[woodcote]

   

We were back at the Barn tonight for our HO Nascar finale, featuring not one, but two winner-takes-all championship showdowns! The excitement couldn't be anything but intense...

   

A 44-foot 'intermediate' oval was the setting for all the action. And with a 2.0-2.4 second lap, any chaos would be happening just around the next corner. 

Over to Gareth for the race report...

[Gareth]

Race Report

Bonfire night is a big deal in Sussex so whenever WHO race night falls on the 5th November, we sometimes see a small drop off in numbers as members head to Lewes or another big display nearby. 

Nevertheless, we still managed a healthy 21 regulars on the grid plus newcomer Paul from Newhaven who joined us for his first taste of club HO racing.

On the agenda for the evening was the AGM where Andy gave an overview of the club finances, our future plans and the astonishing 36 event calendar for 2026 which is the most events ever for us in a single year.  

After that main event, there was time for a spot of racing so we dived into the Nascar championship finale!  Andy had designed a replica of the Homestead Miami oval, an intermediate length oval that in HO form was 44 feet long.  During practice and the heats, laptimes of 2.5 seconds were regularly seen….along with a lot of crashes! 

   

No less than four drivers were in contention for the title from Pete down to Terry and all four were on the grid along with Ollie in 5th place who was now out of contention but with a fast car to race.  

   

We also had the Gen6 Championship shootout which would be held after the Nascar A Final and this would be particularly interesting as the three automatic qualifiers; Keith, Deborah and Daniel were either in Lewes or drunk in a ditch, delete as applicable!  

   

Mike McCann was in prime position to get through to the shootout but it would be dependent on how he and the other Mega G+ runners would score this evening.  

   

One final thing of note for this round was that it was the final hurrah of the mighty Super G+ in Nascar.  These cars are so awesome to drive in this class but as they get increasingly hard to get hold, it becomes less and less fair for our newer drivers.  It certainly isn’t an appealing prospect to be told to scour the internet for a 40 year old car which may or may not have good enough magnets to make it a challenger.  So next season Nascar will become Bulldogs and Mega G+ cars only.  Both of these cars are readily available at affordable prices, guaranteeing all drivers have the opportunity to be competitive. I cannot wait to see what happens in Round 1 in February.  

Qualifying

With Andy running his SG+ in the first heat we quickly got an idea of what a competitive run would look like, 44.65 laps in white was very impressive.  Indeed at the half way point, it was Andy sitting on provisional pole ahead of Terry, Ollie, Jerome, John and Pete who had some work to do.  

   

Paul on his debut was leading the Mega G+ challengers despite (or perhaps because of)  driving the club cars.  

The Junior battle was an inverse of Mod last month with Ollie B absolutely stomping Isaac.  It is always great fun to see these two friends battling each other and to see how much a win over the other means to them.  We did have a third junior in the form of Oliver who was delighted to get 3 heats in before having to head off for bedtime.  Along the way he also beat his Uncle Adam too.  

As we got into the second half of qualifying, Terry, Jerome, Ollie and Pete all thumped in some huge runs to make that pole battle very interesting indeed.  Jerome and Ollie treating us to an astonishing two minute battle in one heat which was absolutely mesmerising to watch.  It ended in a crash out of T4 in the final seconds which took them both out but it was fantastic viewing.  

Sadly one of the title challengers seemed curiously off the pace and that was John.  Most drivers on the grid would have given a valuable body part for 126 laps in qualifying but it was still 13 laps off of pole.  The Doctor of WHO would need something special in the finals if he was to remain in the title hunt.  

Andy’s final heat was in blue and it was a bit of a disaster as he was only managed 42.2 laps for his dropped score.  His yellow and red lanes were both 47s so that 44 in white meant he might be vulnerable. 

Jerome was next to complete but he fell short by just 1.25 laps.  Ollie had 2 heats to go and his red run was an enormous 49 laps.  Incredible stuff.  Then it was Terry’s turn to shoot for pole in the second to last heat and he blasted in 47 on white to go above Andy.  

His jubilation was short lived though as Ollie completed his final run in the final heat and he swept to pole position.  

   

As the dust settled on qualifying, we could see two of the championship protagonists; Pete and John, would be going from the B Final.  One or both of them could be out of the title fight before the A Final took place.  Tense stuff.

   

[Gareth]

Finals

G Final

   

With Adam and Oliver departing before the finals, the G Final would be a straight duel between Stephen (white) and Kevin (blue) as Adam (red) would be a Did Not Start (DNS).  Stephen had a new Monte Carlo on his Bulldog and a new Truspeed controller as well but was still finding his way with his new car.  Kevin too was not finding his Bulldog comfortable just yet.  Stephen led the first 2 laps before crashing and promoting Kevin into the lead.  Both cars then crashed on lap 9 but Stephen was running first and took the lead back which he then held to the flag.  I’m sure both Stephen and Kevin will get quicker and quicker as they learn their new cars.

