New Year’s GRoNE Race – 12/29/18

Celebrating the New Year with a GRoNE

 Ashland Massachusetts  December 29, 2018 – With 4 – 5 of the gravity stalwarts unable to make the event, we were lucky to have a total of 9 participants join us on

Peter's Latest Acquisition - The Bear

December 29^th for our first gravity event since the 2018 Nats – some folks had to leave early, some arrived late so we only had 7 to 8 entrees per race but the field was large enough to successfully conduct the event.  Thanks go to the long-distance travelers who made the event, namely Tom Bussmann, Mike Tiffany and Tommy Gray – without you guys, we might have had to cancel the event!  Peter Lentros had his LenJet facility all set for the affair; in addition to coffee and Danish, the Viper and the Bear tracks were ready for the Gravity races and the Shamrock Glen was all prepped for the T-Jet race.  Awesome.

The gravity race contenders

First up were the Gravity cars on Peter’s latest track acquisition, the Bear, purchased from Steve Medanic about six months ago.  We were concerned that the layout may not be suitable for gravity cars, boy were we wrong; the cars handled the track with no issues.  The wide sweeper onto the front straight was key to getting a fast lap, hang the tail out just a bit and nail it approaching the straight – the only place on the entire track to use full throttle.  For the rest of the track, handling was key – especially in the esses.   Everyone seemed to really enjoy running these cars on this immaculate track, all it took was a bit of patience, a lot of practice and a car that handled well.  After 90 minutes of open practice folks were anxious to get the show on the road.

First Gravity Race Podium - Donny Hall 2nd, John Reimels 1st and Mike Resnick 3rd

We had 7 participants for the first race, all using various vintages of my anglewinder design.  I was hoping that someone would try an AFX based car, they might be the ticket on this tight track.  The battle for the podium was tight with Mike Resnick in third pushing Donny Hall hard for second with me in front by only 4 laps for first.

Next up was T-Jets on the Shamrock Glen.  Tom Bussmann made the trek up from Danbury CT in time to join us for this race.  The Glen is a great track for T-Jets, long

T-Jet Podium - John Reimels 2nd, Donny Hall 1st and Dave Muse 3rd

enough straights and fast sweepers so horsepower is required with enough tight turns and esses so handling is important.  Once again, racing was tight throughout the field, no more than 3 laps separated any finishing position.  Donny Hall proved he had the right stuff by taking down the win by 3 laps over me in second.  Dave Muse beat Peter Lentros by 2 sections to take down third.

After the T-Jet race, we all walked over to Town Pizza for sandwiches.  The food there is always great, especially the roast beef.  With Mike Resnick having afternoon obligations,

Second Gravity Race on the Viper - quite a difference from the Bear...

we were down to seven racers for the last race on the six lane Viper track.  We decided to run the center four lanes leaving only three folks to marshal.  Turns out we made a good choice, the carnage was much less than expected and the three marshals easily handled the offs.  What a difference between the Bear and the Viper, the Viper is fast, fast, fast – the cars were a blast to drive on it.  No more tip-toeing around tight bends, it was flat out fun.  Half way through the first heat, Peter’s car gave up the ghost (the wiper brush was done wiping…) so we had a track call and I lent him one of my cars.  Good thing Peter lost a few laps before the track call or he might have won the race!  As it turns out, I beat Peter for the win by 3 laps (he claims he lost 4 laps before the

Second Gravity Race Podium - Peter Lentros 2nd, John Reimels 1st and Mike Tiffany 3rd

track call, I think it was only 2…).  Mike Tiffany drove an awesome race finishing in third, one lap behind Peter (he wishes we had waited another lap before calling track for Peter…).  Dave Muse ran a very smooth and consistent race to finish 4^th, one lap behind Mike.

I would like to thank everyone involved for making the day a success.  I would also like to thank Peter Lentros for hosting the event, LenJet is simply a fantastic place to race, we’re truly spoiled…

I also would like to apologize to the entire group for waiting so long to schedule this event – six months between gravity races is WAY TOO LONG.  It won’t happen again.

Rob Hayes will be hosting our GRoNE-hog Day event on Saturday, February 2^nd at his awesome Catfish International Speedway.  I’ll send out a reminder in a few weeks but mark your calendars NOW.  Who’d like to host our Saint Patrick’s Day event in mid-March?

John Reimels

GRoNE Master of Ceremonies

Brass Car Advocate