The Thrill-a in Modelville-a

 Ashland, Massachusetts,May 10, 2014 – It was the final race for the 2013 – 2014 MARC season and there were some things to be decided.  Would the younger Reimels take

Proprietor Peter Lentros discussing world events with Tom Bussmann

the top spot for the season or would the wily Dr. Pileggi remain on top?  We will see.  In the amateur class, things were not close in the standings as Benny had hold on first in both classes, but he does love those ribbons and was looking for a good run.  In any case 22 drivers showed up to drive.  The tracks for this event would be the wicked fast Brystal Viper for MARC Spec Stock and the Buck Scorpion for CMPM. While you can catch your breath on the Viper, the tight and fast Scorpion earns it name with its sting.  Remember to breathe or you’ll pass out.  Just don’t blink.

 Everyone is starting to get used to the Viper and people were dialed in and fast.  Some tuning of the track has made it glass- like smooth and smokin’ fast.  First up were the amateurs.  The usual cast of characters were joined by Ryan Archambault, Tom Smith, Don Hall, and recently arrived from Pennsylvania, Ed Bianchi. Always good to see new and

Spec Stocks on the Viper - a very nice combination

seldom seen faces. The amateurs kept the racing clean and the lap totals reflected it.  The top three drivers were only separated by seven laps.  The regulars were caught napping as Don Hall took first and Ryan Archambault took second.  I think these guys have been sneaking in and practicing when nobody is looking.  Benny Leyro cruised in at third.  Peter Medeiros had a race winning pace going until he threw a wire in his last heat. Even so, he finished fourth.  A nice drive by Ed Bianchi considering it was his first time on the Viper and first time driving the MARC Spec Stock car.  Peter Lentros opted to race 1/24 scale retro cars and missed a few heats.  Excellent drive by the amateur group.  Fast and clean.

 

Amateur Results:

Driver

Red

White

Green

Orange

Blue

Yellow

Total

Best

Lane

Don Hall

57

64

69

70

61

62

383

3.818

Orange

Ryan Archambault

61

65

65

70

61

56

378

3.610

Orange

Benny Leyro

62

62

68

64

61

59

376

3.548

White

Pete Medeiros

58

68

64

69

68

31

358

3.912

Orange

Tom Bussmann

56

54

61

64

59

53

347

4.360

Orange

Ed Bianchi

52

59

59

60

56

57

343

4.179

Orange

Eric Handle

56

63

59

59

44

47

328

3.958

Green

Tom Smith

46

56

57

56

59

49

323

4.133

Blue

George Medeiros

46

53

51

50

52

49

301

3.833

Yellow

Durf Hyson

51

42

50

56

49

49

297

4.270

Blue

Peter Lentros

39

58

64

0

0

1

162

3.967

Green

 

Amateur Spec Stock winner Donny Hall

Don Hall decided to go out on top and skip the move up.  Ryan was looking for more so he took the move up to run with the pros.  A field of 11 drivers took to the track for the pro race.  These cars are a blast to drive on this track.  The race was fast paced.  John Pileggi, Paul Ryer, and Erik Eckhardt were in a tight battle for the podium spots all the way through the race.  In the end just six laps separating them with John Pileggi taking the top spot followed by Paul and then Erik.  Jonathan Reimels squeaked out an extra lap over the Senior Reimels to take fourth.  Great drive everybody.

 

Pro Results:

Driver

Red

White

Green

Orange

Blue

Yellow

Total

Best

Lane

John Pileggi

71

75

78

72

68

66

430

3.683

Green

Paul Ryer

64

72

74

75

72

70

427

3.682

Orange

Erik Eckhardt

71

71

72

75

70

65

424

3.830

Blue

Jonathan Reimels

64

71

71

71

67

66

410

3.742

Green

John Reimels

65

71

69

72

68

64

409

3.613

Orange

John Stezelecki

66

69

75

71

66

60

407

3.765

Green

Ryan Archambault

64

73

71

71

63

60

402

3.667

Orange

Tom Gray

56

66

69

67

60

58

376

4.051

Green

Bill Bonsma

58

61

62

66

65

60

372

3.790

Green

Dave Muse

62

63

55

61

65

61

367

3.894

Orange

Vince Tamburo

57

64

63

64

60

21

329

3.74

Yellow

 

