I’ll Have a Blue Christmas Without Speed!

 Hingham, Massachusetts, December 8, 2012 – Ok, maybe not a blue Christmas, but Elvis loves excess and you can never have too much speed for The King.  The doors of the

South Shore Speedway opened to a cold damp day.  Inside, things would heat up as drivers arrived from MA, RI, CT, and NY.  Long distance award goes to TK coming from Middletown NY.  Thanks to Peter Lentros for bringing the parts store from Modelville; everybody was able to find the tires, wheels, etc.  they needed.  Hopefully we can see the parts store at future races.

 Everybody settled in and started the thrash to get ready for the debut of the new MARC Spec Stock Class with lexan NASCAR bodies.  John Reimels and Durf made sure everybody had a good looking ride by providing loaner bodies.  Most commonly heard question in the pits?  “What’s a Spec Stock?”  Followed by “What’s the best tire size”.  Paul “Heat Miser” Ryer gave some tips, but as usual he was tall due to heat issues.  In any case, people found time to read the rules and get dialed in.  We were ready to race.  You needed to be in the 2.6 – 2.7 lap time range to run with the speed demons.

 First up were the amateurs.  Six drivers stepped up to MaxTrax version of a King track

known as Elvis.  Carnage was minimal and the guys were laying down some impressive lap totals.  Eric “Hard Luck” Handel had an excellent drive going but was plagued by an axle and body that seems determined to separate themselves from the car (I think the car was displaying a bit of self-preservation – JR).  A bit more tuning on that ride and he’ll be up front.  In the end Vince Tamburo put his local knowledge and a solid car to take the win with 376 laps.  Peter Lentros followed in second with 366 laps and Chris Takacs laid down 355 laps for third.  An outstanding drive by Chris considering he’s not a magnet car regular.  Hopefully we’ll see him around more often.  Oh Jimmy Colligan finished right behind Chris with 348 laps.  Great racing guys!

 Amateur Results:

Driver	Green		Blue		Yellow		Red		Total Laps
	Laps	Best	Laps	Best	Laps	Best	Laps	Best
Vince Tamburo	92	2.872	92	2.765	98	2.812	94	2.752	376
Peter Lentros	87	3.026	94	3.002	97	2.819	88	2.945	366
Chris Takacs	86	3.009	92	2.999	90	3.019	87	3.085	355
Jim Colligan	84	3.32	88	3.149	91	3.035	85	3.222	348
Durf Hyson	74	3.395	78	3.317	79	3.198	78	3.362	309
Eric Handel	58	3.201	81	2.815	63	2.804	74	3.032	276

 

Next up was the Pro group which has grown this past year with the addition of Dave Muse

and Paul Ryer to the ranks.  As per the rules, the top amateur has the option of moving up to run in the Pro race.  Vince was ready to get on the track again and see if he could better his previous lap total of 376 laps.  Twelve drivers prepared to run.   John “The Doctor” Pileggi and Paul Ryer laid lap times in the 2.5 – 2.6 range. Across the field lap times were in the 2.6 – 2.8 range.  Pretty fast considering the required 23 tooth gear and stock armature.  John Reimels was racking up consistent lap totals followed by the pack of Stez, Erik Eckhardt, Vince, and Tom Gray who were separated by a few laps.  In the end The cool and calm Dr. Pileggi showed the value of making laps by beating the field with an impressive 418 laps.  Paul Ryer squeeked into second with 408 laps closely followed by John Reimels with 402 laps.  Stez rounded out the top four with 388 laps.    Interestingly Erik, Vince, and Tom finished within 3 laps of each other.  Close racing and a successful run of the new class.

 

Pro Results:

Drivers	Green		Blue		Yellow		Red		Total Laps
	Laps	Best	Laps	Best	Laps	Best	Laps	Best
John Pileggi	103	2.651	110	2.602	100	2.647	105	2.634	418
Paul Ryer	100	2.58	103	2.606	103	2.657	102	2.629	408
John Reimels	101	2.729	103	2.746	98	2.833	100	2.888	402
John Stezelecki	91	2.91	103	2.705	101	2.743	93	2.81	388
Erik Eckhardt	99	2.731	92	2.604	99	2.544	94	2.689	384
Vince Tamburo	101	2.686	100	2.669	94	2.435	88	2.673	383
Tom Gray	90	2.754	102	2.668	95	2.725	94	2.734	381
Rob Hayes	93	2.801	96	2.562	105	2.619	78	2.961	372
Jim Macartney	89	2.84	93	2.705	92	2.898	84	2.932	358
Tom Kanan	80	2.943	91	2.623	93	2.679	90	2.783	354
Bill Bonsma	88	2.825	57	2.668	101	2.621	101	2.661	347
Dave Muse	86	2.874	81	2.88	91	2.887	79	3.006	337

