23 replies to this topic

[akahollywood]

 

2024-25 INDIANA HOPRA RACING SCHEDULE

 

All races (except the Gobbler Endurance Challenge) will feature HOPRA Class Rules for Super Stock, Spec Racer, Spec Jet, Gravity, or CMPM classes. For more information, please see the HOPRA rulebook. The format for each class will be a one-minute round robin qualifying heat seeding four-minute mains*. You may win from any main. Entry fee: $11 for current HOPRA Members. $15 for non-HOPRA Members. EVERYONE IS WELCOME!

 

2024

 

Race #1

Saturday, September 28

RIVERSIDE RACEWAY – Super Stock (Brystal 4-lane) – Tony McWilliams COBRA RACEWAY – CMPM (Brystal four-lane) – Tony McWilliams

Location: 9728 North County Road 700 West, Middletown, IN

Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/QVNZ4LNWu6p

Track opens at 9:30 AM with practice until noon. SS at 12:30, CMPM immediately after.

 

Race #2

Saturday, October 26

JORDAN RACEWAY – Super Stock & Spec Racer (M.A.R. four-lane) – Merrell Todd

Location: 790 Nast Chapel Lane, Martinsville, IN

Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/hkK74iYWmX22

Track opens at 9:30 AM with practice until noon. SS at 12:30, Spec Racer immediately after.

 

Race #3

Saturday, November 23

Annual Gobbler Four-Hour Endurance Challenge

RIVERSIDE RACEWAY (Brystal four-lane) – Tony McWilliams

Location: 9728 North County Road 700 West, Middletown, IN

Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/QVNZ4LNWu6p

Track opens at 8:00 AM, Team selection at 10 AM, Racing a 12 PM.

 

Race #4

Saturday, December 7

Hreno Raceway – Gravity and Spec Jet (Viper four-lane) – Terry Hreno

Location: 817 West 24th Street, Connersville, IN

Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/ywhw9dvz9sTTdimY9

Track opens at 9:30 AM with practice until noon. Gravity at 12:30, Brass Jet immediately after.

 

2025

 

Race #5

Saturday, January 11

RIVERSIDE RACEWAY – Super Stock (Brystal four-lane) – Tony McWilliams COBRA RACEWAY – Spec Racer (Brystal 4-lane) – Tony McWilliams

Location: 9728 North County Road 700 West, Middletown, IN

Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/QVNZ4LNWu6p

Track opens at 9:30 AM with practice until noon. SS at 12:30; Spec Racer immediately after

 

Race #6

Saturday February 22

Annual Combo Event w/Midwest HO Series RIVERSIDE RACEWAY – Gravity (Brystal four-lane) – Tony McWilliams COBRA RACEWAY – Super Stock (Brystal four-lane) – Tony McWilliams

Location: 9728 North County Road 700 West, Middletown, IN

Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/QVNZ4LNWu6p

Track opens at 8:30 AM. Practice for Gravity and SS classes until 11:00 AM. 11:30 AM - Gravity racing (one-minute round robin qualifier with *five-minute mains) SS racing immediately after the Gravity race (approximately at 2:30 PM)

Entry fee will be $21 for both Gravity and Super Stock classes. If you are racing Super Stock only, the entry will be the regular 2024-25 Indiana HOPRA fee.

 

Race #7

Saturday, March 8

RED DRAGON RACEWAY – Spec Racer and Spec Jet (Bowman four-lane) – Rob Merchant

Location: 1705 Boca Raton Blvd, Kokomo, IN 46902

Directions: https://maps.app.goo...FrhFZNbi2rU4Hs6

Track opens at 9:30 AM with practice until noon. Spec Racer at 12:30, Spec Jet immediately after.

 

Race #8

Saturday, April 12

JORDAN RACEWAY – HOPRA Super Stock & CMPM (M.A.R. four-lane) – Merrell Todd

Location: 790 Nast Chapel Lane, Martinsville, IN

Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/hkK74iYWmX22

Track opens at 9:30 AM with practice until noon. SS at 12:30, CMPM immediately after.

