Going into this event car owner Shane Wade said to Chad, “No pressure, but this race is kind of a big deal!” Speaking on the fact he had yet to win the Chuck Amati Classic that honors his grandfather, the late Chuck Amati. A sea of red and black Amati Racing 66 shirts filled the grandstands on the hill as family, friends, and sponsors of the Amati Racing, Inc. 66 were on hand for the event.
Crew Chief Donnie Gentry and Car Chief Ethan Barrow prepared a car that was fast right out of the gate. A strong field just shy of 35 cars was on had to compete in the highest paying event in Indiana Saturday night. Pill draw lined up the heat race as well as the invert for the AMain. Chad started 4th in his heat race lining up behind legendary sprint car driver, Dave Darland. Chad used both groves of the track to pass his way into the lead to go on and win the heat race by a straightway.
A poor pill draw put Chad starting 8th in the field for the 68 lap AMain. Chad experienced some trouble getting going as the motor wasn’t running at full potential at the strart thus shuffling him back to 11th. Cautions were in Chad’s favor as the field had began to get strung out. Chad had made his way up to third when just after half way the leaders banged wheels taking each other out of the event. Chad thus inherited the lead on lap 40. During the red flag the Amati Racing Crew made their way to the track to make some adjustments. While making adjustments one of the crew members let Chad know how man lap remained. When they told him there were 28 laps left he responded, “Man I’ve still got another feature to race!” That didn’t seem to hold Chad back as he quickly began to stretch his lead out over veteran, Dave Darland. Chad went on to win the 6th Annual Chuck Amati Classic by just shy of a straightaway lead. It was an emotional victory lane to say the least as Chad, Shane Wade, the Amati Crew and sponsors celebrated the win and the life of the late Chuck Amati. Chad reflected after that race telling the crew, “I didn’t think I had anything for them after falling back so deep early, but then the car and motor got better on the long runs.”
This win was Chad’s fourth of the 2015 Seasons and second with Amati Racing Inc. The team will be back in action this weekend with a double header at Lincoln Park Speedway with MSCS and USAC. A track where Chad has many laps under his belt and over ten feature wins. Chad and the Amati Racing Team feel they have a strong and competitive package overall going into this weekend.
Thank you to all of our continued Supporters:
Amsoil, Amati Racing, Inc., Bell Helmets, Butlerbuilt Seats, Creative Finishing, DLG, DRC Chassis, Dynotech Engines, Hinchman Indy, Indy Race Parts, Manvel Motorsports, Marion Underground, Midwest Shades, RevvedUp Industries, Shaws, STIDA, and Zeller Construction