February 1st, 2021
Season 1
Round 1

Results

The Alpha Touring Challenge was originally imagined as a series that would visit many, many more rovals. This never came to fruition, and Season 1’s four visits to rovals was the highest the series would ever see.

11 drivers lined up at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the grid in that first race. Benjamin Forster sat on pole with Murphy Nichols alongside him on the front row. One row back, series regular and future champion Francois Shink started in P3. Other series regulars like Wiley Cox and Mark Darnell started P7 and P9, whilst series founders Slug and McKinzie started P6 and P10.

Familiar early iconic liveries feature here, like Shink’s classic purple/silver machine, McKinzie’s Tidemobile, and Darnell’s white/orange Audi.

The pace car led the field down to turn 1, in an era where the league was performing rolling starts at the time, and the field began the full 1:30h race. In the league’s first season, this opener race was the only one to eclipse the series’ staple hour-long format in length, and could be considered a precursor to the Special Challenge format we have today.

Cox and Slug collide. (liveries not period correct)

The small field spread out quickly. Slug and Cox came together in the bus stop on L2, effectively ending Slug’s contention for the win. Francois moved up to P2 and trailed Forster until making the pass for the lead in the bus stop on L16.

Shink passes Forster for the lead on L16. (liveries not period correct)
Slug and Shink running bumper-to-bumper, Slug in a livery that didn’t see much use after this race.

For future champion McKinzie, it was a race of struggles. After a poor start, McKinzie lost control of the car on L5 and lost an additional 5 seconds to the field. Eventually, on L22, his day came to an end with a disastrous meeting with the wall on the exit of the chicane at the end of the lap. He was P6 at the time, and would finish P10.

McKinzie’s brutal impact ended his first ATC start early. (liveries not period correct)

After 62 laps of racing, Shink completed the endurance event and secured his first win, setting the tone for his illustrious future ATC career. Slug would bring home P4, with Darnell and Cox behind him. P2 and P3 were held by Korey Ensing and Benjamin Forster, neither of whom ever became series regulars.

Francois Shink become’s the series’ first official race winner. (liveries not period correct)

There was nothing particularly exceptional about this moment, this race, but it marked an important first step for the Alpha Touring Challenge. Without it, none of us would be here today.