REDGAR
10-18-2007, 09:49 PM
Heads-up Index Results July 28, 2007
By Edgar Perez
For the fourth time this year, racers with all brands and combinations or race cars came out to try their hand at Pro Tree, heads up racing on one of three hard set indexes, 12.0, 11.0 and 10.0. With very few rules for the series held at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ (www.racewaypark.com), just about anyone can get in on the action. Each individual index class is open to the 16 quickest cars. This race was the fourth of with the final race scheduled for October 27, 2007 at 4 pm. We are in the thick of the summer now and it was sure to be hot today and a chance of thunderstorms may have impacted the turnout today and it surely altered the race procedure as we hurried through to beat any chance of rain. The clouds were over us pretty thick as we approached first round but we got lucky and got the whole race in. Photos of the event can be found at www.corvettechallenge.info/cpg133/thumbnails.php?album=75 and video at www.challengevideos.com/2007indexrace4.php.
12.0 Index Class
With 7 cars in the field, Gene Townes would get a bye run as the number 1 qualifier. He made the pass and came near perfect with a .037 light and an 11.996 on the index. If this did not strike fear in the class, I don’t know what would. Stephen Wells took on Mike Calicchia in this round and having the quicker car was a clear advantage as he was able to take the win with a .079 light and 12.205 @ 105.16 over Calicchia who was .044 on the tree and 12.301 @ 113.00. The senior Calicchia, Louis, faired better when he drilled the tree with a .012 reaction time in his 1999 Corvette and it was the difference in this close race against Wayne Roatche in the 1980 Caprice. The ET’s were 12.280 for the Vette and 12.298 for the Caprice. The last pair was Bill Fischer SR. in the 2001 Corvette facing Craig Metzger in the 1999 Dodge. Fischer was late on the tree but made up the difference running a quicker 12.160 to the 12.442 for the Dodge.
There were four left for round 2 and Wells and Fischer Sr. would get it on at the line. Wells was out of the gate first with a .029 reaction time to .108 for Fischer. Fischer chased the entire track but could not make up the RT with the near identical ET’s of 12.106 for Wells and 12.108 for Fischer. Gen Townes loaded the converter and set the brake and took off with a .016 against Louis Calicchia in his Corvette as he went red with a -.036 reaction. The final was set for Townes in the Gold Camaro and Wells in the Silver.
If we take a lesson from the Olympics, Gold is better than Silver…but would it be here? They lined them up to do the battle and you can hear Townes brake as Wells stages a little deeper than he had in the rest of the day. The tree lit and so the red for both drivers. While the slow motion video shows Townes moving first, he was further back, shallow staged and when Wells left, started the clocks with a -.025 red so Townes’ -.004 red would still get the win as his infraction came after Wells’. The drivers ran it out and Townes stopped the clocks with a 12.062 and Wells, the ‘bagger, clocked an 11.818 @ 116.03.
11.0 Index Class
The build up for the class was large as the promise of a barrage of Vettes did not materialize. This did not stop Rob Zona from brining his Z06 out to do battle. Unfortunately he was the only one. Even I had to abandon him as the Sled’s tranny refused to shift in any reasonable amount of time. So only three cars entered the class. Zona was up first against Scott Bodine. Bodine took the win at both ends of the track against Zona. Boding left with a .099 and finished with an 11.160 on the brakes as Zona was late on the tree so he would not break out. Erik Fiscken got a single in his 1992 Mustang by virtue of his number 1 qualifying pass, a dead-on 11.009 @ 121.83. His bye run gave him a chance find out just how low he can go and he ran a 10.97 @ 123.07.
The final round was close. Fiscken got the RT advantage on the .500 pro tree with a .084 to .112 to Scott Bodine. Both drivers were quick and Bodine would go under the index chasing Fiscken with a 10.970 @ 120.25. Bodine took the win with an 11.025.
