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[Dan Myers]

Season 3: Race #1

Sept. 11, 2010

Bristolville Center Raceway
6220 St Rt 45
Bristolville, OH 44402
(330) 889-3206
(330) 219-9198 cell

Track opens at 8 AM.
Racing starts at 10 AM with Retro Stock Car.

[Dan Myers]

TOM LAUTERBACH DOMINATES BRISTOLVILLE OPENER


Penn-Ohio(P-O) Retro Series kingpin Tom Lauterbach picked-up where he left offlast season, as the veteran Pennsylvania racer scored four wins in the series opener, Sat. Sept. 11, at Larry and Leroy Moyer's Bristolville Center Raceway.

Lauterbach,who captured all four P-O division titles in 2009, didn't have aneasy time of it, however, as his largest margin of victory was byonly two-laps in the four hard fought feature contests.

The green flag dropped on the new season with the Stock Car class doing battle on the rebuilt, shortened, 82' Verga tri-oval that was formerly at the late Dan Artman's Raceway Hobbies in Mineral Ridge,OH.

Twelve entries signed-in, setting up two six-racer mains. In the A-main Lauterbach jumped into command immediately, and held the top spot for the first two segments, before giving way to Frank Elavsky, who was setting a blistering pace on the bottom lanes of the track. Elavsky maintained command until the final segment, when he was forced to finish on the white lane. That opened the door for Lauterbach, who was finishing on black, to get the lead back. Jeff Lauterbach, Tom's son, also managed to get by Elavsky for second place. Rick Bennardo finished fourth, despite suffering a blown controller, trailed by Denny Krivacek and Aaron Ploskunak.


In B-main Jeff Little and Larry Mattingly appeared to be the guys to beat in the early going, until a devastating turn-2 crash took Mattingly out of serious contention with a badly bent race car.Little had things in hand until the sixth heat when stock car newcomer Steve Ploskunak came to life, and motored around Little for the win. Mattingly limped home third, ahead of Jay Sabala. Brian McPherson and Larry Moyer were early casualties, after suffering mechanical ills.



When the dust settled, Tom Lauterbach took the overall win with 321-laps,while son, Jeff, edged Frank Elavky by a single track section with319-laps. Tom also had the quickest lap in the race with a 2.62,earning him the two-point bonus.


Tom's winning mount used a self-built chassis (147.4 grams), powered by a Falcon 7 geared 8/28, shod with Alpha tires, Parma guide and topped by an O/S 1968 Dodge Charger. A Third Eye was Tom's choice of controller for the afternoon.


Brian McPherson's O/S Pontiac GTO (painted by Frank Elavsky) took concours honors. Aaron Ploskunak took second with his M & M Ford Fairlane, while Jeff Little's Ford Torino was third.



STOCKCAR RESULTS …… Current point total in brackets




1. Tom Lauterbach 321 (52)

2. Jeff Lauterbach 319.3 (48)

3. Frank Elavsky 319.2 (46)

4. Steve Ploskunak 311 (44)

5. Jeff Little 301 (42)

6. Larry Mattingly 294 (40)

7. Rick Bennardo 271 (38)

8. Jay Sabala 270 (36)

9. Denny Krivacek 269 (34)

10. Aaron Ploskunak 252 (32)

11. Brian McPherson 247 (30)

12 Larry Moyer 239 (28)



With the Stock Car results in the books, the action moved to the Custom Ron Thomas-designed 155' Nordscleif flat track, where 19 Flexi-GTcars did battle.


In the A-main Jeff Lauterbach jumped on top from the get-go and led the entire distance to out distance Brian Cox by six-laps for the victory. Frank Elavsky was two more back to place third. BrianMcPherson was the best-of- the- rest, finishing in front of Ron Culp, Larry Mattingly, Tiffany Rathburn, Aaron Ploskunak and rookie Matt Nulph.



Things were much closer in the B-main,as ISRA Tri-State regular John McMillan pushed Tom Lauterbach for the entire contest, but in the end the elder Lauterbach again prevailed, eeking out a one-lap win. Dan Myers nailed down third place, over Denny Krivacek, Rick Bennardo,Larry Moyer, Steve Ploskunak, Leroy Moyer, Jeff Little, and Andy Buczko.