 

Next up was the popular Super Stock class.  This was the first time Super Stock has been

run on Elvis since its move the Hingham, so setup was going to be a case of trial and error.  As with the Spec Stock class, the challenge here was finding a good balance of down force and speed.  There was some experimentation with Rock tires and slip-on tires, but the reliable sponge silicone ASTs, Slottech, etc. seemed to be the way to go.  Surprisingly the Super Stocks were quicker than the Spec Stocks which have the stronger bonded magnets.  Strong laps times were in the 2.4 to 2.5 range.  While practice was going on your humble narrator provided a lunch of baked ham, turkey, beans and potato salad in the hopes of lulling his fellow competitors into a food coma (fantastic food but I questioned the baked bean choice – 17 guys packed in a close envoriment – what could you have been thinkin? – JR).  Let’s just say it didn’t work.

 At the end of practice five amateurs were ready to race.  Out of the gate, Vince showed that his win in Spec Stock was no fluke.  Excellent driving combined with a hot setup netted 401 laps leaving the rest of the field in the dust.  Great drive Vince and another move up to race with the pros.  Chris Takacs ran a strong second with 376 laps. A great day of racing for Chris who seems to have Elvis figured out.  Peter Lentros followed in third with 348 laps.  Sorry Peter, I thought the rocks would have worked better!  Durf rounded out the top four with a solid drive yielding 306 laps.

 Amateur Results:

Drivers	Green	Blue	Yellow	Red	Total
Vince Tamburo	98	106	98	99	401
Chris Takacs	83	99	99	95	376
Peter Lentros	83	88	92	85	348
Durf Hyson	80	59	88	79	306
Eric Handel	60	75	87	79	301

*Sorry guys, the Race Director failed to save the best lap results.  He will be dealt with severely.

 With Vince moving up from the amateurs, eleven drivers were set to participate in the last

race of the day, Pro Super Stock.  Stez had left the building having to get dolled up for a hot date (Now I understand why he left early, getting dolled up could take awhile given the state of Stez – JR). Once again John Pileggi led the way with consistent lap times in the 2.4 range and put up a total of 448 laps.  Close racing between Rob, TK and John Reimels would decide the next three spots.  In the end a minor mishap slowed TK who is showing excellent speed with his Slottech.  Rob Hayes took second with a total of 421 laps.  TK rolled in third with 416 laps beating out John Reimels by a lap.  Vince Tamburo showed off his driving skills and put up an impressive 409 laps which was 8 laps better than his run with the amateurs.

 

Pro Results:

Drivers	Green		Blue		Yellow		Red		Total Laps
	Laps	Best	Laps	Best	Laps	Best	Laps	Best
John Pileggi	108	2.477	116	2.477	114	2.425	107	2.585	445
Rob Hayes	99	2.658	110	2.49	108	2.458	104	2.603	421
Tom Kanan	104	2.565	107	2.526	103	2.481	102	2.594	416
John Reimels	105	2.512	104	2.521	106	2.551	100	2.676	415
Vince Tamburo	97	2.597	106	2.522	107	2.475	99	2.496	409
Bill Bonsma	102	2.616	105	2.489	100	2.502	94	2.588	401
Erik Eckhardt	98	2.581	108	2.524	97	2.569	94	2.515	397
Paul Ryer	92	2.695	101	2.514	104	2.572	93	2.637	390
Tom Gray	92	2.615	99	2.603	103	2.593	90	2.616	384
Dave Muse	84	2.582	91	2.621	87	2.687	89	2.709	351
Jim Macartney	79	3.071	87	2.892	92	2.843	79	3.096	337

  

Another successful and enjoyable event at the South Shore Speedway is in the books.  It was great to see founding MARC member Jim Macartney and new to the MARC series

Chris Takacs and Jim Colligan.  We hope to see a lot more of these guys and the rest of the MARC faithful at future events.  Thanks to everybody for making the trip and we’ll see you next time at Stez’s Nantasket Beach Raceway.

 This is the race report recorded December 8, 2012

 Faithfully submitted by

Douglas C. Neidermeyer

Sargent at Arms