USRA Division 3 Nostalgia Can-Am 1/24 Scale  July 28, 2007

Buena Park, CA

Story by "Gene Husting", pictures courtesy Keith Tanaka

Steube takes two, de Lespinay one.

Mike Steube crushes TSR and Retro Pro. Philippe now 7 for 7 in NASCAR.

This, the 14th 2007 USRA Division 3 Race was hosted by Buena Park Raceway's gracious hosts Chris and Lenore Gallegos, showing their usual kindness and care. The race was run the on the challenging Kingleman track. The infamous black lane had been cleaned and re-cut to provide full depth for the standard guides and was really fast.

Pre-race activity

Attendance was a bit down as several racers could not be present for various reasons. Practice for the Retro Pro race looked like it was going to be the fastest run on this track so far.

TSR

The TSR field with the beautiful Lancia of Ray Gonzales, second from left.

Mike Steube made little work of utterly dominating the race with his very well prepped car. The other Usual Suspects simply crashed all over, leaving the opportunity for Mike Chavez, driving a very conservative pace, to place, but a full 36 laps behind Flawless Mike. A matter of survival indeed. Paul Sterrett barely edged Keith Tanaka for 3rd, miles behind, setting fastest lap in the process of saving his hide. Philippe, Ray and John Javier filled the debris field, with John edging Ray for 6th spot because of the injected-body bonus.

Ray Gonzales and Mike Chavez had the best appearing cars.
 

The TSR podium, Chavez, Steube, Sterrett.

Retro NASCAR

Small field as several of the regulars simply did not make it. May this writer suggest that we change the name of this class to Dokk's Exclusive Private Trophy Club? Philippe simply cruised to an easy win with his "undeslotable" Jeff Easterly-built wonder car, still sporting the very same handout motor run last year in a Retro F1 race by Paul Sterrett, that keeps on running with no sign of giving up the ghost. Behind this gross overkill of a machine, Paul Sterrett edged Mike Steube with a borrowed car by a mere lap. Keith Tanaka and John Javier soldiered to the end.

There was a vote at the end of the race to retire Philippe's car and let Anderson have a go with his favorite mallet, but Philippe hid the machine from sight before it could actually take place. At least he DID put a set of new tires on the thing.
 

Retro NASCAR reduced field with the Evil Dokk's monster on the left.

Sterrett, de Lespinay and Steube doing some taco therapy after the race.

Retro Pro
 

Steube practicing his bite before the battle. Boemker thinks that this is really funny, but a few minutes later he won't. Dennis concentrates, determined to make it to the podium, and he did. Doug, ken and Philippe appear relaxed while Kyle realizes that he forgot his handkerchief.

The field was also a bit reduced from the usual with only 7 entries. Mike Steube used a new Falcon VII to win with relative ease after de Lespinay, having rebounded from 3 laps in arrears on white, began hitting faster lanes. A battle royal did not happen as a freak mechanical incident sidelined Philippe for too many laps to allow a comeback. After the first heat, Mike had two laps over Doug Matthes and Dennis Hill, with Mike Boemker another behind. The second heat saw Dennis catching up, one behind Mike, while Philippe was now two off. Doug Matthes had a bad heat and slipped to 5th place ahead of his son Kyle in a world of hurt. The next heat saw Philippe moving to one behind Mike, edging Dennis for 2nd, but disaster struck in the next heat with the gear suddenly spinning on the axle as debris of the setscrew littered the track. Mike then pulled a serious lead of 7 laps over Dennis, with Doug recouping and making a move on Dennis. In the next heat, Mike lost all kinds of time as people kept crashing into him, and Dennis came as close as 2 laps behind, with Doug another lap in arrears. Everyone else was now out of contention. Mike then pulled 5 laps on Doug who edged Dennis for 2nd, and this is how it ended, with Mike with a clear 9 laps at the end of the last segment. Mike Boemker was eventually passed by Kyle Matthes, with Ken Dylke happy to escape unhurt. 

Ready to go. May the demolition begin...

Retro Pro podium with the proud racers displaying their wares.

The Matthes, Steube and Hill cars heads...

...and tails.

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