31 replies to this topic

[Cheater]

50 entries.

Concours:

Cap Henry

Top Qualifier:

Mike Iles - 5.238 secs.

[Cheater]

When the green flag dropped on the Can-Am A Main, SpeedZone owner Mile Iles led the first lap, but cranking an early 5.161 lap, Matt Bruce soon took over the point, followed by John Gorski, and Bill Gerhart. Matt started to pull away, with Ed "Edsel" Sohl and Gorski battling for possession of second place. Edsel came off in the deadman, allowing Gorski to assume the second position. Matt was the only racer in the 5.1s and Iles the only one in the 5.2s in this heat, with everyone else 5.3 or slower. Jay Kisling's car was almost undriveably loose, putting him in last place in the first heat and he never recovered.

The second heat saw Matt Bruce leading by a lap over four racers contesting for second place and then he stretched it to two laps over Gorski and three over Gerhart and Edsel. Matt 76; Gorski 65; Edsel and Gerhart 64 each at heat's end.

In the third frame, Tom Hansen smoked a 5.287 in orange and followed with similar blistering laps to put on a charge. Order was then Bruce, Gorski, Sohl, Gerhart, and Hansen. Matt still held a two-lap lead over Gorski, with Hansen passing Gerhart to take third. Bruce at 100; Gorski 97; Hansen 96; Edsel, Iles, and Gerhart all with 95; Preston Meyer 92; and Kisling at 84.

The fourth heat saw Matt move out to a three-lap advantage over Gorski, with Hansen one lap back in third, followed by Edsel, Iles, and Gerhart in a snarling dogfight two more laps back. Bruce 134; Gorski 130; Hansen 129; Iles, Gerhart, and Edsel all at 127 laps, Meyer 124, and Kisling 115.

The fifth segment saw Hansen crank out a crazy 5.304 in red to close on Gorski, then he dumped it to fall back again, allowing Iles to close on him for fourth place. Matt continued to hold the lead by a solid four laps. Bruce 166 laps, Gorski 162; Iles ahead of Hansen both with 160, Gerhart 159, Edsel 158, Preston 154, and Kisling 147.

The sixth heat saw Bruce still holding a four-lap lead over Gorski, with Iles two laps back ahead of a hard-charging Hansen by a lap. Gerhart and Edsel tied for fifth one more back. Late in the heat Hansen passed Iles to grab third by a lap. Bruce 199 laps; Gorski 195; Hansen 192; Iles, Gerhart and Edsel all with 191, and Kisling at 177.

The next to the last heat, number 7, saw disaster strike Matt Bruce in the form of a crash that broke a main rail to nosepiece solder joint. After determining the car was damaged, Matt headed for the pits for repair, passing the lead to the persistent and always fast John Gorski. Matt lost something like fifteen laps fixing the car, and that killed his chance for the win after what had been a domininating performance for the first three-quarters of the A Main. With one heat to go, it was Gorski 227 laps, Hansen 225, Iles and Edsel 224 laps, Grehart 223, Preston 218, and Kisling 191.

Gorski continued to hold onto a two-lap lead over Hansen, who was one lap ahead Edsel. Iles passed Edsel briefly to assume third, but then deslotted to again fall back to fourth. Kisling pulled his car as he wasn't in contention. A crash at a minute 45 at the panel damaged Gerhart's car and he also pulled. That left Gorski up two laps on Hansen, with Edsel a lap back of Tom, who held a scant half lap over Iles.

When the power went off, it was John Gorski with 259 laps, Tom Hansen 257, Edsel Sohl and Mike Iles both with 256 laps but Edsel ahead on the track, Preston Meyer 250 laps, Matt Bruce 249 laps, Bill Gerhart 242 laps, and Jay Kisling 191 laps.

Though Matt Bruce suffered the worst kind of racing luck in the Can-Am A Main, to be crashed out of a dominating lead, his two wins in GTC-PD and F1 combined with his undeserved Can-Am finish to once again earn him the title of "Fall Brawl Heavyweight Champion" for what, the tenth or eleventh time? Well, maybe not, since this is only the fourth Fall Brawl...

Congratulations to Matt Bruce, whose incredible performances in Retro racing everywhere in recent years have made him essentially a legend in his own time. If anyone is keeping a list of the top Retro racers in the world, Matt's broad record of slot racing accomplishment (and not just in Retro racing!) suggests strongly that it won't be worth the paper it's written on unless Matt Bruce's name appears at the top.

Congrats again, Matt!!

Thus ends Fall Brawl IV, one of the best Premier IRRA™ events this reporter has ever attended. Special thanks need to be extended to sixteen-year-old Brandon Millinghausen, who race directed every one of the 200 plus heats that were run over four days, as well as to Mike Iles, Frank Giordano, and all the other SpeedZone staff.

[Tom Eatherly]

Great report, Greg! The B and A Mains in Can-Am were just terrific! You called the A perfectly.
 
How 'bout them old pharts, huh!?

[TSR]

So all you youngsters let some old pre-geriatric foggies beat you? 

