2024 Season Finale & Top Gun Shootout Report!

Season Finale Crossflow Rounds 7 & 8:

We had a solid crop of 41 cars for rounds 7 and 8 at Sonoma Raceway September 14/15. Two new racers joined us in the form of one Matt Kelly in a LeGrand, and Gregg Cavan in his Konig-Heath. Kelly came from down south with the Monise crew looking after him and Cavan had raced at Sonoma before, but not since Ronald Reagan's second term (as President not Governor). We also had former Crossflow points champ Todd Strong making a return to the series this weekend, and Steve Romak was making his first Crossflow run of 2024.

Friday testing looked like it would be a CF battle at the front with Adam White's familiar yellow Lola 540 again posting some solidly fast laptimes with only the 540E of Kelly Heil in the same area code. On Lap 2 of the final Friday afternoon practice however, Adam had a suspension failure on the LF corner of his Lola 540. Although he emerged unscathed, his Lola was in decidedly secondhand condition and was done for the weekend. Adam had wrapped up the CF points championship at Round 6, but not wanting to sit idly on the sidelines, a deal was struck for Andrew Wait's Titan and just like that Adam became a HF racer for the weekend.

As I mentioned at the driver's meeting, this is an excellent warning for all Crossflow racers. Adam's car was effectively new-old-stock 1978 racecar. It had zero race miles before 2022. How many miles are on your suspension? How many kerb strikes, how many wheel to wheel bumps, how many times have your wishbones been repaired, or just stripped or replated? New suspension is cheap insurance. If you do not want to replace it, I urge you to remove it and magnaflux or x-ray your suspension this winter. Better safe than sorry.

Qualifying 1:
White took all of 1 lap to get up to pace in his new mount, laying down a 1:44.2 at the end of lap 2, which would have been good enough for overall pole. But he dug deep and threw down a 1:43.5 on lap 7 to put himself .8 up on Kelly Heil overall with Heil P1 in CF with a 1:44.3. Steve Romak showed his time off hadn't slowed him at all with a 1:44.44 and Oliver Ramleth was P4 only .01 back with a 1:44.45. John JP Plavan had a career best 5th place (2nd in CF) qualifying effort with a 1:44.7 ahead of Baker, Smith, Hakewill and Strong. Brian Forster closed out the top 10, 3rd in CF with a 1:45.4.

Alex Dodd had a great qualifying session, running inside the top 20 for a bit before ending up in the 21st spot (13th in HF), the always smiling Fred Greis ran a 1:51.8 to put him 30th, and Tom Blackmon continued to improve to end up 33rd (24th in HF) at the close of qualifying.

Race 1:
The pacecar rolled at a torrid clip for the bulk of the pace lap, and the back half of the field was straggled out as the front half entered T11 formed up two by two. The gods of Pertronix Ignition decided Kelly Heil's chance of knocking Brian Forster out of 2nd place in the CF points was not meant to be and as Kelly made his way through T11 the car sputtered and came to a halt. Had their been a flagger in T11, it is likely that the race would not have been given a green. But as the current management of Sonoma Raceway feels the aesthetics of the Turn 11 building trump the requirements for a flagger, no such call was made. The race was given a green.

Polesitter Adam White, perhaps expecting a wave off, was swamped at the start by the twin orange Titans of Oliver Ramleth and Steve Romak, who moved to 1st and 2nd respectively at the wave of the green. Also having a dynamite start was Mark Smith, keeping a watchful eye on his HF points lead.

The pacecar came out at the close of lap one for the crews to clear Heil's motionless Lola, and as the field bunched up behind it, 37th starter Matt Kelly in his beautiful LeGrand was caught out by the accordion and had an off in the Carousel.

