2010 Cups @ the ‘Bowl

Practice started at around 10am and there were a few racers there as the doors opened. I got there a little late and there were a couple cars tooling around on the track. I got busy getting an extra PA system setup and an extra computer lap counting station setup. By the time I looked up it was 2:30pm and the pits were almost full!!

Controlled practiced started at 2:30 and the day was pretty much under way. After a brief drivers meeting the track was opened for one last session of open practice and we were off.

My son JUST barely finished his cup racer in time and was extremely proud of this handy work!

We had some exciting rounds of qualifying and gave out some goodies during the bracks in between the heats but the fun really started during the mains.

Frank was having so much fun posing with our trophy girls Crystal, Kirsten and Brandi he forgot to show what he won!

 

On to the mains!! The first main up was 1:18 touring and we had a great race, we had a couple of our 1:18 scale touring regulars who couldn’t make it out so the field was a little light for this event but it was no less exciting! Quinn Frazier was the odds on favorite and his car was dialed! Santos Colon was prepped to give Quinn a run in the mains after having to sit out a qualifier, being sabotaged by me (inadvertently I swear!!) and having a speedo blow on him in the third qualifier. He came to the main prepped with a fire breathing Skyrocket racing pack strapped in his car and had an unfortunate mechanical issue prevent him from finishing the main. Jason was very consistent throughout the main and newcomer Chris Reynolds put down a respectable showing for being brand new to racing! We also had a couple guys come out of retirement this season; Tank Barkley and John Pichette finish 3rd and 4th respectively. I couldn’t race as I didn’t have enough time to get my car together, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it hahaha.

The 1:18 Truck class came together at the last minute and these guys had a great time, with the focus on Cup Racers at this event we had a few racers who had trucks so we decided to run them! Tony Heckman who is a ‘Bowl regular had a great showing and drove his truck to a fantastic finish, Tank hot off ankle surgery was hot on his heels in second and Aley and Chris we battling it out for the last podium position!

1:12 was the next main up, again we had a slightly smaller field tonight due to the focus on the cup racers, but they did not disappoint. We had two outstanding racers battling it out at the front and some serious battles for every position on the grid! Jammin’ Jeff Jones was in first place and he really laid down some super consistent laps running away with the victory. Rob Walker JR is normally neck and neck with Jeff but today Jeff was on fire and Rob couldn’t quite catch him. Ray Sundland worked on his car all day and proved to be a force in the main he is consistently getting faster! Ray was a contender but got caught up with a bit of bad luck and fell back in the pack and had to battle his way up to race it to the wire against Rob. Frank was talked into running 1:12 late in the evening and really didn’t intend to field his car, but he did and placed really well with a 4th place showing. Juwan Hunter is a seasoned gas racer coming in to hone his skills for the outdoor season and really showed his skills, his first time on this layout at the ‘Bowl he put down some consistent and fast laps to take fifth in a competitive field. Tank, Marius Achim and Phil Gonesh rounded out our 1:12 class.

The 1:10 B main proved to be the nail biter of the evening. Words cannot convey just how much action went on during this main!! Young gun Brandon Kucienski jumped out to an early lead and did his best to fend off some of the more experienced racers but caught a flapper early in the race and dropped back to fourth place, he managed fight his way back up to second again during the race but the competition was so close with first through 5th separated by 3 seconds at one point, one mistake would take him from the podium to fifth place where he finished. Will Wooten, a very experienced racer, sat back and waited for his opportunity to grab the lead and held it for at least 2 minutes out of this main, but Jason was RIGHT on his bumper and a small mistake on Will’s part saw Jason zip by into first and put Bearther Johnson right behind him. Marius Achim also took this opportunity to move up the grid and put his nose inside Will quite a few turns but couldn’t quite get his car through and deciding that caution was the better part of valor but decided to keep the pressure on Will all the way to the buzzer. While the battles were going on Bearther made a stunning pass on Will in the twisties and managed to keep it going down the back straight. Will took the position back on the SAME LAP, but wasn’t able to keep it. This race finished 6 minutes with the top 4 within 5 seconds of each other, and second and third less than 2 tenths of a second apart, someone should have put their transponder on the front bumper . Anthony ‘Big Ant’ Williams was having some mechanical issues with his car and didn’t have his best showing, he vowed to get the issues worked out and return for the March Muscle Car Madness race to take his place on the podium.

