SoCal USRA Western States Scale Races
Saturday and Sunday, March 20 and 21, 2004

Santee Model car Raceway, formerly Billiards and Slot Cars in El Cajon hosted their first scale Western States Championships in 2004 and with the track under new ownership good things were expected. The SoCal scale crowd was not to be disappointed as the famous King Cobra was adjusted, leveled and faster than ever.  

The small unequal lane length Hillclimb was also massaged to improve visibility and enhance cornering speed. The tracks notable quirks were maintained so it didn't lose it's "personality". This track has been a mainstay of SoCal scale racing since the early nineties when it was at Eagle raceway's different locations throughout the decade.  This track is quietly referred to as "Duran's track", as he has won countless races on it.

Saturday's program kicked off  on the Cobra with the 4" Amateur B semi with Jimmy Ross, Brian Johnson, Hector Quadras and Hesperia's Adam Shaw escaping to the main. The A semi was won by local, Brian Delperdang with another fast local kid, Tim Peck second and with Steve Hutchinson and BP's Mark Lazaar moving up as well.

The main was an intense battle between prodigies Tim Peck and Jimmy Ross. Steve Hutchinson looked to be in the hunt until he suffered on the inside lanes and fell into third. In the end Tim prevailed by two over Jimmy with Steve third. Fourth was Brian Delperdang with Mark Lazaar fifth and Adam Shaw sixth. Brian Johnson and Hector Quadras rounded out the main.

Advanced 4" was run as a  nine car round robin and Jonathan Forsyth who usually runs expert was allowed to compete in  this race as an advanced driver. Phil Phillips and Jonathan tied with 37 after the first heat and then Jonathan started pulling away. Former SoCal and Div 2 Prez Jason Holmes returned to scale racing and showed off  some of his awesome horsepower.

After looking fast in practice Tim Hould's Nascar turned into a stone in the race. When asked when the car slowed down, Tim replied, "It only slows down when they turn the power on. Otherwise it's great".  As Jonathan motored on Alex Freund and Phil Phillips battled for second with  TJ Albu, Bill Vanderziel and Jason Holmes in a three way for fourth. Jonathan took the win by eight with Alex second by inches after his car was put back on in the deadman just as the power went off.  Phil Phillips was third, T.J. fourth, Bill V. fifth and followed by Steve Forsyth, Joe Chevy and Tim Hould.

Expert 4" has been the private domain of Duran Trujillo for as long as most of us can remember but Chris Radisich gave Duran a run for his money last year. Duran, Mike Hudson, Greg G. and Chris all looked ballistic but Duran clearly was fastest when the power went on in the main.  Duran pulled away slightly on the faster outside lanes as Greg and Chris swapped for second and third all race long.  Mike Hudson challenged for the first half until his car  wouldn't handle on purple and black and Greg and Chris got by for good.   Duran won by five over Chris who got by Greg by a lap for second after Greg and Chuck Panno took turns destroying each other's cars in spectacular straightaway incidents. Hudson was fourth, Paul Sterrett fifth, and followed by Jerry Johnson and Chuck Panno.

After a lunch break Amateur 4.5" began with the B semi main on the little hillclimb. A total of 18 of the longer Nascars signed up and Tim Peck showed his stuff by claiming the early lead over  Charlie Scrogum. Charlie pulled even in the second and took the lead briefly when Tim stumbled on blue as Colin Herzig and Steve Hutchinson came alive and began to dice with Tim and Charlie for first. The unequal lane length on this track makes it like racing on an oval. Patience is required and you have to drive each lane as efficiently as possible.

Tim ran race high 41s on purple and then on black to take the lead for good as the "three amigo's" Colin, Charlie and Steve swapped for second through fourth. In the end Tim, Colin, Steve and Charlie all moved up in that order.

In the A semi, Tims lap total of 301 would not have made the move up as Brian Delperdang, Earl Wilson, Jimmy Ross and "Rocket Scientist" Sam Brown all beat Tim's total to move up in the order listed. This was one fast semi!

In the main  the "A" motors came out and Tim Peck ran an awesome 43 on black to lead by two over Brian Delperdang. Brian, Tim and Jimmy Ross all had a shot but Jimmy reeled off an amazing 45 on purple to take the lead and the win by two over  Brian with Earl Wilson getting by Tim for the last podium spot. Charlie Scrogum was fifth, Colin Herzig a few sections back in sixth, Sam Brown lacked ponies for seventh and Steve Hutchinson was eighth.

SoCal's Bill Vanderziel has been struggling since his return to slot racing a couple of years ago. Once the scourge of D-can racing as the leader of the "Rude Boys", the dominating team that produced Duran Trujillo, Bill has been middle of the pack at best since his return. The little hillclimb, where Bill won many a race was the setting of an awesome statement by Ol' "Flying V" Bill as he demolished the competition in Advanced 4.5" Nascar. Alex Freund was second, Alex's Dad Jody third, T.J. Albu fourth and Jason Stone fifth.

Expert 4.5" was looking like another Greg G. v. Duran battle and that's just what came to pass.  Duran and Greg began on the fast inside lanes and tied after one with Chuck Panno right behind. Greg held a slight lead as he hit green but ran into trouble and Duran got by on blue and stretched his lead to three at the end. Chuck finished third with Chris Radisich fourth, Jerry Johnson nipped Mike Hudson for fifth, and Jonathan Forsyth  got by Paul Sterrett for seventh.      

