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Halloween Classic Carpet Mayhem Capitol Carpet Challenge
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Race Report: Northeast Grand Slam, Leg 3 – 2010 Grand Prix – Jan 15-17, 2010 Cincinnati, OH - I was sitting in the back of a Volkswagen Jetta somewhere between Athens, OH and Cincinnati, along the expanse of farms lining a quiet four lane highway, my racing buddies and I were contemplating the state of on-road racing in general. The driver of the car had been out of the on-road scene for the better part of two years, and we were doing our best on filling him in on turbo, rpm ranges, boost delay and how laptops had replaced comm lathes and a set of F Brushes. How stock foam sedan has disappeared off the face of the planet (comparatively) after being the most popular class at any track you went to, and how it went down through H-Mains at large races. How folks fight by theoretical outcomes to situations on RCTech instead of actually putting a car on the track and making laps. Yet in this tumultuous state of affairs, we were driving 5.5 hours to race for the weekend.
Sunday morning opened with an arguably faster track for the final round of qualifying, and here the TQs in their respective classes were as follows: • VTA - Arvin Nano Stock Rubber Sedan: The jokes were heard all around the track all weekend long, everytime Bill Sydor and TQ were mentioned in the same breath. “Don’t do it Bill! Don’t TQ! Just pull over!” was heard in unison. After his previous two failures, Sydor came this weekend with something to prove. James Reilley was on-hand to give Sydor all the pressure he could handle at times, but Sydor stayed out front rolling to his first victory in the series. A mention has to go to 3rd place finisher Danny Jenkins, who fresh off the victory at Mimi’s qualified 10th, then worked hard to podium, turning the hotlap of the main. 1/12th Scale Stock: Ironically, Ken Miller and Phil Zimmerman qualified exactly how they finished last race, 1st and 2nd respectively. Also, that’s how they ran all race long, and eventually finished. Ian Ruggles, perhaps needing some more negative reinforcement from his own driving school, came from 5th to secure 3rd. Superstock Rubber: Once the tone sounded in this one, Keven Hebert took off from his TQ spot and never looked back. Craig Xavier also had a good start, working his way up to second after the first few laps, where’d he stay to try run down Keven who was out for a Sunday drive, just picking his way through traffic. The hard charging duo of Chris Goetz and Paul Ciccarello were racing each other through the pack, turning some of the fastest times on the track, but Goetz got the slight nod at the end. Stock Foam Sedan: Just as Superstock Rubber went, Junior Norton had this race on lockdown from the tone. Ken Miller also had second on lockdown all race long, but couldn’t turn comparable lap times with Junior, so he wasn’t able to apply pressure for the lead. Time Vasas (who made a respectable rubber debut this weekend as well) started 6th, and rounded out the podium in 3rd. Pro 12th Scale: Keven Hebert looked like he was going to run away with this one as well, until lap 3 when he tapped and allowed Mike Pulfer around. The two continued to battle until Hebert was able to reassert his dominance and take back over the lead. While those two were duking it out, Paul Ciccarelloo managed to sneak up behind them and capitialize on a Pulfer mistake to take second away. Ciccarello put all kinds of pressure on Hebert, but Hebert didn’t crack, and Chicarello couldn’t get around.
