Stock Cars on the Aristocrat – 11/15/16
Some questioned the wisdom of racing the longer and narrower Retro Stock Car Class on MVH’s refurbished American Aristocrat but this week ten racers were game to give it a shot. The main lesson learned was “ya need to blip for the 1st turn in the red lane.” I speak from experience, as I think I earned the record for one heat as my car ended up on the floor three times. But I wasn’t the first or the only one, as about half the field suffered the same fate. Once the lesson was learned, Stock Cars on the Aristocrat seemed to be a hit. They are fun and not terribly difficult to drive and the racing was once again pretty close.
Ten isn’t enough drivers to run all eight lanes at once and have marshals, so we ran 20 heats in 4/4 single rotation format. The race start was delayed as one racer called in to say he was on his way but stuck in traffic, so it was a long night.
At the midpoint changeover from the outside lanes to the inside, Ray Lee had logged 122 laps and held a one lap lead over Peter Lentros. In 3rd place, Dave Panich was another two laps back with Justin Ewell and Ernie Lachance hot on his heels. 4 of the remaining 5 drivers were all within three laps of each other.
The inside lanes on the Aristocrat are quite different than the outside lanes and depending on the setup on the car (and the ability of the driver) big changes usually happen in the second half. Tonight was no different. A hard-charging Justin was blisteringly fast on the inside four and made up 5 of the 6 laps he was behind Ray at the half to claim the second step on the podium, finishing less than a lap from the front. Peter fell off the pace and ended up in 4th while Dave was able to cling to the final step on the podium by less than a lap. Woody Hazelwood was the “best of the rest”, taking a solid 5th while Ernie had some issues connecting his controller properly and the resulting catastrophe took him out of the running, though he did hang on to take 6th.
Dan Savage finished in 7th, 3 laps behind the Ernstigator and 3 laps ahead of Rich Girvin in 8th. Richard Payne and Dick Griffin rounded out the field.
Fast lap of the night went to Justin who was almost a full tenth faster than Ray while Dan logged the 3rd fastest lap.
Finishing order, laps completed, best-lap time and best-lap lane:
1) Ray Lee 251/5 5.278 BK
2) Justin Ewell 250/0 5.193 BK
3) Dave Panich 249/9 5.398 PU
4) Peter Lentros 247/21 5.365 BK
5) Woody Hazelwood 239/3 5.381 BK
6) Ernie Lachance 236/13 5.391 BK
7) Dan Savage 234/0 5.300 PU
8) Rich Girvin 231/8 5.597 BK
9) Richard Payne 223/0 5.850 YL
10) Dick Griffin 207/7 5.736 PU
MVH Tuesday Night Retro-Racing Schedule for the rest of November:
11/22/16 F-1 on the King
11/29/16 Can-Am on the Figure 8
November NERR Race THIS WEEKEND!!!:
11/19/16 413 Raceway in Agawam, MA
Coupes on the Hillclimb, CanAm on the Hillclimb
Cars on the Podium (L to R): 2nd Place – Justin Ewell, 1st Place – Ray Lee, 3rd Place – Dave Panich
Ray’s 1st Place Chassis:
Justin’s 2nd Place Chassis:
Dave’s 3rd Place Chassis:
