Race: Points Race #06
Date: 6-19-2005
Location: Richmond, Va.
Track: 360 West Shopping Center
Temperature: 93°F & Humid

Race #6 promised to be a hot and humid one. VORRA members used the usual layout (see below) to aide in reducing setup time. After track setup was complete registration opened immediately followed by two rounds of controlled practice. Once practice was concluded a brief drivers meeting was held and qualifiers were setup and posted.

Track Layout

Qualifying:
The top drivers quickly rose to the top of their respective classes started laying down the fast laps. Not many surprises in this bunch though. In 1/8th Scale, Sean Tabor earned his 4th pole of the year with a 21 lap effort @ 5:09.27. John Laster continued his domination in Electric Touring with 18 laps on a 5:12.52. In Nitro Trucks, Joe Harler returned to the top position by turning in 12 laps on a 5:04.85. Aaron Bartlett secured the pole in Nitro Touring Sport with a quick run of 17 laps @ 5:14.83. Then in Nitro Touring Pro, Mike Bowman turned in 19 laps at a 5:00.68. Aaron Bartlett got his second pole of the day by turning in 13 laps on an even 5:00.00 in the Nitro Monster Truck division.

1/8th Pro: As the 1/8th scale class took the raising of the flag it appeared this would be a race of attrition. All drivers got away cleanly and started making plays for the front spot. Mike Bowman had troubles on lap three and had to pit early for repairs. These repairs would come back to haunt him later in the race. Sean Tabor led the way early with John Laster poking his car out ahead every so often. Sean misjudged a turn a found himself back in third quickly. Jon then led the way with Mark Poore in close pursuit. Mark too misjudged a turn and found himself promptly back in fifth position. By the time of the second fuel stop, Sean had retaken the lead but his closest competitor Jon, who had suffered car damage, had to pit for lengthy repairs. Mike, who was attempting to make up some time ran out of gas because of being out of seqeunce with the rest of the field. Terrance Brown was next on the casulity list having to park his ride after 12 minutes. Stan Medlin had his own demons to deal with as multiple problems crept up and forced him to the pits. Travis Johnson and Kevin Randolph also had decent runs and managed to keep their machines out of trouble. When the dust had settled Sean had scored his fourth victory of the year. Mark followed in second, Mike in third, Kevin a fourth, Travis in fifth, Jon in sixth, Terrance in seventh, Stan in eighth, and Tommy Chenault who DNS in ninth. I thought it was important to note: the top three finishers all finished missing shocks!

1/10th Electric: For once.....Jon didn't win. That's right! The race started off much like most of the others have during this season with John Laster leaving the field in his dust. Preston Pollard and Kevin Randolph managed to keep him in their sites and when Jon ran into trouble they were there to pounce. When all the laps were counted Kevin reigned victorious followed by Preston, then Jon, Jamie Donati, Mac Scott, and Angie Ingram. I'd like to mention you guys should be ashamed of yourselves for picking on Angie's little bitty car.

Nitro Truck: When the Nitro Truck class tore away from the started grid, Joe Harler appeared to be in the running for another victory. I think Tim Aberg, Earl Ingram, Victor Boger, and Tommy Ingram had other ideas. Shortly after the start of the event Joe had a mechanical gremlin bite him and forced a long stay in the pits. This left the race up for grabs as the remaining drivers all vied for position. When the last truck had taken the checkered flag the winner was Tim, followed closely by Earl, Victor, and Tommy. Joe finished running but at the back of the pack.

1/10th Touring Sport B: Nitro Touring Sport B main was run first to give the winner a opportunity to earn their way into the A. Nine drivers would compete for this chance and they didn't disappoint. From the start Justin Chenault, Chris Gibson, and Chris Garret battled hard. Travis Johnson, Larry Williams, Ed Anderson, and Josh Wallace followed close behind in a second pack. First out of the event was the car of Josh as he retired before completing a second lap. Ed was next to park his ride. Travis found a good line for his car and started closing ground on the front runners picking off both Chris's and setting his sites on Justins machine. As laps wound down Gibson's racer flamed out and failed to finish. Travis wouldn't have enough time to catch Justin as time expired and had to settle for second. The rest of the field finished like this, Chris Garrett in third, Larry in fourth, Chris Gibson in fifth, a late starting Scott finished in sixth, Ed in seventh, and Josh rounded out the field in eighth.

1/10th Touring Sport A: Earning his way into the A-Main but declining to run was Justin Chenault. That left the field at nine. The starting flag was raised and polesitter Aaron Bartlett started to pull away from the field. Behind him though Lamont Dunson, Michael Corvatt, Paul Knab, and Ron Beaman had quite the race going on as these four drivers battled in a tight pack for several minutes before finally shaking out into the order that they would finish. Joe Harler, Craig Jones, and Jamie Donati would fail to finish but ran long enough to finish in that order.

1/10th Touring Pro: Nitro Touring Pro has turned out to be one of the most competitive classes. Already this year there have been five different winners in only six races. This race would be just as competitive as Mike Bowman, Mike McDaniels, Rusty Mihelich, and John Laster fought each other as hard on the first lap as on the last. Stan Medlin, Brian Higgins, and Terrance Brown also made a run early but only Stan managed to cross the finish line in the end. When all the dust had settled and the laps were counted, Mike McDaniels would take the victory, with Jon in second, Mike Bowman in third, followed by Rusty, Stan Brian, and Terrance in that order.

Nitro Monster Truck: Finishing up the days event was the Monster Nitro Truck class. Only three of the entries took the green flag. Aaron Bartlett, Jamie Donati, and Victor Boger. Aaron quickly moved away from Jamie but could only manage to put three laps on him through out the course of ten minutes. Victor had troubles with his truck and parked it early thus the finishing order was determined. Wayne Goodwin and Larenzo Allen DNS.

Remember, the next points race is July 10, 2005
Hope to see you there. Until then,
---Mark Poore


Copyright © 2005 V.O.R.R.A. (Virginia On Road Racing Association)