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Finally! Finally? Finale.
The 2022 season wound to a triumphant close this past weekend. The cool cloudy mornings gave way to warm afternoons and with sunny skies signaled the changing seasons, and indeed the Crossflow Cup had its own changes to contend with. We went into our final 2 rounds not knowing who would come out as HF champion; Martin Lauber was leading the points but 3-time champ Danny Baker, Wade Carter, Steve Romak and Andrew Wait were hot on his heels. In the CF ranks, Kelly Heil looked like he would be tough to surpass but strange things have happened over the past few races...
Qualifying 1:
Friday had taken a few cars from our ranks so we were winnowed down to what people in Indiana call a full grid of 33 cars when they rolled off to start qualifying just after 10 am on Saturday. First lap under FCY meant that the grid was packed up tight when the green flag waived and drivers got down to business. Kelly Heil was first to strike with an opening lap of 1:46.6. This would prove fast enough to secure the top spot until lap 5 when Steve Romak unseated him, followed by Andrew Wait both with mid 1:46's. The close of the session saw the top 6 cars all within .5 of a second, all in the mid/high 1:46's. A little further back we saw some familiar faces, Marty Benck making his only series appearance this year, closely followed by perennial CF contender Brian Forster, with series newcomer Terran Swanson set to roll off from the #15 spot.
Race 1:
What was shaping up for a heck of a donnybrook for the top spot ended up going the other direction as "Steamroller" Steve Romak went flag to flag leading every lap to take his first win of a strong season. Behind him though, it was a mosh pit. 6th place starter (and points leader) Martin Lauber was on a mission to score as many points to add to his tally as possible on his march to 2nd place, fighting his way through the scrum of usual suspects. Andrew Wait struggled with front end grip after a hard opening salvo overheated his front tires, and Art Hebert finished where he started in 4th place. Danny Baker needed a good points finish to keep his championship hopes alive, but it was not to be as he ended up closing out the top 5.
Will Jackson showed that he was just heating up this weekend though as he finished in a strong 6th place (foreshadowing another strong finish yet to come), and the midfield showed another incredibly strong performance. Seasoned veterans like Ed Lauber, Jay Streets, Tom Duncan, Ed VanTassel, and Mike Wirrick were slugging it out with our "Hoosier on Avons" Terran Swanson. Brian Forster turned his bad battery on the grid into a good result as he worked his way 13 spots forward to earn the Reilly & Co Hard Charger award earning him a $100 gift card to Wine Country Motorsports. Alex Dodd continued to improve and moved forward a spot from his starting position, and Michael Malone enjoyed his first ever Crossflow Cup experience by battling it out with Fred Greis early on.
Our Club Ford fight was won by Jellyman Kelly Heil, but Brian Swanson showed that he has the pace to run with Kelly and will definitely be a threat in races to come. Neil Porter, James Hakewill, and Tom Duncan filled out the top 5 in Club Ford. Tom Minnich moved up 5 spots to finish just inside the top 10 in class, finishing a sneeze ahead of Spencer Canon and "Mongoose" Jeff Rothman.
The Masters podium saw familiar faces as Chris Schoap stood proud at the top step, flanked by Crossle runner Jim Lynn and Dave Sandlin who made some big jumps forward throughout the weekend!
Saturday Masters Podium - Jim Lynn, Chris Schoap, Dave Sandlin
Saturday CF Podium - Brian Swanson, Kelly Heil, Neil Porter
Saturday HF Podium - Martin Lauber, Steve Romak, Andrew Wait
Brian Forster - winner of the $800 cash "entry fee" prize (courtesy of Formula Ford zealot Ethan Shippert)
Mike Wirrick - raffle winner of a set of Avon tires (courtesy of Roger Kraus Racing and Shippert Racing Services)
Tom Minnich's, FFanciest FFord winner
Series MVP: Kelly Heil
SUNDAY FUNDAY
Qualifying 2:
Tensions were high as the cars rolled to grid to go out for Round 6 qualifying. Saturday's race had shown that the grid was to be so close and the racing so furious, that from front to back our racers knew it was going to be hard to move around much past where they qualified. Early season points leader Andrew Wait drew first blood, with a 1:46.3 time to take the pole on lap 3. Baker proved that the venerable Lotus wasn't yet to be counted out of the hunt when he took the outside front row spot on lap 5, followed by Heil, Romak, Hebert, and the elder Swanson. Will Jackson was again near the pointy end of the grid, showing that his Saturday pace was no fluke, and the final spots in the top ten were filled out by Martin Lauber's Titan, the always pretty Lotus of Paul Kitchen, and SCCA standout James Hakewill.