14 minutes of cleanup ensued at what felt like a glacial pace, but race control saw fit to at least give our racers 2 laps of green flag racing before calling it. And it was a dynamite 2 lap sprint. Oliver Ramleth knew he had one job if he had a shot at winning the championship: he had to maximize his points haul on the weekend. Commanding the lead at the restart, he held strong ahead of the challenge of White, Smith and Romak, no mean feat. This was the order at the finish however, with Oliver taking home his second HF class win on the season, but his first ever Crossflow overall win. A breakout performance for sure.

Brian Forster came home 7th to take the Club Ford honors over Neil Porter and Glenn Woloski, and our Masters battle saw Mace Gjerman ahead of regular podium finishers Marty Benck and Chris Schoap.

Above Left : Saturday Masters Podium - Mace Gjerman P1, Marty Benck P2, Chris Schoap P3
Mid Left: CF Podium - Brian Forster P1,Neil Porter P2, Glenn Woloski P3
Mid Right: HF Podium - Oliver Ramleth P1, Adam White P2, Mark Smith P3
Far Right: Kelly wining the Ivey Certificate + shirt

SATURDAY PARTY HIGHLIGHTS

Beer for the weekend was supplied by Mark Smith and John Fosse! Thank you both for taking care of the most important part of any Crossflow weekend!

Fastest Wrench (polesitting mechanic) - Adrian Reyes for Adam White
Ivey Engines $250 Gift Certificate - Kelly Heil
Hard Charger - 3 way tie for H/C, so we gave Mark Smith the 2 points as he was the highest finishing hard charger, and gave Oliver Abate and Jay Streets the entry into the Top Gun Shootout

SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY

Qualifying 2:
As it was the day before, the tale of round 8 was to be told in Qualifying. Again, White set the pace with Heil sitting P2 overall for the bulk of the session (CF pole), but both Smith and Ramleth were to come crashing through to 2nd and 3rd, setting their respective fastest laps on their last laps. Both of them fighting tooth and nail for the HF points championship and would likely have been hungry to claim the point for pole had White not been HF spoiler this weekend.

Todd Strong moved inside the top 5 (4th in HF) but he had Hakewill, Baker and Romak all within striking distance and breathing right down his neck. Brian Swanson was finally feeling his oats and laid down a solid 1:46.1 to roll off on the inside of row 6 (4th in CF) and Marty Benck had a solid qualifying run to put him 13th (9th in HF). Oliver Abate made a big improvement from Saturday's qualifying effort to roll off inside row 8 with the RF79 Van Diemen of Glenn Woloski to his outside.

A noteworthy point of excitement happened near the end of qualifying, as Kelly Heil and Jay Streets had a momentary bit of contact. Heil missed a gear in T11 and Streets climbed over the back of Heil's Lola. Neither car showed outward damage, but this slight bump was to come back to haunt Jay later in the morning.

Race 2:
Sunday's grid looked sharp as they rolled through Turn 10 on the pace lap for the final round of 2024. The green waved, and the battle ensued... until Turn 2. Fred Greis was on a monster start, and had moved up a few spots, but found himself out on the gray entering 2 and had a slow spin. Ed Abate was on the inside and shot the gap, but the gap closed and contact was made. Both cars sat immobile for a bit, Abate was able to refire and come back to the black flag station. Meanwhile, the grid circulated behind the pace car for two long laps of caution while the mess was cleaned up. At the restart, White commanded from the point and held strong to his lead with Ramleth, Smith, Heil and Strong following behind.

The race was again cut short and finished under yellow as Jay Streets had a component failure (a hangover from the contact in qualifying) that left him parked off track, while simultaneously Ed Van Tassel had a clutch release bearing failure, causing his car to sit immobile in the pit-in. So the flag dropped with the field in the same positions as they had been at the close of lap 5. Plavan had a strong run to 2nd place in CF with Forster 3rd (10th overall), and Hakewill finished up a solid weekend with a 7th place (4th in HF) finish. Ben Zlotkin had his first Hard Charger finish of the season, getting him qualified for the Top Gun Shootout later in the afternoon with a 23rd place finish, moving himself up 6 spots in 2 scant laps.

