Post by sportf on May 8, 2022 17:08:13 GMT
Victory Nostalgia Super stock race at Mother Road Rendezvous in St. Louis.
Well, another Victory NSS race is in the books with Shaun Johnston winning over Bob Lantero in a tight race in the dark.
Twenty four Victory Cars showed up to race with four new members attending as well. Although Fridays test runs were eliminated by the constant mist that didn't show up on the radar, our full race was run on Saturday, 7 May 2022.
Round one.
Jay Freihage and this writer were the first Victory cars in competition to go down the track. Last time Jay and I raced at Eddyville he cut a .0007 light on me and he was pretty rude here as well cutting a .021 light against my .030. And, that was just enough at the other end to make me break out by .004. Jay would go on to cut another great winning light next round as well.
Number one qualifier Ralph Denne in his 409 '63 Chevy then shows his”cut a good light to win” strategy against New comer Jeff Wood in his real clean original paint '64 Plymouth. Ralph's .021 light was better than Jeff's, and that was that.
Dalton Bruemmer's '65 Plymouth sedan then takes on David Fuszners red Thunder Bolt. David's “Bolt” is one of those cars that may be a little painful to stand next to when running, but that didn't stop Dalton from taking the strip by the margin left at the starting line. Both guys ran within .01 of their dial, but mouseproof's better light ended the race when looking at the time slip. This will be the last time I can call Dalton mouseproof, he has now graduated from that event as of this race.
Shaun Johnston then took out Curt Hoeft's '65 Comet, and you knew that had to happen since Shaun won the event. Curt had some trouble with his valve train, and once he got that figured out his car picked up so much from his declared index in the previous round that it was hard for him to judge what to do on the top end. Curt will get that figured out and we'll see him at the next race.
Next Bob Westhoff was going to start a pretty good day at the track by taking on Jon Landwehr. Jon was making the first passes ever with his new motor in that great looking '65 Youthful sedan and he now has that car flying. But, with the new comes the unknown, and Jon broke into the 9's on a 10 flat dial and that was a little more than Bob broke out by. Bob eventually goes to the semi finals.
Last years champ John Hamer then lines up against Bob Lantero. Both of these guys cut great competition lights within .003 of each other, but amazingly enough, that's enough for a win in some rounds and that was the case here.
Next “Best appearing” award wining '64 Dodge red wagon hemi powered Kurt TeVault, lines up with friend and neighbor Kevin Miller. Kevin doesn't show much friendship by cutting an .011 light, but then Kurt goes -.010 red and that is that. That is some close lights though, but close doesn't count here.
Doug Duell then lines up against Steve Gantz in his beautiful '65 Plymouth. Steve leaves a little early and Doug makes a great test pass running a 9.58 on his 9.50 dial, but at 116 mph. I think he let off.
Derek Strait then ran Jeff Blickensdorfer and Jeff just got beat. Jeff did run a 11.007 on his 11.00 index, but, Derek, in “Large Marge” had him on the light and that was that.
Jimmy Ferguson in his patina '63 Plymouth max wedge sedan then took on Jim Hagenhoff. Jimmy, driving the 4 speed maxie, bogged off the line and that allowed Jim, in his back up 64 hemi plymouth sedan, take the win.
Last pair down this first round was George Justice in his '64 Polar Bear Polara against new comer Tom Head in his '64 Plymouth wedge powered machine. George didn't show any favors to the new comer Tom and took him out at the starting line with a great light. That was it for first round, and the sun was setting on a rather long day due to breaks and oil downs on the track.
Drivers meeting.
We had our drivers meeting between rounds here, and it was a rather hurried affair due to all things considered. Awards were handed and all business conducted and away we went to racing again in the dark. I will post later how much was handed out, but as usual, about half the drivers came away with something.
Round 2
Shaun Johnston takes on Jim Hagenhoff and wins it. Jim, driving his street driven back up car had a little trouble launching that street car (I know how that is) and managed to turn on the “I'm done” red light.
Next, Bob Lantero takes out Kevin Miller. Kevin had a better light but broke out by .007 trying to keep the lead. Well, that didn't work, but I am sure Kevin will be just like the rest of us and end up doing that again some time in the future.
Bob Westhoff then took on Doug Duell in his 64 Plymouth wagon. Bob had put new heads on his car and gained a tremendous improvement in performance, something like 0.750? What ever it was, it put him into the “I can't go that fast because I don't have a bar” category. But, Bob has been racing a long time and REALLY has a handle on how to control that problem, and that is what he did. Bob launched the car and was getting it on when Doug left in his typical beast mode pulling the front tires in the air and driving on the back two wheels a little toward the center line. When it came down Doug got it together and was running Bob down, but in all the excitement missed taking the lead buy about 2 feet, 2 inches (Doug's math). Bob goes on , and that is racing.
