AFTW Observations and Congradulations

[Speedshop]

After a week of rest I can now spend a little time commenting on the American Flat Track Worlds. Because of a 8 day sickness with the wrost flu I have even had I did the usual 4 day thrash with very little sleep to get my customer's cars on the track.

First I would like to thank Kirk Livernash the crew of South Hill Slots for running off 202 entries in two days and two hours. If there is a more effeicent race program anywhere elce I would like to see it.

Now for some congradualtions for my Speedshop customers:

Neal Stewart. What can I say here? Neal not only top qualified and won the $600.00 1/24th Eurosport race, won the Pro Group 10 race and the Grand Champion award! Neal is limited in funds and spend some long days working on my yard for his Speedshop prepared cars. Neal worked hard, drove great and deserved to win.

Dewayne Roberts. Dewayne went out and showed them how to do it winning the 32 (yes I said 32) entry GT 12 class. Dewayne beat the best including Matt Zenovitch, Greg Gilbert, Ross DeLong, Neal Stewart, Bob Everett, Ray Bishop and even Paul Ciccarello racing the same Speedshop RTR Alan Ohern used to win the Expert Div II USRA GT 12 Nationals. Congraduations Dewayne.

Greg Gilbert. After a slow start on Saturday Greg came on Sunday winning the C1 race and placing second in the 1/24th Eurosport race with a Speedshop RTR. Greg is one of the hottest scale racers in the world today and with only one win for Greg in the AFTWs it shows you just how hard it is to win in Seattle.

Matt Zenovitch. Matt turned out to be the hard luck racer this time. Matt did win 1/32 Eurosport with a great race with Paul Ciccarello. These two raced their harts out finishing on the same lap after 32 minutes of racing. That makes four in a row in 1/32 Eurosport for Matt. To this day nobody has beaten Matt in 1/32 Euro in the big race. In Matt's defense he had a tough go of it in some other classes because the parts I had ordered didn't show up before the race. Matt even had to race a C Can motor in Group 12 against strap 12s and still managed to finish 6th overall. Great job Matt with what little I gave you.

Ray Bishop. Even though Ray didn't win a race he was second place in overall points to Neal going into the 1/24th Eurosport race. Ray was the man who allowed Matt Zenovitch to keep his 1/32 Eurosport win streak going as Ray had first choice on the car Matt drove in 1/32 Eurosport. Ray gave up the 1/32 race to let Matt have the chance of keeping his streak alive. Not only is Ray a great racer he is one hell of a guy!

Paul Kassens. Yes I said Paul Kassens of OWH fame. Paul took the same old Speedshop Indy car and drove the wheels off it once again to win the IRL Indy class. I gress the Parma Challange Cup he raced the wek before gave him some good pratice.

Paul Ciccarello. The most well know racer to attenend the AFTW was Paul Ciccarello from Parma. Some people may have viewed Paul's performaces a dissapointment but not I. With only two days pratice and testing he was able to put Parma Flaxi cars in the A heats in Group 10 and 12 against flat track specialists with three years testing on their Champion chassis! Paul drove one of the best races of the Worlds racing against Matt Zenovitch in 1/32 Eurosport. With a little more time on the track Matt may not have held him off. And finally Paul C. drove my personal Pro LMP car and set a new track record with is first attempt at qualifing on the tricky Canadian White Track. Paul ran a full tenth fraster than I have been able to go with the same car and then finished second in his first race at South Hill Slots! He then concluded his AFTWs be receiving the Sportsmanship award.

Finally I have one special Congradulation:

Alicia Gilbert. After three years of trying 13 year old Alicia was able to finally win the big one in Amateur LMP. Alicia never misses a Wed. night pratice race or IMCA points race so she has paid her dues. Great job Alicia and now it's time to go after the big Dogs in Pro 10.

It was a great race and a great time had by all. Hope to see more of you next year.

[Zippity]

Lee,

It is always a pleasure to read your race summaries.

Am I safe to assume that I will not have to race against (and be thoroughly beaten by) your 14 year old daughter next year?

Alicia, give them hell :)



Ron

[CruzinBob]

Very nice report Lee, You ARE THE KING!! Glad to hear of your combined success. Would like to hear more about the very effective program guideelines used to run so many entries so quickly.

[Speedshop]

CruzinBob, The secret to efficient race running is the full main event system. All racers race a main event which is determined by qualifing times. Each racer gets 1 min. to set his fasted lap time with only 30 sec.between qualifiers. Each main is run with no warm up, except Eurosports and Amateur races, and no track calls with one minute lane changes. Yes, I said NO track calls. You can eat up a lot of time with track calls and when you have them they just seen to multiply in number. While one race is being run tech and impound is taking place for the next race. At the end of the race the impounded cars are taken out to the track for the next race and Concours. This is going on nonstop until the day is complete. No added car repair delays and tech from Semi to Mains, no 2 or more minute lane changes, and if you are not ready to qualify your time starts anyway.

