Crossflow Brings the Thunder and Thrill to Thunderhill
The 2022 season continued with Rounds 3 and 4 at Thunderhill Raceway Park on September 10/11. A fine field of 19 strong competitors filled out the entry list, some looking to add to their points totals, some looking to open their accounts for the season. The Bypass configuration was used this weekend so even those that were familiar with T-Hill's challenges had something new to tackle before they could claim glory. It wasn't just the racers trying something new this weekend, your CC Team had new duties of race management to tackle. We had Steve Cook to volunteer as our Pace Car driver, Chris Clarke took the duties of Chief of Grid and Black Flag, Dana VanTassel leant a hand on grid, Rebecca tried her hand at splitting for the first time, and your loyal Captain Crossflow got to be up in Race Control, manning the radio and making the calls.
Practice:
The sweltering heat wave that we faced on the days leading up to the event finally broke sometime during Friday night, meaning that any fears of drivers (or equipment) faltering in the heat were unfounded. An honest 1/3 of the grid had never seen the track before this weekend, so the first laps of practice were key to getting the weekend off to a good start. As practice drew to a close, it looked like it would be a battle at the front between series regulars Andrew Wait, Danny Baker, Martin Lauber and Steve Romak.
Qualifying:
Qualifying got off to a bang for current HF points leader Andrew Wait as well as last years HF Champ Danny Baker, as an incident on lap 3 put them out of the running for the rest of the session. Due to damage that was beyond racetrack repair, Wait's weekend was essentially over before it started. But thanks to quick work by Jordan Miller, Baker's Lotus was able to get back to fighting form before racetime later that day.
The early excitement almost overshadowed what proved to be a lightning quick qualifying session for a lot of our series regulars. When the clock ran out, Martin Lauber was fastest with a lap in the low 1:56's, with Steve Romak just .2 sec adrift. Wade Carter (in only his second Crossflow weekend appearance) lined up on row 2, with Club Ford polesitter Neil Porter beside him. The incident for Baker happened early enough that he would fall to row 3 by the end of the session, with Ed Van Tassel and Kelly Heil behind. Brian Forster, debuting a beautiful new paint job on his Tiga Club Ford, lined up ahead of the venerable Jay Streets and Dan Wise. Next up, and joining us for the first time this season was the Merlyn of Steve Hoogs, CF stalwart Jim Lynn in his Crossle, the lovely red Crossle of Steve Yarborough (who left after Round 3 to go motorcycle racing), Dave Sandlin was next up in his Titan, Tom Minnich in his Tiga who was learning more and more every lap, and our New Yorker Fred Greis made the long haul again to drive his Titan with us!
Race 1:
An early afternoon race due to the planned heat meant that the grid formed up right after lunch. A nice formation took a fairly late green and the field headed into turn one to start off the battle. Martin Lauber took a "strike early, strike hard" philosophy and stretched out a comfortable gap in the first 4 laps that proved almost unassailable for the remainder of the race. But for Race 1, the battle was from 2nd place on back! Romak and Carter locked horns for the first few laps while Danny Baker worked his way forward from his 3rd row starting spot. Further back, Neil Porter slugged it out with Ed VanTassel and Kelly Heil, while Jay Streets chased Brian Forster's fresh paint.
Baker worked his way to second place and began slowly making ground on Lauber's lead, no doubt helped by smart driving on the part of Lauber who was able to maintain the gap without pushing harder than needed. It was all for naught though as Baker's hard work went up in a cloud of dust on the last lap over the bypass and the final podium spots were filled by Romak and Carter. VanTassel ended up 5th, followed by Streets, Hoogs, Greis, and Sandlin.
in Club Ford, Kelly Heil drove a smart race moving forward a couple spots overall to get the 2 bonus points for the Reilly & Co. Hard Charger award, and he was flanked on the Club Ford podium by Porter in 2nd and Dan Wise in 3rd. Jim Lynn was 4th, followed Forster, Minnich and Yarborough.
Historic Ford Podium Race 1
1st - Martin and Teo Lauber (Titan Mk6)
2nd - Steve Romak (Titan Mk6)
3rd - Wade Carter (Titan Mk6)
Club Ford Podium Race 1
1st - Kelly Heil (Crossle 30F)
2nd - Neil Porter (Crossle 32F)
3rd - Dan Wise (Crossle 25F)
Masters Division Podium Race 1
1st - Dan Wise (Crossle 25F)
2nd - Jim Lynn (Crossle 35F)
3rd - Fred Greis (Titan Mk5)
Race 2:
It was nice to feel cool temperatures on Sunday morning. The schedule had been moved forward by a few minutes and our 9:50 start was pushed up to 9:40. The grid had been set the previous day, so the same formation rolled off behind our Crossflow pace car: Steve Cook's lovely BMW M2. Polesitter Martin Lauber again chose the outside to begin his run for max points haul on the weekend. But Race 2 was not to be like the one before it.
