For newcomers setting out to make their mark in racing history, victory is driven by the true essence of the racer, determination and heart.

Which approach proves more successful? Only time can tell and with my truck loaded with racing gear and camera equipment I set out with my buddy Scott Law in search of some answers, awesome racing and maybe a brief escape to some warmer weather.

"It's 1200 mile to Orlando, we've got a full tank of gas, a case of soda, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses... Hit it!

ONROAD

An entire weekend of dominating 1/12 Stock led to Jeff Dayger taking TQ honors and victory in the main. Jeff Cuffs started right behind Dayger and after a very close race, edged out Jason Schreffler for second. Tim Heiser finished fourth in front of Peter Robinson in fifth.

Start- Jeff Dayger wasted no time putting some space between himself and the rest of the field running a nearly an entire second faster on his very first lap. Drew Ellis grabbed the two spot with Jeff Cuffs in tow.

Lap 20- This race was all Jeff Dayger is as he wheeled his CRC Carpet Knife to a comfortable lead over the field. Behind him the battle on the track was for second as Jason Schreffler worked hard to catch Jeff Cuffs who was in second.

Finish- After eight minutes of solid racing, Jeff Dayger finished on his own lap in the top spot. Jeff Cuffs managed to hold off a late race charge by Jason Schreffler who finished just two tenths of a second back in third place. Tim Heiser finished fourth followed by Peter Robinson who rounded out the top five. Sixth went to Michael Skeen, followed by Mark Smyka who's amazing run of three consecutive wins in 1/12 Stock came to end as he finished seventh. Chris Mazzola, Drew Ellis, and TJ Bradley closed out the rest of the field.

TOURING STOCK

Between his tear in GTP Stock and his solid TQ in Touring Stock, the rest of the field only had one question. "What do we do about Jeff Dayger?" Dayger again took down the victory followed by TJ Bradley, Peter Robinson, Eric Anderson and Quincy Hughes who finished fifth.

Start- Getting a clean start can be the key to winning and that's just what Jeff Dayger did to take the lead off the start. Behind him TJ Bradley got by Peter Robinson for second. As they came through the infield, Robinson got hung up letting Ales Lopez eventually take over in third.

Lap 6- With Dayger checked out and Bradley solidly in second, Peter Robinson had recovered to get by Lopez for third. Jarrod Langlois, who was close on Robinson's bumper squeezed by to drop Lopez to fifth.

Lap 16- Robinson pushing hard, began to close in on Bradley who was working through traffic. Fourth place Langlois hit the wall hard breaking out of the race with less than a minute and a half to go letting Eric Anderson sneak up into fourth.

Finish- Dayger, with his Putnam Propulsion powered rides, was simply unstoppable all weekend and breezed on two his second win of the weekend followed by TJ Bradley who was able to hold off Peter Robinson. Eric Anderson finished fourth, in front of Quincy Hughes for a solid top five in his first year running on-road (who said oval guys can't turn right!). Chris Mazzola finished sixth with Alex Lopez, Ron Atomic closing out the cars that finished the race. Jarrod Langlois and Jeff Cuffs were both out early and finished ninth and tenth respectively.

1/12 GTP MOD

Regardless of what happens you can always count on Mike Blackstock to be strong in 1/12 GTP Mod. Mike took TQ for a third straight year and drove his Trinity Black Widow on to the win. Jon Orr finished second in front of Todd Hodge, Hubert Honigl, and Mike Dumas.

Start- Off the line and threw the infield went Mike Blackstock but a quick move by Jeff Dayger put Mike back to second with AE's Jon Orr in third.

Lap 12- A more technical layout this year made getting through the infield a decision maker this year. As Dayger led the field through, he clipped a pipe, handing the lead back to Blackstock who was followed closely by Orr and Todd Hodge.

Lap 22- With Orr right on his tail, Blackstock didn't have any room for error. The two had stretch out on the field as Dayger ran consistently fast laps to pull back up to third. Laps later Orr, who clipped a pipe, fell into the clutches of Dayger who took over the two spot while Blackstock began to lay down the Monster Horsepower.

