Round 2 of the 2012 Slot.It Challenge was run last Saturday. This time my lone Chaparral 2E joined the competition against an array of Ford GTs, not unlike my first time at the 1966 Sebring 12 Hours where 2 Chaparrals raced against 8 Ford GTs and some privateer Ferraris.
In the first heat, Marty (Porsche917) was in the Yellow lane, Shawn (Turboman93) raced in the Blue lane, and I (Chapracer65) was in the Green Lane. Marty had problems almost from the green flag. Body screws kept working loose, requiring several trips to the pits, leaving the battle to Shawn and myself. The racing was close and at the end of 5 minutes I had accrued 73.8 laps and Shawn had 72.01. With Marty’s mechanical problems he was only able to complete 45 laps.
For the second heat, new member Brett ran his fresh-out-of-the-box Ford GT in the Yellow lane, with me in Blue and Marty in Green. Marty’s problems continued, forcing him to drop out after only 22 laps. I had my own problems as I lost 11 seconds replacing an errant wing. The wing proved to be the Achilles Heel of the Chaparral as I lost more time in the last heat. At the finish I had run 70 laps and Brett completed 55.
The third heat turned out to be a race between the two new club members, Brett in Yellow and Kevin the Hammer in Green. With Marty’s car problems, he did not make the start line. Kevin was pretty dialed in and raced into the lead. Brett’s new car teething problems kept him a little farther back. Kevin finished with 70 laps to Brett’s 50.
Heat number four saw Jim (Tele52) in Yellow, battling Kevin in Green, with Brett in Blue. Kevin ran 68.3 laps, Jim ran 67, and Brett turned 54.5.
Heat number five saw some really close racing as Roy (VoyConroy), Yellow, Kevin, Blue, and Jim, Green, battled back and forth. In the end Roy won with 73 laps, followed closely by Kevin in second and Jim in third, both with 72 laps.
Heat six was also close, as once again Roy in Green came out ahead with 73 laps and Jim in Blue just edging Shawn in Yellow, 71.2 laps to 71 laps.
The final heat saw the fastest laps run in each of the three lanes. I was in Yellow, Roy was in Blue, and Shawn was in Green. Soon after the start, I flipped and lost my wing again, losing 3 laps to replace it. Roy and Shawn fought for the lead, but Roy began to pull away, finishing with an outstanding 75.7 laps. Shawn gave it everything he had but had to settle for 73.09 laps and I finished with 71 laps. Roy turned in the fastest lap in the Blue lane, and the fastest lap of the race at 3.867 seconds. I had the fastest lap in the Yellow lane and second fastest lap of the race at 3.893 seconds and Shawn had the fastest lap in the Green lane and third fastest overall at 3.906.
Roy won overall with an excellent 221.7 laps, Shawn completed 216.7, and I came in third with 214.8. Once again, fewer mistakes, and fewer car problems, result in better finishes. Some of us will have some catching up to do. On to Round 3!
Here are the final results for Round Two:
| Position | Driver | Laps | Points | Fastest Lap |
| 1 | Roy Martz | 221.70 | 11 | 3.867 |
| 2 | Shawn Gordon | 216.10 | 8 | 3.906 |
| 3 | Russell Mill | 214.80 | 6 | 3.893 |
| 4 | Kevin Farless | 210.30 | 5 | 3.971 |
| 5 | Jim Johnson | 210.20 | 4 | 3.943 |
| 6 | Brett Lindsey | 159.50 | 3 | 4.459 |
| 7 | Marty Muehlegger | 67.00 | 2 | 4.093 |
Leader Board after round #2 of 6:
| Position | Driver | Points | Laps |
| 1 | Roy M. | 19.00 | 441.85 |
| 2 | Shawn G. | 14.00 | 435.86 |
| 3 | Ary B. | 11.00 | 220.27 |
| 4 | Jim J. | 9.00 | 428.46 |
| 5 | Kevin F. | 9.00 | 423.46 |
| 6 | Russell M. | 6.00 | 214.8 |
| 7 | Marty M. | 5.00 | 278.4 |
| 8 | Brett L. | 3.00 | 159.5 |
| 9 | Brian H. | 2.00 | 211.4 |
The recorder race can be viewed at our Ustream.tv channel: https://www.ustream.tv/recorded/19914283
Wonderful write up, Russ!