November 17, 2024 | Jim Kostinden November 16, 2024 “The Skidmark 500” The East Coast Outlaws 2024-2025 season’s third race event took place on November 16th at FB Raceway in East Hartford, CT. With temperatures reaching the low 60’s in East Hartford less than 2 weeks from Thanksgiving, the temperature was even warmer at FB Raceway as some exciting, competitive racing was about to take place The 3 races scheduled for this third ECO event were: 1) Indy with roadster bodies on the recently restored Original Rolling O, 2) SS Fray on the Pat Dube TKO road course, and 3) back over to the Original Rolling O for the Coupes, aka “The Coupes Carnage Race”. With 14 racers in attendance, we would run the 3 races as a single group, completing the first 2 races before lunch (Indy Roadster and SS Fray), leaving The Coupes Carnage Race for the end of the day. Drivers Meeting With practice, tech and sign-in completed, Dave Lockwood headed up the drivers meeting. Dave started the meeting by acknowledging and thanking today’s race host, Rick Morrisette. A nice round of applause was given by all of the racers in appreciation for Rick’s graciousness in hosting today’s race. Dave also mentioned that the Halloween Havoc was a “huge success”. Dave thanked everyone involved in making this event a success. Personally, I attended this year’s Havoc and it was a great event. I highly encourage anyone who has not attended the Havoc, to do so next year. With a couple of oval track races being run today, Dave talked about 2 future ECO races that were scheduled to use the Tri-Oval at Lenjet in January and May. With the recent sale of this track and it being moved from Lenjet to a private location, Dave discussed how we could hold these 2 races on another track. There was some discussion amongst the group. The final decision was to determine if the (second) Rolling O oval track could be moved into LenJet for these races. Dave will look into this, and an update will be provided at a future ECO event. Our club treasurer, Jimmy Colligan, provided the club’s financial update. A balance of $1488 was reported. The last announcement by Dave was in regards to the club T-shirts. Dave is working with Randy to make the new long-sleeved T-shirts. Club members will be able to pick the color of the ECO logo outline appearing on the T-shirts. Rumor is that Bob F. will be choosing GREEN as the outline color for his shirt. More to come in future ECO events. Best Appearing Best appearing award went to Bob F. for his beautifully painted Indy Roadster car. Bob mentioned that the body was painted by Robin Schroy and that Bob purchased the body at the recent Halloween Havoc. Congratulations Bob! Below is a picture of Bob’s car. On to the races… Indy with Roadster Bodies on the Original Rolling O Rick M. recently restored the Original Rolling O track to replace the D’Oval that was sold by Russ Upton and was located where the Rolling O track now resides. Rick did a great job building the benchwork that provided a solid base and clean surroundings for the tight 4-lane 4×8 oval track. With this year’s ECO rule change regarding oval race marshalling, live marshaling was now in effect, eliminating the “Offs count/track call” that was used last year (each off resulted in a track call and a deduction of one lap for each off with up to 4 offs allowed per heat). With live marshalling, a short, fast track with lap times under 2.5 seconds, it was critical to keep your car on the track, as any off could result in at least the loss of 1 lap, or more, while your car was being marshalled. Looking ahead and avoiding any wrecks was a good strategy, though a challenging strategy given the fast speeds and short track. With 14 racers lining up to put their best effort forward, there were some close races for positions, and the carnage was not too bad once the racers got settled into the track rhythm. When the checkered flag fell, it was Flash in first place, winning the race with a convincing 320 laps. Flash also had the fastest lap times in each of the 4 lanes. Great race Flash! In second, 5 laps behind Flash at 315 laps was Greg W. Rounding out the podium was Dave L. with 305 laps. Congratulations to the podium finishers. Rounding out the top half of the field, positions 4th thru 7th were: 4th Jim K. with 303 laps, Rick H. in 5th with 301 laps, 6th Matt G. with 297 laps, and a tie for 