Race Report
The Rainbow Chest 500 took place on the day that temperatures began to rise on the
south coast. No raised temperatures at the Barn though, even though the hall's heating
was still on and we had a full throttle tri-oval just ripe for some Nascar carnage.
It was a pretty laid back vibe, with nineteen on the grid and a summery feel to proceedings.
The track looked awesome, everyone had plenty of time for some practice and no-one
was going to go hungry...
Lyn from Rainbow Chest had sent along a generous bag of gorgeous goodies - muffins
(chocolate and blueberry), doughnuts and chocolate biscuits - to celebrate the big
race. Added to that was a scrumptious tray bake to mark the seventeenth birthday
of Stephen and Daniel McCann.
I remember when we met the twins for the first time back in 2010. They were very
entertaining ten year olds, impossible to tell apart and crap at racing. How times
have changed! They've grown up into fine young men with exciting futures ahead of
them, they are consistently near the top of the field at WHO these days and have
made WHO race control their domain. What would do without them?
Anyhow, back to the racing... The nineteen racers on the grid made up a very strong
field. It was excellent to see Daniel at his second Nascar race of the year and to
welcome back Ash for his second race in a row. With the weather so good, we had just
two juniors at the Barn - Corey and Alex - and just one rookie, Andy Phillips.
The sixty-four foot tri-oval was quick and, with a twenty-five foot back stretch,
all the cars could really let rip. The Super-G+ runners would be expected to dominate
on such a track, but it was encouraging to see the Life Likes, Mega-G+ Gen6s and
the two Tyler Mega-Gs set some pretty competitive times in practice and they were
all in the mix during the heats.
At half way, our top four were Mike D, John (both with Super-Gs), Andy Player (Mega-G+)
and Duncan (Life Like). And after the end of heats, that order was the same, the
top two some way ahead of a closely-bunched field. That meant any disasters were
punished and Neal - an A finalist in February - found himself right at the back after
two non-scores. He had work to do...
Finals
Neal had swapped his Life Like for a Super-G+ and joined Paul, Corey and Hayley in
the F final. Corey needed to step up to have any chance of beating Alex to the junior
medal, but Neal was equally determined to make the best of an extremely frustrating
evening. That was the race for the win, with Paul and Hayley having their own battle
for third. In the end, Neal remained absolutely focused and took the win, two laps
ahead of Corey. If he'd set that score in the heats, Neal would have qualified for
the C final - but ‘what ifs' count for nothing in racing. Paul pipped Hayley for
third and that was that.
Neal stepped up to yellow in the E final. Yellow had an unresolved power drop through
turn three all night and it robbed us of the likelihood of step-up victories. Someone
always makes the inside work, but tonight would be a much bigger challenge than usual.
Neal didn't make it happen and his frustrating evening ended with him retiring from
the race in a frustrating fourth place. Ahead, there was a cracking three-way scrap
between Tony and Deborah - both running Mega-G+ Gen6 Cup cars - and Neil with his
Mega-G. Those three were really very closely matched and there was hardly anything
in it until Neil pulled out a lead in the latter stages of the race. He won by a
little over two laps, with Deborah beating Tony by just under a lap.
Neil's Mega-G was going really nicely and it got off to a good start in yellow lane
in the D final. He was up against Simon's Mega-G+ Gen6 car and two Life Likes in
the hands of Ash and Alex. Ash was giving the trusty club cars one last Nascar hurrah
before they are replaced with a new Mega-G+ fleet in August. With Alex and Simon
downright crashy, the race ended up a head-to-head between Ash and Neil. Ash proved
he still has the knack of winning finals, holding a lap lead over Neil until a late
off made it a little closer than it needed to be. It had been an enthralling race.
Neil had done a grand job in yellow and must have been disappointed to just miss
out on a double step-up. Alex recovered to finish a close third with Simon again
failing to turn the speed of his Mega-G+ into a good score.
Ash stepped up into yellow in the C final and despite a good run, was eclipsed by
the other three drivers. Daniel romped away with the win with a fast but loud Super-G+,
finishing one of only four racers to hit 30 laps all night. Keith battled incredibly
hard to keep in touch, but ended up two laps back, his best score of the evening
too. Stephen was another two laps back, not quite hitting his best form in the heats,
but enjoying a good race nonetheless.
The B final was another flat-out speed fest. Duncan had qualified top of the bunch
and was under pressure to turn that into an unusual Life Like A final appearance.
Andy Phillips also had a very rapid Life Like. But would they be a match for Daniel
and Mike McCann's quick Super-Gs? It was all very close. Duncan lead the way, but
as things settled down after the start, it was Daniel in yellow lane who was his
closest challenger. As the chequered flag fell, the gap was exactly two laps. Duncan
had lead from start to finish. Just a lap behind Daniel, Andy had taken an excellent
third with Mike a further two and a half laps back.
Mike D and John lined up side-by-side for the A final. It would be a titanic battle
at maximum speed. Just one crash dropped John back, but he battled strongly, setting
fastest lap to finish just a smidgeon over a lap off Mike. Behind them, Andy had
been the top Gen6 Cup performer and his Mega-G+ glided round the track, albeit half
a second a lap slower than the top two. He ended five laps behind the winner. Duncan
cruised in four laps further behind, having shown good pace, but a few too many crashes
in yellow lane. Despite those offs for Duncan, it was a surprisingly clean A final
for once!
Congratulations to Mike on his first Nascar win of 2016 and to Alex for picking up
both the junior and under-11 medals. Andy Phillips was top Rookie and Andy Player
took a second Gen6 Cup win in a row. Many thanks to everyone who came along and made
it such a good night's racing, especially to those who came early to set up and stayed
late to pack away. Stephen, Daniel and Hayley did a great job on race control and,
despite an interlude to sing Happy Birthday to the twins, we'd finished by 9.15pm.
Extraordinary…
- Andy P
