Sonoma Race Report & Crowning The 2022 Champions

Photo of FFriends

Finally! Finally? Finale.  

The 2022 season wound to a triumphant close this past weekend. The cool cloudy mornings gave way to warm afternoons and with sunny skies signaled the changing seasons, and indeed the Crossflow Cup had its own changes to contend with. We went into our final 2 rounds not knowing who would come out as HF champion; Martin Lauber was leading the points but 3-time champ Danny Baker, Wade Carter, Steve Romak and Andrew Wait were hot on his heels. In the CF ranks, Kelly Heil looked like he would be tough to surpass but strange things have happened over the past few races...

Qualifying 1:
Friday had taken a few cars from our ranks so we were winnowed down to what people in Indiana call a full grid of 33 cars when they rolled off to start qualifying just after 10 am on Saturday. First lap under FCY meant that the grid was packed up tight when the green flag waived and drivers got down to business. Kelly Heil was first to strike with an opening lap of 1:46.6. This would prove fast enough to secure the top spot until lap 5 when Steve Romak unseated him, followed by Andrew Wait both with mid 1:46's. The close of the session saw the top 6 cars all within .5 of a second, all in the mid/high 1:46's. A little further back we saw some familiar faces, Marty Benck making his only series appearance this year, closely followed by perennial CF contender Brian Forster, with series newcomer Terran Swanson set to roll off from the #15 spot. 

Race 1:
What was shaping up for a heck of a donnybrook for the top spot ended up going the other direction as "Steamroller" Steve Romak went flag to flag leading every lap to take his first win of a strong season. Behind him though, it was a mosh pit. 6th place starter (and points leader) Martin Lauber was on a mission to score as many points to add to his tally as possible on his march to 2nd place, fighting his way through the scrum of usual suspects. Andrew Wait struggled with front end grip after a hard opening salvo overheated his front tires, and Art Hebert finished where he started in 4th place. Danny Baker needed a good points finish to keep his championship hopes alive, but it was not to be as he ended up closing out the top 5. 

Will Jackson showed that he was just heating up this weekend though as he finished in a strong 6th place (foreshadowing another strong finish yet to come), and the midfield showed another incredibly strong performance. Seasoned veterans like Ed Lauber, Jay Streets, Tom Duncan, Ed VanTassel, and Mike Wirrick were slugging it out with our "Hoosier on Avons" Terran Swanson.  Brian Forster turned his bad battery on the grid into a good result as he worked his way 13 spots forward to earn the Reilly & Co Hard Charger award earning him a $100 gift card to Wine Country Motorsports. Alex Dodd continued to improve and moved forward a spot from his starting position, and Michael Malone enjoyed his first ever Crossflow Cup experience by battling it out with Fred Greis early on. 

Our Club Ford fight was won by Jellyman Kelly Heil, but Brian Swanson showed that he has the pace to run with Kelly and will definitely be a threat in races to come. Neil Porter, James Hakewill, and Tom Duncan filled out the top 5 in Club Ford. Tom Minnich moved up 5 spots to finish just inside the top 10 in class, finishing a sneeze ahead of Spencer Canon and "Mongoose" Jeff Rothman. 

The Masters podium saw familiar faces as Chris Schoap stood proud at the top step, flanked by Crossle runner Jim Lynn and Dave Sandlin who made some big jumps forward throughout the weekend!

Saturday Masters Podium - Jim Lynn, Chris Schoap, Dave Sandlin

Saturday CF Podium - Brian Swanson, Kelly Heil, Neil Porter

Saturday HF Podium - Martin Lauber, Steve Romak, Andrew Wait

Brian Forster - winner of the $800 cash "entry fee" prize (courtesy of Formula Ford zealot Ethan Shippert)

Mike Wirrick - raffle winner of a set of Avon tires (courtesy of Roger Kraus Racing and Shippert Racing Services)

Tom Minnich's, FFanciest FFord winner

Series MVP: Kelly Heil

SUNDAY FUNDAY

Qualifying 2:
Tensions were high as the cars rolled to grid to go out for Round 6 qualifying. Saturday's race had shown that the grid was to be so close and the racing so furious, that from front to back our racers knew it was going to be hard to move around much past where they qualified. Early season points leader Andrew Wait drew first blood, with a 1:46.3 time to take the pole on lap 3. Baker proved that the venerable Lotus wasn't yet to be counted out of the hunt when he took the outside front row spot on lap 5, followed by Heil, Romak, Hebert, and the elder Swanson. Will Jackson was again near the pointy end of the grid, showing that his Saturday pace was no fluke, and the final spots in the top ten were filled out by Martin Lauber's Titan, the always pretty Lotus of Paul Kitchen, and SCCA standout James Hakewill.

Chris Schoap was on a mission and showed the midfield that he was there to play with a very rapid lap to take the 14th spot, Tom Minnich found some serious pace from the previous day and cracked into the top 20, Alex Dodd showed that persistence pays off as he continued to march his way forward on the grid to roll off 24th, Max Minshull showed he was coming to grips with Sonoma's challenges with a 26th spot effort just ahead of series regular Jack Wilson's red Winkelmann, and Spencer Canon's very pretty Lola rounded out the top 30. The final few spots on the grid would see Steve Jeffords inside of Richard Hybels's Crossle, followed by another newcomer in Michael Malone with his pretty yellow Van Diemen and the always lovely Mk5 Titan of Fred Greis.

