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| Six entries from Central NY and Northern PA competed in the 2nd Pumpkin 250 held on Saturday October 25, 2003 at Pocket Rocket Raceway in Horseheads, NY. The field was headlined by Mark Burdick, looking for his fourth consecutive PRR Fray Major win, and Jeff "Hoss" Phoenix fresh off his third place finish in the T-Jet World Championship race in Las Vegas. Pumpkin 250 Entry List Driver, Hometown - Entrant - Car Mark Burdick, Mansfield, PA - Self - BRP Ford GT40 Jeff "Hoss" Phoenix, Camillus, NY - Self - BRP Mangusta Scott Walker, Horseheads, NY - Pocket Rocket Raceway; web site: http://www.pocketrocketraceway.com/ - BRP Ford GT40 Matt Warlock, Horseheads, NY - Self - BRP Jaguar E-Type Larry "Lawrence Of Moravia" Weaver, Moravia, NY - Kanga Kars - BRP Ford GT40 "Chapstick" Rici Wood, Chemung, NY - Captain Underpants Racing - BRP Ford GT40 SE QUALIFYING The qualifying round consisted of three 1.5 minute segments for each driver. Pre-race favorite Mark Burdick got his day off to a good start by grabbing the pole with a 43 lap run. 2003 Freez'n 250 champ Rici Wood made his PRR return a successful one with a 42-lap run and second place. Scott Walker was next up on the same lap as Wood. Jeff "Hoss" Phoenix had a disappointing run with 40 laps. Larry Weaver, driving one of Phoenix's cars, was even more disappointed with his 39. Matt Warlock followed with 34. SEMI FINAL ROUND The Semis would once again consist of three 1.5 minute segments. Semi #1 belonged to Burdick. After a brief challenge from Wood he began to pull away and guaranteed himself a spot in the final with the win. Wood cruised to second one lap up on Weaver. Semi #2 witnessed a back and forth battle between Phoenix and Walker. Phoenix clearly had the faster car, but Walker kept his in the slot and Phoenix could not get away. The two swapped the lead throughout but it was Phoenix by six feet at the finish. Both advanced. PUMPKIN 250 FINAL The Pumpkin 250 final was shaping up to be a classic. Seven minute segments would test both drivers and cars. Phoenix had really stepped up his game in the Semis, Burdick usually saved his best for the finals, and Wood appeared to have possibly the fastest car in the field. The first two laps saw all four drivers running within a foot of each other. Then Phoenix and Wood began to break away. Soon Phoenix had pulled a three foot lead over Wood. When he made a mistake Wood took over. Moments later his car stumbled. It allowed Phoenix back into the lead, but, unfortunately for Wood, it also was the first sign of trouble to come. All of this allowed Burdick back into the fight. From three minutes into the race to the end of the segment the three dueled and swapped the lead back and forth. Phoenix and Wood had the speed, but Burdick was driving inch-perfect to stay in the hunt. All the while Walker was riding a half lap back in fourth. At the end of the segment Phoenix was up by two feet over Burdick, who was only inches ahead of Wood. It was the first time in PRR history that a segment of more than 1.5 minutes had finished with all four drivers on the lead lap. In the second segment Phoenix established his claim on the race win. He enjoyed a clean segment, while Wood suffered several stalls and Burdick's car slowed. Walker's car clearly did not have the speed to match Phoenix's and at the end of the segment the lead was one lap. Burdick was two laps down; Wood was 20 back. Burdick made a setup change before the third segment. He was able to gain one lap back on the two ahead, while Walker held steady. Thus the final segment began with Phoenix up by one lap over the other two. Wood was still in the race, but well out of contention. Burdick made his move early, getting back around Walker for 2nd, and then regaining the lead lap with Phoenix with four minutes remaining. He continued to slowly reel in Phoenix until Phoenix opened up the door with a mistake. With one minute remaining the two were separated by a foot. Phoenix was hanging on desperately trying for his first 250 win, while Burdick was equally desperate with a car that was now loose. With 20 seconds to go it finally caught him out and Phoenix was safe. The final margin was half a lap. Walker had a sloppy final segment and finished three laps down. The win was the first PRR Major for Phoenix, who has been trying since 2000. He becomes the 6th person to do so. Next Major Race At PRR: 11/29/03 - 3rd Annual Turkey 250 (Fray) PRR's weekly HO racing series runs every Friday evening with races beginning at 7 PM. Current classes are Fray T-Jet and Fray JL Tuff One. Call or e-mail for rules. PRR's weekly 1/32 & 1/24 racing series runs every Saturday afternoon with races beginning at 4 PM. Current classes are Fly/GB Track Classics any wheel/tire and Carrera 1/24 Le Mans. Call or e-mail for rules. Pocket Rocket Raceway 2117 Grand Central Ave. Horseheads, NY 14845 Web Site: http://www.pocketrocketraceway.com/ E-mail: prrho@juno.com | |||||||||||||||||
| The Drivers - Front Row (L-R) Larry Weaver, "Hoss" Phoenix,Rici Wood, Mark Burdick, Scott Walker; Back row - Matt Warlock | |||||||||||||||||
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| Larry Weaver's '67 Indy 500 Pace Car Camaro leads the field. Row 1 - Warlock's BRP Jaguar E-Type, Weaver's BRP GT40, Wood's BRP GT40 SE, Walker's BRP GT40; Row 2 - Phoenix's BRP Mangusta, Burdick's BRP GT40 | |||||||||||||||||
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| The final four - 1st) Phoenix's Mangusta; 2nd) Burdick's GT40;3rd) Walker's GT40; 4th) Wood's GT40 SE | |||||||||||||||||
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| The podium - The drivers pose with their cars and their uniquetrophies - 4th - Wood; 3rd - Walker; 2nd - Burdick; 1st - Phoenix | |||||||||||||||||
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