Lap 38- Blackstock, still in the lead, now had Dayger in his rear view mirror. That is until Dayger caught the wall and broke a right front steering block letting Orr take second back for good with Hodge in third.

Finish- When the smoke cleared it was Blackstock, putting Trinity back on top of 1/12 Mod, with Jon Orr, Todd Hodge, Hubert Honigl, and Mike Dumas closing out the top five. Sixth went to Jari Taskila, with Josh Cyrul in seventh. Jeff Dayger finished a heartbreaking eighth after a late race charge on the leader, followed by Simo Ahoniemi, and Mike McMahon both out early as well.

TOURING 19T EXPERT

Coming off his win in Cleveland, Paul Lemiuex and his XRAY T2 were a force to be reckoned with coming from the second spot to take the win. Mike Blackstock finished second in front of Mike Dumas, last years winner Jilles Groskamp and Joel Myrberg making it an all XRAY top five.

Start- Mike Blackstock took off from the pole with Paul Lemiuex in is draft. Mike Dumas and Jilles Groskamp pulled in close as Lemiuex rubbed a wall but could not capitalize on the slip up as Paul held onto second.

Lap 10- Exiting the infield with Lemiuex applying heavy pressure, Blackstock clipped a pipe give Paul the lead. Down the straighaway, Dumas took a look inside of Blackstock but wasn't able to make the pass.

Lap 17- After falling back a few lengths Dumas again went to work on Blackstock and the two swapped the second spot back and fourth lap after lap letting Paulie Works stretch out to a solid lead. After trading back and fourth Blackstock got the second spot back for good and went to work trying to catch Lemiuex.

Finish- At the line Lemiuex took his second major win for XRAY in front of Blackstock, Dumas , Jilles Groskamp and Joel Myrberg. Jeff Cuffs drove his Corally to a solid sixth place finish in front of Barry Baker, Teemu Leino, Victor Wilck, and Jared Scott.

TOURING 19T SPORTSMAN

After TQ'ing, Brandon Melton wheeled his T2 to the win. Larry Fairtrace finished second in front of Mark Smyka, Eric Anderson, and Jari Taskila who rounded out the top five.

Start- As Brandon Melton took off into the lead the field mixed up behind him. Across the line for the first lap it was Melton, followed by Mark Smyka all the way from the fifth spot with Larry Fairtrace in third.

Lap 9- Melton still out front, the battle on the track was for second; Fairtrace got the line on Smyka and took the spot away. A lap later Smyka fell back to fourth as Jari Taskilla got by for third.

Lap 17- After getting stuck on a pipe Taskilla let Smyka go by to take the third spot back again with Eric Anderson in tow.

Finish- Racing to the line Melton , leading wire to wire, finished three seconds ahead of Fairtrace, with Smyka coming home third. Eric Anderson finished fourth in front of Jari Taskilla. Chris Mazzola came home sixth with Donny Schaff, Jarrod Langlois, Keith Koway, and TJ Bradley rounding out the field.

TOURING PRO MOD

It seems that Jilles Groskamp set a new precedent last year by winning 19t Expert and Pro Mod. This year it was Paul Lemiuex's turn as he went two for two winning Touring Pro Mod. Mike Dumas finished second in front of Mike Dumas, Ralph Burch and Teemu Leino with his Schumacher EC.

Start- Paul Lemiuex got out to a clean start with Mike Dumas and Mike Blackstock in tow. Lemiuex made quick work of putting his Truespeed powered T2 well ahead of the field.

Lap 8- Behind the top three the battle raged on for fourth spot between Ralph Burch, Matt Francis, and Billy Easton. First it was Easton mixed out putting Burch in third but Francis took the spot on the next lap. Burch fought back and but lap ten, third was back in Burch's possession.

Lap 15- With a lead as large as Paul's, the only thing that could stop him was lapped traffic. Coming into the keyhole at the beginning of the infield, Lemiuex was met by a wreck that had collected nearly everyone in the field. Where disaster could have struck Lemiuex zigged and zagged his way through the pile (I think I even saw him drive underneath an airborne car!).

Lap 20- Lemiuex now had a three second lead over Dumas, behind them Burch got by Blackstock for third and would hold onto it until the last lap.

