Garage

5-22-04

Rolling Thunder Series
(Presented by Rock Island Racing)

A Division of TRAC
Dynamic Duo Strikes Again

Eighteen TRAC racers showed up at Greg Willey’s Acme Raceway, on Saturday May 22^nd, for the first return visit to a track, this season. The 2004 season began at Acme, back in January. As always, Willey set the stage for a good,  competitive day of racing.

As the first round robin began, the field was laying down heat/lap totals of 17-23, with only 2 racers reaching that 23 lap pinnacle. Those racers were two that we’re used to seeing at the top, RICK JOCHAM and MATT PAUL.  JOCHAM surrounded his 23 with a pair of 22’s and a 20 on the difficult Red lane, for a big 87 lap total, good for first place and 5 big bonus points.  PAUL, however, didn’t have as much support for his 23, adding a pair of 20’s and a 21, for a total of 84 laps, which wasn’t enough for the top 5 but, it was good for 6^th. Second place and 4 bonus points, went to a racer who has been creeping ever closer to Victory Lane, DOUG BROWN, for his consistent run of three 22’s and a 21 for an 87 lap total. JOCHAM’S 87 was just a few feet further than BROWN’S 87. Both were jammin’! MICKEY HURTADO also had a strong and consistent run, posting three 22’s and a 20, for 86 laps and third place, adding 3 bonus points to his total. MIKE ENGELAGE and GREG DAVIS battled hard for 4^th place and the 2 bonus points that go with it, and it was very close. ENGELAGE’S 85 laps were just ahead of DAVIS’ 85 laps, so ENGELAGE got the 2 bonus points and DAVIS settled for 1. In this Rolling Thunder Series, ANY bonus points are cherished, as they are very difficult to come by.

After the round ended, the field was cut to 12.  As this round began, the lap totals were similar to the previous round, perhaps a hair faster. There was one racer who was definitely faster, and that was JOCHAM, who upped his already lofty total, from 87 to 89 laps! This was definitely the top of the ladder, again, and again, JOCHAM collected the 5 ‘Round Robin’ bonus points.  Once again, BROWN took second place, and four bonus points, for matching his first round total of 87 laps. PAUL came back stronger in this round, adding 2 laps to his previous total, for 86 laps, third place, and 3 bonus points. HURTADO slipped off his previous pace, dropping down a lap to 85, which was good for 4^th place and 2 more bonus points. Fifth place, and the last bonus point went to ENGELAGE for another 85 lap finish. This race’s ‘Lucky Dog’ spot went to SCOTT DUNLAP, whose 84 lap effort was just about 2 feet better than DAVIS’ 84 lap effort, allowing him one more chance in the Final. ROCKY GERMAN, SCOTT ELLIS, and GREG WILLEY rounded out the top 10 for the day.

In the Final, things started off fast and a bit messy, with a few early ‘altercations’ on the track. Things settled quickly, into the groove, that they’d been in all day, as 22’s and 23’s abounded.  This was a great Final and the ‘chase for the checkers’ was really close. Going into the last heat, 5 of the 6 racers were still in the hunt. JOCHAM stayed strong but, fell off a lap from the Semi, posting a strong 88 lap total. Battling him every inch of the way, were ENGELAGE and BROWN.  BROWN’S only slip up (if you can call it that), was a 20 on the Red lane. JOCHAM and ENGELAGE both turned out 21’s on Red. As the time wound down, JOCHAM and ENGELEGE were engaged in a great fight for track position, with BROWN close enough that he could pass them both if they wrecked. They didn’t wreck, though, and when it was all over, it was JOCHAM taking the checkers, finishing three S turns ahead of ENGELAGE. Both had 88 laps. BROWN was right there, all the way, and was very close to crossing over to lap #88 himself. PAUL and HURTADO raced each other very hard, to an 86-86 tie but, PAUL had the very slight edge in track position, to capture fourth.  DUNLAP was consistent, posting another 84 but, just didn’t have enough to compete for the win, finishing in 6^th.

JOCHAM was driving a Greg Davis Ferrari, with Wizzard LAW rear sponge silicones, and Wizzard standard brass front end. This is JOCHAM’S fourth win in 5 races!

Once again, WILLEY put out a good feed of barbecued sausages and dogs, with a full array of condiments, chips, and beverages. It’s nice to have food available throughout the race day so that an actual ‘lunch break’ isn’t necessary, and the day can move on. Way to go, WILLEY.

Also, as always, we thank our sponsors and urge you to patronize then for all of your slot racing needs. Links to our sponsors can be found at  Rock Island Racers' Pages

Thanks, too, to all who continue to show up and support TRAC Racing.

The next race is on Saturday June 5^th, on the 6-lane Rock Island Raceway, in Sun Valley. The track is available tonight, Wednesday May 26, Friday May 28,  Monday May 31, Wednesday June 2, and Friday June 4. 

NAS-T-JET Series

(Presented by Rock Island Racing)

A Division of TRAC

German Fights Off  Engelage For NAS-T-Win!  