[akahollywood]

FYI - The schedule was updated to fix an error in Race #6. Thanks to the moderator (i.e. Cheater) for the help fixing my goof up. 

[akahollywood]

First race of the new season is less than 2 weeks away!

Saturday, September 28
RIVERSIDE RACEWAY – Super Stock (Brystal 4-lane) – Tony McWilliams COBRA RACEWAY – CMPM (Brystal four-lane) – Tony McWilliams
Location: 9728 North County Road 700 West, Middletown, IN
Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/QVNZ4LNWu6p
Track opens at 9:30 AM with practice until noon. SS at 12:30, CMPM immediately after.

Everyone is welcome! C’mon out and race!

[akahollywood]

Race #1 of the new season kicked off with a great turnout of 17 racers, featuring many of our long-time competitors, newer racers and several long-distance special guest racers traveling in from OH, IL, MO and even NC! While the remnants of Hurricane Helene provided constant rain and power outages in the area, Tony McWilliams' HO racing complex remained dry, comfortable and, most importantly, at full power throughout the full day of racing.

 

Practice for both classes, Super Stock on the challenging Brystal Riverside bullring road course and CMPM on the big and fast Brystal Cobra road course, got underway after all the racers got settled into their pit areas and exchanged introductions and pleasantries. After a couple hours of practice and thrashing, the tracks' power was turned off for a lunch break so everyone could relax and re-fuel. Tmac's lovely wife served up a very tasty and hearty lunch featuring ham and pasta casserole, tossed salad and French bread for everyone to enjoy.     

 

With our bellies fun, the first class of the day, Super Stock, got underway with the usual 1-minute qualifier round-robin. While several racers had trouble coming to grips with the Riverside, John Woollard proved to have the little bullring figured out by taking the Top Qualifier spot. Current HOPRA National Champion, Ohio's Cory "Bodie" Glover took 2nd, followed by Indiana's Dwayne Norris and Rob Merchant rounding out the top four. Our long-distance racer all the way from North Carolina, Joey Cassiba, had a great showing coming in 6th. While track owner and usual front-runner, Tony "Tmac" McWilliams, multi-time HOPRA National champions, Rich May and Chris "Rondo" Rondinella, surprisingly struggled in the qualifier, but the odds were good they'd regain their usual form in the SS mains. Here is the full SS Qualifier results:

 When the dust settled on the SS Mains, Cory Glover took first place, followed by Tmac, John Woollard and Rich May. Rounding out the top 10 was Dwayne Norris, Rob Merchant, yours truly, Ronnie Kendall, Jason Fisher, both from IL, and Joey Cassiba. Surprisingly, Rondo had major car issues and ended up finishing dead last. Here's the full SS Mains results: 

 

Next up was the fast CMPM class on the mighty Cobra. While the field was full of experienced (and top Dog) CMPM racers, many others are still getting used to the ultrafast pace of these beasts. But that doesn't always mean the results as one would expect. While Tmac, Rondo, Dwayne and Rich took the Top 4 spots, Mike Thomas, Jason Fisher and John Woollard turned in some really good runs to finish 5th, 6th and 7th respectively. National champion, Bodie, could only manage 8th place in the qualifier. Was it an ill handling car or just plain sandbagging? Here's the full CMPM Qualifier results: 

Massive crashes, spun pinions and general chaos characterized the "D" and "C" mains in CMPM, which is kind of expected with these cars. Mike Thomas, Rob Merchant and John Woollard experienced multiple spun pinions and/or general gear issues after good showings in the Qualifier, while it was business as usual for most of the usual "hot shoes" in this class. Even though he raced in the "B" main, Bodie showed why he is the current National Champion by taking first place over 20 laps ahead of Tmac in second. Rich came in third and Rondo was fourth. Here's the full CMPM results:

 

 All in all, it was a great day of racing and a fantastic way to kick-off the new season. Huge thanks to everyone who made it to the event, especially all those who travelled far and wide to join us for a fun, full day of racing action. 