Race 2:
As the final green flag of the season waved, the field went 3 and 4 wide up the hill and under the walkover bridge. Polesitter Wait chose the right side of the road giving him the inside heading into T2, whereby he took the point and attempted to run as easy a pace as he could to keep his front tires under him. Baker ran in P2 early on with Heil behind, but Hebert was able to move past both of them and sit with Wait clear to the finish. Where was Steve Romak though? He stopped off on the side of the road on the pace lap for a latte and a biscotti to give the guys at the front a fighting chance it seems as he was tearing his way through from dead last on the grid, earning himself the Reilly & Co Hard Charger award for his troubles.

There were two standout performances underway though, one by the Titan of Will Jackson who was hanging right with the lead pack and did so the whole way, running as high as 4th in class (5th overall) one point before finishing up in 5th. Chris Schoap was feeling his oats as well and flat ran away from his usual competition, finishing inside the class top 10 and taking the top spot of the Masters podium.

Martin Lauber drove a smart race and took home 4th place points, which was enough to seal his first ever Crossflow Cup championship, while Wait came home on the top step of the HF podium, flanked by Hebert and Baker. Wait and Baker were to tie for the for 2nd place in the HF championship points with Wait's wins serving as the tie breaker to give him the spot.

In Club Ford, Kelly Heil again came home on top, again with Swanson and Porter on either sides of him. Ironically, this was how they would finish in the championship points as well, with Kelly repeating his 2021 honors. Back to the race results, Brian Forster took home the 4th spot, and Tom Duncan in his PRS rounded out the top 5. Max Minshull showed great pace to finish out his first Crossflow weekend by finishing 6th, followed by David Dupuis gorgeous Gemini, Spencer Canon, Jeff Rothman and Jim Lynn's Crossle finishing in the 10 spot. Richard Hybels and Michael Malone were next in line with Malone showing more improvement and his pace knocking on the door of breaking a 2 minute lap (a great achievement for his first Crossflow weekend!)

For those that didn't know, your own Captain Crossflow was asked to helm Tom Minnich's Tiga for the race (that was MY orange helmet, not his!), and starting at the back allowed me to see how hard everyone was fighting, but at the same time how clean all the racing was. I am so proud of every one of our racers. I really honestly feel that the Crossflow Cup is the BEST Formula Ford racing in the country right now. There is no place with the depth of grid, the skill and fairness, and (hopefully) the fun factor is right there too! Well done to all of you for making it so hard for me to find my way forward in the race!!

Crossflow Cup Award: Ed & Dana VanTassel

Mechanic(s) of the Year: Reilly & Co

The spoils of victory!

Rookie of the Year: Wade Carter (accepted by Danny Baker)

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS

A great time was had, raffle tickets were sold, beer was donated by Brian Swanson, many laughs were had and memories were made. Kelly Heil won the Series MVP for his efforts to push himself to the front of the grid, FFanciest FFord was awarded to Tom Minnich's Tiga, Wade Carter was the winner of the Rookie of the Year award for his standout performance in his first real season of Crossflow competition (albeit slightly truncated, hope to see you back at the track soon Wade!), and the Mechanic of the Year award went to Brent, Dan and the guys at Reilly & Co for their efforts to keep their guys smiling, running and moving to the front.

The highest honor our series has to give is the Crossflow Cup. This is a spirit award for the person (or in this case, people) that represent the best of what our series stands for. The trophy is handmade by Colin Ivey and the symbolic weight of this award is only rivaled by it's actual weight. For the 2022 season, Ed and Dana VanTassel were awarded the Cup. For those who don't know, Ed is one of the nicest guys in the paddock; always smiling, always positive. Ed has been present at almost every Crossflow event since 2017. His blue and white Titan is always shiny and beautiful, and these days seen quite often towards the front of the grid. His efforts on and off track have been noticeable, and echoed by his lovely wife Dana who is not only his #1 fan, but a huge supporter of Crossflow Cup. Dana always volunteers to help and has worked with the Crossflow team on many occasions in many capacities. She is truly a joy to have in our paddock and her smile is so bright one could set the timing on an Ivey engine by it! We are all lucky to have Ed and Dana in our midst, and our series is buoyed by their presence. Congrats to our 2022 Crossflow Cup winners and thank you to them for their continued support of our series!

Sunday Masters Podium: Jeff Rothman, Chris Schoap, Steve Hoogs

Sunday CF Podium: Brian Swanson, Kelly Heil, Neil Porter

Sunday HF Podium: Art Hebert, Andrew Wait, Danny Baker

2022 POINTS FINISH:

HISTORIC:
Martin Lauber 50

Andrew Wait 43

Danny Baker43

Steve Romak 40

CLUB:

Kelly Heil 69

Neil Porter 43

Brian Swanson 39

Daniel Wise 25

Brian Forster 25

full list on website here

Champions Martin Lauber and Kelly Heil

HF Championship Podium: Andrew Wait, Martin Lauber, Danny Baker

CF Championship Podium: Neil Porter, Kelly Heil, Brian Swanson

FINAL THANKS, FINAL THOUGHTS

What a great season! Rebecca and I have so many people to thank. We all owe a great big thanks to Jay Ivey and his boys, Scott Young Enterprises, Roger Kraus Racing Tires, Brent Katusha at Reilly & Co, Steve Cook at Foreign Affair, Chris Clarke of CM Touring, of course Shippert Racing Services, and each and every one of you that has helped either financially or by donating your time.

Some of you have asked about where the funds from the raffle this past weekend would end up. They all go back to you, ultimately. Crossflow pays Rebecca a small amount of money each weekend for her time, and all my time is gratis. I take nothing from Crossflow; in fact SRS is the largest donor the series has. I think it's important that our racers know that all their funds, their money, their donations, are going back to their series. The more help you offer, the better we can make it. Bigger trophies, better giveaways, better raffle items, larger laurel wreaths... Rebecca and I try very hard to give you something special. Sometimes we have items given to us to use as giveaways, but most of the times the giveaways are purchased and donated. I feel that it is important that you know that YOUR money goes right back into making YOUR series better. Because after all, it is your series.

