Thompson, CT– September 10, 2016 Nineteen racers made their way to Thompson CT
Durf Hyson's Thompson Raceway Park ready for the season opener
for what’s become a MARC tradition, the opening round of a new season at Durf Hyson’s Thompson Raceway Park in scenic Thompson CT. Another tradition that Durf has continued is excellent home cooked food, no pizza for this guy. I believe 19 attendees is a record for our season opener, at least it is for the time I’ve been keeping the records. What was even more impressive is the equal split between Sportsman and Pros at 9 and 10 respectively – what a difference from last year! Adding to the sportsman ranks were Tom Jahl, Phil Hilgert and Rob Blaschke – all seasoned racers from the past and GREAT additions to our membership. This race was our first opportunity to try out our new race procedures; practice for both classes followed by tech inspection and lunch with racing kicking off after the lunch break. The jury is still out about its success but we have two more trials before we vote on these procedures for the remainder of the season.
Can-Am Bodied G-Jets
A full field of awesome CanAm bodied G-Jets
First up were Can-Am bodied G-Jets; there were some awesome bodies out there and I’m obviously referring to the slot cars, with a few exceptions, slot car racers aren’t the most fit group of folks… Durf had a really sweet prototype of Bob Dame’s Open Sports Ford body – wow, what a beautiful car. Rob Hayes also had a Lola T70 painted up in Dan Gurney’s livery that was also gorgeous. The body was made by Bob H (aka kidmillions on ebay) and he’s planning on making a series of CanAm bodies – he just introduced a McLaren M6A that’s equally gorgeous. Check out his stuff on ebay. We have to support these guys if we want them to make bodies for us! But I digress… On to the racing.
Sportsman Podium - Donny Hall 1st, Matt Patrick 2nd,Tom Jahl 3rd and Mike Tiffany 4th
Donny Hall pretty much ran away in the Sportsman division leaving the rest to battle for second place, but what a battle it was. Matt Patrick managed to beat Tom Jahl by sections for second with Mike Tiffany one lap behind in fourth. Unfortunately, during the post race inspection, Mike’s car was found with an 8T pinion earning him a big, fat DSQ for all of his fine efforts. This moved up Phil Hilgert to fourth who was only a few laps behind Mike. The Sportsman division looks strong this year!
Pro Podium - Ryan Archambault 4th, John Pileggi 3rd, Erik Eckhardt 2nd and John Reimels 1st
Donny Hall passed on the opportunity to run in the Pro division allowing Matt Patrick to join the fray. When the dust settled, John Reimels managed to squeak out the victory by sections over Erik Eckhardt followed by John Pileggi only one lap further behind in third. Ryan Archambault brought his ride home in fourth followed by a tight battle for fifth between Dave Muse and Rob Hayes – Dave beating Rob to the line by 3 sections.
Super Stocks
Sportsman Podium - Vince Tamburo 4th, Donny Hall 3rd, Tom Jahl 2nd and Pete Medeiros 1st
Directly following G-Jets, it was time for the fast stuff – Super Stocks. With Sportsman up first, it was Peter Medeiros (the younger), Tom Jahl, Donny Hall and Vince Tamburo battling it out for first. With less than two laps separating them, the finishing order was Pete, Tom, Donny then Vince – nice close racing. Phil Hilgert was only a few laps back in 5th.
Pro Podium - Erik Eckhardt 1st, Rob Hayes 2nd, John Pileggi 3rd and Paul Ryer 4th
As the day was getting long, no one from the Sportsman ranks wanted to move up to the Pro event. In addition, the Pros elected to eliminate the Main and use the 5 minute round robin to determine the overall finishing positions. Unlike the Sportsman division, first place was a run-away – Erik Eckhardt stinking up the show with a six lap victory over 2nd place finisher Rob Hayes. John Pileggi finished 2 laps back in third with Paul Ryer another 2 laps back in 4th.
Thanks go to Durf and Erik for having the track in great shape for this event and to Durf’s wife for the awesome lunch.
Next up we’re at Rob Hayes’ Catfish International on October 8thin Cambridge MA where we’ll be racing G-Jets with pre-1972 LeMans bodies and Super Stocks. Doors open at 8:00 with Sportsman practice beginning immediately.