 

For race #2, we'll be here:

JORDAN RACEWAY – Super Stock & Spec Racer (M.A.R. four-lane) – Merrell Todd

Location: 790 Nast Chapel Lane, Martinsville, IN

Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/hkK74iYWmX22

Track opens at 9:30 AM with practice until noon. SS at 12:30, Spec Racer immediately after.

 

 

Hope to see you all there! 

 

[Rich Joslin]

Great job on the racing recap Dave.

It's nice to see such a large turnout. 

[akahollywood]

The second race of the IN HOPRA Series 2024-25 is less than two weeks away!

 

Race #2

Saturday, October 26th

Merrell Todd's JORDAN RACEWAY – Super Stock & Spec Racer (M.A.R. 4-lane) 

Location: 790 Nast Chapel Lane, Martinsville, IN 

Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/hkK74iYWmX22

 

Track Opens @ 9:30 am with practice until Noon. 

SS at 12:30, Spec Racer immediately after.   

Entry fee: $11.00 for current HOPRA Members. $15.00 for Non-HOPRA Members.   

 

[akahollywood]

!

[akahollywood]

One week from today!

 

 

Race #2

Saturday, October 26th

Merrell Todd's JORDAN RACEWAY – Super Stock & Spec Racer (M.A.R. 4-lane) 

Location: 790 Nast Chapel Lane, Martinsville, IN 

Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/hkK74iYWmX22

 

Track Opens @ 9:30 am with practice until Noon. 

SS at 12:30, Spec Racer immediately after.   

Entry fee: $11.00 for current HOPRA Members. $15.00 for Non-HOPRA Members. 

[akahollywood]

On a crisp fall day, seventeen racers from IN, IL and MO made their way to Merrell Todd's country hideaway/vehicle graveyard/slot racing museum to tackle the twists and turns of the Jordan Raceway road course. Not to mention sampling the superb donuts courtesy of  Rich May and Mike Robertson. As usual, Merrell had the track prepped in fine shape for practice and racers wasted no time getting hooked up to try their best to tame this tricky road course. After a couple hours of practice and the usual thrashing in the pits, track power was turned off so everyone could get refueled with a hearty and delicious lunch featuring Merrell's famous chili as well as fresh-baked cookies from both Merrell and Vaughn Montgomery's granddaughter.

 

With full bellies, the first of four Super Stock 1-minute Qualifier Heat races took the green flag. When the checkered flag waved on the fourth Heat race, it was Jason Fisher, yours truly and Tmac taking the top 3 spots, separated by sections with 66 laps each. Mike Thomas and John Woollard were a close fourth and fifth respectively at 64 laps and separated by a mere 7 sections. Rounding out the top six was rapid Rich May. 

 

In the Super Stock 4-minute Mains, there was carnage and frustration in the "D" and "C" mains for several racers as the track lived up to its tricky reputation. Carnage of a different sort ruled in the "B" main as Rich "Carnage" May showed the way with his Ghost Cat scoring a blistering 250 laps. In the "A" main, yours truly and Tmac dueled back and forth, as did TQ Jason battled with Mike T. In the end, nobody topped Rich's 250, but yours truly got close with 249, followed by Tmac at 245 and John Roe, from the "B" main at 235. The Super Stock podium featured three different chassis: Fusion, Viper and the first win for a Ghost Cat in IN HOPRA competition.

 

After a brief break to allow everyone to catch their collective breath, the 1-minute Qualifier Heat races for Spec Racer got underway. Tmac set a blistering pace to take top honors, followed by Rob Merchant, Jason Fisher, John Woollard and John Roe. Lurking just behind the top 5, Dwayne Norris, Merrell Todd and Ronnie Kendall were separated by sections with all three running 59 laps. 

