Round 4 of the 2015 Rocky Mountain Retro Racing Association was held in beautiful Casper, WY. With participants traveling as far as 6.5 hours they were greeted with sunny skies and warm 70 degree weather. The drive and scenery to the race itself was as great as the racing activities. The event was held at Ace's place and our hosts B.C. (Brian Bays), Carlo and Ace made sure that the original American Orange and race facility were as interesting as always. You see at Ace's not only are you privileged to race on a classic slot car track, but you are also surrounded by the ultimate man cave. Weather it be a tank engine, a Yamaha V-Max that is Hemi powered, a Shriner's buggy, go karts, a dozen or so classic and muscle cars, ATV's, over 50 roll around tool chests (and this is not even 10% of it), Ace's has something for everyone to enjoy, look at and be a part of. Couple all that with a good old fashion BBQ with burgers and brats and everything inside you is fulfilled by the end of the day.
Stock Car
Our stock car division has quickly become one of our most competitive classes. What is more scary is that during the past 2-3 RMRRA series races the stock car heats have been the cleanest races of all our classes. Very few track calls, almost zero drivers panel banter and a whole bunch of laughter compliment the minimal deslot racing we are experiencing making it easy to be a marshal.
Paul Murr was TQ with a stout 4.3597 letting everyone know he was the man to beat. The race got under way and immediately A.J. Hoyt was out front and not only running great consistent lap times, but was backing them up with big lap totals heat after heat. B.C. swapped the lead a time or two and was as calm and cool as ever, before running into some on track trauma and sealing his fate for the last spot on the podium. Meanwhile the race on the track was between Paul Murr and Matt Sheldon. Paul was down a lap or two to Matt, came back mid race to make the pass only to have Matt best him by a lap and leave them even with 2 heats remaining. Paul suffered some of the same issues as B.C. and Matt was able to stay just a little cleaner and earn the number 2 spot on the podium. A.J. just drove a great race, had a very good self built car and put the whole package together to take the victory, his first win at Ace's Place. Congratulations on a fine performance.
TQ - Paul Muir 4.3597
1) A.J. Hoyt 291 XXXXX Black
2) Matt Sheldon 288 4.4530 Blue
3) Brian Bays 285 XXXXX Yellow
4) Paul Murr 283 4.3910 Orange
5) Carlo 276 XXXXX
6) Rowdy 269 4.6681 Red
7) Rodney Leffler 254 4.7184 Purple
8) Rickie Moore 250 XXXXX Purple
9) Cooper Sheldon 248 4.7185 Yellow
10) Les 233 XXXXX Black
11) Ace 13 5.3820 Blue
* XXXXX as improper lap time posted due to rider situation
F1
Due to a very clean and efficient stock car race we went straight into F1 before lunch. Practice was underway and already the locals were flexing their muscle putting down solid lap times and setting the stage for qualifying. Brian Bays did not let Wyoming down and laid down a 3.8967 taking the TQ position. Paul Murr carrying the Colorado flag was the only other driver in qualifying in the 3's taking the #2 qualifying position with a 3.9288.
So the race order was set and someone forgot to call air traffic control because the cars started launching in the bank almost immediately. Not exactly sure, but Brian Bays may have been the only driver who's car did not launch in the bank. The race itself was riddled with track calls and on track carnage was peaking at an all time high as the drivers tried their hardest to put themselves into position for the top spot. The track being an original American Orange has 2 humps on the front straight and the lane spacing is narrow. When you add open wheel racing to that the atmosphere changes quickly. Wyoming locals and track veterans Brian Bays and Carlo were out front and making their way through traffic at a rapid pace. Brain was a little more consistent and was able to take the top spot edging out a very hard charging Carlo by 3 laps. Carlo drove awesome and had a car very capable of winning today, he was able to gap himself from third place finisher Rowdy around the halfway point and just drive his own race and concentrate on trying to take Brian for the win. Rowdy was able to secure his first podium of the season and it was well deserved. He drove an extremely consistent race, had a well prepped car and was finally able to not only put it all together, but keep it together all the way to the finish (thanks to Paul Murr). It was great to see Rowdy's smile as he puts as much into this as anyone. Regular front runners A.J. Hoyt and Paul Murr we just casualties of a lot of on track carnage, creating lap counts that they just could not recover from. A.J. had a bad qualifying session and his race was filled with peaks and valleys. Paul was struggling from the first heat and never really could get in a groove to get him to the podium. Watching them try to munster through it helps keep perspective on the fact that regardless of how fast one is, there are always bad heats and bad races that even the front runners cannot recover from and that you just have to wait for another day. 6th place finisher and local Rickie Moore had a very impressive 3rd place qualifying effort with a 4.0029. He had a great car and had his own share of on track carnage. I am a little biased with the next group of racers as one just happens to be my son. That being said I would have wrote the following words for anyone that put on the race that these two competitors did. Series newcomers Rodney Leffler and Cooper Sheldon battled every single heat and tied in many and then swapping just a lap in others. Up until the last couple heats it was so close that they were literally no more than 3 sections away from each other. How close were their lap times you ask? Rodney's best was a 4.4484 on Purple and Cooper's was a 4.4486 on Orange. While they may have been back markers for the leaders, they both did an excellent job of letting the front runners go. I am sure the majority of the racers did not notice this on track battle that had the two of them actually working together on the track, letting the other one go and laughing and talking between heats. In the end Rodney did a better job in his last 2 heats and secured the 7th place spot over Cooper. This was their first trip to a track that is not easy to drive. It was Cooper's first F1 race and 3rd RMRRA race and it was Rodney's second RMRRA race and F1 race. We have many races and racers like this that get missed in conversation, but it is the beginnings of what is starting to make our group so competitive.
