Going into the first turn, it appeared that Munroe slowed unexpectedly, causing Anders to get on the binders slightly harder than usual, which created a 3 car pile up at the front of the field, which Mark Witz and J.R. Sharp skirted by to take the top two spots. The drama for the front row was not yet over as they were both collected in the carousel corner later that lap by a spinning car, effectively ending their day.

Sharp led the field nearly flag to flag in route to his second AOWR victory in 3 weeks over Mark Witz. Vincent Sciuto came from nearly 40 seconds back to mount a late race charge for 2nd place, but did not force the issue leaving the final turn. The drama continues to mount as it appears Doyle and Sharp will be tied for the series lead going into Indianapolis.

Unfortunately, Niles uncharacteristically spun his tires taking the green flag, creating havoc behind him and elimitating several fast cars very early on, including Tim Doyle, the points leader. Once a race pace had settled in, it was Mark Witz and Andy Shuck that led a combined 38 of the 60 laps of the race. The race was marred by several cautions which eliminated many cars that were undamaged from earlier events. On lap 50, J.R. Sharp made a 3 wide pass for the lead over Taylor Munroe and Cary Bettenhausen exiting turn 2. This ended up being the pass for the race as a late caution bottled up the field for one last, 3 lap shootout. J.R. Sharp held of a late race charge from Mark Witz and Vincent Sciuto to take the checkers for the 1st time in his Dallara Indycar career.

The points race grew ever so tight as the series heads to Michigan next week. Tim Doyle maintains a slight 5 point advantage over JR Sharp, with Mike Peters looming just 27 points back in 3rd.

Great accolades were extended to all drivers by series administrator Michael Peters for the heart and focus this road course event took for the normally “all oval” series.

“We wanted to add a twist to the schedule, and give our drivers a new challenge so we elected to add 2 road events to our schedule for 2010,” said Peters “I want to thank all of our drivers for their heart to stick with learning a new style of racing!”

Next week, the series heads to the track “too tough to tame” in Darlington, SC for its inaugural event on the high banked “egg shaped” oval.

Had it not been for a yellow with 5 to-go Todd Bettenhausen, might have been able to capture the flag. Bettenhausen, was heard stating on the radio “I had him! One more lap, I had him!”

Tim Doyle, who noticed the first iRStats Pole Award of the 2010S, along with Niles Anders were assessed drive-thru penalties after misinterpreting the green-flag pit procedures, dropping them from contention after strong performances early.

Strong performances were also turned in by 2009W runner up Kevin Cress (6th) and JR Sharp (8th) who made his first start since the 2009W Charlotte event. Brian R Simpson looked racy early in his AOWR debut, but suffered suspension damage after a brush with the wall near mid-race to finish 16th. The only major incident of the event occured on lap 2 when Scott Manifold lost control, collecting Scott Kennedy, Taylor Munroe and Terry Siders. Manifold was apologetic for the incident and admitted “I just lost it”.

Last season’s champion Vincent Scuito began his title defense with a tough race, finishing 16th, 2 laps behind the leaders.

Next week, the AOWR heads to the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but with a twist, as the AOWR competes in its first ever road course event.

The 2010 Spring Season kicks off at Las Vegas Motor Speedway with the Las Vegas Indy Challenge Monday, February 8th, 2010 at 9PM EST.

2010 Spring – American Open Wheel Racing Schedule
2.8.2010 / Las Vegas Motor Speedway
2.15.2010 / Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Road Course)
2.22.2010 / Darlington Raceway
3.1.2010 / Daytona International Raceway
3.8.2010 / Michigan International Speedway
3.15.2010 / Watkins Glen International Raceway (NASCAR course)
3.22.2010 / Toyota Speedway at Irwindale
3.29.2010 / Texas Motor Speedway
4.5.2010 / Phoenix International Raceway
4.12.2010 / The Milwaukee Mile
4.19.2010 / Homestead Miami Speedway