TCL Race Story 2013

Rapids – John Wiedemann captured his second win of the season in the Too Clean Laundry Grand Prix at Rapids International, round 10 of the 2012-2013 IndySlotCar Series season.  Running a conservative second half of the race Wiedemann was able to hold off a hard-charging effort by Dean Strom to grab the victory and take a chunk out of Mark Walczak's championship point lead.

Seemingly a nice quiet city street circuit, Rapids International hides a dangerous and taxing challenge for drivers hidden behind its shiny polished exterior.  Several corners look to be easy to speed through but leave the driver that pushed the limits with his ride on the floor and race ended.  Tonight's Too Clean Laundry Grand Prix was no different than past events as four divers succumbed to the dangers of Rapids International.

Wiedemann stole the pole position away from Strom in the qualifying session on the second to last lap of his run with a 4.896 second pass, just 28 thousandths of a second quicker than Strom.

Heat races featured the destruction of driver's hopes with at least one racecar flying off the track in each of the three heats.  Strom won the first heat by four laps over Mike Fitzlaff while Matt Hayek crashed out early in the first half of the race and Chris Spehert crashed out in the second half.  Heat two featured a fierce battle for the win between Walczak and Mike Kristof only to end in disappointment and despair again for Kristof when he flew off the track ending his night.  The third heat ended quickly for Dan Margetta when, on his fourth lap, he became the fourth driver to DNF, crashing out of the race in the same back section of the circuit that the other three drivers ended their night.  Kamikawa held on to win the heat and Wiedemann finished in the feature race transfer position by just two laps over his teammate, Fitzlaff.  German driver Johannes Schlict ended his shortened rookie season with his best overall finish of 7th in his third series race.

Wiedemann took command of the feature race early but could never pull too far away from Strom.  While Kamikawa and Walczak struggled with handling issues, the top two paced the track and built up a cushion, determined to settle the race between themselves.  At the end of the first half, Wiedemann held a three lap advantage over Strom.  All drivers pitted quickly and without incident at the start of the second half and Wiedemann pulled ahead another two laps to increase the distance to 5 laps over second place Strom.  As the race time wound down, Wiedemann dropped into conservation mode, not wanting to be another DNF statistic, and gave back the two gained laps to Strom.  At the checkers, Wiedemann crossed the line with a three lap lead over Strom.  Kamikawa ran third and Walczak finished fourth.

"I was real nervous towards the end of the race," said Wiedemann.  "There was one point where I thought my car was going off the track as it spun behind the buildings.  At that point I just backed off a touch, tried to pace myself behind Strom and hold on for the win.  I had an awesome car tonight and I really needed the win to keep pace with that number one car in the point standings."

The victory was the fourth of Wiedemann's IndySlotCar Series career and tightens up the Husarsbuilt Cup Chase from thirty-four points to fifteen between leader Walczak and second place Wiedemann.

Up next on the IndySlotCar Series schedule is Round 11, the Quarryfest De-slotmania presented by Hayek's Shorewood Pharmacy on Thursday, January 28th at Quarry Heights Raceway in Wauwatosa.

This story was not written by me, but rather John from RacingWisconsin.
Thanks John for writing it!
Steve The Wrench Ratchett

FP	QP	#	Driver	Team	Q Time	Laps	Heat# Win	Status	Pts
.	1	1	5	John Wiedemann	KVHO	4.896	199		Pole, 2nd win of year, transfer spot	52
.	2	2	10	Dean Strom	TMWR	4.924	196	1	Heat win	41
.	3	3	4	Ev Kamikawa	Panther HO	4.959	187	3	Heat win	36
.	4	5	1	Mark Walczak	TMWR	5.034	175	2	Heat win	33
.	5	6	11	Mike Fitzlaff	KVHO	5.084	94		Lost transfer spot to John by 2 laps	30
.	6	9	28	Tom Spehert	Spehert Autosport	5.574	83		Running	28
.	7	11	22	Johannes Schlict	Panther HO	6.400	69		final race of career, returns to Germany	26
.	8	8	41	Mike Kristof	RJ Foyt	5.505	67		DNF, would have won heat race	24
.	9	10	27	Chris Spehert	Spehert Autosport	6.377	60		DNF	22
.	10	7	14	Matt Hayek	RJ Foyt	5.456	29		DNF	20
.	11	4	67	Dan Margetta	Amy Butler-Margetta	4.976	3		DNF	19
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.	Race Length					20 Minutes

