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Tails and Tales at the Dale!
Long tail, high tail, wide tail, and fast tail, that was the story for the final race of 2016 in the west end. Lots of great racing, and tall tales, as paint and stories where swapped at Jimmy O’s.
Euro Trucks – No brakes!
This series should be sponsored by Harvey Wallbanger or Raybestos Brakes. For those who don’t think the trucks put on a good show, just try it! The lap totals may not suggest close racing, but watching the trucks in action is like watching NASCAR at Daytona or Talladega. You know something’s going to happen! And on this night the trucks, with their wide tails, found a new squeeze area on the track that doesn’t effect any other class! In the end a flawless run by Mr. R32 saw him take a 3-lap win over the Martini Mann rig. And no longer MIA from the podium was MIA thanks to post race scoring adjustments.
Three lessons learned ...
1) You can’t go flat through the bank with a truck. Right Art?!
2) This may be our most mechanically challenged class
3) Never put a truck on as your 1st practice vehicle as you’ll think you’ve lost your brake pot, or fuse, in your controller!
Results
Art - 59
John – 56
Michael - 51
Jim O – 43* (53 - 24.031)
Frank – 43* (53 - 31.656)
*Both Jim O (broken chassis at guide point) and Frank (right rear hub ran across the 401, fortunately striking nobody) had mechanical failures and had to go to backups. Ergo 10 lap penalties per club rules.
NASCAR – Looney Tunes and a re-heat
Hmmm, is NASCAR manipulating races in all its series now? Race control shenanigans more in tune with Looney Tunes, saw what should have been a Busch Bashing on the field turn into a very tight race! Through 2-heats the Monster and Cartoon Network cars both had the maximum 44 laps, with the LOUD car holding about a 12 second edge, with 7-time Cup champ Jimmy Frank a lap or so back. But in the 3rd heat things literally switched! A start line issue meant not all drivers got off the line in heat 3, and officials called for a re-start once the electronics were put back into proper race direction mode. But somehow race control managed to lose that heat and the field had to go back to heat 2. And that’s when the fun happened as neither of the early leaders could find a way to complete 22 laps, while the Kanaus and Kenseth teams did. So heading into the final heat it looked like it would be the top 4 finishing on the same lap with Busch ahead of Jimmy by just over a second with Junior Johnny and Matty O. a ways back on aggregate. But somehow in the final heat Junior got a lucky dog and managed to make the 22 laps for the win.
Results
John - 65
Art – 64 (8.391)
Frank – 64 (9.533)
Jim O. – 64 (17.505)
Michael - 57
Classis Le Mans - Long tail serenade!
This class provided the battle of the night as 4 of the 5 racers were running long tails and in the end the top three were within a lap of each other, while the other two weren’t that far back and engaged in their own epic battle to the end. Up front it looked like the Ferrari 512 and Porsche 917’s LH’s would swap positions throughout, but then Johnny Regazzoni couldn’t keep all 4 tires touching tarmac in what should have been the fastest lane, leaving just the two longtails of Vic Artford and Jimmy Larrouse to battle it out to the end. And in the end it was the 1970 917 LH edging out the 1971 917 LH by less than 3 seconds which denied our gracious host the win. So Vic Elford has to put one foot on each step of the podium! (He drove the #25 in 1970, and the #21 in 1971). But the fans eyes didn’t rest as the first three crossed the line as the battle for 4th wasn’t decided until the flag fell either. When scoring was finally completed (It was done by hand back then) it turns out that Michael was ahead by just over 4 seconds.
Results
Art – 67 (9.635)
Jim – 67 (12.238)
John - 66
Michael – 62 (14.209)
Frank – 62 (18.509)
LMP – Lolamania
Three heats, and a 4 lap win. Simply put, nobody ever saw the tail of the dominate Lola for more than a lap after each start. Some nights this is a very competitive class, this was not one of those nights. Domination doesn’t even describe it. Decimation is perhaps a better word! Fortunately the fans had the opportunity of cheering for their favourites as there was a good battle for the final podium as only a lap separated 3rd through 5th.
Results
Art - 77
John – 73
Frank – 70
Jim O. – 69 (7.174)
Michael – 69 (12.526)
All in all, a good and fun night of racing. Thanks again to our host, and may we all, and hopefully a few others, return for more in 2017!
