The 1997 Arizona HO Racing Association held the 8th and final race of it’s SuperStock GTP/WSC Championship at Zane’s fast 4x12 Tyco track. Even though the championship had been already won by Paul there was a fierce three way battle for both of the 2nd and 5th spots in the point standings. Early championship leader Zane had experienced some tough breaks in the last few races and was barely hanging onto 2nd. Greg and Mark were coming on strong and even with a hometrack advantage to Zane, who knows, racing is such a fickle sport that can break a racer’s heart. Marty, David and James were in a tight points battle that saw only a point separation for that 5th spot. And someone’s heart was gonna be broken when the 2nd and 5th spots would be decided. With trophies only going to the top six someone wasn’t going to dance with the trophy queen.
14 entries lined up to qualify and Marty showed a quick hand by cutting a hi 16.02 laps in the 1 minute timed period with his Aston Martin painted in Gulf colors. 2nd was Mike with 15.15, David 15.12 and Paul 14.11 getting the top spots in the 4 consi’s. Mark would have been a contender for TQ but a cracked chassis found after qualifying meant switching to an unknown backup car. The consi’s would see the 4 winners and 4 hi lap totals move into the 2 semis. The A consi saw Marty come back from 3 laps behind to win. James had a bad segment on yellow that cost him the win and a moveup into the semis. Mike showed his hand in the B winning a close one over Zane by less than a lap. David cruised to a 5 lap win in the C over Ken and Dan. I think Dan had problems with his Porsche because he wasn’t wearing his designer sunglasses but he looked like he had a lot of fun. With a new car Mark won the D over a rapidly closing Paul.
Marty grabbed a huge lead at the start of the A semi and looked a shoein for the main. But if anyone has been the heartbreak kid in the series it’s Marty. In one race alone he missed the consi moveup by less than 2 feet and the last chance by 1 foot after qualifying fairly well! With a 2 lap lead over David in the 3rd segment he then drove into the hand of a marshall putting another car in. The marshall attempted to put both Marty’s and the other car in at the same time only to take too long. Marty then had a lot of trouble with the tricky last turn on the yellow lane and by the time the 3rd segment ended he went from plus 2 to minus 3 laps and down to 3rd place. David now had a comfortable lead over Ken and when the checkered flag fell he easily won the semi with a 119.09. Ken’s 117.05 might make the main but everyone knew that Marty’s 113.13 was his final run of the series. No one has had such tough luck throughout the series. We know he’ll be back stronger and faster for the next series.
The B semi had the heavy weights in it. The pace was so quick that David’s 119 from the A would been only good enough for 3rd! The battle was between Mark and Mike and they were tied for 1st for 3 of the 4 segments. Only in the final did Mark squeeze ahead by cutting a 31 on red for a 122.14 total. Mike’s cool and confident drive netted a 121.03 but I can’t remember him ever coming out during the entire race! James was off the pace finishing in 4th but teammate Paul cut a superb 31 in the final segment to edge Ken from the A for the final moveup in the main, 117.11 to Ken’s 117.05! More broken hearts!
The final main event of the series lined up and it was really tough figuring who would win it. Paul was off form, Mark was quick but who knew about that new car? David was very fast and looked to have the best shot at the win. Mike was consistent but this was his first main in the series and he wouldn’t be used to the pace and pressure that guys like Paul and Mark can put on you. And what makes racing so exciting is you just never know how it’s gonna go! And so to really mix things up Mike jets out to a 3 lap lead after the first segment! He was so smooth and when the veterans tried to put the pressure on him they crashed instead. His car wasn’t the quickest on the straight with a noticeable lack of acceleration but in the corners he was hooked up bigtime! He maintained a 3 lap lead into the 2nd segment but you could see David in 2nd place getting the fire in his eyes for the win. Mark has some bad luck dropping into the battle for 3rd with Paul but all eyes were watching Mike. Could he hold off the charging David?