 

2013 TCL Grand Prix Picture Story

 

 Another fun filled event at Rapids International Raceway is the TCL Grand Prix. Presented here are some unique views of the event.
All photos are by myself.

A view from above the pit garages and as guests can dine at Kams Restaurant and then walk to the roof and watch the race. Notice the blur of the cars going past through the Goodyear Carousel Turn behind the Porsche dealership.

In these troubling times the folks at Rapids take their security very seriously. From atop the roof of the museum, a sniper team always scans the crowd for any sign of someone who wants to complete a terrorist mission. Sometimes the snipers are from the famed FBI Hostage Rescue Team, Delta Force, or Seal Team 3. Where they come from is a secret on race day. Everyone knows about the sniper team on the roof of the museum. They don't know the locations of the other teams. The soldiers pictured here are intentionally blurred so as to not identify them or their service branch.

A shot of pitlane from on top of the tunnel that is over the pit exit.

Caturine Pond is not a very popular attraction next to the track. Usually dry, it sometimes springs up. It is stinky and track officials are debating how to handle the situation.

Ferrari hasn't raced in the Indyslotcar series for 12 years. Rapids is the team's test track. That and the nostalgia for that team in this series history fuel souvenir sales to this day.

 Fans can still enjoy the 1950's diner motif in some areas

 The US Army's 24th Armored division is stationed near the town and every event they bring out vehicles like this M1 tank and two versions of the M113. Two hours after the grand prix a tank always fires a live artillery round into a nearby hillside as a signal that the all the grand prix events are over and people should clear the racetrack so it can be cleaned and returned to normal vehicle traffic.

 Looking down one of the streets. If you look past the army display you'll notice the ambulances in their hospital parking bays. 

There are rides for the kids.

 A look at the Madderom firehouse with a damaged car on top. The firehouse was named after Everet Kamikawa's longtime childhood friend Brian and his dad Garrett, who donated many of the buildings now built in the town.

 Dan Gary Gerald and Lil Chris Economacki along with a young fan behind the camera scenes.

A view of the Indycar victory lane from a hill overlooking the tunnel, where the previous pit lane shot was taken. If you look carefully you can see winner John Wiedemann waving to the crowd.

People from all around are entertained as Gandolf makes an appearance to promote the movie "The Hobbit."

Winner John Wiedemann throwing cash to the fans off of the victory rostrum.

Until Next Time...It's Not Bad Being In the Pits!

Steve The Wrench Ratchett

2013 ISF Predictions

IN THE PITS: ISF 2013 Season Predictions
by
Steve “The Wrench” Ratchett

It has been a little while since I had to write one of these dog and pony columns about the silly season as I've been in Asia covering the HO Scale Sumo League.

The 14th season of the ISF Series is on the books. 12 races. 7 different tracks. So what do we  will the drivers that made up the season of competitionthink or wish will happen in 2013?
Here are my thoughts based on my own observations:

Lets start with Mark Walczak. This driver missed many events in 2012 and was never a factor although he took two wins. He'll remain a threat in both LMP and F1. 
Odds of him winning either championship: 1:12 


Dean Strom: He's improved immensely over the last two years and with a level playing field in equipment perhaps he can add to his Jean Alesi tally of one win in his F1 career. That would be a popular win:
Odds of winning a race in F1: 1:11