 

In the Spec Racer Mains, it was carnage and frustration once again for many racers, but this time it was in all the Mains! However, Tmac managed to miss it all and utterly dominated, taking the top spot with 275 laps, a whopping 17 laps over Dwayne Norris and Rob Merchant, both separated by mere sections at 258 laps, with Rich May rounding out the top four.

 

Huge thanks to all the racers who competed in the races, especially those who traveled from out-of-state to join us. Special thanks to Merrell Todd for hosting the event and providing us with a great facility and track to race on as well as great chili, cookies and drinks. Also special thanks to Rich and Mike R. for the donuts and to Vaughn's granddaughter for the cookies.  

 

Our next race is the annual Gobbler Enduro with Brass Jets tuned by Tmac, here's the scoop:

Race #3 

Saturday, November 23rd 

Annual Gobbler 4-Hour Endurance Challenge 

RIVERSIDE RACEWAY (Brystal 4-lane) – Tony McWilliams Location: 9728 North County Road 700 West, Middletown, IN 

Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/QVNZ4LNWu6p

Track Opens: 8:00 am, Team Selection @ 10 am, Racing @ 12 pm  

 

Everyone is invited, hope to see you there. 

 

Race on! 

 

[akahollywood]

Race #3 -- The Annual Gobbler 4-Hour Endurance Challenge is less than two weeks away! It features identically prepared BSRT G3RS Brass Jets and will be contested on the challenging short Riverside road course. 

Saturday, November 23rd

Annual Gobbler 4-Hour Endurance Challenge

RIVERSIDE RACEWAY (Brystal 4-lane) – Tony McWilliams

Location: 9728 North County Road 700 West, Middletown, IN

Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/QVNZ4LNWu6p

Track Opens: 8:00 am, Team Selection @ 10 am, Racing @ 12 pm

 

Race On! 

[akahollywood]

On an overcast, cool Saturday in late November, a hearty group of racers came together to see who would come out on top in the 23rd edition of the Gobbler 4-Hour Endurance Challenge. This was the second year using BSRT G3RS Spec Jet (12-volt) cars with TNT rule silicone sponge tires from Quicker Engineering, prepared by Tony "Tmac" McWilliams. Like last year, the event was held on the short bullring Riverside road course. 

 

The 2-hour open practice session with racers using their own cars got underway at 8am giving everyone an opportunity to warm up their trigger fingers. It was also a chance to begin checking out the large buffet of food pitched-in by all participants. At 10am, the power was turned off and preparations began for team captains to draw names. Twelve racers meant there would be 4 teams with 3 members and there would be 12 20-minute segments. Each team captain would participate in a 30-second qualifying session to determine lane choice with Tmac coming out on top to give his team, "The Old Guys", lane choice.

 

With qualifying complete, the lunch buffet was officially opened for all racers to fuel up for the day. It featured homemade vegetable soup, chili, meatballs, corn casserole, various cookies, cinnamon rolls and much more. After stuffing our faces, it was time to get down to the business of the day. 

 

From the very start of the race, it was clear that "The Old Guys" team had a fast, good handling car, but would it last the full 4 hours? The "Menace" team also had a good car and was doing well, following "The Old Guys". The "Red Fury" team was struggling with handling issues. While, right off the bat (pun intended), "The Bat Men" team had an issue and spent several minutes of the first segment off track repairing the car. 

 

At the 2-hour mid-point of the race, The Old Guys still had a clear lead, Menace in 2nd, but within striking distance. and The Bat Men making a spectacular recovery in 3rd, while Red Fury was still struggling in 4th. 

 

At the 3-hour mark, Red Fury appeared to turn the corner a bit and edged closer to The Bat Men to compete for 3rd place, while Menace was a comfortable 2nd and The Old Guys continued to lead.

 

At the beginning of the final hour, it was clear that The Old Guys were going to take the win unless there was some sort of issue with the car and Menace was a strong 2nd. Red Fury had managed to edge closer to The Bat Men. In the end, The Old Guys took the checkered flag in convincing fashion, followed by Menace and The Bat Men in second and third respectively, while Red Fury limped home in fourth.  