Jay Freihage then cuts a light on Derek Strait, and Derek is out. Derek broke out trying to stay ahead, but the light Jay cut wasn't going to allow that to happen.
Dalton Bruemmer was going to run George Justice, but George was out when getting his car ready for the next round, he notices the car leaning. A flat in a slick will do that.
BTW, on Thursday after I parked, I rode the bike around and picked up several screws, nuts and bolts in our pit area. I also found another screw by Duells campsite race day. I may have missed something. But, be aware, a racecar flat can ruin your day and it did Geroge's.
Number one qualified Ralph Denne gets a bye here into the money round (third round).
Third Round.
Shaun Johnston lines up with Dalton mousproof Bruemmer, and we know how this has to turn out. Close lights at the start and close at the stripe, and only one comes out on top.
Bob Westhoff then lines up against that aluminum front end and doors tied to Ralph Denne 63 409. That 409 is one of the fasted stock block 409's in the country, but that doesn't work for Ralph when he turned on the “darn it” bulb. Bob has a great day, and goes onto the semis.
Bob Lantero then lines up against Jay Freihage for the last pair to to down this round. At this point its been a LONG day, and its well past 11 at night. Bob doesn't cut a great light, but neither does Jay. Jay can't catch Bob as he crosses the line .07 later than his index. Relatively close to the index, its enough that Jay is out.
Semis
Bob and Bob line up in this round when Lantero and Westhoff stage their cars. As I said, it was late at night, and both guys were late. But, equally late so we had a race. Lantero won when Westhoff's Ford broke out. I wouldn't blame the car though, Westhoff was driving it.
Shaun Johnston gets the ladder bye here into the finals, which would take place in less than 15 minutes from now. Both Shaun and Bob Lantero turned their cars around and were back in the lanes in no time. It was a cool evening, certainly jacket weather, and that helped a lot.
Final round.
Its way past my bedtime, but I'm here and ready at the starting line. Bob and Shaun line up and green lights for the pair. Shaun with an 11.0 index and Bob with a 10.0 index. Bob breaks out as well as Shaun, but Bob breaks out slightly more. It was close. The cool night air undoubtedly wasn't considered in all the excitement in the cars at the finish line, but it never is. Both these guys have a great day, and another race goes in the books.
Edit 5-11-22 At the drivers meeting we gave away OVER $1300 in prizes and awards, and there will be even MORE later in the year! How's that for great!
Well, another Victory NSS race is in the books with Shaun Johnston winning over Bob Lantero in a tight race in the dark.
Twenty four Victory Cars showed up to race with four new members attending as well. Although Fridays test runs were eliminated by the constant mist that didn't show up on the radar, our full race was run on Saturday, 7 May 2022.
Round one.
Jay Freihage and this writer were the first Victory cars in competition to go down the track. Last time Jay and I raced at Eddyville he cut a .0007 light on me and he was pretty rude here as well cutting a .021 light against my .030. And, that was just enough at the other end to make me break out by .004. Jay would go on to cut another great winning light next round as well.
Number one qualifier Ralph Denne in his 409 '63 Chevy then shows his”cut a good light to win” strategy against New comer Jeff Wood in his real clean original paint '64 Plymouth. Ralph's .021 light was better than Jeff's, and that was that.
Dalton Bruemmer's '65 Plymouth sedan then takes on David Fuszners red Thunder Bolt. David's “Bolt” is one of those cars that may be a little painful to stand next to when running, but that didn't stop Dalton from taking the strip by the margin left at the starting line. Both guys ran within .01 of their dial, but mouseproof's better light ended the race when looking at the time slip. This will be the last time I can call Dalton mouseproof, he has now graduated from that event as of this race.
Shaun Johnston then took out Curt Hoeft's '65 Comet, and you knew that had to happen since Shaun won the event. Curt had some trouble with his valve train, and once he got that figured out his car picked up so much from his declared index in the previous round that it was hard for him to judge what to do on the top end. Curt will get that figured out and we'll see him at the next race.
Next Bob Westhoff was going to start a pretty good day at the track by taking on Jon Landwehr. Jon was making the first passes ever with his new motor in that great looking '65 Youthful sedan and he now has that car flying. But, with the new comes the unknown, and Jon broke into the 9's on a 10 flat dial and that was a little more than Bob broke out by. Bob eventually goes to the semi finals.
Last years champ John Hamer then lines up against Bob Lantero. Both of these guys cut great competition lights within .003 of each other, but amazingly enough, that's enough for a win in some rounds and that was the case here.
Next “Best appearing” award wining '64 Dodge red wagon hemi powered Kurt TeVault, lines up with friend and neighbor Kevin Miller. Kevin doesn't show much friendship by cutting an .011 light, but then Kurt goes -.010 red and that is that. That is some close lights though, but close doesn't count here.
