JACO/SMC 2007 Snowflake Classic Road Course Race
01-18-2007, 07:28 PM
#1
JACO/SMC 2007 Snowflake Classic Road Course Race
The JACO/SMC 2007 Snowflake Classic Road Course Race will be run on January 27th, at Thunder Road RC Speedway in Gordonsville, VA. This will be our biggest road course race of the year. We have a good list of racers already committed, $500.00 in merchandise awards, and a fast and smooth carpet road course layout. Details, directions, maps and more at thnderroadrc.com. Thanks; Ernie P. 
01-29-2007, 06:53 PM
#2
JACO/SMC 2007 Snowflake Classic Road Course Race report
01/27/07 JACO/SMC 2007 Snowflake Classic Road Course Race report
RC racers apparently don’t like to sleep much. Then again, more than a few people were thrashing hard all weekend, looking for that elusive last tenth. Or maybe they just like walking around in a fog on race day. Whatever the reason, Friday night’s practice session didn’t end until the very wee hours of Saturday. The last of the diehards left Thunder Road around 3:30 AM on Saturday; and after cleaning up, the TR crew headed home for a couple of hours sleep before opening up again at 9:00. Given a two hour round trip back to the homestead, yours truly has probably looked in better shape on occasion; but we had the doors open early on a cold Saturday morning for what proved to be a very busy and fast paced race day.
A computer glitch delayed the start; and for that I apologize to every one. The computer kept locking up when the names were being entered; and dumping all the data. It turned out a computer file had been corrupted when a not-to-be-named local racer, who had been allowed to run a practice session on an off day, decided to turn off the computer at the electrical panel. It took a while to figure out what was causing the glitch; but we finally managed to get everything straight. If you think the racers were thrashing hard, you should have seen Carl and I debugging the computer!
If you want a thumbnail sketch of the day’s events, it was that a lot of normally very fast racers wound up racing very hard to stay out of the lower mains. No, it wasn’t that they were slow; just that the competition was that strong. There was a lot of desperate driving in the heats, by some drivers trying to push their cars faster than they wanted to go. As a result, the normal pit thrashing got pretty intense at times; as lots of broken and bent parts were replaced. No one let the thrashing get in the way of having fun; but there were some pretty worried faces as the heats wore on.
The Mains started with the TC Stock D Main. The heat race bumping and grinding led to two cars scratching, leaving local hot shoe Oliver Campbell and visitor Bob Hartman running a lonely race. It got even lonelier when Bob crashed out after ten laps; leaving Oliver motoring around solo.
The TC Stock C Main started heating up the pace; as Mike Kling led the way home with a time that would have put him fifth in the A Main. Clayton Anderson nipped Eddie Meadows for second place by less than two seconds; and John Peoples grabbed fourth. Charlie Johnson and Mack Anderson didn’t start, probably due to damage suffered in the heats.
Things really got wound up in the TC Stock B Main; with first place separated from last by less than three laps. The leader position was switching faster than I could call; with racers jumping from last to first and vice versa on almost every lap. Rod Estep managed to be in front when it counted; with Eddel Veloso right on his bumper all the way. Guy Wood, Chris Young and Mark Painter slowly fell back from the flying pair in front; but stayed in a race long duel among themselves. At the buzzer, Guy, Chris and Mark were separated by just over two seconds from third to fifth; in a race decided by late lap bumps and spins. John Pritchett was less than a lap back, after spending most of the race just trying to avoid being run over. Close, hard racing was the story of this race; and not a few others.
The TC 19-Turn B Main was up next; but Brandon Hess has to DNS with (another) broken car. That left Rick Monahan, Guy Hood, Isaac Wilson and Mike Kling racing for the win; with Mike losing touch with the leaders early on, after rubbing the rails. The other three put on a nice display of passing and re-passing that had the crowd fired up the whole way. Rick managed to squeak past Guy by less than a second; with Isaac less than three seconds back. Again; the race was decided by near spins and crashes over the last two laps.
The TC Stock A Main rolled off with a series of crashes that scrambled the order every lap or so. Just too many cars trying to occupy the same space at the same time; or, in other words, some pretty close racing action. Somehow, the crashes separated the field into two groups. Mo Denton, Justin Lessard and Brandon Hess were running nose to tail at the front; while John North, Arvin Nano and Wade Shive waged their own battle two laps back. Neither group has a clear leader; as all the cars took their turn at the front of their respective pack. As the race wound down, the pace picked up; as it became clear that the last couple of laps would decide the outcome. A late race move caused two cars to spin; leaving Mo Denton in front when it mattered; with Justin and Brandon separated by a couple of seconds for second and third. Two laps back, the scenario was being replayed for fourth through sixth; as John North stayed clean for the last few laps. A slight bump let Arvin Nano grab fifth from Wade Shive.