10.0 Index Class
The 10.0 class is turning out to be the Curtis and Beck show but that would not happen today. Regulars Craig Curtis, ’87 Mustang and Mick Beck, ’88 Firebird were joined by Oscar Garcia, ’84 Mustang and Chris Young, ’93 Corvette. Garcia did not get a clean run in qualifying and was at the bottom of the ladder with an 11.975 @ 84.49. Chris Young was in the three slot with a 10.544 @ 131.11. Curtis was second with a 10.310 @ 133.79 and Beck at number 1 with a 10.139 @ 134.94.
Round 1 paired Beck and Garcia. As the cars left the line, Garcia’s exhaust fell (see in our videos linked above) so Beck took his win with a 10.331 @ 107.81 and .038 reaction time and was on his way to yet another final. Young paired with Curtis next looking for another Curtis v. Beck Final. He left way hard and lit the red light. He missed the tree with a -.005 red and Young was on his way to the final with his .121 and 11.423 @ 131.18. Sorry Craig. Next time.
Final round had two blue cars. Young’s Corvette would take the lead at the start with a .044 reaction time but Beck was not far behind with a .051. This was a close race as they went up the track side-by-side in this exciting heads-up race. At the top, Beck’s car had the power to make up the difference in the tree with room to spare. He would take the win with a 10.231 @ 118.18 while Young ran 10.370 @ 131.96.
Race Summary
A theme that is developing is low car count. We hope this is not continued at our next index race, October 27, 2007 with gates opening at 3:30 pm. The race series is young and growth is out there so bring a friend or foe but bring ‘em for the car count, they will leave enjoying the concept of heads-up racing with an ET cap instead of books of rules. More info on the class can be found at www.racewaypark.com.
12.0 Winner
http://corvettechallenge.info/cpg133/albums/07indexrace4/normal_e-town_index_race_419.jpg
11.0 Winner
http://corvettechallenge.info/cpg133/albums/07indexrace4/normal_e-town_index_race_46.jpg
10.0 Winner
http://corvettechallenge.info/cpg133/albums/07indexrace4/normal_e-town_index_race_410.jpg
By Edgar Perez
For the fourth time this year, racers with all brands and combinations or race cars came out to try their hand at Pro Tree, heads up racing on one of three hard set indexes, 12.0, 11.0 and 10.0. With very few rules for the series held at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ (www.racewaypark.com), just about anyone can get in on the action. Each individual index class is open to the 16 quickest cars. This race was the fourth of with the final race scheduled for October 27, 2007 at 4 pm. We are in the thick of the summer now and it was sure to be hot today and a chance of thunderstorms may have impacted the turnout today and it surely altered the race procedure as we hurried through to beat any chance of rain. The clouds were over us pretty thick as we approached first round but we got lucky and got the whole race in. Photos of the event can be found at www.corvettechallenge.info/cpg133/thumbnails.php?album=75 and video at www.challengevideos.com/2007indexrace4.php.
12.0 Index Class
With 7 cars in the field, Gene Townes would get a bye run as the number 1 qualifier. He made the pass and came near perfect with a .037 light and an 11.996 on the index. If this did not strike fear in the class, I don’t know what would. Stephen Wells took on Mike Calicchia in this round and having the quicker car was a clear advantage as he was able to take the win with a .079 light and 12.205 @ 105.16 over Calicchia who was .044 on the tree and 12.301 @ 113.00. The senior Calicchia, Louis, faired better when he drilled the tree with a .012 reaction time in his 1999 Corvette and it was the difference in this close race against Wayne Roatche in the 1980 Caprice. The ET’s were 12.280 for the Vette and 12.298 for the Caprice. The last pair was Bill Fischer SR. in the 2001 Corvette facing Craig Metzger in the 1999 Dodge. Fischer was late on the tree but made up the difference running a quicker 12.160 to the 12.442 for the Dodge.
