Craig's Race Report

Danny, Delfin Deliver

November 20, 2004 - Holly Hill, Fl- Nineteen racers gathered at Greg Walker's The Race Place for the final race of the season to decide the season championships. Mr. Bill was still unable to attend due an injury suffered playing pool. You know you are getting old when you get injured playing pool. The Clown Prince was also unable to attend due to work commitments. We would like to welcome first time racers Jonathan Te and Adri Heine to the FHORA series.

(Song set to the theme of Gilligan's Island) Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, A tale of a fateful race, That started in the Holly Hills, Inside The Racing Place. The Ed was a Leprechaun, Mr. Rogers brave and sure, FHORA set sail that day, For a ten month tour. A ten month tour The season started getting rough, The Sunshine State was crossed, If not for the courage of the fearless Ed, FHORA would lost. FHORA would be lost The season championship ended At Greg Walker's great store Mr. Rogers, the Leprechaun, The Bearded Man and his Ed, A Clown Prince, the slow Clay Fly and Thunderwreck Here on the HO scale tour!

T-Jets

The battle was intense for the championship since the top three were separated by only 2 points. Point leader Ed "I am not a Leprechaun" Delfin would be trying to hold off Clayton "Clay Fly" St. Clair and reigning season champion Lonnie "Thunderwreck" Robbins. Both drivers would need to finish ahead of Lonnie to have any hope of wresting the title from him. They, along with the rest of the drivers, would be trying to overcome very slick track conditions. A lot of work was put into the track trying to get some grip for the antiques. Anyone seen the traction fluid? A new track record would not be set today.

Clayton "The Machine" St. Clair was looking to defend his dominance from the July race. He started the race by setting a pace that no one could match in his Wizzard RTR T Jet. In spite of the difficult conditions, he would drive off from the field. The best of the rest would be Lonnie, in a Go Go offering, coming in three laps behind Fly. The battle would be for third between Jason, Ed "Crash" Delfin, and perennial non contender Craig "Mr. Rogers" Reynolds. Jason would edge Crash by one lap who would nip Reynolds by seven sections. Crash and Mr. Rogers were both driving WizJets. These results would determine the final standings. Sixth through thirteenth were only separated by eight laps. It is really getting tight in the T Jet ranks! First timer Adri would struggle with her unfamiliar ride to finish in the guard of honor position. They say that is the strongest position since they have to support the rest of the standings.

Results:

1. Clayton 77.16 2. Lonnie 74.10 3. Jason 72.22 4. Ed 71.15 5. Craig 71.08 6. Tom 68.15 7. Greg 67.19 8. Richard 67.12 9. Marcus 65.26 10. Andy 64.22 11. Jonathan 62.22 12. Steve 62.20 13. Brett 60.10 14. Adri 51.29

Amateur Super Stock Race

This race would be Dave's last chance to win in the Amateur division. He and Danny Mayer had a decent fight going for the title. Danny would have to win while Dave finished out of the top six. Dave thought he would try the "I'm too cool for my car" look by sucking on a Tootsie Pop during the race. His first run on red was a disaster, losing seventeen laps to the leader. Only Bowman and Adri matched Dave's total on red. If it hadn't been for the coaching of the fearless Delfin, the championship would have been lost, the championship would have been lost. Dave lost the Tootsie Pop for the next segment and his driving improved dramatically.

Jonathan, a JZ protégé, made his first start of the season. As usual, Jason's cars were super fast. Jonathan had trouble keeping the car in the slot, but he still had some decent runs as he was able to finish ahead of Jimmie Parris and fellow first timer Adri. Today was a first for the FHORA group as we had a father and daughter racing and marshalling for all three classes. Adri was under extreme pressure to perform as Andy threatened to leave her behind if she didn't show more favoritism in her marshalling when HE wrecked. Adri followed her dad's footsteps of running aerodynamic bodies by running a VW bug body. Once again, Andy went to Team Reynolds for a ride. They had hoped to do a repeat performance from Bent L. Unfortunately, lightning did not strike twice. They were unable to find the magic from Ocala.

Steve "Mr. North Melbourne" Bowman had a terrible start to the race on red, but rebounded to set high lap totals on green and black to salvage a sixth place finish. Madman Marcus had a similar meltdown on red, but had a consistent race on the rest of the lanes to crack the top five. After Ed's help, Dave "No more Tootsie Pops" Cook pulled out high lap totals on blue and white to save his race and his championship. Congratulations Dave! The biggest surprise of the day had to be the performance of Brett "Bash 'em Crash 'em" Beatty. He did not live up to his nickname today. He scorched the yellow lane for high lap total on his way to a runner up finish. Where did this kid come from? The Bearded Man seems to be constantly hounded by the young kids. Usually, it is Madman, but today it was Penske driver and teammate Bash 'em Crash 'em. Danny Mayer abandoned Team Delfin racing blaming them for his poor performance for the year. He built his own car for this race and was pleased by its performance. So pleased in fact, he took it to the front for his first win of the year. He only set high lap totals on one lane, red, but that was all he needed to post an eight lap victory over the kid.