We are hoping to have another strong season in 2023 and we hope to have our schedule ironed out in the coming weeks. Thank you all for your support and we can't wait to see you in the spring! Personally, I'm already looking forward to seeing you guys roll off grid on the gas with dozens of sticker tires being sacrificed to the gods of fastest laps...

THANK YOU!

Martin Lauber's Cypress Lane Trophy winning Titan Mk6

CSRG Charity Challenge Info

SONOMA THIS WEEK - KNOW BEFORE YOU GO: 

• Crossflow Cups, rounds 5 & 6: CHAMPIONSHIP!

• Paddock load-in, Thursday at 5pm, prior to that park in Lot 2. (Thursday is a Sonoma Raceway Test day, so if you test you can load in earlier)

• CSRG did not assign space for Crossflow this time, feel free to paddock wherever space is unassigned

• Registration in the Media Center, make sure to fill out the speedwaiver. Complete this before seeing Petey!

• Tech: no tech forms to bring, you already uploaded all your information to Motorsportsreg. Tech will open Friday at 7:30am under the Grandstands

• *SPECIAL NOTE* all spin-on oil filters must be safety wired to avoid coming loose (most of you already do this but is now required and apparently something they will check)

• Event Schedule ***The times on the CSRG schedule are correct, pay no mind to the way they worded the sessions. Friday is open, Saturday is a day all to itself, Sunday is a day all to itself:

  • FRI, PRACTICE DAY (no qualifying)

    • Practice 10:15am

    • Practice 12:10pm

    • Practice 3:25pm

  • SAT, Q1 & R1

    • Qualifying 1 - 10:05am

    • Race 1 - 3:40pm

    • Party ~ 5:45pm

  • SUN, Q2 & R2

    • Qualifying 2 - 10:05am

    • Race 2 - 3:40pm

    • Championship Awards 4:30pm

CROSSFLOW CHECKLIST:

• Scales - open Friday, as soon as we load in and set up

• Stickers/Patches AND T-shirts! ($25) will be available at the compound all weekend for anyone who needs them, please bring cash

• Awards & Adults Beverages on Saturday as per usual!

• Championship Awards on Sunday

• Awards for:

  • Fastest Wrench award (for the mechanic who's car is on overall pole each day)

  • Hard charger award (each day)

• *NEW* Raffle this weekend (bring your cash!) purchase $10 raffle tickets for:

  • Full set of Avon 46's (donated by Roger Kraus and SRS)

  • Hewland dog rings (donated by Scott Young Enterprises)

  • Hewland gasket kits (donated by SRS)

  • cans of Amsoil engine fogger (donated by SRS)

  • and lots more!

• ALL the above will be located at SRS paddock area (Garages 21-25)

A WORD FROM YOUR CROSSFLOW CUP TEAM:

Same setup from the first 4 rounds: two separate points races means double the fun! We are going to try to get our Sunday awards in during one of the quiet moments between races to get everyone headed for home before too late. Please make sure to come to the awards BOTH nights and support your friends and fellow racers!

Thunder & Thrill of Thunderhill: Race Report

Crossflow Brings the Thunder and Thrill to Thunderhill

The 2022 season continued with Rounds 3 and 4 at Thunderhill Raceway Park on September 10/11. A fine field of 19 strong competitors filled out the entry list, some looking to add to their points totals, some looking to open their accounts for the season. The Bypass configuration was used this weekend so even those that were familiar with T-Hill's challenges had something new to tackle before they could claim glory. It wasn't just the racers trying something new this weekend, your CC Team had new duties of race management to tackle. We had Steve Cook to volunteer as our Pace Car driver, Chris Clarke took the duties of Chief of Grid and Black Flag, Dana VanTassel leant a hand on grid, Rebecca tried her hand at splitting for the first time, and your loyal Captain Crossflow got to be up in Race Control, manning the radio and making the calls. 

Practice:
The sweltering heat wave that we faced on the days leading up to the event finally broke sometime during Friday night, meaning that any fears of drivers (or equipment) faltering in the heat were unfounded. An honest 1/3 of the grid had never seen the track before this weekend, so the first laps of practice were key to getting the weekend off to a good start. As practice drew to a close, it looked like it would be a battle at the front between series regulars Andrew Wait, Danny Baker, Martin Lauber and Steve Romak. 

Qualifying:
Qualifying got off to a bang for current HF points leader Andrew Wait as well as last years HF Champ Danny Baker, as an incident on lap 3 put them out of the running for the rest of the session. Due to damage that was beyond racetrack repair, Wait's weekend was essentially over before it started. But thanks to quick work by Jordan Miller, Baker's Lotus was able to get back to fighting form before racetime later that day. 

The early excitement almost overshadowed what proved to be a lightning quick qualifying session for a lot of our series regulars. When the clock ran out, Martin Lauber was fastest with a lap in the low 1:56's, with Steve Romak just .2 sec adrift. Wade Carter (in only his second Crossflow weekend appearance) lined up on row 2, with Club Ford polesitter Neil Porter beside him. The incident for Baker happened early enough that he would fall to row 3 by the end of the session, with Ed Van Tassel and Kelly Heil behind. Brian Forster, debuting a beautiful new paint job on his Tiga Club Ford, lined up ahead of the venerable Jay Streets and Dan Wise. Next up, and joining us for the first time this season was the Merlyn of Steve Hoogs, CF stalwart Jim Lynn in his Crossle, the lovely red Crossle of Steve Yarborough (who left after Round 3 to go motorcycle racing), Dave Sandlin was next up in his Titan, Tom Minnich in his Tiga who was learning more and more every lap, and our New Yorker Fred Greis made the long haul again to drive his Titan with us!

