Rain Drenches Race and Jenks Perseveres!

 As the rain continued to beat down, the cars rolled onto track. Goikhberg, supposed to be the second place position was late to grid and as a result he filled in the last position.

The cars rolled towards the start line and Gonzalez grouped the pack up as much as the conditions would allow. The green flew, but by the time they got to the bus stop it was Jenks with the lead. The outside line into turn one was the better of the options. Gonzalez had fallen to second, but by the time the field crossed line he had regained the lead. Jenks followed in second and Goikhberg had progressed nicely to get into the third spot. Bob Wright and Dave Weitzenhof would fill the top five.

The next time by, it was Goikhberg with the advantage over Jenks, but Gonzalez was out front and had generated a three second gap. Meanwhile, Kerry Jacobsen overtook Dave Weitzenhof to claim the fifth spot.

With nine laps remaining, both Gonzalez and Goikhberg run their fastest laps, there’s only a tenth between the two. The advantage again goes to Gonzalez. The game of chicken is on once again, who can extract the most speed without mistake? For now, it’s nearly a dead heat.

With seven laps left, Gonzalez and Goikhberg take more time back from the track, this time Goikhberg with a slight advantage over Gonzalez. The difference in lap time is only two tenths of a second, the two are separated by just two seconds. Jenks is circulating comfortably in third, Wright is in fourth, while Jacobsen sits in fifth and is closing on Wright.

At this juncture it became obvious that the race would end on time, not lap count, the conditions just didn’t allow for the drivers to complete full race distance. At the front, Goikhberg closed to within a second of Gonzalez and looked poised to take the top spot heading towards the bus stop. Gonzalez wasn’t having any of it. At the completion of the lap Gonzalez held the lead.

With just two laps remaining, the race ended for Goikhberg, he spun off the final turn of the bus stop going into the wall backwards severely damaging his Citation. In these conditions, that game of chicken can be cruel. Only a local yellow was shown as Goikhberg was out of the way and indicating that he was okay.

Gonzalez now safe for the first time in the race, Jenks following comfortably, Bob Wright held third. Jacobsen was following just a second behind Wright. It’s worth noting that Brandon Dixon got back on the racing surface but because the repairs from his qualifying crash delayed him, he started his race six laps down.

Unbelievably, it was not to be for Gonzalez. Despite having led nearly the entire race, he ground to a halt with less than a lap to complete. Jenks took the win, Bob Wright in second, and Jacobsen in third.