Stock, At Reynolds & Nat. Title

[MoparBilly]

Just looking at final qualifying in Georgia, and how that race tomorrow will shape, or shake up the national rankings. It's gonna be big, but with the re-scheduled races at Noble, Atco, and The Vegas National next weekend all going off..that will really tell the story!!
73 Cars at Reynolds and it's loaded with hitters. Mickey Whaley needs to go to the quarters to tie Rampy, Semi's or better to leave with the National points lead, and he needs to better Todd Ewing by 2 rounds to lead the Division, if it doesn't happen, I figure he'll give it another shot at Atco. Ewing needs Semi's to tie Rampy, or final round to lead...will Ewing drive from Alabama to Jersey to chase this thing? I don't know, but I bet someone on here does.
Dan Fletcher has 3 wins this year that don't count on his points total..OUCH, but he's still in the hunt...big question for next week..is he going to Atco or Noble??
Randy Wilkes, the Div. 3 hitter is in prime position to put a Big #1 on a FI car, he's in Ga this weekend..Where's he going next? Div 6's Jeff Lane is also in the hunt with the FI Vette, and he'll be at both Vegas races.
Dave Lindsay and Jim Harrington will both be in action at Reynolds, both have an outside shot at a single digit number, and a great shot at 21! Will they chase Whaley to Jersey, or possibly head west??
James Paul, the Div. 4 Mopar runner, is my dark horse pick, but he has to give up Noble, in order to chase it west..quite a few guys caught in this quandry!
the Hidalgo family is taking an interesting approach. With Jimmy Sr. Racing at Reynolds this weekend, and Jimmy Jr. opting to wait and finish up in Noble!
Peter Biondo, the defending Champ, is up against it, and still has a mathematical chance...but he's probably gonna have to skip a "home" race at Atco to chase the westen triple??
Throw in Mark Faul, David Rampy, Jim Harrison, Greg Rowe, and Woodro Josey, and anybody who scores points for thier national and divisional total tomorrow, will have earned every last one of them...I can't wait!

For the record though, My money is still on the kid from AZ

 

[MoparBilly]

First Round, Hidalgo takes out Todd Ewing, and Lindsay bows out as well. Whaley advanced, but needs another round before he adds to his points total and takes the lead in Div. 2. Harrington, Wilkes, Fletcher, and James Paul also advanced.

2 Killermatchups for round 2!!! Rampy Vs. Biondo, and Faul Vs. Josey...in a field this stacked, ya had to know it wouldn't take long!

 

[Jenn]

What's the update? I'm having DSL issues and it's not letting me load all my pages.

 

[MoparBilly]

Faul, and Rampy come up short. Wilkes, Whaley, Paul, Fletcher, and Hidalgo are adding points...Biondo needs more, he's got to kill a 51!

Big match for rd 3...Whaley Vs. Hidalgo!

 

[MoparBilly]

Hidalgo over Whaley..Whaley only adds 10 points to his total, because he had a 40 to kill, but that moves him past Ewing for the Div. 2 lead, and while he passes Jeff Lane in the National points...at this point Randy Wilkes has made the drive from Ohio worthwile and has leapfrogged past both of them.
Jim Harrington also suffers what has to be a frustrating loss in round 3..he gains 0 points because he had a 50 to kill already..in fact it's his 4th 50 point race in a row!!
Fletcher is also making a serious move, and has a heads-up class match-up in round 4, Woodro Josey also has a heads-up match in round 4.

Wilkes Vs. Hidalgo...I tell ya, if Jimmy Sr. wins this race, he'll have some awesome stories to tell...

 

[MoparBilly]

It's a tough sport!! Jimmy Sr. takes a tad too much stripe loses to Wilkes, and adds a lousy 11 points to his total for all the effort!! A single digit number isn't going to happen, but he does move from 6th to 5th in Div. 4.
James Paul also goes down in the 4th, but he gets to count all 61 points, so it's a dramatic move for him, from 11th to 4th Nationally, and 3rd to 1st in Division 4.
Oh, and Fletcher and Josey in heads-up matches?? Yeah..they won!!

 

[MoparBilly]

The magic ends for Randy Wilkes in round 5, but he leaves Reynolds tied with Rampy for the big #1, not a bad trip at all!!

Fletcher ends Josey's bid in round 6, and heads to the final!!

 

[MoparBilly]

Dan Fletcher!!!! .009 in the Final!! Just when you thought he was out, HE PUT'S HIMSELF RIGHT BACK IN!!!
Here's the Stock picture after Reynolds:
1. Dan Fletcher 599 12/6, out of Nationals, has 2 61's to kill if he chases his last 2 Divisionals...was already qualified at Noble, NOT on the entry list at Vegas.
2. David Rampy 579 15/9 Done scoring points..not done racing!!
3. Randy Wilkes 579 7/7 Still has a 40 to kill, Noble? Atco? Vegas?
4. Tibor Kadar 569 4/6 40 to kill Div, 40 to kill Nat. will be at both Vegas races, and Pomona.
5. James Paul 559 4/5 40 to kill div, 40 to kill nat. has to choose between Vegas and Noble.
6. Mickey Whaley 557 6/6 2 50's to kill Div. Atco only??
7.Jeff Lane 548 5/7 40/40 to kill...will be at both Vegas races.
8.Todd Ewing 526 6/7 still a 30 to kill at Div. 1 more shot??
9. Gene Mosbek 526 5/7 30 to kill div. 50 nat. Entered at Vegas
10. Clint Blezien 521 13/8 Done scoring points, Entered at Vegas, and just watched his chance for a single digit number slip away.
11.Jimmy Hidalgo Jr. 515 6/7 last shot at noble next weekend, with a 40 to kill, Dad came within a point of him today, and lost his bid for a top ten, but Jr. can still make it happen.

