The 3rd Annual St. Patty’s Day race was here and gone, the racers who attended all had a good time racing, socializing, food, green beer, and just having fun. Thirty-five racers from six states made the journey to Kutztown, PA. The snow was mostly all gone and that was a good thing because it made the parking around here a whole lot easier
Saturday was open for a 12noon to 5pm practice and sixteen racers took advantage of the pre-race track time. When practice was over we walked to the local tavern for dinner and enjoyed the local scenery.
On Sunday morning the doors opened at 8 am and fresh coffee was on along with donuts and pastries also green beer. As the racers entered to claim their pit space, Henry was there to greet them with his Final Word. This was all good for laughs through out the entire day thanks Henry ! Once again we had a great array of racers from the Rookies to the seasoned Veterans. The list of entries was completed and the names were entered into the computer, a random selection racer list was made and then divided into two groups. We were able two run two races at once with the new basement layout. Shortly after 10 am the racing started Super Stocks on the Tub and Indy’s on the Oval. The racing was as fast as last year and the competition was just as good. The Tub track worked fine all year, counted laps and kept times all weekend during practice, decides not to count laps in yellow lane at race time ! NOT PRICELESS ! Yes for some reason the reed switch failed in yellow so the totals will be with out the yellow lane. The lesson for the day is, do not make a speech and say that you hope everything goes well with out a problem. After the first set of races were finished we all took a break from the racing action for lunch. Once again Spud’s put on another great spread of food for everyone to enjoy. Burgers, wings, perogies, loaded fries, regular fries, and all other snacks to eat are just a few things to consume including the green beer. I also think somewhere in here Henry gave us a few more Final Words to laugh about.
After lunch we switched tracks and finished both races with each group. The laps were then combined and the finishes compiled. Starting with the Super Stock event, which was run as a three minute round robin, it was Joel Lux ( New York ) who took home first place. Second belonged to Dave Lockwood from ( Connecticut ) who ran the track very well for the first time racing on it. Third place goes to Paul Kniffen ( New York ) and Don Auriema ( New Jersey ) took home fourth. Don gave up a vacation trip to race with us, now that is loving the hobby.
Next is the finish of the Indy Cars, which were two minute round robin races, and Joel Lux took his second first place win for the day. Last year Joel was runner-up in both events. Second in Indy’s was Bryan “with a Y” Kisthart ( Pennsylvania ) who was the winner of both events last year. In third place was Don Auriema and fourth was Hiram Durant ( Maryland ). The two main events were completed and the ribbons were handed out to the top four finishers. At this time everyone was talking about the days happenings, saying goodbyes, and packing up for their journey home. For those who wanted to stay we ran a Nostalgia race.
After a short deliberation about the concerns that the Tub will not count laps correctly we race all 8 lanes on the oval. Twelve racers stayed for the event and had a blast running Nostalgia on the oval. These were run as minute and a half races. Everyone had his or her cars ready to go race except Don. For some reason it seemed like he could not make up his mind which one to race ? The finish of this race goes as follows: First Joel Lux ( three –peat winner of the day ) Second Bryan Kisthart / Third Jeff Crosley ( New Jersey ) / Vic Quinones ( New Jersey ).
All lap totals are posted below.
I would like to thank everyone who helped run the computers including the one person who had to do a little extra time. It is all the little things that happen through out the day we can all talk about later and laugh, but remember Henry has the Final Word. Thank you to the thirty five racers who made the trip to Kutztown, PA and helped make this a well attended and successful yearly event. To see the event in person put this date on your calendar: Sunday March 15, 2015 will be the 4th Annual St. Patty’s Day ( Always Green ) race at Randy’s Raceway. Thank you all for your support of this event.
Regards,
Randy Jay Haydt
Randy’s Raceway
