| Race: Points Race #11 Date: 9-18-2005 Location: Richmond, Va. Track: 360 West Shopping Center Temperature: 94°F |
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Well it seems mother nature wasn't finished with the hot weather yet. A slight breeze made it more bearable but it was still quite warm in the sunlight. The usual layout was employed to aide setup time. Angel once again opened registration following set up and soon two rounds of controlled practice were underway. Once the qualifying heats were setup, David Basl held a short drivers meeting and qualifying began.
![]() Qualifying: In qualifying Joe Harler showed he was the man to beat in the Nitro Truck Class by turning in a 13 lap run on 5:17, likewise did Aaron Bartlett in the Nitro Monster Truck division with a 12 lap run on a 5:02. In Nitro Sport, Aaron was also first quickest with a 17 lap effort on only 4:53. Nitro Pro saw Sean Tabor turn in his second pole in as many races with a 19 lap run on a 5:14. Electric Touring hailed Tony Carthan as it's top qualifier while Mark Poore secured his second TQ in 1/8th Scale.
1/8th A-Main: The start of the 1/8th Scale race was fairly clean with 8 out of the 9 participants taking the green flag. Ken Harris was late starting but was on the track as just as one lap was completed. Up front Kevin Randolph got the hole shot on Mark Poore and Mike Bowman and started to move away from the field. David Basl and Stan Medlin trailed Mike and Mark by just a few turns while Terrance Brown, Travis Johnson, and Aaron Bartlett followed them closely. Mike was the first to run into trouble on just his second lap. He spent 50 seconds in the pits making repairs but would rejoin the event some two laps back. Meanwhile back up front, Kevin had the lead stolen away by Mark driving his new Serpent 960 (Making it's debut at a VORRA event). By the time the first fuel stops took place the field had spread out some. Aaron was the first to retire with mechanical difficulties. Next out was David with similar problems. Stan was showing he could be a contender with a strong run and good pit stops. Terrance looking for his second win of the year was equally strong. Kevin had some difficulties requiring lengthy pit stops but otherwise was running stout. As the race unfolded Mike fought his way through the field and was looking for the leader. Just then Mark touched a corner and lost a rear wheel. Mark's pitman, Sean Tabor, quickly retrieved the car and loose wheel and made them one again. Mark had lost 30 seconds but not the lead. When the smoke cleared, Mark earned his first victory of the year by a 5 lap margin. Mike was rewarded with second for his hard driving. Stan secured third with a great performance, followed by Terrance, Kevin, Ken, Travis, Aaron, and David. 1/10th Electric: Electric Touring had a new victor on this day. Tony Carthon appeared as dominant as John Laster has been of late. John was unable to attend due to previous commitment. It will be interesting to see them finish out this season against each other. Only Tony and Angie Ingram were able to make the full time as everyone elses batteries dumped early. Finishing order was Tony, Angie, Edsel, Joe, & Corrine. Tommy Ingram did not start. Nitro Truck: In Nitro Truck, Joe Harler put on a driving clinic. Ryan Warren was late starting and thus was not a factor. Victor Boger might have given him a run but made only one lap before heading to the pits for the remainder of the event. Both Tommy & Earl Ingram did not start. By Ryan joining the race late he managed to turn enough laps to finish second. 1/10th Touring Pro B: The start of this race was perhaps the cleanest of the day. All five drivers fell in single file heading through the first few turns in what appeared to be race between gentleman. David Basl fell to the mechanical gods and was forced to park it just 10 laps in. Darnell Washington and Tony Carthon hooked up early but couldn't shake Michael Meisinger and Terry Goodwin. After a few minutes Michael and Darnell had seperated from Tony and Terry thus forming two distinct battles. Michael slowly pulled away from Darnell over the last few minutes and was rewarded with the victory & the bump-up into the A-Main. Behind them Terry and Tony battled the the very end with Terry edging out Tony for third place. Finishing order was Michael, Darnell, Terry, Tony, and David. 1/10th Touring Pro A: With the field set the green flag was raised and seven drivers tore off into the sunset. Sean Tabor set the pace from the outset with Mike Bowman, Terrance Brown, and Charlie Wilson in pursuit. Behind them Shaun Barnes, Michael Meisinger, and Johnny Pritchett followed on a second group just a turn back. On lap two Shaun ran into trouble and lost lots of time in the pits. Michael, who bumped up from the B-Main, was making a hard charge to the front. He quickly moved around Charlie and Terrance and set his sites on the rear bumper of Mike who was himself trying hard to keep in contact with Seans machine. After a few rounds of pit stops the field got strung out and remained that way for the rest of the event. When the last of the engines were shut off, Sean got his second consecutive win of the season with Mike taking second even though he didn't run the last minute. Michael took third with Charlie, Johnny, Terrance, and Shaun finishing in that order. 1/10th Touring Sport: Nitro Touring Sport took to the track with a 9 drivers awaiting to show their skills. From the horn Aaron Bartlett and Craig Jones hooked up with Paul Knab in tow. This was short lived as both Aaron and Craig got tangled and spent almost a minute in the pits. Behind them was a tale of attrition. Lamont Dunsons engine stalling woes continued as did trouble for Josh Wallace, Johnny Whitman, Edsel Pinpin, Chris Garret, and Joe Harler. These six drivers all spent time in the pits with only Johnny still running at the end. After repairs to Craig and Aarons cars they battled for much of the event allowing Paul to run a near perfect race. In the end this paid off as Paul took the win followed by Aaron some five laps back and Craig just two seconds behind him in third. The rest of the field shook out like this, Joe, Josh, Chris, Lamont, Edsel, and Johnny. Nitro Monster Truck: Last up were those Monster Nitro Trucks. Aaron and Victor showed the spectators some thrills with those big machines as they transversed the course without being stopped by anything....and I mean anything. Barriers..... fire hoses...... anything! When the final tone sounded they finished as they started, Aaron Bartlett first, Victor Boger second.
Hope to see you there. Until then, ---Mark Poore |