And thus ended the 2024 Crossflow Cup Season.

Far Left: Sunday Masters Podium: Hakewill filling in for Neil Porter P1, Marty Benck P2, and Mace Gjerman P3
Mid Left: Sunday CF Podium: Kelly Heil P1, John Plavan Jr P2, Brian Forster P3
Mid Right: Sunday Historic Podium: Adam White P1, Oliver Ramleth P2, Mark Smith P3
Far Right: Wine Trophies by Kitchens Family and Awards by Brian Forster

SUNDAY RACE AWARDS:

We closed out our 2024 season awards ceremonies off with a great crowd. Neil Porter had a great stand-in in the shape of James Hakewill, we gave away the last of the Kitchen's family wine bottles with Brian Forster's medals for the year, and a great time was had by all.

Fastest Wrench (polesitting mechanic) - Seth Bauer for Adam White
Hard Charger: Ben Zlotkin

2024 SERIES AWARDS:

Mechanic of the Year:
Aaron Schuster was nominated by several folks in the paddock that he helped throughout the year. Taking parts home to weld them back together, helping with gearchanges, clutch repair, loaning parts and tools wherever needed to keep the cars on the grid. Starting from CSRG annual tech day, Aaron worked all season long to assist racers out of the kindness of his heart.

MVP:
Danny Baker was chosen for flying the Crossflow flag (and flying it at the front) all around the world. Danny showed that the increased pace at the front of the grid in 2024 wasn't a bother to him, and he was in the hunt all season. His win at the FF55th at Road America and his pole position at the Rolex Reunion showed that the affable pilot and his venerable Lotus 61 were never to be counted out.

FFanciest FFord:
Ed Abate could be mistaken for a docent at the museum of Automotive Developments. A knowledgeable racer for sure, Ed is ebullient with his passion for the marque. His car is a letter perfect example of what it looked like in the fall of 1973, and we should all aspire to be such fans of the cars we race!

Rookie of the Year:
Oliver Abate showed both a level head and massive pace in his rookie season. Strong finishes all season long, and never a foot wrong. In a model of car that wouldn't have been considered by any drivers in the top 10 to be their choice, Oliver showed patience and pace. Paying off with a steady string of top 10 overall finishes, and finishing just outside the top 10 in points for the year. Mark my words, we will see Oliver Abate on the HF podium at some point in the 2025 season.

Crossflow Cup:

Late summer 2023 Thomas & Jason Blackmon came by my shop with their Caldwell. Drawn into Crossflow from seeing it on the outside and wanting to join in the fun, they found their car with assistance from ex-CSRG president Locke deBretteville. Doing all the work themselves, and doing it for the love of it. So many of us started off just this way, stubbing our toes and just keeping on keeping on. Their determination to learn, to get better, to have fun, and to make friends while doing it all is what earned them the Cup this year. Well done gentlemen, you're an inspiration to us all!

Above Left: Poopy, Mechanic of the year, speeding of to help someone
Above Right: Danny Baker, MVP
Below Left: Ed Abate, FFanciest FFord with son Oliver Abate, Rookie of the Year
Below Right Crossflow Cup Award to father and son Thomas & Jason Blackmon

CHAMPIONSHIP TOP TEN'S:

Club Ford:
1. Adam White - 69 pts.
2. Brian Forster - 57
3. Kelly Heil - 49
4. John Plavan - 47
5. Glen Woloski - 31
6T. Mace Gjerman - 31
6T. Neil Porter - 31
6T. Tom Minnich - 31
9. Todd Willing - 25
10. Brian Swanson - 9

Historic Ford:
1. Mark Smith - 74 pts.
2. Oliver Ramleth - 70
3. Danny Baker - 53
4. Jay Streets - 31
5. Will Jackson - 25
6. Ed Van Tassel - 24
7. Adam White - 22
8. Chris Schoap - 20
9. James Hakewill - 18
10. Mike Wirrick - 15

