1989 HASC World Series

**PREVIOUS: 1988 | NEXT: 1990**

   The **1989 HASC World Series** was the tenth season in the HASC era of Centerpointian open-wheel racing. The season schedule featured the same sixteen races on the same tracks for a third year in a row. Christian Hall was the national champion in his sixth season driving for Ganarsi Narussia Racing. Defending double champion Hoff Prantz won the Mareca 500 after a three-car battle for the coveted victory, and the Rookie of the Year was Adrian Portland. Gregory Vittorilo was another promising rookie, but was sidelined due to injuries from a shunt at Arana Desert Speedway, although he eventually recovered and returned in 1990.

The opening stretch of the season saw an unexpected car leading the championship standings. Steven Bradbury won the season opener at Nurmer Valley driving for Gresino Motorsports, then built up a respectable cushion with several good finishes. Prantz’s team LockSport finally dropped the Ford-Cosworth power, but surprisingly took up the development of the inferior Alfa Romeo engine unlike the other top teams who were using Chevrolet. The Alfa Romeo engine had a noticeable straightline speed deficit, but its strength was fuel efficiency and mechanical longevity. It particularly showed in 500-mile events as Prantz won the Mareca 500 and the Arana Desert 500, but his bid for the Triple Crown died when he finished second to Hall at Eastern Haluva Speedway.

## Season calendar

* Round 1 - April 16 - **Western Late Night Shops 200** at Nurmer Valley International Speedway (O)
* Round 2 - April 30 - **Renault Grand Prix of Raspberry Beach** at the Streets of Hekkel (S)
* Round 3 - May 14 - **Budweiser Grand Prix of Sunlight Town** at Larke International Airport (R)
* Round 4 - May 28 - **Summer Camping Point at Metkin Swamp** at Byron-Earhart International (R)
* Round 5 - June 4 - **Provimi Coffee 300** at Coffee Hill Speedway (O)
* Round 6 - June 18 - **Ginte Grand Prix of Golden Meadows** at Golden Meadows Raceway (R)
* Round 7 - July 16 - **Mareca 500** at Marceli Superspeedway (O) *[Postponed from July 9 because of rain]*
* Round 8 - July 23 - **Budweiser Hoffman Grand Prix** at Southern Glory Road (R)
* Round 9 - August 6 - **Sanac Corporation Grand Prix** at International Sanac Raceway (R) *[Postponed from July 30 to avoid races on three consecutive Sundays after the Mareca 500 postponement]*
* Round 10 - August 13 - **Pepsi Cola Arana Desert 500** at Arana Desert Speedway (O)
* Round 11 - August 27 - **Budweiser Grand Prix of Hesta** at Hesta International Racetrack (R)
* Round 12 - September 3 - **Miller Spark Plug 200** at Gorchan Speedway (O)
* Round 13 - September 17 - **Molke MarCar Canadian Grand Prix** at Exhibition Fair, Zyke (S)
* Round 14 - September 24 - **Quaker State 500** at Eastern Haluva Speedway (O)
* Round 15 - October 8 - **Miller Spark Plug Grand Prix** of Laguna Mocca at Laguna Mocca Raceway (R)
* Round 16 - October 22 - **Miller Spark Plug Grand Prix** of Longhook Park at Longhook Park, Siamoni (S)
* Non-championship all-star race - October 29 - **Anheuser Superstar Challenge** at Longhook Park, Siamoni (S)

## **Overview: race reports**

### **Race 1: Western Late Night Shops 200**

K.W. Nakot was to run a full HASC schedule for the first time. As it turned out later, he planned to retire after the 1990 season, and set up a two-year „retirement tour”. Ganarsi Narussia Racing teammates Christian Hall and Leo Montermini locked out the front row. Hall rocketed into the lead early, but on lap 22 he understeered into backmarker Randy Henn while trying to pass him on the inside and bounced off into the barrier. Montermini inherited the lead which he kept until lap 157 when his engine blew up. This handed the lead to Steven Bradbury, who was mostly known and hated for causing a pile-up at the start of the 1985 Mareca 500. Bradbury had a lap on the field and went on to take his first career victory in the season opener at Nurmer Valley International Speedway, driving for the underfunded Gresino Motorsports.