Chris Schoap was on a mission and showed the midfield that he was there to play with a very rapid lap to take the 14th spot, Tom Minnich found some serious pace from the previous day and cracked into the top 20, Alex Dodd showed that persistence pays off as he continued to march his way forward on the grid to roll off 24th, Max Minshull showed he was coming to grips with Sonoma's challenges with a 26th spot effort just ahead of series regular Jack Wilson's red Winkelmann, and Spencer Canon's very pretty Lola rounded out the top 30. The final few spots on the grid would see Steve Jeffords inside of Richard Hybels's Crossle, followed by another newcomer in Michael Malone with his pretty yellow Van Diemen and the always lovely Mk5 Titan of Fred Greis.
Race 2:
As the final green flag of the season waved, the field went 3 and 4 wide up the hill and under the walkover bridge. Polesitter Wait chose the right side of the road giving him the inside heading into T2, whereby he took the point and attempted to run as easy a pace as he could to keep his front tires under him. Baker ran in P2 early on with Heil behind, but Hebert was able to move past both of them and sit with Wait clear to the finish. Where was Steve Romak though? He stopped off on the side of the road on the pace lap for a latte and a biscotti to give the guys at the front a fighting chance it seems as he was tearing his way through from dead last on the grid, earning himself the Reilly & Co Hard Charger award for his troubles.
There were two standout performances underway though, one by the Titan of Will Jackson who was hanging right with the lead pack and did so the whole way, running as high as 4th in class (5th overall) one point before finishing up in 5th. Chris Schoap was feeling his oats as well and flat ran away from his usual competition, finishing inside the class top 10 and taking the top spot of the Masters podium.
Martin Lauber drove a smart race and took home 4th place points, which was enough to seal his first ever Crossflow Cup championship, while Wait came home on the top step of the HF podium, flanked by Hebert and Baker. Wait and Baker were to tie for the for 2nd place in the HF championship points with Wait's wins serving as the tie breaker to give him the spot.
In Club Ford, Kelly Heil again came home on top, again with Swanson and Porter on either sides of him. Ironically, this was how they would finish in the championship points as well, with Kelly repeating his 2021 honors. Back to the race results, Brian Forster took home the 4th spot, and Tom Duncan in his PRS rounded out the top 5. Max Minshull showed great pace to finish out his first Crossflow weekend by finishing 6th, followed by David Dupuis gorgeous Gemini, Spencer Canon, Jeff Rothman and Jim Lynn's Crossle finishing in the 10 spot. Richard Hybels and Michael Malone were next in line with Malone showing more improvement and his pace knocking on the door of breaking a 2 minute lap (a great achievement for his first Crossflow weekend!)
For those that didn't know, your own Captain Crossflow was asked to helm Tom Minnich's Tiga for the race (that was MY orange helmet, not his!), and starting at the back allowed me to see how hard everyone was fighting, but at the same time how clean all the racing was. I am so proud of every one of our racers. I really honestly feel that the Crossflow Cup is the BEST Formula Ford racing in the country right now. There is no place with the depth of grid, the skill and fairness, and (hopefully) the fun factor is right there too! Well done to all of you for making it so hard for me to find my way forward in the race!!
Crossflow Cup Award: Ed & Dana VanTassel
Mechanic(s) of the Year: Reilly & Co
The spoils of victory!