On tricky yellow Mike drove the segment of his career cutting a 30 whereas others would lucky to get 28s and 29s. He lost one lap to David whose 31 on easy red tighten it up and setup the exciting final 2 minute segment. Mark was 3 behind Paul and the battle for 3rd looked over. So the racers hooked up for the final time in the championship. The pressure seemed unreal as Mike who had hadn’t even made a main in the series had to defend his lead against the best in the state. Even though he had a slim 2 lap lead, David was going to come at him with everything he had, all guns blazing. David wanted this one really bad as both dad and little brother had won a main in the series and he hadn’t! Plus his car was very quick! Mike and David were both on the fast inner lanes of green and blue. At the start they raced very hard but Mike just barely maintained that 2 lap lead for the first minute and half. David would gain a few feet only to have Mike put on a strong move to get it back. This kept going back and forth. Then suddenly the handling went away on Mike’s car and he started deslotting. A tumble on the back straight cost him some valuable time. The lead was down to just 1 lap when Mike crashed at the last corner leading onto the main straight. Mike’s car ended up just barely out of the reach of both the corner and main straight marshalls and for a few seconds it looked like it was over for Mike. If David came around he would be on the same lap and a very good chance to win it. But then Paul, David’s father, who was in a tight battle with Mark for 3rd stopped, reached down to Mike’s car and put it back in the slot. This kept Mike’s precious lap lead and David crashed soon after allowing Mike to extend it back to 2 laps. When the timer went off a loud cheer went up for this very popular racer. It was a great race from a guy some consider the most improved driver of the year. And a grand sportsmanship like gesture from a true champion and racer Paul for stopping to put Mike back in. David was gracious in congratulating Mike whose smile never left is face the rest of the evening. Especially after someone (probably Zane or Dave) shoved a few Killian Red beers in his hand. Mark was really happy as his outstanding 32 on red put him 1 lap ahead of Paul for 3rd! What a race! And with 5 different winners in 8 races, what a series! During the extensive bench racing session there is some discussion of what type of car to use for the next series. Serious consideration is being given to F1/Indy, FIA GT and lastly, GOKARTS! But more on that later.
The pits were cleared and all the prizes laid out for everyone to see. There were enough goodies that everyone who participated received more in merchandise than their entry fees for the entire series! We did it opposite of the point’s standings. If you attended 6 of the 8 races then you were eligible. Those at the bottom of the points were called up first. Besides, the top point’s finishers don’t need the good stuff anyway, those struggling to get to make the main do! Top 6 in points got the plaques though. It was fun taking pictures. There was so much stuff to hold, the guys kept juggling it so that their smiles confused the autoflash. Then the raffle with the tickets that were handed out at signup of each race was started. Race sets, controllers, t-shirts, twinpacks. a Mario Andretti biography and a really sano clear coffee mug with a Formula 1 diecast car on a checkered flag molded on the bottom were handed out to the lucky winners. Believe it, everyone walked away very, very happy.
The Arizona HO Racing Association would like to take this moment to sincerely thank those who donated these outstanding prizes. Without these companies and the people behind them, our series finale would not have been as much fun as it was. All of the AHORA racers support these companies. All of them make components that our racers use to race and win. Although we can’t twist your arm to buy from them, we can urge you to support the companies that support our sport! Besides if you’re a serious HO racer you can’t win without them! So a big Arizona Wild West THANK YOU to: Richard Downing of Mattel (Tyco), Beth Korolevich of LifeLike Products, Gary Buckley of Tomy America Inc, REH Distributing, Parma International, Tony, Tony Jr., and Roger Porcelli of SlotTech, Dave Rathwell of Rathwell Bodies, John Cukras of Legends, Nicky and Gary Beedle of Scale Auto/BSRT, Sherri and Bob Lincoln of Wizzard High Performance Products, Paul Banta of Banta Racing, Right Stuff Racing and Retail, and Bill Payne for the plaques. A special thanks to the track owners of AHORA, Zane Walrod, Marty Coffel, Mark McVittie and Paul Banta for opening their homes and garages to us. Their hospitality and patience is unmatched. All of these people and organizations helped to make the 1997 AHORA GTP/WSC SuperStock Championship one of the best ever held in Arizona.
Oh, that next series that’s we’re thinking about? Well, Dave Rathwell of Rathwell Bodies has made a major cool gokart body for us! The shape is based on the Renspeed 125cc Shifter kart with molded front bodywork, engine with exhaust (is that an FMF or ProCircuit?), radiator, sidepods and driver figure. Mounts right over the superstocks we’re running now. Hot! But there are those who want to run his new raised nose Formula 1 body too! And then it will really heat up when he releases his Mercedes CLK GT Body! Hey, this is a lot of fun!
1997 AHORA SuperStock Championship Final Points Standings
Points:| Pos | Driver | 5/2 | 5/16 | 5/30 | 6/13 | 6/27 | 7/11 | 7/25 | 8/8 | Total | drop 2 |
| 1. | Paul | 7 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 67 | 55 |
| 2. | Zane | 10 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 63 | 51 |
| 3. | Greg | 8 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 62 | 50 |
| 4. | Mark | 9 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 61 | 48 |
| 5. | David | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 50 | 42 |
| 6. | Marty | 6 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 53 | 41 |
| 7. | James | 5 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 49 | 41 |
| 8. | Dave | 4 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 42 | 34 |
| 9. | Mike | 2 | 4 | -- | -- | 3 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 30 | 30 |
| 10. | Ken | -- | -- | 5 | 5 | 5 | -- | 7 | 7 | 29 | 29 |
| 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!