### **Race 2: Grand Prix of Raspberry Beach**

Polesitter Leo Montermini was overtaken by Alan Leimer and Burton Vittorilo Sr. on the first lap and quickly dropped by them. Vittorilo Sr., who was clearly lighter on fuel than Leimer, led laps 2 to 34 until the first of his two expected stops. Leimer made his only expected stop for fuel and tyres on lap 44. Vittorilo Sr., who had otherwise pulled enough of a lead to make his second stop and come out ahead of Leimer, shockingly ran out of fuel in the hairpin on lap 72 and slowly coasted into the pits. Leimer cruised to victory as Vittorilo Sr. proceeded to then run out again on the final lap and fell to third behind Steven Bradbury, who maintained his championship lead. Montermini ended up suffering a severe engine misfire and dropped through the field to finish six laps down in eighth.

### **Race 3: Grand Prix of Sunlight Town**

Burton Vittorilo Sr. took his first win of the season after battling with Leo Montermini throughout the race. Montermini’s second place was the first high finish amidst Ganarsi Narussia Racing’s dismal start to the season despite sweeping the first three pole positions. Christian Hall failed to finish any of the three races, while Montermini had engine problems in both Nurmer Valley and Hekkel. The Hekkel victor Alan Leimer broke a crankshaft on lap 9 and finished dead-last, while Steven Bradbury maintained his points lead despite dropping out with a broken gear on lap 34.

### **Race 4: Summer Camping Point at Metkin Swamp**

Alan Leimer had made a move from Hermano-Greco Enterprises to Holmes Racing after a winless 1988 campaign marked by several run-ins with his teammate Damon d’Keelie. His second victory of the season at Byron-Earhart International was a bit controversial. He fought for the lead with aforementioned former teammate d’Keelie, but with seven laps to go the two collided, sending d’Keelie into the trackside tyre barriers. However, officials cleared Leimer of any wrongdoing. Leimer established himself as the closest early challenger to Steven Bradbury. Ganarsi Narussia Racing had a points deficit due to their cars tripping over in the early races and Burton Vittorilo Sr. retired in the closing laps with a fuel ring failure.

### **Race 5: Provimi Coffee 300**

Burton Vittorilo Sr. took the lead from Alan Leimer and led the final 113 laps for his second victory of the season.

### **Race 6: Grand Prix of Golden Meadows**

A highly-publicized story of the season was the switch of LockSport with the reigning double champion Hoff Prantz from Ford-Cosworth engines to Alfa Romeo’s product. Ditching Ford-Cosworth was not an unpopular move at the time, but most of the teams opted to be supplied by Chevrolet. While Prantz managed to finish in the lower top ten positions in most of the early races, he initially struggled to fight with the leaders due to the noticeable horsepower deficit of the new engine. However, the critics were silenced after the race at Golden Meadows Raceway when he passed polesitter Leo Montermini in a straight on-track exchange and fought him off for the remainder of the race to take his first win of the season. Steven Bradbury padded his points lead with his third consecutive fourth-place finish.

### **Race 7: Mareca 500**

The flagship event of the series was postponed by a week because of torrential rains. Nearly the entire race unfolded as a three-way battle between Hoff Prantz, Steven Bradbury and Leo Montermini. Christian Hall and Alan Leimer both qualified within the first two rows, but suffered from bad handling caused by fast tyre wear and were eventually lapped by the leaders. On a final restart with three laps remaining, Prantz skirted by Bradbury and took the flag for his second consecutive win. It was also the fastest Mareca 500 ever run up to that point and featured the closest three-car finish in the history of the event. The scenes were emotional as LockSport’s cancer-stricken team owner Jimmy Hylton hugged Prantz and his baby daughter Samantha in the victory lane. Hylton eventually died less than two weeks after the race, and the team folded at the end of the year – but not before Prantz gave some of the others a good run for their money.

### **Race 8: Hoffman Grand Prix**

Christian Hall took a dramatic victory after leader Burton Vittorilo Jr. ran out of fuel in the final corner of the final lap and barely coasted over the crest before the start/finish line to finish second.