It seems our racers had finally come to grips with the Bypass section and they were showing it! The lead pack of Lauber, Romak, Carter, Baker, Porter, Heil, and VanTassel were slugging it out. Just about half distance, Baker managed a magnificent pirouette heading into Turn 1, and left Steve Romak nowhere to go but off in the dirt to avoid him. Two laps later Romak's throttle cable no longer wanted to actuate the linkage in its intended fashion and left his beautiful orange Titan stranded on the backside of the course; a full course yellow was put out to allow the workers to remove the car from harm's way.
The grid had lined up tight during the two laps of FCY, and as they went back to racing for the final 4 laps, all was to play for. Tom Minnich had finally gotten some confidence with the circuit and he was not going to let Jim Lynn shake him, nor was Lynn wanting to let Steve Hoogs or Dan Wise slip away. Kelly Heil managed to get a small gap from VanTassel and Porter and was doing his level best to catch the lead pack before the checkered fell. Lauber had focused on pushing hard to open up a gap, setting his fastest race lap of a 1:57.4 (only .1 off the overall fastest race lap, held by Baker) on the first lap back under green. But similar to Baker's Lotus the day before, a small miscue cost him his spot on the podium and the dogfighting duo of Baker and Carter would start the final lap nose to tail and no one else around them to say anything about it. At the line, Wade Carter took his first Crossflow Cup victory by .061 seconds over Baker. Fast Eddie VanTassel got his first podium of the season with another excellent drive. Lauber took home 5 points for a 4th place finish, followed by Streets, Hoogs, Sandlin, Greis, and Romak finishing up 9th (as he had completed more than half of the laps before retiring).
In CF, Kelly Heil went 2 for 2 on the weekend, moving himself into a comfortable points lead heading into the final 2 rounds of the year. Brian Forster proved that new paintjob was worth it with a strong 2nd place, and Dan Wise added a 3rd place to his collection of trophies. Tom Minnich was one spot off the podium and picked up the 2 bonus points for the Reilly & Co. Hard Charger award, Porter was 5th in class after a late race spin, and Jim Lynn picked up the points for 6th place.
Hard Charger, Tom Minnich in the 1981 CropsData CF - photo by Vince Puleo
Trio of Titans- photo by Vince Puleo
Historic Ford Podium Race 2
1st - Wade Carter (Titan Mk6)
2nd - Danny Baker (Lotus 61)
3rd - Ed VanTassel (Titan Mk6)
Club Ford Podium Race 2
1st - Kelly Heil (Crossle 30F)
2nd - Brian Forster (Tiga FFA77)
3rd - Dan Wise (Crossle 25F)
Masters Division Podium Race 2
1st - Steve Hoogs (Merlyn Mk20)
2nd - Jim Lynn (Crossle 35F)
3rd - Fred Greis (Titan Mk5)
PARTY HIGHLIGHTS
The hot weather didn't dampen spirits any, as many cold beers were consumed as the racers and crews rehashed the days events with one another. Crossflow debuted a new giveaway this weekend for the Saturday party, the SRS Polesitter award. The mechanic looking after the polesitting car won a prize. This weekend, because one qualifying session was good for both races, both awards were given to Dan Banks of Reilly & Co. for his efforts on Martin Lauber's blazing fast Titan for taking the overall pole position.
Party People: fun for all ages
and we celebrated birthdays!
CSRG Charity Challenge is in 2 weeks:
We are at 27 entries with 7 days remaining. If we get to 35 entries, Crossflow will give away one entry fee at the Saturday night party. You heard that right, if we get just 8 more people to sign up, you will all have a 1 in 35 chance of a FREE entry to the Charity Challenge. So tell your friends! That's way better odds than the California State Lottery, and even if you don't win, you still win.
The points battles are heating up, in HF we have an honest 5 different drivers with a mathematical chance to take home the Cypress Lane Trophy. The Vegas line is looking tough to pick a winner for either race, as we are likely to have some fast guys at the front of the grid who aren't factoring in the points battle. If known front runners Art Hebert or Dan Cowdrey make an appearance, they could score some solid points that could upset the apple cart. Dr. Nick Colyvas is always fast at Sonoma, and if Ed VanTassel continues his form, he's likely to score some solid points and maybe crack into the top 5 before we all pack up on Sunday night.
In Club Ford, Kelly Heil is looking strong to possibly repeat his 2021 honors, but you can never count out the venerable Neil Porter who trails Heil in the points. Brian Swanson showed he had pace early in the year so he will likely score some solid points and improve his positions in the standings. And if Colin Cross can figure out how to open the door to his hangar and load his car in the trailer, we are likely to see him hanging around the pointy end of the Club Ford battle.
It's going to be a barn burner! Hope to see you there!