|
Rolling Thunder Series
(Presented by Rock Island Racing)
A
Division of TRAC
Jocham Wins Tough Battle
After the NAS-T-JET Series race and a nice layer
or two of the finest
unknown pork products ever to be stuffed in a casing (hot dogs), along
with some liquid refreshment, it was time for the July 10th
Rolling Thunder Series
race. The field was large, with 22 racers in all, including the
Arizona gang of A.H.O.R.A., much to the delight of,
those of us in Southern California.
After ‘stretching out’ for a couple of qualifier type laps,
the first Round Robin was set to begin.
As the first round began, most racers were
averaging around 7 laps per minute, bringing the 2-minute heat totals
to 14 or 15 laps. Several of the racers also posted 16’s, while a
select few, namely RICK JOCHAM, host SCOTT DUNLAP, and one of our
visiting friends, GREG WILLIAMS, posted 17’s! The field stayed fast
and very competitive throughout all of the heats and when the round
ended, it was JOCHAM, leading up the pack, with a whopping 65 laps!
Next in line, two laps back, was DOUG BROWN, who continues to rise up
toward the top of the TRAC ‘food chain’. Right behind BROWN, was
DUNLAP, who posted a 63 of his own but, just behind BROWN in track
position. In fourth, also with 63 laps, was WILLIAMS, ending up just
behind DUNLAP. Rounding out the Top 5 was last year’s champion, MIKE
ENGELAGE, who posted 62 laps. At this point, the field was cut to 16
racers, who would battle for the 6 spots in the Final.
MARTY COFFEL, also from the Arizona gang, was the last to make
the cut to the semi, finishing with 56 laps.
In round 2, JOCHAM was the only racer to reach
the 17 lap plateau…and he did it twice! Framing the 17’s with a
pair of 16’s, gave JOCHAM the top spot, with an even more impressive
66 laps! BROWN ran hard to take the second spot again, with 64 laps.
The 3rd, 4th, and 5th spots went to
ENGELAGE, WILLIAMS, and DUNLAP, respectively, all of whom finished
with 63 laps. The ‘Lucky Dog’ spot, and the last spot in the
Final, went to GREG DAVIS, for his 61 lap effort. Series leader, MATT
PAUL, and Arizonian GLENN GORDON, also finished with 61 laps but, just
behind DAVIS. This was some close racin’ for all
positions…..except for first, of course.
The Final consisted of 3-minute heats, instead of
the 2-minute heats, that we had run for the qualifying rounds. The
pace began quickly, with mostly 24’s and 25’s flying around. There
were a couple of 13’s, as well, on the gutter lanes, and one of them
was by JOCHAM, on the nasty Red lane. This 23 was the small opening
that the rest of the field needed, and for which they were waiting. It
was now possible to make a contest out of this, and DUNLAP and
ENGELAGE stepped up their game to meet the challenge. ENGELAGE was
incredibly consistent (as always), posting a trio of 24’s, teaming
up with a 25, for a 97 lap total. DUNLAP fell off to 23 laps on the
Red lane as well, but packed in a 24 and a pair of 25’s, including
one on the Yellow gutter lane, for his total of 97 laps, that was just
ahead of ENGELAGE’S 97. BROWN was also very consistent, posting
24’s across the board, for 96 laps but, it was clear that it would
take 25’s in the mix, to win this race. WILLIAM’S and DAVIS battled, neck and neck, for the last
spot in the top 5, which WILLIAM’S held on to take from DAVIS, as
both racers finished with 95 laps. JOCHAM, after his 23 on the Red
lane, posted 25’s on all 3 of the other lanes, allowing him to
slip by both ENGELAGE and DUNLAP, with 98 laps and another in a series
of wins that has only been disrupted once, this year, by MATT PAUL.
Rounding out the Top 10 were PAUL, GORDON, SCOTT ELLIS, and ROCKY
GERMAN, in that order.
This was another high energy race, with high lap
totals and close, side-by-side racing for many positions. Several
racers ended with identical lap totals as other racers, and many
positions were determined by track position, as a result. Being joined
by our racing brothers in Arizona made for a bit more of a special
day, a feeling that was shared by many in attendance.
Fresh faces, with new or unfamiliar driving styles, are always
a welcome addition to any raceday, adding color as well as competition
to the day’s events. There was definitely some good representation
by the A.H.O.R.A. gang, with racers placing in the Top 5 and/or Top
10, in both series. We
all hope to race with the Arizona gang, as well as others of you out
there, who may want to visit Southern California. A complete schedule,
for the remainder of the year, can be found on the Rock Island Racing
website. www.rockislandracing.com
Please note that the September 4th
race will be moved back, one week, to September 11th. Also,
current standings, race results and reports are also available for
viewing. While on the
website, please click on the links to visit our sponsors, who make all
of this fun so much more enjoyable. We thank them.
Finishing
Order
1.
Rick Jocham
175+5+5+5=190
2.
Scott Dunlap
170+1+3 =174
3.
Mike Engelage
165+3+1 =169
4.
Doug Brown
160+4+4
=168
5.
Greg Williams
155+2+2 =159
6.
Greg Davis
150
7.
Matt Paul
146
8.
Glenn Gordon
142
9.