Race Report: Northeast Grand Slam, Leg 2 – 2009 Holiday Challenge – Dec 11th to 13th The second leg of the Northeast Grand Slam brought us to the self proclaimed “Temple of the Mimi Wong Clan.” It also goes by the simple, yet effective name “The Track.” This carpet facility, run by Mimi Wong and located in the Northwestern corner of Washington DC was also selected to be the site of the 2010 ROAR Carpet Nationals. Racers saw this as an opportunity to not only participate in the most popular series for carpet racing, but also to begin some methodical preparation for the Nats later in the year. Sunday morning opened with the final round of qualifying, and here the TQs in their respective classes were as follows:
The Results Stock Rubber Sedan: 1/12th Scale Stock: Pro Foam Sedan: Superstock Rubber: Stock Foam Sedan: Pro 12th Scale:
Race Report: Leg 1 – 2009 Halloween Classic - Oct
30 – Nov 1, 2009
As the days wind down in summer and cool nights begin to
sneak in making the leaves turn color and fall off the trees, thoughts of
stereotypical Halloween fare comes to mind. Slasher movies, kids dressing up in
costume, fun sized candy bars in exceptional quantities fill the shelves at
local grocery chains. However, to any hobbyist that is seeking to prove
themselves against some serious competition or improve their skill set by
racing against others around their talent level, their thoughts turn to
Cleveland and the annual Halloween Classic. Once again, the last weekend in
October was blocked off in the day planners and kitchen fridge calendars by a
good number of racers all the way from
Racers arrived to the grand ballroom at the Strongsville
Holiday Inn on Thursday to setup pits and get a jump on the early Friday
morning open practice. The layout was typical Gate fare, plenty of 180s and
carousels strung together to flow into 10 to 12 second lap times, with
consistent drivers being rewarded with quicker times.
Practice
Friday morning practice opened and as the groove came in,
the cars began to show their imperfections and inefficiencies in setup. Friday was controlled practice for most of
the day until the late arrivals got two hours at the end of the session to
shake their program down. Opening at 7 am, and running until 11pm, the program
asked racers to pull a ‘double shift’ by most work days standards.
The controlled practice was run in heats so that each racer
would become accustomed to their competition and, most importantly, to the
schedule they would run by until resorts. This kept a nice organized pace going for most of the day, and allowed
the scoring crew to address any problems with transponders and
frequencies. Later in the day, the late
arrivals were given a 2 hour period to familiarize themselves with the track,
and get their cars in the ballpark for Saturday’s qualifying. This year, most came prepared early, which
left the track with an average of 4 or 5 cars at any one time in the late
arrival session.
Saturday morning brought a last round of practice runs, and
everyone who would be racing this weekend now showed up to fully populate their
heats. At this time, with a full heat
sheet, the racers now knew where they fit in the larger scheme of things, where
they could shave tenths over their competitors to maximize their qualifying
paces. Qualifying
As the afternoon drew near, racers attitudes
intensified. The laps became official,
which put some racer’s minds at ease, and pushed worry and desperation to the
forefront for others. As with many
weekend races (and all NEGS events) there are a total of four rocket round
qualifiers. Saturday would see the first
three, with a resort after the second, and then a resort to set up the “Sunday
Morning Mayhem,” the last chance to improve qualifying times.
World GT- Aaron Buran Stock Rubber 1/12th Scale Stock - Andrew Knapp Pro Foam Super Stock Rubber Stock Foam Pro 12th Scale - Max Keunning The
Mains
World GT: TQ Aaron Buran was lagging just a
bit at the tone, letting Sean Cochran blow by, but by the first corner Buran
was back on his game and reasserted his dominance and stormed back in front.
Buran never looked back as he led to the finish. Joe Trandell finished 2nd and Mike
Pulfer had 3rd wrapped up.
Stock Rubber
1/12th Scale Stock: This
class was the largest of the weekend and that’s how most everyone expected it to
be in the heart of 12th scale country. TQ Andrew Knapp launched at
the tone but tapped in the first corner allowing Tyler Gerber to sneak by into
the lead. This only lasted a few laps though as Knapp waited patiently to
regain his lead, put the moves on Gerber, and precisely regained the lead. The
story of the main was Ian Ruggles who started 5th, he was patient and
capitalized on others mistakes to finish 2nd followed by Joel
Vautour who was nipping at Ian’s heels, but couldn’t quite pull off the pass to
finish 3rd.
Pro Foam
Superstock Rubber: TQ Larry Fairtrace was on fire in
the rocket round and yanked TQ away from Keven Hebert. When the tone sounded,
Larry took off followed by Hebert and Schreffler from 3rd. Larry’s
car got hit, bent a hinge pin, and Larry was forced to retire very early on lap
2. From there it was all Keven Hebert, very calculated, hitting the exact same
lines the rest of the run to secure victory. Schreff finished 2nd and Mike Blackstock came from 7th to finish 3rd while
flexing a little muscle as he got around both, Brad Johnson and Martin Crisp.
