The nineteenth edition of the Kryderacing Regional Championship at Nelson Ledges Road Course is history. All of the final standings are included in this newsletter. Seven of the eleven events had an increase in attendance over last year.

And interest in the November 17th Awards Banquet is also up. If you haven’t made your reservations, call Sandi.
 

MAHONING VALLEY REGION GOLDEN HARVEST DOUBLE REGIONAL

Three cars were running under the Kryderacing umbrella during this weekend. Our drivers took four of six possible wins.

The only driver failing to win was driving in his first races. Alex Fazekas drove the ITS class Nissan NX2000. He had last driven during a springtime drivers school. He didn‘t win, but he made significant progress during the weekend. His lap times continually crept downward and, perhaps more importantly, his consistency improved. The ITS class is extremely competitive and usually is grouped with similar classes. It is probably the most intensely competitive environment of all the race groupings. Beginners usually find the traffic very intimidating. Alex did a very good job in both his races.

Bill Schauer returned for another run in the Kryderacing SSB class Nissan 240SX. Bill has many wins in the car and added two more over the weekend. He also finished second in the series championship after running only a few events. His weekend was not without a little drama. A group consisting of Bill‘s SSB class car, the fastest of the ITB class cars, and the SSB 2001 Kryderacing Series Champion, Ron Bugh, gave him plenty on on-track competition. And prior to the event on Sunday, the power steering was lost due to a small hole in a fluid line. Bill was concerned, but ended up turning some of his fastest laps ever. He has even suggested we drain the fluid for future races.

Our third vehicle running was Bill Pintaric’s Datsun 510 in the GT4 class. As reported in an earlier newsletter, Bill ran in the SCCA Run-Offs this year in pursuit of the National Championship. He finished a very respectable 12th in that event. Running in this Regional event allowed Bill to add the Kryderacing Series Championship to his list of accomplishments. It also produced his best race of the year. Following a bad qualifying session on Saturday (traced to a faulty spark plug) Bill had to start at the back of the grid. He caught up with the lead group of five cars after the first couple of laps. Following a daring outside pass going into turn one (and similar moves we never saw) he was leading after two more laps. After that, he "really" showed he could drive. All of the cars he passed chased Bill for the remainder of the race. The distances between cars was usually measured in inches. Bill never cracked under the pressure and ran his fastest laps ever at Nelson Ledges. Sunday’s race also produced a class victory, but a slipping clutch kept him from competing for the overall win.

NEW YORK REGION GREAT PUMPKIN REGIONAL

The last race of the year at Nelson Ledges has two reputations. First, the Fall weather is unpredictable. This year was cold but the entry turnout was good. That’s because of the second reputation of the event; it is historically one of the best of the year, especially the Halloween Party on Saturday evening.

Only one Kryderacing vehicle was running in this double points event. Jim Tibor has driven our Nissan 240SX a few times during the last couple of years. In the past he never had the depth of experience to turn lap times as fast as Bill Schauer (the driver from the previous event). But he is getting very close. Jim looked comfortable in the car all weekend and his lap times kept creeping down. He finished a close second in SSB in the 20 lap race. Later in the day there was a one hour enduro. The winning SSB Miata from the sprint race didn‘t enter this event, but the SSB class was combined with the (usually faster) ITC class for the enduro. Jim was involved in a hour-long battle always consisting of four to five vehicles. He sometimes led the pack. Several times he slipped to the back. The group was battling for third so fiercely they caught and passed the second place car. Jim never gave up, fought his way to the front when it counted, and finished second by a couple of feet. Another great race for a Kryderacing car and driver.