It was a longer wait than anticipated to see whether or not the Vipers would dominate the field at Sonoma. Scheduling for some of the FRL's drivers necessitated a delay of an extra day to allow for as many to participate as possible. A devastating hardware failure led to one drivers conspicuous absence though, Brandon Adkins would not be present to challenge teammate Tony Tyree for a Top 5 spot in the series points.
Despite the off night, nine drivers did turn up for qualifying. D&S Performance didn't wait to answer the performance question and locked-out the front row in qualifying. Travis Billingsley settled into a P3 start position to round out the Top 3.
At the drop of the green flag, Andrew Steppat wasted no time in running out to a sizable lead, though a bit less impressive than at Yas Marina. Bryan Dean maintained second place over Travis' #18 Noble, but only just. He had to defend his position at several places throughout the first heat. Several bobbles by Bryan kept Travis close to the #808 Viper, but the power kept the Dodge out of serious trouble.
Further afield, Drew Dilbeck made his first race in Season 8, running a McLaren. He did quite well, qualifying and maintaining a mid-pack position. He would lose a place to Ethan Maestri and Tony Tyree, but kept good pace over Paul Maestri, Nicholas Hargrove and Matt Smith.
Heat 2 would begin with both Matt Smith and Paul Maestri exiting early for the night. The reverse field took the green flag, but mayhem soon ensued as Ethan tried to execute a pass around the outside of Tony's #47 Corvette but ended up clipping Tony's front nose, sending both spinning into the run-up the hill toward Turn 2. Travis tried to check-up and bumped into Bryan's door, upsetting the Noble and spinning it deep into the weeds. Bryan looked to make it through cleanly but the Corvette of the #47 tagged the left rear of Bryan's Viper and sent him into the grass as well. Four of Heat 1's Top 5 were now stricken, with Drew's McLaren and Nicholas' Corvette skampering off into the hills. Andrew Steppat was the sole survivor of the scrum and went on to charge into the lead. The field sorted itself for a mad dash toward the front. Ethan got the #3 AMG righted first and stormed on. Bryan Dean was in hot pursuit while Tony and Travis gingerly got themselves underway as well.
Bryan and Ethan made their way past Nicholas first, then Drew. As Bryan tried to execute a move around the outside of Drew's McLaren, Drew clipped the inside of the wall on the last corner before the start/finish line. This sent him careening into the side of Bryan's Viper and caused extensive damage to the #808's front right suspension and brakes as Bryan scrapped the outside wall. This opened the door for both Travis and Tony to advance ahead of Bryan, a lap later the #808 would have to pit for repairs.
Travis would catch Ethan and for several laps looked for an opportunity to pass. A slight bobble into the grass staved off one pass, but a later off by Ethan would open the door for Travis to take P3. In the end, the night belonged to Andrew Steppat as he took both heat wins, further extending his championship lead. Travis Billingsley would find his way to P2 on the night and in the series points as well. Ethan Maestri finds himself on the third step of the podium for the night as well.
Bryan took a hit in the series, gaining only P4 on the night. Tony Tyree keeps his stranglehold on a Top 5 position. Drew Dilbeck makes a very respectable debut for this season in P6. Nick Hargrove takes P7. And Paul Maestri and Matt Smith rounded out the field respectively on short nights.
The series moves on to Mugello for Round 3 on October 7th.
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