[akahollywood]

Race #4 -- CANCELLED! 

Saturday, December 7

Hreno Raceway – Gravity and Spec Jet (Viper four-lane) – Terry Hreno

Location: 817 West 24th Street, Connersville, IN

Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/ywhw9dvz9sTTdimY9

Track opens at 9:30 AM with practice until noon. Gravity at 12:30, Brass Jet immediately after.

[akahollywood]

Next race coming up in the new year!

 

Race #5 Saturday, January 11th

RIVERSIDE RACEWAY – Super Stock (Brystal 4-lane) – Tony McWilliams

COBRA RACEWAY – Spec Racer (Brystal 4-lane) – Tony McWilliams

Location: 9728 North County Road 700 West, Middletown, IN

Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/QVNZ4LNWu6p

Track Opens @ 9:30 am with practice until Noon. SS at 12:30; Spec Racer immediately after

 

The format for each class will be a one-minute round robin qualifying heat seeding four-minute mains. You may win from any main. Entry fee: $11.00 for current HOPRA Members, $15.00 for Non-HOPRA Members.

 

SS on the Riverside

 

Spec Racer on the Cobra

[akahollywood]

Everyone,

 

Here's hoping you and yours had a very good Christmas and are planning to celebrate the new year! Our next IN HOPRA Series race is coming up in less than 2 weeks. 

 

Race #5 

Saturday, January 11th

RIVERSIDE RACEWAY – Super Stock (Brystal 4-lane) – Tony McWilliams 

COBRA RACEWAY – Spec Racer (Brystal 4-lane) – Tony McWilliams 

Location: 9728 North County Road 700 West, Middletown, IN 

Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/QVNZ4LNWu6p 

Track Opens @ 9:30 am with practice until Noon. SS at 12:30; Spec Racer immediately after.

 

All races will feature HOPRA rules. For more information, please see the HOPRA Rulebook. 

The race format for each class will be a one-minute round robin qualifying heat seeding four-minute mains. You can win from any main. 

Entry fee: $11.00 for current HOPRA Members. $15.00 for Non-HOPRA Members.  

 

SS on the Riverside

 

Spec Racer on the Cobra

 

 

Everyone is welcome

Hope to see you there!

[akahollywood]

Race #5 is just 1 week from today!

 

 

Race #5

Saturday, January 11th

RIVERSIDE RACEWAY – Super Stock (Brystal 4-lane) – Tony McWilliams

COBRA RACEWAY – Spec Racer (Brystal 4-lane) – Tony McWilliams

Location: 9728 North County Road 700 West, Middletown, IN

Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/QVNZ4LNWu6p

Track Opens @ 9:30 am with practice until Noon. SS at 12:30; Spec Racer immediately after.

[akahollywood]

On a cold, grey and snowy Saturday in January, thirteen intrepid HO racers, including 3 Illinoizzz boyzzz!, converged at Tmac's spacious (warm and dry) HO racing complex for race 5 of the season. Our host and his crew had both tracks prepped, powered and ready for practice as all the racers arrived. Super Stock would be contested on the bullring Riverside road course and Spec Racer would be on the big, fast and mean Cobra road course. 

 

Dwayne, Tmac and Rob were turning some impressive SS lap times in practice as well as Jason and the Woollard cousins, while yours truly was trying to decide on which car would be the best choice for the day. Over on the Cobra, Dwayne, Tmac, Merrell, John W., along with one of those Illinoizzz boyzzz, Jason, were posting impression Spec Racer lap times. 

 

Practice wound down at 11 and lunch was served by Mrs. Tmac. We all enjoyed the warm and very tasty white chicken chili and chicken gnocchi (a big favorite!), along with French bread and butter and other treats. I'm pretty sure everyone, except a certain John Roe, who never eats anything, was quite satisfied after this delicious meal. 