Finish- The huge crowd watching erupted as Paul Lemiuex took the win followed closely by Mike Dumas. Mike Blackstock got back by Burch for third with Teemu Leino coming home fifth. Matt Francis finished sixth with Billy Easton, Todd Hodge, Chris Tosolini, and Victor Wilck finishing out the field.

OVAL

TOURING 6-CELL 19T

Taking TQ had Tony Moffre feeling pretty confident about his A-main performance but a early race wreck gave the lead and win to Eugene Ryder. Dan Dolber II finished second (that’s sort of cool!) in front of Mike Haney, Kenny Snodgrass, and Scott Meeks.

Start- Off the start, Tony Moffre held onto the top spot with Eugene Ryder in second. Behind them, the field traded paint as they pressed hard to gain early track position.

Lap 6- Moffre’s A-Main dreams were soon just that, dreams, as he got caught up in lapped traffic and was broken out of the race. Eugene Ryder found him self well into the top spot with Dan Dolbert II half a lap back and third place Mike Haney right in front of Ryder.

Lap 25- Ryder puts a lap on second place Dobert. Behind him, Kenny Snodgrass had his rear view mirror full of Mike Haney for third.

Lap32- Haney got by Snodgrass for third and set his sights on Dolbert who was right in front of him.

Finish- At the line it was Ryder by a hefty three lap lead. Behind him Dolbert edged out Haney by less than a second for second, Haney finished third in front of Snodgrass and Scott Meeks in fifth. Sixth went to Russell Smith who was the last car running, with Tony Moffre, Chuck Kleinhagen, Butch Beebe, and Philip Harwood all DNF’ing after some early race sticker peeling.

1/12 19T
Steve Pemberton was the man to beat in 1/12 19T as he TQ’d and took the win. Mark Recio finished second with Joel Winnicki, Mike Bean, while Jake Rosen wheeled his Mini Maverick to round out the top five.

Start- As Steve Pemberton got away clean, Dusty Kemp and Billy “Fred” Kimpton piled up in turn three dropping them to eigth and nineth.

Lap 6- More bad luck for Kimpton as he tangled with Marty Bower. Out front it was Pemberton with teammate Joel Winnicki in second.

Lap 19- Mark Recio got by Mike Bean for third while Jake Rosen and Sonny Brown battled it out for fifth.

Lap 50- After little action on the track for the better part of a minute Recio found himself on Winnicki’s bumper. Going into turn three, Recio got the line and took away the second spot.

Finish- Steve Pemberton led wire to wire and finished on top followed by Mark Recio, Joel Winnicki, Mike Bean, and Jake Rosen. Sonny Brown finished sixth in front of Dusty Kemp, Marty Bower, Johnny Broyles, and Billy Kimpton.

6CELL SPRINT

A new class put on my Custom Works, the Sprint Car class featured wingless Custom Works GBX cars and some close open wheel racing. Canada’s favorite son, Steve Salvas took the win by just one second over CW’s own Arnie Fie and Rob Cutman. Todd Putnam finished fourth in front of Kip Ellerbusch.

Start- Off the rolling start, everyone scrambled for position as the field got turned upside down.

Lap 5- Once things settled in a little it was “hired gun” Mike Valentine behind the wheel of Todd Putnam’s Putnam Propulsion rent-a-ride in the lead followed by Rob Cutman and Steve Salvas.

Lap 17- Cutman capitalized on Valentine lack of open wheel experience as he put the two touched wheels with Valentine coming up the big loser, dropping him to fourth and moving “Mr. Snowbirds” Mike Boylan and Steve Salvas up to second and third.

Lap 28- With the closest racing of the weekend on the track, Steve Salvas got by Boylan and Cutman in one lap to take the top spot for good.

Finish- Coming to the checkers with was Salvas followed Mike Boylan, Rob Cutman, Mike Valentine and Kip Ellerbusch finishing in the top five. Dave Loughead finished sixth. Christian Ginter came home seventh in front of the last man standing Chris Brimmer. Michael Gitchell and Eric Salvas closed out the field with DNF’s.