7th with both racers finishing with 286 laps and 3 sections was our host Rick M. and rookie Brian W. Nice race Brian! Also congratulations to the 5 racers who made the 300 (lap) club: Flash, Greg, Dave, Jim, and Rick. Great racing by everyone! Below are the official results (lap counts and finish positions) for the drivers along with best lap times. Race Results Lap Times Note: Fastest lap times for the Blue and Red lanes as shown above are incorrect and were a result of “riders”. SS Fray on the Pat Dube Track (aka FB Speedway) The Pat Dube track is a 4-lane TKO road course approximately 4’ x 16’ in size. It is a fast track with some long straights, sweeping curves, and a cross-over. Running SS Fray cars on this track makes for a very fast racetrack with a properly set up Fray car capable of handling some of the larger radius turns at full throttle. There was some close racing with positions 4th and 5th being determined by sections, and a cluster of racers finishing with 102 laps, with sections determining position 8th, 9th, and 10th. When the controllers were put down, it was Greg W. taking the win, turning out 122 laps. Greg also had the best lap times for the Red, Blue, and Yellow lanes. Greg’s Red lane best lap time at 5.300 seconds was the fastest lap time of the race. Only 3 laps behind in second with 119 laps was Flash. Flash also had the best lap time for the White lane. Once again rounding out the podium in 3rd position was Dave L. with 117 laps. Rounding out the top half of the field was Rick M. (115 laps, 38 sections) in 4th, on the same lap in 5th was Jimmy C. with 115 laps, 22 sections, in 6th was Jim K. (113 laps) and in 7th was Bob F. (105 laps). Again, great racing everyone. Below are the official results (lap counts and finish positions) for the drivers along with best lap times. Race Results Lap Times Coupes on the Original Rolling O After a delicious lunch of pizza and white chocolate or chocolate chip cookies, the ECO racers were ready for the third and final race of the day. With one of the ECO’s fastest classes racing on the short oval, there was some concern that the racers might get dizzy, or worse yet, nauseas, as the racers followed their cars around the track. Fortunately, there were no incidents as the racers held (down) their own. The same could not be said for the carnage that would occur on the track. The combination of very fast cars and a tight oval loop led to many multiple wrecks. Once again with live marshalling and sub-2-second lap times, any offs resulted in at least a 1 lap loss if not more. Let the carnage begin… When the dust settled, it was Greg W. taking the checkered flag with 347 laps! Following closely in second only 1 lap off the pace was Flash with 346 laps. Breaking up the previous 2 races podium trifecta was Jim K in 3rd with 334 laps. Congratulation to the podium finishers! Rounding out the top half of the field were: 4th Jimmy C. (308 laps), 5th Dave L. (307 laps), 6th CHIEF (302 laps) and 7th Matt G. (298 laps). Dave L. had to change controllers during one of his heats while the race continued, so not to shabby a finish for missing half a heat. Not sure if it was the controller change, or Dave’s determination to get back into the race, but he turned some wicked lap times with a best in race lap time of 1.669 seconds and 91 laps in the red (outside) lane! A BIG CONGRATULATIONS to the big guy, CHIEF, for his highest finish in an ECO race. Congratulations Chief! And congratulations to all the other racers who survived the carnage. Below are the official results (lap counts and finish positions) and best lap times. Race Results Lap Times Checkered Flag It was interesting to note that several races turned more laps in the Indy race than the Coupes race. Also, if there was a tough break award, I think Matt G. would get this award as he just missed out joining the 300 club in both Rolling O races by 3 laps (Indy) and 2 laps (Coupes). Good luck next time Matt. Next month we’ll be at LenJet for The LenJet All Star Race and Body Swap. We’ll be racing Hobby Stock on the Bear, Grand National on the Python, and E-Fray on the Shamrock Glen. Also, don’t forget the body swap will take place at this event. Participation is optional. Those that do participate should provide a body for the classes we race. Happy Thanksgiving everyone and we’ll see you on December 21st in Ashland.