9 replies to this topic

[Matt Sheldon]

The 2015 RMRRA Championship Series kicked off with a bang at Slotcar Speedway located in Longmont, CO on January 10,2015. Typical Colorado sunny skies and modest mid to upper 40 degree weather set the tone for what would be a great day of RMRRA retro racing. As always Rickey had the Hillclimb cleaned, prepped and glued to perfection and the pits were filling up with the regular suspects as well as a few new participants. 

 

Please excuse our incomplete data sheets, we will concentrate on getting driver and car data entered in entirety as we move forward as I know readers like to see what others are doing. I had forgotten my camera so hopefully these cell phone pictures will suffice until next time. Please bear with my picture sizes and format as I am finishing some templates to make my posts more professional as well as reader friendly.

 

 

Stock Car - 

 

The day opened up with Stock Cars and tech went off without a hitch allowing us to get started early. With 10 entrants we are starting to get more and more competitors in this class and a big thanks to A.J. Hoyt and Rowdy for loaning a couple cars to get others involved. In fact the standout competitor on this day in Stock Car hands down would have to be Eric Gritzmacher. A.J. borrowed Eric a car at the last minute and Eric lined up on the grid without a lap of practice. From the word go, Eric was not only fast, but extremely consistent heat after heat firmly placing himself on the podium. Paul Muirr set fast time of the race and was putting down the laps in the early stages. Unfortunately Paul ran into multiple out of slot traffic issues and then later suffered mechanical issues due to those encounters. He had the car and ability to win this one. Runner up position went to ever consistent A.J. Hoyt. As always A.J. lined up with a capable car and a game plan and it showed. A.J. was able to match the fast lap times as well as put in some big lap heats to keep him in the race all the way to the end, just coming up 2 laps short. Race winner Alan Wilkinson just did what Alan does. Starting on red Alan threw down a lap count that most could only do in the middle lanes and then just proceeded to drive away to the win from there. I could probably cut and past that last sentence and just put it in many future race reports as it is a very common occurrence for Alan. Just a good clean race.

 

Fast lap of race - Paul Muirr 5.929 Blue

 

Race result - 

 

1) Alan Wilkinson         229     5.976     Black

2) A.J. Hoyt                  227     5.988     Blue

3) Eric Gritzmacher     218     6.042     Yellow

4) Dave Gaunt             210     6.269     Black

5) Rowdy                     206     6.210     Blue

6) Matt Sheldon           206     6.147     Purple

7) Don Gritzmacher     196     6.370     Green

8) Rob                          195     6.531     Blue

9) Paul Muirr                193     5.929     Blue

10) Gus Quist               173     6.531     Green

 

Left - A.J. Hoyt 2nd, Middle - Alan Wilkinson 1st, Right - Eric Gritzmacher 3rd

 

[Matt Sheldon]

 

 

F1 posting next..............

[Bill from NH]

Nice race coverage Matt! I like your format.

[Matt Sheldon]

F1 - 

 

 

After a 45 minute break for lunch and a small practice session we moved on to F1. This class is becoming quite competitive and many are starting to turn similar lap time to their CanAm's which tells me setups are getting better and better. Once again we had 10 competitors.

 

The race started out very similar to the Stock Car race. Eric Gritzmacher was fast and consistent right from the start and was within the podium hunt until finding trouble in a couple heats just past the halfway point. This opened up some great opportunities for some great racing and great battles for the 4th through 8th positions. Myself and Rowdy went 3 heats pacing each other lap after lap and staying literally within a foot of each other throughout the race. Having trouble early I was able to race my way back and find 7 laps within the last 3 heats, edging Rowdy by 2 in the last heat. Up front Alan Wilkinson was a runaway train absolutely dominating the field with a car that is nothing short of a freak of nature. This Crutchfield built Swiss F-1 kit with Swiss M07 F1 body is the same car that Alan used to break the track record during our last RMRRA race held at SlotCar Speedway. It is a car that I have borrowed to Alan many times and finally found it necessary to do it justice and put it in his box for good. Like always Alan came in on red and put big laps down and never looked back, almost breaking his own track record again on his way to fast lap of the race and victory. Behind Alan the real race on the track was for second place, A.J. Hoyt was sticking to his game plan and putting in solid lap times and lap counts on all colors. Paul Muirr secured the final podium spot doing what Paul does. He is a skilled racer that has what it takes to win regardless of the class. Falling just a lap short of A.J., Paul's car was fast and Paul was turning in some big lap counts. Paul too was using a Crutchfield built Swiss F1 chassis similar to Alan's. Overall the race had its ups and downs, but in the end it was a great time.

