May 16, 2014 | john 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