Racin’ at the Rand

 

 

            Would end up a bit of a misnomer.  With a surface that was sealed since last year’s event and the rain that showed up just as registration was closing, it was an interesting day to say the least.  You’ve heard of Christmas in July? Well we had ice racing in July.  Was it slippery, you ask? Perhaps you should speak to the multitude of drivers who ended up aiming for the telephone pole, and most doing it either backwards or sideways.  By the end of the day, most people weren’t sure if we were at a Solo II or a Drifting competition.

 

The end of the day saw some surprises. With the rain stopping and the course finally drying out for the last run group, some fast times were finally turned in. Greg Pierce in the spec BMW class, better known as STX, came home with not only the class win, but also fastest time of the day and Pax time, a clean sweep.  Second in STX, a full 15 seconds back, was Dad, Ken, and then Uncle John. The largest class of the day was again G stock with 7 entries. And again there was an upset, with Janelle Butterfield in her first season of racing, taking her first class win and beating her father, Barry, by over two seconds. Barry took his second place standing well, just telling Janelle she had to walk home. Jeff Tyburski completed the trophies in third, a full 8 seconds behind Barry.

 

The closest class of the day was E stock, where event chair Rich Chernoski took top honors, followed by Ted Hurd, only 8/10 of a second back and Kirk Pfaff in third just 1.4 seconds behind second. B stock also had 3 entries with Eric Navestad taking the win over the more experienced Skip Testut and Phil Cornell. STS was the only other class with 3 drivers and that was won by Justan Jordak

 

By the end of the day, it was safe to say that even though the course was slick, everyone seemed to have a good time. We may have to consider another trophy for the year end awards, either “the best spin and go” or maybe “the closest to the pole”. And speaking of the pole, we would like to give a special thanks to the workers at station 3 for staying alert and dodging all the spinning cars. Aren’t you glad you wore your sneakers??? However, you might want to consider a helmet next time also. We would also like to thank Mark Lockhart for bringing the rain (ahem) and to Skip Testut for taking it on vacation with him. It’s true, sometimes a person can brighten a day just by leaving early (just kidding, Skip).

 

We are now halfway through the season, so make sure you check out the class and Pax points. Also remember we are always looking for volunteers to help in all areas. Just a reminder that as of right now, we do not have an event chairperson nor a location for the Sept. 18th event. If you would like to step up to chair this event, or if you know of a lot that we can use, please contact Becky Tinker. Our next event is Aug. 8th at the Avanex plant in Gang Mills. If you would like to help at this event contact the event chairman, Mark Lockhart.