Race 1:
An early afternoon race due to the planned heat meant that the grid formed up right after lunch. A nice formation took a fairly late green and the field headed into turn one to start off the battle. Martin Lauber took a "strike early, strike hard" philosophy and stretched out a comfortable gap in the first 4 laps that proved almost unassailable for the remainder of the race. But for Race 1, the battle was from 2nd place on back! Romak and Carter locked horns for the first few laps while Danny Baker worked his way forward from his 3rd row starting spot. Further back, Neil Porter slugged it out with Ed VanTassel and Kelly Heil, while Jay Streets chased Brian Forster's fresh paint. 

Baker worked his way to second place and began slowly making ground on Lauber's lead, no doubt helped by smart driving on the part of Lauber who was able to maintain the gap without pushing harder than needed. It was all for naught though as Baker's hard work went up in a cloud of dust on the last lap over the bypass and the final podium spots were filled by Romak and Carter. VanTassel ended up 5th, followed by Streets, Hoogs, Greis, and Sandlin. 

in Club Ford, Kelly Heil drove a smart race moving forward a couple spots overall to get the 2 bonus points for the Reilly & Co. Hard Charger award, and he was flanked on the Club Ford podium by Porter in 2nd and Dan Wise in 3rd. Jim Lynn was 4th, followed Forster, Minnich and Yarborough.

 

Historic Ford Podium Race 1
1st - Martin and Teo Lauber (Titan Mk6)
2nd - Steve Romak (Titan Mk6)
3rd - Wade Carter (Titan Mk6)

Club Ford Podium Race 1
1st - Kelly Heil (Crossle 30F)
2nd - Neil Porter (Crossle 32F)
3rd - Dan Wise (Crossle 25F)

Masters Division Podium Race 1
1st - Dan Wise (Crossle 25F)
2nd - Jim Lynn (Crossle 35F)
3rd - Fred Greis (Titan Mk5)

Race 2:
It was nice to feel cool temperatures on Sunday morning. The schedule had been moved forward by a few minutes and our 9:50 start was pushed up to 9:40. The grid had been set the previous day, so the same formation rolled off behind our Crossflow pace car: Steve Cook's lovely BMW M2. Polesitter Martin Lauber again chose the outside to begin his run for max points haul on the weekend. But Race 2 was not to be like the one before it.

It seems our racers had finally come to grips with the Bypass section and they were showing it! The lead pack of Lauber, Romak, Carter, Baker, Porter, Heil, and VanTassel were slugging it out. Just about half distance, Baker managed a magnificent pirouette heading into Turn 1, and left Steve Romak nowhere to go but off in the dirt to avoid him. Two laps later Romak's throttle cable no longer wanted to actuate the linkage in its intended fashion and left his beautiful orange Titan stranded on the backside of the course; a full course yellow was put out to allow the workers to remove the car from harm's way.

The grid had lined up tight during the two laps of FCY, and as they went back to racing for the final 4 laps, all was to play for. Tom Minnich had finally gotten some confidence with the circuit and he was not going to let Jim Lynn shake him, nor was Lynn wanting to let Steve Hoogs or Dan Wise slip away. Kelly Heil managed to get a small gap from VanTassel and Porter and was doing his level best to catch the lead pack before the checkered fell. Lauber had focused on pushing hard to open up a gap, setting his fastest race lap of a 1:57.4 (only .1 off the overall fastest race lap, held by Baker) on the first lap back under green. But similar to Baker's Lotus the day before, a small miscue cost him his spot on the podium and the dogfighting duo of Baker and Carter would start the final lap nose to tail and no one else around them to say anything about it. At the line, Wade Carter took his first Crossflow Cup victory by .061 seconds over Baker. Fast Eddie VanTassel got his first podium of the season with another excellent drive. Lauber took home 5 points for a 4th place finish, followed by Streets, Hoogs, Sandlin, Greis, and Romak finishing up 9th (as he had completed more than half of the laps before retiring).

In CF, Kelly Heil went 2 for 2 on the weekend, moving himself into a comfortable points lead heading into the final 2 rounds of the year. Brian Forster proved that new paintjob was worth it with a strong 2nd place, and Dan Wise added a 3rd place to his collection of trophies. Tom Minnich was one spot off the podium and picked up the 2 bonus points for the Reilly & Co. Hard Charger award, Porter was 5th in class after a late race spin, and Jim Lynn picked up the points for 6th place.

Hard Charger, Tom Minnich in the 1981 CropsData CF - photo by Vince Puleo

Trio of Titans- photo by Vince Puleo

Historic Ford Podium Race 2
1st - Wade Carter (Titan Mk6)
2nd - Danny Baker (Lotus 61)
3rd - Ed VanTassel (Titan Mk6)

Club Ford Podium Race 2
1st - Kelly Heil (Crossle 30F)
2nd - Brian Forster (Tiga FFA77)
3rd - Dan Wise (Crossle 25F)

Masters Division Podium Race 2
1st - Steve Hoogs (Merlyn Mk20)
2nd - Jim Lynn (Crossle 35F)
3rd - Fred Greis (Titan Mk5)

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS

The hot weather didn't dampen spirits any, as many cold beers were consumed as the racers and crews rehashed the days events with one another. Crossflow debuted a new giveaway this weekend for the Saturday party, the SRS Polesitter award. The mechanic looking after the polesitting car won a prize. This weekend, because one qualifying session was good for both races, both awards were given to Dan Banks of Reilly & Co. for his efforts on Martin Lauber's blazing fast Titan for taking the overall pole position.

