Shugg wins another AI East race in his MM-equipped #67 Mustang

AI East Race Report - Beaver Run, May 2003

Bryan Shugg drove his #67 Mustang to both first and second place finishes in a weekend of exciting American Iron racing.

The American Iron East and American Iron Midwest (Ohio/Indiana) NASA chapters came together at Beaver Run in Pittsburgh for the largest AI field ever on the weekend of May 10 and 11. Both Saturday and Sunday morning found 24 AI competitors facing dull and rainy conditions. But these ominous beginnings were not an indicator of things to come. The racing gods must have wanted this event to happen; when it came time for the green flag to fly each day, the track was dry and the sun was shining.

Qualifying on Saturday would show four AI Extreme cars up front. Behind the Extreme cars, the American Iron field shaped up as follows: Richard Koehler on pole followed by Bryan Shugg in his Maximum Motorsports suspended Mustang, James Hoover, and Elliot Fisher.

During Saturday's pace lap, Richard Koehler suffered a power steering failure and got black-flagged for excessive smoke. When the green flag dropped and Koehler out of the way, Shugg jumped to an early lead, and opened up a 4 second gap on the competition. Around lap 10, isolated incidents caused 3 yellow flags in separate corners that stood for the remainder of the race. Shugg had to slow in the yellow flagged corners and began to lose ground as he could no longer make use of his car's cornering advantage. Shugg's underpowered car was no match for Hoover's straight away speed, and Hoover began eating away at Shugg's 4-second lead. Hoover made a move with a few laps to go to take the win by 1.33 seconds.

Saturday's AI Results:

James Hoover
Bryan Shugg
ElliotFisher
Stephen Jones
Dean Smeltzer
Mark Wilson
Brian Smith
Greg Anderson
Eric Meehan
John Pearson
David Smith
Lloyd Clark
Mark Luna
Richard Koehler (DNS)

In Sunday's Qualifying round, three Extreme cars qualified ahead of the American Iron field. In American Iron, James Hoover set pole, followed by Bryan Shugg and Dean Smeltzer.

At the drop of the green, Hoover, Shugg, and Smeltzer filed into turn 1 behind the three Extreme cars. Shugg and Smeltzer got by Hoover on the first lap in turn 10. Shugg and Smeltzer soon broke away from the rest of the field and threaded their way through traffic for the remaining 17 laps. Shugg held the lead to a 1.80 second victory.

Sunday's AI Results:

Bryan Shugg
Dean Smeltzer
James Hoover
Stephen Jones
Elliot Fisher
Brian Smith
Mark Wilson
Greg Anderson
John Pearson
David Smith
Eric Meehan
Lloyd Clark
Mark Luna

When asked about his 2nd and 1st place finishes, Bryan replied, "I really don't think that my driving ability would afford me the large difference in speed that existed in the corners. Rather, I think I can drive alright and happen to have had the best chassis and suspension there."

"I'm thinking of taking my MM stickers off the car because I don't want anyone else to find out about your stuff! I like winning."

Overall, it was a fantastic weekend of racing. The racing was extremely fast, exciting and competitive. Well-earned congratulations to everyone.