Scott Ellis
138
10. Rocky German
134
11. Rob Bowman
130
12. Francis McEntee 126
13. Marty Coffel
122
14. Andrew Davis
119
15. Greg Willey
116
16. Erik Von Neuman
113
17. Justin Coffel
110
18. Michael Hurtado 107
19. Eddie Torres
104
20. Jeremy Hurtado
101
21. Rick Martin
98
22. Kyle Bowman
95
|
|
NAS-T-JET Series
(Presented by Rock Island Racing)
A
Division of TRAC
Engelage Dominance Returns to the Track
MIKE ENGELAGE returned to the NAS-T arena, on
Saturday July 10th, at Dunlap Motorplex in Upland, and
despite missing the two last races, put on an exhibition of speed and
driving, that have come to be expected, from this champion racer.
The field was a sizeable one, which included our
visiting friends…members of AHORA, aka the Arizona Gang. There were
19 racers in all and 5 to represent AHORA.
The first thing that everybody noticed about the
AZ gang, is that their cars looked awesome! These guys all had custom
painted and decaled cars and two of them were the winners of the
‘concourse’. GREG WILLIAMS’ (#20 Home Depot Monte Carlo) took
the top spot for the best looking car, followed closely by MARTY
COFFEL’S (#11 Hooters Monte Carlo) was a very close second. All of
the cars looked great. GREG DAVIS’ (#18 Interstate Monte Carlo) and
JEREMY HURTADO’S (#37 Wolf Monte Carlo) were among the top entrants
from here in So. Cal.
As the racing began, on the twisty, turny, routed
track, the lap totals coming in were mostly between 12 and 14. There
were a few drivers who even posted
15’s. ENGELAGE,
of course was one of them, as he surrounded his 15 with a trio of
14’s, for 57 laps. This was good for 5 bonus points and pole position in the
Final but, not by much, as SCOTT DUNLAP (#88 UPS Taurus) also posted a
15 and a trio of 14’s, for his own 57 however, he was just a few
feet behind ENGELAGE in track position.
DUNLAP earned 4 bonus points to help bolster his lead in the
series. The other 15 was turned in by ROCKY GERMAN (#12 Alltel
Intrepid), who posted a 56, due to a tough run and a 13 lap total on
the Yellow gutter lane. His total got him 3 bonus points, in his
effort to catch DUNLAP and re-capture the series lead. Fourth position
went to DAVIS, who snatched up 2 bonus points. The last bonus point,
for fifth, went to GLENN GORDON (#3
Oreo/Goodwrench Monte Carlo), one of the visitors from Arizona, for
his 55 lap work. This was Glenn’s first race ever, in any form of a
T-Jet! Way to go, Glenn. That’s one hell of a first effort! The
‘Lucky Dog’ spot, not worth any bonus points but worth a trip to
the Final, went to SCOTT ELLIS (#38 M&M’s Taurus), who also
posted 55 laps.
At this point, the field was cut to a 6-man
Final. An extra minute was added to each heat, making them 3 minutes,
instead of two. Most
racers were posting 20-22 lap/heat totals, with one
exception…..guess who? That’s right….MIKE ENGELAGE, who posted a
pair of 23’s to go with his pair of 22’s, en route to his slammin’
90 lap finish. This was good for yet another win, and 5 more bonus
points. ENGELAGE isn’t in contention for the NAS-T-JET title, due to
missing too many races but, there is no question about it that he is
at the top of the heap in the Power Rankings! Awesome racin’, Mike.
Host, DUNLAP did his best to try and keep up with ENGELAGE, as he
posted consistent 22’s , across the board, for 88 laps and second
place. DAVIS stepped up
his game, posting a 22, surrounded by 21’s for a strong 85 lap
total, and third place. Fourth place, with 83 laps, went to GERMAN,
who barely held off ELLIS, who posted 83 laps as well and ended up 1
foot behind GERMAN. (These two racers have ended up within 3 feet of
each other about 7 or 8 times, this season, in both series!) GORDON
had difficulty on the Red gutter, posting a 19, and that was enough to
give him a 6th place finish. Great job, Glenn! Keep on
racin’ T-Jets and you can be a ‘Big Dog on the Block’! Rounding
out the top 10 were GREG WILLEY (#13 Zig-Zag Monte Carlo) in 7th,
GREG WILLIAMS in 8th (a nice effort for you, too Greg!),
FRANCIS MCENTEE (#97 John Deere Taurus) in 9th, and 10th
went to ROB BOWMAN (#6 Viagra Taurus).
It was great to have the Arizona gang join us for
racin’, as well as an extra racer from San
Diego. The competition was ‘spirited’, with lots of paint
tradin’ and fender bangin’! Everyone had
blast racin’ the big widebodies. Thanks for making the effort
guys. It’s always great to have new faces in our races.
We all hope to race together again, soon!
This was the last TRAC club race until September.
There should be some fun events going on, during the break. C y’all in September.
Finishing
Order
1.
Mike Engelage 175+5+5=185
2.
Scott Dunlap
170+4 =174
3.
Greg Davis
165+2 =167
4.
Rocky German
160+3 =163
5.
Scott Ellis
155
6.
Glenn Gordon
150+1 =151
7.
Greg Willey
146
8.
Greg Williams
142
9.
Francis McEntee
138
10. Rob Bowman
134
11. Erik Von Neuman
130
12. Andrew Davis
126
13. Justin Coffel
122
14. Marty Coffel
119
15. Jeremy Hurtado
116
16. Kyle Bowman
113
17. Matt Paul
110
18. Rick Martin
107
19. Michael Hurtado
104
|