Sunday's racing began with Amateur GT-1 on the hillclimb. 22 Amateur GT-1s signed up, making this the biggest class of the weekend. Colin Herzig won the B semi with an outstanding lap total and a 23 lap margin of victory over Derek Peck with Sam Brown and Dennis Rios also moving up. Jimmy Ross from BP won the A semi with Earl Wilson, Charly Scrogum and Peter Grubb also advancing.

The main was much faster with Colin Herzig and Dennis Rios setting the pace. Colin turned one of the fastest GT-1 time of the day with a 3.28 on Purple. In contrast, the best Expert time was Alan Ohren at 3.23. Colin went on to win his first Western States Championship by seven over Dennis Rios with  Charly Scrogum third. Sam Brown was fourth, Earl Wilson fifth, Jimmy Ross sixth with  Peter Grubb and Derek Peck filling out the field.

Advanced GT-1 was another great, close race. Tim Hould jumped out to a three lap lead over Bill V but Bill pulled even after two. Bill continued to lead, but Tim had a chance to take over in the sixth but crashed trying to pass and ended up two behind Bill at the end. Monty Ohren was five more back in third, holding off a late charge from Steve Forsyth. Phil Phillips was fifth, T.J. Albu sixth, and John Emmons seventh.  That made Bill V. two for two on the little hillclimb and we haven't seen that big a smile on Bill's face since about 1996.

Expert GT-1 looked to be a competitive race with Alan Ohren looking really fast in practice and Greg G., Duran, Radisich and Chuck Panno all about equal. Alan and Duran took off in the lead with  Jonathan Forsyth and Chuck looking good as well. Greg G lurked back in fourth for the first two heats and then got everyone's attention with a great heat on blue. This Expert race was wild and wooly with crashes to spare and Greg "ran through the raindrops" without getting too wet to win by seven over Duran, with Chuck third. Chris Radisich held down fourth, Jonathan Forsyth fifth, Paul Sterrett came in sixth with Jerry Johnson seventh and Alan, who set fast time of the race at 3.23 was eighth after developing a case of the "launchies" and coming off in the bank numerous times.

This brought us to the lunch break, which was to be followed by SoCal USRA's fastest class, GT-12.  The Amateur B semi-main went to Dennis Rios with Sam Brown, Wayne Shaw and Chris Rodriguez Jr. moving up. The A semi saw some drama as favorite, Colin Herzig lost a gear and defending champ "Big Brian" Johnson suffered mechanical ill. Both racers battled back and took the third and fourth moveups with Earl Wilson winning and Hector Quadras second. The main was fast with "Big Brian" putting a lap on Colin in the first heat and looking like the guy to beat. That is until the second when Brian lost a motor and his problems continued into the next heat leaving him with only 43 laps in two heats while Colin and Sam Brown in second had 92 and 93 for the same two heat period. Earl Wilson and Wayne Shaw also experienced problems early but Wayne recovered. Earl didn't. Hector Cuadras chased Colin but had to settle for second after his motor  went off in the seventh. Colin motored to victory with Hector second, Pasadena's Sam Brown third after an impressive drive. Chris Rodriguez Jr. impressed with fourth. The High Desert's Wayne Shaw recovered from two bad heats to take fifth ahead of Briam Johnson fought gremlins all race long. Dennis Rios and Earl Wilson filled out the main, both suffering from technical glitches as well.

Advanced GT-12  began with Jason Holmes, Phil Phillips and Bill V. dueling until Tim Hould's car, which had a bright orange roof was accidentally marshalled onto orange just as Jason was coming by. The result was a spectacular crash which Tim's car survived in one piece and Jason's did not. Steve Forsyth also suffered mechanical problems and faded back in the first heat.

By the fourth Tim Hould had hit full stride and was looking like the guy to beat. Phil Phillips was now the only guy who looked like he might be able to catch Tim, as Vanderziel had slowed and Jason Holmes was out.     

Tim put it on cruise in the last heat and won by five over Phil Phillips. Bill V. came in third ahead of John Emmons who held off TJ Albu for fourth. Steve Forsyth was sixth and Jason Holmes seventh after only turning 14 laps before being demolished in the incident with Tim.

That left just the 12 car Expert GT-12 race and Alan Ohren was in the mood for some redemption after his miserable GT-1 experience. Future sailor Casey Scott had been preparing all weekend for one race, borrowing everything from a chassis to a body to put together a GT-12 car. Now it was time for Casey to go fast and he was ready. Alan Ohren and Greg G. started fast and Alan led by one after two but Casey came in off the sitout and put himself right in the middle of the action with a blazing heat on the fast red lane. Alan sat out after  white  with an average a little lower than Casey's and Greg's, but came in and set high heat of the race on red and then repeated it on green! Casey motored on as Greg had to change motors as well as suffering other gremlins, dropped out of contention, and then dropped out altogether. Duran Trujillo and Jonathan Forsyth stayed out of trouble by driving smart races. Alan went on to best Casey by five with Duran third and Jonathan fourth. Chuck Panno, Monty Ohren, Chris Radisich and Paul Sterrett filled out the top eight.    

Thanks to Santee Model Car raceway for the great facility and hard work. It was a great race weekend for everyone!