2002 Parma Challenge Cup - OWH's Almost Live Coverage

[oldweirdherald]

The next race up was the Masters Group 10 main event. These were truly the fast guys, with the racing setting a very fast pace. The racers were so tightly grouped, that a crash would usually result in several places changing.

Once again the spectators were treated to an exciting battle between the top three positions, as "Big Al" Montero, Ken Williams, and Jeff Bonanno swapped positions throughout the race. Ken hung on to win by track position over Jeff, with Al right behind.


Following are the results of the Masters Group 10 main event:

Position - Name - Home State - Qual. Laps - Start Lane - Laps

1 - Ken Williams - Missouri - 136 - White - 183+
2 - Jeffrey Bonanno - Florida - 132 - Green - 183
3 - Al Montero - New York - 136 - Red - 182
4 - Nick Malinaski - New Jersey - Yellow - 181
5 - Mike Hefferman - Canada - 130 - Blue - 178+
6 - Itch - Wisconsin - 128 - Black - 178
7 - Tom Miller - Penn. - 130 - Orange - 177+
8 - John Turner - Penn. - 129 - Purple - 177

[oldweirdherald]

Next we raced the 4.5" FCR cars, again with close, fast racing all day long.

Following are the results of the Future Masters 4.5" FCR main event:

Position - Name - Home State - Qual. Laps - Start Lane - Laps

1 - Gary Clinton Jr. - Connecticut - 120 - Red - 163
2 - Eddie Beard - So. Carolina - 120 - White - 162
3 - Mike Dennis - Illinois - 118 - Orange - 160
4 - Charlie Sweet - New Jersey - 115 - Blue - 159
5 - Bob Boyd - Illinois - 119 - Green - 156+
6 - Ed Hoyle - Illinois - 114 - Yellow - 156
7 - Matt Naes - Missouri - 114 - Purple - 154

[oldweirdherald]

Once again it was time for us "Geezers" over 40 to take the track, and this time I was feeling much more like a contender then merely a first-time newcomer to the event. Not having practiced with the 4.5" FCR cars, I had to summon up my memories of racing the Hard Body NASCAR 4.5" FCR's a few times at my home raceway back at West Seattle. Fortunately, these cars handled much better then Hard Body cars, but still required a certain "finesse" to drive. Fortunately for me, I still had stored away a bit of "finesse" and found these cars much to my liking.

The quarter finals were so close that the top 9 qualifyers were all within 2 laps of each other! In fact, 4 racers all had 119 laps, and 4 more had 118. Finish position stickers had to be found around the track to determine all but the top qualifier, Dennis Demole.

I barely made the main with 118 laps, just inches behind Lou Pirro, and half a lap ahead of Jay Kisling to edge him out for the fianl spot in the main. This was close racing!

The main event shaped up to be a rematch for Ben McGuire and myself, with once again the win going down to the final seconds. I found myself in a 3 way battle for the last half of the race for the lead, with lead changes between Don, Ben, and myself. This time it was me carefully clinging to my lead in the final heat on the fast Purple lane, with a hard charging Ben closing in on Orange. As the time expired, I had survived without choking to take the win by mere feet ahead of Ben, followed closely by Don in 3rd on red lane, and then Jack Nickel. The entire field of 8 cars in the main finished within 4 laps!

Following are the results of the 40+ 4.5" FCR main event:

Position - Name - Home State - Qual. Laps - Start Lane - Laps

1 - Paul Kassens - Washington - 118 - Black - 161+
2 - Ben McGuire - Kentucky - 119 - White - 161
3 - Don Bonanno - Florida - 119 - Green - 160
4 - Jack Nickel - New York - 118 - Yellow - 159
5 - Lou Pirro - New York - 118 - Purple - 158+
6 - Dennis Demole - Forida - 120 - Red - 158
7 - Mark Daniels - Penn. - 119 - Blue - 157+
8 - Tom Marsteller - New York - Ornge - 157

[oldweirdherald]

Now it was time for the final event of the long day, the Masters 4.5" FCR class.

This race saw yet another rematch, with "Big Al" Montoro, Jeff Bonano, and Ken Williams once again duking it out for the lead as they had in the group 10 main event, with the rest of the field right on their heels.

This time it was Big Al's turn to hang on for the win, with Jeff and Ken rotating the podium spots just behid Al, with Nick Malinoski barely bumped from a podium spot.

Following are the results of the Masters 4.5" FCR main event:

Position - Name - Home State - Qual. Laps - Start Lane - Laps

1 - Al Montoro - New York - 123 - White - 164
2 - Jeff Bonanno - Florida - 124 - Red - 163
3 - Ken Williams - Missouri - 122 - Green - 162+
4 - Nick Malinoski - New Jersey - 122 - Orange - 162
5 - Bobby Davis III - Penn. - 122 - Blue - 159+
6 - Itch - Wisconsin - 120 - Yellow - 159
7 - John Turner - Penn. 120 - Purple - 156+
8 - Tom Miller - Penn. - 119 - Black - 156

This concluded a long day of racing, and was followed by awards presentations and a prize drawing.

