E-Town Index Racing Report Race 2 - May 26, 2007
By Edgar Perez
05/26/07 – Englishtown, NJ – Memorial Day weekend, some see it as a Holiday, a day off, a reason to barbeque, the weekend we move into our shore house (who am I kidding)? Today, 31 drivers took it as an opportunity to hit the quarter mile in the hottest, heads-up, index type racing taking race tracks by storm. But before we go on, we should take a moment to read what is stated in the Wikipedia as the definition of Memorial Day.
“Memorial Day is a United States federal holiday that is observed on the last Monday of May. It was formerly known as Decoration Day. This holiday commemorates U.S. men and women who have died in military service to their country. It began first to honor Union soldiers who died during the American Civil War. After World War I, it expanded to include those who died in any war or military action. One of the longest standing traditions is the running of the Indianapolis 500, which has been held in conjunction with Memorial Day since 1911.”
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day
12.00 Index
Surprisingly the class I would have expected to be the most popular was the lightest today. Six drivers made it out to the index race where you run all out with whatever combination you like but cannot run quicker than 12.00. Races are started with a .500 Pro Tree. Raceway Park regular “Awesome” Don Arnesen brought out his ’70 Monte Carlo with all its tricks (stand in front of it while he is in the driver’s seat and you will see) and quickly took his spot on the top of the ladder in first session with a 12.057 @ 112.72. He held it and bettered it with a 12.038 @ 112.58. Lynn Townes, Philadelphia PA with a ’67 Camaro, had trouble in the first qualifying session but bumped his way to the number two spot with a 12.127 @ 110.76. That bump moved previous number 2 qualifier, Dave Hartzell, Easton, PA, with ’00 Camaro to the third spot with a 12.195 @ 113.43. The rest of the drivers, each were bumped down with Bob Caiati, Morganville, NJ in a ’69 Charger, 12.272, Chris Langford, Bloomfield, NJ in an ’89 Mustang 12.275 and Stephen Wells, in a street tired Camaro, at the bottom of the ladder with a 12.504.
Two Camaro's would go first with Hartzell’s ’00 Camaro SS having too much power for Wells’ ’02 Camaro and took a hole shot win with a 12.23 @ 133.76 to Wells’ 12.620. In all fairness, Wells was not even planning to race as he is waiting on a set of drag radials but came down to support the series, on street tires, and we really appreciate him making the effort. Arnesen was staging deep again and would take the reaction lead .018 to .048 over Bob Caiati in the 440 cid Charger. Arnesen handled the stripe as well finishing the quarter mile trip with a 12.142 @ 110.67 to Caiati’s 12.203 @ 110.32. Townes would get a win with a .035 which was not needed as his opponent, Langford, went red with a -.017. The match would have been close with Townes running 12.142 @ 110.67 to Langford’s 12.160 @ 110.18
Round two would be uneven and Arnesen would get the bye as the number one qualifier and he used it to dial in the Monte with a 12.058 on .022 reaction time on the single. In another double Camaro race, Townes would face the Hartzell. Townes laid it on the line with a .025 reaction time and Hartzell was in trouble with a late light. Townes took the ’67 Camaro to the finish with a win light and 12.097 @ 102.73 while Hartzell could only muster a 12.913.
Townes was more awesome in the final treeing “Awesome” Don with a .023 to .051 reaction time lesson. At the top end it was a classic game of “bracketing” as the drivers took a shot at taking as little stripe as possible and Townes gave up the stripe to Arnesen. In a hole shot win, Arnesen has captured his first E-Town Index 12.0 win.
