USRA 2003 Div II Nats - OWH's Almost Live Coverage

[oldweirdherald]

Expert GT-12

B Semi

1 - Paul Ciccarello - 244
2 - Greg Gilbert - 237
3 - Roy Hood - 235
4 - Micheal Kelly - 219
5 - Jay Guard - 218
6 - Herman James - 217
7 - Rich Rechonie - 214
8 - Joe Carr - 209
9 - Mike Stahl - 90 (can bushing)

A Semi

1 - Paul Gawronski - 239
2 - Phil Helmuth - 238
3 - Alan Ohren - 237
4 - Erkle - 235
5 - Dan Wiegants - 226
6 - Terry Kelly - 219
7 - Jon Toussaint - 214
8 - Chris Radisich - 213
9 - Paul Kassens - 212 (sleep deprivation is my only excuse - I sucked)

Expert GT-12 - Main Event

1 - Paul Ciccarello - 371
2 - Phil Helmuth - 363
3 - Paul Gawronski - 357
4 - Alan Ohren - 356
5 - Erkle - 345
6 - Greg Gilbert - 343
7 - Roy Hood - 336
8 - Michael Kelly - 243

An awesome race, as Paul Ciccarello and Phil Helmuth dualed for the lead throughout the entire race. In the first heat Phil took off in the lead with Chicky in hot pursuit. Paul Gawronski got rear ended and munched his gear right after the start, dropping back to 8th after Ron Hershman did a quick gear change. Greg had his braid ruffled in a crash, and dropped back to 6th in a hurry, but once fixed, he started making up time.

In heat 3, Ciccarello pulled ahead of Phil by a lap while Roy, Alan, Greg, and Erkle all battled closely, while Paul G. gained steadily. Michael was plagued with problems and was in & out of the pits. Erkle was fast, but the wing car veteran couldn't quite keep pace with the seasoned champion Eurosport racers ahead of him.

In heat 5, Paul C. and Phil were tied, running very fast and close, with Alan back a ways in 3rd. In heat 6 Paul C. and Phil were tied still. Greg had caught back up to 3rd with Alan 4th, as Roy smoked a motor, dashing his hopes for a podium finish.

In heat 7 Phil pushed hard to pull ahead of Chicky, and hit a wreck in the 90 and had a wheel come off. Lee Gilbert got the wheel on quickly, but in the scramble to get the car to Lee Chicky pulled ahead by a few laps. Phil drove hard to catch Paul, but the dissapointment showed, as he knew he couldn't catch him easily.

Meanwhile, a real battle was going on for 3rd, as Paul Gawronski had now pulled in within a lap of Greg Gilbert and Alan Ohren in the battle for 3rd.

In the final heat all Phil could do was push hard and hope to catch Paul C. Greg pulled ahead of Alan & Gawronski in 3rd place, when suddenly Greg's car crashed into the wall and broke off his guide tongue. Greg's hopes of making the podium were gone as he was done, while Paul Gawronski completed his comeback to climb back up to a podium finish in 3rd, nipping Alan Ohren by just a lap at the end.

A very exciting race, and yet another impressive national title for Paul Ciccarello - quite possibly the best all-around slot car racer on the planet. Phil Helmuth was awesome, but his dissapointment after losing a wheel and settling for second showed. Paul Gawronski was elated to come back from last place to finish on the podium.

OWH 2003 USRA Div II Nats Photo Gallery

[FUZZY]

Paul
Way to go on coverage of Nat's!
If you can say hey to the guy's from Fl.
DZ, MIKE B, MIKE S, TERRY T, JASON, TOMMY,BIG WILLIE.
ASK HENRY B. FROM FL. IF HE IS HAVING FUN YET!!!
WAY TO GO GUY'S

FROM DAVE

[GearBear]

In heat 7 Phil pushed hard to pull ahead of Chicky, and hit a wreck in the 90 and had a wheel come off.

Hasn't anyone told Phil that if you get a car from Lee you HAVE to check the set screws????

[oldweirdherald]

Amateur GTP

D Quarter Final

1 - Casey Scott - 216
2 - Ben Harms - 213
3 - Mike Lear - 207
4 - Terry Tawney - 206
5 - Thomas Burnside - 202
6 - Mike Wyatt - 200
7 - Damon Caldwell - 170

C Quarter Final

1 - Mike Bresett - 216
2 - Jim Harter - 211
3 - Ron Van Wagnen - 210
4 - William Burnside - 208
5 - Bill "Albatross" Smith - 197
6 - Steve Fowle - 189
7 - John Nelson - 180

B Quarter Final

1 - Greg Wells - 216
2 - Mike Stahl - 204
3 - Elmo - 201
4 - Tom Zinninger - 198
5 - Bill Hower - 191
6 - Brian Youngson - 164
7 - Mike Lemanczyk - 63

A Quarter Final

1 - Axle Rose - 219
2 - Al Rutti - 212
3 - Jason Burnside - 211
4 - Jim Repati - 210+
5 - Brian Greco - 210
6 - Mark Green - 195
7 - Jerry "Boogie" Wyant - 175

B Semi

1 - Ben Harms - 219
2 - Casey Scott - 217
3 - Ron Van Wagnen - 214
4 - William Burnside - 213++
5 - Mike Lear - 213+
6 - Mike Bresett - 213
7 - Jim Harter - 210
8 - Terry Tawney - 207

