Crazy fast at South Shore Speedway

Hingham Massachusetts, January 14, 2017 – For the past few years the classes for South Shore Speedway have been G-Jet and Super Stock.  CMPM hasn’t been raced here

since 2011 and Spec Racer (AKA Spec Stock back in the day) was last raced in 2012.  That was before famed track designer Johnny “Racetrack” Reimels designed a new infield section to spice things up.  So, even though people have more experience with these classes, lap totals were down due to the layout changes.  15 drivers showed up for the racing.

First up were Spec Racers, a class that is getting a lot of attention across the country and a favorite of the MARC crowd.  Sub 3 second lap times were needed if you wanted to see the podium with a couple of 2.6 second laps seen.  Setup was a balance between downforce and heat.  Too low and you might not finish.  First race was for the five

Sportsman in attendance.  Phil Hilgert and Tom Jahl had a battle going on until the red lane where Phil laid down 90 laps to Tom’s 79 laps.  Mike Tiffany and Tom Smith had solid consistent runs in the middle of the group.  Jim Colligan struggled with heat issues until the parts of the car got gooey from the excessive heat.  If only we had been running 3 minute heats!  Top lap count in 2012 was 396.

 

Sportsman Spec Racer results:

Driver	Green	Blue	Yellow	Red	Total	Avg
Phil Hilgert	89	97	89	90	365	91.25
Tom Jahl	82	95	86	79	342	85.5
Mike Tiffany	77	86	81	81	325	81.25
Tom Smith	77	80	80	73	310	77.5
Jim Colligan	41	89	12	6	148	37

 

Phil decided to take a breather so Tom Jahl joined the Pro ranks for the next race.  Stez

and Pileggi ran away from the rest of the crowd.  Better lap totals in the gutters put Stez in the top spot with Dr. P just a handful of laps behind.  Ryan was fast, but a little loose.  He hung onto it for a third place finish and Paul Ryer squeaked out fourth place over Tom Jahl who ran 20 more laps than he did in the first race.  Great driving Tom!  Top lap count in 2012 was 418.

 

 

Pro Spec Racer results:

Driver	Green	Blue	Yellow	Red	Total	Avg
John Stezelecki	97	99	108	95	399	99.75
John Pileggi	89	104	104	93	390	97.5
Ryan Archambault	85	98	98	96	377	94.25
Paul Ryer	76	103	95	88	362	90.5
Tom Jahl	82	100	97	83	362	90.5
Rob Hayes	77	95	104	82	358	89.5
John Reimels	90	86	95	86	357	89.25
Dave Muse	76	90	97	82	345	86.25
Peter Lentros	75	85	97	78	335	83.75
Jim Macartney	74	88	98	74	334	83.5
Tom Gray	71	81	85	71	308	77

 

This year the Sportsman drivers decided to run the Modified class and leave the CMPM cars to the Pros.  If they thought these were going to be much slower than the CMPM cars,

they were wrong.  These things are fast.  Everyone was positive about the class and look forward to running them again.  Slip on tires, 2.5 ohm arms make for some great racing.  This time Tom Jahl was the one who came out on top with Red being a crucial lane again.  Phil took second.  Oh Jimmy was battling heat again, but even with a pit stop to replace a melted pinion, he was able to finish the race.  Car temp at the end of the race was measured at 260 degrees, but the car was still running!  Mike Tiffany was right behind Jimmy for fourth.  CMPM top laps from 2011 were 452.

Sportsman Modified Results:

Driver	Green	Blue	Yellow	Red	Total	Avg
Tom Jahl	93	118	117	103	431	107.75
Phil Hilgert	99	109	113	92	413	103.25
Jim Colligan	93	99	110	95	397	99.25
Mike Tiffany	91	102	103	88	384	96
Dave Muse	74	71	87	80	312	78

 

For the final race of the day the Pros took to the track with their CMPM cars.  Everybody

had been chasing a good setup but Dr. P showed the way with a 481 lap total.  Rob Hayes was hot on John’s heels but a tough Green lane was the difference giving him 478 laps.  Ryan and John Reimels rounded out the top four.  Ryan was only 9 laps behind Rob and John was 9 laps behind Ryan.  Pretty close when the lap times hover right around 2 seconds.  Jim Mac had a solid run to finish fifth.

Pro CMPM Results:

Driver	Green	Blue	Yellow	Red	Total	Avg
John Pileggi	114	126	127	114	481	120.25
Rob Hayes	104	125	128	121	478	119.5
Ryan Archambault	94	127	129	119	469	117.25
John Reimels	103	126	123	108	460	115
Jim Macartney	92	112	124	111	439	109.75
Paul Ryer	79	122	125	105	431	107.75
Tom Gray	0	0	106	89	195	48.75

 

Everyone seemed to enjoy the challenge of the fast stuff on unique South Shore Speedway so I think you might see these classes on this track again.  Thanks to everyone who came out to race.  It was a blast!

This is the race report recorded January 30, 2017

Faithfully submitted,

Douglas C. Neidermeyer

Sergeant At Arms