Having not eaten since 7 AM, I headed out, as did everyone, for a nice dinner, nearly dozing at the table after an exhilerating day. When I returned to the hotel, the lobby, restaraunt, and bar were still filled with racers, bench racing and catching up with fellow racers and friends into the late hours.

After a couple cups of coffee, I was refueled enough to post these results, but I'll have to deal with posting some pictures tomorrow, after some much needed sleep.

We'll be back on the track early Sunday morning for the GTP classes of racing...

[flyracing]

WOW! I guess some of us old geezers still got it ? Must Have been the Cleveland " Girls gone wild "! Hey I hope you dont bring that luck home with ya ? I gotta beat you next Imca for the final point s battle !Try not to have too much fun while you're there ..........Craig (Fly Racing)

[oldweirdherald]

After a late night last night of racing, awards, prize raffle, then dinner, socializing, and posting results on Saturday night, I slept like a baby... for about 3 hours, sleeping through the clock radio.

I wasn't exactly sure when my race was, as I had heard from other racers that the schedule had been pushed ahead a bit, and I had forgot to check on my race time. I jumped in the shower and got downstairs just in time to turn marshal the heat before my race. I'd have to eat breakfast later.

Next and last up was the GTP class. These cars consisted of a Parma Lola GTP body on a Flexi 3 chassis, Tuna tires, 8-28 gears, and a Parma Super 16-D motor. We would again run qualifying heats for each of the Future Masters, 40+, and Masters drivers classes, followed by the main events with the top 8 qualifying drivers from each class.

First to race was the Future Masters GTP class, which had 22 entries and was run in 3 qualifying heats.

The racing was very close with all of the drivers making the main qualifying within 4 laps of each other. Gary Clinton Jr. TQ'd with 144 laps by mere track sections over Eddie Beard and Charlie Sweet. You could tell this main was going to be close.

And close it was, as the main event field stayed tightly grouped with many position changes all race long.

This race also was probably the longest heat in the seven year history of the Parma Callenge Cup. The racing had run without a hitch and only minor problems all day Friday and Saturday, but the thousands of laps on these cars finally resulted in some of the cars finally succomoning to breakdowns, with three cars suddenly having motors expire. They were promptly repaired or replaced by the Parma pit crew helpers as quickly as possible, with only minor delays, still running ahead of schedule.

The new Parma E.C. Electronic Controllers, which had been used throughout the event also were getting the pre-production shakedown, and a couple of them had minor problems that had to be worked on as well. The 40+ racers and Masters were beginning to tease the Future Masters about using up all of the equipment before our races.

Once the problems were sorted out, the fast pace resumed with Gary Clinton Jr. making it a "trifecta" by winning all three Future Masters events! In fact, all three Future Masters mains were a one-two finish for the two Jr's with Gary Clinton Jr. 1st and Eddie Beard in 2nd! Mark Pirro rounded out the podium in this event.


Following are the results of the Future Masters GTP main event:

Position - Name - Home State - Qual. Laps - Start Lane - Laps

1 - Gary Clinton Jr. - Connecticut - 144 - Red - 202
2 - Eddie Beard - So. Carolina - 144 - White - 200
3 - Mark Pirro - New York - 141 - Yellow - 198
4 - Mike Dennis - Illinois - 141 - Orange - 197
5 - Charlie Sweet - New Jersey - 144 - Green - 195
6 - Bob Boyd - Illinois - 140 - Black - 193
7 - Jeff Strause - Iowa - 141 - Blue - 191+
8 - Brian Wahlig - Missouri - 140 - Purple - 191

[oldweirdherald]

As mentioned above, I had barely make it in time to turn marshal the heat before my race in the 40+ GTP class, then it was time to race. I was concerned that my growling stomach would distract me from my driving, but I would just have to buckle down and suffer. After yesterdays excellent results, I felt fairly confident, but at the same time comforted by the lack of pressure - I could totally blow it in this race, and I'd still go home a very happy camper.

The 23 40+ "Geezer" racers were run in 4 qualifying heats of 6 drivers each. One humorous note was that immediately following our turn marshalling stint prior to our races, it seemed that ALL of the 40+ racers scurried off to the men's rest room. As we were lined up facing the wall taking care of business, I said, "Let's see... I'm in black lane, Jay's in purple, Lou's in yellow, Tom's in blue - hey! we've got the whole 40+ main field right here!". I suggested that I was tempted to put lane stickers above the urinals and that it would make a great photo for OWH showing our backs while standing all lined up under the lane stickered urinals - but the idea got quickly put aside after a chuckle, as we had a race to run!

After the 4 qualifying heats were run, the top 8 main event qualifyers were seperated by only 3 laps, with your Old Weird reporter snagging my second TQ at 147 laps, followed by Brent Adams and Lou Pirro with 146 each. This was going to be another barn burner!

