A Day of Firsts
The weekend of September 15th witnessed the last round of the Slot It group C challenge. It’s funny to think that this was the last round of the series any yet it contained so many firsts. This was the first race with 10 racers, the first race a total lap count of 228.83, the first race with two lap counts of 77 in the same heat, the first race for months were the temperatures stayed in the 70’s and the first race series win for Ary. OK, the last one was a lie but the rest of those crazy facts are true.
Let me start by saying how great it was to see so many people at the track with their Slot It Group C cars all ready to run.
The highlights of the days racing were
Heat 1 – New members Brett and Steve had good runs while Russell racked up 73 laps while dodging some of the carnage. Russell is leading the way and cleaning the track for the rest of the competitors. Fast lap was Russell’s with a 3.991 with Steve not far behind with a 3.997.
Heat 2 – Russell in the blue lane. Need I say more? Russell continues to lead the way and racks up 75 additional laps to Brian’s 72 and Steve’s 71. Steve’s lap count was good but his fast lap time was the best of the heat and of the race with a 3.896.
Heat 3 – A great race to watch with three racers running very equal time and encountering an equal number of issues. Roy finished in front with 73 laps to Brian and Steve’s 72 laps. Steve improved the fastest lap time with a lap of 3.866.
Heat 4 – This was Brian’s heat with a lap total of 74 to Roy’s 72 and Brandon’s 61. 3.926 was the fast lap of the heat put in by Brian. As good as that was it was still not the fastest of the race.
Heat 5 – This heat was highlighted by the great battle between Roy and Shawn with Roy running 74 laps to Shawn’s 73. Good clean racing by both competitors. Brandon was improving with every heat and had a good run with 62 laps. Fast lap for the heat belonged to Shawn with a 3.871 in the yellow lane. That is a very fast time for the yellow lane. Let’s see what Shawn can do in the green and blue lanes.
Heat 6 – Shawn not only puts in the most laps with a total of 74 but puts in the fastest lap of the heat and of the race through six heats with a time of 3.846. Kevin had a good run with 71 laps and Brandon totaled 64. Brandon also had his fastest lap of the series with a 4.081. Nice run Brandon.
Heat 7 – This heat had a great race between Marty and Shawn with both racers getting 75 laps each. Marty also managed to set fastest lap of the race with a 3.830 in the yellow lane. Looks like the six prior heats and 18 racers did a great job of cleaning the track and putting down some sticky rubber. Kevin had a good run with 74 laps and a fast lap time of 3.994.
Heat 8 – If you thought the race between Marty and Shawn was good then the race between Marty and Ary was great. Both racers doing everything they could to stay with each other. At the end of the heat both were tied with 75 laps with Ary setting the fastest lap of the race with a 3.795. Kevin also had a great heat with 74 laps and a fast lap time of 3.991.
Heat 9 – I know I already said it but this was the heat of the race. Once again Marty and Ary were going head to head and neither wanted to make a mistake knowing that the other would capitalize on it. At the end of the five minutes both racers had totaled 77 laps – a new record for two racers running at the same time. Even with the high lap count Ary’s previous fast lap of 3.795 was not touched and remained the lap to beat. Brett had a good heat and totaled 60 laps with a very good fast lap of 4.097.
Heat 10 – Ary’s last heat. If he wanted to win he would need at least 76 laps to beat Marty’s lap total of 227. He would be racing with Russell and Brett. Ary showed us why he is the clubs best racer with a lap count of 76 to give him a total of 228 laps or one more than Marty. The pressure was on and he responded with a great heat and the fastest lap of the race with a 3.791. Russell had a good heat as well with a lap total of 73 and a fast lap time of 3.877. Brett finished up with 57 laps and a good run overall.
At the end of the day Ary was not only a first place race winner his result gave him the top spot of the podium as the 2012 Slot It Group C Champion. Congratulations Ary!
Final Results
At the end of the six races in the series it was Ary at the top of the leader board with Brian second only 4 points behind or the same number of bonus points Ary picked up in the series for his four fastest laps. Nice work by both drivers. Third was a different story. There was a tie for third place between Roy and Marty both with 34 points. As per our rules, the winner would be determined by the racer that amassed the most laps. The third place award goes to Marty with a total of 1,103.43 to Roy’s 1,097.42. That is an effective difference of 22.88 seconds out of a total of 75 minutes of racing. It doesn’t get much closer than that.