Records fall At REM
Race #7 REM Raceway, Mentor Ohio
Bartos with a double win, Ricky Jr and Custer grab one apiece
It certainly was going to be a big weekend of racing when 22 racers showed up on Friday to test and practice at REM Raceway. Saturday 90 entries across 4 classes and 32 racers tested their skill on the 155 foot Hillclimb in Mentor, Ohio. The track was in excellent shape with great prep by Ray and Brian. The large crowd Friday afternoon and night laid down a nice rubber coating on the track. That set the stage for a record breaking Saturday. Concours judging took place and Cap Henry took the top spot in Stocker. Cap’s used a paint scheme inspired by his 1 to 1 scale Sprint Car. Aaron Ploskunak and Dan Ebert followed Cap after they had been splitting the top spot all year. North East’s Bob Stanley painted his way into the top spot in F1. His orange F1 with a jigsaw puzzle design was a hit with the racers in attendance. Can Am had “The Captain” Steve Ploskunak spraying a beautiful white base with gold, blue and black accent flames Parma TI22. Cap Henry took second with another Team CHR themed paint job. Kevin Cosgrove won third place honors with a flamed TI22. Bob Stanley had a lot going on with his Flexi entry. Bob had wild flames running front to back on the orange car. The entire car had pattern shading in the main color and in the flames.
Concours Sponsored by Outisight Designs
Stockers: 1st Cap Henry
2nd Aaron Ploskunak
3rd Dan Ebert
F-1 1st Bob Stanley
2nd Aaron Ploskunak
3rd Mike Peskar
Can-AM 1st Steve Ploskunak
2nd Cap Henry
3rd Kevin Cosgrove
Retro Flexi 1st Bob Stanley
2nd Steve Ploskunak
3rd Jay Sabala
Qualifying
F1 Qualifying
Parma’s Steve Koepp used his R-Geo chassis covered with a Parma BRM body to take the top qualifying spot. Steve’s Hawk powered bullet ran a fast 5.001 lap time with a back up of 5.037 for the second quick time. That lap set a new qualifying record for Penn Ohio F1’s at REM. Ricky “the sauce man” Bennardo rolled in with a quick 5.039 for the second position. Mike Peskar and Bud Bartos rounded out the top of the field that clipped the 5.1 mark.
- 5.00186 Steve Koepp
- 5.03984 Ricky Bennardo Jr
- 5.06172 Mike Peskar
- 5.09050 Bud Bartos
- 5.10249 Gil Pataky
- 5.10442 Greg Fox
- 5.12330 Willy Custer
- 5.13338 Cap Henry
- 5.14497 Steve Ploskunak
- 5.15784 Al Rutti
- 5.28421 Brian McPherson
- 5.28657 Ross Scharf
- 5.30696 Jim Verga
- 5.30760 Bob Stanley
- 5.32090 Dan Ebert
- 5.34536 Dan Forbush
- 5.36403 Rick Senior
- 5.37197 Mike Panko
- 5.46444 Aaron Ploskunak
- 5.53460 Leroy Moyer
- 5.53567 Tom Rowell
- 5.64724 Phil Bucco
- 5.71997 Lester Lucas
- 5.74164 Kevin Cosgrove
- 6.10187 Quin Barnes
- NT John McMillian
Can Am Qualifying
Two months in a row the TQ car was built by Bud’s Racing Products at the top secret Barto’s Chassis works. The quick out of the corners JK25 controlled by the master himself, Sir Bud Bartos. Bud’s hawk powered TI22 clearly bested the field in qualifying with a record 4.783 on the REM Hillclimb. Willy Custer was second and was the only other racer to crack into the 4.7 and 4.8’s. Mike Peskar took the 3rd pole position at 4.900 followed by a large group of 4.9 qualifiers.
