We will have to get together and discuss our schedule when and if this does occur. I forsee us continuing racing the Super Stocks every other week at Paul's and Zane's. I think we should schedule the Open Super Stock and Modified races on the other remaining weeks probably on Saturday. We can run the Open Super Stock and Modifed together or run the Open Super Stock one week and the Modified 2 weeks later. This may be a bit premature but I want you to know the possible future plans for the club. Bob has already expressed a desire to host a major race inviting racers from around the country to come. I'm pretty excited about the future and hope you are too! If you have any thoughts about this please let me know so we can do the best for the club. I for one, am concerned about the costs, especially to those who bring their childern to the races. I want a lot of discussion so we can do this right.
The first Super Stock race in August at Zane's had13 entries. Paul grabbed TQ with a 14.11 but the talk of qualifying was Marty. He was on a track record run with only 20 seconds left when he desloted coming out of the final corner before the main straight. The neat thing about it was that his car went about a foot off the track, turning in midair and coming back into the slot almost halfway down the straight. It was one of the neatest deslots I've ever seen. Chris won the Kid's race with a 75.13 with Loren right behind at 75.06. Less than half a lap behind! Justin, who normally does really good, had car problems and finished 3rd. Loren turned a very quick segment on red with a fast 25! Lookout, the kids are catching up!
The consis saw Dave, David, Mike and Rodger make the moveups. Dave looked really fast and the sitouts in the semis, Paul and Greg were going to find out. Greg's Rusty Wallace Ford truck was handling like a, well, a truck so David and Mike made the moveup out of the B semi. Dave domainated the A semi after grabbing the lead midway to be hi semi total. The main though was another thing. Paul grabbed a 2 lap lead and never looked back. Mike and Dave put on a show where they both ended up at 112. Dave got the nod .06 to Mike's very close .04. David ran a uncharateristic 4th throughout the main.
The next race was at Paul's where once again he put on a BBQ and pool party. I happy to report that this time it went very well with everyone having a great time. 19 entries lined up and it was quite a show. Chris, Nick and Christopher all won Kid's heats with Christopher getting hi lap total at 126! Mark was TQ with an oh-so-close to the record of 24.5 with a 24.0. And he had a deslot! Both Mark and Paul got sitouts in the main so the semi was a tough fight for 2 spots. Greg with his Nissan NPT90 replica and Zane got the moveups over David and a very on form Marty. The start of the main saw Greg and Paul tied at 43 with Mark and Zane at 40. Blue killed Greg so Paul moved into a 4 lap lead after only 2 segments. Mark and Zane were still nip and tuck at 82 to 81. Paul then lost a lap to Greg to narrow it to a 3 lap lead but Zane rocketed to a 47 on yellow to tie Greg for 2nd. The final segment lined up with Greg on fast yellow, Zane on fast green and race leader Paul on outside red. Greg had 3 laps to make up and at a rate of about 40 seconds a 1 lap, it was going to be close. Zane was flying too but 1 deslot on the final curve onto the straight cost him a valuable lap that would prove costly later. Greg finally caught Paul with about 30 seconds left and for at least 10 laps they ran side by side.
Paul started pushing hard when Greg caught up. Greg took a few seconds to regroup to try go even faster. That was to prove costly too. As the time began running down neither driver backed off. Side by side they ran and when the power went off they were right together in turn #7. When race director Chuck announced that they were on the same lap everyone went crazy. No one could decide who was in front! It looked from one angle to be Paul but from another it was Greg. So the 2 racers decided to call it a tie and leave it at that. The closest finish in Phoenix HO racing!
