Clemans And Olive Win
Saturday February 7th was the start of the Spring/Summer Series for both LMP and Group 10. 14 drivers entered for the LMP race including newcomers Roman Ruiz, Mark Nelson, and Jim Nelson.
The amateur race had 5 entries, it was great to have Rob Howden back at the track, taking a short break from his Karting duties, and Keith Bare was in action as well. Mark Nelson jumped out to the early lead is a brand new Speedshop built car and didn’t look back, as he lead all 8 segments for the win. Roman Ruiz was applying pressure through the 1st half of the race, then had a body pin come free, ending his bid for the win.
Expert LMP had 9 entries including Madison Roed who was making her 1st start with the experts. The field was very fast in qualifying with Leonard Strand setting fast time at 4.08 seconds in a brand new car he built. With 7 of the drivers at a 4.26 or better, I think everyone knew the pace was going to be fast. Leonard was able to jump out to an early lead, followed by Dale Olive, and Jim Radford. Leonard led the 1st 3 segments, until he was overtaken by Jim in the 4th segment. Dale Olive decided he wanted to be heard from, and took the lead at the end of 6 segments. It set up to be a classic battle between Jim and Dale, but Bill Clemans was there to spoil the party. Bill decided it was time to get racey and came charging from his 3rd place running position to win the race by less than half a lap. Dale would hold on for 2nd, followed closely by Jim in 3rd.
Group 10 got underway with Dale Olive setting fast time at 3.70 seconds. As the race got going Aaron Roed led for the 1st 2 segments. Dale would take the lead after the 3rd segment and not look back. When you pair Dale’s driving ability with a great car, that is a hard combination to beat, and that was the case in this race. Aaron and Bill Clemans would have a good battle for 2nd, and in the end it was Bill’s consistency that earned him his 2nd place finish. Aaron would struggle with his driving and finish 3rd, ahead of Leonard Strand, and Dr. Korsky who retired early due to motor and gear issues.
Coming up this week at the track is the kids weekly womp womp racing on Wednesday Night. Practice starts at 5pm, with racing starting at 6. There is a class for kids aged 10-16, and kids 9 and younger. Parents have a great time watching their little ones race around the track, and from time to time a parents race breaks out after the kids are done. On Friday the weekly Nascar class is back in action on the Twister. Leonard is looking for back to back wins, but he has to fend off a large group of contenders.