~ Group Photo ~

POINTS STANDINGS:

full list on website here

Party People: fun for all ages

and we celebrated birthdays!

CSRG Charity Challenge is in 2 weeks:
We are at 27 entries with 7 days remaining. If we get to 35 entries, Crossflow will give away one entry fee at the Saturday night party. You heard that right, if we get just 8 more people to sign up, you will all have a 1 in 35 chance of a FREE entry to the Charity Challenge. So tell your friends! That's way better odds than the California State Lottery, and even if you don't win, you still win.

The points battles are heating up, in HF we have an honest 5 different drivers with a mathematical chance to take home the Cypress Lane Trophy. The Vegas line is looking tough to pick a winner for either race, as we are likely to have some fast guys at the front of the grid who aren't factoring in the points battle. If known front runners Art Hebert or Dan Cowdrey make an appearance, they could score some solid points that could upset the apple cart. Dr. Nick Colyvas is always fast at Sonoma, and if Ed VanTassel continues his form, he's likely to score some solid points and maybe crack into the top 5 before we all pack up on Sunday night.

In Club Ford, Kelly Heil is looking strong to possibly repeat his 2021 honors, but you can never count out the venerable Neil Porter who trails Heil in the points. Brian Swanson showed he had pace early in the year so he will likely score some solid points and improve his positions in the standings. And if Colin Cross can figure out how to open the door to his hangar and load his car in the trailer, we are likely to see him hanging around the pointy end of the Club Ford battle.

It's going to be a barn burner! Hope to see you there!

Thunderhill: Updated Schedule

Attention racers! Good news apparently comes in groups. First off, the weather forecast has already dropped the predicted temps down to the mid-90's for the weekend. Secondly, in preparation of beating the heat, Competent has moved the whole schedule ahead for Saturday. Sunday is still the same, but we will be starting and wrapping up about 30 minutes earlier on Saturday. Load-in, tech, track walk, etc are all unchanged.

SEE UPDATES IN BOLD BELOW

THUNDERHILL THIS WEEK - UPDATED SCHEDULE: 

• Crossflow Cups, rounds 3 & 4

• Paddock load-in, Friday afternoon - there are no assigned spaces, we have the whole end of the paddock available to us. This is the far end of the paddock, closest to Turns 14 & 15

• Registration & Tech: roving Registration and Tech, we will come find you. This will be the easiest tech inspection you've ever had, we promise!

• Event Schedule (updated 9/6/22 due to expected heat):

  • FRI, Track Walk 5:30pm

    • Meet @ SRS trailer first to make sure we are clear to go on track

    • Just a walk - no scooters, no carts, no cars, just your feet

  • SAT, Driver's Meeting @ SRS Trailer 8:00am

  • SAT Practice, 9:00-9:20am

  • SAT Qualifying, 10:20-10:40am

  • SAT, Race #1, 12:30-1:00pm

    • Podium/Awards/Happy Hour @ SRS 2:30pm

  • SUN Race #2, 9:50-10:15am

    • Podium/Awards @ SRS 11:00am

Thunderhill More Info

THUNDERHILL THIS WEEK - KNOW BEFORE YOU GO: 

• Crossflow Cups, rounds 3 & 4

• Paddock load-in, Friday afternoon (see map above)  - there are no assigned spaces, we have the whole end of the paddock available to us. This is the far end of the paddock, closest to Turns 14 & 15

• Registration & Tech: roving Registration and Tech, we will come find you. This will be the easiest tech inspection you've ever had, we promise!

• Event Schedule (tentative):

  • FRI, Track Walk 5:30pm

    • Meet @ SRS trailer first to make sure we are clear to go on track

    • Just a walk - no scooters, no carts, no cars, just your feet

  • SAT, Driver's Meeting @ SRS Trailer 8:30am

  • SAT Practice, 9:30-9:50am

  • SAT Qualifying, 11:00-11:20am

  • SAT, Race #1, 1:20-1:45pm

    • Podium/Awards/Happy Hour @ SRS 2:30pm

  • SUN Race #2, 9:50-10:15am

    • Podium/Awards @ SRS 11:00am

CROSSFLOW CHECKLIST:

• Note the Track Walk on Friday evening - we want all of you to feel good about taking to the track on Saturday AM

• Weather forecast says the hottest day of the weekend is to be Friday, the weekend is supposed to cool off as it goes. Nonetheless, please make all preparations necessary. 

• The Thunderhill Grill will be open for breakfast & lunch; stay hydrated!

• Due to the lack of a Friday test day, we are having session #1 as a practice session. THE SOLE QUALIFYING SESSION WILL SET THE GRID FOR BOTH RACES.

• Scales - open Friday, as soon as we load in and set up (probably by 3:30pm)

  • If you did a lot of work to your car or your physique over the past months, it would be a good thing to roll across scales BEFORE qualifying begins and get your weight slip

• Stickers/Patches will be available at the compound all weekend for anyone who needs them

• Awards & Adults Beverages on Saturday as per usual!

• Our weekend giveaways (must be present to win!) are donated by SRS

• ALL the above will be located at SRS paddock area

A WORD FROM YOUR CROSSFLOW CUP TEAM:

Same setup from the first weekend, two separate points races means double the fun!  Champagne will only be at the Saturday afternoon awards, the Sunday awards will be "dry" for your drive home!

Thunderhill Info

14 DAYS OUT - KNOW BEFORE YOU GO: 

• Still time to enter! Register HERE

• Crossflow Cups, rounds 3 & 4

• Paddock load-in, Friday

• Registration & Tech, roving Tech, we will come find you. This will be the easiest tech inspection you've ever had, we promise!