   

[Gareth]

F Final

   

James (red) had been struggling with his cars during the early heats so had borrowed one of Pete’s Super G for the last few races of his evening.  This meant he had a considerable pace advantage over Simon (blue) with his Mega G+ and Stephen who had stepped up into yellow.  It was a dominant performance as you might expect as he swept to 37 laps even working his way down to a 2.7s fastest lap of the race.  

In his wake things were briefly more interesting as Stephen took 2nd place from Simon.  However a crash on lap 7 allowed Simon back through and he eased away to finish 4 laps clear of the Bulldog.  

   

[Gareth]

E Final

   

Paul (red) had had a decent qualifying and was looking forward to the race from pole in the E final.  But he would have to do battle with Tracy (white), Kev (blue) and James (yellow).  An interesting grid of two Mega G+, a Bulldog for Kev and James’ Super G.  

Tracy led them away but Paul was right with her and lapping faster.  He passed Tracy for the lead on lap 3.  A lap later and Kev stole 2nd place but immediately crashed and fell to the back which is when James passed Tracy for 2nd before he too immediately crashed.  Was Tracy firing rockets to vanquish her rivals?  Who knows!  

Lap 11 turned the race on its head once again with a disastrous crash for race leader Paul which took ages to get him back on track.  All of a sudden he was now at the back of the field behind the delightfully furious battle of James and Kev.  The pair swapped places multiple times before James finally sealed his place ahead with a string of very fast laps.  A couple of late offs did nothing to change things as he beat Kev by a lap to the flag.  

None of them could do anything about Tracy though as she romped home to an emphatic win ahead of James, Kev and Paul.  

   

[Gareth]

D Final

   

There are always some curveball lane choices during racing and this was a doozy.  Pole man Rob picked blue, Mike took white and Isaac picked yellow.  This meant Tracy stepped up into red lane which was generally considered the best lane by many on the grid.  Husband and wife would be doing battle for the automatic Gen6 qualifying spot while Isaac needed a win if he was to have a chance of the junior medal.  

It was Mike who took the lead at the start of the race with Rob’s Super G shadowing him closely before passing for the lead.  A brief off 2 laps later allowed Mike back through but the gap remained close.  

Meanwhile behind these two Isaac and Tracy were both struggling with multiple crashes and slow laps.  It was a bit of a race to forget for both as they finished with Isaac in 3rd and Tracy in 4th a long way from their best or the best in this race.  

Out front the gap remained close until a long off for Rob on lap 33 allowed Mike to smash in 4 extra laps and take a commanding victory and that Gen6 shootout grid spot.   

   

[Gareth]

C Final

   

Ollie B had picked white lane for his pole position and I gleefully seized red which had been the only lane I’d had a good run in during the heats.  Not even a full chassis swap could cure my poor driving it seemed.  Matthew too had not had the best of times in the heats.  He would be going from blue leaving Mike to swap from the outside lane to the much tighter inside yellow lane.  

Ollie certainly caught his elder (but not elderly!) rivals by surprise as he blasted into the lead on lap 1.  I gave chase and immediately crashed, Matthew having done the same thing a lap before.  That left Mike briefly in 2nd place before the two Super Gs screamed back past him.  The pace was certainly there for Matthew and I but sadly we’d both left our talent in our other trousers as crash after crash left us multiple laps off of the flying Ollie.  

I often comment in these reports that Ollie is either dominant or wildly erratic and this was one of his dominant runs.  He didn’t put a wheel wrong all race as he claimed the junior medal and the C final victory.  Matthew managed one less crash than I did to finish exactly 1 lap ahead for 2nd while Mike trailed home in 4th.  But he would have another race to do later.

   

[Gareth]

B Final

   

Ollie would remain in white lane for the B Final going up against pole man Pete in red, John in yellow and Jerome in blue.  A formidable trio with multiple championships between them and Jerome also being a former junior prodigy in the club.  

This was a must win race for Pete and John if they wanted to keep their title hopes alive.  For Ollie and Jerome, it was all about bragging rights and being the fastest drivers they could be.  

It was a disastrous opening lap for Jerome with a big crash leaving him off the road for 12 seconds.  That’s a lifetime in HO oval racing.  Pete led the early going and was thumping in 2.3 second laps for good measure.  We’d seen some 2.4s and 2.3s from Pete and Ollie in the heats but Pete was about to take it to a whole new level.  

