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Race Report Part 1 - Nascar Team Race

   

Nineteen survivors of the great July 2022 heatwave assembled at the Barn for an evening of red-hot Scalextric digital racing. Simon's track layout was rather different - filling the hall with wide, open turns and lots of short straights. It took a little while to get used to, but turned out to be a brilliant track for racing and overtaking. We started with our usual one-hour Nascar team race - five teams of three and one team of four running four 15-minute segments. Each team was captained by one of our younger racers, with Simon being an honorary young person for the night.

   

There was a simply fuel-only simulation to ease us all through the first fifteen minutes. Our four-man crew of Ryan, Jean, Terry and Ed hit the ground running. Each driver sat out for one of the segments - and they started with an 80-lap run, one of only two scores in the 80s. Second after fifteen minutes were Simon, Andy and Matthew with 77 laps, then Isaac, Alex and Pete with 75. All six teams were within 9 laps of each other - Jerome, Mike D and Kevin bringing up the rear with 71. A great start to the race.

The tyre wear simulation was added for the second segment - increasing the complexity of the pit stops and adding something extra to think about for the team strategists. It was Jerome, Mike and Kevin who bounced back from last place to finish first, driving the rather tasty white UPS car very effectively. Second again were the 'old-timers' - Simon, Andy and Matthew - who were now leading the race overall by three laps. That was because of a sub-par run by the team of four with the red car - only 72 laps. Ash, Oli ands Jeremy were tied in third overall after 74 and 75 laps runs. Isaac, Alex and Peter had a few car troubles and dropped back behind Oli, Dean and Mike McCann - sitting on 143 and 144 laps overall...

   

The battle for the win heightened in the third segment - the team of four putting two laps into the 'old-timers' and finishing just one laps behind overall. Those two teams were well ahead of the rest - Jerome, Mike D and Kevin coming in third, just ahead of Ash, Oli and Jeremy. Oli, Dean and Mike McCann had the better of Isaac, Alex and Peter - who had more car issues, this time with the white car - and the gap from fifth to sixth grew to seven laps overall. Going into the final 15-minutes, the gaps between first and second was one lap - as it was between third and fourth...

Right from the starts of the final segment, the top two teams were going at each other hammer-and-tongs - the team of four with the repaired white car and the 'old-timers' with the orange Tide Taurus. Ryan and Simon had the first 5-minute stint, the youngster having the better of the early stages - a lap ahead on the road and equal overall. Terry managed to open a gap over Matthew in the second stint, the orange car briefly losing its guide. Despite having to pit twice in two laps to hand over to Ed, the UPS Taurus was three laps ahead of orange car with five minutes left. And that's how it stayed - Andy and Ed lapping on a similar pace, with similar pit stop times, the winners clocking 81 laps and the runners-up 78. The pressure was certainly on, but there was no late drama. The team of four - Ryan, Jean, Terry and Ed - had driven a brilliant race...

       

The battle for third went down to the wire - Ash, Oli and Jeremy finishing ahead on the final stint and that was enough to beat Jerome, Mike D and Kevin. Both teams finished on 297 laps, the tie-breaker being position on the road in the final segment...

       

At the back, Oli, Dean and Mike Mc extended their lead over Isaac, Alex and Pete...

       

Huge congratulations to the winners - and another exciting race with the trusty old Scalextric Nascars! Here are the full results...

   

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Next, we'll have the report of the Pioneer Legends race.