Tom Lauterbach again was atop the podium in the combined results, along with John McMillan and Jeff Lauterbach. Jeff received the two-point bonus for turning the fastest race lap of 6.81.


A JK 11 (101.8 grams) was Tom's choice of chassis, powered by a Falcon 7, geared 10/37. The remainder of the winning package includedAlpha rear tires, JK fronts, Parma guide flag, and a Red Fox Ferrari P4 body.


Concours honors went to Larry Mattingly's Carolina blue and white O/S Chevron GT. Steve Ploskunak was awarded second, with John McMillan's Ferrari third.


FLEXI-GT RESULTS……….. Current point totals in brackets




1. Tom Lauterbach 126 (50)

2. John McMillan 125 (48)

3. Jeff Lauterbach 124 (48)

4. Brian Cox 118 (44)

5. Frank Elavsky 114 (42)

6. Dan Myers 111 (40)

7. Brian McPherson 108 (38)

8. Dan Krivacek 107 (36)

9. Ron Culp 105 (34)

10. Rick Bennardo 104.7 (32)

11. Larry Moyer 104.6 (30)

12. Larry Mattingly 103 (28)

13. Steve Ploskunak 102.3 (26)

14. Leroy Moyer 102.1 (24)

15. Jeff Little 99 (22)

16. Tiffany Rathburn 96 (20)

17. Aaron Ploskunak 90 (18)

18. Andy Buczko 88 (16)

19. Matt Nulph 65 (14)





On track next were the Can-Am cars…. retro racings fastest and most popular class. Twenty-two entries necessitated two 11-racer robin features.




Jeff Lauterbach obliterated the A-main field by romping to a 27-lap margin of victory. Going into the last segment there was a battle royal for the other two podium spots, as Larry Matiingly, Ron Culp, Jeff Little and Larry Moyer were locked in a virtual dead heat for position.Moyer was the big winner turning in a 22-lap effort, while Mattingly fell off the pace on the red lane, which also resulted in him surrendering third and fourth place as well.Rick Bennardo was sixth, barely finishing in front of Aaron Ploskunak. Matt Nulph, Tiffany Rathburn, Andy Buczko and Brian Cox,an early drop-out with controller issues, rounded out the field.


Tom Lauterbach also made short work of the B-main field, pulling out to a 10-lap win over John McMillan, who borrowed a ride in Ron Culp's back-up car. Local racer Jim Applequist managed to hold off Steve Ploskunak and Brian McPherson in a hotly contested battle for third.Next in line were: Frank Elavsky, Mike Cox, Dan Myers, Denny Krivacek, Leroy Moyer, and Jay Sabala.


In the final run down it was Tom Lauterbach defeating Jeff by two-laps,while John McMillan recorded his second podium finish of the day. Tom received two bonus points for his fast time of 7.14.




Tom's winning Can-Am package was a TL/R-Geo Samurai chassis (106.8 grams),Falcon 7 motor with 7/28 gearing, Parma guide flag , Alpha reartires, and an O/S Ferrari 414 body.




Frank Elavsky's beautiful Ti-22 was awarded concours honors, with Rick Bennardo's Ti-22 (painted by Larry Mattingly) second and Dan Myers Ti-22 third.



CAN-AMRESULTS ………. Current point totals in brackets




1. Tom Lauterbach 186 (52)

2. Jeff Lauterbach 184 (48)

3. John McMillan 176 (46)

4. Jim Applequist 167 (44)

5. Steve Ploskunak 166 (42)

6. Brian McPherson 164 (40)

7. Frank Elavsky 160 (38)

8. Mike Cox 159 (36)

9. Dan Myers 158 (34)

10. Larry Moyer 157 (32)

11. Ron Culp 156.2 (30)

12. Denny Krivacek 156.1 (28)

13. Jeff Little 155 (26)

14. Larry Mattingly 153 (24)

15. Leroy Moyer 145 (22)

16. Rick Bennardo 143.3 (20)

17. Aaron Ploskunak 143.2 (18)

18. Jay Sabala 142 (16)

19. Matt Nulph 136 (14)

20. Tiffany Rathburn 131 (12)

21. Andy Buczko 126 (10)

22. Brian Cox 86 (9)







Seventeen open-wheel Penn-Ohio Formula 1 racers provided the fireworks in theseries nightcap race, and again it was an all Lauterbach show, with Tom and Jeff capturing wins in the A and B mains respectfully.




