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[sledman]

Coupes on the Aristocrat – 5/19/26

 

Another month, another GT Coupe race on the American Aristocrat in the MVH Tuesday Night Retro series. This week a field of nine starters ran in the 4-on/5-off format, driving the inside lanes first, then the outside lanes, all over eighteen heats.  

 

Coupes in Tech:

 

John Weaver took another Tuesday off from being a retired slot car racer and, with 149 laps on the counter, also took the early lead by the move to the inside lanes. Four laps back, Noah Ball was running in second while Bob “Woody” Hazelwood held down the third-place position, five laps behind Noah and five laps ahead of Nick Ball. Things got interesting further back in the field as fifth place driver Richard Payne was running two laps ahead of Joe Yates, 132 to 130, while Bob Blanchette was just one lap behind Joe in seventh. Peter Lentros was trailing by another three laps in eighth, leading Rolly Lapierre Jr. by just one lap to close out the field.

 

The second half saw Nick Ball encounter problems early in his fifth heat and drop out while Weaver stretched his lead, cruising to victory with an eleven-lap cushion. Woody completed the podium, nine laps behind Noah but twenty-one laps up on fourth place. Richard and Joe ended the race in the same order, still two laps apart while Bob ended up just track sections behind Joe. Peter held off Rolly as they also finished on the same lap, separated by just track sections also.

 

Weaver posted the fastest lap of the night with a 4.073 on purple, a full 2.5 tenths faster than Noah’s second fastest time.  

 

Finishing order, laps completed, best lap time, best lap lane:

1. John Weaver               314/11        4.073         PU
2. Noah Ball                    303/5          4.326         PU
3. Woody Hazelwood      294/22        4.365         PU
4. Richard Payne            273/2          4.632         PU
5. Joe Yates                    271/22        4.567         YL
6. Bob Blanchette            271/3         4.647         PU
7. Peter Lentros              253/23        4.825         YL
8. Rolly Lapierre Jr.        253/5          4.889         PU
9. Nick Ball                     148 DNF     4.939         BL                                  

UPCOMING EVENTS:

        Next Week’s MVH Tuesday Night Retro Race:

              May 26        Coupes on the Figure 8

       

Podium: (L to R):

2^nd Place – Noah Ball, 1^st Place – John Weaver, 3^rd Place – Woody Hazelwood

 

Weaver’s 1^st Place Chassis:

 

Noah’s 2^nd Place Chassis:

 

Woody’s 3^rd Place Chassis:

 

Thanks to Woody for the photos!