John Pileggi took both the Lexan G-Jet and Super Stock classes in the Pro Division to open the MARC 2010-2011 race season. Congratulations to John!
Pro G-Jet
In G-Jet John Pileggi squeaked by Jonathan Reimels with a one section victory; 310.9 laps to Jonathan’s 310.8. Folks, you can’t get much closer than that. Jonathan moved up to the Pro ranks after an incredible rookie season last year. Placing third was John Stezelecki who put up 306.9 laps followed by New Jersey’s Jerome Burwell Sr with a total of 282.8 laps. Taking the fifth and final spot in Pro G-Jet was New Hampshire’s Tom Gray with 266.8 laps. Interesting note, Jonathan Reimels drove the fastest lap of the day with a 5.079 which is one of the fastest times ever recorded during a G-Jet race on the Nuvolari.
Amateur G-Jet
Paul Ryer won the amateur race with a fantastic 301.3 laps. Congratulations to Paul for such a fine victory. Taking second place and representing the Empire State of New York was John O’Brien who raked in 289.1 laps. One lap behind OB for third was John Reimels with 288.7 laps. Taking fourth was Wild Bill Craven. Bill managed 278.1 laps and did it without any belly flops. Amazing! Representing New Jersey, Mustard Counts took the fifth spot by 3 sections over Richard Payne – both drivers recording 274 laps, but when the checkered flag came down it was those 3 sections that separated 5th from 6th place, 274.6 versus 274.3 laps. Durf proved that you don’t need any skin on your legs to race model cars. A little heart goes a long way as Durf finished 7th with 242.9 laps. Rounding out the field and in the 8th spot was Eric Handel. Eric drove 219.3 laps. Its unknown how many times Eric crashed, but you can bet he had more laps with offs than clean laps; all part of the learning curve Eric, keep digging.
Amateur Super Stock
At the annual rules meeting it was decided that our Super Stock class would be divided into two round robin races; one for Pros and the other for Amateurs, with the winner of the amateur event moving up the Pro race for the day.
The amateur event proved to be a very close race between first and third but, in the end, it was Mustard Counts who took the checkered flag and the top podium position with 449.4 laps. John Reimels, involved in another tight race, this time losing first by less than a lap with a 448.9 lap total. One lap further behind was Paul Ryer with a 447.11 lap total. Some real fine racing guys, congratulations go to Mustard making the long drive from New Jersey a little easier to take. John O’Brien drove 429.5 to take the 4th ribbon spot and 410.9 laps gave Craven the 5th spot while Durf (skinless) put up 332.9 laps to place 6th. Eric drove a respectable 329.6 laps to take the 7th position.
Pro Super Stock
Wow! John Pileggi drove his butt off and blew everyone away with a 35 lap victory over his next closest competitor, John Stezelecki. John smashed out 485.8 laps while Stez took second with 450.3 laps. This was one of the largest margins of victory on the Nuvolari since Dan Decosmo won the inaugural Ceramic Modified class event 5 years ago – Great driving John. Congratulations! In third place was Jonathan Reimels who drove 444.9 tough laps. Just behind Jonathan was Tom Gray with 438.9 laps. Mustard’s second run of the day in Super Stock (earned with his amateur win) proved a little more difficult as he managed only 430.11 laps compared to his earlier winning drive of 449.4 laps. Jerome had an unusual Super Stock day as he only managed 374.3 laps. Not a usual Jerome race but the first time racing Super Stock on the Nuvolari can be tough on any great driver. The Nantasket Beach Race Club would like to thank all the drivers who participated in today’s event and hopefully all had a great time.
Next Race will be at Catfish International which is located in the Republic Of Cambridge on October 2nd. The event will be Super Stock using NYCONN Rules. Rumors are that there will be pie and a non points G-Jet Race. Hope to see everyone there.