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| Rolling Thunder Racing Of Southern California A Division of Rock Island Racing Engelage’s Mongoose Mauls The Monster On Labor Day Sunday, 18 racers navigated their way to Rock Island’s GREEN MONSTER RACEWAY, for the Wild Mongoose Chase 2003. This was the third and final themed race in the nine race Rolling Thunder Racing schedule. As the pits began to gather a crowd, the smell of chili and hot dogs filled the air, and the ‘raceday vibe’ was buzzing. The track was in good race shape and the mercury filled much of the thermometer. After a quick meeting and a splash of driving juice, we were ready to roll. The first Round Robin began with the field posting mostly 16's and 17's, along with six or seven 18's. Much of the field was bunched up, when they finished their fourth heat, and many places were decided by track position. MIKE ENGELAGE was one of the racers who posted two 18's, along with a pair of 17's, for a total of 70 laps. This was good for the win and the 5 bonus points. Next in line, about 2/3 of a lap back was host, ROCKY GERMAN, posting a strong 79 lap total, and grabbing 4 big bonus points. PAUL HAGAN, another newcomer, in only his second RTR start, took 3rd place honors with 68 laps, and collected his first 3 bonus points. Congratulations, Paul! Rounding out the top 5 and the last of the bonus points were MATT PAUL, with 68 laps, and SCOTT DUNLAP with 66. At this point, the field was cut by only two, and the second Round Robin began. At the end of this round however, only one of every two drivers would move on to the Semis. In this round, there were a lot of 17's, and once again, a few 18's as well. Times were getting a bit faster, and racers were fighting for every bit of track position that they could get, as they realized that it could be the determining factor of when their race day would end. Again ENGELAGE was putting on the clinic of ‘how to prepare a Mongoose for battle’, as he posted three 18's, en route to a whopping 71 lap total, good for 5 more bonus points. There was a great race for second place between GERMAN and PAUL HAGAN, both with 69 laps. They chased each other down and ran side by side throughout the entire race. When the power shut down, GERMAN had the lead by only a handful of track sections, which gave him another second place and another 4 bonus points. HAGAN took another trio of bonus points for his efforts. MATT PAUL collected 2 more points for his 4th place effort of 67 laps, and MICKEY HURTADO took the final point, with his 67 lap effort, coming up just short of PAUL. Taking the last three spots in the semis, for 6th, 7th, and 8th place were FRANCIS MCENTEE (66 laps), GREG DAVIS (66 laps), and VIC LICAUSI (65 laps), who nosed out current series runner up SCOTT DUNLAP (65 laps) for the ‘bubble’ spot. Rounding out the top 10 was JOHN MACKEY, with a nice 63 lap effort. At this point, the first of two Semis began, with finishers 2,4,6,and 8. This one started off at a rip-snortin’ pace, as LICAUSI and PAUL both started with 18's. GERMAN posted a 17 on the Red gutter, and MCENTEE posted a 16 on the Blue gutter. In the second heat, it was all 17's, except for MCENTEE, who cranked out an 18 on the White lane. In the third heat, LICAUSI ran into some trouble on the Red gutter, and was only able to post a 16, making it a very close race. Going into the last heat there was a three way tie, at 51 laps, with PAUL out in front at 52. In that last heat, GERMAN fought hard to try and catch PAUL, but 3 minutes proved to be an inadequate amount of time to do it, and PAUL emerged victorious, collecting 5 bonus points and a guaranteed trip to the Final/Main. GERMAN ended with the same total as PAUL, 69 laps, for a second place finish, and a probable trip to the Final/Main. These two racers really banged heads, a lot in this race. LICAUSI remained solid, posting a 17 for a total of 68, while MCENTEE felt the sting of the Red lane, posting only 16 laps for a 67 total, which would eventually net him a fine 5th place finish for the day. In the second semi, it didn’t take long to see that the real race