|
On The Lead Lap
Posted 13 May 2019 - 01:39 PM
Second annual 12-hour race was held this last weekend. I was not able to participate this year but did stop by to wish everyone lucky and success.
Here's a few pre-race pictures and the team roster. There are a number of very well known T-Jet racers that participated but also some 1/24 scale racers that are some of the very best.
I'll post more info and results in another segment to come soon.
Johnny VW
Posted 13 May 2019 - 01:51 PM
That is one cool-looking layout! 
On The Lead Lap
Posted 13 May 2019 - 07:24 PM
OK, here's race details from Ted Essy, AKA Race Director for the 12 Hours:
Many of you may have seen some results I posted on Facebook, but for those who don't follow, here is a breakdown of the 12 Hour race held Saturday May 11th. I am going to cheat and copy what I posted on FB since I am running on fumes today. It was a memorable event that I look forward to each year, and am relieved when it is over. I couldn't ask for a better group of friends to spend a day with, and great competition on the track to go with it. Congratulations to Dan “Dan” Jimenez and his team for an impressive performance all day. They bested our winning lap total from last year by 262 laps, or about 26 minutes of run time. Holy cow! Thanks to everyone who made it a terrific day.
This year's 12 Hours of San Jose Speedway is in the books, and what a day it was. Nineteen racers gathered for the competition bright and early Saturday May 11th to battle it out for the second annual event. Richard Phillis and his group made the trek down from Ferndale again this year to see if they might improve on their finish last year.
The team captains were Kenneth C. Stevens, Daniel Jimenez, Ronald Coaxum and myself (Ted Essy). The teams were chosen from a driver's roster and given time to practice with the car before racing commenced at 9 AM sharp. Drivers spent 17 minutes at a time at the panel with 1 minute between lane changes. Last year's winning Team IMCA was dethroned this year by the winning team captained by Daniel Jimenez and included Rick Voegelin, Paul Gawronski and Gary Lopiccolo, so you know they were well organized and no nonsense in their approach. Rick was constantly tweaking the car for maximum performance, and it showed after 12 hours with a close 10 lap victory over Kenneth C. Stephens team with Jeff Hurley, Greg Kondrek and Don Riemersa.
Kenji's team was down by 33 laps after a mechanical issue, and stormed back in the second half of the race to make it close. My (Ted Essy) Team BBQ finished third, with teammates Jim Rose, Dave Larsen and George Peters, who did a masterful job on the tri tips for lunch. Thanks George!
Finishing 4th was Rapid Ron's team, who also encountered some issues on the track. Ron's teammates were 1/24 scale champion Justin Colvin, Bruce Douglas and Kevin Drake, who took home Rookie of the Race honors.
Team Dano (Dan Jimenez) covered a total of 4725 laps, equaling over 71 actual miles on the track and ended up winning by about 1 minute after racing 12 hours. Wow.
Thanks go out to Terry Flynn of Harden Creek Slots https://hcslots.com/ for his continued sponsorship with the awesome HCS/AMG Viper products. Thank you to everyone who attended, and let's do it again next year!
On The Lead Lap
Posted 13 May 2019 - 07:31 PM
Here's some more images including the winners:
Rookie Keyboard Racer
Posted 14 May 2019 - 11:16 AM
Randy, thank you for posting this report from the race on Saturday, which was a huge success again this year. The cars were essentially bulletproof and were fastest at the end of the 12 hour run, truly impressive and a testament to the quality Viper/HCS products. While the race is quite a grind, I do look forward to having 20 of my closest friends together for this terrific competition each year and has become quite a tradition after only two years. While setting up the cars in the weeks prior to the event, we experimented with different voltages on the track and found the Viper Jets were most drivable at 11.1 volts instead of the standard 12 volts used last year. We had faster lap times and higher lap totals with lower voltage and much less carnage on the track during the race. Go figure.
The top four teams this year all bested the winning lap total of my winning team last year, with Team Dano racking up an amazing 262 more laps that last year's winner, or about 26 minutes of run time. It was truly an impressive TEAM victory. well done guys! Paul Gawronski is now the only two time winner of the 12 Hours of San Jose Speedway, as he was on the winning team last year. This guy can drive anything, and added yet another 1/24 scale USRA National Championship notch on his holster three weeks ago in Concord, N.C.
Ted Essy
San Jose Speedway
