2001 Speedline Grand Prix
April 5 - 8,
2001
Las Vegas, NV Silver Bowl Raceway
Hosted by MARCAR
WOW! The 2001 Speedline Grand Prix was a rousing success. Total entry count was 133 - 130 of them pre-entries. 70 1/8th 4wd, 30 .12 Touring, 17 1/10th 2wd and 16 1/10th 4wd cars made up 14 heat races and 16 main events, and that made for a busy race week.
Wednesday, April 4th, was set aside for track maintenance and prep. The Las Vegas club, 4Aces Racing, had the track in pretty good shape and a big thanks must go out to Fred Muncy and crew. A little painting, some minor construction and laying down some traction and the track was ready to go.
Thursday, the 5th, was an open practice day and most of the racers were present, working on their set-ups and tuning engines. The weather was a little cool for Vegas and a little windy. Drivers stayed out at the track until they decided it was time to head to the casinos for a little gambling.
The racing action got under way on Friday morning with three rounds of qualifying on tap. The track was in pretty good shape and the drivers were taking advantage of it. After the first three rounds of qualifying the top 3 in each class were as follows:
1/10th 2wd
1. Joe Sortillon Jr.
2. Mark Sweeney
3. David Ortiz
.12 Touring
1. Brandon McNally
2. Alan Mishaga
3. Tracy Grieger
1/10th 4wd
1. Garen Hagobian
2. Brandon McNally
3. Robbie Collins
1/8th 4wd
1. Sal DiFazio
2. Brandon McNally
3. Steven Jackson
The weather on Saturday wasn't looking that great but the program got going anyway. First up was the Best Appearing contest where Chad Castelo took the honors. Round 4 of qualifying got underway right after the Best Appearing. Thirteen and 1/2 of the fourteen races were complete when we got a few sprinkles from the skies. Race 14 had to halted because the track was getting slick. After unsuccessfully trying to run race 14 for over two hours, the skies stopped spitting on us long enough to complete the race. Round 5 got under way immediately following the last race of round 4. The 1/10th 2wd class completed their 2 heats but only 2 of the 3 heats of .12 Touring were completed when the sprinkles started again. The decision was then made to cancel the remainder of round 5. So, the 1/10th 2wd class recorded 5 qualifying rounds while all the other classes got 4 rounds.
Qualifying
Links to each round of qualifying heats, including lap times, are listed below
and the overall standings after each round.
Qualifying Heats for Round 1
1/10th
2wd
.12
Touring
1/10th
4wd
1/8th
4wd
Qualifying Standings after 1
round
Qualifying Heats for Round
2
1/10th
2wd
.12
Touring
1/10th
4wd
1/8th
4wd
Qualifying Standings after 2
rounds
Qualifying Heats for Round
3
1/10th
2wd
.12
Touring
1/10th
4wd
1/8th
4wd
Qualifying Standings after 3
rounds
Qualifying Heats for Round
4
1/10th
2wd
.12
Touring
1/10th
4wd
1/8th
4wd
Qualifying Standings after 4
rounds
Qualifying Heats for Round
5
1/10th
2wd
Qualifying Standings after 5
rounds*
*Note: Only the 1/10th 2wd class completed round 5 before bad weather forced the cancellation of the remainder of the round.
Sunday was main event day with 16 races to run. All the lower mains raced for 20 minutes (other than the .12 Touring D main) while the B mains were 30 minutes and the A mains 40 minutes.
Rick Wilson wrote a short description for all the mains that can be found here - thanks Rick. Links to the complete main results with lap times are listed below.
Main Events
.12 Touring
D Main
C Main
B Main
A Main
1/18th 4wd
H Main
G Main
F Main
E Main
D Main
C Main
B Main
A Main
We will have some photos, hopefully in about 1 1/2 weeks. In the meantime, enjoy these photos taken by Doug Kramer of the 4 Aces Racing club in Las Vegas.
A big thanks to Speedline Distributing, Blue Thunder Racing Fuel and GS Racing for helping sponsor this race!
The next thank you is to Mike Evert, Brad Morgan and Sam for making sure the race program stayed on schedule and for providing the play-by-play during the races. Great job guys!
Lastly, a big thanks to all the racers for coming out. Without you, there's no reason to hold a race.
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