Slot Chaos thanks everyone who attended our our first "Jet Fest" ThunderJet races, at the Slot Chaos, Hayes, Virginia. September 4th and 5th saw the first annual races between the Mid Atlantic (MARS) Racers and the local Slot Chaos racers. Big money was on the line, as each group was competing for the Jet Fest Cup, as well as $100 in crisp "Jacksons". The money had to earned however, by finishing well in four classes over the two day race meeting. Each group selected two T-Jet classes to run, MARS ran the BeachJet and TransAm classes, right out of the 2005 MARS rule book. Slot Chaos picked their Stock and Hardbody Super Stock T-Jet classes. Each race consisted of a round robin semi of three minutes and four minute mains for all competitors. Results for each class were the total laps from the semi and mains, which results in points determined by the number of competitors in that race.
Race 2 Saturday night was the BeachJet class, certainly the most popular and widely raced T-Jet class on the East Coast. This was Hiram's and Mike's class, with the rest of the crowd struggling to maintain the pace. In the round robin, Hiram blitzed to an 82 with a Fandango Bimmer and Mike was there with a 78 in his Gogo Merc. Tom 's rice rocket brp Datsun 260Z managed a 74, Brian's brp Porsche 356 was at 72 and Vince's brp Ford GT with 70. Mark Smith ran a collectable Aurora Batmobile, to an excellent 68 laps putting him, top of "B" main. The "C" Main saw Amy Brigg's cute yellow new beetle sprint to 59, ahead of Michelle Edwards Porsche 356 at 57. Ryno Edwards was at 55 laps, with Johnny Robbins at 54 and little Everett Edwards with 41. The "B" Main was Mark's race as the Batmobile demolished the opposition with a a 72 lap run. Ray Etheridge was hanging in there at 70 laps, followed by the major battle with Rose Battisto and Jason Miller at 64 laps. The final event of the evening was the showdown in the "A" Main, with MARS hot shoes, Hiram Durant, Tom Bowman and Mike Briggs against the Slot Chaos hot thumbs of Brian Edwards and Vince Battisto. Mike turned the tables on Hiram and blasted out an 83 lap total, edging Hiram at 82, Tom at 77, Brian 71, and Vince also at 71. Points wise, Hiram lead the MARS crowd with 31 points, with Tom and Mike at 28. For the Slot Chaos Cup, it was tight, with the top three contendors all at 23 points: Mark Smith, Vince Battisto and Brian Edwards. It was quite late as the shop shut for the evening, Hiram was planning on driving back to Maryland...Mike and family were staying in Williamsburg, while his wife worked on a movie set.
Day two dawned somewhat rainy as bands of Hurricane Frances were hitting Florida hard. Race 3 was the Hardbody Super Stock T-Jet class, which allows BeachJets and Johnny Lightning TuffOnes to compete together. Most of the Slot Chaos runners were using the JL chassis, while the MARS crowd stuck with the tried and true BeachJet. The exception was Brian Edwards running his brp Porsche 356 with T-Jet power and Tom Bowman running a 12 tooth JL chassis under a brp Datsun 260Z. Hiram had decided to return for the second day of the battle for the Mid Atlantic Cup. Hiram lead the way in the round robin with a ballistic 83 lap total, Mike was at 80, Tom at 78, Mark at 71, Brian 70, Vince 68, Jason 67, Ray 67, Rose 65, Michelle 58, Ryno 57, Johnny 56 and Everett 50. The "C" Main was a hard fought battle between mother and son, they tied at 59 laps, but Michelle edged Ryno by sections to take the family win! The "B" Main, turned out to be a close run as Jason got 71, over Rose at 67 and Ray with 65. Vince retired with a DNF. The "A" Main was a prototypical barn burner, as the MARS runners were showing how tight the coming season will be! The top three were separated by sections as the BeachJets battled the JL bullet! Hiram came out on top with 81 laps 54 sections, Tom at 81 and 39 sections, Mike at 81 and 15 sections. Slot Chaos shop owners had their own battle, with Brian edging Mark by 5 track sections! Can you spell "Intensity"...well I can't! Certainly this was the most competitive racing to be held on this track!
The overall point totals: Jet Fest races 1- Hiram Durant MARS 54 points 2- Tom Bowman MARS 51 3- Mike Briggs MARS 50 4- Mark Smith SlotChaos 38 5- Jason Miller SlotChaos 35 6- Brian Edwards SlotChaos 32 7- Ray Etheridge SlotChaos 30 8- Rose Battisto SlotChaos 26 9- Vince Battisto SlotChaos 24 10- Michelle Edwards SlotChaos 20 11- Johnny Robbins SlotChaos 18 12- Ryne Edwards SlotChaos 13 13- Everett Edwards SlotChaos 10 14- Ronnie Jamerson SlotChaos 8 15- Amy Briggs MARS 7 16- Mark Tutton MARS 6 17- Joe Hopkins MARS 2
