Dino Ramirez Wins Again in Event 10

The first round of qualifying began with Joe G. heading down the track topless!!! At about the 1/8th mile his top flew open, which added to the excitement of these challenge events. In the second round of qualifying, one of our C6 Z06 guys ripped down the track in under 11 seconds at a speed of a mere 141.66 mph. Not bad for a daily driver!!! That being said, he was disqualified for not having a roll bar in his vehicle.

The event started with 19 cars lining up in round 1, which resulted in 9 races. Richard Mortell had the bye after having two .005 lights in both his qualifying rounds. On his bye run, Mortell cut a .006 light giving him lane choice in the following round. One of the best races in this round was between Mark Schroeder and John Chluski. John had a .091 reaction, but that couldn’t beat Schroeder’s .000 light. At the end, they both broke out but Schroeder took the win by being closer to his dial. By the way, welcome to the .000 club Mark!! One of our newest members, Lewis Claps took a win with is show quality vette after a first time participant, Joe Rogers was a little too quick on the line with a -.028 red light. It’s great seeing new drivers coming out and enjoying themselves.

Event 10 Runner up Doug Masters	Thanks to Melissa for taking pictures for us	Event 10 Winner Dino Ramirz

The second round was the only round of the evening that didn’t have a bye run, which made for 5 great races. Doug Masters took the win when Mortell triggered that deadly red light with a -.036. Even the best on the line red light from time to time!! I lined up with Schroeder just to watch him pull away from me in the first 330ft. I caught him at the end, but unfortunately he had already won. Steven Davis took a win over Paulette Glover after Paulette ran an 11.373 on an 11.40 dial. Now that’s close!!! Larry and Dino both advanced to round 3 with better reaction times and running closer to their dials. Unfortunately at the time, Dino developed a slight problem in his engine after that run.

The third round of the evening brought Masters and Davis to the line with Masters having lane choice. This was one of the closest races of the night. Masters beat Davis on the line with a .279 R/T to Davis’s .312. Masters ran a 12.444 on a 12.37 dial. Davis ran an 11.998 on an 11.95 dial. Get out those calculators and it would say, “Masters won by inches.” Schroeder was a victim of the red light after -.103 foul against Swaiteck. Dino ended up with the bye run, but his C4 was down for the night. We had a group vote and the decision was made that Dino would run his brothers C5 for the rest of the night. This goes to show that anyone in the group can experience problems, but we all stick together to help one another.

The night ended with Doug Masters cutting an -.038 red light against Dino in the Semi’s while Larry drove down the track on his first bye run of the night. This set the stage for Larry and Dino battling it out in the final round with matching red C5 coupes. Both automatics, both with great drivers!! The race was decided on the line when Larry left -.057 seconds too early illuminating that red light for the last time of the evening. Congrats on another win Dino!!!!

This event showed a few of us how good we could be on the tree, but also that it is so easy to cross that threshold into the red light zone. Most of all, the night was about good friends having fun and helping one another out regardless of point standings or experience. For me, it was one of my best nights ever. It was a come back night for my black coupe, spent time with my buddies, and met a few new faces. We will see you all in 2 weeks!!!!!

Mike

More photos in our Photo Gallery by John

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modified: November 2, 2006 - 9:18 pm