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| The March Madness Race Report |
| For further information contact the Slot Car Club Of The Twin Tiers at: sccottt1@yahoo.com or (607) 796-4129. 4/1/07 19 drivers from NY and PA took part in the SCCOTTT March Madness on Saturday March 31, 2007. The event included two support races and a feature. The Thunderstorm race had nine entries, Brass Wars eight and the March Madness 125 for Super Stock T-Jets had 18. The races saw two first time SCCOTTT winners and one old hand winning in a new class... Official Entry List Driver, Home Town - Entrant John Durbin, Moravia, NY - Self Dave Hendrickson, Erin, NY - KRD Racing Kevin Hendrickson, Erin, NY - KRD Racing Ryan Hendrickson, Erin, NY - KRD Racing Dylan Lagonegro, Elmira, NY - Larry Lagonegro; KRD Racing Larry Lagonegro, Elmira, NY - Self; KRD Racing Ernie Langford, Holland, NY - Self Bob Lincoln, Bedford, PA - Wizzard High Performance, Inc. Warren Lux, Springville, NY Lux Racing George Mest, Springville, NY CrashNBurn Raceway Matt Metcalf, Corning, NY - Mathew Metcalf Racing; Van Duzer Hobbies Joe Saccomanno, Alden, NY - Joe Jets Frank "Chub" Spena Jr., Horseheads, NY - Frank Spena Racing Scott "Deuce" Udave, Buffalo, NY - Self; Joe Jets Dave Van Duzer, Horseheads, NY - Van Duzer Hobbies Jamie Vershay, Rochester, NY - Self Mark Webster, Camillus, NY - Self; Team Wizzard Gary Weber, Horseheads, NY - Self Mike Wulff, West Valley, NY - Team Wulff; Crash'N'Burn Raceway THUNDERSTORM Support Race The Thunderstorms have caught on quickly at the Slot Car Club of the Twin Tiers and this was the very first race at the club for this type of car. Qualifying Dave Van Duzer took the early pole position with a strong 56 lap run. Dave Hendrickson was up in the second group and took pole away with a stunning 62 lap performance. Frank Spena Jr. grabbed the second spot while Van Duzers time stood up for 3rd. George Mest, who purchased his car a short time before the race, was impressive and took the last spot in the final. Bob Lincoln missed the final by one lap and took 5th. 6th belonged to Jamie Vershay in his first appearance at SCCOTTT. Mark Webster grabbed 7th with a borrowed car. Joe Saccomanno finished 8th with his brand new car and Matt Metcalf rounded out the field also with a borrowed car. Qualifying Position| Laps Driver 1| 62 Dave Hendrickson 2| 61 Frank Spena Jr. 3| 56 Dave Van Duzer 4| 55 George Mest 5| 54 Bob Lincoln 6| 49 Jamie Vershay 7| 46 Mark Webster 8| 64 Joe Saccomanno 9| 64 Matt Metcalf Thunderstorm Final Hendrickson entered the final as the favorite, but it was Spena who jumped into the lead at the start. From there he quickly pulled away while Hendrickson struggled in the red gutter lane. At the end of the first segment Spena lead Van Duzer with Hendrickson two laps down and Mest three laps behind. When Spena made a mistake early in the second segment Van Duzer closed in and the two swapped the lead back and forth for three laps before Van Duzer slid off. In the third segment Spena pulled away from Van Duzer who was now struggling in the gutters. Hendrickson pulled one lap back from Spena and looked liked he could mount a comeback. In the final segment, however, Spena was able to pull away once more. At the finish Spena had improved by five laps over his qualifying total and was up by three over Hendrickson. It was Spenas 40th final round win in SCCOTTT/PRR Majors competition. Van Duzer held on for third over Mest. 1| 66 Frank Spena Jr. 2| 63 Dave Hendrickson 3| 59 Dave Van Duzer 4| 58 George Mest Thunderstorm Overall Finishing Order Pos.| Total Laps - Driver - Car Body 1| 127 Frank Spena Jr. - Chevy Cavalier NDRA 2| 125 Dave Hendrickson - Ferrari 512M 3| 115 Dave Van Duzer - Shelby Cobra 4| 113 George Mest - Ferrari 512M 5| 54 Bob Lincoln - Mercedes CLK 6| 49 Jamie Vershay - Shelby Cobra 7| 46 Mark Webster - Mercedes CLK 8| 45 Joe Saccomanno - McLaren F1 9| 45 Matt Metcalf - Aston Martin AMR-1 2ND ANNUAL BRASS WARS PRESENTED BY RIGGEN HO This marked the second year for the Brass Wars race. Several drivers raised their games significantly over 2006 and the 07 field featured what could very well be the best two-magnet brass HO car ever built. Qualifying Ernie Langford took the initial pole driving