A good turnout for the 7th race of the series at Paul’s tight and twisty course. Even though the temps outside were on the high side they couldn’t compare to the hot racing that went on inside. Everyone realized that this race would probably set the die for the final points championship. And with the track misbehaving due to the high temperatures it was going to be an interesting nite. At first Team Banta was struggling in practice and Right Stuff’s Greg’s car was hooked up. But as more cars starting running the track got worse and Greg lost his setup never to find it again. He even took to using 5 ohms of choke and still the car had snap oversteer. Paul struggled too almost allowing Greg to win the C consi but a small ride height change with smaller rears put him in the main with the consi win. Mike gave both of them fits with a very good run. Mike is without a doubt the most improved driver of the year. With a good setup he can give the fast guys fits. Fast Qualifier James, 23.09, made short work of the A consi cutting a quick 174.7, fastest of the consis. Mark finally had a chance to show his stuff on the tricky track with his LifeLike by winning the B from a rapidly closing Ken.
The Last Chance had David and Greg duking it out till the final minute. Once again Greg’s car struggled in handling and was barely able to hold him off. Ken finished ahead of a off the pace Zane. Missing the main pretty much cost Zane the championship and now he has Mark and Greg closing up on 2nd place. Plus the battle for 5th in the chapionship has heated up with Marty, James and David all within a point of each other. The final race at Zane’s will decide it and you can be sure everyone will be pedal to the metal!
The main lined up and at the start Paul was long gone with a 2 to 3 lap lead after the 1st segment. But in the 2nd segment we had a 3 way tie for the lead when James and Mark closed up. But running consistent 45s for the first 3 segments separated him from teammate James and Mark. But James was on the move and a 48 on yellow, the highest segment for the evening, (Mark had a 47 on green!) put him only 2 laps behind going into the final 2 minutes. Greg tried to stay with the pack only a couple laps off after 2 segments but the car was such a handful he backed off to allow the other 3 to duke it out for the win. Mark was able to move into contention but trouble hit in the 3rd dropping him 7 behind. The final was between Paul and James and everyone figured Paul had it sewed up. But Paul was on gutter blue and James on fast green and it showed when Paul only cut a 42 and James 44 to tie it up. It was down to who was ahead on the track and a great cheer went up when it was James at .5 and Paul at .1!
Everyone retired to the back porch for some swimming in Paul’s most excellent pool and for hamburgers and hot dogs off the grill. Lottsa good bench racing and a great end to a great nite of racing. Everyone is looking forward to the series finale at Zane’s and the trophy, prize giving ceremony. Hope to see ya there!
I have included once again the prelimary Fall/Winter 97 schedule for your consideration.
Points:| Pos | Driver | 5/2 | 5/16 | 5/30 | 6/13 | 6/27 | 7/11 | 7/25 | Total | drop 2 |
| 1. | Paul | 7 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 60 | 48 |
| 2. | Zane | 10 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 56 | 44 |
| 3. | Greg | 8 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 56 | 43 |
| 4. | Mark | 9 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 53 | 40 |
| 5. | Marty | 6 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 46 | 35 |
| 6. | James | 5 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 42 | 34 |
| 7. | David | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 41 | 33 |
| 8. | Dave | 4 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 36 | 28 |
| 9. | Ken | -- | -- | 5 | 5 | 5 | -- | 7 | 22 | 22 |
| 10. | Mike | 2 | 4 | -- | -- | 3 | 5 | 6 | 20 | 20 |
| 11. | Pete | -- | -- | -- | -- | 7 | 6 | -- | 13 | 13 |
| 12. | Josh | 3 | 4 | 5 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 12 | 12 |
| 13. | Eric | -- | -- | -- | 6 | -- | 5 | -- | 11 | 11 |
| 14. | Bryan | -- | 5 | 5 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 10 | 10 |
| 15. | Dan L. | 3 | -- | 5 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 8 | 8 |
| 16. | Dennis | -- | -- | -- | -- | 6 | -- | -- | 6 | 6 |
| = | Rich | -- | -- | -- | 6 | -- | -- | -- | 6 | 6 |
| 17. | Dan | -- | -- | -- | -- | 2 | -- | -- | 2 | 2 |
Good Luck and Have Fun! See Ya at the Races!