Tom cruised to an 18-lap win over Frank Elavsky in the A-main. Fast improving Steve Ploskunak was third, followed by: Leroy Moyer, BrianMcPherson, Ron Culp, Rick Bennardo, Matt Nulph and Andy Buczko.




Inthe B-main Jeff won by 22-laps over, Jeff Little , Larry Moyer and Dan Myers, who all registered 159-laps. Larry Mattingly was fifth,holding off Aaron Plosknuk. Brian Cox and Denny Krivacek were earlyretirees.




Tom Lauterbach was the overall F1 winner by two-laps over Jeff L., while Frank Elavsky was third… his second podium finish of the day. Tom again received the two-point bonus for his fast time of 7.19.




A TL/R-Geo Victory chassis (101.8 grams) using Falcon 7 power propelledTom to victory. The car was geared 7/28, and equipped with a Parmaguide flag, Alpha rear tires, and an O/S Cooper body.


Dan Myers, using a Larry Mattingly-painted Lotus 43, was the Penn-Ohio F1 concours winner. Frank Elavsky was second and Jeff Little third.


PENN-OHIOFORMULA ONE RESULTS ………. Current points in brackets


1. Tom Lauterbach 183 (52)

2. Jeff Lauterbach 181 (48)

3. Frank Elavsky 165 (46)

4. Steve Ploskunak 162 (44)

5. Leroy Moyer 160 (42)

6. Jeff Little 159.10 (40)

7. Larry Moyer 159.7 (38)

8. Dan Myers 159.2 (36)

9. Brian McPherson 157 (34)

10. Ron Culp 153 (32)

11. Rick Bennardo 151 (30)

12, Larry Mattingly 145 (28)

13. Aaron Ploskunak 143 (26)

14. Matt Nulph 134 (24)

15. Andy Buczko 118 (22)

16. Brian Cox 91 (20)

17. Denny Krivacek 62 (18)










BRISTOLVILLE NOTES….




Even though many racers are still in 'summer' mode, Bristolville had a record P-O turn out with 22 racers and 70 total entries. Another positive was that several 'new' retro racers made their debut…




The new race format/schedule suffered some 'opening day' problems.Look for some changes to be announced before the second race at Northeast…




Many raceways have cute nicknames for their flat tracks like 'monster','devil' etc. Bristolville owners Larry and Leroy Moyer just call their 155 footer 'The Nordscleif', which they tip was named after a section of Germany's famous Nurburgring road course.( After my personal struggles on red lane all day, I think 'Beast' would be an appropriate nickname…LM)…




It was officially announced that Brian McPherson's REM Raceway in Mentor, OH will be the site of the March P-O) race, replacing Rt. 66 Raceway in New Bethlehem, PA, who will not be able to meet minimum series standards this season. Brian promises to have his 155' Ogilvie Hillclimb , formerly housed at Fat Boys in Mansfield, OH ready for action…




2010 Penn-Ohio tee-shirts are now being ordered. Color is Carolina blue with navy logos. The front of the shirt has a P-O breast logo, while the back logo will be what appears in the P-O 'RIDER' newsletter masthead. Cost is a reasonable $10.00 per shirt. If you are interested drop Steve Ploskunak a line at: Captain956@comcast.net...




Lester Lucas has his Northeast Slotcar Raceway open, as John McMillan has put the final touches to the wiring harness. Lester is offering a free practice day for P-O racers prior to his Oct. 9 race date…




Speaking of John McMillan, the co-founder of the Penn-Ohio Retro Series was visiting at Bristolville during the opener. John couldn't resist and ran in the Flexi-GT and Can-Am races, and scored podium finishes in both events. John was considering a return to retro racing, but the recent IRRA controversy over the use of steel guide tongues has soured him again. "I'm done building cars for retro racing",said John. Too bad, he was one of the best…


The recent tire and rear end clearances adopted by P-O for its P-O F1 class produced zero problems…


Rick Bennardo and Brian Cox experienced controller problems all day long.Bennardo might have set some sort of record, as he tried five different controllers throughout the day trying to get comfortable…