TQ - Brian Bays 3.8967
1) Brian Bays 310 XXXXX Green
2) Carlo 307 3.8404 White (possible rider??)
3) Rowdy 292 XXXXX Yellow
4) A.J. Hoyt 289 XXXXX Purple
5) Paul Murr 285 XXXXX
6) Rickie Moore 281 XXXXX Yellow
7) Rodney Leffler 273 4.4484 Purple
8) Cooper Sheldon 269 4.4486 Orange
9) Matt Sheldon 267 4.2808 Yellow
10) Ace 233 XXXXX Yellow
11) Les 126 XXXXX Black
CanAM
With our bellies full from a great host provided BBQ, we are ready to move into our final event and what most consider to be the "premier" class. We are ahead of schedule and the racers get a little extra practice time to get their cars dialed in and make those final tweaks. We are getting ready to start qualifying. The razzing has started between the Wyoming hot-shoes and the Colorado contenders and this has all the makings of a very fun finish to an already great day. Brian Bays gets the first set of ooohhhh's and aahhhhh's from the group as he throws down what looks to be TQ with a very fast 3.8797. But don't kiss the babies and sign the autographs yet! Paul Murr steps up with his War Beaver that has been on a winning streak and almost effortlessly hammers down a 3.8353 taking the TQ position and some bragging rights leading into the main event.
Locked and loaded we start the first heat and it already looks to be a cleaner race than the F1. AJ Hoyt who has struggled in qualifying all day has his race face on and is driving consistent and keeping it in the slot putting down solid lap counts which is allowing him to put a lap per heat on the current on track field. 6th place qualifier 12 year old Cooper Sheldon is surprising many by maintaining second place heat after heat and putting in a couple 40 lap heats, this could get interesting. By the fifth heat we have cycled all participants into the race and the hometown hero Brian Bays is starting to make his presence known. Heat after heat he is whittling away at the early leaders putting in an extra 2 laps per heat than most of the field. Brain is a great guy, but on the track he has a Jack Nicholson smirk that lets you know that he is not messing around. Local fast guy Carlo has had some on track encounters that has left his car in non desirable condition, but as they say the show must go on and he is running mid pack and making the best of his day, also hitting a few big lap count heats. Silently for 5 heats Matt Sheldon and Paul Murr have once again locked in for battle trading position for what would become the race for the last spot on the podium every heat. This battle lasted all the way to the final heat of the race. Matt started on Orange 1 lap up on Paul who is starting on white. As luck would have it the chaos on the track is happening in the middle of the racetrack, mainly under the bridge leading into the donut and the gutter lanes are able to run fairly incident clean. Paul takes advantage of this and puts down 41 laps on white to Matt's 33 on orange making the podium with ease. Great finish! Upfront the race is still all Brian's. AJ is within striking distance should Brian have any issues, but time is running out. With 2 heats to go Cooper is still enjoying seeing his name in the top spot, but simple math shows that his lap total will not survive the fury that is coming. Regardless his gamble to start on red and run the race straight through is paying off as the race was very clean for the first 7-8 heats, but is now starting to unravel. He will ultimately finish 5th which is his highest RMRRA finish and a great performance considering the level of competitors here today. When the final beep of the race is heard it is Brain Bays with the win, 4 laps over A.J. Hoyt who have drove a great race with again a unique self built chassis. Always a threat to win Paul Murr has drove his way through an up and down race to definitely earn his way onto the podium. Matt Sheldon edges out his son Cooper Sheldon by a mere 5 sections. "Who brought this kid?" Sixth place finish goes to Carlo who has everything to win and has just not had the breaks to be there today. Seventh goes to Rowdy who has also had his own share of problems, but is still smiling from his F1 podium. His protege' Rodney Leffler finishes right behind him in eighth and only 4 laps back of him. Ninth place goes to our facility host Ace whom has had a rough day and has finally been able to get a full race in. Tenth goes to Rickie Moore who had his fair share of on track issues, but has finished the race and is again all smiles. Eleventh place goes to Les who seems like he is just happy to be there and is enjoying every inch of the day. Always happy to help with practice marshaling and whatever else is needed. He is a great guy to have at the track. The twelfth and final position goes to Matt Moore who is the son of competitor Rickie Moore. I am told that this is Matt's first slot cat race and if true then he should be very proud as his times are not that far off and he was able to make laps. We all had a first race at sometime!
Qualifying -
Paul Murr 3.8353
Brian Bays 3.8797
Carlo 3.9778
Rowdy 3.9868
Matt Sheldon 4.0031
Cooper Sheldon 4.0928
A.J. Hoyt 4.1779
Ace 4.2380
Rodney Leffler 4.2706
Rickie Moore 4.3903
Les 4.4438
Matt Moore 4.4732
Main Event -
1) Brian Bays 319 4.0584 Orange
2) A.J. Hoyt 315 4.1799 Blue
3) Paul Murr 310 4.0075 Orange
4) Matt Sheldon 303 4.0121 Blue
5) Cooper Sheldon 303 4.1677 Orange
6) Carlo 300 4.1088 Blue
7) Rowdy 296 4.1679 Orange
8) Rodney Leffler 292 XXXXX Black
9) Ace 289 XXXXX Purple
10) Rickie Moore 268 4.5000 Green
11) Les 254 XXXXX
12) Matt Moore 242 4.5581 Orange