Then we made the trek to Cruzin for the GT series on the 26th. Word had been making the rounds that a lot of racers had been practicing and that the pace would be very quick. And so it proved with a very on form Marty grabbing TQ with a new track record 24.3! 8 racers out of 13 were in the 20s and that meant the heats and semis would be tough. And so it proved with Jason, Bob, Dave M, and Rodger very close in the consis. The semis had 8 racers fighting for the 4 spots in the main and the 5 spot missed by less than a lap! 5th thru 7th were only separated by 1.4 laps. The main lined up and Jason and Bob's hi semi totals had them the favorites but Dave M hung there to stay within 3 till the final heat. With Bob on gutter blue and Dave M on fast red the final heat saw a change of the lead. Dave M. moved ahead to win with a new track record of 178.3! Bob finished 2nd less than a lap behind at 177.5. Zane and Jason tied at 171.5 with the nod going to Zane. The Kid's Race was won by Justin with Chris and Dayna in a tight fight for 2nd. Chris got it 122.5 to Dayna's 121.5. Loren finished 4th after some car problems.
| Date | Location | Winner | Top Qualifier |
| July 14th | Zane's | Paul Banta (114.15) | Paul Banta (14.13) |
| July 15th | Cruzin | Jason Lattimer (169-T7) | Jason Lattimer (23-T3) |
| July 28th | Paul's | Paul Banta (165.4) | Greg Williams (21.9) |
| July 29th | Cruzin | Dave Maves (170-0) | Jason Lattimer (22-7) |
| Aug 11th | Zane's | Paul Banta (116.11) | Paul Banta (14.11) |
| Aug 25th | Paul's | Paul Banta (176.7) Greg Williams (176.7) | Mark McVittie (24.0) |
| Aug 26th | Cruzin | Dave Maves (178.3)* | Marty Coffel (24.3)* |
| Sept 8th | Zane's | ||
| Sept 9th | Cruizin GT Series.....Rules Meeting | ||
| Sept 22nd | Paul's | ||
| Sept 23rd | Cruizin GT Series | ||
| Oct 6th | Zane's | ||
| Oct 14th | Cruzin GT Series | ||
| Oct 20th | Paul's | ||
| Oct 28th | Cruzin GT Series |
| Heat 1 | Heat 2 | Heat 3 | Heat 4 | Pos | Total | +/- | |
| Driver 1 (22.0-176.7) | 45r | 45w | 46y | 45r | 1 | 178.3 | -2+2 |
| Driver 2 (21.2-173.6) | 43y | 46y | 45b | 41b | 2 | 177.5 | -3+2 |
| Driver 3 (21.3-171.6) | 42w | 44r | 41r | 46w | 3 | 171.5 | -2+3 |
| Driver 4 (22.6-171.4) | 42b | 41b | 38w | 47y | 4 | 171.5 | -5+4 |
| Lane Hi (Avg) | Blue: 45 (42.2) | Red: 45 (43.7) | White: 46 (42.7) | Yellow: 47 (45.5) |
It is interesting to note that at first glance it would appear that driver 1 with a 2nd hi qualifying and the hi semi total, by almost 3 laps should have blown away the others. The winner, driver 3 really doesn't look like he has much of chance with the 2nd slowest qualifying and 2nd lowest lap total. But then that is why they run the race. You never know what is going to happen. Lets follow our drivers thru this very hard fought and tough main.
Driver 2 grabs the lead on fast red basically checking out on everyone by 2 laps. Driver 4 on quick yellow follows and the except for driver 1 the pattern looks okay. Driver 1 on blue tried to match the pace of the faster lanes and crashed although he did the average. In heat 2 we see driver 2 cutting another 45 to be 90. But driver 3 does a really excellent 46 on yellow which is close to hi lap for that lane. Although he is still behind by 2 he is maintaining contact and not letting driver 1 get away. Driver 4 finding himself on blue forgets how bad that lane is. For this track blue lane exiting onto the final curve usually has a big pileup if there is a crash. Repeatedly if you try to drive thru you will get taken out. Blue is a damage control lane. It is very difficult to maintain the pace as you can see. Every driver except the winner died on blue and that lane may have decided the race.
The 3rd heat sees driver 1 again in the lead. His 46 on yellow extends his lead to 3 over driver 3. Driver 1 has died on white due to a lot of crashing. At a lap averaging 2.7 seconds and the normal deslot costing 3 to 5 seconds, 4 deslots and you're out of the 40s, into the 30s. That was a tough break as white is a good lane and an average there of 42.7 would have had him close to the top 2 spots. Driver 4 has moved into 3rd but his 41 on fast red has also removed him from contention. Driver 1 and 4 are now really racing for 3rd. It is really up to driver 2 and 3 to settle who will win. And with driver 2 on blue and 3 on red it is going to be interesting.