 

[Jenn]

Add this to the drama, there is no first round ladder in Noble. It's random pairing so who's gonna try and line up against who?

 

[MoparBilly]

I can't see them running stock and Superstock random first round..but they have to throw out the previous runs, or they'd have a boatload of bye runs. I figure they have to give everyone at least 1 hit before elims though??
I take it you are going back??

 

[StockersRock]

WOW!!!! My wife was busy giving birth to the newest fan of Sportsman racing this past weekend. I had no idea this all went down! Fantastic! Go D1!!

 

[Bob]

I can't see them running stock and Superstock random first round..but they have to throw out the previous runs, or they'd have a boatload of bye runs. I figure they have to give everyone at least 1 hit before elims though??
I take it you are going back??

Everyone gets one time trial, then its run 'til they're done. And yes, round 1 of Stock and Super Stock will be randomly paired to remove the expected holes in the ladders.

I was supposed to catch a plane out of Denver at 7:20 last night. The blizzard that hit us closed I-25 from Colorado Springs to Castle Rock from 11:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. yesterday, so I couldn't make it. I won't be at the track in Noble until close to 5:00 p.m. today, so results on DRC will be late.

Bob (shoveling snow before heading to DIA)

 

[BlueStangGT]

Hope you made it down here okay Bob. I may be able to get back down to the track Sunday... in the meantime I hope you enjoy watching the Ford vs. Buick race today, that's typically a pretty fun event.

Did you catch Unkefer's dial-in for rd. 1?

 

[Bob]

There isn't room in the dial-in field for the question mark!

I was setting up in the tower just as Comp was starting their round, my plane out of Denver was 50 minutes late departing. I got to see what the middle of OKC rush hour is like while driving to the track. Better than the DC beltway rush hour (which I fought three weeks ago), but still a hassle.

Optimist that I am, I scheduled my return flight for 7:00 a.m. Sunday. Now I've had to change my flights coming and going, due to weather. I could have risked flying home standby Sunday night, but the way things have gone so far, either there'd be some catastrophe at the track that would have the event finishing well into the night, or there wouldn't be a seat available on the standby flight, so I'm booked on a Monday morning flight home. I'll sure be glad when this one is over....

 

[Jim]

We're having the same kind of problems at Atco for the Div. 1 race. Only one qualifying run for alcohol, comp and stock on Friday. None today because of rain and win. Eliminations start at 9 am tomorrow but because of the temps, they can't run much past dusk.

After that, they still have to finish the Dutch Classic.

I'll also be glad when this one is over. Luckily, I live less than an hour from the track.

Jim

 

[BlueStangGT]

There isn't room in the dial-in field for the question mark!

I was setting up in the tower just as Comp was starting their round, my plane out of Denver was 50 minutes late departing. I got to see what the middle of OKC rush hour is like while driving to the track. Better than the DC beltway rush hour (which I fought three weeks ago), but still a hassle.

Optimist that I am, I scheduled my return flight for 7:00 a.m. Sunday. Now I've had to change my flights coming and going, due to weather. I could have risked flying home standby Sunday night, but the way things have gone so far, either there'd be some catastrophe at the track that would have the event finishing well into the night, or there wouldn't be a seat available on the standby flight, so I'm booked on a Monday morning flight home. I'll sure be glad when this one is over....

Well, me being the smartass that I am, I asked Bob if he put a question mark on his dial-in as he finished writing it on the windshield. So Bob, being the smartass that he is, proceeded to do so on the back window.

I'm sure our paths will cross sometime in the future, sorry I didn't get to track you down this trip. I hope you enjoyed your little adventure here in OK and good luck on your trip home! Did you hang out for the Buick vs. Ford race on Saturday?

 

[Tiny]

Looks like Jimmy Hidalgo Jr. will solidify a top 10 pot with his win in Noble. Congratulations to him...

 

[Bob]

I'm sure our paths will cross sometime in the future, sorry I didn't get to track you down this trip. I hope you enjoyed your little adventure here in OK and good luck on your trip home! Did you hang out for the Buick vs. Ford race on Saturday?

I didn't go to the Buick/Ford race Saturday, my hotel by then was/is on Meridian close to the airport, and I still had to juggle some travel stuff, much easier to do on the hotel's high speed wireless than on 24k dial up at the track.

This was the third time I've worked the divisional event at Thunder Valley, though the last time was 3 or 4 years ago. I usually get a couple Div 4 events each year, and I would be surprised if I don't get the IHRA National event in Tulsa next year. Do look me up, I'm pretty easy to find.

Bob

 

[MoparBilly]

Looks like Jimmy Hidalgo Jr. will solidify a top 10 pot with his win in Noble. Congratulations to him...

Yeah, Tim...
Pretty intense, just watching on the PC. Jimmy and Gary Emmons, in the final, with the Div. 4 title going to the winner. Jimmy goes .012, to Gary's even better .008. Gary runs 11.308 on his 11.29, and Jimmy is on the brakes, taking a .006 stripe and going only .008 over his dial. Awesome Race!!

 

[Tiny]

Awesome race for sure Billy... I had the pleasure of meeting the Hidalgo's earlier this year. Fun people, and pretty good racers. Jimmy Jr. aka The Country Puppy seems to have a bright future ahead of him...