Can-Am on the Aristocrat – 4/15/25
This week, for the first time in 2025, the Can-Am class visited the American Aristocrat in the MVH Tuesday Night Retro Series. A field of seven ran in the 4-on/3-off format over fourteen heats, running the outside lanes first and then moving to the inside.
The early racing had four cars in contention for the podium while John Mills fell well off the pace as he tried to figure out his new high-tech controller. By the midpoint of the race Cody Pare was in the lead with 147 laps with Dave Panich right behind him at 146. Rolly Lapierre Jr. and Bob “Woody” Hazelwood were in a close match to see who would get the third podium slot with Rolly holding a one-lap advantage, 134 to 133. Richard Payne trailed by six laps and Jason Kessel was somewhat off the pace, having never driven the Aristo before, and was taking some time to figure it out. John spent a good part of the first two heats trying to dial in his controller before reverting to a backup.
After the move to the inside lanes, Cody and Dave continued to pace each other while Woody found some speed and got by Rolly. The action paused as Jason’s bent chassis needed some attention and then Rolly lost a chassis pan, all within one lap and somewhat extending the evening.
With everybody back up and running, the sprint to the finish was on with Cody taking the win by one lap over Dave. Eighteen laps back, Woody completed the podium while Rolly settled for fourth. By the end of the race, Jason just managed to stay ahead of John, taking sixth by a single lap.
Cody posted the fastest lap of the night with a 4.307 on purple. Dave and Woody were both close, each putting up times in the low 4.3s.
Finishing order, laps completed, best-lap time and best-lap lane
1) Cody Pare 307/7 4.307 PU
2) Dave Panich 304/3 4.324 BK
3) Woody Hazelwood 286/3 4.332 PU
4) Rolly Lapierre Jr. 272/4 4.710 PU
5) Richard Payne 268/15 4.662 YL
6) Jason Kessel 219/22 5.423 PU
7) John Mills 218/13 4.995 BK
UPCOMING EVENTS:
MVH Tuesday Night Retro Race Schedule for the rest of April:
4/22 Stock Cars on the Royal
4/29 F-1 on the King
Podium: (L to R):
2nd Place – Dave Panich, 1st Place – Cody Pare, 3rd Place – Woody Hazelwood
Cody’s 1st Place Chassis:
Dave’s 2nd Place Chassis:
Woody’s 3rd Place Chassis:
