Nuvolari3 Enduro - “Third Battle of the G-Jets”
Nantasket Beach, Hull, Massachusetts
May 3, 2008

The third battle of the G-Jets brought out our largest field yet. 35 drivers from eight states: WA, OR, MA, CT, RI, ME, PA and NY, all ready to race toy cars for six straight hours, in honor of our late, great pal, Todd Duda, and to raise funds for his son Ethan’s college fund. Todd would certainly have appreciated the spectacle. The oil, the hair gel, the masking tape, the donuts.
Practice on the Nuvolari track opened at 8 am with many of the bleary-eyed drivers arriving early, and expecting to use their own lexan bodied BSRT G-Jets. Much to their surprise, track owner John Stezelecki had placed four Tomy hard bodied Ford GT 40 G-Jets on the track for practice. Stez had found out the day before that Gary Beedle would supply Ford GT hard body G-Jets, and a Chaparral 2D G-Jet, for the race.
Practice on all six lanes was allowed to go 2 ½ hours, at which point one racer from each team chose from the identically prepared cars, sans bodies, at random.

Qualifying

This year’s top qualifier was a real surprise! A 1/32 scale driver from NH (boy, is he teeny!), Dickie Pearson would blast out the best lap time of 5.643. Who said comm. juice? Not only did this finish give the NH team first choice of car body (they chose the lightened Chap 2D), but it also allowed them the choice of a starting lane. They chose the gutter, yellow. Top qualifier also garnered a very nice plaque from BSRT. Second place qualifier was Team Beedle’s Catfish Sr. with a 5.914, followed by CT with a 5.937. The RI Outlaws also surprised a few people by qualifying fourth, with a 6.068. Following the Outlaws was Team MA with 6.452, with team NYCONN bringing up the rear with a 6.925.

Hour 1 (The Race Begins)

The festivities began with a wonderful, pensive rendition of the U.S. National Anthem, performed by Joe Walsh on mandolin, and Mike Barnett on fiddle. Perspective, a good, warm feeling, and then… it began to creep in. The jitters. That’s what many of the first time Enduro drivers were feeling, but once the green flag dropped, everyone settled down quickly and real racing began in earnest. The race format required that each team take a 2-minute pit stop within each 60 minute round. We knew this battle was going to be a tough one. At the end of the first hour, Team MA, with their black #2 Ford GT40, would roll up 485 laps on the middle, orange lane for the lead. On the white lane, Team Beedle, driving the light blue and orange Gulf # 21 Ford GT, was only two laps back at 483 for 2nd place. Team CT was driving the gold/copper Ford GT #5 on the tough gutter red and put up an amazing 482 laps for 3rd. On the gutter yellow lane, Team NH/ME, driving the #7 white Chapparal 2D, did a great job putting up 476 laps for 4th. Jim McCartney and former HOPRA Director Tony Mourkas came out of retirement just to compete in this race with the NH/ME team. In 5th place, driving a red #3 Ford GT, with 473 laps on the blue lane was Team NYCONN. Bringing up the rear, in 6th position, driving a #1 blue Ford GT were the RI Outlaws. It looked like they were hurting with only 467 laps on the advantageous green lane. Things may have looked bleak, but one should never count out the resilient Outlaws, who share much in common with a superball.
 

Round 2

Team Beedle won this round with 507 laps on the gutter red lane, while Team MA put up 506 laps on the advantageous green lane. This performance by Team Beedle placed them only 1 lap behind the leaders, Team MA, in the overall standings. At the end of round 2, Team MA had 991 laps while Team Beedle had 990. The other big winner in this round went to Team NYCONN, who blasted out 499 laps on orange, which moved them up to 3rd place in the overall standings with a total lap count of 972. Team CT would fall to 4th place overall with a very respectful lap count of 484 on gutter yellow, giving them a total of 966. This team, however, had now completed both their gutter lanes and was positioned well for the remainder of the race. Team NH/ME struggled on the blue lane, scoring only 478 laps for a total of 954, which was enough to hold on to the 5th spot. The RI Outlaws hung on for 484 laps on white, giving them a total of 947 and 6th pl ace in the overall standings.

Round 3 (IN THE DARK)

This round began with the overhead lights shut off and with the perimeter lights fully on. Over a period of 15 minutes, the perimeter lights were slowly dimmed until complete darkness fell over the track. Racing in the dark, with a car lit only with grain of wheat bulbs, takes very special skills. And not everyone had ‘em! Those gutter lanes, always the toughest, are much more so when de lights go down. In view of this, Team Beedle had to be considered the winner of this darkened hour. They did not score the highest round total, but with a lap count of 474 in gutter yellow, they moved into 1st place with an overall total count of 1464. The next big winner was Team CT, who drove 496 laps on blue, moving them into 2nd place, only 2 laps behind frontrunner Team Beedle. Team NYCONN maintained its third place overall position by banging out 480 laps on green for a total lap count of 1452.
Team MA, the frontrunner from Rounds 1 & 2, would become the biggest loser in Round 3. Driving the #2 black Ford GT, they encountered numerous problems as they simply could not see their black car in the dark. Talk about stealth! The car was so difficult to see, that many times during the round the drivers completely lost track of their car. This disadvantage resulted in a round total of 449 laps, causing Team MA to plummet from 1st to 4th place. Another winner in the dark phase were the RI Outlaws. They drove 445 laps on gutter red, and moved up to 5th. NH/ME’s 432 laps on orange, perhaps the best lane on the track, turned out to be a real killer. This performance dropped them to 6th.

Round 4 (IN THE DARK)

The clear winner in this round was Team CT. They amassed 506 awesome, nighttime laps on orange, giving them possession of 1st place. Team Beedle dropped to 2nd with 493 laps on blue. They were now 11 laps behind the leader. Team NYCONN, with a solid performance on white, added 500 laps for 3rd place. Team MA continued with its “stealth” car problems, which became further compounded by being on gutter red. The team would only manage 444 laps, giving them a total of 1884 laps and allowing them to maintain 4th position. Team NH/ME bounced back from their dismal returned them to 5th position. The RI Outlaws suffered mightily in the dark on gutter yellow. Their 449 laps gave them a total count of 1841 and dropped them back in 6th place. The lights slowly came back up, returning the room to daylight.

Incredible Hour 5 (Back to Daylight)

The overall standings at the end of this round would prove to be a surprise for all. Team Beedle actually won the round when they smashed rolled up 509 laps on the orange lane. This would result in the team making up the entire 11-lap deficit to first-place Team CT. At the end of five, after almost 2500 laps, the Beedleers and the Connectickians were dead even, tied for 1st place. GJ-Jets=close racing.
Team CT made a crucial decision while driving the always-favorable green lane. They decided to rest their most talented driver, Dan DeCosmo, leaving all the driving to the other members of the team. This strategy may have been a mistake because they weren’t able to build a big lead going into the final hour of the enduro. The 471 laps the Team NYCONN amassed on gutter red appeared to have solidified their 3rd place Enduro position; they ended the round just 43 laps behind the leaders. Daylight conditions would prove to really help Team MA get “back on track,” with a notable 495 laps, giving them 4th place. The RI Outlaws sprang back to life by turning 501 laps on the blue lane, placing them in the 5th spot. NH/ME put up 480 laps on white, dropping them into 6th place. Going into gutter red for the sixth and final hour would make the prospect of passing the Outlaws somewhat remote.

Final Round (The Sixth Hour)

Over the Nuvolari’s final hour, the premier battle was between Team Beedle and Team CT, dead even after five hours, two of those driven in the dark. Barring any unforeseen breakdowns or major mechanical problems, the other four teams had pretty much solidified their positions, like insects in amber. Team CT’s captain, Dan DeCosmo took up the banner by driving the majority of the round. Team Beedle’s drivers drove in earnest through their rotation, and during the first 40 minutes of racing, the lead changed 3 times. In the last 20 minutes, Team Beedle started to make headway against the CT Team, and the writing was on the wall.
At this time, CT inserted their rookie (and cutest) driver, Dario DeCosmo. After six grueling, greasy, grungy, donut-filled hours, Team Beedle, with Brian Skidmore on the trigger, swept past the checkered flag with a total overall lap count of 3000 even. Team CT finished 2nd, just 25 laps back. Team NYCONN could not keep up with the torrid pace and settled for 484 laps and a total count of 2907 for a well-deserved 3rd place finish. Once again, Team MA came out swinging, still trying to overcome the disaster of “Stealth driving in the dark”. They banged out 497 laps on blue for a total count of 2876 for a 4th place finish. Last year, the RI Outlaws finished in last place. This year, however, they banged out a very strong 505 laps for the final round, resulting in a total count of 2847 and a 5th place finish. Way to go Little Rhody! Watch out for these guys next year. Team NH/ME lacked overall experience with the newer G-Jets, along with some drivers that had been retired for a number of years. They put up 475 laps for the final round, resulting in a total lap count of 2808 for the 6th place finish. Several of their drivers were overheard booking space in the Happy Transformers retirement home, after the race.

The Recap

All and all, a pretty dang wonderful time was had by all. We were happy to meet Dickie Pearson, a 1/32-scale driver (boy, is he teeny) who also took home the top qualifier plaque. It was great to see Mac and Goss again. It was especially wonderful to see Tony Mourkas after so many years. His natural HO driving skills appeared to return quickly. We are hopeful he will participate again in future HO events.
The “Third Battle of the G-Jets” was another successful team event. Congratulations to the winner “TEAM BEEDLE” for their fine victory. BSRT’s G-Jets, with lightweight Tomy hard bodies, proved to be fun as well as challenging. We have now raced three Enduros with the G-Jets. There is no question that this car is a blast to drive, whatever kind of body configuration, and the racing is close, close, close.
We’re very happy to report that the Nuvolari3 Enduro raised another $1,400 for the Ethan Duda Scholarship Fund. It goes without saying that we all miss our dear friend Todd, but his presence is always with us. We would also like to thank Gary Beedle of lead sponsor Scale Auto and BSRT for providing us with six, well-tuned G-Jets, and all spares, for this event. Gary and BSRT also provided the winning plaques for the drivers. A great big thank you to all the drivers who came so far, and ran so hard! You make this race fun, and therefore a success.
Thank you also to the talented musicians Mike Barnett and Joe Walsh for their skill in turning the Star Spangled Banner into an intricate, shiny pocketwatch of a tune, and something truly worth cheering.
A special thanks is in order to the following people. Frank Klucevsek of Mid-Cape Tire, Hyannis, who provided really nice NASCAR hats for the drivers. Jim McCartney, the Outlaws, Bob Ferrara of Bob’s Super Products, and Greg Williams all provided additional funds and products to make this race a success.
A very, very special thank you, which is long overdue, goes to Dan DeCosmo and Eric Chagnot for all their assistance. Without their technological expertise, running this race would be much more difficult. We are grateful for their care and dedication.
To see the team rosters, raceday photos, hour-by-hour stats, and much more, go to http://infinitevideo.net/nuvolariweb/
Whew. Well, seems like we got through another one! Look for us again on May 2, 2009, when the flag will drop on Nuvolari4.
- Co-directors John Stezelecki and Rob Hayes