Full Point Standings can be foundHERE

**2024 CF Championship Podium:**
Adam White 1st - 69 points
Brian Forster 2nd - 57 points
Kelly Heil 3rd - 49 points

**2024 HF Championship Podium:**
Mark Smith 1st - 74 points
Oliver Ramleth 2nd - 70 points
Danny Baker 3rd - 53 points

CSRG Presents, the TOP GUN SHOOTOUT

The final highlight of the Charity Challenge weekend was the Top Gun Shootout. During the season, we had 9 drivers qualify: Kelly Heil, Glenn Woloski, Adam White, Mitch Roth, Caleb Hamm, Mark Smith, Danny Baker (defending his 2023 belt) and Rob Thull.

Adam White again requalified with his dual-pole positions, and we had a unique situation on Saturday. We had 3 cars all tie for Hard Charger: Mark Smith, Jay Streets, and Oliver Abate. Smith had already qualified (back in Round 3), so we put Streets and Abate in the lineup. In addition, the cars of Thull, Hamm, and Roth no-showed on the weekend so we did a "promoters option" to draw 3 more names (Eric Verdin, Steve Romak, and James Hakewill). Ben Zlotkin was the final Hard Charger of the 2024 season so we had a lineup of 12 cars set to take the green, but then Streets went out with a mechanical in Round 8 leaving us 11 starters.

The Grid was set by random draw:
1. Woloski 2. Swanson
3. Smith 4. Zlotkin
5. Heil 6. Baker
7. O. Abate 8. Verdin
9. White 10. Hakewill
11. Romak (did not start)

The Shootout was to be 6 laps (or 15 minutes) and it was to be the only all green flag race of the weekend! At the start, Heil jumped out to an early lead with Woloski holding his own in P2. Mark Smith's race ended at the close of lap 1 with a sticking throttle, and Verdin and Hakewill also were not able to make it to the checkered. White was moving forward by lap 3 though and was up to 2nd and closing on Heil. Baker struggled getting past Woloski but by lap 4 it was a familar train of Heil/White/Baker at the front. Heading into T11 at the close of lap 5, White moved past Heil for the point and stayed there to the finish of the shootout, taking the belt for 2024!

2025: SHIPPERTS STEP DOWN,
NEW CROSSFLOW CUP BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

Katusha Speed Shop, Ed VanTassel, Brian Swanson, Jay Streets and Dan Wise (not pictured)

BIG NEWS FOR 2025!

At the close of Saturday's party, we made an announcement that has been in the works for the past few months. Rebecca and I have turned over series control to the first ever Crossflow Board of Directors. Five members, each with a unique strength and skill set.

Jay Streets, Dan Wise, Brent Katusha, Ed Van Tassel, and Brian Swanson will lead the Crossflow Cup into the future.

To start with, they are starting the 2025 points season by giving 2 appearance points to all FF's that come to the CSRG race at Thunderhill in November! That's right, you can start off your 2025 season with points in the bag! Any/all questions can be posed to your new board at crossflowcup@gmail.com

This will be the last email you receive from Rebecca and I. We have enjoyed working with all of you over the past few years, and I hope you feel like we did right by Crossflow. I personally have put a lot of my competitive fire into trying to make the series the best it can be, but ultimately so much of that is not up to us. It's up to you guys, the racers! Our series is the MOST competitive FF racing in the United States. Our series has the best esprit de corps of any series in the United States. I want you all to be proud of it, preach the gospel to anyone you meet. Keep growing the group, keep working on your skills, your cars, all of it. Rebecca and I aren't going anywhere; both our family and Shippert Racing Services have grown to the point that they need all the attention we can give them. SRS will still be active participants in the Cup, and hopefully I will be able to rejoin the grid myself for a race or two with my faithful Crossle in the coming years if time allows, and Rebecca will be chasing the boys on their bikes through paddocks across North America.

Thank you all for everything you have done for SRS and the Shipperts, we look forward to seeing you at the track in 2025!