his own designed and made car to a 43 lap total. That mark stood until Bob Lincoln brought out his own creation which set a new standard in HO brass competition. Lincoln cruised to a 53 lap total and pole position, his first at SCCOTTT. Dave Hendrickson drove his Riggen to second, six laps behind. Langford held on for 3rd. Van Duzer grabbed the last spot in the final with 4th. 5th went to Kevin Hendrickson, followed by Udave, Saccomanno and Metcalf. Saccomannos Screamin Demon chassis had showed good speed in practice but had trouble in the race. 1| 53 Bob Lincoln 2| 47 Dave Hendrickson 3| 43 Ernie Langford 4| 43 Dave Van Duzer 5| 41 Kevin Hendrickson 6| 40 Scott Udave 7| 37 Joe Saccomanno 8| 34 Matt Metcalf 2nd Annual Brass Wars Final There was little question as to who would take the final. Lincoln took off at the start and never looked back as he enjoyed a dominant win. Hendrickson kept him honest for a short time but by the end of the first segment the lead was two laps. Hendrickson began to experience some car troubles as Langford worked his way past him in the 3rd segment and then proceeded to consolidate 2nd. Van Duzer caught and fought with Hendrickson in the final segment. At the finish Lincoln was 8 laps to the good over Langford. Van Duzer had taken 3rd by a mere three track sections. It was the first ever final round appearance and win at SCCOTTT for Lincoln and the first final round appearance at SCCOTTT for Langford as well. 1| 52 Bob Lincoln New Wave Vintage Willys Dirt Modified 2| 44 Ernie Langford CrashNBurn Special Chevy Monte Carlo 3| 42 Dave Van Duzer Riggen Boss - Porsche 917K 4| 42 Dave Hendrickson Riggen Boss - McLaren GT The Brass Wars was sponsored by Riggen HO, www.riggenho.com For his victory Lincoln earned approximately $50 in prizes from Riggen HO, which he graciously split among the other three finalists in the event. 2nd Annual Brass Wars Overall Finishing Order Pos.| Total Laps - Driver - Car 1| 105 Bob Lincoln New Wave Vintage Willys Dirt Modified 2| 87 Ernie Langford CrashNBurn Special Chevy Monte Carlo 3| 85 Dave Van Duzer Riggen Boss Porsche 917K 4| 89 Dave Hendrickson Riggen Boss McLaren GT 5| 41 Kevin Hendrickson Riggen Boss Lola T-163 6| 40 Scott Udave Screamin Demon IV 1950 Cadillac 7| 37 Joe Saccomanno Screamin Demon III Lola T-260 8| 34 Matt Metcalf Tyco Pro Ford F-150 CTS 2nd ANNUAL MARCH MADNESS 125 FEATURE RACE Qualifying Gary Weber took the early pole with a slim margin over Kevin Hendrickson. Webers drive was well-measured against the superior speed of Hendricksons car. Hendrickson was the pre-race favorite and looked to be the class of the field but too many mistakes cost him dearly. Webers mark of 70 stood until Ryan Hendrickson stepped up to the track. Ryans car did not have the speed to match his brothers or Webers, but he put in one of the best drives of his career. With solid, consistent hot laps Ryan stole the pole away despite having the slowest fastest lap of the top four. 4th in qualifying went to Dave Van Duzer. Dave Hendrickson used an experimental car to grab 5th. Mark Webster took the final transfer spot in 6th. Ernie Langford had his best qualifying performance at SCCOTTT but fell just short of making the transfer. 1| 71 Ryan Hendrickson 2| 70 Gary Weber 3| 70 Kevin Hendrickson 4| 67 Dave Van Duzer 5| 66 Dave Hendrickson 6| 66 Mark Webster 7| 65 Ernie Langford 8| 64 George Mest 9| 64 Bob Lincoln 10| 63 John Durbin 11| 61 Warren Lux 12| 61 Matt Metcalf 13| 60 Mike Wulff 14| 59 Joe Saccomanno 15| 57 Dylan Lagonegro 16| 56 Scott Udave 17| 53 Jamie Vershay 18| 40 Larry Lagonegro Last Chance Qualifier Durbin surprised everyone by moving up from 10th to 7th to win the LCQ round and move up into the semis. George Mest kept his spot to make the move also. Langford had been on top of the LCQ drivers entering the round but wound up narrowly missing the transfer. Bob Lincoln looked set to make it early on but his car faded late and so did his chances. Metcalf was next up followed by Udave and Lux. Wulff had one of his best runs at SCCOTTT. Dylan Lagonegro did a fine job in his first ever slot car race. The youngster had many of the out-of-towners talking about his fine rookie performance. Saccomanno was next up followed by Vershay. Larry Lagonegro who was also in his first ever slot car race and struggling with car trouble. 