• Event Schedule (tentative):

  • SAT, Driver's Meeting @ SRS Trailer 8:30am

  • SAT Practice, 9:30-9:50am

  • SAT Qualifying, 11:00-11:20am

  • SAT, Race #1, 1:20-1:45pm

    • Podium/Awards/Happy Hour @ SRS 2:30pm

  • SUN Race #2, 9:50-10:15am

    • Podium/Awards @ SRS 11:00am

CROSSFLOW CHECKLIST:

• Due to the lack of a Friday test day, we are having session #1 as a practice session. THE SOLE QUALIFYING SESSION WILL SET THE GRID FOR BOTH RACES.

• Scales - open Friday , as soon as we load in and set up

  • If you did a lot of work to your car or your physique over the past months, it would be a good thing to roll across scales BEFORE qualifying begins and get your weight slip

• Stickers/Patches will be available at the compound all weekend for anyone who needs them

• Awards & Adults Beverages on Saturday as per usual!

• Our weekend giveaways (must be present to win!) are donated by SRS

• ALL the above will be located at SRS paddock area

A WORD FROM YOUR CROSSFLOW CUP TEAM:

Same setup from the first weekend, two separate points races means double the fun! Champagne will only be at the Saturday afternoon awards, the Sunday awards will be "dry" for your drive home!

Thunderhill: Entry Info

CROSSFLOW CUP @ THUNDERHILL

Finally, Crossflow Rounds 3 and 4 of the 2022 Season are on deck! Registration and event details are below...

THE DETAILS

Event Date: September 9-10-11, 2022

The Course: 3 mile
Entry Fee: $500

Registration: now open!
Entry and Medical Form are in one document, please fill out and email back to rebecca@shippertracingservices.com or mail hard copy with payment.

Entry Form

Payment via check to be mailed in (see form for more details).

Entry Deadline: August 31st

Load in/Event Schedule: TBD

Prizes/Party: same as usual :)

Laps for Laguna Race Report!

The Bugle Sounds, the Charge Begins

The 2022 season got underway at Laguna Seca on May 21/22. A new format of double race weekends meant a different approach for our racers, keen on hauling the largest amount of points possible for the weekend. 

Round 1: 
Blue skies and sunshine welcomed the field of 36 cars as they took to the track on Saturday morning to knock the rust off, warm up engines and tires, and start their respective 2022 campaigns. A mixed bag of strategic approaches saw the grid take shape, with most of the grid taking 7-8 laps to find their fastest time. In the end however, overall and HF pole was secured by Andrew Wait in his Titan, followed by Martin Lauber, Danny Baker, and Hoosier runner Dan Cowdrey. Brian Swanson showed his winter's efforts payed off with a CF pole, followed .04 sec back by our 2021 CF champ Kelly Heil. 

The grid rolled off at 2:15 sharp to begin their pace lap, polesitter Andrew Wait showing up moments before the largest grid of the weekend was released; a last minute battery failure taking the focus away from any possible pre-race jiitters.  The field formed up nicely coming out of turn 11 for what was to be a fairly late green. The top ten went 3 and 4 wide heading down to turn 2 and commenced a four wheeled mosh pit, with Wait, Lauber, and Baker at the point, followed closely by Cowdrey, Romak, Carter, Heil, Porter, Swanson, and Colyvas rounding out the top ten. Wait and Lauber traded the lead for the first few laps with Baker never far behind but the real action was happening further back. Not much further back...

James Hakewill was trying to sort an ill-handling Crossle, while simultaneously fight his way forward and fend off the attacks of Jay Streets in his "new" Titan Mk5 and Ed VanTassel's Mk6. James would eventually come out in 11th place but admittedly still stumped by the handling woes. Perennial Club Ford podium runners Dan Wise and "the Mongoose" Jeff Rothman had eventful runs (Dan having more luck with his tire pressures in the afternoon than he had in the morning), and the pair would split Tom Minnich's Tiga at the finish. 

Chris Schoap was marching his way forward from his 29th place starting position, setting his fastest lap on the final lap and winding up in 25th, less than a second adrift from the Crossle pair of Jim Lynn and series newcomer Dalmo de Vasconcelos. 2 points and the $150 Wine Country Motorsports gift card for our Reilly & Company Hard Charger went to Paul Kitchen; he finished up a sneeze out of the top ten. The HF podium was Wait, Lauber and Baker while the CF podium was Heil, Swanson, and Neil Porter. 

Round 2:
8:30 Sunday morning and our racers were primed and ready to attack second round qualifying! The traditional CSRG oil down in the session before ours meant that the track wasn't ideal for fast laps straight off, and for most of our drivers their qualifying times were set on lap 6. Times were about a second slower than they had been on Saturday, most drivers chocking this up to the aforementioned slick track conditions. Wait again ended up P1 at the end of the session, but Jellyman Kelly Heil pulled out a rocket lap on his final tour and found 1.5 seconds to end up .3 off pole on the outside front row, and class pole. Baker was to start an uncharacteristic 6th (which would later complicate his race), but the standout of qualifying was Ed VanTassel with a 10th place run, a stellar effort in a stacked field in difficult conditions. Art Hebert had his transponder issues from Saturday sorted and stuck his Titan outside row 6. And our long haul driver of the weekend all the way from New York, Fred Greis was continuing to enjoy his return to the FF fray and learn his way around Laguna. 

