2011

Heat one

A good turn out of car made the trip south to Rushmore arena, and with the sun out for race one we was in for some close fast racing. At the green flag it was Pete Dorrell who took up the lead in his new and very smart looking car, then came Tony Smith in car 37. but the action was a little further behind Tony when Luke Retchless and Daniel Pooley seemed to just touched wheels then with Daniel carrying on Gordon Pooley spun trying to miss the stranded Luke, a full course yellow came out as the cars lined up behind the pace car, Now all the cars was bunched right up Pete made the break at the flag followed by Tony Smith then came Andrew Bilby Daniel Pooley Neil Clarke Chris Neal Marc de Land Jonathan Pooley Cliff Bunn Phil Retchless and Gordon Pooley.

By lap four Andrew and Daniel had past Tony Smith but it was not long before Chris Neal was challenging for the fourth spot, Jonathan Pooley was all over the rear of Marc de Lands car and on lap six boxed marc in behind Tony to move up two places, Back at the front Pete Dorrell was holding the racing line and driving really well so the drivers behind was having to work hard to try to find a way pass, first to try was Andrew Bilby but with a train of cars behind him he would have to make the move stick, for four laps Andrew tried and trying to go around on the out side of turn four just went a little wide this aloud Daniel and the following pack to come up on his inside as Andrew dropped down the field it was Daniels turn to try to pass Pete, Cliff Bunn managed to make a move on Chris Neal to take up to sixth. Back at the front Pete was keeping Daniel at bay, though Jonathan was wanting to have a go for the lead, Marc de Land tried to re pass Jonathan on the exit of turn four but the world champion saw that and closed that door.

With four laps to go and Daniel trying every trick in the book to pass Pete he manage to get along side on the exit of turn two, and they stayed side by side going through turns three four then on to the home straight Daniel just got his nose in front three to go going into turn one the rear of Daniels car let go as he found him self heading for the infield the following pack all managed to miss him, though the order had changed with Chris Neal moving up three places to fourth. Now Jonathan set about closing in on Pete and on the start of the last lap he had exiting turn two he was along side and then just got in front of Pete at the end of the back straight around turn three and four there was nothing between then on to the home straight and it was Jonathan by 0.122 of a second the closest finish we have had this season, a great drive from Pete.

Heat Two

Half an hour before race two the heavens opened and it was a switch to the wet weather gear, Pete was the early leader with Tony smith in second place and going well in these conditions, Daniel Pooley made a great start and was soon through the blue graded cars and was chasing down Tony. Another man on the move was Chris Neal who was on some new wets and it was paying of as he made light work of passing his fellow red graded cars and was soon challenging Gordon Pooley fifth. At the rear of the field Winner of race one Jonathan Pooley was slowly starting to pick of the cars in front, Marc de Land had a close shave with the wall on the exit of turn four to the home straight as his car aquaplane on the standing water, Chris Neal retired to the infield with water in the electrics, But out front was Pete Dorrell but now Daniel had moved up to second from Tony and Gordon now fourth. Further down the field Luke Retchless had now been court by Neil Clarke Jonathan Pooley and Marc de Land, With Jonathan going round the out side of both Neil and Luke , With six to go Daniel was now up behind Pete but not wanting to make the same mistake was being a bit more courteous, the first two had a quarter of a lap on third place Gordon, as the laps ticked down Daniel was again have trouble finding a way past the no 8 car, Tony Smith was still going well in fourth place but now had Cliff Bunn and Jonathan Pooley over the rear of his car, Last lap and Daniel just lost time exiting turn two and that was enough for Pete to take his first win in the new car, Another great drive by Pete.

Final (Bill Boarer Trophy)

With the track just starting to dry but only just it was again Pete Dorrell who took up the lead, with Tony Smith in second, Daniel Pooley had past all the blue grade cars and set about closing in on Tony, The rest of the blue were battling it out with Gordon Pooley passing Andrew Bilby by the end of lap one and was challenging Luke Retchless for fifth spot. Chris Neal made a good start from the second row of the reds and was shadowed by Marc de Land, Chris was starting to put Neil Clarke under a little pressure, Cliff Bunn and Jonathan Pooley were just behind this group, Phil Retchless in the Cheetah Peugeot was at the rear of the field though he was running on slick tyres.

By lap 6 Pete was still out in front though Daniel was now up with Tony fighting for second spot, then there was a gap to Gordon Pooley, Chris Neal ducked up on the inside of Andrew Bilby making it three abreast while Neil Clarke was on his out side, Exiting turn four Marc de Land slid wide to allow Jonathan Pooley through.

By Lap 10 Tony Smith was coming up to lap Phil Retchless but befour he could make his move he was boxed in by the battling duo of Gordon and Chris with both passing on the back straight, Gordon took the racing line exiting turn four and Chris just powered pass in the inside on the home straight. While that was going on Pete was just about to lap Andrew Bilby when Daniel just got between the pair of them and moved up into the lead. Good move.

Lap 15 Daniel and Pete were out on there own but slowly Chris Neal was starting to catch Pete, But the action was further down the field as Neil Clarke was now up with Gordon while having Jonathan and Marc trying to find a pass behind him, these four was bunch right up, but with two of the most experienced oval racers behind each other it was going to be hard to find a way through.

Back at the front with three to run Pete and Chris was closing in on Daniel, and each lap they kept closing but Daniel had enough to take the win, though Pete nearly lost second spot as Chris made a last ditch effort exiting turn four as he tried to get on the inside of Pete but just not enough.

Results Summary

Heat 1 - 31 Jonathan Pooley, 8, 15, 74, 16, 23, 77, 33, 9, 37.
Heat 2 - 8 Peter Dorrell, 32, 33, 37, 23, 31, 77, 15, 19, 16.
Bill Boarer Trophy - 32 Daniel Pooley, 8 Peter Dorrell, 74 Chris Neal, 33, 77, 31, 15, 23, 37, 19.