1/12 PRO MOD

Josh Cyrul proved unstoppable behind the wheel of his CEFX pocket rocket as he TQ’d and won 1/12 Pro Mod. Phil Marabella finished second, with Steve Pemberton, John Firsching , and John Hauenstein completing the top five.

Start- Clean starts had been the key to winning so far, and Cyrul got away quick with Marabella on his back bumper.

Lap 4- Behind the leaders third place Joel Winnicki traded paint with Mike Bean and the two found themselves out of the race shortly thereafter. John Hauenstein picked up the third spot with Steve Pemberton right behind him.

Lap 39- Steve Pemberton got by Hauenstein when Steve got into John’s fender dropping him to fifth.

Lap 42- Back up front Josh Cyrul had run away from Marabella and soon put his first lap on him for a lap on the entire field.

Finish- One more time by Marabella on the last lap put Cyrul two laps up on the field for the win. Phil Marabella finished second in front of Pemberton. John Firsching finished fouth while John Hauenstein held onto fifth. RC4Less’s Bruce Triplett came home sixth in front of Danny Bartholomew, Jason Hack, Joel Winnicki, and Mike Bean.

STOCK

Alan Behler gave RIP Motorsports their first Birds win in Stock while Steve Downs finished second in front of Michael Lively, Todd Putnam and fourteen year old Bobby Scherff.

Start- Polesitter Eric Salvas led the field down for a clean start with Steve Downs and Alan Behler behind him.

Lap 10- Chaos! As cars piled up everywhere Salvas led the top three around and down the back straight only to be collected in turn three and broken out of the race. Downs took over the lead under fire from Behler.

Lap 19- After a early race wreck Michael Lively was pulling his way back up through the field and got by Shane Schmidt for third.

Lap 44- Alan Behler had his sights set on the top spot and after about ten laps of swapping back and fourth with Steve Downs, got by for the lead. 

Finish- Alan Behler took the win edging out Downs by less than half a second. Michael Lively recovered well to finish third with Todd Putnam and Bobby Scherff finishing in the top five. Shane Schmidt settled into sixth in front of Chris Ulbrik, Doug Parisano, Dan Hood and Eric Salvas.

PRO MOD

Pro Mod was a battle of attrition for many but it was Greg Honeycutt coming from the pole to win. Monti Panzica finished in second ahead of Daryl Silva, Sean Cochran, and Pete D’Agnolo.

Start- “Trouble in turn 1” After capitalizing on a lap to wreck first place Brian Ziegler went from leader to bleeder as he was out of the race on lap three with a broken car. Greg Honeycutt took advantage and the top spot a lap later. 

Lap 8- Laps after the trouble at the start, Roman Pemberton and Rick Talbot who also got collected in the wreck, pulled off laps later. Back up front Frank Ulbrik got by Honeycutt for the lead and looked as though he wasn’t going to give it back up.

Lap23- More trouble in turn two caused Ulbrik to forfeit the lead back to Honeycutt. Behind the change for the lead, Daryl Silva and Monti Panzica were battling for third.

Lap 36- Trouble struck Frank Ulbrik on lap thirty six knocking him out of the second spot and the race. This moved Silva up to second and Cochran up to third.

Finish- And that’s how they finished up. Taking down the win, it was Jeff Honeycutt followed by Monti Panzica, and Daryl Silva to give Silva Concepts a 1,2,3 finish with their X-Factor4 car. Sean Cochran finished fourth with Pete D’Agnolo rounding out the top five. Sixth was Kevin Koback as the last car running. Seventh on down was Frank Ulbrik, Rick Talbot, Roman Pemberton, and Brian Ziegler.

SPORTSMAN 19T
 TQ went to Bobby Scherff but it was ole’ sly Barry Hill from Hyperdrive taking the big “W” for the third year in a row. Mike Bush finished second with Michael Bedner in third. Fourth went to Walter Stuber who led Bobby Scherff to close out the top five.

Start- At the horn Dave Puliafico got a jump on 14yr old TQ Bobby Scherrf to lead from the three spot but tangled with Mike Bush two laps later, dropping him back to eighth and giving the lead to Marty Bower followed by the Maverick of Jake Rosen

Lap 9- Rosen got stuck in turn three, sending him back to eighth and Barry Hill from Hyperdrive up to second.

