13 replies to this topic

[Roho21]

First, let me thank everyone that came out to Central TN Raceway. Ralph and I really appreciate the support from all of you.

I need to thank our support staff that helped Ralph and I throughout the day.

Randal Lane who is the official series race director for F1 and Can-Am, did a great job!

Don Berni traveled all the way from Abbeville, SC to help out. He is now in charge of registrations and concours, also helping out with pics. He was a big help.

Mick Holtsclaw and Holden Lane helped out as track crew. Jockeying cars etc... they were a big help.

Got give a huge thanks to track owners Rick Crutchfield, Freda Crutchfield, Mike Arnold. Track was in great shape, lunch was awesome (and free, my favorite!)

Thanks to all the racers who came out to make our first race a huge success! Congrats to Ron Hershman for winning GTC, Chris Barnes for F1, and a big congrats to my partner Ralph Thorne for winning Can-Am, he held off a hard charging Ron Hershman for the win!

Tommy Flythe won the Can-Am B main, Slotblogs own Greg Wells (cheater) win Can-Am C main. Congrats!

Tom Harrington GTC B main. Congrats

As I posted in the other thread, it was 5 am when I got back and I was so out of it I left the results at my track when I unloaded my stuff. I will have them posted ASAP along with the points.

Hope to see everyone at Slot of Fun for Retro South #2 in Abbeville, SC on Aug. 18!

[Rick Crutchfield]

All I can say is a big thanks to everyone that came and raced here at CTNR. I think everyone had a great time! It was really cool racing against the experienced Retro racers that made the trip to Lavergne to race the first Retro South race.

A special thanks to Roger and Ralph for scheduling the inaugural Retro South race! As I told Ralph right after he won the Can-Am race, " Nobody else will be able to say they won the first one!"

Thanks again, from Rick, Freda, and Mike.

[macman]

Sounds like y'all had a great time! Hope to be at Abbeville.

[Rick]

Congratulations to everyone for getting the first one in the books. Kudos to the podium racers and I hope the South will rise again...

WTG, everyone!

[Ron Hershman]

I have to second exactly what both Roger and Rick C posted above.

Great racing... great people... great racing group... great organization.

Yep, it was a long and hot day of racing. Fifty-five entries total for the three classes. Seven hours of racing time alone... add in qualifying and make it close to nine hours.

The Retro South org "kept the train a rolling" and got us done and out of there as quickly as possible... there wasn't any "sloffing off" during the day or during the program.

Guys were there from four different states that I know of... not sure if we had anyone from Alabama or not.

The track was in great shape... just the right amount of "stick"... power was great and the racing close and well fought.

I think everybody (I didn't hear any complaints ) liked or may be even "loved" the "laps and sections" qualifying format. It was never over until the last qualifier was done. Only one "tie" with two cars in the Can-Am class finishing in the same section, but with stickers marking where they finished exactly... there were no issues. A few got beat out by 2 to 8 inches.

It was good to see lots of faces to put with some familiar names and get to talk to them and shake their hands... a good time was had by all.

A few pics... sorry no F1 pics as I pushed the button on the camera, but the camera didn't cooperate in recording them.

Da winning Coupe car:



Da Can-Am top three cars:



Ralph's winning Can-Am:



Ron's runner-up Can-Am:



Can-Am podium:



The winners of the three classes:



Overall Coupe finish:



Overall F1 finish:



Overall Can-Am finish:

[Gator Bob]

Great turn-out and sounds like a fun time.

Congrats to ALL you guys!

[TColeman]

Hats off to Rick and Freda Cruchfield and Mike Arnold for all their hard work with the track and lunch. Thanks to Roger and Ralph for running a great race. This was my first Retro race and it was a blast. Met a lot of great people and the racing was awesome.

[Roho21]

One thing I found amazing was how close the B Mains were. I remember in F1, after six heats, there were five cars on the lead lap and sixth place only one lap back! Can-Am B was the same way, Tommy, Wally, and I were close the whole way, awesome racing!

[Cheater]

Except for the brutal heat outside (several racers checked the Weather Channel during the afternoon, which was showing 111 degrees in Lavergne!), it was a great day of racing. The raceway's AC did a good job of keep the indoor temps bearable.

With the heat, I kinda figured traction would be a problem, but that was not the case at all as the track was perfectly prepped. I used a single set of untreated Alphas for Coupe and after exploding a rear ball bearing and knocking the motor out in the seventh heat of that race, I used the same pair of tires for Can-Am. Can't recall the last time tires were such a non-issue for me at a race.

I echo the comments about the great close racing, which was as good as we've seen anywhere in Retro IMO. I especially enjoyed taking the Can-Am C Main from Holden Lane who finished on blue while I was pedaling hard on the black lane.

Congrats to Retro South for a near-perfect first race.

[Roho21]

Thank you, Greg, Ralph and I planned hard to make it work. I think we have a good thing going here.

I admit I was a little apprehensive about the qualifying format, but I really liked it! It made qualifying exciting!

[Guillermo Suar]

I also liked it a lot. It's not about getting a "lucky lap". One de-slot and you are pretty much out of chance to get on the top of the list. I believe that it closer of what will be happening in the race. Not in my case in the Can-Am race though.

[Cheater]

I, too, thought the qualifying for laps and sections was great. It's got my vote.

[Grant G.]

Congratulations to everyone on a very successful inaugural race. It sounds like everyone had a great time, the lap times show the competition was very close, and the awards look really good.

The qualifying format sounds like it was race within a race and something I would definitely like to try out sometime. If I'm lucky maybe I will see you guys next time in Abbeville.

[Cheater]

Hope you can make it, Grant. Slots of Fun is one of the nicest raceways you'll ever visit. See if Don and Karen Berni have room for you at Bernibrooks Inn, which is within walking distance of the raceway.