 

After lunch, it was back to the business at hand. First up would be the SS 1-minute Qualifier round-robin. Dwayne, Tmac and Rob showed their practice pace was no fluke, while yours truly snuck into the top four when the dust had settled. Here's the full SS qualifier results:

In the 4-minute SS Mains, Dwayne would have a very impressive and trouble-free run to take the win, followed by yours truly, Rob and Jason (from the B Main!). Tmac had an uncharacteristically rough time as did John W. Here's the full SS Mains results:

  

 

Next up, we'd switch over to the Cobra for the Spec Racer 1-minute Qualifier round-robin. Tmac shrugged off the handling issues that plagued his SS race to lead the way, just barely over Dwayne, John W., Merrell and Jason. Only 2 laps separated these five at the end. Here's the full SR qualifier results:

The SR Mains took a toll on many racers, including yours truly. After struggling to find speed due to a collapsed pickup spring, the comm literally blew to pieces to mercifully end my day in the B Main. This happened just after Rob's car met its demise due to an undetermined issue. Tmac took the win over Dwayne, John W. and Merrell. Here's the full SR Mains results:

  

 

Thanks to all the racers who made the trip, especially those Illinoizzz Boyzzz (Jason, Ronnie and Chad). 

 

Next up is our annual Combo Event with the Midwest Series toward the end of February.

Here's the info:

 

Race #6 

Saturday February 22nd 

Annual Combo Event w/Midwest HO Series 

RIVERSIDE RACEWAY – Gravity (Brystal 4-lane) – Tony McWilliams 

COBRA RACEWAY – Super Stock (Brystal 4-lane) – Tony McWilliams 

Location: 9728 North County Road 700 West, Middletown, IN 

Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/QVNZ4LNWu6p

Track Opens @ 8:30 am Practice for Gravity and SS classes until 11:00 am 11:30 am - Gravity racing (one-minute round robin qualifier with *five-minute mains) SS racing immediately after the Gravity race (approximately @ 2:30 pm) Entry fee will be $21.00 for both Gravity and Super Stock classes. If you are racing Super Stock only, the entry will be the regular 2024-2025 Indiana HOPRA fee.  

 

Hope to see you there! 

 

Race on 

 

 

 

[akahollywood]

Just 2 weeks from tomorrow....

 

Race #6

Saturday February 22

Annual Combo Event w/Midwest HO Series RIVERSIDE RACEWAY – Gravity (Brystal four-lane) – Tony McWilliams COBRA RACEWAY – Super Stock (Brystal four-lane) – Tony McWilliams

Location: 9728 North County Road 700 West, Middletown, IN

Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/QVNZ4LNWu6p

Track opens at 8:30 AM. Practice for Gravity and SS classes until 11:00 AM. 11:30 AM - Gravity racing (one-minute round robin qualifier with *five-minute mains) SS racing immediately after the Gravity race (approximately at 2:30 PM)

Entry fee will be $21 for both Gravity and Super Stock classes. If you are racing Super Stock only, the entry will be the regular 2024-25 Indiana HOPRA fee.

[akahollywood]

Just 1 week from today! 

 

Race #6

Saturday February 22

Annual Combo Event w/Midwest HO Series RIVERSIDE RACEWAY – Gravity (Brystal four-lane) – Tony McWilliams COBRA RACEWAY – Super Stock (Brystal four-lane) – Tony McWilliams

Location: 9728 North County Road 700 West, Middletown, IN

Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/QVNZ4LNWu6p

Track opens at 8:30 AM. Practice for Gravity and SS classes until 11:00 AM. 11:30 AM - Gravity racing (one-minute round robin qualifier with *five-minute mains) SS racing immediately after the Gravity race (approximately at 2:30 PM)

Entry fee will be $21 for both Gravity and Super Stock classes. If you are racing Super Stock only, the entry will be the regular 2024-25 Indiana HOPRA fee.

 

Also, there will be open practice on Friday evening 6-9 PM. 

