The final race…
Round 6 of the Crossflow Cup, our hottest race of the year in more ways than one! The Championship battles were blazing, air temp was in the mid 90's and track temps were over 130 degrees in the middle of the day!
36 angry Kent engines roared on track at 8:30 sharp to start the day. It was already warm at this point, and although track conditions weren't perfect, it was the best conditions of the weekend as temps continued to climb and the usual track oildowns worked against us as the weekend rolled by. The JARS stable came out strong, with Martin Lauber and Dr. Nick Colyvas locking out the top two spots early in the qualifying session, before eventually relinquishing the front row to Steve Romak in his now-familiar orange Titan, flanked by Andrew Wait in a very strong performance ending the session P2, only a scant .2 adrift. The rest of the top 10 were mostly familiar faces: Heil, Cross, the aforementioned Lauber and Colyvas while Wade Carter and Greg Hoff (both in their second Crossflow appearances) lined up 7th and 8th. And the final two spots in the top 10 were occupied by Brian's; Forster and Swanson in that order. The session was cut short however with just under 10 minutes remaining though after an unfortunate incident with Jay Streets and Paul Kitchen left us one car shy for the afternoon session. Further complicating matters, the timing loop neglected to pick up around a half-dozen otherwise perfectly functioning transponders.
The sun was high in the sky as our gunfighters rolled out to start the final race of the season, and what a barnburner of a race it was to be. Andrew Wait jumped out to an early (and sizeable at one point) lead, followed by Colyvas, Romak, Heil (Club Ford leader), and Lauber. Colyvas departed the event at the beginning of the second lap, leaving Wait with a bit of breathing room.
Further back, newcomer Spencer Canon in his pretty Lola 340 moved up 3 spots on the opening laps, beginning a charge that would see him as high as 23rd before eventually finishing one spot back in 24th. Friends Rob Thull and Tom Minnich (making his Club Ford debut) began a racelong battle, duking it out with Jeff Rothman's Royale and Dan Wise's Crossle. Paul Kitchen didn't waste his time scything through this battle though, moving up nearly 15 spots to take the hard charger title for the race!
The battle for the final spot on the Club Ford podium was fierce as Neil Porter managed to stay on the tail of 2nd place Brian Forster's Tiga, but never out of reach of Brian Swanson's Van Diemen. Unfortunately the latter duos battle came to an ignominious end a few laps from the end when Porter spun and Swanson got tangled up while avoiding it. But this elevated Tom Duncan's PRS to the final Club Ford podium spot.
Phil Ribbs left his high revving Formula Junior at home this weekend and joined the Crossflow craziness with a lovely Lotus 69. Phil had a great racelong tussle with Mark Keller, Steve Jeffords and George Jewett. George came out the best of this pack at the stripe though. I think Phil will be back for more!
While all this was going on though, the peloton (led by Jellyman Kelly Heil) had closed down on Wait and a hand to hand battle at 100mph was to ensue. Weaving in and out through lap traffic, the lead pack fought it out, swapping positions and lines for the final 3 laps of the race. Heil found his way though first and stretched out a gap, leaving Wait, Lauber and Romak in a three way battle for second, with Carter just adrift ready to pounce at a moment's notice. Passes and repasses occurred as the laps wound down, in typical FF fashion. As the leaders headed for T11 on the last lap, Lauber and Romak were side by side, and that would be how they would finish. Lauber taking for the Historic Ford win, Romak off to his side just inches behind, Wait in 3rd and Carter just off the podium. Andrew would have to settle for fastest race lap when it was all done, having fought it out to the end. Heil came home with the overall win and Club Ford win, with Forster P2 and Duncan P3.
Club Ford Podium
1st - Kelly Heil, 2nd - Brian Forster, 3rd - Tom Duncan
Historic Ford Podium
1st - Lauber Team, 2nd - Steve Romak, 3rd - Andrew Wait
Masters Division
1st - Greg Hoff, 2nd - Ed VanTassel, 3rd - Chris Schoap
PARTY HIGHLIGHTS:
Although our points race was the the first race after lunch, quite a few hearty souls hung around for the festivities. And with good reason, there were lots of prizes and awards to be handed out!
Shippert Racing Services again offered up the prizes for giveaway's. This time another pair of suit dryers were handed out, and the ante was upped with FOUR Longacre digital tire pressure gauges given away. Last time out, we did our "Champagne Sponsors" on the podium and that proved to be a success. So this time there was no less than 50 bottles of bubbly available to be sprayed en masse. Each bottle was custom labeled with the 2021 Crossflow Cup season's events listed out.
