MARC 2022-2023 – October 08, 2022

MARC 2022-2023 Season – Race Two, Saturday October 8, 2022

Inaugural Race at Fiddlehead Raceway, Rochester NH

’Twas a crisp fall day in Rochester NH, and 14 racers were in the house for the first official MARC race at this venue. A shakedown event had been held last year. This track is an original Max that long predates Paul Kniffen’s acquisition of the company. It was first owned by Rob Hayes, and many MARC races were run on it at Catfish. Then Dave Muse acquired it but didn’t have a suitable place to set it up. Thanks to both for making it available to me. The track is high downforce, and VERY low rail.

The long distance award goes to Dan DeCosmo, who made the trip out from California specifically for the purpose of attending this race. Well okay, not really, but he did extend his stay by a day so he could be here. It was good to have him in the house.

Racers were greeted with donuts and coffee. Plus Ryan brought some cookies of which he was not terribly fond, and was looking for help in consuming them.

The first race of the day was Spec Racer. After two-plus hours of practice, amateurs and pros jointly took to the track to test their set-ups.

When the dust settled in the Sportsman race, only four sections separated first and second place. Terry Ayer nipped Hakim Harris by a tiny margin. The complete results follow:

Position	Driver	Yellow	Blue	White	Red	Total	Average
1	Terry Ayer	85	90	87	73	335.07	83.8
2	Hakim Harris	86	85	87	77	335.03	83.8
3	Bruce Olsen	81	92	81	67	321.07	80.2
4	Mike Tiffany	72	73	74	67	286.26	71.5
5	Hal Pierce	72	75	76	57	280.29	70.0
6	Cedric Prevoe	63	77	49	54	243.20	60.8

Sportsman Spec Stock Podium: Mike Tiffany 4th, Bruce Olsen 3rd, Hakim Harris 2nd and Terry Ayer 1st

On the Pro side, track owner John Pileggi was prepared for the competition and won handily with 392 laps. The yellow lane here is no gutter, but rather probably the fastest lane on the track. Here are the results:

Position	Driver	Yellow	Blue	White	Red	Total	Average
1	John Pileggi	100	100	96	96	392.11	98.0
2	Ryan Archambault	90	96	93	92	371.07	92.8
3	Dan DeCosmo	93	93	93	81	360.25	90.0
4	Paul Ryer	81	94	91	80	346.10	86.5
5	Peter Lentros	89	86	85	82	342.26	85.5
6	Tom Jahl	82	87	88	79	336.07	84.0
7	Jim Macartney	86	87	81	76	330.20	82.5
8	Tom Gray	82	84	87	71	324.04	81.0

Pro Spec Racer Podium: Paul Ryer 4th, Dan Decosmo 3rd, Ryan Archambault 2nd and John Pileggi 1st

Next came lunch with a nice variety of pizzas as usual. Following lunch, practice commenced for Super Stock. Will the winning lap totals exceed those of spec racer, or fall short? Time will tell…

Six Sportsmen battled in this class, with newcomer Bruce Olsen taking the victory with 292.23 laps. Terry Ayer, the victor in spec racer, came in second only three laps behind.

Position	Driver	Yellow	Blue	White	Red	Total	Average
1	Bruce Olsen	72	83	82	55	292.23	73.0
2	Terry Ayer	76	72	76	65	289.15	72.2
3	Mike Tiffany	69	73	73	69	284.08	71.0
4	Hakim Harris	65	73	76	67	281.21	70.2
5	Hal Pierce	67	69	66	62	264.28	66.0
6	Cedric Prevoe	47	77	71	57	252.25	63.0

Sportsman Super Stock Podium: Hakim Harris 4th, Mike Tiffany 3rd, Terry Ayer 2nd and Bruce Olsen 1st

The Pros race saw John Pileggi pull down an even more convincing win with a 37 lap margin of victory over Ryan Archambault. Dan DeCosmo might have finished second, except his body decided to leave its chassis at one point.

Position	Driver	Yellow	Blue	White	Red	Total	Average
1	John Pileggi	102	102	94	93	391.00	97.8
2	Ryan Archambault	89	93	87	85	354.08	88.5
3	Dan DeCosmo	87	86	93	81	347.00	86.8
4	Tom Gray	85	91	91	70	337.04	84.2
5	Jim Macartney	85	81	87	81	334.15	83.5
6	Paul Ryer	78	84	83	69	314.03	78.5
7	Peter Lentros	81	84	72	72	309.00	77.2
8	Tom Jahl	56	83	83	63	285.27	71.2

Pros Super Stock Podium: tom Gray 4th, Dan Decosmo 3rd, Ryan Archambault 2nd and John Pileggi 1st

So on the Sportsman side, the winning lap total in Spec Racer exceeded the Super Stock total by an incredible 43 laps! On the Pro side, the margin was only one lap. It’s interesting to note that even though the Spec Racer cars are limited to a 23 tooth crown gear and slip-on tires, the majority of the racers turned higher lap totals with these cars than with the Super Stock set-ups. The increased downforce of the Spec Racer cars is undoubtedly the main reason for this result.