John was a few tenths back in 2nd before crashing on lap 5 but then Pete crashed on lap 6.  Suddenly Ollie was in the lead.  Could we be looking at one of the biggest upsets in WHO history?  Ollie’s times were super consistent and he was keeping it on the road.  But Pete was driving out of his skin and a string of 2.2, 2.1 and 2 second flat laps saw him back into the lead just 9 laps after crashing.  It scarcely seems possible!    Another off on lap 22 didn’t change things, partly due to some of the quickest marshalling ever to get Pete back in the groove but it did allow Ollie to close back up again and the race for the win was back on.  Pete’s pace eased by a couple of tenths but it was still a little more than Ollie could manage.  Another off on lap 40 produced some late race drama but when the power went off, Pete had done 46.05 laps to Ollie’s 45.15.  An absolutely gripping race had kept Pete’s title hopes alive. 

John’s title fight was over as he finished a slightly distant 3rd while Jerome’s race ended with a spectacular crash to the floor for 4th.

   

[Gareth]

A Final

   

Ollie (red) was out of the title fight but he had a golden opportunity to win the race and be a disruptor.  Terry in blue, Andy in yellow and Pete in white all had the prospect of winning the championship but Terry’s chances were a bit slimmer than the other two.  

If he won the race with Ollie in 2nd then he would be champion outright and if he won the race with Andy in 2nd then he would win on countback thanks to a 2nd place in round 1 being better than Andy’s other 2 scores.  Winning with Pete in 2nd place would still give Pete the title.  

Andy meanwhile needed to outscore Pete by at least 10 points and beat Terry.  

Clear as mud!  Let’s get racing.

All 4 cars left the line together and all were running very fast indeed.  Terry passed Pete to take the lead for a few laps before Ollie charged back in front but then disaster struck as both Ollie and Andy crashed on lap 11.  Pete was now back in the lead with Terry in 2nd.  Ollie’s race swiftly unravelled as he hit the floor and lost a huge amount of time on lap 14.  Then it was Terry who fell off on lap 20.  This was turning into a bit of a scrappy race by these guys' standards.  Except for one driver…and he had just won the B Final.  

 Andy had stabilised from that early off and was driving fast consistent laps.  So too was Ollie but that big off had left him out of the running.  A late off by Terry on lap 35 was enough to allow Andy to sneak through back into 2nd but still left him behind Pete, the one man who was ahead of him in the championship.  

   

We often see Pete driving insanely fast laps but at the expense of the odd crash.  This race he was still driving insanely fast laps but he wasn’t crashing.  2.1 second laps around the longest lane doesn’t seem possible but he was doing it and when the power cut at the end of two minutes we saw something new for the evening; a 50.85 lap run.  Absolutely incredible and if there was any doubt that Pete is the best driver in the club right now, that is over.  This was a champions drive and the reward was the Nascar championship.  

   

Behind him Andy was fairly happy with his 2nd place, Terry was a bit downhearted with his 3rd and Ollie was wondering if I’d cursed him with my own shoddy driving skills!  Sorry mate!

   

   

[Gareth]

Gen6 Shootout

   

After all that excitement there still remained one final race to determine the Gen6 champion.  Just like the real chase in Nascar, our top 4 Gen6 (Mega G+) drivers have a one race shootout to determine the champion.  

Mike (blue) had his place from his earlier win and joining him would be Tracy (white), Simon (yellow) and Kevin (red) who had all scored enough points to rank them as the next 3 drivers to qualify.  
 
Tracy rocketed off the line and into the lead ahead of Mike, Kevin and Simon.  Lap after lap Tracy was a tenth quicker than Mike and was eking out a brilliant lead.  We’ve not had a female champion since Hannah Rose was racing with us as a junior so this was very exciting stuff.  

   
 
In her wake Simon and his car were not enjoying yellow lane as he was unable to match the pace or keep the car on the road like the McCanns.  Kevin though could keep the pace with Mike but couldn’t match his consistency so he was drifting back into a steady 3rd place.  

But then on lap 32 disaster struck for Tracy.  She crashed and would be off the track for nearly 20 seconds.  The motor had popped up from the chassis robbing her of drive.  The Bean and Fuller crew got her back on the road as quickly as they could but Mike was into first place and cruising as he clinched the win and became the 2025 Gen6 champion!  Kevin too crept past Tracy to steal 2nd place as she limped home in 3rd.  

   

It had been the cruelest of blows for Tracy after dominating the race for 2/3rds of the way and it was also a timely reminder for our Mega G+ drivers to glue their motors to the rear bulkhead.  It’s allowed in the rulebook because of this very situation.  

So congratulations to Pete, Ollie B and Mike on picking up the Nascar, Junior and Gen6 wins on the night.  And congratulations to the same three drivers on picking up the championships to boot!  

   

I’m especially delighted for Mike.  The McCann family are absolute mainstays of the club and WHO simply would not be WHO without them.  We do need to update the Hall of Fame but to the best of my knowledge this is Mike’s first championship and I’m so happy for him.  Well done mate!

   

Thanks as always to our setup and strike down crews, to Ollie for manning race control and for everyone who comes and races and makes the club what it is.  One more F1 round to wrap up 2025 to go.  See you there.