Stock Foam
Pro 12th Scale: This main was the most
entertaining of the day. TQ Max Keunning got hung up fairly early in the race
allowing Aaron Buran to sneak by. Keunning and Buran battled and Keunning hit
Buran and that allowed Keven Hebert to take the lead. As Hebert was up front 2nd place became a three way battle between Buran, Keunning, and Ray Darroch. Max
Keunning was throwing everything he could at Buran, and Darroch was working
Keunning equally as hard. The group was shaken up when Keven Hebert tapped
allowing Buran and Keunning by, and Darroch bounced off a pipe, hit a wall and
broke. Keunning’s car was fast and he
wheeled it to get back by Hebert and almost Buran, he later tapped again and
remained in 3rd where he finished. Aaron Buran took his second A
Main of the weekend and Keven Hebert finished 2nd.
The Gate crew was once again responsible for putting on a
great event. A large race without the pretentious air is always a good time and
they try hard to keep that aura. From my
perspective, it appeared as though every racer enjoyed it. The next race in the
series is hosted by The Track, in
Race Report – Round 3 – 2009 Carpet Mayhem January 16-18, 2009 Babylon, New York: The furthest east that the Northeast Grand Slam Series travels is here, for the third second leg of the series. Located about 45 minutes outside of New York City, 360 Speedway and Hobbies is a top rate R/C facility, owned by ROAR National Champion, Donny Lia (and full scale NASCAR champ). Donny knows racing, and nothing could be clearer after taking one step into 360 Speedway. The in-house hobby shop was stocked to the gills with all the parts the serious racer needs, as well as a slew of fun products to get newcomers interested in joining the fun. Pushing through the doors of the shop led us to where the action was; on the track. The track was smooth and flat and showcased everything a ‘top-notch’ carpet track should be. The layout was solid, and was run backward from the normal, clockwise direction.
Practice Keeping the format the same for all four legs of the NGS series has been a priority so that racers can plan their schedules far in advance for each leg. Though a simple idea, it demands a quality race director/team and 360 Speedway and Hobbies provided just that.
The facility opened at 10 AM on Friday, and racers began to come inside from the frigid temperatures outside. The track didn’t open until noon, so it gave racers plenty of time to get setup, get batteries on charge, and greet their friends. A new layout was installed the previous night, so early practice runs were mainly to put traction down, learn the layout, and get an early gauge on gearing. As the day wore on, bite came up, and the lap times got faster. From 8-10PM, practice was restricted to only those who had arrived later in the day and had not run on the track yet. The rest of the racers were encouraged to go get something good to eat and get their rest, as Saturdays at a Grand Slam event are a marathon.
Qualifying Saturday opened with one “happy hour” of open practice, followed by one controlled round-by-heat. Then the fun began! First up was Touring Stock, and early on it was local racer Sal Amato leading the way, followed by Rob Destefano and Steve Bahnatka. As qualifying progressed, Greg Dobrosky found a fast setup and worked his was up into the 3rd qualifying position. Next was 1/12 Pro, and Paul Ciccarello wasted no time in jumping to the front. Several racers made strong runs at the top, including Jeff Dayger, Dave Chester, and Josh Cyrul. However, in the end it was Donny Lia that put his Speedmerchant car on the pole. The Superstock Rubber Sedan class then followed, with Mike Haynes setting the early pace. Billy Spence, Jari Taskila, Jeff Cuffs, and James Reilly all had strong cars and kept the pressure on all day. Lurking right behind them all was Losi driver, Larry Fairtrace, who overcame his customary early-round blowouts to take the top spot in the 3rd round. He held on in round 4 to take TQ, followed by Haynes and Taskila. The new World GT class followed, with Josh Cyrul, Frank Calandra, and Jason Schreffler taking the top three qualifying spots, and newest “fast-guy” Myles Hale, knocking on the door in 4th. In 1/12 stock, the top position changed hands nearly every round, with Billy Spence and Sal Amato wrestling for the prize. Myles Hale, Gavin Creado, and Greg Dobrosky all made strong runs at the top spot, but it was Amato claiming the prize. Spence would start the main in 2nd, and Creado in 3rd.