Long tail, high tail, wide tail, and fast tail, that was the story for the final race of 2016 in the west end. Lots of great racing, and tall tales, as paint and stories where swapped at Jimmy O’s.
Euro Trucks – No brakes!
This series should be sponsored by Harvey Wallbanger or Raybestos Brakes. For those who don’t think the trucks put on a good show, just try it! The lap totals may not suggest close racing, but watching the trucks in action is like watching NASCAR at Daytona or Talladega. You know something’s going to happen! And on this night the trucks, with their wide tails, found a new squeeze area on the track that doesn’t effect any other class! In the end a flawless run by Mr. R32 saw him take a 3-lap win over the Martini Mann rig. And no longer MIA from the podium was MIA thanks to post race scoring adjustments.
Three lessons learned ...
1) You can’t go flat through the bank with a truck. Right Art?!
2) This may be our most mechanically challenged class
3) Never put a truck on as your 1st practice vehicle as you’ll think you’ve lost your brake pot, or fuse, in your controller!
Results
Art - 59
John – 56
Michael - 51
Jim O – 43* (53 - 24.031)
Frank – 43* (53 - 31.656)
*Both Jim O (broken chassis at guide point) and Frank (right rear hub ran across the 401, fortunately striking nobody) had mechanical failures and had to go to backups. Ergo 10 lap penalties per club rules.
NASCAR – Looney Tunes and a re-heat
Hmmm, is NASCAR manipulating races in all its series now? Race control shenanigans more in tune with Looney Tunes, saw what should have been a Busch Bashing on the field turn into a very tight race! Through 2-heats the Monster and Cartoon Network cars both had the maximum 44 laps, with the LOUD car holding about a 12 second edge, with 7-time Cup champ Jimmy Frank a lap or so back. But in the 3rd heat things literally switched! A start line issue meant not all drivers got off the line in heat 3, and officials called for a re-start once the electronics were put back into proper race direction mode. But somehow race control managed to lose that heat and the field had to go back to heat 2. And that’s when the fun happened as neither of the early leaders could find a way to complete 22 laps, while the Kanaus and Kenseth teams did. So heading into the final heat it looked like it would be the top 4 finishing on the same lap with Busch ahead of Jimmy by just over a second with Junior Johnny and Matty O. a ways back on aggregate. But somehow in the final heat Junior got a lucky dog and managed to make the 22 laps for the win.
Results
John - 65
Art – 64 (8.391)
Frank – 64 (9.533)
Jim O. – 64 (17.505)
Michael - 57
Classis Le Mans - Long tail serenade!
This class provided the battle of the night as 4 of the 5 racers were running long tails and in the end the top three were within a lap of each other, while the other two weren’t that far back and engaged in their own epic battle to the end. Up front it looked like the Ferrari 512 and Porsche 917’s LH’s would swap positions throughout, but then Johnny Regazzoni couldn’t keep all 4 tires touching tarmac in what should have been the fastest lane, leaving just the two longtails of Vic Artford and Jimmy Larrouse to battle it out to the end. And in the end it was the 1970 917 LH edging out the 1971 917 LH by less than 3 seconds which denied our gracious host the win. So Vic Elford has to put one foot on each step of the podium! (He drove the #25 in 1970, and the #21 in 1971). But the fans eyes didn’t rest as the first three crossed the line as the battle for 4th wasn’t decided until the flag fell either. When scoring was finally completed (It was done by hand back then) it turns out that Michael was ahead by just over 4 seconds.
Results
Art – 67 (9.635)
Jim – 67 (12.238)
John - 66
Michael – 62 (14.209)
Frank – 62 (18.509)
LMP – Lolamania
Three heats, and a 4 lap win. Simply put, nobody ever saw the tail of the dominate Lola for more than a lap after each start. Some nights this is a very competitive class, this was not one of those nights. Domination doesn’t even describe it. Decimation is perhaps a better word! Fortunately the fans had the opportunity of cheering for their favourites as there was a good battle for the final podium as only a lap separated 3rd through 5th.
Results
Art - 77
John – 73
Frank – 70
Jim O. – 69 (7.174)
Michael – 69 (12.526)
All in all, a good and fun night of racing. Thanks again to our host, and may we all, and hopefully a few others, return for more in 2017!
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