The race was indeed a close one, and by now the cars in white and blue had become noticeably slower. While they were the same for everyone, we all dreaded our heats on those lanes. The first half of the race had Don, Lou, Ben, and Jay all fighting it out front, while the rest of us awaited our turns on the faster lanes. By the 7th heat, things had shuffled a bit, with Don Bonanno out front, and I was in 2nd barely ahead of my now-favorite nemesis, Ben McGuire. and then Jay Kisling. I would have to cross my fingers that I could hang on to a podium spot while finishing in white with the slower car. Don hung on to his lead, while Ben passed me and had his sights set on Don, until he fell off twice, ending his shot at the win, but making it very close for 2nd. I had also hit a wreck, and had my old buddy Jay chomping at the bit to catch me after slipping by to unlap himself when I crashed. We hung on to that order, with Don taking the win, followed by Ben, then me. I was happy, as I now had completed the "cycle" and had a complete set of trophies to take home!

Following are the results of the 40+ GTP main event:

Position - Name - Home State - Qual. Laps - Start Lane - Laps

1 - Don Bonanno - Florida - 144 - Black - 194+
2 - Ben McGuire - Kentucky - 145 - Orange - 194
3 - Paul Kassens - Washington - Red - 193
4 - Jay Kisling - Penn. - 145 - Blue - 192
5 - Lou Pirro - New York - 146 - Green - 191
6 - Tom Marsteller - New York - 144 - Purple - 190+
7 - Jack Nickel - New York - 145 - Yellow - 190
8 - Brent Adams - Illinois - 146 - White - 188

Gotta go eat now.... I'll post the Masters results later tonight (and some pictures!)

[DDDDDDerek]

Congrats paul. Your running hard an making it look good. Guess this shows that old guys still kick butt.

[oldracer2]

Great job of driving Paul! Guess you still have the touch. Since you're so adept with flexi's with fronts and 16D's why don't you become a regular at CFH this summer in our Grp 10 class? Good luck and safe journey home/

[Bobhardt]

Paul, I enjoyed meeting you and thanks a lot for the great coverage of the event. The close racing was great and you did a fantastic job of driving all weekend!

[oldweirdherald]

Thanks guys - I had a ball. Excellent racing, great group of racers, very well organized and run, great meeting OWH readers and new racing friends, as well as seeing old friends again, informative exhibits and seminar, and the list goes on.

I hope that this coverage helps to convey what a great event the Parma Challenge Cup is, and that even more racers will be inspired to participate next year!

[oldweirdherald]

The final race of the 2002 Parma Challenge Cup was the Masters GTP class. By now I'm sure you've gotten the drift that there was a lot of very fast and extremey close racing. This final race had 10 entries and qualifying was run in two 5 man heats. TQ was Ken Williams, followed by John turner and Al Montoro - ALL with 152 laps!

For the entire race, you could pretty much throw a towel over the first few places, with the top six swapping places depending on the lane they were running on. Al, Nick, John, Jeff, Mike, and Ken all ran within a lap or two of each other, while Tom Miller dropped back a few laps, and Bobby Davis was left behind with a few problems as well. It only took one crash to severely shuffle the standings at any point.

Going into the last heat the top 4 cars all within a lap of each other, so the finishing lane was important. John Turner finished up in the fast Orange lane, and he took full advantage of it, pushing it to the limit to barely edge Nick Malinoski in second then Al Montoro finishing right behind in third.

Following are the results of the Masters GTP main event:

Position - Name - Home State - Qual. Laps - Start Lane - Laps

1 - John Turner - Penn. - 152 - White - 199+
2 - Nick Malinoski - New Jersey - 151 - Orange - 199
3 - Al Montoro - New York - 152 - Green - 198
4 - Mike Hefferman - Canada - 151 - Yellow - 197+
5 - Jeff Bonanno - Florida - 151 - Blue - 197
6 - Ken Williams - Missouri - 152 - Red - 196
7 - Tom Miller - Penn. - 149 - Purple - 194
8 - Bobby Davis - Penn. - 147 - Black - 189

Great racing by everyone!

I'll be posting more info and photos online once I get back home!
Don't touch the dial!

[Gary NJ]

Way to go Nick Malinowski (Nicwald) and Charlie Sweet - you Joisey boys done good!

If they ever put a Womp race on the program, these two boys will check out on the field!

And congrats to the geezer from Seattle! From spudgin' gloo at the Barnburner to racing at the Parma CC, is there anything this old guy can't do?!?!?

[glueside]

This was after Nick destroyed everyone elses car by dropping them on the ground or just putting them in the wrong lane.


You had to be there to understand - right Bob?

[Bobhardt]

Hey Jeff.... FU!!
Did Nick made an *** out of himself by dropping the cars too?? I must have missed that. Chickie needs to redesign those car carriers for next year. I think I just experienced equipment failure. Thats the rumor I'm spreading anyway.