John Wiedemann is coming off his first championship in F1. He is driving well and is definately a force in either division. Odds of winning the F1 championship: 1:3


Mike Lack is moving to a part time schedule. While that is a loss, if there is a driver that could win a championship with a part time schedule and the advantage of dropping low scores that the ISF allows it is him. Odds of winning either championship: 1:20

Mike Fitzlaff is still the dominant driver and has proven to be even more so since John Shea's departure. Mike Fitzlaff is always one of the fastest but has some bad luck. He will continue to win races and could win both championships. 
Odds of him winning the F1 title: 1:3 Odds of winning the LMP title 1:4 


Everet Kamikawa will fly the colors of his own team, Super Kamikawa. A rumor is Ferrari wants him back in the fold. Maybe for 2014.  He'll finally win a race in LMP since it is an equal playing field and should take an F1 win as well. Odds of him winning a championship: 1-15
Odds of him winning a LMP race 1:2

John Shea retired to race stock cars in the south. Odds of him coming back for a race this season aren't good although I think the paddock would love it.

Larry Rotter ran a few races. The three time champion's over under appearances in the next season is four. He retired at the end of season 12. Now that he has mostly been away for a season will the siren song of racing lure him back? Not yet I think although he will have a chance to win a race or two on his home track. Odds of him winning a race in either division: 1:12

 

Dan Margetta won his first GTP race last year after eight years of futility. He also took an F1 win where he has been a victor on a fairly regular basis. He will win again I believe.
Odds of winning in F1: 1:12

 Other drivers potentially making a start in 2013: Amy Butler
Mike Kristof
Cory Galbraith
Nick Bartolone
Matt Hayek

There is a long way to go this off season. Anything can happen. In terms of an interesting season…lets hope it does!

My predictions:
F1 Division:
John Wiedemann
Mike Fitzlaff
Mark Walczak
Everet Kamikawa
Dean Strom
Dan Margetta
Mike Lack
Larry Rotter

LMP Division:
Mike Fitzlaff
Mark Walczak
John Wiedemann
Everet Kamikawa
Dean Strom
Dan Margetta
Larry Rotter
Mike Lack         

Until next time…It’s not bad being in the pits!

Steve “The Wrench” Ratchett

2013 ISF Schedule

The 2013 ISF season sees a condensation of the schedule from 18 events back to 12.

It also sees a switch to a winter/spring series as opposed to spring/summer season as in the past.

All the traditional tracks appear with the exception of Walczy World which is unconfirmed at the time of this printing as construction on a new track is being debated by the owners.

A potential return of the 2.4 hour race is also a potential event.

The events will feature the popular F1 series and a revamps LMP series as the league switches to the Mega G chassis. GTP will still have two events continuing the premier category's appearance on the calendar.

ISF 2013 Schedule
December 27                 Rapids Invitational                                                             F1/LMP
January 10                     Brookfield Grand Prix-Raven                                            F1/LMP
February 7                     Waukesha Grand Prix-Decketring                                     F1/LMP
Feb 21                           Maxim GP-Southshore                                                      F1/LMP
March 21                      XtraLaps.com West Bend GrandPrix-Lack Track             F1/LMP
April 4                          Turtle Trot-Turtle Creek                                                     F1/LMP
April 18th                     St. Francis GP                                                                     F1/LMP
May 2                           XTraLaps.com It's Nacho Cheese It's My Cheese GP        F1/LMP
May 9                           Walczy World ?? or additional race                                    F1/LMP 

May 16                         Muskego Grand Prix - Badger Raceway                            F1/LMP
May 23                         Rapids Grand Prix                                                              F1/GTP
May 30                         ISF Finale Deckertring Finale Deckertring                        LMP/GTP

June 6 or June 8th        2.4 Hour race of Suzuka in Johnson Creek                      LMP       

need a minimum of 8 participants

I'll see you in the pits at one of these events!

Steve "The Wrench" Ratchett