- 4.78345 Bud Bartos
- 4.78688 Willy Custer
- 4.90038 Mike Peskar
- 4.90231 Al Rutti
- 4.90553 Ricky Bennardo Jr
- 4.91754 Marc Piccone
- 4.97054 Greg Fox
- 4.97569 Cap Henry
- 4.98041 Gil Pataky
- 5.01323 Ross Scharf
- 5.07738 Brian McPherson
- 5.07889 Bob Stanley
- 5.09369 Steve Ploskunak
- 5.09519 Steve Koepp
- 5.10227 Jim Verga
- 5.12394 Dan Ebert
- 5.15141 Aaron Ploskunak
- 5.15162 Mike Panko
- 5.22199 Kevin Cosgrove
- 5.24366 Rick Senior
- 5.24731 Tom Rowell
- 5.38977 Greg Krumnow
- 5.39128 Dan Forbush
- 5.43783 Leroy Moyer
- 5.51035 Lorenzo Frietze
- 5.53202 Lester Lucas
- 5.55391 Joe Gercsner
- 5.58223 Phil Bucco
- 5.68307 Quin Barnes
- NT John McMillian
- NT George Katzakis
- NT Larry Kowicki
Stock Car Results
A Main
Al “I’m on the List” Rutti and Steve Koepp moved out to the lead in the first stint. They were the only racers to break into the 5’s. Jay Sabala followed one lap down. In stint 2, Al and Dan Ebert reeled off heat highs of 20. This put Al one lap up on Steve and Dan tied with Jay for third. Heat 3, Al continued to knock down 20 laps. Steve held onto second and Jay moved into sole possession of third. Steve K ran a race high of 21 in the fourth segment to pull within one of Al. Jay had disaster strike in orange taking him out of the race and allowing Dan to tie him again for the heat. Aaron Ploskunak moved into fourth only one lap away from a podium spot. With Jay out of the race, two battles raged Al and Steve for first, Aaron and Dan were racing for third. Everyone held their spot until heat seven, where Al and Dan moved another lap up on their chasers. The final heat had Al 2 laps up on Steve and Dan two up on Aaron. The checkered Flag dropped and Al Rutti scored the win over Steve Koepp. Dan Ebert was able to hold off the hard charging Aaron Ploskunak by one lap to take third. Al and Steve were the class of the field. They were the only racers in this heat to break the 5.8’s , both running fast laps of 5.71’s during the race.
- 159 Al Rutti
- 157 Steve Koepp
- 148 Dan Ebert
- 147 Aaron Ploskunak
- 144 Lorenzo Frietze
- 140 Lester Lucas
- 115 Quin Barnes
- 74 Jay Sabala
B Main
Bellevue’s Cap Henry jumped out to the early lead in the B main with a fine 21 lap run. Bud held second with 20 and a pack of racers followed at 19. Heat 2 showed purple not to Caps liking as Bud ran a 21 and took the lead. Ricky Junior and Jim Verga were tied for third after separating themselves from the rest of the field. Bud added laps on the field starting in heat 4. He cruised to the win and broke track records along the way. This forced a battle for second and third with Cap and Ricky after Jim Verga faded with the top. Cap broke the tie in heat 6 with a 20 in white. Heat 7 Ricky took back the second spot with 20 in yellow and Cap getting 18 in red. The final heat and Bud had a 5 lap lead. Bud decided to let the ponies out and ran in his Parma Cyclone Barto’s chassis car. He smoked out a 5.599 and 21 laps to set 2 track records in the Stocker class at REM. While Bud was doing his record breaking thing, Ricky was in orange and Cap in green. Cap put the heat on Ricky, but it wasn’t enough as the Freeport Sauce King held on for second by sections. Congrats to Bud on the heat win and Overall Stocker win for the day.
