ROCK ISLAND RACING
ISLAND THUNDER SERIES
5/10/03
Shortly before 10:00 AM, on Saturday morning, four road weary racers made their way up the hillside, which leads to the Rock Island Raceway, prepared to meet new friends, a new track, and new challenges. The quartet, having been on the road as early as 4:00 AM, and filled with just the right mixture of Coca cola, coffee, and carbohydrates, began their day in the dry warmth of Phoenix, Arizona, ending up in the blustery sunshine of Los Angeles. They were here to try and tame the recently created GREEN MONSTER SPEEDWAY, and pit their skills against the local crowd of Rock Island Racers.
Fifteen Rock Island racers made their way to ‘The Island’, to greet their Arizona counterparts. Some of the top drivers from the Rolling Thunder Series, were among the locals, as they stopped by to ‘double dip’ for a day in the Island Thunder Series. In addition to their racing, some of the more seasoned car builders assisted our guests with some setup help and some tune-up tips as well. This kind of open cooperation is more visible than ever, this year, and the benefits to the less experienced builders, is obvious, more and more, with each consecutive race.
With the smell of Marinara sauce wafting about the air, the racing began, with the field of 19 racers squaring off in a big ‘round robin’. Most of the times hovered around 15 or 16 laps per heat, with the exception of a few racers posting 17’s, and one racer, former Fray Champion, RICK JOCHAM, posting two 18’s as well. There were a lot of closely contested heats, and a lot of good side-by-side racing action. When the final seconds ticked off of the clock, it was JOCHAM blowing away the rest of the pack, with a stellar performance of 70 laps, collecting 5 bonus points for his efforts. In second place, and six full laps back, was MIKE ENGELAGE, the second member of Southern California’s ‘Dynamic T-Jet Duo’, collecting 4 bonus points for his 64 laps posted. Host ROCKY GERMAN, driving on his own track, placed third, also with 64 laps, and collected 3 bonus points. Also finishing with 64 laps, was SCOTT DUNLAP, the 2002 Rookie of the Year, at the Ferndale Fray, who added 2 bonus points to his total for his efforts. VIC LICAUSI rounded out the top 5 and was the last to collect any bonus points in this first round robin. Visiting racer Greg Williams walked away from the track, a very dejected racer, thinking that he was done for the day, after a run that he was not pleased with. After tallying up all of the standings, Williams made the cut, and was still in the running. You could see the renewed life, shooting through him. He had another chance. It was now onto round 2.
At this point, the field of 19 was cut to 16, for another round robin. The pace picked up a bit in this round. Once again, there was a lot of the good side by side stuff going on, as well as a good amount of 3-wide racing. The intensity level climbed, as these 16 racers fought for the 8 available spots in the Semi Finals. Once again, most of the top drivers were turning in 16 and 17 laps per heat, and once again, JOCHAM, added in a few 18’s to the mix. ENGELAGE chimed in this time, with an 18 of his own. GERMAN and DUNLAP were within shouting distance, as well as JASON BOYE, with TONY GROSSMAN, GREG WILLEY (who had a real nice run for the day), and visiting speedster GREG WILLIAMS, not far behind. Just missing out on the Semis, were two other visiting racers; MARTY COFFEL, who should have won something for the sweet Miller Lite Mangusta Mongoose, that crossed the line 61 times for 9th place, and son ‘Officer’ Justin Coffel, who had a very respectable 60 laps at the finish. Considering the competition, a new car setup, the new difficult track, and a 7 hour one-way drive, I’d say that these guys did a great job, and would be a force to be reckoned with, if they were racing with us for the rest of the season. These guys are all good racers, nice guys, and good sports.
Also missing out on a chance at the Semis and Final, was VIC LICAUSI, who was running strong, all day long. After ripping off two consecutive 16’s, in this second round robin, LICAUSI suffered a devastating blow, that would prove fatal, for this race. After his car had stalled, possibly wedged in between the rails, a turn marshall tried to push the car. As it did not ‘go’, the marshall gave it another push, and the car still would not ‘go’. Upon further examination, it was discovered that the guide pin had broken off, sending LICAUSI ‘behind the wall’, for a 16th place finish.
