Underscoring Ryan's lonely AI drives this year, at press time he'd won four races in a row in SoCal AI events. These came after a learning year in 2006, but when Ryan switched to an Agent 47 SLA front end last winter, it came at a cumulation of car improvements and his increasing driving skills, hence the win streak this year.
A Toyota technician, Ryan built his Fox and its 331 pushrod engine. He continues to do all of the work on it, save for chassis work done by Agent 47's maestro, Bill Osborne. It's a good deal for Agent 47 and Ryan, as the workload is well distributed, and his hard-charging style keeps Agent 47 up front.
Ryan's plan is to run all West Coast AI races and win his regional championship. Then it's off to the Nationals where he'll be a rookie. After crewing for Ernesto Rocco last year, Ryan can say he's seen Mid-Ohio, but as he noted, "For Jay Andrews, it's just another race."
If Ryan's determination, skill, and demonstrated West Coast speed-he set lap records during his win streak-can overcome his Nationals inexperience, he will be interesting to watch.
Normally Corey Webber can be found behind the wheel of his number 47 AIX Mustang, but this year he says if he makes it to the Nationals, he'll likely be driving an American Iron car. It might be the same car or he might build a new one.
Last year, Corey took the West Coat AIX championship and Second in the Nationals when Ernesto Rocco fell out at the end of his battle with Chris Griswold. It was an "interesting race," Corey says. "We came with 650 at the crank and it wasn't enough power. Chris had raw power; Ernesto had handling. They were duking it out in front of me, beating on it. I thought for sure they were going to take themselves out. We were all battling for a while." At the end, Ernesto fell out with damage, Chris won, and Corey was Second. Exciting stuff, and he was right there.
Especially given the fun Corey's had, moving from AIX to AI is retrograde to the normal flow, but he has excellent reasons for stepping into the limited-power class. For one, his AIX engine, a howling 600-plus-hp beast, expired at the end of last season, so there's the considerable expense of rebuilding the mill. Corey is also the guiding principle at Agent 47, a business fast making inroads to the NASA scene, where American Iron is considered the more driver-oriented contest and AIX depends more heavily on racing lubricant-cash. Put the two together and it makes sense for Corey to fit a milder small-block to his car and jump into the larger AI pool.
It would be a full circle for the Agent 47 chassis, which was originally built for AI, but from the get-go it had so much engine Agent 47 decided to go AIX racing instead.
It also makes sense for Corey to stay in the paddock and put his effort into Ryan Walton and Andy Bowman. Both are sponsored by Agent 47. Ryan especially seems dedicated to racing to the top of the AI podium.
The inside guess is Corey won't be able to stay away-always a safe bet with racers-so give him better than even chances of showing at Mid-Ohio. If he doesn't, Ryan, Andy, and a contingency program will represent Agent 47 at the Nationals
You'll find the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, off of Interstate 71, or at www.midohio.com. NASA's National Championship weekend is September 11-14, 2008, and will feature many door-to-door classes of road racing. Free tent camping is allowed and showers are provided, so don't let the motel budget kill a good idea. General admission pricing is $20 to $25.