Results:

1. Danny 297 2. Brett 289 3. Dave 288 4. Greg 276 5. Marcus 275 6. Steve 270 7. Richard 267 8. Andy 266 9. Jonathan 252 10. Jimmie 228 11. Adri 210

Pro Super Stock Race

Craig "Mr. Rogers" Reynolds decided to try a different strategy this race. He thought he might try to run his own car today instead of one from the Clayfly stables. He had been practicing two nights during the week so he felt fairly confident. In fact, he was so brave and sure as he set sail that day, Craig was even giving set up tips to experienced veteran Bruce "Bodies by Bruce" Beaulieu for his Storm. After watching Clayton "The Tortoise" St. Clair "struggle" in practice, Craig felt badly about stealing the win last month (well not THAT badly, well actually not badly at all, well pretty good about it now that he thinks about it) so he offered his back up car to Clayton. The field knew they were in trouble when Craig "Choke" Reynolds didn't even practice.

The first segment looked like the amateur super stock race. The amateurs were asking "Are these the pros?" The pros responded by claiming to be getting revenge on the amateurs for making them work during their race. Luckily for the pros, the computer had a glitch and the race had to be restarted. All the pros calmed down and took advantage of this new lease on life except for Reynolds. He has a terrible time trying to drive with tolerance.

Bruce was running strong in practice with his Storm and looking to contend for the win. While looking for more speed, Bruce made a few adjustments that took him backwards. Running out of time and feeling he needed more car, Bruce decided to run his G3. This decision would cost him dearly. The car was a handful to drive and Bruce struggled all day to finish in the guard of honor position.

Jason ran a T1 to try to learn what it took to make it fast, apparently nothing. In spite of all his experience and skill, Jason could not improve the T1 today. Normally, Jason is running up front contending for the win, but that was not the case today. Lonnie was not running like he normally does and had a disappointing run to finish two laps behind Jason.

Ed "I said I am NOT a Leprechaun" Delfin is showing signs of life with his racing program and had a good battle with Tom "Penske" Clark for third. Tom got a little payback on Ed when he slipped by Ed by only seven sections to finish in third. Great race Tom!

The battle for the win would be between the Team Wizzard drivers Craig "Mr. Rogers" Reynolds and Clayton "The Iceman" St. Clair. The battle would be epic. The lead went back and forth. Clayton took the early lead, until Craig cruised by in the second segment. Craig would lead by as many as seven laps until the fourth segment when Clayton came roaring back to tie. The fifth segment was the deciding one as Craig pulled out to a three lap lead going in to the final segment. Craig and Fly ran identical lap totals in the final segment to seal the win for Craig. It was his second win of the season and two straight. The track record of 336.11 laps set in July of this year was not broken today.

Results:

1. Craig 329.01 Storm 2. Clayton 326.10 Storm 3. Tom 318.24 Storm 4. Ed 318.17 Storm 5. Jason 307.11 T1 6. Lonnie 305.29 Storm 7. Bruce 299.05 G3

Amateur Modified Race

Danny "The Bearded Man" Mayer would take the early lead in round one followed by 2004 Amateur Modified Champion Dave Cook. Dave has been the dominate driver this year in this class. He was so confidant in getting the win he was heard to say "Showtime!" when he started to get on the track. He even went back to the Tootsie Pop. I don't think the "show" that resulted was what Dave had intended. Dave did indeed put on a show in the second segment. Everyone was saying "OOOHHH" "AAAHHHH" as Dave hit the track. What was the show? Dave overheated his armature and went up in smoke in spectacular fashion. He even left a stain on the track for future generations to enjoy and point to when the car came to its smoking demise after only sixteen laps. It was probably still past Dave's bedtime. I doubt Dave will ever use a Tootsie Pop again.

After the track had been cleaned up after the red flag caused by Dave, heat two continued. This heat had Danny battling Greg Walker for dominance. Walker was counting his wrecks on red until it passed double figures. Brett had trouble with a gear going south during the race. Car owner TC tried to effect repairs, but had trouble finding the same feel in the car Brett liked. He had hoped to do his finish in the SS race one better. The gear problem cost him a sure top three finish. Newcomer Jonathan was looking strong early on.