Our championship podiums were up next. Club Ford saw Dan Wise's consistency earn him the bronze spot, the always quick Brian Forster in the silver spot, and Kelly Heil taking the top spot. Kelly and his brother Kris were put through the ringer this year. From a mysterious ignition problem that dogged them early in the year, to a small off track excursion that put a ding or two into their beautiful green and white, Ivey powered, Crossle 30F at Laguna Seca early in the summer. Together they fought back from adversity to take the Cypress Lane Trophy! Well done gentlemen!
Historic Ford had some familiar faces. Our perennial championship podium finisher Martin Lauber (in fact, he has been on the championship podium 4 out of the last 5 years) took the bronze spot. Steve Romak showed his consistency and pace at the front with one race win to earn the second spot on the championship podium. But Mr. Three-peat, Danny Baker was able to come home with his third consecutive Crossflow Cup Historic Ford championship and his first Cypress Lane Trophy! Danny opened his 2021 account with a string of wins. His Competition Touring Cars prepared/Ivey Engines powered Lotus 61 was incredibly strong and unbeatable early in the year, winning the first half of the season with bonus points for poles and fastest laps. Can he do it again next year? Time will tell!
Awards were up next! Colin Cross won the rookie of the year for 2021. Although Colin isn't a rookie in the purest sense of the word, he's a rookie to vintage racing. And he's returning to the cockpit after a long layoff. Colin purchased his Van Diemen late in the spring, and was quickly a force to be reckoned with on the track, fighting through adversity, engine problems, and learning how to race on treaded tires and did it all smiling. He will be a threat to the frontrunners next year!
Jay Streets handed out his Garagiste award. This year, the Garagiste was given out to the "long haul" guy: the one who started AND finished every race of the season. Towing to all 6 rounds, and making every green flag lap of every single race was none other than Dan Wise. Congrats Dan!
Next up was our Best Appearing Ford winner. This year, we felt that the choice should really go to someone who does their own work. Someone who puts long hours and effort into making their car look podium ready. The clear choice was Marty Benck with his beautiful tri-colored Titan. For those of you that haven't seen Marty's work in the past, he is known for beautiful sympathetic restorations. The Titan is the latest in his long line of gorgeous machines. Marty missed the party as he was affecting some repair work to be ready for Sunday's races which is why he's not pictured. But if you have a chance next season sometime, seek him out in the paddock and take a look at how it should be done!
Our season MVP award went to Steve Romak. Steve has come a long way in a couple short seasons. He is a bona fide contender every weekend, he has a great attitude and nothing but friends in the paddock. That's not a task easily accomplished but Steve does it with aplomb.
The Ivey boys once again made and donated a beautiful trophy for the Crossflow Cup. This award is our series' highest honor. The recipient represents all the best attributes of our group: camaraderie, competition, respect for one's fellow competitor, and a winning attitude on and off the track. Series founder Andrew Wait was the obvious choice this year. We all owe a debt of gratitude to Andrew for his efforts on our behalf. He is a weather gauge in the paddock, an agitator for our best interests, and has a clear read on what FF racers want and like. There's not a person in the paddock who doesn't know Andrew, and vise versa. He has led this group of misfits open wheel racers to become what is (in our opinion!) the best vintage series on the west coast. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do for the Crossflow Cup, Andrew. And congratulations!
Rookie of Year: Colin Cross Garagiste: Dan Wise Crossflow Cup: Andrew Wait MVP: Steve Romak
Best Appearing Ford: Marty Benck
photo by Vincent Puleo
CLUB FORD 2021 CHAMPIONSHIP
1st Kelly Heil
2nd Brian Forster
3rd Dan Wise
HISTORIC FORD 2021 CHAMPIONSHIP
1st Danny Baker
2nd Steve Romak
3rd Marin Lauber
POINTS STANDINGS:
HISTORIC:
Baker, Danny - 46
Romak, Steve - 40
Lauber, Martin - 35
Wait, Andrew - 30
VanTassl, Ed - 18
Lauber, Ed - 16
Ballantyne, John - 13
Colyvas, Nicholas - 13
Schoap, Chris - 12
Streets, Jay - 12
full list (give or take a point or two due to transponder issues) on website here
CLUB:
Heil, Kelly - 47
Forster, Brian - 40
Wise, Dan - 28
Swanson, Brian - 24
Dezzani, Alan - 22
Cross, Colin - 21
Lynn, Jim - 16
Duncan, Tom - 14
Hill, Ralph - 11
Jaremko, Mark -11
UPCOMING RACES:
Stay tuned for a 2022 schedule...
FUN-DING THE FUN
Thanks so much to our sponsors and those of you that have helped out with either your efforts or financial contributions throughout the season. This couldn't have happened without the help and assistance from Ivey Engines, Scott Young Gearboxes, Shippert Racing Services, and of course our series pointskeeper Dana VanTassel! Thank you all so much! See you in 2022!!