The TC 19-Turn A Main started a car short; with Justin Lessard unable to repair heat damage and earning an automatic sixth place. Mo Denton lined up in front as the TQ; but Raymond Darroch made it obvious from the start that he wasn’t happy with the qualifying results. He was all over Mo from the starting buzzer, and finally rubbed his way around Mo around lap six; after trying to force his way past on every other corner. After that, Ray just ran and hid. Billy Spence and Mo waged their own fight for second place; but their side by side racing and rubbing let Ray build up too big a lead in the early going. By the time Billy finally got away from Mo, Ray was just gone. Gone as in GONE. Craig Xavier and Mike McBride crashed out early; leaving only three cars running. With a relatively clear track, Ray Darroch simply flew; ripping off blistering laps all the way home to an easy win. Billy was two laps back in second; with Mo another two laps back in third. Craig and Mike crashed their way to fourth and fifth respectively.
The 1:18 Scale TC’s had their own private fight in their A Main; and served as a good relief from the larger scale action. Amazingly fast; these little racers proved to be ‘way quick and ‘way tippy. Eddel Veloso strolled home with eight laps in hand; leaving John Stabile and CJ Horne to fight for the scraps. Mack Anderson started strong; but crashed hard enough to break his little racer on the fourth lap. John managed to nip CJ for second; but if any one even dreamed about giving Eddel a fight for the lead, they should apologize. Eddel was the class of the field; and stroked his way home all night long. The little cars looked like they were racing at Le Mans on Thunder Roads large track; and more than one 1:10 Scale racer was heard to comment on their next purchase being a 1:18 TC.
$500.00 in merchandise awards and a lot of door prizes from Team Trinity, Team Associated and (natch) JACO and SMC made sure that almost every one went home with a little something in their pocket. Every one had a great time; Mo and Ray borrowed a wheelbarrow to take home their share of the winnings; and that was the story of the JACO/SMC 2007 Snowflake Classic Road Course Race. This was probably the fastest field of road racers ever assembled at Thunder Road. The racing was intense, close, fast and furious (almost too intense at times), and there was more than a little rubbing and pushing; but every one knew that it was simply hard, fast racing. More than one racer was seen to leave off wrenching on his own car, to help a competitor get ready for the next race. A true field of racers; and a true field of gentlemen. I salute you all. Thanks; Ernie P.
RC racers apparently don’t like to sleep much. Then again, more than a few people were thrashing hard all weekend, looking for that elusive last tenth. Or maybe they just like walking around in a fog on race day. Whatever the reason, Friday night’s practice session didn’t end until the very wee hours of Saturday. The last of the diehards left Thunder Road around 3:30 AM on Saturday; and after cleaning up, the TR crew headed home for a couple of hours sleep before opening up again at 9:00. Given a two hour round trip back to the homestead, yours truly has probably looked in better shape on occasion; but we had the doors open early on a cold Saturday morning for what proved to be a very busy and fast paced race day.
A computer glitch delayed the start; and for that I apologize to every one. The computer kept locking up when the names were being entered; and dumping all the data. It turned out a computer file had been corrupted when a not-to-be-named local racer, who had been allowed to run a practice session on an off day, decided to turn off the computer at the electrical panel. It took a while to figure out what was causing the glitch; but we finally managed to get everything straight. If you think the racers were thrashing hard, you should have seen Carl and I debugging the computer!
If you want a thumbnail sketch of the day’s events, it was that a lot of normally very fast racers wound up racing very hard to stay out of the lower mains. No, it wasn’t that they were slow; just that the competition was that strong. There was a lot of desperate driving in the heats, by some drivers trying to push their cars faster than they wanted to go. As a result, the normal pit thrashing got pretty intense at times; as lots of broken and bent parts were replaced. No one let the thrashing get in the way of having fun; but there were some pretty worried faces as the heats wore on.
The Mains started with the TC Stock D Main. The heat race bumping and grinding led to two cars scratching, leaving local hot shoe Oliver Campbell and visitor Bob Hartman running a lonely race. It got even lonelier when Bob crashed out after ten laps; leaving Oliver motoring around solo.
