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2023-24 IN HOPRA Series


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#26 akahollywood

akahollywood

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Posted 14 April 2024 - 01:38 PM

On a warm and dry Spring day, a dozen racers converged on Merrell Todd's country hideaway to conquer the twists and turns of Jordan Raceway. This was the season finale and a close race for the top spot in the final overall standings between Rob Merchant and yours truly. In addition to the usual IN racers, we were joined by Jason Fisher and Ronnie Kendall from IL. The track opened for practice at 9:30 and all racers wasted no time in getting some practice laps for both classes, SS and Spec Racer. Many laps and much thrashing had occurred by the time track power was turned off at noon. Several drivers had posted fast laps, but it was clear that Tony "Tmac" McWilliams was the fastest in both classes, but could he maintain that edge in the 1-minute round-robin Qualifier heats? 
 
After a great lunch featuring Merrell's famous chili with all the fixings, plus his homemade cookies, the racing action got underway. First up was SS and it was made crystal-clear that Tmac's fast practice pace was going to continue as he easily took the top spot with 70 laps. He was followed by yours truly, Curt Thompson and Merrell Todd. 
2023-2024 IN HOPRA Series - Race 8-SS Qualifier.jpg
 
The trend continued in the 4-minute SS mains, with Tmac taking the win in relatively easy fashion, followed by yours truly, with Mike Thomas having a great run in the "B" main to finish third and Jason Fisher having an excellent run in the "C" main to round out the top 4. Here's the final standing for Super Stock:
2023-2024 IN HOPRA Series - Race 8-SS Mains.jpg
SS podium.jpg
SS podium-chassis.jpg
 
Spec Racer was up next and, again, Tmac looked to be the favorite even though he really doesn't like this class too much. And, at the conclusion of the 1-minute round-robin Qualifier, it was no surprise that he was at the top once again.  
2023-2024 IN HOPRA Series - Race 8-SR Qualifier.jpg
 
In the Spec Racer main, Tmac again dominated by taking the top spot. However, John Woollard and Merrell had excellent runs in the "B" main to take 2nd and 3rd respectively, while yours truly limped home in 4th with a very toasty car. Here's the Spec Racer main results:
2023-2024 IN HOPRA Series - Race 8-SR Mains.jpg
SR podium.jpg
SR podium-chassis.jpg
 
With several racers missing races during the season, the final point standings were a bit jumbled up from past years which made this season a lot more interesting. Tmac took top honors for Super Stock, while Rob Merchant took the top spot for Spec Racer/CMPM/Spec Jet/Gravity. And yours truly took the Overall top spot with consistent, if not spectacular results during the season. Here are  the complete season final standings: 
Attached File  2023-2024 IN HOPRA Point Standings.pdf   48.94KB   16 downloads
 
 
Huge thanks to everyone who joined us for some good racing and good fun during the course of this season. Already looking forward to the 2024-2025 IN HOPRA Series! 
 
Cheers,
Dave

 


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