 

The Cobra

 

The Riverside

[akahollywood]

Our annual combo event with the Midwest Series is always one of, if not, the biggest of the season and this year's event was no exception. A crowd of 26 racers from IL, MI, MO, OH and IN converged on Tony "Tmac" McWilliams' HO racing complex to take on the challenge to 'top dawg' in Gravity on the Riverside road course and Super Stock on the Cobra road course. 

 

Due to the expected crowd, Tmac graciously opened the tracks for a Friday evening practice and several local and out-of-town racers took advantage of the opportunity to get dialed in on both tracks. 

 

Bright and early Saturday morning, the official practice got underway. The small, twisty Riverside proved to be tough for several racers as they struggled to come to terms with the very grippy track surface, especially with brand new tires. However, after running several laps to work the shine off the tires, some impressive times began to be turned in by the usual suspects. Meanwhile, on the Cobra, the SS cars were ripping around the big, bad circuit and setting some low lap times getting down in the 2.5 second range. 

 

Practice wound down around 11 and lunch was served by none other than John Roe serving up a spread of fixings for Taco Salad (prepared in advance by his lovely wife). This is the same John Roe who NEVER eats at the races, but check this picture out.... John Roe is actually eating food! 

Will miracles never cease!

 

After lunch, it was time for the Gravity cars to do battle on the Riverside in the 1-minute round-robin Qualifier. The field included Landshark, HOST and Bulldog chassis all vying for the top spot on the podium. With a total of 20 racers, this was one of the largest fields for this event in recent memory. And a very close field, with the top 5 qualifiers all recording 54 laps and separated by mere sections. Yours truly managed to squeak out the top spot, followed by Shauntel Sather, John LoPresto Jr., Jason Fisher and Scott Terry. Here's the full Gravity Qualifier finishing order:

In the 5-minute mains, several of the usual contenders were slowed by various issues, including multi-time winners John Jr., Joel Pennington, Rich May and Rick DeRosa. But the big news was the overall winner, Jason Fisher. While already proven himself to be a winning contender in various other classes, Jason proved he can handle the tricky Gravity cars as well by taking the win by 3 laps over Shauntel, followed by yours truly and Scott Terry. Huge congratulations to Jason! Here's the full Gravity finishing order:

After a brief break, Super Stock racing got underway on the Cobra. The field included a mix of chassis including Viper V1, BSRT G3R/G3RS, Wizzard Fusion and RPMs Ghost Cat. With 25 racers set to race, this would be a marathon battle. As usual, the 1-minute Qualifier races had a fair amount of surprises, both good and not-so-good. When the final segment ended, the always fast Dwayne Norris took the Top Qualifier spot, closely followed by yours truly, John Jr., John Roe and Rick May. The not-so-good surprise was long-time top racer, Tim Miller, finished dead last due to massive handling issues. Here's the full finishing order for the SS Qualifier:

After a short break, the 4-minute SS mains got underway. There would be 6 mains with the first being a 5-racer affair that included Tim Miller. Once this main got underway, it was clear Tim had solved his handling issues with a very impressive 309/15 lap/sections run. While several other racers had impression runs, a few of the top qualifiers also had misfortune, namely Dwayne Norris, whose car broke midway through the A main, after back-and-forward duels with yours truly and John Jr. In the end, John Jr. would take the win, but the biggest mover of the day was Tim Miller coming from the F-main to take fourth place overall. Here's the full SS results:

 

Huge thanks to all the racers who participated in this event. Special thanks to our host, Tmac, and to John Roe and his wife for supplying lunch. Now we look forward to our next race coming up in just two short weeks!

 

Race #7 

Saturday, March 8th 

RED DRAGON RACEWAY – Spec Racer and Spec Jet (Bowman 4-lane) – Rob Merchant 

Location: 1705 Boca Raton Blvd Kokomo IN 46902 

Directions: https://maps.app.goo...FrhFZNbi2rU4Hs6

Track Opens @ 9:30 am with practice until Noon. Spec Racer at 12:30, Spec Jet immediately after.  

