A race report by Tom Bowman
A slim crowd, enabled some changes to the usual racing format. Qualifying was bumped to a full minute, the round robin went to 3 minutes from 2.5...and
for the first time in years, the mains went to 5 minutes. Ray Etheridge was setup and practicing with a high fever, literally. He finally decided to
not to race and just go home. He offered his top car to race host, Ronnie Jamerson, who is in a tight points battle with Mark Smith...and only too happy
to have an opportunity for a better than usual result in the T-Jet class.
First round to determine order in the Round Robin
Qualifying - 60 sec run
1- Ronnie Jamerson 7.33 laps
2- Tim Keevin 7.24
3- Lewis Wuori 7.04
4- Tom Bowman 6.42
5- Dan Mueller 6.41
6- Mark Smith 6.39
7- Chris Mueller 6.05
Next race determines the mains placement.
Round Robin - 3 minutes
1- Tom Bowman 88.31
2- Lewis Wuori 85.39
3- Ronnie Jamerson 84.41
4- Tim Keevin 81.15
5- Mark Smith 75.22
6- Dan Mueller 73.32
7- Chris Mueller 67.15
Since we had an odd number, we decided to add a "Fray element", having the winner of the "B" move up to the last spot in the "A". That gives the winner
two chances to get a better final total for the overall results.
The battle for the moveup, started out with Tim and Mark even after the first segment, and Tim pulling out a lap on the second segment. But then Tim put the hammer
down and pulled away steadily in the second half of the race.
The A Main had all the makings of a real "Barnburner" of a race. Tom had the wide shouldered Ford GT and had warned on the MASCAR BBS he was ready
to layout some extreme plastic nerfing to keep the rest behind. Lewis was making his first appearance this year, but his cars are always amongst the best, and will be hard-to-beat. Ronnie was feeling
extremely chuffed with himself, scoring a top car from Ray Etheridge, and out qualifying his chief rival for a chance at some serious points. Tim's Prius had motored through the field in the "B" and
should be ready to take it to the "A" qualifiers. The first segment had Tom and Tim on the middle lanes and tied at 35 laps, Ronnie a lap back and Lewis two laps back on the tight yellow lane. Segment
two saw Lewis recover smartly on Red to 70 laps, Tom and Ronnie also at 70 laps...Tim's Prius having trouble with the hybrid drive, dropping two laps back. Segment three saw Ronnie and Tom punching out 37's
to stay equal at 107 laps, Lewis was back just a lap and Tim 5 laps back. The final segment saw Tom on the power lane white, throw down another 37, Ronnie on the yellow gutter dropped two laps back, Lewis
matched Ronnie and stayed 1 lap back. Tim was in survival mode, finding 40 minutes of racing a bit too much. The last BeachJet MASCAR race of the season was indeed a real "Barnburner" and a fitting
end of a great season of T-Jet racing! One final Super Stock race at Jeff Crabtree's remains to be run on June 20th, the last chance to grab points!
MASCAR format means everyone gets the same amount of race time, and overall race results are irrespective of the main.
BeachJet Overall Results - 5 minute Mains
1- Tom Bowman 144.45
2- Ronnie Jamerson 142.39
3- Lewis Wuori 141.32
4- Tim Keevin 137.40
5- Mark Smith 131.10
6- Dan Mueller 129.03
7- Chris Mueller 115.20
Tom Bowman's Winning Bat-Jet Ford GT!
Ronnie Jamerson's borrowed Second Place Greg's Garage Toyota Celica!
Lewis Wuori's Third Place Zoomin Motosports BMW 650i!
Tim Keevin's Fourth Place Hurricane Toyota Prius
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