A Semi

1 - Axle Rose - 216
2 - Greg Wells - 215
3 - Jim Repati - 209
4 - Al Rutti - 208+
5 - Jason Burnside - 208
6 - Mike Stahl - 201
7 - Tom Zinninger - 200
8 - Elmo - 199

Amateur GTP Main Event

1 - Casey Scott - Hacienda Heights, CA - 335
2 - Axle Rose - Buffalo, NY - 329
3 - Jim Repati - Milwalkee, WI - 323
4 - Greg "Cheater" Wells - Norcross, GA - 321
5 - William Burnside - Tampa Bay, FL - 320
6 - Ben Harms - Buffalo, NY - 317
7 - Al Rutti - North Royalton, OH - 311
8 - Ron Van Wagnen - Lorain, OH - 304

This was an exciting race, with very close racing throughout the main. Young Casey Scott from Uncle Kal's Raceway in Monrovia California captures his first Nats title and his second Nats podium of the 2003 Div II Nats.

[glueside]

Great run Jim Repati!!!

[Ben Taxel]

Making an observation.... Isn't the winner of the GT-1 race and 7th place in GTP the National champion amateur from a couple years ago? How Many times can you win the nats before you have to move up to PRO??????....ben

[Mike Wyatt]

To all the USRA people, and the people at Raceway Hobby's for a great time at the Nats.

The guys there were all helpful, especially Terry Kelly, Paul Ciccarello (nothing new here- he always helps), Tom Marsteller, and Monty.

It was my first- and while I didn't do real well, I didn't break, I ran faster than I ever did before, and I learned a lot. I also had fun. And I guess that's all that matters!!

Thanks again, guys!

[oldweirdherald]

1/24 Eurosport

B Semi

1 - Alan Ohren - 426
2 - Phil Helmuth - 425
3 - Tim Wiegand - 405
4 - Roy Hood - 404
5 - Fred Hood - 397
6 - Gugu - 393+
7 - Chris Radisich - 393
8 - Lou Pirro - 386
9 - Ron Van Wagnen
10 - William Burnside - 268
11 - Mike Hunt - 155

A Semi

1 - Greg Gilbert - 440
2 - Paul Gawronski - 434
3 - Herman James - 432
4 - Paul Ciccarello - 429
5 - Joe Carr - 395
6 - Jay Kisling - 391
7 - Rick Richonie - 382
8 - Mike Stahl - 378
9 - Dan Wiegand - 209
10 - Mike Hefferman - 171
11 - Hugh Jardon - 169

1/24 Eurosport Main Event

1 - Paul Gawronski - Petaluma, CA - 748
2 - Paul Ciccarello - North Royalton, OH - 711
3 - Herman James Fairfield, CA - 707
4 - Greg Gilbert - Monrovia, CA - 699
5 - Phil Helmuth San Jose, CA - 669
6 - Tim Wiegand Syracuse, NY - 662
7 - Alan Ohren Riverside, CA - 654
8 - Roy Hood Santa Monica, CA - 640

TQ - Greg Gilbert - 2.846

OWH's 2003 USRA Div II Nats Photo Gallery

Details of the Eurosport main event to follow soon, folks - (it was a doozy!), but everyone is packing up and heading out, and I'm about to be the last one here!

I'm so tired now after going all week with hardly any sleep that I can barely type (I was way too tired to drive decent, so I decided not to enter 1/24 Eurosport to spare the other drivers any possible harm).

One heckuva race!!! Congrats to Paul Gawronski on another very fine drive to yet another National Champ title!

I Gotta go before they lock me in here!!!

[bobby davis]

Just wanted to appoligize for leaving so fast. Congradulations to everyone. Wanted to let you know that my wife and soon to be girl are going to be ok. Thank you god!!! Sorry to have missed out.

[mark g]

We are sorry you left, hope your wife is ok. we were wondering why you were gone.

ben taxel

Yes al Rutti was a past amature champion 90 some thing but they let him run any way they will tell you he quit racing for 5 years but thats not true either. I now you saw him at last years challange cup he's the guy that races with his thumb. anyway now we will know him as a NATIONAL CHAMPION CHERRY PICKER

[Mike Wyatt]

In defense of Al- he did in fact quit racing entirely for about 3 years due to a problem with his hand. His first foray back into racing was the Parma Challenge Cup last June (where he struggled with his hand), and he raced very little locally all year until the Nats.

The Rules are not all that specific about this. The fact remains that someone in charge (your elected USRA Officials) who were THERE felt it was OK for Al to race as an Amateur. You have to trust them to make the right decisions. Others who were not in charge, or who were not there have no right to judge.

Al racing as an Amateur is no worse than "Team" drivers racing as Amateurs (and there are quite a few of those). Al pays for his own racing (gets some help using borrowed cars, I guess). And, he didn't dominate- he had to race HARD for that win, and I think he deserved it.

By the way- Al won Amateur GT-1 using a Turbo controller when his electronic went brakeless!!!

We need to keep things in perspective, guys. His total cash winnings for GT-1 - $64 of raceway bucks after a $35 entry fee. After all- it's toy cars for bowling trophies.

Next year- he's an Expert.

[Bobhardt]

He should have been an expert this year too

[Mike Wyatt]

Be nice. "Feel the love" remember? Toy cars and bowling trophies. You have a good time, do the best you can, and go home happy.

[UncleBuck]

The King track at this years nats, is that the Dadds King from Fastracks at Newark?

[Bobhardt]

Sorry Mike. It's just the way I feel.