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Round 2 Santee
Raceway - February 22nd 2003
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Round 2 Santee
Raceway - February 22nd 2003 |
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SoCal USRA Scale Race #2 Santee Slot Car Raceway, Santee CA February 22, 2003 Santee Slot Car Raceway opened early at 6:30am on Saturday February 22nd for the second SoCal USRA Scale race of the 2003 season. After the ultra late night at Uncle Kal’s President Chris Radisich decided to run big round robins rather than the Semi/Main format used at UK’s all-nighter. The goal was to be done by midnight. The Amateur 4” race saw 26 entries and was run “Downtown Don” style as a huge round robin. The new format definitely saved time but made marshalling duties rather confusing, knowing who was ahead of who difficult because of the “spread” effect of a giant round robin as well as the unequal lane length track, and makes any sort of a “blow by blow” race report difficult. Was it worth it? Not to be racing at 4:00AM? The overwhelming response was a resounding YES!!! There is currently discussion on possibly running a “double round robin” where racers would do the usual, “in on red, out on white”, plus, “out on purple, in on black” as well. This would break up the sitting out. Two 9 heat sit outs rather than sitting out 18 straight. OK, enough editorializing, back to the race report. Looking at heats on red, Jerry Johnson, Dennis Rios, Tim Hould, Ron Esau, and Phil Phillips had 34 , Earl Wilson had 35 and Hector Cuadras had an outstanding 36. Jody Freund didn’t look like a threat with an opening 32 lap heat on red but Jody put his many years of experience racing on that track at Eagle Raceway’s many locations to good use and put together a consistent race to take the checkered flag. Jody took the win with a lead of only a few feet over Jerry Johnson. James Bruncati was two back in third only a few feet ahead of Tim Peck. The top eight included Earl Wilson, Joe Chevy, Daniel Hudson and UK’s Colin Herzig. Duran Trujillo was in a class by himself in Expert 4”. Chuck Panno was fast as well but Duran, a veteran of many races when the track was at Eagle motored on to a six lap win on the tricky little hillclimb. Chuck Panno was second, and Mike Hudson third. Chris Radisich was fourth, only two off the podium with the interval back to Casey Scott in fourth eleven. Paul Sterrett, Steve Forsyth, Mike Stuart, Greg G, and Gil Rivera rounded out the ten car round robin main. Amateur 4.5” Nascar Produced another great looking crop of cars. Robert Stubbs repeated his Amateur concourse win at UK’s taking the honors with a beautifully detailed Havoline Ford Taurus body. In the fifteen car round robin, first heat on red saw Jerry Johnson and Daniel Hudson with 36 each, and Tim Peck with 35. Hey! I thought 4” were faster? Only one 4” made it to 36 laps in the first heat on red. Jerry Johnson dodged the wrecks best as he made use of his awesome horsepower to take a five lap win over Tim Peck, who was just a few feet ahead of Daniel Hudson in third. Joe Chevy was five more back in fourth with Phil Phillips fifth. Jimmy Ross was sixth just barely ahead of Alex Freund who beat his Dad Jody by two for the last spot in the top eight. Expert 4.5” was a rematch of the very close race at UK’s between Duran and Greg G. Duran took a quick three lap lead as the pair began to pull away from the pack. In the third Greg turned it up a notch and began to pull Duran. In the pack it was close racing with Chris Radisich dicing with Steve Forsyth for third and Mike Hudson battling BP buddy Paul Sterret and Motor Guru Monty Ohren for fifth. Greg caught Duran and led for a short time, but Duran was intent on running Greg down. In an excitingly close finish Duran just got by Greg at the end to win by a quarter lap with Radisich claiming the last podium spot twenty one laps back. Steve Forsyth was fourth with Mike Hudson fifth. Paul Sterret, Monty Ohren, Gil Rivera and Jonathan Forsyth also finished in that order in the 9 car round robin main. After the lunch break we got amateur GT-1 going. Twenty two of the prototype racers signed up to battle on the tight destructive little hillclimb. Going again with the “best heat on red” report, Joey Hudson, Ron Essau, Joe Chevy, and Robert Park had 38 laps, Colin Herzig, Jerry Johnson, Tim Peck, and Earl Wilson had 40 and Daniel Hudson had an incredible 41. In the real race Jerry