Garage

6-5-04

TRAC Race Reports

Dunlap Gets Nas-T

On June 5^th, 13 racers made their way to the new Rock Island Raceway, in Sun Valley, CA, to take their shot at the checkers on the ‘new direction’ 6-laner. This is a twisty, turny road course and everyone knew what to expect with 6 of the wide bodied NAS-T-JETS on the track at the same time. The track was in good shape but, due to a lap counter problem, start time was delayed and the program was abbreviated, into one big long round robin. Everybody got to race the same amount of time, which is what we strive for.

As the mess began, most racers were posting heat/lap totals in the 16 and 17 area. There were a few however, who were more consistently in the 17-18 area, with one racer, SCOTT DUNLAP (#88 UPS Taurus) posting a 19! About 2/3 of the way through, it seemed a 3-man race for first between, DUNLAP,  MICKEY HURTADO (#3 Goodwrench Monte Carlo), and series leader ROCKY GERMAN (#12 Alltel Intrepid). GERMAN was more consistent on the gutters, posting 17’s on both, including the day’s only 17 on Yellow but, he averaged 17 across all of the lanes, which wasn’t enough to hold up to DUNLAP and HURTADO’S array of 18’s. When the checkers flew, it was the 19 that DUNLAP posted, that was the difference in the race, as he held off the attack of HURTADO, 104-103 laps, to become the third different driver to win a NAS-T-JET race, this season. He collected 10 bonus points for the day, helping him move into second place in the series, now that the one race drop has happened.  HURTADO had one of his best runs of the season, as he collected 4 big bonus points for his efforts. GERMAN was close behind, with 102 laps, collecting 3 valuable bonus points, in an effort to hold onto the series lead. Fourth place, with 100 laps, went to GREG DAVIS (#18 Interstate Monte Carlo), giving him 2 bonus points, and the last bonus point went to MATT PAUL (#99 Exide Taurus), for his 99 lap effort. We had a few new racers in the group, who we hope to see more of on the NAS-T-TRACK. Welcome to SCOTT ELLIS (#4 Kodak Monte Carlo), JOE DODGE (#93 Amoco Intrepid), and SCOTT LINDEN (#24 DuPont ‘Superman’ Monte Carlo).

The next race is the ’white flag’ race for the first half, in that there’s only one race to go before the break. SCOTT ELLIS will be hosting, in San Diego. NAS-T-JETS to start by 10:30 AM. C ya there!

Jocham Continues Rolling Thunder Dominance

On Saturday June 5^th, RICK JOCHAM showed up for race number 8 of the Rolling Thunder season, having missed two races earlier in the year. Of the 5 races that JOCHAM had raced in, he’d won 4 of them with a close second place in the 5^th.  As he took to the track, everybody was gunning for him, knowing that he’s always the man to beat. JOCHAM, once again, proved to be up for the challenge.

In the qualifying round robin,  JOCHAM was laying down totals as though every lap was a qualifying lap, posting totals of 21 on all four of the middle lanes, accompanied by a 20 and a 19 on the gutters. This total of 123 laps, good for 5 bonus points, annihilated the rest of the field. The closest contender was MATT PAUL, with a strong run of 116 laps, good for 4 points.  SCOTT DUNLAP was equally as quick, gathering 116 laps of his own, for 3 bonus points, and the third spot. Fourth place and 2 bonus points went to the seriously up and coming DOUG BROWN, for his 115 lap effort. Rounding out the top 5, with a real nice run of his own, was GREG DAVIS, with 115 laps. The ‘Lucky-Dog’ spot, good for a move up to the Final but, no bonus points, went to host ROCKY GERMAN, for his 114 lap effort. SCOTT ELLIS, was almost the Lucky-Dog, as he also posted a 114 lap total but, GERMAN was ahead by a few feet in track position.

In the Final, JOCHAM picked up right where he left off, posting 21’s, where 19’s and 20’s were the norm. Nearly an exact mirror image of the qualifying round robin, JOCHAM, once again put on a display of speed and handling, posting a race dominating 123 lap total, again. With the exception of GERMAN, who dropped 2 laps from his qualifier total, all of the others rose to the occasion to make it a bit closer.  The gap to second place was only 5 laps, this time, as PAUL and BROWN, both posted totals of 118. By only a few sections of track, PAUL’S 118 was good enough to take second place over BROWN, who earned another podium. DAVIS battled hard, adding 2 laps to his qualifying total, and finishing up with 117, for fourth place, and DUNLAP took the 5^th spot with 116 laps.

JOCHAM continues to be in a league of his own and, after the dropped race, he finds himself in second place in the series, having only 6 races on the books, and ahead of a half dozen racers with 7 races on the books! If JOCHAM continues this trend, he could very well win the series with one less race than the entire field! Who says bonus points don’t make a difference? JOCHAM’S next chance to pursue that end will be this Saturday, June 26^th, at SCOTT ELLIS’, in San Diego.

C ya there.

 
Garage