Amateur Spec Stock Podium - Don 1st, Ryan 2nd, Benny 3rd and Pete 4thPro Spec Stock Podium - Jon 4th, Erik 3rd, Paul 2nd, Dr P 1st

 

Pro Spec Stock Podium - Jon 4th, Erik, 3rd, Paul 2nd, Dr P 1st

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up was CMPM on the Scorpion.  Time to speed up those reflexes.  You’d think some guys might opt for slightly tamer motors, but they didn’t.   A couple of 35s and many 36

The Buck Scorpion - fast, very fast...

motors were out there.  Speed Crazed Morons were in the house.  Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, the red lane stopped counting in practice.  Since a quick fix could not be found it was decided to run the race on the 5 remaining lanes.  As practice progressed, several drivers decided to sit this one out. So, four amateur drivers took to the track.  The race was wild with cars everywhere.  The Scorpion is a difficult track to tame.  Right at the start Pete Medeiros spun a pinion, a problem he’d been having all throughout practice.  Seeing as it was the last race and would not impact the points standing, the remaining drivers allowed Pete to use a loaner so he could participate in the race.  Thanks guys, this is one of the things that makes this a great club to race with.  Unfortunately, somewhere along the line Benny’s car suffered a hit that knocked a bearing out of place that then melted the chassis and knocked him out of the last 2 heats.  In the future we’ll need to watch for marshal damage and make sure it’s called when appropriate. When the smoke cleared it was Ryan Archambault on top followed by Tom Bussmann, Pete Medeiros, and Benny Leyro.

 

Amateur Results:

Driver

Red

White

Green

Orange

Blue

Yellow

Total

Best

Lane

Ryan Archambault

0

96

123

120

111

106

556

2.150

Green

Tom Bussmann

0

76

98

118

127

116

535

2.130

Yellow

Pete Medeiros

0

91

113

107

104

32

447

2.215

Orange

Benny Leyro

0

105

117

88

0

0

310

2.281

Green

 

Pro CMPM Podium - Dr P 1st, Rob 2nd, Jon 3rd, Ryan 4th

Time for the pros to take to the track joined by Ryan. He didn’t make many races this year so I think he was trying to get in as much racing as possible.  Mr. Hayes joined us looking very dapper in shirt and tie fresh from the Berklee College of Music commencement ceremony.  Jumping in what could possibly be the last remaining phone booth, he emerged in subdued flannel, Rob Hayes, CMPM driver.    Nine drivers competed in what was the last race of the season.  As in the amateur race, a couple of drivers struggled to keep their cars going, Tom and Bill had some issues, but were able to limp their cars home.  Once again Dr. Pileggi demonstrated his mastery of the CMPM cars taking first.  Rob was second closely followed by Jonathan Reimels.  Ryan made the most of his move up taking the fourth place ribbon.

 

Pro Results:

Driver

Red

White

Green

Orange

Blue

Yellow

Total

Best

Lane

John Pileggi

0

132

120

131

133

122

638

2.072

Blue

Rob Hayes

0

124

123

126

125

111

609

2.133

Green

Jonathan Reimels

0

116

124

130

120

112

602

2.094

Orange

Ryan Archambault

0

100

114

126

116

101

557

2.014

Orange

Paul Ryer

0

103

113

118

112

101

547

2.146

Orange

John Reimels

0

100

113

113

107

97

530

2.316

Green

Bill Bonsma

0

0

0

67

52

90

209

2.257

Orange

Tom Gray

0

91

7

0

0

100

198

2.514

White

Dave Muse

0

1

1

1

1

1

5

Vince Tamburo

0

1

1

1

1

1

5

  And so another day of racing, another MARC racing season comes to an end.  Reflexes and car setup were tested and drivers were spent after a hard day of racing.  See you next season!

 On a final note, congratulations to Benny Leyro winning both the Amateur Production and Champion series!  Benny had the field covered in both classes and his reward is he will be running with the pros next season.  And congratulations to Jonathan Reimels winning both the Pro Production and Champion series!  Jonathan had a good handle on the Production series, but he had to wrestle the championship series from the always tough Dr. Pileggi.  They were tied in points so the championship was decided on number of wins.  Great racing guys.

 The race report as recorded this day

May 15th, 2014

Douglas C. Neidermeyer

Sergeant at Arms