Doug Duell then lines up against Steve Gantz in his beautiful '65 Plymouth. Steve leaves a little early and Doug makes a great test pass running a 9.58 on his 9.50 dial, but at 116 mph. I think he let off.
Derek Strait then ran Jeff Blickensdorfer and Jeff just got beat. Jeff did run a 11.007 on his 11.00 index, but, Derek, in “Large Marge” had him on the light and that was that.
Jimmy Ferguson in his patina '63 Plymouth max wedge sedan then took on Jim Hagenhoff. Jimmy, driving the 4 speed maxie, bogged off the line and that allowed Jim, in his back up 64 hemi plymouth sedan, take the win.
Last pair down this first round was George Justice in his '64 Polar Bear Polara against new comer Tom Head in his '64 Plymouth wedge powered machine. George didn't show any favors to the new comer Tom and took him out at the starting line with a great light. That was it for first round, and the sun was setting on a rather long day due to breaks and oil downs on the track.
Drivers meeting.
We had our drivers meeting between rounds here, and it was a rather hurried affair due to all things considered. Awards were handed and all business conducted and away we went to racing again in the dark. I will post later how much was handed out, but as usual, about half the drivers came away with something.
Round 2
Shaun Johnston takes on Jim Hagenhoff and wins it. Jim, driving his street driven back up car had a little trouble launching that street car (I know how that is) and managed to turn on the “I'm done” red light.
Next, Bob Lantero takes out Kevin Miller. Kevin had a better light but broke out by .007 trying to keep the lead. Well, that didn't work, but I am sure Kevin will be just like the rest of us and end up doing that again some time in the future.
Bob Westhoff then took on Doug Duell in his 64 Plymouth wagon. Bob had put new heads on his car and gained a tremendous improvement in performance, something like 0.750? What ever it was, it put him into the “I can't go that fast because I don't have a bar” category. But, Bob has been racing a long time and REALLY has a handle on how to control that problem, and that is what he did. Bob launched the car and was getting it on when Doug left in his typical beast mode pulling the front tires in the air and driving on the back two wheels a little toward the center line. When it came down Doug got it together and was running Bob down, but in all the excitement missed taking the lead buy about 2 feet, 2 inches (Doug's math). Bob goes on , and that is racing.
Jay Freihage then cuts a light on Derek Strait, and Derek is out. Derek broke out trying to stay ahead, but the light Jay cut wasn't going to allow that to happen.
Dalton Bruemmer was going to run George Justice, but George was out when getting his car ready for the next round, he notices the car leaning. A flat in a slick will do that.
BTW, on Thursday after I parked, I rode the bike around and picked up several screws, nuts and bolts in our pit area. I also found another screw by Duells campsite race day. I may have missed something. But, be aware, a racecar flat can ruin your day and it did Geroge's.
Number one qualified Ralph Denne gets a bye here into the money round (third round).
Third Round.
Shaun Johnston lines up with Dalton mousproof Bruemmer, and we know how this has to turn out. Close lights at the start and close at the stripe, and only one comes out on top.
Bob Westhoff then lines up against that aluminum front end and doors tied to Ralph Denne 63 409. That 409 is one of the fasted stock block 409's in the country, but that doesn't work for Ralph when he turned on the “darn it” bulb. Bob has a great day, and goes onto the semis.
Bob Lantero then lines up against Jay Freihage for the last pair to to down this round. At this point its been a LONG day, and its well past 11 at night. Bob doesn't cut a great light, but neither does Jay. Jay can't catch Bob as he crosses the line .07 later than his index. Relatively close to the index, its enough that Jay is out.
Semis
Bob and Bob line up in this round when Lantero and Westhoff stage their cars. As I said, it was late at night, and both guys were late. But, equally late so we had a race. Lantero won when Westhoff's Ford broke out. I wouldn't blame the car though, Westhoff was driving it.
Shaun Johnston gets the ladder bye here into the finals, which would take place in less than 15 minutes from now. Both Shaun and Bob Lantero turned their cars around and were back in the lanes in no time. It was a cool evening, certainly jacket weather, and that helped a lot.
Final round.
Its way past my bedtime, but I'm here and ready at the starting line. Bob and Shaun line up and green lights for the pair. Shaun with an 11.0 index and Bob with a 10.0 index. Bob breaks out as well as Shaun, but Bob breaks out slightly more. It was close. The cool night air undoubtedly wasn't considered in all the excitement in the cars at the finish line, but it never is. Both these guys have a great day, and another race goes in the books.
Edit 5-11-22 At the drivers meeting we gave away OVER $1300 in prizes and awards, and there will be even MORE later in the year! How's that for great!