Duncan (red) wasn't the only non-Super-G runner in the
C Final, Daniel's Mega-G+ was in yellow. They faced the Super-Gs of Rob (blue) and Pete (white)...
Reigning champion Pete had been struggling with his car on the higher wheel/tyre diameter and just couldn't get near the pace of the front-runners. Whereas Daniel had discovered a Mega-G+ rocket ship - and driven it very well. Rob was quickest off the line and settled into an early lead ahead of Pete and Duncan. Daniel was off on lap 2 and just couldn't get into the rhythm that had made him top Gen 6 driver in the heats...
After a gentle start, Duncan ramped up the pace, catching and passing Pete for second. Those two both had offs around the half-way mark, which was frustrating for Duncan as he'd had Rob in his sights...
Duncan recovered well and reeled in Rob again, before another brief off undid all his hard work. Rob delivered a trademark metronomic two minutes to finish on 25.65, exactly 0.6 of a lap ahead of Duncan. Pete rolled in a lap behind, Daniel a long way adrift, but taking home a large haul of Gen 6 points and automatic qualification in November's championship shootout.
Rob stepped up to white lane in the
B Final, where he'd meet the rapid Super-Gs of Oliver (blue) and Gareth (red), plus Andy's Bulldog in yellow...
Rob binned it at the start, leaving Gareth to lead Oliver and Andy through the first two laps. Oliver's pace dropped sub-4-second on lap 3 and he took the lead. Feeling the heat, Andy was off on lap 3 and Gareth on lap 4 - they wouldn't see Oliver again...
An impressive series of 13 sub-4-second laps (Gareth managed six) saw Oliver power away. An error-free run gave him an extraordinary total of 29.65 laps at the chequered flag. If you have that sort of performance in you, the finals is the place to deliver it. Gareth crashed twice to get to 27.35 and Andy was off four times with Bulldog for his 25-dead. Rob recovered well after his first lap off, but was simply blown away on pace.
Oliver stepped up to white for the
A Final, pole-sitter John having chosen yellow, Terry blue and Matthew red...
This was the only Super-G-only final tonight. And it was a truly memorable battle for the race win. Terry got the jump on the others at the start, leading Oliver and John through the line for the first time - Matthew already having slipped up. Oliver would follow on lap 3, leaving Terry in blue being tailed by John in the inside lane. It has been a while since we've seen John in a Nascar A Final, but he is a legend on the WHO ovals and a master of running yellow lane. He slowly worked his way up to Terry's car and overtook on lap eight...
Edging out his lead by a few hundredths of a second each lap, John took control - but there could be no easing off. Terry's car remained a fixture just a few feet behind. These were super-quick laps, most in the 4.0s...
With around thirty seconds left, Terry started to attack, taking a couple of tenths out of the lead. John responded and Terry went again, clocking two sub-4-second laps before pushing things too far and crashing on lap 25. John could now see Terry's car in front of him - three quarters of a lap adrift - and at last he could breathe. Three more times round and it was the end of the race, John winning his first HO A Final since August 2019...
The winning margin was three-quarters of a lap, Oliver finishing two laps behind Terry and Matthew another two laps back...
Huge congratulations to John on his race win, to Ollie for a hard-fought junior medal, Daniel for his Gen 6 Cup victory and Phil for finishing as top rookie...
Here's the data from all the finals...
click the image to make it bigger
The club championship tables will follow, together with some video.
Massive thanks to everyone who came along to make it such an enjoyable night at the Barn. This time, the biggest thanks must go to the lock-breaking crew - especially Stephen. Big thanks to everyone who mucked in with a rapid set-up, the race-control team and to all those who stayed behind to pack away.
Our next action at the Barn is a Scalextric Digital Nascar & Legends night on Wednesday 19 February, followed by the first round of our AFX Formula One Championship on Wednesday 5 March.