The fall season is now in full swing. A nearly full complement of racers (nine in all) showed up to race ProTrack NASCAR and Flexi at STR on 09/18/2023. For racers, recently returning, lap counts were down a bit due to rusty triggers, however, as the evening progressed the rhythm began to return.
Racing ProTrack and Flexi on the same evening is a challenge because they are so different. ProTrack NASCARs are cumbersome and slow while Flexis are nimble, quick and much harder to drive consistently on a tight track like STR.
- In ProTrack NASCAR it was Rich, Joe and Bob for first through third respectively
- In Flex it was Joe, Bob and Rich for first through third respectively.
This class features the old brass ProTrack or H&R chassis. A variety of power plants are permitted, but the Cheetah 4 seems to be the best fit and most drivers are migrating to that power unit.
Rich ran a clean race and was first in the barn with a personal best lap count of 83.1. His Cheetah 4 powered Ford was the quickest in the field. The battle for the second and third was between Joe and Bob. Although Bobs Pontiac was a bit quicker, he was involved in a few incidents. Joe, on the other hand, ran a very consistent race (96.53%) and managed a second place finish with 81.3 laps (a personal best). Bob ended up in third position.
The rest of the field was tightly bunched, with Ron less than a lap behind the third place finisher while many others were within a couple of laps of Ron.
We have been running the four inch flexi class for quite some time. Most are running the Champion Turboflex, however motor selection is quite varied from the Cheetah 4, Blue Motor, Pink Motor and Deathstar.
Joe had the magic touch in Flexi finishing with a near personal best of 96.3 laps. Bob, with the fastest car on the grid was able to challenge Joe, but in the end, consistency won the day. Joe as first and Bob second.
The battle for the bottom step of the podium was between Rich and Mark. Rich was in the barn first with 92.3 laps and as I recall, did not run head to head with Mark. Although, Marks car was not as quick, his consistency almost won the day. In the end, Mark fell short by about a lap. So, it was Rich third and Mark fourth.
Meanwhile there were some fierce battles a bit further down the order. Mike and Ron ended up within a half lap of each other. Also, Scott and Nick ended up within a half lap of each other.