The 1:10 scale touring A main started out as a crowd pleaser! Juan “The Situation” Amador and Aja Archibald, both very fast nitro drivers from mid and northern New Jersey, came to the ‘Bowl today with one and only one goal in mind: Prove who was faster! These two are great friends and bitter rivals on the track they are meticulous about the maintenance of their cars and it really showed when the horn sounded and these two were off! Off the horn Aja was right on Amador’s tail executing a text book pass on lap 2 with a lap that was 5 tents faster than Amadors, the two settled into a break neck pace the rest of the field was hard pressed to match and quickly put a half a lap between them and Jammin Jeff Jones who was currently in third place. The battle at the front was heating up to a boil when Amador kept testing Aja’s nerves trying to force an error but it wasn’t to be!!! Aja was holding Amador off until lap 7 when the unthinkable happened! Aja under extreme pressure from Amador and already putting half the field a lap down tried a bold maneuver and clipped a board putting him out of the race! The crowd let out a collective gasp and then all eyes focused on the battle for second and third. Mushroombowl Nathan Peterson had a tough qualifier and pushed forward quickly to hold fourth place putting his car right on the bumper of Jammin Jeff Jones, but what they didn’t see or expect was Steve “The Boy Next Door” Geist steadily creeping up on them and whittling away their lead. Santos Colon was also not content with simply letting the field drive away from him, and after a mechanical failure took him out of a podium spot in 1:18 touring he was putting the foam down on the carpet like nobody’s business!! As the race progressed to the 5 minute mark Steve Geist had PASSED Jammin Jeff, and Nathan to be in second. Amador had a problem with traffic and lost a couple body clips on his car and was nursing it around the track for 2 laps with times in the 13’s and 14’s this gave Steve all the room he needed and things really got exciting because at the buzzer Steve was less than 3 tenths of a second behind Amador and given another lap would have taken the lead from a last place start in the main! So the order finished up with Amador on top, Steve in second, Nathan in third, Jeff in fourth and Santos in a close fifth.

Now comes the reason for the day! The Cup racers!! The cup racer class has grown from nothing to more than 20 cars here at the bowl. We have a strict rule on spec motors and a very limited number of aftermarket parts that can be used on the cars to keep the costs down and the fun up! Hpi did a great job on these cars with the scale realism and variety keeping the spectators engaged and the racers engaged as well. We have had a bad spate of weather here in the north east and due to the threat of yet more snow left a contingent of Cup car racers from Maryland and some of our local Cup car racers unable to make the event. Never the less we fielded a mixed group experience wise and the show did not disappoint!

The Cup racer B main was comprised of a couple of Max Pennington, Marlon Skyers and Brent Ballie. The race started cleanly and you could tell from the tone the racers meant business, taking the first corner like they were at Laguna Seca! Brent Ballie jumped out to an early and commanding lead over the field but on the 12th lap had a terrible crash into the boards and had to retire. Marlon Skyers, himself a seasoned nitro and electric driver at the ripe old age of 11, put his brand new cup car through its paces and lead for a few laps during this feature. Max was not to be denied however and drove on to win the event by almost 3 full laps, both Brent and Marlon have made it known that it won’t happen again hahah.

The Cup racer A main was a grudge match. John Swyka has been mopping the floor with all the racers in the cup class even with controlled motors! To boot my JR servo died just before the main started, locked up tight! The race started with John Swyka and Nathan Peterson locked in a neck and neck battle for the lead they snaked through the corners and weaved through traffic in a way that if you blinked your eyes quickly you could almost be watching a full scale vintage event! The battle continued for 7 laps with the other racers giving room to the two leaders to battle it out. Nathan got stuck in a board on lap 8 and John was off, having a little breathing room John settled into a consistent pace and keep ticking off laps in the mid to low 11’s while Nathan was pulling every trick from his bag to try and gain some ground in doing so he found himself in the boards again! Bill “Glitch” Gordy was right there and on Nathan. Glitch is a veteran nitro driver and really doesn’t like to come in second much less third so giving Nathan an easy time of it was absolutely out of the question. Bill continued to pressure Nathan and ended up finishing in third only 5 tenths behind Nate. Frank was fast and consistent but was having some trouble battling sleep (it was almost 2 am at this point) and it showed hahaha. James Hawkins was a cup car newcomer and put in a respectable showing, James Walton rounded out the A with his first and definitely not his last A main appearance.

 

And that my friends was the 2010 Cups @ the ‘Bowl. We had a ton of food, some outstanding give aways, some great sponsors and a great time was had by all. The event ran until 2:30am and the entire field was there including the kids. My son Lucas is 3 and he was hanging in there with the rest of us!!

We had more than 40 racers show up even with the threat of weather and the grandstands were full of spectators for most of the evening. One count was almost 100 people in the building at around 9pm. I’d again like to thank HPI Racing for helping us to make this possible. Without their support we could not have had such a successful event. Fantom Racing, for their continued support of our onroad program, Skyrocket racing (that is me) and Pat’s Pizza for their support and food!! I’d also like to extend a special thanks to Irrgang Racing for making the trip and providing the racers with the assistance the needed. Please stay tuned to this thread for a sidebar on Irrgang as he had some prototypes at this event that were HOT! Come join us for our Muscle Car race in March, and definitely put this date on your calendar for next year!

You can view more photos at the Mushroom Bowl website (www.mushroombowl.com) click the “gallery” link at the top. You can also buy printouts in poster sizes from various online printers from the site.
Thank you all again for your help and support, without you racing would not be this much fun!

The 2010 Cups @ ‘Bowl was made possible by the generous sponsorship from HPI Racing, Skyrocket Racing, Fantom Racing, Exotek Racing, Pats Pizza of Kennett Square, Swyka’s Auto Repair and IRS (Irrgang Racing)!

 

Source: The Mushroom Bowl