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Round 5 - May 1st 2004 - Buena Park Raceway

Buena Park Raceway, Buena Park, CA, May 1, 2004

We returned to Buena Park for the May event and there was a really good turn out with round robin races in 4 of our 5 classes.

Spray Glue G-12
We had 12 racers and after the computer picked the lanes we were off to the races. Early in the 1st heat it was Sam Rackham with clearly the fastest car, but he crashed in the donut and pulled the body off dropping him out of the lead leaving Chris Radisich, Rick Elting and Bill Taylor as your early leaders. Chris moved to the sitouts for the next 4 heats and watched as all of the other racers except for Sam were unable to keep up the pace. Chris returned in heat 6 with Bill now sitting out and Sam was making up laps on the both of them. Bill returned for heat 8 and moved into a tie on the average with Chris with Sam now being only about 1.5 laps off the lead on the average and done. Sam, having started on red, would watch the final heats. Chris and Bill ran within 3 laps and in the last heat Bill would run on black and Chris would be on orange. Chris made up the 3 laps but finished in the dead man with Bill in the donut, both racers on the same lap.  Sam managed to work his way back to 3rd. Joe Lisciandro in his first USRA start in several years took 4th ahead of Cliff Kendrick, Brian Johnson, JB Barnett, Mark Gonsalves, Adam Kirchoffer, Rick Elting, Roger Vorba and Al Bruyn

G-12
We had 9 racers turn cars into tech for this event, so we were treated to a round robin race.

Bill Pinkston opened up with a pair of heats of 60 &  61 laps to establish an early lead. Bryan Struck, Sam Rackham, Joe Lisciandro, and Rich Curnutte were trailing not too far behind. In heat 6 Bill lost a motor and dropped way down the order.  Bryan pulled a gear out in the next heat while Joe put a lap on Sam and moved into the lead on the average. Joe put another lap on Sam in the next heat and Sam was done and had to watch Joe run the last heat. Joe was up to the task and took a 2-lap victory over Sam. Rich could not keep up with these 2 and settled for 3rd. Dale Garcia made a nice comeback from a blown motor in heat 1 to take 4th ahead of Jim Swofford, Chris Radisich, Bran Struck, Bill Pinkston and Cliff Kendrick.

G-27
We had 4 racers for this event, including first time cobalt racer Adam Kirchoffer. More on Adam's story in track calls.

Pat Ularte started on red and ripped off an outstanding 102-lap heat to lead after 1. But his car let him down in heat 2 and Pat dropped to 3rd 24 laps behind Gary Mayeda. But Pat was not done. He made up 5 laps in the next heat but then had to move to purple and black. Rich Curnutte took 4 of those laps back while Pat was on the bottom gutters. Then it was Rich's turn to have problems and Pat moved back into the lead. Pat put his final stamp on this race by finishing the race with 2 more 100-lap heats. Rich recovered to take 2nd. Gary took 3rd and Adam had 4th.

One Motor Open
We had another 9 entries calling for a round robin race.

Bill Pinkston was the early leader, going up by 2 on the average over Jim Swofford after 3. Bill knocked the motor out in heat 4 putting an end to his chances and putting Jim into the lead. But Jim was not the fastest car on the track. Tore was making up laps and moving into contention. Jim would run on red in the final heat and carry a 4-lap lead on Tore who was on yellow.  We all gathered around the lap counter to watch the final heat unfold. Midway through the heat Tore had made up 2 of the laps. At the 3 minute mark Tore moved onto the same lap with Jim, but could he catch up.  With just fractions of a second left in the race, Tore passed Jim down the back straight, but Jim had the short turn and went under the bridge 1st. Tore was carrying more speed and came out from underneath tied and carried a bit more speed into the donut. That was to be the deciding factor. The power went off and Jim's car stopped in the glue. Tore down on yellow had more speed and less glue and rolled further than Jim to score the win. Bill Pinkston made a strong charge from his early problems to take the final podium spot. Pat Ularte was another 10 back in 4th ahead of Robert Park, Randy Thompson, Mike Graverson, Rich Curnutte and Phil Larcom.

G-7
It was a very fast start to the race with 5 drivers over 130 laps. Al Chuck and Rich Curnutte were leading the way, each with 135 laps. Rich sat out the next heat and held the lead on the average until heat 4. Phil Larcom moved into the lead just fractions ahead of Gil Gunderson and Pat Ularte. Gil took the point in the next heat and held it until heat 7 when Pat ripped by into the lead. Pat would lead the final heat with Koford teammate Phil taking 2nd. Jim Swofford came back from early problems to take 3rd ahead of Forrest Watchers, Gil, Al Chuck, Rich Curnutte, Randy Thompson and Mike Graverson.

Track Calls
The G-27 race was Adam's first cobalt start. In practice it was obvious that the car was not set up correctly. Pat Ularte spend quite a bit of time setting up the car with the correct tires and teaching Adam how to drive one of these animals. After the race Adam told me that he had a good time and that's what matters the most. Good job Pat.