Johnson rang up a five lap win over Tim Peck with Earl Wilson another three back in third. Daniel Hudson nailed down fourth with Joe Chevy fifth. Young Colin Herzig nipped Dennis Rios by less than a lap for sixth with Derek Peck rounding out the top eight. Phil Phillips was ninth, Ron Esau tenth and followed by Robert Park, Tim Hould, Brian Johnson, Hector Cuadras, John Emmons, Chuck Connaly, Paul Abbey, T.J. Albu, Charlie Colvin, Mike Lewis, Bob Abbey and Joey Hudson. Expert GT-1 drew thirteen racers. The first heat was fast and clean, with Radisich and Gilbert setting the pace with 45 lap heats on blue and purple. Chris and Greg looked to be the guys to beat until in the fourth repeated wrecks in the turnaround dropped Greg well back and an incident in he bank later in the race took Chris out of contention as well. Chuck Panno, Alan Ohren and Duran all took their turns at the front but Alan Ohren’s consistency paid off with the five lap win over Chuck with Duran five more back in third. Greg G was fourth just one behind Duran with Jonathan fifth only one behind Greg. Radisich was sixth, and followed by Steve Forsyth, Paul Sterret, Casey Scott, Tore Anderson, Jason Stone, Mike Hudson and Gil Rivera. Fast lap was Greg at 3.398. Amateur GT-12 drew an impressive eighteen entries. Daniel Hudson had by far the best heat on red with 47 laps. Tim Hould and Alex Freund rang uo 45s and Colin Herzig had a 44. James Bruncati was ballistic during his first few heats before getting his ride ripped up in an incident in the infamous “turnaround”. Daniel continued with his aggressive drive, finally putting up a 10 lap win over UK racer Tim Hould who is still shaking off the rust from a 1 year layoff. Jerry Johnson did an awesome 51 on yellow but a poor 39 on black and mediocre 40 on red kept Jerry one behind Tim for third. Colin Herzig finished a strong fourth, just missing the podium by three while just holding off a charging Earl Wilson by one. Then it was eleven back to sixth place Phil Phillips, with James Bruncati seventh and Alex Freund filling out the top eight. T.J. set fast time at 2.922. About the carnage level one would expect. Expert GT-12 was an eleven car round robin. Casey Scott and Greg G. jumped out in the lead but both managed to get nicked up during their heats on white and both cars required a bit of quick repair work. Chris Radisich was in the hunt but just a hair off the pace of Casey and Greg. Crazy was rocket fast but his first two heats were rough and Chuck had to play catch up to Chris the rest of the race. Greg got it straightened out good enough to take an eight lap win over Casey with Radisich a lap and a half back of Casey for third. Crazy was fourth, Jonathan Forsyth fifth, John Tore Anderson sixth and followed by Alan Ohren who broke early, Steve Forsyth, Mike Stuart, Jason Stone and Mike Hudson who was fast early but had to drop due to mechanical troubles. Pretty much everyone had some sort of damage or had to repair something at some point. There was, however, plenty of good, close racing! The whole program was finished by 12:30am! That is a vast improvement over 5:00am. Thanks to Santee Slot Car Raceway for the great facility and hospitality.
The 2003 Slixx Decal Challenge continued at Round 2 in Santee. Again it was a great looking field of cars that greeted series judge Gary Ross. With entrants only being allowed to enter a car once into the concourse competition we were treated to a fresh batch of cars. The level of detail on many of the cars had risen since round 1, and now it was becoming clear who is really chasing the championship. Amateurs Experts
What is the judge looking for ? All entries will be scored on the following four categories. Entrants may earn between 1 and 5 points in each category, with the highest score determining the winner. 1. Scale Appearance - Proper color combination, Correct decal placement, Correct body used for the paint scheme. 2. Interior - Paper or flatwork interiors will be scored lowest, 3-D vacuum formed interiors are preferred, Driver detail, Instrument detail, Roll cage detail, Authenticity of driver with body. 3. Chassis - Clean, Well engineered, Good clean solder work (no blob solder jobs) 4. Overall Appearance - Overall match of scale vehicle to real-world counterpart, Front and rear matching wheel combinations, Wheel opening concentric with tire/wheel, Overall detail and craftsmanship put into the entry.
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