A formidable field of 14 NAS-T-Racers made the early arrival to Greg Willey’s Acme Raceway, in Riverside, on Saturday May 22, to test their skills on the tricky, twisty track, with their beatin’, bangin’ wide-bodied NAS-T-JETS. Series leader ROCKY GERMAN was seeking his first ever win over MIKE ENGELAGE, who is on the top of the series’ power ranking, by virtue of his 4 wins in 4 races record. MATT PAUL was there to try and close the 15 point gap between himself and the series lead.

As the race began, the lap totals were hanging out in the 17-20 area, with 21’s posted by ENGELAGE (#44 Hot Wheels Gran Prix) and GERMAN (#12 Alltel/Sony Taurus).  In the third heat, GERMAN ran into bad car problems and de-slotted at the same two places on the track, every lap. It turned out to be a bent guide pin, that broke upon straightening. GERMAN was only able to collect 14 laps on the Blue money lane and feared that he wouldn’t be making the move to the Final. He fought back in the last heat, posting a 20 on the difficult Yellow gutter lane, giving him a total of 72 laps, which turned out to be good enough for 5^th, a move up, and even a bonus point. While GERMAN was struggling, ENGELAGE was leaving the rest of the field in his NAS-T-Dust, posting a whopping 78 laps, a full 4 laps ahead of his closest competitor. For his effort, ENGELAGE collected 5 big bonus points.  Second place, for his solid run of 74 laps, was GREG DAVIS (#18 Interstate Monte Carlo), who picked up a lap with every successive heat. Also with 74 laps, was RICK JOCHAM (#38 M&M’s Taurus), who picked up 3 bonus points for third. Just one lap back, with 73 laps, was CHRIS JACKSON, collecting 2 bonus points for his 4^th place qualifying. As mentioned, GERMAN took 5^th and the ‘Lucky Dog’ was MICKEY HURTADO (#3 Goodwrench Monte Carlo), who finished with 72 laps. GREG WILLEY (#13 Zig-Zag Monte Carlo), MATT PAUL (#99 Exide Taurus), MICHAEL HURTADO (#8 Budweiser Monte Carlo), and ROB BOWMAN (#6 Viagra Taurus) rounded out the top 10.

In the Final, GERMAN overcame his problems and came out with a vengeance, posting a slammin’ 21 on the White lane. ENGELAGE posted the only other 21 on the Blue lane. Halfway through the race, it was clearly a race between GERMAN and ENGELAGE. The pace of both drivers was faster than in the Round Robin. For the last heat, GERMAN had to end on the dreaded Red lane, while ENGELAGE was on the more user friendly White lane. GERMAN had a 60-59 lead going in. As the heat progressed, ENGELAGE passed GERMAN and soon began to reel him in for the lead. GERMAN fought hard and ended up posting the day’s only 19 on Red to finish with 79 laps, just holding off ENGELAGE, who would have won the race if it had been 30 seconds longer. Luckily for GERMAN, it wasn’t. The battle for the last spot on the podium, was a very closely contested battle between HURTADO, JOCHAM, and JACKSON.  DAVIS’ early trouble, posting a 15 on Red cemented him in 6^th place.  The three fighting for the podium were on the same lap for most of the race, with JACKSON de-slotting one more time than his two competitors, keeping him about a half of a lap back. JOCHAM and HURTADO however, traded décor on each other’s quarter panels, more than once, en route to a 74-74 tie, that went to JOCHAM for slightly better track position, giving him that last podium spot. JACKSON, getting more and more consistent, collected another Top 5 for his 73 lap effort.

This was a fast and exciting race and marked a milestone, for GERMAN, that he didn’t know if he’d ever get past….winning over ENGELAGE.  GERMAN definitely had a noticeably good car, which played a big part in the win and ENGELAGE always has a good car! It made for some great racing.

Thanks to all of our sponsors and for all who continue to show up to compete and support NAS-T-JET Racing. Sponsor links can be found on the home page at  Rock Island Racers' Pages   NAS-T-JET Series racing is a blast and hopefully will be enjoyed by other racers around the country. If any of you want the official rules, regulations, and scoring procedure, please contact Rocky at  rockisle5@aol.com

If you start a series, we will be happy to post your results/pics on the Rock Island Racing website.

The next race will be on Saturday June 5^th, on the 6-laner at Rock Island Raceway in Sun Valley. C ya there!

Finishing Order

1.   Rocky German        175+1+5=181

2.   Mike Engelage        170+5=    180

3.   Rick Jocham            165+3=    168

4.   Mickey Hurtado                       160

5.   Chris Jackson           155+2=    157

6.   Greg Davis               150+4=    154

7.   Greg Willey                              146

8.   Matt Paul                                  142

9.   Michael Hurtado                       138

10. Rob Bowman                            134

11. Scott Dunlap                             130

12. Jeremy Hurtado                         126

13. Andrew Davis                            122

14. Kyle Bowman                            119

 
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