover from his previous spin to lead at the halfway mark. He would be followed by Huhn, Mason, Lowery, and Aveillez. Again, however, Folger would let his nerves get the best of him and spin in turn 11. He would unfortunately fall all the way back to tenth position. Huhn would again take the lead with a few laps remaining. Huhn would take the checkered flag and start on the pole for the final race of the day.

Folger would start at the rear of the field due to his spin in the Pre-Final. David Mason would challenge Huhn entering the first turn, but Huhn would pull to an early lead. Folger would begin his hard-fought drive back to the top, though unfortunately he would make contact with the number 92 of Jose Aveillez. Aveillez would continue on, but Folger would spin and get back to a slow start.

We would then shift our focus to the SR1 battle between the number 97 of Evan Lowrey and the number 4 of Gavin Poteet. Both drivers would charge side-by-side entering Turn 6, making both drivers break loose and have to regain their bearings. Behind the 97 and 4 was the 90 car of Will Leighton. Leighton would get caught up in the bobbles in Turn 6, spinning on the midway lap.

Your Smokey Bear Cigars & Cafe Midway Top Five: Huhn, Mason, Folger, Lowrey, and Leighton.

The rest of the race would be smooth sailing for our leader Chris Huhn. Huhn would jump to a six-second advantage over the second place machine of Mason. Huhn would claim his third checkered flag of the season.

As the points stand, Greg Folger still sits in the lead with four wins, two second-place finishes, and two third-place finishes. Huhn is right behind him with three wins, two second-place finishes, and two third-place finishes.

Evan Lowrey finished with a fourth place overall and a first place finish in SR1. Lowrey and Blake Fabiani are neck and neck in points with two races to go.

Photos: Connor Cochran/Liberty Racing Review