The TC Stock C Main started heating up the pace; as Mike Kling led the way home with a time that would have put him fifth in the A Main. Clayton Anderson nipped Eddie Meadows for second place by less than two seconds; and John Peoples grabbed fourth. Charlie Johnson and Mack Anderson didn’t start, probably due to damage suffered in the heats.
Things really got wound up in the TC Stock B Main; with first place separated from last by less than three laps. The leader position was switching faster than I could call; with racers jumping from last to first and vice versa on almost every lap. Rod Estep managed to be in front when it counted; with Eddel Veloso right on his bumper all the way. Guy Wood, Chris Young and Mark Painter slowly fell back from the flying pair in front; but stayed in a race long duel among themselves. At the buzzer, Guy, Chris and Mark were separated by just over two seconds from third to fifth; in a race decided by late lap bumps and spins. John Pritchett was less than a lap back, after spending most of the race just trying to avoid being run over. Close, hard racing was the story of this race; and not a few others.
The TC 19-Turn B Main was up next; but Brandon Hess has to DNS with (another) broken car. That left Rick Monahan, Guy Hood, Isaac Wilson and Mike Kling racing for the win; with Mike losing touch with the leaders early on, after rubbing the rails. The other three put on a nice display of passing and re-passing that had the crowd fired up the whole way. Rick managed to squeak past Guy by less than a second; with Isaac less than three seconds back. Again; the race was decided by near spins and crashes over the last two laps.
The TC Stock A Main rolled off with a series of crashes that scrambled the order every lap or so. Just too many cars trying to occupy the same space at the same time; or, in other words, some pretty close racing action. Somehow, the crashes separated the field into two groups. Mo Denton, Justin Lessard and Brandon Hess were running nose to tail at the front; while John North, Arvin Nano and Wade Shive waged their own battle two laps back. Neither group has a clear leader; as all the cars took their turn at the front of their respective pack. As the race wound down, the pace picked up; as it became clear that the last couple of laps would decide the outcome. A late race move caused two cars to spin; leaving Mo Denton in front when it mattered; with Justin and Brandon separated by a couple of seconds for second and third. Two laps back, the scenario was being replayed for fourth through sixth; as John North stayed clean for the last few laps. A slight bump let Arvin Nano grab fifth from Wade Shive.
The TC 19-Turn A Main started a car short; with Justin Lessard unable to repair heat damage and earning an automatic sixth place. Mo Denton lined up in front as the TQ; but Raymond Darroch made it obvious from the start that he wasn’t happy with the qualifying results. He was all over Mo from the starting buzzer, and finally rubbed his way around Mo around lap six; after trying to force his way past on every other corner. After that, Ray just ran and hid. Billy Spence and Mo waged their own fight for second place; but their side by side racing and rubbing let Ray build up too big a lead in the early going. By the time Billy finally got away from Mo, Ray was just gone. Gone as in GONE. Craig Xavier and Mike McBride crashed out early; leaving only three cars running. With a relatively clear track, Ray Darroch simply flew; ripping off blistering laps all the way home to an easy win. Billy was two laps back in second; with Mo another two laps back in third. Craig and Mike crashed their way to fourth and fifth respectively.
The 1:18 Scale TC’s had their own private fight in their A Main; and served as a good relief from the larger scale action. Amazingly fast; these little racers proved to be ‘way quick and ‘way tippy. Eddel Veloso strolled home with eight laps in hand; leaving John Stabile and CJ Horne to fight for the scraps. Mack Anderson started strong; but crashed hard enough to break his little racer on the fourth lap. John managed to nip CJ for second; but if any one even dreamed about giving Eddel a fight for the lead, they should apologize. Eddel was the class of the field; and stroked his way home all night long. The little cars looked like they were racing at Le Mans on Thunder Roads large track; and more than one 1:10 Scale racer was heard to comment on their next purchase being a 1:18 TC.
$500.00 in merchandise awards and a lot of door prizes from Team Trinity, Team Associated and (natch) JACO and SMC made sure that almost every one went home with a little something in their pocket. Every one had a great time; Mo and Ray borrowed a wheelbarrow to take home their share of the winnings; and that was the story of the JACO/SMC 2007 Snowflake Classic Road Course Race. This was probably the fastest field of road racers ever assembled at Thunder Road. The racing was intense, close, fast and furious (almost too intense at times), and there was more than a little rubbing and pushing; but every one knew that it was simply hard, fast racing. More than one racer was seen to leave off wrenching on his own car, to help a competitor get ready for the next race. A true field of racers; and a true field of gentlemen. I salute you all. Thanks; Ernie P.
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