- 162 Bud Bartos Penn Ohio Stocker Total Lap Record
- 155 Ricky Bennardo Jr
- 155 Cap Henry
- 149 Steve Ploskunak
- 148 Jim Verga
- 145 Marc Piccone
- 143 Mike Panko
- 132 Tom Rowell
Overall Stocker Finish
- 162 5.5998 Bud Bartos Track Record for Laps Fast Lap of the Race
- 159 5.7110 Al Rutti
- 157 5.7187 Steve Koepp
- 155 5.8199 Ricky Bennardo Jr
- 155 5.6600 Cap Henry
- 149 5.9300 Steve Ploskunak
- 148 6.0896 Jim Verga
- 148 6.0387 Dan Ebert
- 147 6.1564 Aaron Ploskunak
- 145 5.7696 Marc Piccone
- 144 6.0393 Lorenzo Frietze
- 143 5.9293 Mike Panko
- 140 6.1561 Lester Lucas
- 132 6.4300 Tom Rowell
- 115 6.5930 Quin Barnes
- 74 5.9761 Jay Sabala
F 1 Results
A Main
The A Main started with 3 racers atop of the leader board. Cap Henry, Steve Koepp and Willy Custer all ran 35 laps in the session. After 3 heats, Willy and Steve remained at the top and Cap got shuffled one lap down. Steve K moved to first after the only 35 lap run of heat 4. Willy followed by one lap down and Cap in third. The 5th stint positions remained the same with Mike Peskar in a solid fourth, one lap out of a podium spot. Willy made a big move in heat 6 running a record setting fast lap 4.938 and heat high 36 laps. Steve struggled in red with 33 laps giving Willy the lead and a two lap advantage. Cap faltered also moving Mike Peskar into third. Willy held his 2 lap lead after 7 go rounds. Steve K and Mike followed one and two laps down. The final heat Steve put on a late charge in blue to pull within one, but Team High Banks racer Willy Custer held on in red for a record setting win. Willy set both fast lap and total lap records for Penn Ohio during his race to the top. Willy used an OS body, Bartos Chassis and Fastones power for his win.
- 277 4.93873 Willy Custer New Track Records Total Laps , Fast Lap, Fast lap for race
- 276 5.04977 Steve Koepp TQ
- 275 5.04935 Mike Peskar
- 272 4.99986 Cap Henry
- 272 4.98860 Ricky Bennardo Jr
- 269 5.04973 Bud Bartos
- 267 5.10873 Gil Pataky
- 262 5.09961 Greg Fox
B Main
The B Main was a 9 man round robin with 9 very evenly matched cars. This resulted in a finish of 6 lap separation for 8 cars. The race would shuffle leaders in and out with sit outs and lane advantage. Bob Stanley started the race with a one lap lead over Dan Ebert followed by a group with 31 laps. Heat 2, Bob struggled and Ross Scharf found himself tied with Bob for the lead. Dans - Forbush and Ebert along with Rick Senior were now tied for third. Bob Stanley stayed at the top after 3. Eventual winner Al Rutti started slowly with only 59 laps after putting in 2 runs and a sitout. Four heats are in the books and Bob Stanley still led and Steve Ploskunak led racers taking their sitouts. Roos Scharf made his move in stint 5 after Bob only ran 30 in orange. Ross took over the top with Bob and Jim Verga now tied one lap down. Steve Ploskunak held a one lap margin over Dan Forbush and Ebert for the sitout leaders. Ross continued at the top and Brian McPherson threw his hat in the podium circle at second place. The sitout position racers stayed the same. Heat 7 and Ross and Brian were the last to use their sitouts. Ross held a one lap lead over Brian. Three laps separated the sitout racers with Steve Ploskunak leading and Al Rutti and Dan Forbush following. Heat 8 Brian McPherson set the mark to beat at 253. Steve Ploskunak and Dan Forbush assumed the sit out leader top positions. The final heat and Al Rutti put on an amazing come from behind win in the orange lane. Steve in white and Dan F in purple battled for the lead only to see Al pull out the win by sections. Al wins at section 15, Steve 12 and Dan Forbush 5. Great show guys, and an excellent finish to a good close race.