http://challengevideos.com/2007/ETow...winner1280.jpg
Arnesen, Townes and son
Finals Video=
http://challengevideos.com/2007/ETow...Race2_12-0.wmv
11.00 Index
The middle tier class, the 11.0, was the big cheese today with the highest car count at 8. Just like last race, this class was heavy in Corvette attendance. Four of the 8 were Corvettes and one of the remaining four was a Corvette racer in his Mustang. That driver, Eric Fischer, won the 12.0 class at the last race with his Corvette and was in the 11.0 class with his ’92 Mustang today. He took the number 1 spot too!! In a classic “take the number one spot” battle, I came into the second round of qualifying with it at 11.11. In the second and final qualifying session, Scott Bodine, Mt. Holly, NJ in a ’68 Chevelle, who sat in the third spot, took it from me with an 11.073 @ 118.25. Then I came up and took it back with an 11.066 @ 115.99. Then Fischer, who was last on the ladder at the time as he went under 11.0 with a 10.96 in the first session took it from me again with an 11.037 @ 120 .71. So it was Fischer, Perez and Bodine in the top 3. Mike Shaffer, Philadelphia, PA, ’89 Olds Cutlass Supreme could not better his 11.128 qualifying spot from the first round and fell to fourth from 2nd. Joe Latona, Old Bridge, NJ was next in the ladder with an 11.215 @ 119.42 bettering his 11.298 from the first session in his ’03 Corvette Coupe. Ted Colon, Linden, NJ in his ’87 Monte Carlo, which is for sale, was bumped to 6th by this action as he did not better his 11.238 @ 120.18 qualifying pass in the first session. Rob Zona, Jackson, NJ, ’03 Corvette Z06, was breaking in a new clutch and was in at the number 7 spot with an 11.239 @ 126.6 for the seventh spot bumping Ellis Gray, Holland, PA to the 8th and final spot in his ’00 Corvette Coupe in at 11.298 @ 121.21.
There will be no byes in this class with an even 8 cars. Fischer would be first again Latona in round one. Both these drivers were doing double duty running the Trophy Marathon as well (as was Gray). Fischer took the reaction time advantage .117 to 1.52 and had the power to motor over Latona winning the race 11.068 @ 111.38 to 11.180 @ 123.35. Mike Shaffer, one of two drivers playing hooky from the RAM Naturally Aspirated Shootout race they were going to at MIR, would hand it to Ellis Gray with a stellar package. Shaffer was .039 on the tree and a dead-on the index 11.006 @ 119.08 despite taking a nice lead to the line against Gray’s .158 and 11.316 @ 124.35. I was up against Colon, who I faced at the last race too and was fortunate to have the same outcome. I took a .095 to .168 reaction time advantage to the stripe and took the win with an 11.274 @ 115.10 to Colon’s 11.268 @ 120.33. Bodine would face Dr. Rob Zona in the last pair of the round. Zona got off late despite trying to convince himself he was going to take a guess at the tree and made a good pass at 11.125 @ 128.51 but it was not enough for Bodine who advanced with a .226 and 11.029 @ 111.96
On to Round 2 and Shaffer would face the other hooky player, me. Hanging with Shaffer in the pits, I knew he was dead-on the tree today and had just run an 11.006. I focused as hard as I could and we left together which meant he either had a bad light or I finally had a good one. I look left and we are side-by-side and then I look up and see Shaffer has the win light. How could I go red? I could and did and it was a tough one…-.001 red and I was on the trailer and Shaffer was on his way to the final with a .011 light and 11.029 @ 122.22. Fischer would face Bodine next. Fischer was trailing slightly cutting a .107 to Bodine’s .103 and mad that up barley taking the win in the hole shot with an 11.029 to 11.066. Two 11.02 runners were on the way to the final.