 

Hope to see you there!

Race on, 

Dave 

 

[chaparrAL]

Congratulations Dave TQ and winner Jason  with LANDSHARK cars!

[akahollywood]

Here are the results from the 2024-2025 IN HOPRA Series Race #7 held at Red Dragon Raceway and hosted by Rob Merchant and the Kokomo Slot Car Club:

 

 

 

 

 

Next race is our last race of the season, here's in the info:

Race #8

Saturday, April 12th

JORDAN RACEWAY – HOPRA Super Stock & CMPM (M.A.R. 4-lane) – Merrell Todd

Location: 790 Nast Chapel Lane, Martinsville, IN

Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/hkK74iYWmX22

Track Opens @ 9:30 am with practice until Noon. SS at 12:30, CMPM immediately after.

 

Everyone is welcome! 

Race On! 

[akahollywood]

There is a typo on the 1st place lap total on the Spec Racer Mains results. Here is the corrected results:

[akahollywood]

It's the last race of the season and it's coming up just 2 weeks from today at Merrell's country hideaway in the hills! 

 

Race #8

Saturday, April 12th 

 JORDAN RACEWAY – HOPRA Super Stock & CMPM (M.A.R. 4-lane) – Merrell Todd 

Location: 790 Nast Chapel Lane, Martinsville, IN 

Directions: https://goo.gl/maps/hkK74iYWmX22

Track Opens @ 9:30 am with practice until Noon. SS at 12:30, CMPM immediately after.  

 

Awards will be handed out at the end of racing. Thanks to greater attendance this season and adjusted entry fees, the awards will be bigger and better than ever! 

[akahollywood]

On a cool, but clear Spring day, 13 racers from IN and IL  traveled to Merrell Todd's challenging Jordan Speedway in the hills of southern IN for the season finale of the IN HOPRA 2024-25 racing season. Soon after the track power was turned for practice promptly at 9:30, it was obvious that Merrell had prepped the track extremely well, which was greatly appreciated by all the drivers. Still, there was the usual thrashing to find that 'sweet spot' between outright speed and consistent handling, especially for the CMPM cars since this was the first time for that class to be raced on this track. While the usual suspects were posting good lap times in both classes, those "boyzz from IL-E-noise", Jason Fisher and Ronnie Kendall were throwing down very impressive runs. 

 

After 2-1/2 hours of practice, the track power was turned off for a lunch break, which would feature Merrell's famous chili with all the fixings, plus his tasty homemade chocolate chip and peanut butter cookies.  

 

After lunch, it was time for the Super Stock 1-minute round-robin qualifier races to get underway. One of those IL boyzz, Jason, in just his second time on this track, took TQ over yours truly. Here is the SS Qualifier full rundown:

In the 4-minute SS mains, Jason continued his impressive run and took the win by nearly 8 laps ahead of Tony "Tmac" McWilliams in second, with the other IL boyzz, Ronnie Kendall, scoring an impressive 3rd place (from the "B" main). Going into this race, yours truly had a slim lead over Tmac in the SS standing, but any hope of keeping it was dashed with a DNF in the main. That's racing! Here's the full SS Main finishing order:

 

 

After a short break, it was time for the CMPM cars to hit the track. We were down one driver after Vaughn had to head home. Tmac had a very consistent and fast run to claim TQ in the 1-minute CMPM Qualifier. Here's the full finishing order:

In the 4-minute CMPM Mains, yours barely squeaked out a slim 2-lap victory over Tmac, with that other IL boyzz, Ronnie Kendall, had a very impressive run in the B main to come home in third place! Here's the full CMPM results:

 

 

After having just a so-so season last year, Tmac came back stronger and more consistent than ever this season to take a clean sweep with first place in Super Stock, first place in the support classes (Spec Racer/CMPM/Spec Jet/Gravity) and first place overall. Big congratulations to this year's champ: Tony McWilliams. 

 

Already looking forward to next season!