here was for second, and more importantly to try and beat LICAUSI’S 68, for a trip to the Final, as ENGELAGE started out of the gate with an 18 and never looked back. This car was hooked up, big-time. It had great straight line speed as well as superior handling, thanks to ENGELAGE’S master tuning abilities. All three other racers began with 17's. In the second heat, ENGELAGE took a 17, after a few problems on the slightly bumpy White lane. HAGAN stayed tough with another 17, to stay within a lap, while HURTADO and DAVIS both fell off to 16. In the third heat, ENGELAGE sealed the deal, posting the day’s only 19! HAGAN had bad trouble on Red, posting a 15, which was a crushing blow to a strong raceday. HURTADO stepped back up to 17, but DAVIS slowed to 16 on the Blue lane. In the final heat, ENGELAGE posted a 17, for another 71, a first place finish, 5 bonus points, and pole position for the Final. HURTADO was closest, but well off the pace, with 67 laps, which meant that LICAUSI’S 68 from the first semi, would make the cut. DAVIS ended with 66 laps, 3rd in the heat, for a 7th place finish for the day, and HAGAN’S 65 took 8th place overall. In the Final/Main, ENGELAGE was once again, the pacesetter, posting an immediate 18. LICAUSI had bad trouble on White, posting only 16, while GERMAN and PAUL posted 17's. The second heat was much of the same, with ENGELAGE posting another 18, and the rest of the field posting 17's. In the third heat, ENGELAGE illustrated the meaning of relentless, as he posted a third consecutive 18, pretty much guaranteeing a win, barring any unforseen circumstance. PAUL posted his first 18 of the Final, just to let ENGELAGE know that it wasn’t over till it was over. GERMAN stayed consistent with another 17, while LICAUSI had troubles on the Blue lane, posting 16, and all but cementing himself into a fourth place finish. In the last heat, ENGELAGE dropped off to a 17, while PAUL and GERMAN tried desperately to make up the distance, both posting 18's. It wouldn’t be enough though, as ENGELAGE’S third 71 in a row, was too much to conquer. But, with another in a series of strong runs, PAUL held off GERMAN for second, posting an impressive 70 laps to GERMAN’S 69 (again), and LICAUSI ended with 65. This trip down VICTORY LANE, for ENGELAGE, is his first such trip in this series, but by virtue of his steady top 2 or 3 finishes, he has managed to open up what may be an insurmountable lead, on his way to the Rolling Thunder Championship. With only 2 races remaining, he holds a 92 point lead over second place DUNLAP. The race for third has heated up and is now between 4 racers. RICK JOCHAM’S abscence was felt, but it did leave another vacancy in the Final and on the podium. It’s been a great series so far, and it proves to be a good exciting end over the next two races. Thanks to all of you who made the trip here on the Holiday weekend, and for your efforts in preparing a Mongoose, which as we all found out, is not a bad body to race In fact, MATT PAUL set a new track record, with his Mongoose, posting a 9.426, almost one-tenth of a second faster than the old record of 9.512, set on May 10th by Rick Jocham, in a Go-Go racing Mercedes DTM! I have a feeling that we may see a ‘Goose’ pop up, now and then, depending on the track conditions. Maybe Matt’s?????? The next Rolling Thunder race is on October 5th, at Scott Dunlap’s place, on his new routed track. That should be a good one. The next Island Thunder race is at Mike Engelage’s on Saturday September 20. The time will be announced later in the week. | ||||||||||||
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| WILD MONGOOSE CHASE 8/31/03 Green Monster Raceway 1. Mike Engelage 175+5+5+5= 190 (perfect score) 2. Matt Paul 170+2+2+5= 179 3. Rocky German 165+4+4= 173 4. Vic Licausi 160 5. Francis McEntee 155 6. Mickey Hurtado 150+1= 151 7. Greg Davis 146 8. Paul Hagan 142+3+3= 148 9. Scott Dunlap 138+1= 139 10. John Mackey 134 11. Gary Patton 130 12. Greg Willey 126 13. Michael Hurtado 122 14. Scott Ellis 119 15. Jeremy Hurtado 116 16. Lee Neckameyer 113 17. Rob Bowman 110 18. Alan Gonick 107 | ||||||||||||