Heat three had the two amateur modified titans battling Danny and Madman Marcus Clark. Danny Mayer was trash talking young Madman and getting into his head. He had Madman pretty rattled on the red lane and asking team owner TC for more speed. Danny made sure Marcus knew every time he blasted past him on the race track. He was determined not to have the kid beat him again. The surprise of the day came when newcomer Jonathan won the heat followed by a charging Brett "Bash 'em Crash 'em" Beatty.

Heat four had Danny and Madman establish their dominance by leading the field with equal lap totals. Jonathan couldn't match the two front runners while Brett had a very good run on the gutter. Richard Green surprised many when he made a P2 competitive and ran among the leaders.

Heat five had a very close race. Madman would win the heat with a 61, followed by Brett with 60, Richard "The air is kind of rare up here!" Green with 59 still in his P2, with Jonathan and Danny coming in at 58. Great racing Guys! Danny would have the early lead with a 294.

Heat six would have Brett and Jonathan leading the way while the Madman and Richard trailed by one. Steve Bowman and Jimmie Parris were having good runs, but just couldn't match the leaders pace. Brett would finish first and set the mark at 313.

Heat seven was lopsided as Marcus put it to the field by ten laps. The best of the rest was Jonathan, who had a terrible time on the white lane, to put him out of contention for the win. He had enough laps to set the lap total higher by finishing with a 339 to bump Brett out of the lead.

Heat eight was a coming out party for Madman. He set the high total on white to set the field on fire as he upped the winning total to 356. He would have to wait to see if The Bearded Man could knock him out of the lead. Not lost in the race was Richard "I'm not used to racing with the leaders" Green. He had a great run to finish second behind the Madman for the heat. Greg Walker tried to show he wasn't done yet, but he just couldn't get the great run he would need to be a contender. Steve Bowman was beginning to hate the gutters the more he ran, while Jimmie and Esaias couldn't seem to find the handle on any lane.

Heat nine had Steve surprising himself and the field with a strong run. He edged out Walker for the heat win by one lap. Richard's poor run on white spoiled an otherwise outstanding race for him. He would come home in fifth place. Walker was licking his lips in anticipation for the next segment. He knew he had a chance to beat Richard now. These two drivers have a great rivalry.

The final heat had everyone watching Danny. He had to run a 62 lap heat to win. Marcus was pacing the floor as the race progressed. When it ended, Danny had scored the best run to date on red, but fell six laps short of the win. Greg "I can't let Richard beat me" Walker led the field from the black gutter with an excellent run. Are you sure that was your car, Greg? Greg Walker actually claimed to have built all his own equipment and made sure all those in attendance knew it, all three times.

Results:

1. Marcus 356.17 2. Danny 350.16 3. Jonathan 339.03 4. Greg 337.17 5. Richard 329.29 6. Steve 329.15 7. Brett 313.04 8. Jimmie 288.29 9. Esaias 273.16 10. Dave 73

Pro Modified Race

Ed and Craig dominated this class last year with each driver garnering three wins each. Only Kielbasa was able to break their stranglehold on this class. This year was a different story. Craig managed to equal last year's win total while Ed and Kielbasa have been shut out so far. Ed 'I used to be fast, really I was!" Delfin was looking to avenge his narrow loss to Reynolds at his home track at Bent L last month.

Jason was going to run his G3 in the modified race, but the car fell apart in his hand during a pick up shoe change. Now, if Kielbasa had helped that would be more believable. Jason had to go to an amateur modified Patriot. They seem to be a bit more durable. He had a great run for an Amateur Modified finishing only ten laps off the leader's pace.

Clayton was giving driving lessons to TC before the race. He was trying to explain to him the advantages of tolerance driving. Even though the speech didn't seem to affect Reynolds much, he thought Tom might be a better student of Clayton's Zen style of driving. The speech must have helped as Tom set the highest lap total of the day in the last segment. If he could run the gutters as well as he runs the jet lanes, he would be contending for the win. TC had a very impressive performance. The surprise of the race was Tom having a poor run on the troublesome white lane. It probably cost him at least one spot. As well as Lonnie runs in T jet and Super Stock, he struggles in the high powered, high down force cars. Today was no exception as the amateurs eclipsed his total.