For the next class, 360 Speedway added a nice touch to the Vintage Trans-Am division – music from the 50’s and 60’s as the races were run! This didn’t make the drivers any more courteous, though. The rock-em, sock-em racers put on quite a show, and Mike Haynes ended up fastest, with Steve Sohl and Kregg Kerr in tow. The final class in the Grand Slam to run was Pro Touring. One again, qualifying was a hard-fought battle amongst several drivers, including Craig Xavier, Larry Fairtrace, Josh Cyrul, Donny Lia, and Mike Haynes all with strong cars and legitimate shots at the top spot. In round four, Jason Schreffler crushed their dreams of TQ glory by putting his JRXS-R on top. Josh Cyrul and Mike Haynes would start the main 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Racing As the Grand Slam series has progressed, we’ve come to expect nothing but great battles in the mains. This event did not disappoint on any level. With 147 total entries for the ’09 Carpet Mayhem race, the room was not short on talent come Sunday morning. The Northeast Grand Slam Sunday program offers up a bit more relaxation, and racers could afford a little time to watch how things would finish up. Many gathered around the track to provide some well deserved cheering and taunting as the mains would commence.
In fine Grand Slam fashion, we continued to see great, clean starts in many classes. This meant that in World GT, Superstock Rubber, and Stock Sedan that the TQ holder went on to win the main. There was some great racing, but the suspense was not quite there yet. That is, until Stock 12th scale ran. Local hot shoe, Sal Amato TQ’d both stock classes, and would start out front. Billy Spence would start second, with Gavin Creado third. The start was clean and Sal and Billy put a small separation between themselves and Creado. About a minute in, Sal had a small tap, that allowed Billy around. With 7 minutes left, Sal tucked right back on Billy’s rear bumper. The next lap, Sal would try a move on the left handed hairpin, but it wouldn’t stick. Down the straight they would go. Laps later, Sal would tap giving Billy some breathing room, and that was all that was needed to secure the win for Billy Spence. Amato finished second, and Creado held on for third. In the track choice class, USVTA, the start was an eruption of color, as Victor Kao’s pink Camaro was sent flying through the air in turn one. Meanwhile, George Fabiani had taken advantage of the mayhem and worked his way out front, followed by Steve Sohl, Kregg Kerr, and Mike Haynes (who started first). With better than a minute down Steve Sohl would motor his Tamiya past Fabiani down the straight. Mike Haynes would follow the slipstream putting Fabiani third for the moment. By now, the leaders had reached lapped traffic, and in USVTA that nearly always plays a defining role. As Haynes tried to close the gap on Sohl, he met some unwilling participants and his car was sent barrel rolling once or twice. Steve’s path wasn’t without friction, and with around the half way point, the two were nose to tail continuing though traffic when Steve was again victimized, allowing Haynes to the front. Later Sohl would muscle past Haynes for another shot at the victory. Haynes returned the favor with a minute to go. These two duked it for the remaining minute spending more time on their lids than their tires, and in the end, Haynes would hold on for what was arguably his; the win. When time elapsed, Haynes, Sohl, and Kerr would find themselves on the podium. In the main event for Pro Touring, Jason Schreffler started out front, and remained there for ¾ of a lap before tapping out, landing himself back to third. Now forced to chase Mike Haynes for the 2nd spot, Schreffler’s mistake left Cyrul out front in the clear. Schreffler worked past Haynes, only to encounter the same abrupt obstruction that haunted him on the first lap. In the end, Haynes would make a good charge on Cyrul for the win, but never getting close enough to make a move. Cyrul, Haynes, Schreffler in that order.
