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Rolling
Thunder Series
(Presented
by Rock Island Racing)
A
Division of TRAC
Ellis
Fights Hard; Wins Big!
Eighteen Racers showed up on Sunday April
18th, for Rolling Thunder action at MICKEY
HURTADO’S place, in Ontario. This was due to be the debut of
the new track that Hurtado has had under construction for weeks.
Unfortunately, there were still a few things left to do, that
precluded us from racing on that track. So, the race was held on
the International layout, as well as the NAS-T-JET race. This is
a very tricky road course that relies much more on setup and
driving ability, than on speed. Constant concentration is a must
on this track.
As things began, many of the racers in the
field were posting lap totals of 18-19 per heat, with a 20
thrown in, here and there. SCOTT ELLIS, picking up right where
he left off at the last race, posted a pair of 21’s, totaling
a strong 79 laps. This was good enough to beat most of the
field…but not all. It was DOUG BROWN, posting a 21 and a 22,
and never dipping below 19, who took the top qualifier spot and
the 5 bonus points, for his jammin’ 81 lap total.
ELLIS’ 79 laps were good for second place and 4 bonus
points, nosing out MATT PAUL, who also had 79 laps, and
collected 3 bonus points for third.
The fourth spot and 2 bonus points went to FRANCIS
MCENTEE, for his solid 78 lap effort, and SCOTT DUNLAP collected
the last bonus point and fifth place for his 78 lap run.
Rounding out the top 10 were PAUL HAGAN, MICKEY HURTADO, GREG
DAVIS, and ROCKY GERMAN, with lap totals of 76-77. Due to a late
start and some lap counter discussions, the cut went directly
from 18 to a 12 man round robin final. The last two racers to
qualify for this big main were VIC LICAUSI, making a rare
appearance and a return to the track and GREG WILLEY.
Unfortunately, due to a mathematical error that wasn’t caught
until it was too late, WILLEY was placed in 13th and
MICHAEL HURTADO went to the final. He had trouble in the Final,
finishing 12th, so the 12th place finish
was awarded to WILLEY and 13th went to HURTADO. This
was a tough break for WILLEY, who has been in the hunt for the
top 5, all year long. It’s a good thing that we get to drop a
race at the end of the first half of the season. Tough break,
Willey!
As the Final began, the first thing that
had to be noticed, was how much the pace picked up. In the
qualifier round robin, only one racer out of the field of 18,
reached 80 laps. In the Final, 8 of the 12 racers finished with
80 or more. I guess people really DO rise to a challenge! As
things began, it was mostly 20’s and 21’s being posted by
most racers. BROWN,
ELLIS, HURTADO, and PAUL managed to post 22’s in their hunt
for the checkers, and although there were no 22’s involved,
LICAUSI, GERMAN, and DUNLAP, were right behind the four leaders.
This was going to be a close finish. ELLIS, as he did at the
previous race, finished his race, with the field still having
one more heat to go, and had only to wait. He posted a whopping
83 lap total, putting him in the lead but still within reach of
all 6 drivers who were in the last heat! ELLIS,
knowing that at this point, it was out of his hands, nervously
watched as BROWN, PAUL, and HURTADO laid down fast lap after
fast lap, with little to no mistakes. LICAUSI, DUNLAP, and
GERMAN were still within sniffin’ distance but, just off the
pace of the leaders. When the time ran out and the checkers were
waived, all four of the leaders had 83 laps! But, unlike the
last race, ELLIS remained at the top of the heap, as his 83 laps
was closer to 84 than anybody else.
BROWN took the second spot, edging out PAUL by about a
foot and a half, with HURTADO only a matter of inches behind
PAUL. LICAUSI took the last spot in the top 5 with his 82 lap
total, while DUNLAP held off GERMAN by about 2 feet, for 6th.
DAVIS, MCENTEE, and
HAGAN rounded out the top 10. All that I can say is
“Wow!...what a race!” It just doesn’t get any closer than
that. Every race just seems to get better, closer, faster, and
much more competitive.
This race marks the first ever trip down
Victory Lane for ELLIS, who has wanted it and worked hard for
it, as much as anybody else on the circuit. The car was a Greg
Davis Ferrari. The
win moves ELLIS up two positions in the standings, to fourth
place, and only one point out of third, behind GERMAN.
Congratulations, Scott. You fought hard, you earned this win,
and you deserve it! Way to go. Also, this is BROWN’S first
podium in the series. Congratulations, Doug. We expect to see
both of these racers on the podium again before the end of the
season.
That being said, Scott..you know that
you’re the man with the target on his back, when we show up at
Dunlap’s, in a couple weeks! So, beware….you know it will be
‘Ellis hunting’ season!
Thanks to all who showed up to race and who
continue to show up and keep our club strong! We all need each
other to make this work and everyone’s participation is
greatly appreciated. Also, as always, thanks to our sponsors. We
welcomed two new racers, JOE CASTELLANOS and CHAZ DEMATTES, to
the club, at this race. We’re glad to have you, guys. The next
Rolling Thunder race will be at Scott Dunlap’s, on Saturday
May 8th, on the new routed track….should be a good
one.
C ya then, and remember..”keep it in the
slot as long as you can…”.
FINISHING ORDER
1.
Scott Ellis
175+4+5=184
2.
Doug Brown
170+5+4=179
3.
Matt Paul
165+3+3=171
4.
Mickey Hurtado
160+2 =162
5.
Vic Licausi
155+1 =156
6.
Scott Dunlap
150+1 =151
7.
Rocky German
146
8.
Greg Davis
142
9.
