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2001
was the first year in the Legends PRO class for the Mac’s
/ PEPSI #3 racecar. Our target was the Mac’s
/ Race City Calgary track championship, and we strongly believed we could finish
in the top 5….. We finished 2nd !!! We
led 3 of the main-event races for a significant number of laps, but couldn’t
hold on until the finish. A couple of those were lost to pure bad luck with lap
traffic. However, we did win the 2001 Low Qualifier
Award for qualifying 1st 4 times! HERE ARE THE YEAR'S DETAILS:
On this page:
8-Race
Highlights
September 29, Calgary
September 15, Calgary
August 25, Calgary
July 14, Calgary
June 30, Calgary
June 13, Calgary
June
2, Calgary
May 12, Calgary
How Races
Were Run in 2001
101 points (19 qualifying +
18 heat race + 54 main event + 10 show-up)
|
Start
Position |
Finish
Position |
|
| Qualifying |
n/a |
2nd |
19.57
seconds. Only 1/100 sec. away from 1st! |
|
Heat Race
20 laps
|
8th |
3rd |
On
the first straight, the #45 car in front of us braked early, so we
pulled to the right and went deep into corner 1. A good idea in
concept, but we drifted high through the corners, and lost one or two
positions. The first 5 or 10 laps was a really tight pack of cars,
2-wide. We made slow steady progress, and by lap 11 we were in 4th
place. After chasing #23 for about 5 laps, he pushed up going into
corner 3, and we ducked underneath. We finished in 3rd. :-) |
| Main
Event
40 laps
|
4th |
4th |
We
started on the outside of row 2, just like on Sep.15. Once again,
it was the wrong lane to be in, as it was the inside lane that made
progress. We were saved somewhat by the caution flag on lap 2,
which resulted in a single file restart on lap 6, with us in 5th
place. By lap 9 we were 4th, and by lap 11, 3rd. We held 3rd
until lap 32, but it was a HUGE battle. The #55 car was all over
us, trying to poke his way in on either the inside or the outside on
nearly every corner. We knew that #55 could only challenge our 2nd
place standing for the Calgary track championship if he beat us by 6
positions (i.e. at this point, we'd have to spin or crash for that to
happen). So, rather than continuing to drive like a madman to keep
#55 behind, and risk spinning or crashing, Brent cooled it a bit, and
that was all that #55 needed to get around. We drove sanely for
the last 8 laps, and finished comfortably in 4th. 2nd place for
the Calgary track championship was sealed! :-)
A GREAT SEASON! |
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100 points (17 qualifying +
19 heat race + 54 main event + 10 show-up)
|
Start
Position |
Finish
Position |
|
| Qualifying |
n/a |
4th |
19.79
seconds. |
|
Heat Race
20 laps
|
7th |
2nd |
Moved
from 7th to 4th in the first 5 laps, and after a few more laps, took
over 3rd. Up to 2nd by lap 10, and 1st by lap 13! :-)
At approx. lap 17 we paid for going too hot into the corner, and the
subsequent drift allowed the #45 of Jim Messner to poke his nose
underneath us. After a lap or two of side-by-side racing, he took
1st from us. We couldn't get it back. |
| Main
Event
40 laps
|
4th |
4th |
We
started on the outside of row 2. The outside groove turned out the wrong place to be. After the start, the inside groove moved
forward, and we started losing positions. :-(
We joined the real race
in 7th place a few laps later, and started the fight from there.
After fighting back up to 5th place, we spent most of the race battling
between 4th and 5th. It was essentially a 3-car battle for 3rd
with the #00 and #45 cars, although we never made it to the front of our
little pack. We had some big excitement at corner 4 of lap 22,
when the #24 car spun in front of us. After getting on the brakes
and watching his car carefully, we went left, and got around
him safely. The remainder of the race was a constant attack on all
sides of the #45 car of Jim Messner (previous Legends Pro
champion). On the final lap, we passed him on the inside to take
4th! :-)
A thrilling race! |
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96 points (20 qualifying +
16 heat race + 50 main event + 10 show-up)
|
Start
Position |
Finish
Position |
|
| Qualifying |
n/a |
1st |
19.57
seconds. :-)
Next nearest Pro was 19.93! |
|
Heat Race
20 laps
|
11th
(last) |
5th |
The
race to the first corner was sure exciting! We found an opening
along the wall after the green flag dropped, and we went for it.