There were four left for round 2 and Wells and Fischer Sr. would get it on at the line. Wells was out of the gate first with a .029 reaction time to .108 for Fischer. Fischer chased the entire track but could not make up the RT with the near identical ET’s of 12.106 for Wells and 12.108 for Fischer. Gen Townes loaded the converter and set the brake and took off with a .016 against Louis Calicchia in his Corvette as he went red with a -.036 reaction. The final was set for Townes in the Gold Camaro and Wells in the Silver.
If we take a lesson from the Olympics, Gold is better than Silver…but would it be here? They lined them up to do the battle and you can hear Townes brake as Wells stages a little deeper than he had in the rest of the day. The tree lit and so the red for both drivers. While the slow motion video shows Townes moving first, he was further back, shallow staged and when Wells left, started the clocks with a -.025 red so Townes’ -.004 red would still get the win as his infraction came after Wells’. The drivers ran it out and Townes stopped the clocks with a 12.062 and Wells, the ‘bagger, clocked an 11.818 @ 116.03.
11.0 Index Class
The build up for the class was large as the promise of a barrage of Vettes did not materialize. This did not stop Rob Zona from brining his Z06 out to do battle. Unfortunately he was the only one. Even I had to abandon him as the Sled’s tranny refused to shift in any reasonable amount of time. So only three cars entered the class. Zona was up first against Scott Bodine. Bodine took the win at both ends of the track against Zona. Boding left with a .099 and finished with an 11.160 on the brakes as Zona was late on the tree so he would not break out. Erik Fiscken got a single in his 1992 Mustang by virtue of his number 1 qualifying pass, a dead-on 11.009 @ 121.83. His bye run gave him a chance find out just how low he can go and he ran a 10.97 @ 123.07.
The final round was close. Fiscken got the RT advantage on the .500 pro tree with a .084 to .112 to Scott Bodine. Both drivers were quick and Bodine would go under the index chasing Fiscken with a 10.970 @ 120.25. Bodine took the win with an 11.025.
10.0 Index Class
The 10.0 class is turning out to be the Curtis and Beck show but that would not happen today. Regulars Craig Curtis, ’87 Mustang and Mick Beck, ’88 Firebird were joined by Oscar Garcia, ’84 Mustang and Chris Young, ’93 Corvette. Garcia did not get a clean run in qualifying and was at the bottom of the ladder with an 11.975 @ 84.49. Chris Young was in the three slot with a 10.544 @ 131.11. Curtis was second with a 10.310 @ 133.79 and Beck at number 1 with a 10.139 @ 134.94.
Round 1 paired Beck and Garcia. As the cars left the line, Garcia’s exhaust fell (see in our videos linked above) so Beck took his win with a 10.331 @ 107.81 and .038 reaction time and was on his way to yet another final. Young paired with Curtis next looking for another Curtis v. Beck Final. He left way hard and lit the red light. He missed the tree with a -.005 red and Young was on his way to the final with his .121 and 11.423 @ 131.18. Sorry Craig. Next time.
Final round had two blue cars. Young’s Corvette would take the lead at the start with a .044 reaction time but Beck was not far behind with a .051. This was a close race as they went up the track side-by-side in this exciting heads-up race. At the top, Beck’s car had the power to make up the difference in the tree with room to spare. He would take the win with a 10.231 @ 118.18 while Young ran 10.370 @ 131.96.
Race Summary
A theme that is developing is low car count. We hope this is not continued at our next index race, October 27, 2007 with gates opening at 3:30 pm. The race series is young and growth is out there so bring a friend or foe but bring ‘em for the car count, they will leave enjoying the concept of heads-up racing with an ET cap instead of books of rules. More info on the class can be found at www.racewaypark.com.
12.0 Winner
http://corvettechallenge.info/cpg133/albums/07indexrace4/normal_e-town_index_race_419.jpg
11.0 Winner
http://corvettechallenge.info/cpg133/albums/07indexrace4/normal_e-town_index_race_46.jpg
10.0 Winner
http://corvettechallenge.info/cpg133/albums/07indexrace4/normal_e-town_index_race_410.jpg