 

Fast lap of race - Alan Wilkinson 5.386 Orange

 

Race results - 

 

 

  1) Alan Wilkinson         252     5.386     Orange

  2) A.J. Hoyt                  241     5.597     Yellow

  3) Paul Muirr                240     5.487     Orange

  4) Matt Sheldon           231     5.597     Purple

  5) Rowdy                     229     5.648     Purple

  6) Dave Gaunt             225     5.819     Purple

  7) Rickey                     217     5.820     Purple

  8) Eric Gritzmacher     214     5.710     Yellow

  9) Gus Quist                198     5.980     Black

10) Rob                         116     6.148     Green

 

Left- A.J. Hoyt 2nd, Center- Alan Wilkinson 1st, Right- Paul Muirr 3rd

 

 

 

 

[Matt Sheldon]

 

 

Can Am will be posted later tonight............

[NSwanberg]

Great reporting Matt! You ought to write for the National Speed Sport News.

[Matt Sheldon]

CanAm-

 

 

And here it is! By the dimming of the lights, smoke machines fogging, spotlights articulating and AC/DC "Thunderstruck" queuing in the background we have come to the main event of the day.

 

13 competitors are prepped and ready to qualify and banter is starting in the pits. In my head I was predicting that a low 5.3 is what it was going to take to claim the top qualifying position. The track was good, but overall speeds for the day were a touch off. Well my prediction was wrong! A couple racers started off in the 5.4 - 5.6 range and then I was able to put down a 5.35 without ever punching the donut ,temporarily taking the TQ position. With the likes of A.J. Hoyt, Paul Muirr and Alan Wilkinson still left behind me, I knew that being perched on the throne was going to be short lived. A.J. clipped in and effortlessly put down a 5.273 with a car and qualifying run that was smooth as butter. Hard to say Paul struggled while putting down a 5.42, but he did not have the clean run he is capable of. While I never count Alan out of anything, after watching A.J.'s performance I thought we already had our TQ for the event, wrong again! Alan hooks up and with that serial killer smile and murders the track record with a 5.238, a number that we see while playing around post races weekly. So there it is, the field is set and we are ready to go racing.

 

The race gets off without a hitch and more than exciting, it is just plain ole' good racing. Alan enters the race last and as he has done all day, puts down 32 laps on red. It is clearly his day as he cruises to victory 6 laps ahead of A.J., turns a fast lap of the race at 5.320, averages a very stout 32.1 lap race average sweeps every class, TQ's and breaks the CanAm track record. A.J. has been the bridesmaid all day, but in true A.J. form he races by his motto "keep it in the slot" and his consistency pays off with a solid second place 6 laps off the leader and 23 laps ahead of third. Very respectable showing for the scratch builder that creates his own chassis and is constantly perfecting his racecraft. Paul Muirr raced his way back to a podium position finishing third and almost matched the fast time of the race with a 5.3205. A few heats of carnage kept him from the running. So what about the other racers? I raced my way back to 4th place after mentally blowing up in the first 3 heats  and was the third racer running in the 5.3's during the main. The real story about this race is the actual race that was happening from 4th through 10 with only 9 laps separating this group. As this group slowly grows, it is quickly becoming a very competitive series with close competition. 

 

TQ - Alan Wilkinson 5.273 (Track Record)

Fast Lap of Race - Alan Wilkinson 5.3201 Purple

 

Race Results - 

 

  1) Alan Wilkinson       257     5.3201     Purple

  2) A.J Hoyt                 251     5.4292     Blue

  3) Paul Muirr              238     5.3205     Yellow

  4) Matt Sheldon         236     5.3746     Yellow

  5) Eric Gritzmacher   233     5.6561     Black

  6) Dave Gaunt           229     5.7076     Yellow

  7) Don Gritzmacher   229     5.5978     Purple

  8) Rowdy                   228     5.6020     Purple

  9) Rickey                   228     5.6483     Orange

10) Rob                       227     5.6009     Yellow

11) Kevin M.               198      5.8665     Green

12) Dale Gritzmacher 116      5.8675     Purple

13) Gus Quist              DNS               

 

 

 

Left - A.J. Hoyt 2nd, Center- Alan Wilkinson 1st, Right Paul Muirr 3rd

 

 

[Matt Sheldon]

[Matt Sheldon]

 

 

See everyone February 21st for round #2 at Slotcar Speedway, Longmont, CO

[Matt Sheldon]

Great reporting Matt! You ought to write for the National Speed Sport News.

 

Thanks Nelson, this group is a lot of fun.