Road Racing at Thunder Road
 

A good field of Stock Class Touring Cars turned out for our road course race on the 18th. Thanks to all the guys who hauled in from Richmond and Roanoke to run with us. We hope you had a good time; and will return for our next road course race on Sunday, March 26th. We'll be running the oval on Saturday the 25th; but the road course will be ready on Sunday.

Jesse Bean and Eddel dominated their respective heats; with Scott Gregory, Leighton Fuller, Steve Simmons and Mack looking good at times, but unable to match the pace of Eddel and Jesse. Charlie Johnson, normally a strong runner, was having an off night; and was't able to complete a full run without something going awry. Jesse Bean's times were well under Eddels; and he looked to have an easy time in the A Main.

The B Main featured a fight from the start, all the way to the finish. Ben Storrs dropped early; but Mack, Charlie Johnson and Clint Withrow swapped the lead repeatedly. Charlie seemed to have the race in hand at one point, but spun and let both Mack and Clint get past. At the finish, all three were on the same lap; within four seconds from first to third. Mack won by just over two seconds from Clint Withrow; with Charlie Johnson just over a second further back, in third. Any one of the three could easily have won this one.

Jesse Bean lined up on the pole for the A Main; knowing he could run laps at least a half second faster that Eddel, his nearest competitor. In the first three or four laps, Jesse threatened to simply disappear in the distance; pulling a quick half lap lead. And, just as quickly, he was parked on the side. Jesse's receiver had partially broken loose, and a looped wire somehow snagged on the "on-off" switch; leaving in in the "OFF" position. By the time he figured out the problem, Jesse was fifteen laps off the pace.

Eddel assumed the lead when Jesse parked his ride; and never looked threatened. In fact, the only excitement occured when Jesse rejoined and starting unlapping himself at an astonishing pace. Jesse pulled off several laps in the 8.8 range; while Eddel's fastest was in the 9.2 area. Still, Jesse was too far back to threaten for the lead; and when his receiver problem re-occured, he parked his T2.

Scott Gregory, Leighton Fuller and Steve Simmons were swapping second place repeatedly, but none of them looked to threaten Eddel's lead. Bruce Lancaster was out early after a crash; and Jesse departed as previously noted. Eddel simply kept cruising; trying to stay out of trouble and easing his way to the finish line. The five minutes expired just after Eddel had crossed the line; and all he had to do was coast around for the final lap. He drove carefully around the track; and headed into the last corner. And, right in the middle of the very last corner, his motor blew. Eddel coasted to a stop in the middle of the front straight, less than 15 feet from the finish line; and he could only watch helplessly as Scott Gregory blew past to take the win. Eddel still finished second, as Leighton Fuller and Steve Simmons were over a lap down in third and fourth respectively. Less than a second separated Leighton and Steve; and the two of them had repeatedly passed and re-passed throughout the race.

A hard way for Jesse Bean to lose a race that had seemed in the bag; and an even tougher way for Eddel to lose what had seemed to be an insurmountable lead. Scott Gregory offered his sympathy to Eddel after the race; but we all noticed he kept the money for first place.

A good crowd; nice people; some fast racing; a surprise winner; and a lot of fun. We hope you join us next week, on Sunday the 26th; for our next road course event. Thanks; Ernie P. :cool:

oval saturday and road course sunday. I'll be there

And where is this track located?

Thunder Road RC Speedway
 

We're located in Gordonsville, VA. Check the website at thunderroadrc.com for details, directions, maps and more. We have a large indoor carpet track; and we're running Oval Saturday and Road Course on Sunday. Thanks; Ernie P. :cool:

Double Header Weekend at Thunder Road
 

The second half of our Double Header weekend could easily be summed up in two words: "Jesse Bean". Throughout the heats, and again in the Main, Jesse lead from the first lap to the last; and it was only a question of how many times he would lap second place.

In the heat races, Leighton Fuller, Clint Withrow and John Pritchett had all looked fast at times; but they were all fighting various woes, and couldn't string together the laps to challenge Jesse. Leighton couldn't seem to run a full race without blowing either a front or rear diff. Clint could run fast laps; but kept losing the handle on his Losi. Inconsistent handling also gave John Pritchett trouble throughout the evening. All three seemed to spend a lot of time working on their cars between races; but couldn't find the right combination.

During the qualifying heats, Jesse had been knocking on the door of MArk Unrath's lap record of 33 laps in 5:00 and change; set two months ago in the JACO/SMC Snowflake Classic Race. When the Stock TC A Main rolled around, Jesse pulled out all the stops. His new X-Ray T2 had been on rails all night. He bolted in his best, brand new, Eric Anderson CO27 Stock Motor, and taped down a new set of SMC 3800's. He slipped on a pair of the new JACO wraps, and dragged out his newest trick; a CRAZY RC Motor Freezer. With the latest in RC racing technology at his disposal, every one was expecting a fast pace; and Jesse didn't disappoint.

When the flag dropped, Jesse simply disappeared into the distance. Leighton, Clint and John had all done some hard work on their cars; but it simply didn't seem to matter. John parked with a broken car after 11 laps. Clint could run some fast times; but couldn't seemed to put more than two laps together before the looseness of his Losi caught up with him, putting him off line and off the pace. Leighton had finally gotten two diffs that would hang together, but he simply couldn't match Jesse's pace. When the flag dropped, all of Jesse's new tricks resulted in a blazing new record of 35 laps in 5:09:14!

In the novice class, Wayne Fuller ran hard, but inconsistent handling put him into the rails often enough to let Ernie Padgette slip past for the win.

Thanks to the boys from Richmond for making this a fun weekend. Several new faces showed up; some new racers purchased cars; and things look promising for a big road course race toward the end of April. Thanks; Ernie P. :cool:

Thunder Road April/May Schedule
 

Okay guys; here's the schedule for April and May. Thanks; Ernie P. :cool:

Saturday, April 1st: Oval (Don't forget the dance afterwards!!)
Sunday, April 2nd: CLOSED

Saturday, April 8th: Oval
Sunday, April 9th: Road Course

Saturday, April 15th: CLOSED
Sunday, April 16th: Road Course

Saturday, April 22nd: CLOSED: Coopers Dave Fenwick Memorial Race
Sunday, April 23rd: CLOSED: Coopers Dave Fenwick Memorial Race

Saturday, April 29th: Oval
Sunday, April 30th: Road Course

Saturday, May 6th: Oval
Sunday, May 7th: Spring Smoke Road Course Race (Big race)

Saturday, May 13th: CLOSED: Coopers Gascar Race
Sunday, May 14th: CLOSED: Coopers GASCAR Race

Saturday, May 20th: Oval
Sunday, May 21st: Closed

Saturday, May 27th: Oval
Sunday, May 28th: Road Course