Francis McEntee
138+2 =140
10. Paul Hagan
134
11. Chris Jackson
130
12. Greg Willey
126
13. Michael Hurtado
122
14. Andrew Davis
119
15. Joe Castellanos
116
16. Jeremy Hurtado
113
17. Chaz Demattes
110
18. Kyle Bowman
107
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NAS-T-JET
Series
(Presented
by Rock Island Racing)
A
Division of TRAC
German
Takes Second Trip To Victory Lane
On Sunday April 18th, MICKEY
HURTADO, opened up his doors to the TRAC members, to host his
first club race ever. This
race marked another ‘first’, and that is the first TRAC club
race on the Jim Welty designed International layout. HURTADO had
built and honed this track to a silky smoothness, and it was
time to put it to the test. From the onset, everyone knew that
these wide-bodies NAS-T-JETS, on this corkscrew of a track,
would be an ugly race….and it was!
The field was 12 racers deep. As the action
began, there was a lot of ‘bumpin and bangin’ goin’ on, as
cars were being nerfed, left and right. Most of the racers were
posting lap totals of 16 and 17 per heat. There were a few of
them, ROCKY GERMAN, MATT PAUL, and SCOTT DUNLAP, who were closer
to averaging 18 laps per heat. GERMAN (#12 Alltel/Sony Taurus)
took the early lead, posting an 18 on the Red gutter lane.
DUNLAP (#88 UPS Taurus) and PAUL (#99 Exide Taurus) also posted
18’s in their first heat, and the race was on. When the round
was over, it was GERMAN atop of the heap, with a strong 71 lap
total, earning 5 big bonus points. Not far off of the pace, each
with totals of 71 also, were DUNLAP and PAUL, respectively,
cashing in for 4 and 3 bonus points. Host, HURTADO (#3
Goodwrench Monte Carlo) ran solid heats of 17, slipping to 16
only once, for 67 laps, fourth place, and 2 bonus points.
Rounding out the top 5 with 66 laps, was FRANCIS MCENTEE (#97
John Deere Taurus), who collected the final available bonus
point. The sixth place finisher, and the last spot in the Final
went to GREG DAVIS (#18 Interstate Monte Carlo), for his 66 lap
effort. CHRIS
JACKSON (#45 Sprint Intrepid) made a good run at the Final but,
fell short and had to settle for a 7th place finish.
In the Final, GERMAN proved again, that he
could tackle the Red gutter lane, as he posted the day’s only
19 on that lane. SCOTT DUNLAP ran strong as well, posting a 19
of his own, on the White lane.
GERMAN and DUNLAP remained consistent, never dipping
below an 18, and that was the race for the win.
HURTADO, and MCENTEE both had heats of 19 thrown into
their race but, due to 17’s on both gutters, their 19’s
wouldn’t be enough to contend for the win. PAUL didn’t have
any 19’s but, he ran consistent, posting three 18’s and a 17
on the Red gutter. DAVIS ran very well on three of the lanes,
posting solid 18’s but, a 15 on the Red lane was all that it
took to grab a sixth place finish. PAUL, HURTADO, and MCENTEE
all ended with 71 laps (which equaled the high in the qualifier
round robin), and when the dust settled, it was HURTADO taking
third place, and the final spot on the podium. Great run, Mic.
Congrats on the podium! PAUL was slightly ahead of MCENTEE and
took 4th place, leaving 5th for MCENTEE.
The fight for the checkers was a great battle. When the
last heat began, GERMAN was about ¾ of a lap ahead of DUNLAP
but, he was finishing on the Yellow gutter and DUNLAP was
finishing on the White lane…right next to the Yellow lane.
Within about 6 or 7 laps, DUNLAP had caught up to GERMAN, and
was threatening to overtake him for the lead. As they raced side
by side, DUNLAP got into GERMAN on an inside turn, sending
GERMAN spinning in the infield. A quick marshall job by JACKSON
got GERMAN quickly back into the race and with a little under a
minute to go, GERMAN had caught back up to DUNLAP, who ran into
lap traffic and de slotted twice. With about 30 seconds to go,
GERMAN and DUNLAP were side by side, racing for the checkers,
when GERMAN dished up some payback, getting into DUNLAP with the
old ‘moving guardrail’ move, sending DUNLAP into the grass.
Quickly, DUNLAP was back in the race and starting to reel GERMAN
in. The time was ticking off and finally the end arrived, with
GERMAN holding off the charge of DUNLAP, by about 3 feet, and
taking his second trip down Victory Lane in as many races. Kudos
go to Marty Coffel of Phoenix for the Taurus body GERMAN raced.
This is the first ‘Hard Body by Marty’ that has been raced
in the circuit.
This was one of the most competitive
NAS-T-JET races that we’ve had. I think that part of this was
due to the track layout, and to the fact that all of the ‘grab
bag’ chassis are very good now. Everybody really liked the
challenge of the layout. Thanks again, Jim Welty for the design.
It’s a hit!
With this win, GERMAN opened up his lead in
the series by another 20 points. PAUL maintains second place
but, HURTADO is closing the gap, quickly.
Thanks to all who showed up for the race,
and to Mickey and family for hosting the event. Thanks, too for
our sponsors.
The next race will be at Scott Dunlap’s
track on Saturday May 8th.
FINISHING ORDER
1.
Rocky German
175+5+5=185
2.
Scott Dunlap
170+4+4=178
3.
Mickey Hurtado
165+2+3=170
4.
Matt Paul
160+3+2=165
5.
Francis McEntee
155+1+1=157
6.
Greg Davis
150
7.
Chris Jackson
146
8.
Greg Willey
142
9.
Michael Hurtado
138
10. Jeremy Hurtado
134
11. Andrew Davis
130
12. Kyle Bowman
126
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