After the long and winding road leading up to the conclusion of the 2010 Big Fat Turkey Race we were rewarded with a fantastic day of racing with great weather conditions. Despite the threatening clouds and even a few raindrops here and there, the track held up great and we finished the program under remarkably pleasant skies. The rain finally came while we were cleaning up and it’s pouring out as I write this, so we were fortunate to have gotten a long day of racing in without incident.
We got an early start, just after 9 am, and moved through the 16 races of the second qualifying round efficiently. It was clear that there were going to be some epic battles in the mains in several different classes with the top several places very closely matched. Congratulations to the following TQ racers:
- Open Mod: Fred Hubbard
- 1/12 Scale Pan Car: Charlie Love
- Expert Stock: Orrin Jensen
- F1 Rubber: Charles Lightfoot
- Mini Cooper: Karl Rolf
- Silver Can GT: Randy Miller
- Novice Stock: Bill Robertson
- Super GT Plus: Steve Bray
- F1 Foam: Kale Desbrow
- Sportsman Stock: Beau Luftenburg
The battles indeed were intense in the Mains, with several races so closely matched that a single mistake meant the race. Open Mod, Expert Stock, and Mini Cooper all ran Triple-A Mains.
Fred Hubbard swept Open Mod in two straight races with commanding victories in the first two A Mains locking him in to overall victory.
Expert Stock came down to the third A Main, with Orrin Jensen and Kevin Gowens tied, each having one win and one 2nd place finish. In the end, Orrin came through for the A3 win and overall victory with Kevin just over three seconds behind.
Mini Cooper also came down to the A3 Main with Jarrod Kadonaga (2nd A1, 1st A2) leading Pete Waydo (1st A1, 3rd A2) and TQ Karl Rolf (3rd A1, 2nd A2). Waydo got by JK on the first lap and leader Rolf right at the halfway point to take the A3 win and secure overall victory.
1/12 Pan Car was a showdown between seasoned veterans Steve “The Desert Fox” Taffert and TQ Charlie Love. Taffert took the win by just over three seconds in an eight-minute race over Love, who grabbed fast lap on his way to second place.
TQ Charles Lightfoot took F1 Rubber honors in his beautiful Red Bull Tamiya F104 — the best-looking car on the track also being the fastest. Kale Desbrow showed he has the goods with fast lap of the race, but Lightfoot’s consistency was too much to overcome.
Silver Can GT continues to be a fun, close class, with TQ Randy Miller in his ’69 Mustang taking the win over Ojai legend Lee “Creature” Criger by a scant .676 second.
The Roadrunners RC Club loves its Novice racers, and we had a great Novice turnout for the BFTRIV. Jeffrey Gacula took a commanding win over TQ Bill Robertson, showing that he is ready to move up to the super-competitive Sportsman Stock class.
Super GT+ is the fastest growing class in the club right now, with its realistic scale looks and closely-matched spec proving to be very appealing to many racers. Lame-Duck Club President Steve Bray was a force to be reckoned with in his bizarre NASTRUCK-bodied Hot Bodies Cyclone TC, with devoted “scale appearance” racer Charles Lightfoot out in front in his BMW M3. The realism of this class extends beyond the looks — a technical controversy (all in good fun, we love all those involved) saw Bray awarded the hard-earned win.
F1 Foam was next, with foam fan Jack Signorella taking the win over TQ Kale Desbrow. Jack made a good run of F1 rubber, but after declaring that foam is what he really wants he went out and took it in fine style.
Sportsman Stock has grown into a large, competitive class with the ROAR Sportsman ESC rules helping provide a level playing field. Beau Luftenburg put his stamp on it with the TQ and win, the only racer to complete 23 laps.
Congratulations to all of our A-Main winners:
- 1/12 Pan Car: Steve Taffert
- F1 Rubber: Charles Lightfoot
- Silver Can GT: Randy Miller
- Novice Stock: Jeffrey Gacula
- Super GT+: Steve Bray
- Open Mod (AAA): Fred Hubbard
- F1 Foam: Jack Signorella
- Sportsman Stock: Beau Luftenburg
- Expert Stock (AAA): Orrin Jensen
- Mini Cooper (AAA): Pete Waydo
The entire Roadrunners RC Club wishes to extend a very special thanks to everyone who made this race possible! Jarrod K was as great as ever on the mic, assisted by Steve Bray and newly-recruited Race Director Jet Alvarez. Greg Campion sacrificed his race day to work the tech bench, and Cindy Secara ran a tight ship at the registration table. Carlos Franco is the hardest-working member of the club, and too many other club members to list all contributed significantly to making this event a success. You know who you are!
Here are all the detailed results:
Click here for Round 1
Click here for Round 2
Click here for the Mains