Rookie of the Year: Wade Carter (accepted by Danny Baker)
PARTY HIGHLIGHTS
A great time was had, raffle tickets were sold, beer was donated by Brian Swanson, many laughs were had and memories were made. Kelly Heil won the Series MVP for his efforts to push himself to the front of the grid, FFanciest FFord was awarded to Tom Minnich's Tiga, Wade Carter was the winner of the Rookie of the Year award for his standout performance in his first real season of Crossflow competition (albeit slightly truncated, hope to see you back at the track soon Wade!), and the Mechanic of the Year award went to Brent, Dan and the guys at Reilly & Co for their efforts to keep their guys smiling, running and moving to the front.
The highest honor our series has to give is the Crossflow Cup. This is a spirit award for the person (or in this case, people) that represent the best of what our series stands for. The trophy is handmade by Colin Ivey and the symbolic weight of this award is only rivaled by it's actual weight. For the 2022 season, Ed and Dana VanTassel were awarded the Cup. For those who don't know, Ed is one of the nicest guys in the paddock; always smiling, always positive. Ed has been present at almost every Crossflow event since 2017. His blue and white Titan is always shiny and beautiful, and these days seen quite often towards the front of the grid. His efforts on and off track have been noticeable, and echoed by his lovely wife Dana who is not only his #1 fan, but a huge supporter of Crossflow Cup. Dana always volunteers to help and has worked with the Crossflow team on many occasions in many capacities. She is truly a joy to have in our paddock and her smile is so bright one could set the timing on an Ivey engine by it! We are all lucky to have Ed and Dana in our midst, and our series is buoyed by their presence. Congrats to our 2022 Crossflow Cup winners and thank you to them for their continued support of our series!
Sunday Masters Podium: Jeff Rothman, Chris Schoap, Steve Hoogs
Sunday CF Podium: Brian Swanson, Kelly Heil, Neil Porter
Sunday HF Podium: Art Hebert, Andrew Wait, Danny Baker
2022 POINTS FINISH:
HISTORIC:
Martin Lauber 50
Andrew Wait 43
Danny Baker43
Steve Romak 40
CLUB:
Kelly Heil 69
Neil Porter 43
Brian Swanson 39
Daniel Wise 25
Brian Forster 25
full list on website here
Champions Martin Lauber and Kelly Heil
HF Championship Podium: Andrew Wait, Martin Lauber, Danny Baker
CF Championship Podium: Neil Porter, Kelly Heil, Brian Swanson
FINAL THANKS, FINAL THOUGHTS
What a great season! Rebecca and I have so many people to thank. We all owe a great big thanks to Jay Ivey and his boys, Scott Young Enterprises, Roger Kraus Racing Tires, Brent Katusha at Reilly & Co, Steve Cook at Foreign Affair, Chris Clarke of CM Touring, of course Shippert Racing Services, and each and every one of you that has helped either financially or by donating your time.
Some of you have asked about where the funds from the raffle this past weekend would end up. They all go back to you, ultimately. Crossflow pays Rebecca a small amount of money each weekend for her time, and all my time is gratis. I take nothing from Crossflow; in fact SRS is the largest donor the series has. I think it's important that our racers know that all their funds, their money, their donations, are going back to their series. The more help you offer, the better we can make it. Bigger trophies, better giveaways, better raffle items, larger laurel wreaths... Rebecca and I try very hard to give you something special. Sometimes we have items given to us to use as giveaways, but most of the times the giveaways are purchased and donated. I feel that it is important that you know that YOUR money goes right back into making YOUR series better. Because after all, it is your series.
We are hoping to have another strong season in 2023 and we hope to have our schedule ironed out in the coming weeks. Thank you all for your support and we can't wait to see you in the spring! Personally, I'm already looking forward to seeing you guys roll off grid on the gas with dozens of sticker tires being sacrificed to the gods of fastest laps...
THANK YOU!
Martin Lauber's Cypress Lane Trophy winning Titan Mk6