This system works well in other respects. You only need 2 pair of tires per class, one to qualify on and one for the race which keeps expenses down. Because the rules say the cars must remain where they stopped on the track during lane changes if a racer wants to cheat and move his car forward they must do it in front of all the other drivers and turn marshals. You never really have to worry about cheating at the AFTWs.

[Aubin 3 sixteen]

Love that format Lee, especially the no track calls part. Keep it up.

[Neal Stewart]

i havent been here in a while, but i will put some input also

once again, thanx lee for the cars.
and to kirk and everyone else for putting up w/ me. some of you know the story ;)
sorry, just fatigue... thats my excuse and i'm sticking to it. :D

see ya later,
Neal

Lee, you have a personal message from me.

[topkat]

the ATFW is becoming the premier scale race in the country.Once a year is good,but twice a year .................better. congrats to all the local hot shots, Alicia, Ross,Ray,Paul (wierd 1),Matt,dwayne and oh yes Neal. Nicely Done. It was a treat to be taken by surprise by this young man.(the nintendo,xbox,sega,playstation kids are here). So we all don't think it was a fluke(I think the kid can drive) The pacific coast nats and the ISRA WORLDS will be in late oct and early nov. It would be a shame to keep this talent bottled up because of politics. They do represent the best the USA has to offer. FIND A WAY, LET THEM PLAY !!!!


Herman

[Neal Stewart]

i dont mind going to the pacific coast race, but i dont think i will beable to make it to the ISRA race. And also, next spring i am also planning on going to the div 2 scale nats, in ohio, right?

well, hope to see you there, assuming i can get the cash to go.

[oldweirdherald]

How to Get a Track Call - at the AFTW's, Slugfest, or any PNW IMCA Race...

1 - A track or power failure. This has rarely happened, and is usually diganosed as a controller or car problem, at which time the racer is issued a warning or various degree of verbal abuse, or other form of public humiliation, and the power is immediately turned back on.

2 - Heart Attack - however, you must provide a note from your doctor, and the note must somehow support that the heart attack was in some way caused by or due to a track related failure (see #1 above). Fainting or simply passing out is considered lame, and will NOT warrent a track call at PNW IMCA races.

3 - Car under the track. This was rendered nearly impossible at the 2002 AFTW's, as Kirk had installed "skirts" around the bottom of the track. If the car did manage to slide under something unreachable, a track call could be acheived only if the nearest marshal was an old geezer who simply refused to dive for it, and called "track" himself. If this was the case, the power would be turned off, accompanied by the above mentioned public humiliation - this time directed at the geezer marshal for not going for it.

4 - Cars Under the Bridge. Same as above, however there must be at least 3 cars collecting dust under the bridge, or the marshal has to show that he has drawn blood in his efforts to retrieve cars, before the power is shut off. Verbal abuse or public humiliation follows - directed at either the driver or marshal (or both) depending on the situation.

5 - Brain Fade. Another rare occasion. Happened once at the 2002 AFTW's when David Livernash was filling in at the computer, and accidently bumped the space bar. Nobody blamed him much, however, as his girl friend sitting next to him was deemed an excusable distraction.

6 - "The Speech". This former once per race track call has also been rendered obsolete, as it has been replaced by the now compulsory pre-Eurosport race "Speech". If the drivers, usually only during 1/24 Eurosport, got a bit out of hand, Kirk would cut the power and begin his now classic speech begining, "Now drivers... we do this for fun..."

7 - Earthquake. This would probably only result in a track call if it resulted in a crack or crevace in the track that could not be jumped across. Any earthquake registering less then a 6 on the Richter Scale is NOT a valid track call.

8 - Volcanic Eruption. If Mt. Saint Helens or Mount Rainier was to erupt, the above rule may also apply. If it was indeed Mount Rainier, although not covered in the rules or ever discussed, it may be possible that the race would be called off, and instead fire up the barbecue one last time (however, we'd probably want to finish the race first, then eat). The Canadians would probably even break out the "good" beer.

[TSRF]

Yo Lee, are you coming to smogsville for the Nats?
Mr. P:eek:

[Slapshot]

Neal's too fast.


Respect his Authority

[Neal Stewart]

LOL ray!
but i think it would be better if my head were on cartmans body, that would be hilarious! (hint hint, maybe someone can do this?)
l8r,
Neal

[TheRockinator]

Neal, I thought that WAS your head on Cartman's body :D

Later! The Working too late to watch South Park Rockinator