- 257 5.100 Al Rutti
- 257 5.220 Steve Ploskunak
- 257 5.221 Dan Forbush
- 254 5.320 Ross Scharf
- 253 5.220 Brian McPherson
- 253 5.220 Dan Ebert
- 252 5.270 Bob Stanley
- 251 5.220 Jim Verga
- 237 5.390 Rick Senior
C Main
The C main started with 3 racers atop the leader board. Aaron Ploskunak, Kevin Cosgrove and Lester Lucas started the race with 31 laps. After 2 Stints Aaron and Kevin continued their battle with Lester falling 2 laps back. Heat 3 and Aaron moved into the leader position 2 laps over Kevin. Mike Panko started his run after a sitout and led the group running after sitouts. Kevin moved back to one lap within Aaron after 4. With 5 down Aaron still led by one over Kevin and Mike was in solid control of the sitout group. The leader board did not change in the 6th heat. Heat 7 Kevin came back in on red. The red lane showed Kevin no mercy as he dropped out of contention for the win. Aaron controlled the lead in heat 7. Mike was leading those who had used their sitouts. Aaron finished the race with 253 in heat 8. He could only watch his lead slip away as he sat out Heat 9. Mike Panko carried the lap average lead going into the final segment. He needed 30 and sections to win. Mike ran 31 in white to win the C Main. Aaron watched on the side lines and took second. Kevin Cosgrove finished strong for third after a tough red lane.
- 254 5.270 Mike Panko
- 253 5.319 Aaron Ploskunak
- 243 5.319 Kevin Cosgrove
- 239 5.430 Tom Rowell
- 233 5.550 Leroy Moyer
- 232 5.550 Lester Lucas
- 219 5.760 Phil Bucco
- 210 5.490 Quin Barnes
- 198 5.499 John McMillian
Overall F1 finish
- 277 4.93872 Willy Custer New Track Record for Laps and Fast Lap
- 276 5.04977 Steve Koepp TQ
- 275 5.04935 Mike Peskar
- 272 4.99986 Cap Henry
- 272 4.98860 Ricky Bennardo Jr.
- 269 5.04973 Bud Bartos
- 267 5.10873 Gil Pataky
- 262 5.09961 Greg Fox
- 257 5.10029 Al Rutti
- 257 5.22040 Steve Ploskunak
- 257 5.22123 Dan Forbush
- 254 5.27014 Mike Panko
- 254 5.32027 Ross Scharf
- 253 5.22071 Brian McPherson
- 253 5.22072 Dan Ebert
- 253 5.31919 Aaron Ploskunak
- 252 5.27026 Bob Stanley
- 251 5.22016 Jim Verga
- 243 5.31912 Kevin Cosgrove
- 239 5.43035 Tom Rowell
- 237 5.39071 Rick Bennardo Senior
- 233 5.55002 Leroy Moyer
- 232 5.55061 Lester Lucas
- 219 5.76028 Phil Bucco
- 210 5.49047 Quin Barnes
- 198 5.49971 John McMillian
Can-Am Results
A Main
Willy Custer looked like the man to beat in the A Main. Willy’s 36 lap run in red topped chasers, Bud Bartos and Ricky Junior. Stint 2 Bud ran a 36 to put him on par with Willy. Al Rutti pulled into a tie with Ricky 2 laps down. Ricky found his groove in heat 3 popping a 36 in yellow to pull one lap within Bud and Willy. Willy and Bud both struggled in stint 4. Ricky stayed solid and took over lead. Ricky smoked out another 36 with his R-Geo car to extend his lead over Willy by 2 laps. Bud’s struggles continued as Mike Peskar used a 35 in black to catch Bud for third. Heat 6 and Bud’s hawk motor had flown the coop taking him out of contention for any chance of a podium finish. Heat 7 and Ricky still led the way followed Willy and Mike P. The final heat with Ricky and Willy side by side, Ricky matched Willy lap for lap with Mike uncontested for third. The checkered flag waved and Ricky brought the Pro Slot powered and maintained Parma TI22 to Victory Lane. Ricky used an R-Geo GVP clone tuning fork chassis for his record setting performance.
