Race 3 of the 5 race Thunderjet Racing Association of Central Kentucky series was held at Autohobby Model Raceway in Lexington, Kentucky, Saturday March 22nd attracting a near record 18 racers. Autohobby is a large store that features 1/24th, 1/32nd and HO scale racing. It’s a clean, well lighted facility with plenty of pit tables that will easily accommodate a large number of racers – a great place to hold the mid-season race. This race was unique for the TRACK series, not only because it was held at a commercial shop (a first for the series) but also because stock Johnny Lightning Thunderjets were raced in place of the usual stock Aurora T-Jets just for this race.

Stock class: Coming off wins in the first 2 races at Kentucky and GrandSport speedways Tom O’Riley was feeling quite confident racing his Ford GT-40 stock T-Jet. Being informed after race 2 that he would have to run a Johnny Lightning in race 3 he found himself a little out of his established comfort zone. This gave some of the other racers some hope for a win -- until they saw Tom’s stock JL zipping around the track. This JL Thunderjet ran smooth and fast even on the not-so-smooth Tyco road course. Hopes were dashed as Tom took 1st again, holding off Joseph Hampton and Joey Bond for 2nd and 3rd. They both ran well but never even got close to Mr. O’Riley’s white Corvette convertible. Dave Smith and Dan Cocke rounded out the top 5.

Super-Stock class: Some outstanding car/driver combos showed up this time, pushing the competition level to an all-time high. Four groups, arranged in qualifying order, raced, all vying for the most laps and sections. Three of the top 4 finishers emerged from the “A” group which raced last. Again it was Tom O’Riley, with a new motor in his black Lola, driving a near flawless 10 minute race to win his first TRACK series super-stock race. Greg Carpenter, who qualified 9th, snatched 2nd while Ron Fields Jr., 16 yr. old Joseph Hampton and Dave “Cletusjud” Smith rounded out the top 5. The closest racing in the top 5 was for 3rd and 4th – a mere 13 track sections between Ron Jr. and Joseph. There were plenty of tight battles further back in the field as well.

We were pleased to welcome 4 first time TRACK series racers: Mike Gregg from Tennessee, Rob Johnson from Louisville, Randy Dunaway from Morehead KY, and Phil Stevens from Lexington. Others who traveled from out of town to the race were Tom O’Riley of Louisville, Ron Fields Jr., Ron Fields Sr. from Tennessee and Dave Morrison from Erlanger KY.

Race 4 will be at Dave Smith’s Kentucky Speedway in Georgetown April 19th. Race 5 at Greg Carpenter’s GrandSport Speedway in Lexington May 17th will finish out the season. All indications are that T-Jet racing in the Lexington Kentucky area is alive, well and growing. We’re already planning some interesting summer races and some of us will be preparing to compete in the New Jersey Shootout October 10th and 11th.

Please take a look at our website for pictures from the last race including cars, track and another “race cake” provided by Jon and Carol Kropczynski. Also be sure to click on the “sponsors” section and support our generous sponsors who have provided us with a number of outstanding prizes to give away at the races.

www.thunderjetracing.com