| Race: Points Race #12 Date: 9-19-2004 Location: Richmond, Va. Track: 360 West Shopping Center Temperature: 78°F & Sunny |
As race #12 arrived, club members decided to change track layout again to increase the difficulty level while keeping it simple. The track configuration (See diagram below) kept a lot of aspects of previous layouts but decreased overall speed and lengthened lap times.
![]() Track setup went fairly quickly, even with the changes in layout, due to the efforts of many drivers pitching in. As track setup wound down registration and practice opened and most everyone took full advantage. John Laster again secured many of the TQ spots winning 1/8th Scale & Electric Touring and Nitro Touring Pro. David Basl earned his third TQ of the year in Nitro Touring Sport and Mac Scott earned his second in Monster Truck. The Nitro Truck Division saw Tommy Ingram regain the top spot with a strong showing. After qualifying was completed a short break was given for lunch and fine tuning of the race cars.. Keeping with the format 1/8th Scale took to the track with 6 cars taking the tone. Ken Harris would have a clutch failure on the starting line and retire as a result. As for the rest of the racers, Sean would move quickly to the front driving his new Mugen MRX4. While drivers Mark (Spec 2000) & Mike (950) would battle their Serpents to the checkered and finish three laps behind Sean. John Laster finished another two laps behind them driving his Mugen MRX3. Stan Medlin would round out the top five having retired just nine minutes into the event with mechanical failure. When the Electric Touring drivers took to the track, John Laster made up for his fourth place finish in 1/8th scale, by spanking the field to the tune of six laps. Joe Harler managed to keep in site for a minute but fell back to finish second followed by Spencer Atkinson, Mac Scott, & Todd Hook in that order. Tommy and Angie Ingram did not start the event. Nitro Truck featured only two trucks by main time. Pole sitter Tommy Ingram and Spencer Atkinson put on a good show by racing hard for the whole event. In the end Spencer edged Tommy out of the winners circle by a narrow five second margin. Earl Ingram did not start the event but earned third place points. When the Nitro Touring Sport Class took to the track David Basl pulled out all the stops and cruised away to a cool six lap lead. Young Justin Chenault kept pace with Jamie Donati, Joe Harler, and Ashley Stringer putting some distance between them and himself in the last few minutes to secure second place. Jamie wound up third and Joe, Ashley, Ricky Simmons, and Paul Knab rounded out the field. Jon Barnes, Justin Jacobson, Chris Booberg, Josh Wallace, and Ken Harris did not start the event. Nitro Touring Pro saw a repeat of the hottest two drivers of late as John Laster and Mike Bowman battled hard for the full twenty minutes. In the end Johns pit stops were faster which earned him the win. Bowman finished and close second. Rounding out the remainder of the field was Stan Medlin, Tommy Chenault, Terrance Brown, Kevin Randolph, and Jamie Donati, all running the full allotted time and finishing in that order. Those drivers that did not start the event were Josh Lancaster and Robbie Medlin. The Nitro Monster Truck class saw four trucks start the event. Mac Scott and Jamie Donati battled long and very hard to finish 1 & 2, just as they qualified. Todd hook and Victor Boger each had difficulties during the event costing them precious seconds and relegating them to third and fourth positions respectively. Gregg Phelps did not start.
Don't forget the next points race (#13) scheduled for October 3rd. Hope to see you there! ---Mark Poore |