### **Race 9: Sanac Corporation Grand Prix**

On a rain-affected start to the race, an early incident was instigated by Burton Vittorilo Jr., which resulted in his retirement and left Christian Hall and Alan Leimer tumbling to the back of the field with damage. After the track dried up, Damon d’Keelie overhauled early leader Leo Montermini and raced on to victory. Hall ended up recovering to second place and Leimer to sixth, coming within a mere car length of passing Chase Armstrong for fifth.

### **Race 10: Pepsi Cola Arana Desert 500**

Christian Hall led 128 of the first 136 laps and put a lap on the field looking to repeat his dominance from the year before, but got distracted by traffic, slid into the outside wall and crashed out. Steven Bradbury’s third consecutive retirement knocked him from first to fourth in the points standings and he would not return to the title fight, with a massive slump dropping him to sixth by the end of the season. Hoff Prantz, Leo Montermini and Alan Leimer finished 1-2-3 in the race and were now also the top three in the standings, separated by just 20 points with six races remaining.

### **Race 11: Grand Prix of Hesta**

Ganarsi Narussia Racing took a 1-2 finish with Leo Montermini taking his first win of the season leading Christian Hall, while Hoff Prantz tangled with a lapped car for a second consecutive year and dropped out of the race with suspension damage.

### **Race 12: Miller Spark Plug 200**

Alan Leimer and Leo Montermini both dropped out with engine issues, Hoff Prantz ran mid-pack, but Christian Hall dominated and scored a crucial victory at Gorchan Speedway. This would be the turning point of the season as he jumped from fourth in the points to the championship lead.

### **Race 13: MarCar Canadian Grand Prix**

Around the streets of Zyke, Alan Leimer won his third race of the season, but Christian Hall ran solidly to finish second. Leo Montermini blew a seal and retired into his garage after several laps because of the leaking oil breaking his rear traction, and was now an outsider for the title.

### **Race 14: Quaker State 500**

Hoff Prantz was eligible to become the first car since Fabio Leimer in 1977 to win the Triple Crown, having swept the Mareca 500 and Arana Desert 500. He avoided numerous crashes and mechanical issues on the day that forced other cars to retire, but in the end could not overcome Christian Hall, who took another victory.

### **Race 15: Grand Prix of Laguna Mocca**

At the second-to-last race of the season, Hoff Prantz was going for five consecutive victories at Laguna Mocca Raceway. However, he was beaten in qualifying by Christian Hall, who took his fifth consecutive pole position. Prantz took the lead at the start, but Hall overtook him with a daring maneuver into the Corkscrew on the same lap – never to be seen again. He dominated the race, leading every single lap and claiming his fourth win of the season. He also now had an insormountable points lead, assuring him of his first and only national championship.

### **Race 16: Grand Prix of Longhook Park**

With the championship decided, the season finale in Siamoni became a fight for the runner-up honours. Hoff Prantz led the way ahead of Alan Leimer, with Leo Montermini fourth and Burton Vittorilo Sr. lurking behind in fifth and within mathematical range of third. Christian Hall extended his run of pole positions to six, but it was Leimer who dominated, leading 94 of 110 laps. Prantz blew his engine (notably Alfa Romeo’s first and only engine failure of the year accentuating their mechanical longevity), Montermini retired with axle-hopping issues, and Vittorilo Sr. came home second. Leimer moved up to second in points, with Prantz down to third and Vittorilo Sr. slipping ahead of Montermini for fourth. Even though the start of his season had been nowhere near stardom, Hall proved a dominant and deserving champion with four wins, twelve top five finishes and nine pole positions.

### **Non-championship all-star race: Anheuser Superstar Challenge**

Traditionally, the starting positions for this event were decided by a blind draw from a hat in the pits. Leo Montermini drew the final starting position, and decided to pit early to avoid traffic. Montermini ducked into the lane on lap 8 of 55 after making up five positions from the start. Meanwhile defending winner Burton Vittorilo Jr. dominated the race from the front and jumped out to lead the first 37 laps before his own stop dropped him behind Montermini. Montermini was able to preserve his previous pace and took the victory from the back of the grid.

## Final season standings

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sGkG2-388FTCL5eLnHsxj7tYM54JquZkDgP218zbIMM/edit#gid=159129232 for full standings