In the first of two Semi Finals, MIKE ENGELAGE took the early lead, posting a 17. GREG WILLEY, starting on the tough Blue lane, posted 14 laps, while GORSSMAN and GERMAN both posted 16’s. In heat 2, GERMAN turned it up to 17, while ENGELAGE slipped back to 16, along with GROSSMAN, and WILLEY added one, to a 15. In the third heat, it was 16’s all around, except ENGELAGE, who slammed out an 18. In the fourth and last heat, ENGELAGE continued to lead the pack, posting a 17, followed by GERMAN’S 16, while GROSSMAN and WILLEY battled to a 15-15 tie. ENGELAGE took the win and the 5 bonus points, with a very strong 68 lap tally. GERMAN was next in line, three laps back, with 65. GROSSMAN finished with 63 laps, and an edgy wait to see if that would be enough for the Main. WILLEY finished with a solid 60 lap total, enough for 8th place and a nice Top 10 finish. Way to go, Willey.
In the last of the Semis, much as before, it was all JOCHAM, putting on a driving exhibition on the gutter lanes, that most would be delighted to approach on an inside lane, en route to posting a 71 lap total, which included three heats of 18 laps! SCOTT DUNLAP raced fast and consistent, posting 16’s and 17’s, on his way to a real nice 66 lap total, and the third spot in the Final. BOYE also ran a strong consistent race, posting three 16’s, and a 17, for a 65 total, tying GERMAN in laps, but losing out on that last spot in the Final, by about half a lap. WILLIAMS ran strong, and looked as though he may have a chance to advance to the Final, until major trouble in the third heat, dashed all of those hopes. Despite that 14 lap total, in that tough heat, WILLIAMS finished with 61 laps, for 7th place.
The Final/Main was set, and immediately JOCHAM and ENGELAGE set out to ‘mark’ their territory, both posting 18’s, and sending a message to GERMAN and DUNLAP. GERMAN was close enough to hear the message, very well, as he posted a 17, while DUNLAP got the Red lane out of the way, with a 16. In the second heat, JOCHAM continued his dominance, as he posted another 18. GERMAN wasn’t ready to give up, just yet, as he posted a second consecutive 17, to remain within 2 laps of JOCHAM. ENGELAGE fell off the pace on the Red lane, posting a 16, along with DUNLAP, who posted his second 16 in a row, this one on the outside ‘gutter’ lane. In the third heat, JOCHAM posted a third consecutive 18, pulling 3 laps ahead of the nearest competitor. All of the other 3 racers posted 17’s, making this the fastest heat of the day. Going into the last heat, JOCHAM was sitting on top with 54 laps, followed by GERMAN and ENGELAGE, knotted at 51, with DUNLAP sitting at 49. In the last heat, yes…there was another 18. However, this time it belonged to ENGELAGE, who used the top tally to insure a second place finish, with 69 laps. GERMAN fell victim to the Blue lane, and fell off the pace to a 16 total, for 67 laps. DUNLAP ran hard on Yellow, to try and secure himself a spot on the podium, posting a strong 17, for a total of 66, but ended one lap shy of GERMAN. JOCHAM finished his day on Red, posting a 17 for another slammin’ 71 lap total, and a trip down Victory Lane, becoming out first repeat winner of the year. JOCHAM also set the new track record, posting a 9.512 second lap. Other hot laps of the day were GERMAN with 9.748, ENGELAGE with 9.872, and DUNLAP with 9.838. Wow! The old track records, set at the first race, were shattered…..absolutely shattered, by nearly 9/10 of a second! The track was in good shape, and the race went off smoothly, and without a hitch. With the streamlining of a second round robin, the race was completed in about 4 _ hours. That’s about as fast as we’ve ever done a 19-man race! Everybody was where they were supposed to be, when they were supposed to be there, and things ran like clockwork. The abundance of meatball sandwiches, simmering, and ready all day long, allowed us to race straight through, without a lunch break. This knocked 30 or 40 minutes off of the time.
Once again, thanks to all who were in attendance. It was a great, special day, with our new founded Arizona brethren. They added a refreshing, new element to our race. The racing continues to get closer and faster. Everyone is improving in leaps and bounds, and the points race is closing up more and more.
The next Island Thunder Series race will be on Saturday June 7th, at Tony G’s CONCOURSE IN THE VILLAGE. The next Rolling Thunder Series race will be the following day, Sunday June 8th, at Lee’s RIPTIDE RACEWAY, in Burbank. Please keep these dates in mind, as you may not receive another notice about these races, till the day before.
That’s it for this addition of the Rock Island Race Report.
Don’t forget to wish your mom a Happy Mother’s Day.
Take care.
C ya.
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