Another late green flag meant the whole of the field was on the front straight before the slobberknocker commenced. This made for incredibly close quarters heading into T2 but all 35 cars made it through safely! The battle at the front was all Andrew Wait and Martin Lauber; the 3rd thru 9th place battle was fast and furious with Heil, Cowdrey, Baker, Swanson, Romak, Carter, and Dr Nick Colyvas who was still coming to grips with his defection to the Titan Army. Cowdrey led the second echelon but was admittedly on old tires, and so he struggled to hold pace and keep the car pointed forward so the pack battled while the lead pair got away. Baker's Lotus was able to run frontline pace once he got clear of the scrum, but it was for naught as he couldn't close the gap to the dogfighting duo and their Titans.  Jack Wilson was having a great run, on his way to earning the Reilly & Company Hard Charger award, eventually finishing behind the charging Steve Yarborough in his bright red Crossle.

Like all the sessions before it, our race went green flag the whole way and in some cases it was a arduous balancing act to keep the early race pace up. Stamina was an area the mid pack didn't lack though, and the battle for 15th to 21st included Jay Streets, James Hakewill, the ever-improving Tom Minnich, Mike Wirrick (also continuing to coming to grips with his Titan), Chris Schoap and Dan Wise!

As the checkered flag fell, Wait again took top honors with Lauber P2 and Baker P3. Kelly Heil was running solidly in the lead of CF until the start of the penultimate lap when he spun exiting T11, handing the top spot on the podium to Brian Swanson, in his first Crossflow Cup class win! Heil ended up P2 with Neil Porter again taking the third spot on the CF podium. 
 

Historic Ford Podium Race 1
1st - Andrew Wait (Titan Mk6)
2nd - Danny Baker (Lotus 61)
3rd - Martin Lauber (Titan Mk6)

Club Ford Podium Race 1
1st - Kelly Heil (Crossle 30F)
2nd - Brian Swanson (Van Diemen RF80)
3rd - *Not Pictured* Neil Porter (Crossle 35F)

Masters Division Podium Race 1
1st - Dan Wise (Crossle 25F)
2nd - Jeff Rothman (Royale RP31)
3rd - Rob Thull (Titan Mk6)

Dalmo heading to grid

The Club Ford battle of Minnich/Wise/Rothman

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS

More than a few hearty souls hung out for the party on Saturday night and they were rewarded with some frosty beverages as well as some great prizes. Steve Romak donated three Romak Iron Works soft coolers. Steve Yarborough donated a 5 gallons of race fuel (won by Jay Streets). And SRS donated a pair of aluminum double feeler gauge handles. The champagne spray was light for our first race, but likely the 2 race schedule hampered what is usually a rather aggressive champagne fight!

Historic Ford Podium Race 2
1st - Andrew Wait (Titan Mk6)
2nd - Martin Lauber (Titan Mk6)
3rd - Danny Baker (Lotus 61)

Club Ford Podium Race 2
1st - Brian Swanson (Van Diemen RF80)
2nd - Kelly Heil (Crossle 30F)
3rd - Neil Porter (stunt double pictured) (Crossle 35F)

Masters Division Podium Race 2
1st - Chris Schoap (Titan Mk6)
2nd - Dan Wise (Crossle 25F)
3rd - Jeff Rothman (Royale RP31)

Steve Romak's Titan glistening in the morning sunshine

POINTS STANDINGS:

HISTORIC:
Andrew Wait - 24
Danny Baker - 16
Martin Lauber - 16
Steve Romak - 12
Wade Carter - 9
Dan Cowdrey - 8
Nicholas Colyvas - 7
Jack Wilson - 4
Paul M Kitchen - 4
Art Hebert - 3
James Hakewill - 3
Alex Dodd - 2
Chris Schoap - 2
David Sandlin - 2
Edward Lauber - 2
Edward VanTassel - 2
Ernie Spada - 2
Frederick Greis - 2
Jay Streets - 2
Jonathan Kitchen - 2
Mike Wirrick - 2
Robert Thull - 2
Steve Jeffords - 2

CLUB:
Brian Swanson - 21
Kelly Heil - 21
Neil Porter - 14
Daniel Wise - 11
Tom Minnich - 11
Jeffrey Rothman - 8
Dalmo de Vasconcelos - 6
Jim Lynn - 4
Alan Dezzani - 2
Richard Hybels - 2
Steve Yarborough - 2

full list (give or take a point or two due to transponder issues) on website here

In a field of great looking Formula Fords, the Heil Bros' Crossle and the Reilly & Co. Titan of Nick Colyvas are always standouts

UPCOMING RACES:
Thunderhill in September. We have a bit of a long lull before our next rounds, but we will return with a vengeance! Thank you so much for being a part of the action!!!

From "back east", Fred Greis joined us for his FF rebaptism

Laps for Laguna - 5 days away

5 DAYS OUT - KNOW BEFORE YOU GO: 

• Laps for Laguna, May 21-22

• Paddock load-in, Friday starting at 1pm

• Registration & Tech, Friday starting at 2pm

• Event Schedule

• Drivers Meeting 7:45 am @ Cruisin' Cafe (free breakfast for drivers too!)

  • SAT Quali 1, at 8:40am

  • SAT Race 1, at 2:20pm

  • SAT Party, 5:30ish at SRS Paddock

    • Saturday race awards, wine, beer, prizes, and champagne

  • SUN Quali 2, at 8:30am

  • SUN Race 2, at 11:35am

  • SUN Podium at 12 noon (following the race)

    • No champagne on Sunday so folks can drive home safely (and not smelly)

CROSSFLOW CHECKLIST:

• Scales - open Friday , as soon as we load in and set up

  • If you did a lot of work to your car or your physique over the winter, it would be a good thing to roll across scales BEFORE qualifying begins and get your weight slip

• We are currently at 37 cars - 24 HF's and 13 CF's so we should have great battles all throughout the grid!