By the end of corner 2 we had gained about 5 positions. The rest
of the race was a back-and-forth scramble that saw us alternating
between 3rd and 4th positions. We had 3rd near the end, but in our
quest for 2nd, we got hung out in the outside groove and the #77 car got
inside of us. The #55 car followed him, beating us by INCHES at
the finish line. |
| Main
Event
40 laps
|
6th |
6th |
We spent a lot of time in this race with a foolishly-close-up view of
a trunk lid! In the first 10 or 15 laps the leaders were in one
tight clump. We were glued to the bumper of the #34 car (driven by
#54 Craig Ball tonight), hoping to follow him forward, hoping to race
against him later. A mid-race caution flag caused some confusion
in the car order - we think we lost a position or 2 in this mess. :-(
(We probably should have protested.) After more laps of being
boxed in, we contacted the #68 in corner 3 while challenging for
position. There was suspension damage, but we were able to
complete the race (#68 was less lucky). We think we lost a
position during this caution flag as well. :-(
In the final 10-15 laps we gained a few positions, and had our fastest
lap times of the race. Too bad it wasn't a 50 lapper! |
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98 points (20 qualifying +
10 heat race + 58 main event + 10 show-up)
|
Start
Position |
Finish
Position |
|
| Qualifying |
n/a |
1st |
19.64
seconds. :-) |
|
Heat Race
15 laps
|
13th
(last) |
11th |
This
race was one long 2-wide freight train. There was a car immediately
in front of us for most of the race. We spent the entire race in
the 2nd groove, looking for opportunities. Initially we were
following the #54 of Craig Ball, but he had a chance to move down to the
1st groove and decided to try waiting down there instead. At first
it looked like a bad move, as the 2nd groove opened up and we started to
move forward a few positions. Then we met with a slow car falling
back from the front of the pack. We spent the last half of the
race RIGHT on his bumper, unable to drop down to the 1st groove (always
a car there), and unwilling to risk a 3-wide pass. |
| Main
Event
100 laps
50 miles
|
3rd |
2nd |
100
laps. Wow! 50 more than we've ever run before. It
ended up being a 2-car race, #3 and #54. We started
on the inside of row 2, behind the #00 car of Scott Riddell. Scott
immediately pulled away from the #77 car beside him, and we followed,
hot on his bumper. Within a couple of laps we were firmly in 2nd
place. After a 3 or 4 lap battle on the outside of #00, we were
able to keep him squeezed down into lap traffic and we went around for
1st place. :-)
The lead was uneventful until approx. lap 45. The #45 car went
back-first into corner 3 a bit ahead of us. By the time we
arrived, he was sliding down away from the wall, so we went high around
him - safe! The resulting caution took us right to lap 50, our
mandatory all-car pit stop for fuel and cool-down. After 15
minutes and numerous pace car laps, we started racing again and a few
laps into the 2nd half #54 got by on the inside. The caution,
cool-down, and pace laps must have affected the tires because we were
very loose on the restart, and for the next 20 or 30 laps. We fell
back a bit, and lap traffic got between us and the leader. At
times we (#54 and #3) were 1/2 lap ahead of the rest of the field, but
there were often a couple of lap cars between us. A late-race
caution got us physically closer, and shortly after the restart we got
behind #54, but couldn't get close enough to challenge. But, hey,
2nd out of 31 in a 100 lap race isn't so bad! :-)
THANK YOU to Mac's Convenience Stores for sponsoring this
HUGE event! |
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106 points (20 qualifying +
18 heat race + 58 main event + 10 show-up)
|
Start
Position |
Finish
Position |
|
| Qualifying |
n/a |
1st |
19.46
seconds!!! Wow! A great showing for the new engine - thanks
to Don at Universal Cycle for the extra power. :-) |
|
Heat
Race
20 laps
|
9th
(last) |
3rd |
Qualifying
1st meant we had to start last in the heat race. Early in the race
we were really hooked up, and able to get past car after car. By
approx. mid-race we were 3rd, challenging #21 for 2nd. But our car
was getting more and more loose as the race went on, and we were unable
to challenge for long. A good result though. |
| Main
Event
40 laps
|
5th |
2nd |
NOT
AGAIN! Just like race #1, we should have won it. We started
on the inside of row 3, behind the #54 car of Craig Ball. He
hesitated a bit when the green flag came down, so we went inside down