Bennardo and Larry Mattingly took some good natured 'abuse', as the avowed leaders of the anti-retro Flexi-GT crowd both raced the class at Bristolville…


P-O regular Steve Radcliffe was in the building Saturday, but didn't race. "Not ready yet", said Steve…


A big welcome to new P-O photographer Renee Myers. (affectionately called 'photo woman' by Dan Myers). Renee will have photo coverage of all the cars and action posted on the P-O Facebook page…


Bristolville set the bar pretty high for those keeping score on P-O lunch quality.Fried Chicken, with picnic-style sides had everyone smiling…


Talk about close. Tom Lauterbach edged Frank Elavsky for fast time in the Stock Car feature to pick up the two-point bonus. Tom's time was 2.628248 to Frank's 2.628641. Wow…

[Dan Myers]

Photos are HERE.

Great job Larry on the Race report. I know he won't comment but he will see it.

[Rick]

Nice race report Larry, job well done...............

[MantaRay]

CAN-AM RESULTS ………. Current point totals in brackets




1. Tom Lauterbach 186 (52)

2. Jeff Lauterbach 184 (48)

3. John McMillan 176 (46)

4. Jim Applequist 167 (44)

5. Steve Ploskunak 166 (42)

6. Brian McPherson 164 (40)

7. Frank Elavsky 160 (38)

8. Mike Cox 159 (36)

9. Dan Myers 158 (34)

10. Larry Moyer 157 (32)

11. Ron Culp 156.2 (30)

12. Denny Krivacek 156.1 (28)

13. Jeff Little 155 (26)

14. Larry Mattingly 153 (24)

15. Leroy Moyer 145 (22)

16. Rick Bennardo 143.3 (20)

17. Aaron Ploskunak 143.2 (18)

18. Jay Sabala 142 (16)

19. Matt Nulph 136 (14)

20. Tiffany Rathburn 131 (12)

21. Andy Buckzo 126 (10)

22. Brian Cox 86 (9)


Speaking of John McMillan, the co-founder of the Penn-Ohio Retro Series was visiting at Bristolville during the opener. John couldn't resist and ran in the Flexi-GT and Can-Am races, and scored podium finishes in both events. John was considering a return to retro racing, but the recent IRRA controversy over the use of steel guide tongues has soured him again. "I'm done building cars for retro racing",said John. Too bad, he was one of the best…

Dan/Larry...........After reading your report(Well Done)............I'm a little confused..............It looks like John McMillan was able to podium in the Can Am race but was supposedly done building Retro Cars. Did he just borrow one? Looks like he returned to me...............Just a thought.

[Dan Myers]

John McMillan, who borrowed a ride in Ron Culp's back-up car.

I'm sure with a little time he may calm down and build again.

[MantaRay]

That's good to hear..........

[Mad Mexican]

I'm sure with a little time he may calm down and build again.

Amigos,

John Mac did a great rebuild on my JK F1 car, truely one of the many great builders we have in this series.

Adios

[John McMillan]

Ray,
I went to Bristolville to visit friends I enjoyed racing with. I ran a can am car I built for the last race of the season last year. As soon as the race was finished I sold the car to its present owner. The car was made available for me to race so I accepted. Personally I feel the current IRRA BOD is sucking the fun out of racing retro. This is my personal opinion and not an attack pointed at anyone in particular. Feeling as I do I do not have the desire to participate with anything affiliated with the the IRRA.
John

[WSCC]

Racing with friends is the goal that the Penn-Ohio is all about. I personally consider John and myself good friends. I also feel that a racer that does not and will never race in a Penn-Ohio series race should not worry about any person that does. The numbers and the smiles on the racers should speak for them selfs.

Ron

[A4S8B7]

Why did I fill out the registration card if your not even going to read my name correctly?
Andy Buczko

Can't wait for the next race.

[Dan Myers]

Fixed. How's about you just go get an easier name to spell. Between Ploskunak, Krivacek, and Elavsky thats enough to try not to misspell. Took me 2 years to spell Lauterbach correctly.

[Mad Mexican]

Racing with friends is the goal that the Penn-Ohio is all about. I personally consider John and myself good friends. I also feel that a racer that does not and will never race in a Penn-Ohio series race should not worry about any person that does. The numbers and the smiles on the racers should speak for them selfs.

