You know what’s almost as bad as your girlfriend telling you she’s “LATE”…..it’s when Paul Ryer says that word to ya and you know it’s because you haven’t done the race report from Saturday Nite Thunder 2016.  Well, just like it only takes that one time to cause your girlfriend to be “LATE”, guess it’s time to get the race report in the books.

This year was a bit different for the running of Saturday Nite Thunder (SNT) for a couple of reasons. First, we missed having it’s creator, TJ Mottola, who had to spend the evening away this year doing other social activities. Plus, seeing how the club is a major contributor to the finances of the Pronyne Racing Museum in Pawtucket,RI…it was preplanned that the members entry fees would all go to Rick Mariscal, the museums top man.  Think we contributed somewhere in the $120-140 range just for this event.

First to try to destroy each others cars were the guys racing the resin bodied Mud Bus class with it’s unique Resin Dude bodies over our ECHORR Indy Class chassis.  Beautiful field of cars again this year. The brown Mustang Coupe of Rick H.won Best Appearing although it never saw a lap during the Coupe race.   Although we wish we could have thrown some mud on him or his car, seeing he beat second place by 10 laps, Dave Lockwood gets the first Victory of the night by running 311 laps. Flash stayed on despite some major crashes around him to take second place with 301 laps and Rick H. paced himself to the third place on the podium by running 299 laps. Fourth was Matt with a close 297 and Fifth was Steve Nilsen with another strong run of 291 laps.  Half the rest of the field all ran in the 280’s range and most had a ton of track calls (off’s) which tempered the need for speed.

 

Speed is what you get when you take a long-slung Dirt Late Model Resin body and get it to float just right under the ECHORR Super Stock (SS) chassis. The cars were beautiful , albeit a bit on the too pretty side for this reporter, but hey, I’m from Maine. I think moose are cute too.  Not even a moose could’ve stopped the 1-2 finish of “The Greg’s” on this night. Greg B.takes the victory by not tracking out early and putting down a smashing 360 laps. Greg W’s cars, who often resembles bovines, was a monster and took the second spot by running 354 laps. Dave L. would have to settle for a Third Place for this class by running 348 laps and just one lap separated Rick M and Flash for 4th and 5th, 340 vs 339 laps.  And yes, Jim H proved that you can break a front solid axle on a SS car by dropping the car on the floor before the race. It has been proven.

 

And proving that we are all human…..kindof mostly, after running two classes, eating sausage and smoked chicken parts plus salads and deserts, it came time to either stay and race the Coupes or show the world we aren’t the young, crazy guys we used to  go out for the night at 9pm and not come home till late breakfast the next day. Over half the racers bagged their gear up and hit the road for the drive back to the cozy beds and warm milk before the start of the Coupes race. The rest of us stayed and didn’t really care a whole lot where we finished, if we finished and whose name or car we were using. The semi-official results were Pat D. taking the win in the very fast, Dave L. Clip Coupe creation that is better know for time travel vs  lap time. Second was Rudy……well, at least that’s what the paper says but I’m pretty sure it was Greg B.running a boneyard creation of Matt P’s that is also a warp rocket. Third officially was Flash who kept his sanity just long enough to keep us laughing till the end.  It was a fantastic way to show that we are really just a nice bunch of guys after all.

Next race is coming up at the end of the month at Ron DeRoche’s  outstanding hand-made track in Cumberland,RI.  If you’ve never seen it yet, you REALLY have to be there on the 31st to see what talent Ron has plus his dedication to the hobby/sport.  See everyone on the 31st……  OK RYER….Don’t be late in posting this now….LOL,