March 31, 2024 | Jim Kostinden March 16, 2024 “New Hampshire Dreamin’” The eighth race event of the East Coast Outlaws ten race 2024 season took place on March 16th at Terry Ayer’s Ralph Spoilsport Speedway in Windham, NH. Another strong turnout of 20 racers showed up at Terry’s to battle it out in three races: Jalopies on the Oval, Super Stock on the road course, and an IROC race on the road course. For most of us travelling up from the south, the dense fog bank along the Merrimac River separating the state of Massachusetts from New Hampshire was an ominous start to what would turn out to be a long, fun day of racing. Drivers Meeting After practice with the jalopies on the oval, Dave Lockwood conducted the drivers meeting. The key topic that Dave discussed was the need to get parts to our new ECO members so they could build cars. Dave stressed the need for the new members to ask existing ECO members for parts they need. Several ECO veteran members mentioned that they have plenty of spare parts they are willing to offer to the new members. On a personal note, as a new member myself, I have found nothing but the utmost support from the ECO members in helping me to get parts and answer my questions when it comes to building cars. So, to the new members, please do not hesitate to speak up and ask. Okay, on to the races. Best Appearing Congratulations to Hal for winning Best Appearing with his metallic green Jalopy. Jalopies on the Oval As has been the rule this season when running races on an oval course, there is no live marshalling. Instead, ECO uses the “off” method, where anytime a car comes off the track, a track call takes place and the driver is penalized one lap (deducted from the driver’s total lap count at the end of the race). A driver is allowed up to 3 offs per heat (aka “the bubble”), with the 4th off in a heat resulting in the driver parking their car for the remainder of the heat. So, the word of caution here is to not drive too aggressively and minimize your number of offs. It appears ECO drivers are getting used to this type of racing as there was only one driver who broke the bubble with 4 offs in a heat. Of note, there was only one driver who had zero offs, and that driver was… Peter Lentros. Nice job Peter! Greg W was the winner of the race, hammering out a total of 210 laps with 5 offs, resulting in a net lap count of 205 laps. Second place finisher Flash had a total of 206 laps with only 2 offs for a net lap count of 204. Proving the importance of keeping your car on the track, third place finisher Terry had 208 total laps (2 more laps than 2nd place), but Terry had 5 offs, resulting in a net lap count of 203, placing him one lap behind 2nd place. Congratulations to our podium finishers! Rounding out the top half of the field, places 4th through 10th were Cody, Dave, Paul, Jimmy C., Peter, PitStop, and John P. Super Stock on the Road Course After a delicious lunch of steamed hot dogs, munchies, and homemade peanut butter cookies, provided by our gracious host, Terry, the Ralph Spoilsport Speedway was converted from its oval configuration to the road course layout. During practice on the road course, the big talk among the racers was how to handle the “squiggles” located along one of the short inside straights. Racing was close and competitive with only 23 laps separating the field of 20 racers. When the whining of the SS car motors stopped and the controllers were disconnected in the last heat, PitStop emerged as the winner knocking out 123 laps. Only a lap behind in second place was Paul with 122 laps. The difference between 1st and 2nd, PitStop banged out 33 laps (highest lap count of any heat) in the blue lane to Paul’s 32 laps. In third place was Dave with 120 laps. Congratulations to PitStop, Paul, and Dave. Flash, Terry, Peter, Joe Rinn, Cody, Greg, and John P. rounded out the top half of the field. IROC on the Road Course Terry prepared a quartet of IROC cars consisting of a Wizjet chassis, Aurora top plate, slip-on rear tires, and weighted front end. The cars were said to feel very much like an E-fray, though they looked very different covered with a Dash ‘36 Coupe body. Since the race day was getting rather long, it was decided that 2-minute heats would be used instead of the usual 3-minute duration. Racing was very competitive and close with only 8 laps separating the entire field of 20 racers. When the dust settled, Terry came out on top with a 1 lap win over Cody, 70 laps to 69 laps. In 3rd place was Joe Rinn, only 1 lap behind Cody, but also beating out a couple of other races by sections who also finished on the same lap. Rounding out the top half of the field were Flash, Paul, Greg, Rick, PitStop, Hal, and JimK. A BIG CONGRATUALTIONS goes out to Terry as this was his first win in the ECO!!! As for the “squiggles”, it looks like Cody did the best job of figuring them out as he was the only racer to turn a sub-6 second lap in the IROC race. Nice job! Checkered Flag A big thank you goes out to our gracious host, Terry, for providing a great race venue, breakfast pastries, and delicious lunch, especially the home baked peanut butter cookies! Hopefully your neighbors did not mind the car alarm going off and a bunch of old guys walking across your front lawn with (pit) boxes in their hands. Next race will be April 20th at Paul Ryer’s, “Up In Smoke”, at South Shore Speedway in Hingham, MA. We’ll be running Grand National, E-Fray w/NASCAR body, and Magnatraction w/Fairgrounds body). Finally, Steve is putting together an “All IROC TJET Race” at Lenjet Raceway on Saturday, June 1st. Doors open at 8am. Racing starts at 10am. On your own 1 hour lunch.