Pro 12th was undoubtedly the best main of the day. The grid began at Donny Lia, with Paul Ciccarello launching second, Jeff Dayger third, and Pro Touring winner Josh Cyrul starting 4th. It was another shakey start for the TQ, and racers witnessed Donny Lia tap twice on the first lap, giving the lead to Dayger, with Dave Chester and Ciccarello in tow. Early on, Chester brought the heat, but after settling in, Dayger began to stretch his lead. Ciccarello closed on Chester, and with less than 3 minutes to go, Ciccarello forced Chester to mistake in the center of the track, that he took full advantage of for the 2nd spot. With about 2 minutes left to go, the freight train was Dayger, Ciccarello, Chester, and Cyrul. Dayger tapped the entry off the straight, and the tight field immediately muscled its way by. Moving a healthy 2 spots up, from 4th to 2nd, was Cyrul now tailing Ciccarello by a turn. With less than 30 seconds left Ciccarello made a mistake that let Cyrul around. For the remaining 30 seconds, the top three would race the next three laps nose to tail. As time elapsed, they were each caught at the line, finishing a few hundredths apart. Cyrul, Ciccarello, Chester.
With three quarters of the Grand Slam races in the books, there appears to be no loss of momentum. The ’09 Carpet Mayhem race was a perfect reminder of how, and why, carpet racing once thrived in the region. With temperatures reaching the single digits outside, the competition at 360 Speedway and Hobbies kept the heat on indoors. Round after round was filled with clean and courteous driving, which can only come out of a group of racers that are as hardcore as these. Having braved the artic elements to get to this race, there was nothing but commitment coming from this gang. A commitment to racing. A commitment to winning. And a commitment to enjoying their time at 360 Speedway and Hobbies. Perhaps we might be a bit biased, but we can’t think of a better series to commit to. - Chris Goetz - Paul Ciccarello - Mike McBride
2008 Holiday Challenge - Race 2 Oakville, Ontario: The site of the second leg of the Northeast Grand Slam Series, and home to the amazing indoor R/C racing facility of FastCats. This track, owned and run by Pam and John Catricala, is one of the most high tech, well organized and cleanest indoor tracks an R/C racer will ever see. If that alone isn’t reason enough, their location just 20 minutes outside of Toronto made FastCats a perfect venue for this race. As stated in the first report, the NGS was the brainchild of the owners of The Gate, in Cleveland, and the program as a whole focuses on a more feasible approach to racing, without losing any of the competitive nature of the ‘Mega Races’. It’s a simple, 4 race series, with each race limited to 3 days, sharing the same rules, classes and format. After a very successful First Leg of the series had been run (The 2008 Halloween Classic), the momentum was established. Six weeks later, racers were again collected under one roof to rehash the battles that had begun in Cleveland. While some racers had come to settle their debts, many others were new to the Northeast Grand Slam (NGS).
Practice As is built into the NGS rules, the track shows racers a fresh layout, so that ‘home field advantage’ is minimized. Friday the racers are allowed a full day of practice, with the final hours reserved for late arrivals; racers that have not been on the track all day. With a total entry count coming in at around 120 entries, the practice did not follow a controlled schedule. Aside from the Raceway Choice class, which in this case consisted of Formula-1 cars, all other classes shared an open track. Traction came up quickly, and the early pacesetters were local to FastCats. Associated’s Keven Hebert was setting the early times in Pro Sedan, while Jeff Dayger, Paul Ciccarello were matching laps in Pro-12th. In Superstock Sedan (rubber tire) local boy Cory Whiteman appeared to be hosting a clinic scheduled for the same day as practice. Nobody could match him, but the track was still changing.