Lap 15- More trouble on the track collected the leader and sending him back to third, allowing Hill to take the top spot and Bush, who had rallied after his wreck, to sit second.

Lap 26- Bower dropped again, this time to sixth and then seventh giving third to Walter Stuber with Michael Bednar in tow. The two would go on to trade the third spot back and fourth for the remainder of the race 

Finish- For the third straight year Barry Hill took the Sportsman 19T win, this year followed by Mike Bush, Michael Bednar, Walter Stuber, and Bobby Scherff in fifth. Marty Bower recovered a little ground to end up sixth in front of Jake Rosen, Scott “my man Pat” Law in eigth, Caleb Mullins and Dave Puliafico in tenth.
 
EXPERT 19T

Taking TQ wasn’t enough for Rick Talbot as he led wire to wire dominating a topsy-turvy field. Brian Ziegler had early trouble but recovered to finish second in front of Corey Heft, Steve Salvas and Kevin Koback.

Start- Off the tone, Rick Talbot got out into the lead and never looked back. Behind him Hays Reeling Jr. hit the pipe in three and four and dropped to tenth and pulled off seven laps later to give the rest of the field a fair and clean race.

Lap 15- Trouble in turn four allowed seventh place Corey Heft to gain a few spots just a few laps later he was as high as fourth.

Lap 19- Back up front Talbot was a freight train with no cars as he layed it down on the rest of the field on a lap of his own.

Lap 23- A collision between between second place Jamie Raymer and Adam Liehr turned the field upside down. By the time all was done, it was Brian Ziegler climbing all the way up into second from nineth in a early race wreck.

Finish-.After running out the second half of the race fairly uneventful, it was Rick Talbot taking the win by a lap over Brian Ziegler. Corey Heft was third in front of Steve Salvas and Kevin Koback in fifth. Jamie Raymer, Johnny Broyles, Adam Liehr, Dusty Dean and Hays Reeling Jr. finished out the second half of the ten car field.
 
6CELL FACTORY MOD

Last up was the big show, 6cell mod and with a $500 purse up for grabs it was Monti Panzica who grabbed the cash taking the win. Brian Ziegler was runner up in second while Pete D’Agnolo, Kevin Koback, and Erik Steenhoven finished out three through five.

Start- A relatively clean start yielded TQ sitter Sean Cochran to the lead with Monti Panzica in his wake.

Lap 19- With lap times in the range of 3.5secs and speeds of nearly 60mph, things can fall apart in a real hurry and that’s just what happened. A massive wreck collected the field except for Panzica who slipped by unscathed. Frank Ulbrik, Andy McClellan and leader Sean Cochran weren’t going to win the money but they did beat everyone else back to their pits with what was left of their cars.

Lap 26- Erik Steenhoven was the first to get back on his feet and took second spot followed by Brian Ziegler. Ziegler wasn’t about to let Erik get away and took the two spot only to trade it back and fourth for the next twelve laps. 

Lap 39- Ziegler wasn’t about to let Erik get away and took the two spot only to trade it back and fourth for the next twelve laps.  With Panzica on a lap of his own, Steenhoven got caught in one last accident dropping him to fifth.

Finish- Finishing two lap laps up on a battered and tattered field, Monti Panzica was five hundred smackers richer. Brian Ziegler held on to finish second in front of Pete D’Agnolo, Kevin Koback and Erik Steenhoven. Ironman Josh Cyrul closed out a week of racing both on-road and oval in sixth in front of Tommy Smith, Sean Cochran, Frank Ulbrik, and Andy McClellan.

CONCLUSION

What can I say other than what an excellent week of racing! Another awesome show by Mike Boylan and the Thunder Racing Crew made for some super tight racing and good times. Usually I’d thank everyone involved for a great race but this year RC Driver would like to congratulate Mike Boylan and his wife Julie on the birth of their daughter Emily Sue. Looks like we’ll be running the Birds for many many years to come. New faces emerged champions and another historic year of 24hour a day racing was behind us.! So with the car loaded to the roof with gear, it was time to head home… to get some sleep; at least until next year.

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