Rampy & Mettler score wins this weekend
We saw racing action in Division 3 and 7 this weekend. In Div. 3, we saw perennial power hitter David Rampy take the win at Gateway International Raceway in St. Louis, while Tom Mettler took home the Wally at the Div. 7 meet in Sonoma.
In St. Louis, qualifying lived up to it's billing, with the two new classes taking the top two spots. Bruno Massel took the pole with a 75 under blast in his DD/AT, followed closely by Bo Butner's AA/SM 72 under jaunt. Defending World Champ Jeff Taylor nailed down the three spot with a 67 under pass in his E/SM.
First round saw a few indexes get dirty, but the big whack of the round went to Steve Ambrose's 60 under win over Allen Sherman's holeshot-aided 46 under pass.
Jacklyn Gebhardt took the big whack in round 2 with her A/ED in overcoming a massive holeshot to Jason Coan's F/ED. Gebhardt went 62 under in the contest. The big upset of the round was Ambrose taking out No. 1 qualifier Massel. Massel had problems, giving Ambrose a clean ride into the next round.
Charlie Greco was the next giant killer, taking out Butner's AA/SM with his E/A. Butner took a nap on the tree, losing a 47 under to 58 under contest. Rampy, Taylor and Ambrose all advanced to the semifinals as well.
Rambo then showed why he's 'tha man,' taking out Greco in an ultra-close contest, winning with a 48 under shot in his A/EA to Greco's 49 under. In the other frame, Taylor stayed clean defeating Ambrose, 46 under to 40 under.
This set up the final between the two powerhouses of the class. Rambo was clean, while Taylor had lost a nickel in round 3. Rambo took the win on another holeshot, running 55 under to Taylor's 57 under blast. Taylor's mph was only 150 down 6 from his qualifying.
The St. Louis Index offenders were:
Gebhardt A/ED 7.23 (-.02)
Taylor E/SM 9.22(-.02)
Meanwhile, out west the action returned to Infineon Raceway, where the Fram-Autolite Nationals had just been run the week prior. Qualifying was very close at the top of the pack, with Rob Harrison taking the top spot with a 658 under blast in his potent J/A. David Beckley trailed just a tick with a 651 under pass in his A/AA for the No. 2 spot. Tom Huggins wasn't far behind with a 64 under pass for the three hole.
In round one, it was Beckley getting the dirtiest, but coming out on top of a tough battle with Ken Justice. Beckley took the win with a 57 under to take out Justice's 53 under pass in his B/AA. Rich Fenton scored an upset win over John Edwards, while Donald Desa did the same over Bud Hammer.
The big story of round two was the Harrison vs Lambeck matchup. Lambeck went red while Harrison streaked to a 60 under pass. That will get you a 'doh.' There were some other great bouts in the round as well. Alan Ellis took out Vinnie Deceglie on a holeshot, then Jim Cowan ran a 58 under in his D/EA to take out Beckley's wounded 49 under. Huggins had to dig into his pocket to get around Mark Stewart's holeshot aided 53 under pass with a 59 under shot that put him in the red for the event.
Harrison was the next big gun to fall against J.D. Zink in the first pair of round 3. Both drivers were way late, but Zink was able to take the stripe in a 51 to 51 under contest. Harrison went into the red on his loss. A clean Dave Barcelon then defeated Cowan with a 55 under shot in his G/A to Cowan's 49 under. Defending Div. 7 Champ Dean Carter then fell to Ellis in a 48 to 45 under affair. Closing out the round was Mettler, who was able to take a clean win over the redlighting Huggins.
In the semifinals, Mettler got another free roll when Zink redlighted against him, while Barcelon had to get a little dirty to take out Ellis' holeshot .43 under with his own 52 under.
In the final it was all Mettler as he said "Hey, I'm clean" with a 58 under blast to take the win over Barcelon's 50 under pass.