Andy decided to jump in with both feet and run the pro mod since he planned on running pro next year. His run was cut short with overheating problems and he was forced to retire. Clayton "I hate to wrec… Darn! I wrecked. I said 'I hate to…. ' Darn! I did it again. As I was trying to say… Darn it! What is going on here?" St. Clair tried (and succeeded) to get revenge on everyone who had taken him out during the year. He was in everyone's lane either right side up or upside down, really didn't seem to matter. Clayton was giggling like a school girl. I think he had more fun running poorly than he has had all year. He said "So, this it what it is like to run like Crash Delfin!" At least, he apologized to the drivers he wrecked instead of blaming other drivers or marshals for his poor performance. Clayton definitely doesn't run as well when Kielbasa isn't there to help him set up his cars. To add insult to injury, a ten year old beat his lap total in an amateur modified. The insult is from me, the injury is from Madman Marcus who wounded Clayton's pride. After the race, Tom was giving driving lesson to Clayton. Something about Zen driving was discussed.

Most of the time, the FHORA regulars are embarrassed to lose to Delfin. The common refrain is "Did I at least beat Delfin?" after a particularly bad or eventful run. Ed "Don't call me Edward" Delfin finally decided to give handling a try today instead of all out speed and no handling (his usual style). In spite of his nickname, he had his best race of the season to edge out Craig for the win. Both were in Patriot Scorpions. Bruce and Craig had trouble with their bodies taking both out of contention for the win. Craig and Ed had trouble with Dave. We would like to congratulate Ed on a well deserved win and say "It's about time!"

Results:

1. Ed 388.21 Scorpion 2. Craig 384.26 Scorpion 3. Bruce 382.15 Storm 4. Jason 378.26 Scorpion 5. Tom 373.02 Storm 6. Clayton 350.26 Scorpion 7. Lonnie 327.16 Storm 8. Andy 252 Scorpion

Summary

We would like to thank Greg Walker for hosting the final race of the season. He has a first rate facility. We would also like to thank Bob and Cheryl of Wizzard High Performance for their generous donations of race prizes for the year end awards. Learning from Homer, the winners had last choice of prizes as it should be. We would also like to thank all those who have helped out during the year doing all the thankless tasks. Ed Delfin for running the series, making flyers for race announcements, posting said flyers for the races on the various web sites and bulletin boards, race directing, handling tech and scoring. We would also like to thank Greg Walker for taking parts to all the races for the group. We would like to thank Clayton for being FHORA treasurer during the year and handling the entries and entry fees for each event. Notable mentions go out to Craig, Dan McCleary, and Lonnie Robbins for tech assistance. We would also like to thank Bill Pinch for making the effort to go to the races just to help Ed with the race directing chores. He did not even race. We hope all the racers who participated with us this year had a good time. Look forward to seeing them all again next year. The 2005 season begins January 22 at North Melbourne Raceway.

Kielbasa Award

In last two races, the award went to Clayton "Where are my glasses?" St. Clair for his superb skill at causing track calls and track clearing pile ups. Clayton was avoiding the track like the plague today, not wanting to get the hat trick. Reynolds was showing some promise as he got abused during the amateur super stock race. He was trying to call for relief, but there were no takers. Today, a new standard was set. The trend setter? Dave "Where are MY glasses?" Cook. His claim to fame was trying to marshal Ed "Crash" Delfin's car upside down. Yes, it was true the car was already upside down, so Dave thought he was doing Ed a favor. He thought he would save him the trouble of wrecking and turning the car upside down. The clincher came when Dave was trying to replace Craig's car. First, he turned the car backwards and carefully placed the car on the track. He didn't even realize he had placed the car on backwards. When the driver explained his mistake to him, he immediately tried to make amends, but the damage was already done. In Dave defense, it WAS past his bedtime (about 7 PM). Dave has made previous attempts on the award, but there was always someone more deserving until today.

Kielbasa has yet to announce the year end winner of the award, but I am sure the racers can't wait to see who the lucky racer is!

Useless Information

T Jet record Fly 82.09 Amateur Super Stock Marcus 283.2 Now Danny 297.02 Pro Super Stock Jason 336.11 Amateur Modified Was Danny 342.08 Marcus 356.17 Amateur modified pro Mike 377.15 Pro Modified - New Class Ed Delfin 388.21

(Song continued...) So this was the tale of our HO group, They race for a long, long time, They always make the best of things, It's an uphill climb Kielbasa and his Leprechaun Will do their very best To make the other racers fast, With their crazy racer zest No wrecks! No wins! No marshal's thumbs! Not a single lucky break, Sounds like Mr. Roger's race, it's as ugly as can be, So join us here each month my friends, You're sure to get a smile, As the Clown Prince entertains you, At each and every race.

Copyright © 2001-2005 FHORA - All Rights Reserved. Last Updated 1/26/2005.