Ron

Amigo Ron

So very true. Remember John lets go above and beyond the IRRA to something bigger you have alot friends here in Penn-Ohio series, We always welcome you with open arms to this series with out you maybe there will be no Penn-Ohio, But what I guess what I'm trying to say is forget the banner and lets race among friends! That's what its all about hanging around people that you like!

Adios

[Rick]

John , please come back again and race with us, it was a great time. SOrry I could not find that extra F1 ride. The PO is a great series and rather laid back and much more relaxed. The racers are all good to race with. I had a rough day, One controller went up in smoke, the other had no vari brake, just full barkes. Third one had that west/east? coast circut in it, and I hated it.

Thanks to Tom Lauterbach( yes after 20 years I get his name right once in a while) for putting the R-Geo Victory and Sam 2.2 in the #1 spot and Jeff Lauterbach(The Deputy) for putting his Victory in the number 2 spot.

Great runs by Steve Ploskunak and Jeff Little.

I now have 500 laps on that track, 9500 more and I will feel more comfy. LOL The Oval rocks. Can we race them all over there next race??

All in all, a very good day of racing with good people. Great hosts too, those Moyers.

Lasty, if you like to race retro cars, come on out and race a PO race. You'll want to come back for another and another. The atmosphere is just right.................

[Dan Myers]

And the best part is always the food. It's almost like the raceway owners try to out do each other with the food spreads, everyone always leaves with a smile on their face and full belly. I can guarantee that in November the food will be OUTSTANDING. October will be a new/old place for us we will have to see how the food goes there. But, I have never left a Penn-Ohio event without having a good time and ask these guys I spend most of the day running around like a one legged headless chicken, with everything that I have to do. I leave the raceway exhausted and still having work to do but at the end of it all I look at the photos and know EVERYONE had a great time. And at the end of the day that is truly all that matters.

[MantaRay]

Racing with friends is the goal that the Penn-Ohio is all about. I personally consider John and myself good friends. I also feel that a racer that does not and will never race in a Penn-Ohio series race should not worry about any person that does. The numbers and the smiles on the racers should speak for them selfs.

Ron

OK.....I personally do not know John or Ron............all I know is what I see on this thread.............what I do see is that ......John builds a very good car..........Has a good friend/s (Ron and Penn/Oh folks) and has a big smile on his face on the podium. If all you are concerned with is what you and I mentioned(see above) please leave the other stuff out.........
over and out

[Jeff Little]

All I can say is AWESOME JOB!! you guys and gals
, That was the best damn race report on record! Talk about Blow By Blow reporting!!!!
As far as me having a good day (for me ), If it wasn't for Den K. taking it on him self to repair my battered cars from last season
and even going as far as building me a new R-Geo victory F-1 ( Great components Rick!! ) I would have been a No Show!
I have been busy this summer with work and other Hobby's and to be truthful have not had much interest in getting my JUNK ready!
but I sure am glad I went to Bristolville Sat. A.M. I think I can speak for everyone by saying a good time was had by all!!, Great Food with that
Good Ole OHIO hospitality! Thanks Again Den for the great cars and again a great job by everyone involved!!!

" Hope to see you all at Lesters next Month " Jeff Little X tech Nazi

PS: Great Job !! Dan "The Gass Man Myers", you ran your cars very well with all else you were doing!!! I could not have done all you did and raced too!

[Dan Myers]

Thanks for the kind words Jeff, and it was a big surprise for sure when you walked in. So glad you have to decided to come play with all of us again. As far as racing and juggling everything else, I guess I just have that little switch in my head that I can turn off everything else and focus on racing for the 2-3 minutes per lane that I have to. But, it surely isn't easy, and I would probably be 2-3 laps a heat better if I didn't have to do it. But winning isn't all that important, would it be nice heck yeah, but I just enjoy the food, laughs and the atmosphere, far more than I desire to win. My Can-Am car wouldn't have been as good as it was had it not been for Tom and Jeff Lauterbach shaking it down at the start of day when I couldn't figure out why it wouldn't stay in the slot. And my P-O F1 shows you how good Rick Bennardo is at building and setting up a car.(Not bad for a guy that hates flat tracks and had never seen that one till that morning.)