Retro CART League
Final race for the 3rd season at Laguna Seca saw Rick Ravon and Johnny Hamby on the front row of the grid and at the head of the field battling for the lead. Third placed Breuning made a few mistakes and lost some ground but managed to stay ahead of Bill Smithem in 4th.
Ravon concludes the season as Champion with no less than 7 wins! Breuning is 2nd and Bill Smithem takes 3rd in the championship by 1 point over Chris Brown.
The first race Retro CART League ran at Miami Speedway was not one with a high car count, but definitely one with great action! Chris Brown took the pole, his first ever in the league, and he led most of the way. After the pits stops Breuning and Hamby had worked their way up top, but Brown ran a tight line and snuck underneath Breuning to grab the lead, which he held until a little wiggle made it all go south. Breuning was lucky enough to escape the mayhem and won the race under yellow. Darryl Wineinger was second and Gregg Herr third.
Confirmed champion Rick Ravon qualified his #1 machine on pole once again at Watkins Glen, but his lead role was short lived when he missed a shift and spun, lucky not to hit anything. He continued and had his work cut out for him. On the second lap, front row qualifier and new leader Sean Langton found similar fate when he overdid it on the throttle just a little, but enough to spin him around. Hamby, who was faster at the start than Breuning, took the lead and was faster than anyone pursuing him. He pitted on the same lap as Breuning did, but somehow the tank didn’t get filled enough and he had to make a second stop just before the end, handing Breuning the win free and clear. Ravon saw his effort to catch up rewarded with 2nd and Hamby rounded out the podium finishers.
In a small field tonight, Rick Ravon wrapped up his championship bid with a solid win from the pole, leading most laps as well. Mike Zakar started strong in hot pursuit of the leader, but was the first to find out that turn 1 and 2 can be a little tricky once the rear tires run a little hot. Unfortunately, Chris Brown was not lucky enough to miss the mayhem and saw a 3rd position end in the pitlane.
Bill Smithem and Austin Dabbs had similar problems. Paul Krumrei ran a strong race and finished 2nd, with Breuning finishing 3rd.
Johnny Hamby qualified on pole only 0.001 faster than Rick Ravon. At the start of the race, Hamby took the lead for less than half a lap, only to see Ravon run away with the race today. A brief battle with 3rd place qualifier ended when Breuning spun off. He dropped to 5th and on lap 10 was caught by a spinning Steve Kubay at the exit of turn 1. Kubay soldiered on, albeit with a damaged left side, to finish 4th. Hamby and Jason Wells joined Ravon on the podium.
Pocono proved to be a handful this evening for round 6 of the Retro CART League Season 3; The early leader was Ryan Freeman, who wound up leading the most laps but ended his endeavor in turn one later in the race as he was fighting for position with Robert Love. Paul Krumrei was an early challenger for the lead, but he too fell victim to the car snapping on him in turn 1. Hamby experienced the same fate when he briefly led at the end. Love went on to win ahead of Chris Brown and Neil Canning after a thrilling race that saw the top 5 battle for the top honors in the closing stages.
Johnny Hamby qualified on pole for the race at Road America, with Rick Ravon alongside him and Breuning with Wade Tschida on row 2.
Hamby started well, but Ravon was eager to lead and took P1 on the first lap. Ravon, Hamby and Breuning pulled away from the pack, although Breuning started fading as well. Hamby poked at Ravon a few times but didn’t seem to be able to really threaten the leader.
About mid race he lost control and a lap later lost it again to end his race. Now it was Breuning chasing after Ravon, who had a 3 second advantage after the pitstops. Breuning nibbled away from it and closed in, when Ravon lost his car 4 laps from the finish he took the lead. He won the race ahead of Ravon and Tschida
Wade Tschida started from Pole Position he earned with a blistering lap, while powerhouse 3 time winner Ravon messed up both his laps and started in the back of the 11 car field. Ryan Freeman qualified on the front row with Theo Schleret in 3rd and Bill Smithem in 4th.
Tschida dominated the first part of the race, well ahead of the troubles other drivers encountered. Smithem was the first to turn it around but he kept it out of the concrete and soldiered on.
Breuning lost it just after passing Hamby and unfortunately took them both out, with Freeman narrowly escaping. Schleret lost his car in turn one and two and ended his endeavor.
By then, it was Rick Ravon chasing down Tschida. The final third of the race was an epic battle between the two drivers and seemed that no matter what Ravon did, Tschida came back. But in the end, it was Ravon coming off turn 4 on the last lap, out of the drafting and passing Tschida at the line by 0.004 of a second to grab win number four, leaving Tschida both heartbroken to loose by such a small margin yet ecstatic with running a great race. Ryan Freeman brought it home to take the bronze.
Three time race winner Rick Ravon placed his #1 car on the Pole for the Belle Isle GP, with Breuning alongside and defending champ Hamby in 3rd, back after a 3 race hiatus. Theo Schleret once again accepted the challenge of starting in the back.
Breuning was the first of the leaders to mess up, turning his #61 around and later hitting the wall; After lengthy repairs he continued. Leader Rick Ravon, under no pressure at the time of the incident, misjudged turn 12 on lap 14, damaging his car beyond repair. Hamby, running 2nd, clipped a wall somewhere and brought it to the pitlane.
By that time, Schleret was in the lead and never looked back. He scored his season’s first win dominantly. Bill Smithem, who collided with a car spinning in the early stages of the race, kept out of trouble and brought his damaged car home in 2nd position, with newcomer Joseph McWhorter rounding out the podium in a strong debut!
The Indy 100 showed 16 starters today, with Rick Ravon leading the pack around on pole position. The racing was close as expected. League newcomer Theo Schleret found out that racing side by side sometimes requires drivers to do what the others would expect you to do. He was high on Robert Love, who arced out of turn 3 to the middle of the track, only to find Schleret not arcing to the high side. The cars tangled on the short shute and ended both their races prematurely. A similar incident going into turn 4 ended Trey Mitts’ race as well. Ravon was hanging back for a long time, but when the final (green flag) pit stops were done, he found himself chasing Ryan Freeman in a nose to tail battle to the end. Out of turn 4 on the final stretch, Ravon managed to come along side out of the draft and took the win by 0.007 of a second! Freeman was 2nd and Chris Hamelink was finished a solid 3rd, leaving behind Hunley by 0.05 of a 2nd