- 280 4.829 Ricky Bennardo Jr Penn Ohio Record for Total Laps
- 278 4.778 Willy Custer Fast Lap and Penn Ohio Fast Lap Record
- 274 4.988 Mike Peskar
- 271 5.048 Al Rutti
- 267 4.881 Bud Bartos
- 266 5.000 Marc Piccone
- 264 4.951 Greg Fox
- 262 4.939 Cap Henry
B Main
Gil Pataky and Steve Koepp battled for the lead the entire race. They never were separated by more than a lap. Brian McPherson ran third the entire race until heats 7 and 8 when he ran into problems and handed over the last podium spot. Steve Ploskunak and Jim Verga fought the entire race behind Brian. When the opening happened Steve P took advantage and took third away from both Brian and Jim. The final heat, Gil and Steve put on one of the best shows of the weekend. Both on the same lap trading blow for blow and when the power shut off Gil was the winner. Gil had his sensitivity set just right to take the B Main win and 3rd Overall. Steve Koepp did everything he could for the win but just fell short. Steve Ploskunak cruised into a top three finish. Good race guys !!!!
- 274 4.989 Gil Pataky
- 274 5.000 Steve Koepp
- 267 5.099 Steve Ploskunak
- 265 5.060 Jim Verga
- 257 5.108 Ross Scharf
- 254 5.159 Bob Stanley
- 249 4.999 Brian McPherson
- 243 5.051 Dan Ebert
C Main
Mike Panko and Aaron Ploskunak started the C main with 33 laps followed by Rick Senior. Stint 2 Mike took sole possession of the lead. Rick and Aaron followed by one with the rest of the field falling out of contention. After 3, Mike was still leading Rick and Aaron by one. Stint 4 and things tightened up as Rick and Aaron are now tied with Mike. Mike fell out of the lead in heat 5, when he struggled with the black lane and traffic. Heat 6 and 7 provided some great side by side racing by the Kid and the Patriarch of R-Geo racing. Lane advantage prevailed and good driving by Aaron in heat 7. Aaron used the yellow and a 34 to show Senior the fast way around the track. Rick didn’t recover from his run in black. He continued his spiral downward and handed second over to the lurking Mike Panko. Aaron finished his run strong in the final heat to take the C Main win followed by Mike Panko and Rick Senior
- 261 5.102 Aaron Ploskunak
- 257 5.159 Mike Panko
- 256 5.270 Rick Senior
- 249 5.159 Kevin Cosgrove
- 244 5.388 Leroy Moyer
- 243 5.429 Tom Rowell
- 242 5.329 Greg Krumnow
- 96 5.379 Dan Forbush
D Main
The D Main was all Larry Kowicki and George Katzakis from start to finish. Lester Lucas looked for a podium spot until heat 5 when a solder joint broke moving him to the pits and a DNF. George was leading the race until heat 6. He could only score 30 laps and Larry ran a 33 for the tie. Lorenzo Frietze took advantage of Lester’s misfortune and moved into third. Heat 7 while George was in black, Larry raced his way to a one lap lead in blue. Lorenzo was solidly in third place. The final heat had no surprises as the top three held their spots. Congrats to all 3 and Larry on his win.
- 255 5.160 Larry Kowicki
- 254 5.160 George Katzakis
- 237 5.599 Lorenzo Frietze
- 232 5.270 Phil Bucco
- 219 5.600 John Mcmillian
- 210 5.540 Quin Barnes
- 147 5.549 Lester Lucas
- 123 5.329 Joe Gercsncer
Can Am Overall Finish
- 280 4.8294 Ricky Bennardo Jr Track Record for total laps
- 278 4.7788 Willy Custer Track Record for Fast Lap
- 274 4.9896 Gil Pataky B Main Winner
- 274 5.0002 Steve Koepp
- 274 4.9885 Mike Peskar
- 271 5.0484 Al Rutti
- 267 4.8810 Bud Bartos TQ
- 267 5.0997 Steve Ploskunak
- 266 5.0005 Marc Piccone
- 265 5.0608 Jim Verga
- 264 4.9516 Greg Fox
- 262 4.9394 Cap Henry
- 261 5.1022 Aaron Ploskunak C Main Winner