In the pre race conversation, Fischer decided he is going to have to hit the tree and that he did. He left the line with an event best .003 and Shaffer was off with his second consecutive .011. As they pulled away, Fischer slowed. There was a problem and he was well off the pace. Shaffer took the win slowing a little to 11.311 on the brakes at 101.02 when Fischer could only bring it home at 12.383 @ 100.40. The issue was related to the program chip not taking on the Mustang for Fischer. Shaffer had taken his first E-Town Index 11.0 win with the 400 cid SBC.
http://challengevideos.com/2007/ETow...winner1280.jpg
Mike Shaffer and Eric Fischer
Finals Video=
http://challengevideos.com/2007/ETow...Race2_11-0.wmv
10.0 Index
The fast guys were just that, fast. Mike Beck, South River, NJ, ’88 Pontiac Firebird, went from worst to first from round 1 to 2 of qualifying for 7 cars. After the first session, he was in at 7 with a 10.439 but got it done when it counted taking the number 1 spot in the second session with a 10.117 @ 135.18. That pass put Craig Curtis, Bayonne, NJ, ’87 Mustang, in the second spot despite him bettering his first pass of 10.187 to 10.164 @ 129.28. Jim Kaiser is next and bettered his 10.194 to a 10.187 @ 121.64 and in safely at number 3. In an oddity in racing, we had an ET tie which is broken by broken by mph for the next two spots. Jack Stiles, Holland, PA, ’69 Camaro and Daniel Dannenborl, Port Jefferson, NY, ’70 Dodge Dart each tripped the clocks with a 10.194 in the first session and could not better it. Stiles got the number 4 spot with his 134.78 MPH to Dannenborl’s 130.12 in fifth spot. Chris Ely, Marlboro, NJ, ’90 Ford Mustang was in the 6th spot with his 10.379 @ 134.16 run in the first session. Mike Conway, Freehold, NJ, ’97 Corvette Coupe, was in the 7th and final spot with the 10.378 @ 135.61 he ran in the first session as well.
Getting the number one spot in this class meant Beck would get a bye run into the second round. He made the pass and cut an .023 light and ran 10.057 in his 414 cid Pontiac and was looking sharp. Stiles would race his Orange Camaro against the Red Vette owned by Conway. Conway had the tree with a .066 to .173 but was short on nitrous and could not hold off Stiles who took the hole shot win with a 10.228 @ 133.37 in the 396 cid Chevy to Conway’s 10.342 @ 136.37. Kaiser would race his own Orange Camaro against Ely in the White Mustang. He took the win over Ely on both ends with a .052 reaction time to .180 and 10.255 @ 132.00 to 10.302 @ 131.48. Curtis would get a nice advantage on the tree which he took advantage of against Dannenborl. His .092 to .205 reaction luxury afforded him the luxury to slow to 10.193 @ 120.04 to 10.183 @ 131.48 for his opponent.
Round 2 and four left. Curtis would hit the track first against Stiles. He cuts a .017 light to Stiles’ decent .063 and they were off. Stiles could not motor with Curtis though. Curtis took the win with a10.359 @ 119.60 to Stiles’ 10.594 @ 136.81 so Curtis advances to the final. Beck was up next against Kaiser and this one was really close. Beck took the lead with a .037 to .064 reaction time. He was a little better on the ET as well for the win with a 10.145 @ 130.83 to 10.152 @ 134.39 on the way to the final.
The final pair on the track and they were off clean. Beck took the lead with a .047 tree and Curtis trailed slightly at .069. Did he have enough to make it up? Beck was across the line at 10.121 @ 136.23, but he was second! Curtis had powered his Ford around the Pontiac and taken the win with a stellar 10.055 @ 130.67. Curtis had taken his first E-Town Index 10.0 win.
http://challengevideos.com/2007/ETow...winner1280.jpg
Craig Curtis (right) with Parents
Finals Video=
http://challengevideos.com/2007/ETow...Race2_12-0.wmv
Summary
Congratulations and thank you go out to all the winners and participants today. This young class shows a lot of promise despite this little attendance hiccup today. A big thank you goes out to Raceway Park, especially Pro Stock Motorcycle rider Eddie Krawiec who made a driver-friendly decision to adjust the payout in racer favor for the half full fields. Each class winner was paid out $200, runner-ups $100 and semi-finalists $50. Three more races remain for this new exciting heads-up on index racing and they are June 9th, July 28th and October 27th. Be sure and check this out because once you have gone heads-up without braking the bank, you will be hooked.