1| 66 John Durbin 2| 65 George Mest 3| 64 Ernie Langford 4| 64 Bob Lincoln 5| 62 Matt Metcalf 6| 62 Scott Udave 7| 61 Warren Lux 8| 60 Mike Wulff 9| 60 Dylan Lagonegro 10| 59 Joe Saccomanno 11| 51 Jamie Vershay 12| 47 Larry Lagonegro Semi Final Round Semi #1 The first semi featured Weber, Van Duzer, Webster and Mest. Weber took off at the start and cruised to an easy and fine win. Van Duzer followed in a distant second but the battle for third was a thriller. Mest and Webster swapped the lead several times. Webster had the spot when his car began to oil in the closing moments of the race and Mest went around him. With the win Weber was guaranteed a spot in the final, but Van Duzer and Mest would have to wait until the finish of the second semi to know their fate. 1| 73 Gary Weber 2| 66 Dave Van Duzer 3| 65 George Mest 4| 65 Mark Webster Semi #2 The second semi featured the two Hendrickson brothers, dad Dave and Durbin. Dave lead for the first few corners, but then, as expected, Kevin took the lead and simply ran away. The win and lane choice for the final were his rewards. Ryan put in another fine drive to grab 2nd and a spot in the final. Durbin struggled early but then came back to pip Dave for 3rd spot, but both drivers fell short of the laps needed to make the final. 1| 69 Kevin Hendrickson 2| 67 Ryan Hendrickson 3| 65 John Durbin 4| 63 Dave Hendrickson March Madness 125 Final The final featured Kevin Hendrickson, Weber, Ryan Hendrickson and Van Duzer. Kevin was entering the final as the favorite for the third straight month. He was still looking for his first Majors win. Could this finally be the day? Webers car had been improving throughout the day and he would not give in easily. Ryan would have to hope for problems from those two to have a chance. Van Duzer did not have the pace of the other three but was ready to cap a fine day, as he was the only driver to make the finals in all three classes. Win, lose or draw he had achieved a great accomplishment especially considering the vast differences in the three types of cars. At the start Kevin pulled away and looked set to open it up, but a series of offs allowed the steady Ryan to come from nearly a lap down to take the lead. At the end of segment one, Ryan was in the lead with Kevin and Weber still on the same lap. 1:30 into the second segment Kevin took the lead back when Ryan went off. Weber soon took second from Ryan. With 1:30 remaining Kevin passed Weber to lead by a lap. He added one more lap to his lead in the third segment. In the final segment Ryan closed back in on Gary, but he didnt have the car to close the deal. This race, however, belonged to Kevin finally! He completed the 125 laps in a record time of 20 minutes, 13 seconds. Kevin was the only driver to get into the 8 second bracket, setting fastest race lap at 8.959. It was a well-judged win and a great way to finally get the monkey off his back. 1| 125 Kevin Hendrickson Joe Jet Ford GT41 2| 122 Gary Weber BRP Ford GT40 3| 122 Ryan Hendrickson BRP Ford GT40 4| 114 Dave Van Duzer BRP Ford GT40 2nd Annual March Madness Overall Finishing Order Pos.| Total Laps - Driver - Body 1| 270 Kevin Hendrickson Joe Jet Ford GT41 2| 265 Gary Weber BRP Ford GT40 3| 266 Ryan Hendrickson BRP Ford GT40 4| 247 Dave Van Duzer BRP Ford GT40 5| 194 George Mest Dunlap Toyota Celica Supra GT 6| 131 Mark Webster Fandango Pontiac GTO 7| 193 John Durbin GoGo Lamborghini Gallardo 8| 130 Dave Hendrickson Moonstone Porsche 911GT-3 9| 129 Ernie Langford Dunlap Buick Lacrosse 10| 128 Bob Lincoln Dunlap Alfa Romeo 155 11| 123 Warren Lux Davis Ferrari 550 Maranello 12| 118 Matt Metcalf BRP Mazda RX-7 13| 122 Mike Wulff Joe Jet Lola GT 14| 120 Joe Saccomanno Joe Jet Ferrari 550 Maranello LE 15| 117 Dylan Lagonegro BRP De Tomaso Mangusta 16| 118 Scott Udave BRP Porsche 911GT-2 17| 104 Jamie Vershay Joe Jet Corvette Stingray GT 18| 087 Larry Lagonegro Joe Jet Ford G41 Slot Car Club Of The Twin Tiers 2117C Grand Central Ave. Horseheads, NY 14845 Web Site: http://www.reocities.com/sccottt1/clubmain.html E-mail: sccottt1@yahoo.com Pictures and Race Summary Spreadsheets available upon request. Please send requests to fspenajr@juno.com |