The last heat. It’s not often that a race comes down to the last heat to determine the winner. We all want that type of competition where someone comes from behind with no chance of winning and then pulls off what is thought to be impossible. Who hasn’t dreamed of playing baseball in the World Series in a game seven, bottom of the ninth with two outs in a tied game, where you come up to bat and swing for the fences and then………………………………………. For those who know the poem Casey at Bat, you know things don’t always work out the way Disney has led us all to believe they will, but in some cases, magic does happen.
The final heat of race #4 in the ThunderSlot Can-Am series was witness to one of those amazing events.
In the first heat, Marty had issues with the settings on his controller and finally came to grips with it, but that was after a couple of very untimely de-slots that were sure to have an impact on his final results. Ary also did not have a great first heat, and while Marty was only able to run 76.35 laps, Ary was only able to run 77. Looks like another close race between Marty and Ary. Let’s see what everyone else, especially David, could bring.
Marty finished the next two heats for a total of 235.35 laps. Not great, but not too shabby considering his poor start.
Ary came back in the fifth of six heats and was running with Davi,d who had just finished a strong run in yellow with 79 laps in the fourth heat.
Ary and David battled it out in the penultimate heat of the day, with David finishing the heat with 80 laps to Ary’s 79.
One of the things impacting the lower lap totals was the track temperatures. The track temp was 85 with 77% humidity. This meant that the track did not have the same level of grip that it had in the previous three rounds.
The lap totals going into the final heat of the day had Ary with 156 total laps to David’s 159. The lap total difference was more like 2.5, considering where the cars were placed on the track.
David is one of the fastest racers in the club, and Ary is hands down the best in the club. It would be interesting to watch this battle of the titans. Having said that, it would be almost impossible to bring back 2.5 laps in one five-minute heat, even if you are Ary.
Well, never say impossible. In a heat where Ary showed why he is the best, he was able to put his head down and go to work. He took back one lap, then two, and in the final minute, he pulled back the final distance to move ahead of David. Ary finished the last lap on top of the timing beam, breaking it to complete his run of 82 laps to David’s 78. David was giving great effort but could not match Ary’s pace. It was a fun race to watch and is one of the reasons this hobby is so enjoyable – you never know what is going to happen. It was the bottom of the ninth, and Ary hit a walk-off home run.
Congratulations to Ary and David for putting on such an amazing show. If you have five minutes, you should watch the last heat of the race on the club’s YouTube channel. It will not disappoint.
I can’t wait for the next round.