 

Sorry Matt, that was really bad luck, congrats anyway in winning overall.

[Cheater]

Yeah, I told the podium guys in Can-Am that they're really making all of us in geezerdom look pretty darn good!

Off to the post-event celebration, which has convened at a local watering hole, if you can believe that. And I'm late... they're getting ahead of me!! LOL!

[slotcarone]

Way to go, Johnny G!!!!  And he does it with his own type of chassis design, too!!

[Matt Bruce]

Sorry Matt, that was really bad luck, congrats anyway in winning overall.

That wasn't bad luck. That was total disrespect from a racer who you would think by now would know when to pull his car. Not just out of respect for me, but for the other six drivers at the panel who worked their asses off to be there and wanted to be there.

[redbackspyder]

Congrats to Duran, who finished 2nd in Retro Pro, 3rd in Formula One, Made the move from the Cmain to the Amain in GTC-Pd, And the Bmain in Can Am  ,   Also to Jason Holmes with an outstanding Fourth place finish in Formula One...

 

As Always, congratulations to our friends, Tom Hansen who had great races and a great 2nd in Can Am, and to our John Gorski, who smoked them in Can Am..... Great Job John, that is why the races are 8 heats,  John and Tom never gave up....

 

Congratulations to everyone who showed up and supported the event, and to the outstanding race director, and to Speedzone for hosting such a wonderful event

 

Great job to all the podium guys in all the mains, you all worked hard for it!   

 

Hope to see some of you at the Checkpoint Cup....

[John Gorski]

Thanks, Mike & Mill. Missed you guys being there!!

[Noose]

That wasn't bad luck. That was total disrespect from a racer who you would think by now would know when to pull his car. Not just out of respect for me, but for the other six drivers at the panel who worked their asses off to be there and wanted to be there.

 
This is very true. This was the second time the same person did it, too. It happened in the same class last year and cost Matt the win. There was no reason for it to happen. Matt had a four lap lead and John was in a solid second place, too. Lesser racers pulled in their mains for the same reason. Now for the overall it didn't matter because even if Matt finished last he had the Championship won. 

[John Streisguth]

Both the B and A Mains were exciting to watch, even from where I was sitting with no view of the monitors.  The last heat of the B Main started with the top three within about 15 feet of each other, it really came down to who drove perfectly. In the A, there's no doubt in my mind that Matt had the field covered. 

It just blows my mind how Matt is always so consistently fast at every race I have seen him run at, but I know he's worked hard to achieve his success. He sets a very high standard for the rest of us in Retro East

[TSR]

That wasn't bad luck. That was total disrespect from a racer who you would think by now would know when to pull his car. 

 
Matt, that's even worse. 

[Noose]

I do want to note that John Gorski made the move-up from the B Main to the A. He also drove a perfect race in the A and never came off.

[Ralph Thorne]

Very sano drive John.

 

Matt, sorry to hear about your bad luck but you were just awesome all weekend as always from what I saw in the race reports.

 

Congrats to everyone who raced and had fun! I will see you guys there next year for sure!

[John Gorski]

First I wanted the thank Mike Iles for his ultimate slot racing complex, SpeedZone Raceway, and his kindness. Frank for running a great store and help during the last month. Noose for doing all that tedious tech work and a great run in F1. All the great people I race with, all 50 of you. This was a big win for me.

Thanks! 

[Greg VanPeenen]

Great win John, and a perfect race to boot both things to remember.

 

Greg

[JerseyJohn]

it was great to see G get the win. Its been long overdue....Matt sorry you got J-Boned. I guess you know who your friends are lol....sorry dude.

.

[redbackspyder]

Great run also for Tom Hansen, who made the move up from the B Main, and was a solid second to John in the A Main...Obviously the BMain was the tough place to be....

[Matt Bruce]

Congrats to John on his CanAm win. He ran a great race. One good thing did come from the CanAm race for me, and that is that my son got to witness firsthand ALL the bad traits and their results of what not to do or be like, that I have repeatedly told him about since he started racing. Thanks to that racer, he totally understands now.

[Noose]

Very well put Matt.  Ryan handled himself very well.  Love the "told him to watch out" statement as he jetted by Howie.  LOL

[MantaRay]

Great post Matt (#19) Along with all the great racing I watched on Ustream....The Highlight for me was watching Ryan in the "C" main.

[Bernie]

Come on Matt, don't teach him TOOO much! Hard enough to deal with you let alone a "clone"  Great to see him taking an interest in slots, we need a lot more of that..  Hats off to you for bringing him along the "right way"

[Cap Henry]

Ryan is a cool little dude. Hope he sticks with it. 

[Matt Bruce]

Ryan is a cool little dude. Hope he sticks with it. 

Yeah, till the girls and cars stage comes, and it's coming quick already. Lol. Thanks guys. Edsel said the same thing to me, that watching Ryan was the highlight of the weekend. He's a good egg.

[Tom Eatherly]

Matt,

Watching the races when I could, Ryan is very cool headed while running his heats and knows how to turn marshall as well.

Well done Matt and Ryan. Hope to see you at the Checkpoint in Jan.