The final heat sees driver 3 cut a hi for red of 45. Couldn't have timed it better. This quick pace at the end causes driver 2 to freak out and crash to a 41 below the average losing by less than 1 lap. Although 3 laps behind going into this final heat, driver 3 doesn't give up and makes no mistakes to win. By driving well on the blue lane in the previous heat he position himself to be close enough to challenge when the time was right. Had driver 2 gotten in just one more lap on blue (or one less deslot) it may have been a different story. Interesting too is that our 3rd and 4th place drivers cut Lane Hi 46s and 47s in the final heat. But it is too late. The die was cast back in the middle heats when they took themselves out with low laps.
It is meant to show you the racer that even though you weren't the fastest qualifier, not even close in the semis, by driving smart and consistent you can still win. It means that you can win your consi, semi, main even with a slower car. Just make less mistakes. I wish I could have kept track of deslots cause I'm sure Driver 3 had the lest amount. Driver 2 was in the lead in that category until the final heat. And that was the difference!
To win you must keep you deslots to a minimum! Good Luck and Have Fun!
I have begun to write the letters to solicit donations. My idea is to hold a BIG race around Thanksgiving time. Probably the friday (or saturday) before. If everything comes together it should be a fun event. I think it would be good to have it at Paul's due to the bigger space. If you have any ideas such as a pot luck, etc please bring them up. Not only should it be fast but it should be fun too! I hope to be able to get a lot of prizes to giveaway. My basic idea is to reward those who have attended at least 80% of the races we have held so far. We will still have prizes for everyone and maybe trophies for the top 4 in the main.
And to go along with that we are going to phase in teching the cars before you qualify. Everyone has been racing for some while and getting your car within the width rules shouldn't cause too much problems. I have a Tech Block at all the races that you are welcomed to use to check to see if you are legit. The major items to be checked will be the width, stock polarity of the traction magnets and the resistance of the armature. There has been some discussion about "impounding" the cars before qualifying. We can either do that or tech the car before it comes to the line. The problem with tech at the line is that if the car is not legal then we either wait for the car to be made right, move the driver to the end of the line, or jump to the next driver while he repairs his car. At the major races they impound and it is no big deal. The car is returned to you as soon as you are done with your qualifying attempt. Think about it and let me know your ideas.
Also there has been some concern about drivers leaning across the track to marshall their own car. If there is a marshall there please allow them to put your car back in. But the layout of some of our courses doesn't allow for easy access especially on some of the straights. We discussed the rule of not allowing a driver to touch his car during the heat. But we decided this would lead to penalities that would detract from the fun. So for now you can still marshall your own car but please do not do it all the time and allow the other drivers to see the track!
With the increasing competitiveness of the racing, tensions have been rising a little. I have warned a few drivers to cool their comments during the last few races towards the marshalls. In fact we have some who are calling out their lane before they come out! We're not at the Nationals, it is just a weekly type race. It is difficult to race at the fast pace we do and not get carried away. But remember that it was you who crashed. It was you who drove into the pileup. A little patience would go a long way. Remember it is for fun and I really don't want to start slapping lap penalities on racers for yelling at the marshalls. Gary Beedle, multi time National Champion very rarely raises his voice. He stops before the crashes and waits. He thanks the marshalls. Learn from it!
I sincerely hope that everyone is having a good time racing Super Stocks. I'm sure Paul would agree with me when he says this is some of the best racing and the most fun we have had with HO cars in a long time. The bench racing, collecting, trading, etc is a lot of fun to watch and particpate in. I think everyone in the "club" is helping to create this atomosphere of camaraderie and friendship. A lot of you have been especially good to me and my new business. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your support. I hope that I'm helping you in your endeavors in HO racing. I also want to point out that Cruzin is now stocking HO parts. Support of our local raceway is vital to keeping the sport alive. Several track owners that I have talked to in Tucson, Sierra Vista and California consider Bob Scott to be one of the best at running a raceway. So if they got some parts you need or if you want to order give Cruzin a call! Hope your racing is going good and that you're having as much fun as I am.
Good Luck and See Ya at the Races!