- 257 5.1086 Ross Scharf
- 257 5.1597 Mike Panko
- 256 5.2700 Rick Senior
- 255 5.1604 Larry Kowicki
- 254 5.1602 George Katzakis
- 254 5.1598 Bob Stanley
- 249 5.1599 Kevin Cosgrove
- 249 4.9990 Brian McPherson
- 244 5.3888 Leroy Moyer
- 243 5.0510 Dan Ebert
- 243 5.4296 Tom Rowell
- 242 5.3294 Greg Krumnow
- 237 5.5992 Lorenzo Frietze
- 232 5.2703 Phil Bucco
- 219 5.6000 John McMillian
- 210 5.5401 Quin Barnes
- 147 5.5496 Lester Lucas
- 123 5.3296 Joe Gercsncer
- 96 5.3793 Dan Forbush
Retro Flexi Results
A Main
Bud Bartos, Gil Pataky and Steve Koepp jumped out of the gates taking the lead in the Flexi A main. In Stint 2 the top three and podium were established and Bud moved to a 2 lap lead over Gil and Steve. By heat 3 it was just how much will Bud win by and any track records being broken. Gil and Steve ran neck and neck until heat 5 where Gil took a one lap advantage. Bud ran the fast lap of the race in heat 5 with blazing 4.669 just missing the track record. Gil increased his lead over Steve in heat 6 with another lap. The order of finish would remain the same. Bud Bartos your winner followed by Gil “big points day” Pataky and 3rd Steve Koepp. Bud and Gil would finish first and third in the Overall Flexi standings. The highlight of this race was a showdown for position between Aaron Ploskunak and Leroy Moyer at the very end of the main. Both racers were side by side the last minute of the race. They raced clean and when the power went off the Freeport Kid Aaron P took the spot from Leroy by one section.
- 195 Bud Bartos
- 191 Gil Pataky
- 189 Steve Koepp
- 177 Tom Rowell
- 169 Aaron Ploskunak
- 169 Leroy Moyer
- 166 Lester Lucas
- 37 Lorenzo Frietze
B Main
The last race of a long day, Al Rutti and Mike Peskar took a 2 lap lead over a 4 racer group. The second heat Al and Mike were still tied with Dan Ebert trailing by one lap. Al moved to a one lap lead after 3 heats with Mike in second. Jim Verga moved into a podium bid when he tied Dan for third. Heat 4, Mike reeled Al back in for a tie with Dan in possession of third again. Mike used a 25 lap heat 5 to take over first for good. Jim caught Dan again and they were locked up for third. Dan ran a 25 in heat 7 to shake Jim off his heels. He pulled within 2 laps of Al. Mike finished in red with a great run of 25 for the win and second overall. Al finished second and turned up the wick to shut down any chance of 3rd place Dan catching him.
- 193 Mike Peskar
- 190 Al Rutti
- 188 Dan Ebert
- 183 Jim Verga
- 182 Steve Ploskunak
- 182 Bob Stanley
- 180 Jay Sabala
- 130 Quin Barnes
Flexi Retro Overall Finish
- 195 4.6699 Bud Bartos A Main Winner, Track Record Laps, Fast Lap of Race
- 193 4.7701 Mike Peskar B Main Winner
- 191 4.8301 Gil Pataky
- 190 4.8297 Al Rutti
- 189 4.7794 Steve Koepp
- 188 4.7788 Dan Ebert
- 183 4.8903 Jim Verga
- 182 4.9903 Steve Ploskunak
- 182 4.9393 Bob Stanley
- 180 4.9411 Jay Sabala
- 177 5.1593 Tom Rowell
- 169 5.2698 Aaron Ploskunak
- 169 5.2686 Leroy Moyer
- 166 5.3197 Lester Lucas
- 130 5.3787 Quin Barnes
- 37 5.4299 Lorenzo Frietze
Summary
Thanks to Ray and Brian for keeping the program running smoothly. Thanks again for the donuts, coffee and lunch. A shout out to the helpers that got us through the day, Aaron P, Bob Stanley, and Leroy Moyer..
Thanks to Parma, REM, Bud Bartos Chassis, Denny K Chassis and Ralph Thorne Racing for prizes and awards. See everyone next month at Route 93 Raceway. Thanks again to everyone for a great day of racing.
Next Month
April 5, 2014
Route 93 Raceway & Hobbies
2211 Manchester Rd
Akron, OH 44314
(330) 861-5000