Sports Car & Trans-Am at STR
Ten Slot-heads showed up to race OSCAR based Sports Car and Trans-Am at STR on 1/29/24. Thanks to Mark Henderson, Dustin Henderson and Eric for making the trek down from Cottage Grove. We are also glad to see Mike D. and Terry in the mix – welcome back! For some time, Mike aka Li’l Pixie was thought to be a missing person.
- In the Sports Car race it was Rich, Bob and Ron for first through third respectively.
- In the Trans-Am race it was Bob, Rich and Ron for first through third respectively.
OSCAR based sports cars handle quite well and are one of our quickest classes. Many of the drivers have settled on the Ferrari Modena Spyder as their ride of choice because it is light and low compared to some others. Other rides such as the Ferrari F50 or Ferrari F430 are good choices as well.
Any predictions/observations surrounding the current race would have been off-base because of the unusual selection of rides. Bob, Mark Colby and Eric selected “Clubman” class rides. Clubman cars are, by rule, narrower than Sports Car class rides and therefore are at a bit of a disadvantage.
Editor’s Note: Early on in practice Mark Henderson’s Sports Car quit. Mark Colby was kind enough to provide a loaner. Mark Henderson selected what would have been Mark Colby’s #1 ride, a Ferrari Modena Spyder. This left Mark Colby with a Clubman Class BMW.
- In the Ferrari camp were Rich, Ron, Mike, Lowell, Mark Henderson and Terry (three with Modena Spyders).
- Dustin Henderson’s choice was an OSCAR based Audi coupe.
- Three drivers selecting Clubman cars were Bob (Shelby Series I) Mark Colby (BMW) and Eric (BMW)
As several drivers, familiarized or re-familiarized themselves with STR, a tough and tight track, I believe that lap counts were depressed due to an abnormal number of offs/track calls. That being said, racing up and down the order was close and competitive.'
- On the podium were Rich in first with 88.8 laps, Bob second nearly three laps down and Ron third about a lap behind Bob.
- Mark Colby and Dustin battled it out for fourth with Mark prevailing by only two sections.
- Mike, Lowell and Mark Henderson battled it out for sixth with Mike’s Ferrari Modena Spyder prevailing followed by Lowell and Mark H. (only a lap separated the three).
OSCAR Trans-Am is a popular class featuring 1/24 or 1/25 scale models of Trans-Am cars that participated in the series from 64 through 74. Over the years several makes and models have filled the grid, however, the 1/24 1970, Firebird Trans-Am is the most popular followed by the Dodge Challenger and Plymouth Barracuda.
- Bob, Rich, Ron and Mark Colby, all driving Firebird T/As battled it out for podium spots.
- Bob’s pink Firebird finished with 87.3 laps, edging out Rich’s Firebird by about a lap for the top spot.
- Ron, Mark Colby and Dustin fought for the bottom step of the podium with Ron edging out Mark for third place by about a lap and Dustin behind Mark by only two sections.
- Lowell and Mike battled for sixth place. Lowell prevailed by a single section.
