#GRIDLIFE TrackBattle is making it’s 6th annual visit to Autobahn Country Club this year. Shaking up the competition format at bit, drivers will only have to focus on the notable south course as they attempt to break records from last year. The entire field has developed in the last 12 months in ways that no one could have predicted, and it’s likely that we’ll see new track records set in almost every class of competition. Here’s a primer on who to look out for this weekend:

STREET

Street class has seen some new competitors for 2020, with Ben Thorn’s well documented EK K-Swap, and Brandon Ranvek’s S54-swapped E36 M3. Neither are strangers to GRIDLIFE, and Brandon Ranvek and his Evo 9 held the South Course class record in years prior. Look for them to be hot on the heels of Chris Neuman and Austin Hertel for a solid 4-way battle. Chris Neuman’s record time to beat from last year is 1:34.027

STREET GT

A year after it’s introduction, Street GT is gaining some serious attention for quality competition within class. Last year, Alex Artayet was behind the wheel of a Subaru STI, and now he’s driving a 2015 M3. He’ll be battling with SGT regulars Chris Bickford and Coby Shield. Coby’s been working on both his car setup, and driver mod with consistent seat time out on the east coast. Look for one of these three to break the 1:33.416 set by Cars & Coffee Survivor Racing’s GT350 from last year.

STREET MODIFIED

This is my pick as the class to watch for the weekend. Drivers in the Street Mod class continue to commit to developing their cars and themselves. Alex Moss is looking to continue his winning ways, fresh off a record-setting victory at Gingerman Raceway. He’ll be facing some tough competition though. Shawn Krebsbach is teamed up with Ronnie Soliman as RS Motors, is the current record holder on South Course. He’s coming equipped with a new 2.2L 4G63 and a Garrett G25-660 turbo setup. He’s up about 100whp compared to last year, sitting right above 550whp on Ronnie’s heartbreaker dyno. We’ll see if he can make good use of all that new power. Jackie Ding continues to develop his TA90 Supra, and was very fast at Gingerman recently. A new turbo and supporting mods from AMS puts this car also right around 550whp. He’s been hard at work trying to get all the kinks worked out of this new platform, and has the potential to be at the top of the podium for the weekend. James Forbis is my dark horse driver for the weekend. He’s been VERY fast in the events he’s run with GRIDLIFE. This will be his first event with us this year, so let’s hope he gets a good start to his race season. The record time from last year is Krebsbach’s 1:30.808 from last year. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a 28-29 if the weather conditions allow it. Who’s going to be at the top of the podium? I have no idea.

TRACK MODIFIED

This weekend, Feras Qartoumy is going to have some serious competition. Debuting his TT C6 Corvette at Gingerman Raceway at Round 2, he ran away from the competition, as others continued to sort out their cars. With South Course veteran Michael Puglisi back in the mix, I fully expect to see a battle in this group. ASMotorsports put together an LS7-swapped E46 M3 with big aero and a sequential gearbox that ran well at Round 1 and 2. Owner/Driver Pete Collins and Builder/Driver Andy Smedegard could easily put their entry at the top of the overall time sheets. Joel Morrison is making the trip north to compete in his first GRIDLIFE event of 2020. With a new transmission, he’s ready to put some power down in his turbo S2000. He’s been fast here before, so don’t over look him as a potential front runner. The current record is held by Luke McGrew in his Viper ACR with a 1:28.701. I don’t expect that time to stand by the end of the day Saturday. Look for times in the 26-27 range from any of these drivers.

UNLIMITED

With the border to America’s hat closed with COVID restrictions, our friends Will Au-Yeung and James Houghton aren’t available this round. Unless we see some new entries to the unlimited field, I don’t expect much action here this weekend.

SUNDAE CUP

Matt Williams has long been the king of Sundae Cup in his Gen 1 fit. A few weeks ago, newcomer Chad Meeks put the class on notice in his 3rd gen Fit. This is by far my favorite class to watch. The low power and slower speeds demand every ounce of perfection on track, ensuring that no time is wasted by over breaking. With the additional power output of the 3rd gen, Chad’s had to add some ballast to the car. We’ll see if he’s able to continue his hot streak here at ABCC.

Chad Meeks and Matt Williams in their 3rd gen and 1st gen Fits, respectively.

TrackBattle 2020 Points

2020 TrackBattle - Round 3 Competition Guide