Sonoma's Index offenders were:
Huggins B/A (-.01) 7.69
Harrison J/A (-.01) 8.48
We saw racing action in Division 3 and 7 this weekend. In Div. 3, we saw perennial power hitter David Rampy take the win at Gateway International Raceway in St. Louis, while Tom Mettler took home the Wally at the Div. 7 meet in Sonoma.
In St. Louis, qualifying lived up to it's billing, with the two new classes taking the top two spots. Bruno Massel took the pole with a 75 under blast in his DD/AT, followed closely by Bo Butner's AA/SM 72 under jaunt. Defending World Champ Jeff Taylor nailed down the three spot with a 67 under pass in his E/SM.
First round saw a few indexes get dirty, but the big whack of the round went to Steve Ambrose's 60 under win over Allen Sherman's holeshot-aided 46 under pass.
Jacklyn Gebhardt took the big whack in round 2 with her A/ED in overcoming a massive holeshot to Jason Coan's F/ED. Gebhardt went 62 under in the contest. The big upset of the round was Ambrose taking out No. 1 qualifier Massel. Massel had problems, giving Ambrose a clean ride into the next round.
Charlie Greco was the next giant killer, taking out Butner's AA/SM with his E/A. Butner took a nap on the tree, losing a 47 under to 58 under contest. Rampy, Taylor and Ambrose all advanced to the semifinals as well.
Rambo then showed why he's 'tha man,' taking out Greco in an ultra-close contest, winning with a 48 under shot in his A/EA to Greco's 49 under. In the other frame, Taylor stayed clean defeating Ambrose, 46 under to 40 under.
This set up the final between the two powerhouses of the class. Rambo was clean, while Taylor had lost a nickel in round 3. Rambo took the win on another holeshot, running 55 under to Taylor's 57 under blast. Taylor's mph was only 150 down 6 from his qualifying.
The St. Louis Index offenders were:
Gebhardt A/ED 7.23 (-.02)
Taylor E/SM 9.22(-.02)
Meanwhile, out west the action returned to Infineon Raceway, where the Fram-Autolite Nationals had just been run the week prior. Qualifying was very close at the top of the pack, with Rob Harrison taking the top spot with a 658 under blast in his potent J/A. David Beckley trailed just a tick with a 651 under pass in his A/AA for the No. 2 spot. Tom Huggins wasn't far behind with a 64 under pass for the three hole.
In round one, it was Beckley getting the dirtiest, but coming out on top of a tough battle with Ken Justice. Beckley took the win with a 57 under to take out Justice's 53 under pass in his B/AA. Rich Fenton scored an upset win over John Edwards, while Donald Desa did the same over Bud Hammer.
The big story of round two was the Harrison vs Lambeck matchup. Lambeck went red while Harrison streaked to a 60 under pass. That will get you a 'doh.' There were some other great bouts in the round as well. Alan Ellis took out Vinnie Deceglie on a holeshot, then Jim Cowan ran a 58 under in his D/EA to take out Beckley's wounded 49 under. Huggins had to dig into his pocket to get around Mark Stewart's holeshot aided 53 under pass with a 59 under shot that put him in the red for the event.
Harrison was the next big gun to fall against J.D. Zink in the first pair of round 3. Both drivers were way late, but Zink was able to take the stripe in a 51 to 51 under contest. Harrison went into the red on his loss. A clean Dave Barcelon then defeated Cowan with a 55 under shot in his G/A to Cowan's 49 under. Defending Div. 7 Champ Dean Carter then fell to Ellis in a 48 to 45 under affair. Closing out the round was Mettler, who was able to take a clean win over the redlighting Huggins.
In the semifinals, Mettler got another free roll when Zink redlighted against him, while Barcelon had to get a little dirty to take out Ellis' holeshot .43 under with his own 52 under.
In the final it was all Mettler as he said "Hey, I'm clean" with a 58 under blast to take the win over Barcelon's 50 under pass.
Sonoma's Index offenders were:
Huggins B/A (-.01) 7.69
Harrison J/A (-.01) 8.48
