The Last Race at Tom Bussmann’s Schlitzerland Raceway???

 Danbury, Connecticut, March 22, 2014 – With Tom Bussmann threatening to tear down his track after this event, folks from all over the area made their way to Danbury, CT

Getting ready for the G-Jet race

to participate in what could be the last race on the infamous Schlitzerland Raceway.  The MARC regulars were joined by our brethren from the Tri-State race group, namely Rick Carter, Pete Barclay, Jerome Burwell and Don “Mustard” Counts; somehow whenever these guys join the fray, there’s usually a lot of laughter throughout the event – you guys are always welcome!.  Thanks to the Tri-State folks, our attendance was up to 15 racers; 4 Amateurs and 11 Pros.

First up were G-Jets utilizing the popular themed Trans-Am bodies from the 60s, 70’s and

Tri-Stater Rick Carter posing for the camera...

80’s.  An exception was made for Rick and Pete who used more modern Trans-Am bodies but since they were not contesting for points, the decision was made to let ‘em run (they both ran BMWs that just looked so damn cool, we had to let them run – JR).

Amateur G-Jet

With only four amateurs in attendance there was no need for a round robin race – this would be a pure 4 heat shoot out between the contestants.  Starting in the blue lane, Pete

The amateur driver line-up; Benny, Tom, Pete and George

Medeiros made the most of his recently purchased out-of-the-box G-Jet by running a heat high 45 laps setting the stage for his first win in MARC.  Benny managed to make it close but he just couldn’t close the gap Pete created in the first heat.  Both Pete and Benny’s fast laps were in the 6.0 second bracket.  Congratulations to Pete for holding it together for the entire race.

  Yellow Blue White Red Total
Pete Medeiros 42 45 42 45 174
Benny Leyro 41 44 45 42 172
Tom Bussmann 40 44 39 43 166
George Medeiros 34 36 36 39 145

 

Pro G-Jet

The podium for Pro G-Jet; Barclay 4th, Reimels Sr 3rd, Pileggi 2nd and Reimels Jr 1st

With 12 racers in the Pro division (11 + the move up from the amateur race), the field was divided into two groups of six racers based on the current point standings.  Once again Jonathan Reimels continued this year’s dominance of this division ending the race with a seven lap cushion over second place John Pileggi who narrowly beat John Reimels by 1 lap; these three drivers were the only ones to break into the 5.6 second bracket.  Pete Barclay drove his BMW to fourth place with Tom Gray finally breaking his jinx on this class with a nice 5th place finish. 

 

  Yellow Blue White Red Total
Jonathan Reimels 47 50 48 50 195
John Pileggi 47 48 47 46 188
John Reimels 43 50 47 47 187
Pete Barclay 43 47 45 46 181
Tom Gray 44 46 43 43 176.10
Vince Tamburo 44 44 42 46 176.01
Paul Ryer 42 45 43 45 175
Pete Medeiros 43 44 44 42 173
Rick Carter 42 45 39 45 171
Dave Muse 41 44 44 40 169.12
Mustard Counts 41 44 42 42 169.05
Jerome Burwell 38 44 40 41 163

 

Amateur Super Stock

Amateur SS Podium - George 4th, Benny 3rd, Pete 2nd and Tom 1st

With no additional drivers arriving, we had another 4 heat shoot out for the amateur super stock laurels.  Would Pete repeat?  Would Benny dominate this division as he’s done in many super stock races this year?  Or would Tom win his final race on his home track?  Benny started out hot but an errant pickup shoe ended his run for the victory.  Pete was fast (he had the fastest lap on 3 of the 4 heats) but Tom Bussmann used his home town advantage to the maximum taking the victory by 11 sections over a quickly closing Pete.  George did his best to stay with the fast three but just didn’t quite have it but if he’s anything like his nephew, he’ll be up to speed soon!

  Yellow Blue White Red Total
Tom Bussmann 66 73 71 73 283.18
Pete Medeiros 69 71 69 74 283.07
Benny Leyro 57 64 76 76 271
George Medeiros 70 62 66 65 263

 

Pro Super Stock

As winner of the amateur race, Tom Bussmann opted to join the Pro race bringing the field

Director caught marshalling his own car - luckily it's practice...

up to 12 racers.  As in G-Jets, we divided the racers into two groups based on the season’s point standings so we ended up with two races of six racers per heat.  Pete Barclay dominated the first heat with a lap total of 304 laps and fast time in the low 3 second bracket (the computer had him at 3.055 but I suspect a rider was involved…).  Also having a good run was Rick Carter at 291 laps and Mustard at 286.  The second heat had both Jonathan Reimels and John Pileggi.  Would Jonathan continue his streak of super stock victories or would Dr P finally shake the monkey off his back and win the final super stock race of the season.  Well, it didn’t take long for Dr P to show that he was NOT going to go a full season of racing without a super stock win – he simply ran away with the race putting up a dominate performance with a lap total of 318 laps.  To put it simply, he stank up the show!  Jonathan limped home in second with a 307 lap total just nipping Pete’s performance from the first heat.   Paul Ryer coulda been a contenda but for a horrendous heat in white…

  Yellow Blue White Red Total
John Pileggi 78 79 81 80 318
Jonathan Reimels 75 74 79 79 307
Pete Barclay 72 72 81 79 304
Paul Ryer 74 75 70 79 295
Rick Carter 67 73 75 76 291
Mustard Counts 67 72 73 74 286
Jerome Burwell 76 70 68 71 285
Tom Gray 68 72 71 68 279
Tom Bussmann 64 70 65 75 274
John Reimels 67 66 71 69 273
Dave Muse 75 69 71 54 269
Vince Tamburo 68 64 63 66 261

 

Pro SS Podium - Ryer 4th, Barclay 3rd, Reimels Jr 2nd and Pileggi 1st

Thanks go out to Tom for hosting the event.  There’s rumors about a custom made routed track in the works that’ll replace the current layout but we’ll just have to wait and see what Tom’s up to. 

As the season is starting to wind down, folks are looking at the point standings trying to figure out how to improve their lot in life.  While Benny is looking real good in the Amateur Championship division and Jonathan is looking good in the Pro Production division, the other championships are wide open, the next few races should prove interesting. 

Next Race – Put away your G-Jets and Super Stocks, nuttin’ but Spec Stock and CMPM’s for the remainder of the season.  We’re at Benny’s The Danger Zone on April 12th so set your GPS for Yonkers NY.  Benny has one of the fastest tracks on the circuit!