the first straight, just barely getting the nose of the #3 beside him
before the first corner. On the next lap, we stuck our nose inside
of #27 (Mac's teammate Jamie Beatson) in the same corner. Then a
few laps of jostling with #00, and by lap 6 we were in the lead and
gaining. We held 1st place without competition until approx. lap
35. :-)
A car spun in front of us in corner 3-4, and Brent had to get on the
brakes and swerve to avoid it. The #54 car was far enough back
that he could assess the situation without getting on the brakes, and
drove past the confusion full throttle. There was no yellow flag
because the spun car was able to drive away right away. We
temporarily dropped to 3rd, got back to 2nd quickly, and then fought
with the #54 for the last few laps, including a valiant effort in
corners 3-4 of the last lap. Just couldn't pull it off
though. :-( 2nd is
actually a great finish, but what a disappointment after such a long
lead. |
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92 points (17 qualifying +
13 heat race + 52 main event + 10 show-up)
|
Start
Position |
Finish
Position |
|
| Qualifying |
n/a |
4th |
19.83
seconds. We we ecstatic, because in practice we were unable to run
anywhere close to this due to problems with new tires. A lucky
lap! |
| Heat
Race |
7th |
8th |
We
couldn't get the tires to stick to the track. What a frustrating
race! |
| Main
Event
40 laps
|
7th |
5th |
:-(
|
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95 points (20 qualifying +
19 heat race + 46 main event + 10 show-up)
|
Start
Position |
Finish
Position |
|
| Qualifying |
n/a |
1st |
19.65
seconds. Next closest was 19.97. :-) |
| Heat
Race |
11th
(last) |
2nd |
Started
dead last (the result of qualifying 1st). We made steady progress
toward the front, boosted a bit at the mid-point when there was NOT a
yellow flag for a spun out car, yet some of the drivers slowed, thinking
there was. While we were in a three-way battle for 2nd, #45 Craig
Ball was able to pull well away in first place. After winning the
battle for 2nd, we only had 2 laps
to try to catch him - but there was no way. A great race. :-) |
| Main
Event
40 laps
|
4th |
8th |
The
first 15 laps of the race was led by a 4 car cluster. We jumped
repeatedly between 2nd, 3rd, and 4th positions. Then #77 and #55
touched tires going into corner 3, causing #77 to spin. Brent
braked and swerved high to miss the mess, but the top half of the track
was covered in gravel (talk about marbles!) and was nearly like
ice. Brent spun twice quickly, stopping in the middle of the track
facing forward. Luckily no one hit him in the back. The
yellow flag was thrown, and we were subsequently moved to the back of
the pack. We spent most of the rest of the race behind a pack of
Semi-Pro drivers that were fighting for position. We gained only a
couple of Pro positions by the end. At least there was no
damage! :-( |
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106 points (18
qualifying + 20 heat race + 58 main event + 10 show-up)
|
Start
Position |
Finish
Position |
|
| Qualifying |
n/a |
3rd |
19.79
seconds. |
| Heat
Race |
8th |
1st |
We
were hooked up in the 2nd groove, so were able to get around
everyone! 1st place in our 1st race in the PRO class! |
| Main
Event
40 laps
|
3rd |
2nd |
Early
in the race we made it up to the front, and LED for approx. 15
LAPS! Lap traffic held us up and gave the #54 car a chance to get
past, with #55 right on his bumper. We fought back to 2nd place,
challenged for 1st a number of times, but ended it in 2nd. A great
first night in the Legends Pro class! :-) |
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Each
driver Qualifies. We get the track to
ourselves for 2 laps, and the best time of the 2 is our qualifying time.
The fastest qualifier gets 20 points, 1 point less for each slower car.
The Heat Race starting order is the reverse
of our qualifying order (1st qualifier starts last in the Heat race). Heat races are usually
20 laps long, and include only the Pro drivers. The winner gets 20 points, 1 point less for each follower. The starting order for the Main Event
is based on the combined FINISH positions for each driver across qualifying and
the heat race, with a twist - we subsequently invert the top 4 to 6 cars.
The winner of the main event gets 60 points, 2 points less for each follower.
On a perfect day, the driver gets 110 points (20 qualifying + 20 heat race + 60
main event + 10 show-up). The main event actually contains 2 races at the same time - the Pro and Semi-Pro
drivers are on the track together.
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