On Saturday morning, the racers would see practice for the last time before qualifying. A 3 hour window of open track was allotted to those registered, and provided an opportunity for last minute adjustments before getting on the full race clock. Many took advantage of this, yet a few found themselves worse off as a result. However, at a race of this caliber, help is usually only a few pit tables away. Tuner extraordinaire, Josh Cyrul, of TOP Racing and CEFX Racing, was on hand to deliver expert advice. And Dale Epp, of Protoform Bodies, was on hand as well to answer any questions about his products, as well as enjoy some of the racing the day would bring our way. Qualifying
The first of four total rounds of qualifying began immediately after practice came to a close. Qualifying was done in a typical ‘Lighting Round’ fashion, with resorts after both, rounds 2 and 3. After the first two rounds, it was no surprise to see the leaders in practice atop the official results. In Pro Sedan, AE’s Keven Hebert has been on a terror, and did not appear interested in bring that to an end. His TC5 had TQ’ed both early rounds, and left a comfortable margin between himself, and second place qualifier, Josh Cyrul. In Pro-12th, Hebert made and early claim for TQ, but it would be challenged, and eventually be taken over by Josh, and his CEFX Phoenix 12 chassis. Josh also took the new ‘World GT’ class TQ spot as well, over CRC’s Brian Wynn.
The Stock Sedan class saw a battle for TQ between Mark Frechette and Johnny Carey, with Mark showing the edge. Stock-12th was all Myles Hale, piloting a CRC Gen-X chassis to the TQ spot. Superstock Sedan was the largest class, and had shown some great battles between local Tamiya drivers, Martin Crisp and Cory Whiteman, and Team Losi’s Mike Haynes. Cory was the only driver to run sub-12 second lap times, and despite some troubles with back markers, was able to use the last round effectively in order to put himself as the frontrunner for the Main. The ‘Raceway Choice’ class was a Formula 1 class. While not popular in the U.S., F-1 races came out in droves to race their cars at FastCats. Early on Nick Imineo showed some laps that couldn’t be duplicated, but a late charge by New York’s Randy Bernard pushed Nick aside, and secured him the TQ spot for the F-1 class. Racing
As with the first leg of the Series, the racing at the Holiday Challenge was clean and courteous. From the starts through the finish we saw some great racing, with the skilled players coming out on top every time. Of the six series classes, five of the A-mains were won from the TQ spot. That’s a great fact to boast, as we all know that races aren’t won in the first turn (but can most assuredly be lost in that same turn). The main that had some ‘action’ up front was that of the Pro Sedan class. Keven Hebert and his AE TC5 was the package to beat all weekend, holding the TQ spot from the first round all the way to the main. The A-main, itself, got out to a clean start up front, and second qualifier Josh Cyrul was putting the heat on Keven from the tone. Both drivers were inches from the boards, and had begun to separate themselves from the field. After about 3 minutes, Keven made a slight bobble that allowed Josh to get by. Josh appeared to have the faster car, as Josh drove cleanly and consistently and began to gather a foot or two each lap and had built a small cushion between himself and Keven. That made Keven push even harder, and another small mistake near the end of the race secured Keven’s second place spot, and thus, Josh Cyrul had earned his third win of the day!
Results
Summary
The incredible FastCats facility was filled with smiles all weekend long. The hobby shop was well stocked and the race program was run impeccably, by John and Pam Catricala. FastCats has given us another example of why they are indeed… Canada’s Premier Indoor Carpet Track! - Chris Goetz
'08 Holiday Challenge Report.doc 2008 Halloween Classic - Race 1 The '08-'09 Northeast Grand Slam kicked off in style with the 6th Annual Halloween Classic. Over 200 entries made their way to The Gate in Cleveland, OH; some for the first time, but many had returned for what they knew was one of the most entertaining races of the season. Several racers traveled great distances to get in on the action, and they weren’t disappointed. The Northeast Grand Slam Series is a unique program that was born of the many sentiments surrounding the “Mega Race” on-road scene over the last few years. The Grand Slam is a 4 races series, intended to bring the competition of national caliber drivers, without the additional burden of requiring a week’s vacation, airfare, and extended hotel expenses. In short, it provides for more racing, at lower costs. Using the tracks from the northeast area that have proven themselves as staples in the indoor racing scene, it is taking place in the heart of where carpet racing saw its beginning. The Halloween Classic had seven classes of competition. Six of which are the standard classes for the Northeast Grand Slam series: Stock 1/12 and Sedan (17.5 brushless), SuperStock Rubber Sedan and WorldGT (13.5 brushless), and Pro 1/12 and Sedan (10.5 brushless). The seventh class, designated “Raceway Choice” was the growing Vintage Trans-Am class. Raceway Choice participants don’t compete for points in the Grand Slam, but it gives them the opportunity to participate in one of their local favorite classes. Another unique quality behind The Series was the decision to omit the Open Modified classes. Instead, the rules dictated that the “Pro” class would run 10.5 turn brushless motors. This served two purposes. While it made for a ‘spec’ around the horsepower, it proved to be more than enough power on a technical layout to make use of the experienced skill set of the pros, yet still remaining encouraging enough to garner the interest of some seasoned amateur drivers. This left the “Stock” classes to be hotly contested among the amateur racers, who don’t typically get to compete in races of this size. In the end, this format proved solid, as the racing was clean and competitive in every class, and in each main.
