What a fantastic weekend of racing - in Central Ohio and in NASCAR.
Saturday - The
Central Ohio HO Racing Association attacked the "short
track" at Hilltop Raceway Park in Columbus. Bob Simmermon and
family were great hosts - as always - and Chef Shawn Watkins done a
great job of cooking Italian sausages and Bar-B-Q beef and homemade
coleslaw. Now, if we could only get him to start racing!! The Mod T-Jet
racing was extremely close, so close in fact - that the by the end of
the 2 qualifying heats, 4 racers were tied for 2 spots. And one of those
ties kept me out of the "A" Main !! Sean Moneypenny was on the
move and having a fantastic night of racing. To see Sean win his
first Central Ohio HO Racing Association event was truly a sight to
behold. He was so happy that he was shaking as I took the photos.
And I want to congratulate Ryan as it was also great to see him
take the loss as graciously. Ryan - Louise and I applaud your great
sportsmanship and the enthusiasm you showed for Sean's victory. I know
that I speak for all of the racers in the group, when we say thanks for
the help and knowledge that you bring to the group. We are a great group
of racers and a fantastic bunch of friends. I enjoy the fellowship we
have each week almost as much as the racing. In fact, at some of the
races the "fellowship" is the only positive for me !!
Sunday - Dave "Crash", Ryan, Rich, Mike, Louise and I went to
Marty Ruiz's home to run on the "Tubbie". After Louise and I
went to church in Whitehall, we met Dave at the Wendy's and then headed
for Marysville with Dave in tow. We all got there about 2pm and got set
up and started making new friends and running our cars. Marty's track is
set-up in his garage and is on rollers so he can move it around. There
was a cool sign in the driveway and I won't tell what it said, but
I'll buy one and have it at our next race at Rich's. (In the above photo
the racer in the black T-shirt is Mike Chaney not "Dave" -
sorry about that Mike)
I know some of us haven't ran a "Tub" track before and you are
surely missing out. The Tub track was made by Aurora in the 60's
and was sold to commercial merchants as a way to promote ThunderJet
racing. They consist of a fiberglass "tub" and the 6 lanes of
track that is/was recessed into the tub. Marty said that they were
made in orange and yellow, and he had even heard of blue ones, but has
never seen one. The last time I had ran on one was probably 1979 at the
Hobbyland in Town and Country Shopping Center in Columbus, Ohio. Marty
had a trackless tub setting outside his garage and he and I talked
about his plans to "maybe" reproduce the Fiberglas tubs. He
has a great knowledge about the Tub tracks - although I'm not sure
if the knows the actual size of them!!
Some of the others that were there (that I can remember): Dave and wife
from Milton, WV, Chris "Dragula1971" and ????? "USS
Escape" from Cincinnati, Dennis from Delaware, Jack "not Wierd"
- a local racer, and Marty. So, a total of 12 racers were on hand and it
was soon determined to run some "Crash-N-Burn" with "Run
what you brung" racing. The format was just like ours with two
exceptions - there was no limit on the number of laps a race consisted
of AND if your car gets lapped, it is out of the race. The cars
were mostly like our Mod T-Jet's - except the fronts ends weren't heavy
like we run.
With 6 lanes of cars, that first turn was interesting - down the front
straight and then it's up the hill into a 90' turn!! And if that didn't
get ya, there's that "hump" on the back straight!! The action
was intense and the fun was more so. Ryan, Rich, Mike, Dave and Louise
were doing pretty good, but I wasn't doing so well, so I resigned to
take some photos - "film at 11". I'll try to get them
online tonight.
The Slot Car Racer HO Raceway mobile store set up shop and had a lot
of lookers and a few buyers. I think it impressed Marty's wife more than
the guys!
The format was run one race and then move to the left and do it
again. After the Crash-n-burn action ended, Rich, Ryan, Mike and Dave
got out their NASCAR class cars and took to the track. Everyone was in
awe as this hard-body LifeLike cars were running neck and neck on the
center lanes. Poor Ryan had to ward of the usual barrage of Jeff Gordon
comments, but was his usual gracious self and let his driving expertise
do his talking!! I'll have some photos of the action later, but
"our" racers made a good presentation. We ran until about 5pm
and headed back home. It was a great day of "fun" racing and
fellowship. Thanks go to Marty and wife for the great time and a
fantastic event.
Sunday afternoon - NASCAR racin' at Martinsville - Rusty wins one!!
Louise and I were listening to the race on the way home from Marysville
and it was really neat to hear Rusty win one after so long. After Sean
had won his first "A" Main the night before and then
with Sean's most favorite driver - Rusty Wallace - winning his
first race in a long time, we knew that the Moneypenny house was surely
rockin' and rollin' . When I talked to Sean later Sunday night, he said
that he had taken that bottle of champagne, that he had
been saving so LONG, outside to spray, but it has lost it's fizz!! So he
went back down and got a Miller Lite and let loose. I can't wait to
watch the replay on TV - it should be a good one.
So once again,
Congratulations Sean...and everyone else who participated in putting on
one of the best races we have had this Season.