Practice The doors opened Friday morning for a full day of practice. Racers ran in a semi-controlled format with cars of similar speeds. The last two hours of the day were reserved for late-arriving participants who hadn’t turned a lap on the track all day. The Chris Goetz-designed layout was fast and flowing, yet still contained a few areas that could prove tricky with a full heat of cars on the track. Throughout the 3-day event, we were greeted with smiles from racers of all types and abilities. With 240 total entries to hit the track in this tight time frame, it was a very structured and quick moving program. Shortly into the weekend, it was obvious that the racers in attendance were here for one reason; put simply, to race! When they weren’t on the track, they were working on their gear and looking for any edge that would push them past their next closest competitor.
The Racing After a brief practice-by-heat session and drivers’ meeting, qualifying got off to a furious start Saturday morning with 3 rounds scheduled, followed by a fourth round on Sunday morning. In 1/12 Stock, Tyler Gerber and Max Kuenning exchanged the Top Qualifying position several times, but it was Max coming out on top. For Super Stock Rubber Sedan, Larry Fairtrace held the early TQ, but Losi teammate Mike Haynes wrestled it away from him and held off several charges by the “Big Sack” to keep the top spot. Haynes also took the early TQ and held on in the Vintage Trans Am class with his Hemi Cuda, despite Mike Collins and crowd-favorite Chris Goetz making charges in the later rounds. Next up was 1/12 Pro where Parma’s Paul Ciccarello set the early pace, only to see Corally’s Ray Darroch finish with the fastest time. In Stock Sedan, Brandon Shells set the early pace and kept it throughout qualifying, despite a strong challenge by Brandon Hess. The newest class on the R/C scene, WorldGT, was up next. Several drivers made a strong runs at the TQ position, such as CRC’s own Frank Calandra and eleventy-seven time national masters champion, Eli Ezrow. In the end, it was EA’s Eric “Earthquake” Anderson taking the pole position. Much like WorldGT, the Pro Sedan class had several drivers taking a solid shot at the top spot, including TOP’s Josh Cyrul and Associated’s Keven Hebert. However, much like in 1/12 Pro, Ray Darroch ran his way to the top spot.
As a testament to the great attitudes that were all part of this event, I witnessed racers volunteering their in between time to help keep things moving along. Whether it was by keeping things clean, or by lending a hand as a marshal or even by making sure the results were being displayed in an organized format. In a time where bench racing seems to be climbing to an all-time high, The Halloween Classic provided racers with an alternative to internet banter via a world class event that displayed everything from last lap blowouts to bold moves for the inside line. None of which went unnoticed by the gamut of announcers that stepped up to help foster the intensity. When the dust settled, the racers went home to contemplate their performances, and more importantly to regroup for the 2nd leg of the Northeast Grand Slam Series, which will move on up to Oakville, Canada at the fabulous FastCats facility. Expect more smiles, more fun, and even greater competition as regional rivalries begin to develop! The Gate and the Northeast Grand Slam would like to thank all of the racers, sponsors, and volunteers who made this year’s edition of the Halloween Classic such a success. Regards,
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