• Some new faces, and some new cars on the grid this weekend:

  • Dr. Nick Colyvas will roll off Saturday morning in the stunning papaya orange ex-John Anderson Titan

  • Fred Greis, who will be joining us all the way from New York will be out for the first time in a MkIV Titan

  • Dalmo de Vasconcelos has added a Crossle 45f to his stable and will be seeking Club Ford glory

  • Ernie Spada will be making the trek down from the PNW with his gorgeous Mk6 Titan

  • and long-time SCCA FF and FC competitor James Hakewill will make his Crossflow debut this weekend in one of Neil Porter's Crossle's

• Stickers/Patches will be available at the compound all weekend for anyone who needs them

• Awards & Adults Beverages on Saturday night as per usual!

• Our weekend giveaways (must be present to win!) are donated by SRS

• ALL the above will be located at SRS paddock area

A WORD FROM YOUR CROSSFLOW CUP TEAM:

Remember, this is the first of our double race weekend format. Two separate races (with two separate qualifying sessions) means double the fun! Champagne will only be at the Saturday night awards, the Sunday awards will be "dry" for your drive home!

Laps for Laguna Info

CROSSFLOW CUP SEASON OPENER: Laps for Laguna

• 22 days away...

• Enter online here through Motorsports Reg

• Registration closes in 15 days but LATE FEE KICKS IN THIS SAT - APRIL 30th so sign up now and save money!

• Paddock load-in, Friday, May 20th

• Tech - CSRG forms are electronic, bring your car, gear and logbook

• Event Schedule - to be released the week of the event

• Garages available - email Geoff Pitts: Race.Director@csrgweb.org

• Other CSRG rules and info

USUAL SITES & SCENES:

• Scales - open Friday late afternoon (whenever Ethan gets them set up), open Saturday @ 8 AM

• Awards & Adults Beverages (Saturday after the last race, the last checkered flag)

• ALL the above will be located at SRS paddock area

WHAT CAN YOU DO:

• Please send us photos of your car, new paint, fresh tires, time to start 2022 and let us show off on social media!

• Please paypal ethan@shippertracingservices.com your $200 donation so we can order trophies, and of course buy beer and wine for the party :)

• Please donate gift certificates, swag, prizes for our party drawing!

NEW POINTS: DOUBLE DOWN ON RACES

• This year, we are having TRUE DOUBLE RACE WEEKENDS! What does that mean? Well, it means you have Q1 and Race 1 on Saturday, then Q2 and Race 2 on Sunday. Each qualifying and race are separate. You start all over again with Q2 on Sunday so if you have a bad run on Saturday, you get a chance to start fresh on Sunday. This will give everyone a chance to take two bites at the apple.

• This year we are adding a Hard Charger to our list. The driver who makes up the most positions (in either CF or HF, not both) will be awarded 2 points. Most of our hard chargers are traditionally starting deep in the field so we figured they needed some recognition too!

• Points for:

  • Green Flag Start (1 point for all who take the green)

  • Pole - each class CF and HF (1 point each)

  • Hard Charger - one hard charger each race (2 points)

  • Points: 10 - 1st, 8 - 2nd, 6 - 3rd, 5 - 4th, 4 - 5th, 3 - 6th, 2 - 7th, 1 - 8th

  • Max points haul for a weekend (Pole/Start/Win = 12 points, do it both days = 24 points, do that 3 times for a perfect season = 72 points!)

MASTERS, LISTEN UP!

• This year, as promised, we are bumping the Masters class age of eligibility to 65

• The rule will now read: The Masters Division, rewards the top finishing drivers who are 65 or older by January 1st of the current race season. Regardless of class, eligibility is based solely upon age. Drivers that have a class podium finish will not be eligible for the Masters award in addition. (Example: Racer X finishes 3rd in Historic Ford, is 66 years old. He or she cannot also accept a Masters award.)

• To be included, you MUST email rebecca@shippertracingservices.com (please earlier than later)

• ***Masters is not a points classification, just a race weekend trophy***

Kicking off the 2022 Season

Getting ready for the 2022 Championship Season!

Hello drivers! Remember us? Well, we are FINALLY nearing the first race of the 2022 Crossflow Cup season. We are so excited to get going again and to see what 2022 has in store for us with close racing and a tight points fight from front to back!

NEWS:
Some of you may already know, but for 2022 we are going to feature double race weekends! Saturday AND Sunday afternoon races will count for points. We will still do our Saturday night party with awards, drinks, and good times, but Sunday post-race there will be a short podium ceremony as well with the second set of trophies given out. The points breakdown/structure will be the same as 2021 with points given back through 10th place, as well as points given for pole (one each weekend per class) and fastest laps (each class, each race).

This year we are asking for a "membership fee" to cover costs of trophies, beer/wine/champagne, swag, giveaways, etc. We are asking each driver to paypal $200 to cover these expenses. Think of it as $33 each race, to contribute to the cost of the fun. Once this is paid you will be eligible to collect points for the Championship! Please paypal to ethan@shippertracingservices.com

SPONSORSHIP:
Without layingallthe costs at the feet of the racers, we are actively looking for sponsors to help with deferring costs for the season. This could be a weekend award, giveaways. etc. Prep shops, perhaps you would be willing to offer up something in the form of a "gift certificate". Anything helps keep the fun factor high and the racers wanting to come back for more.

We are looking forward to a great season! Thanks and you'll be hearing from us again very soon-
Your Crossflow Cup Team

2022 Season Schedule

Cheers to 2022! Season Schedule Released

As you know we surveyed everyone and value the feedback to help shape the direction for 2022. The two takeaways from our survey was that you guys REALLY wanted to see Thunderhill back on the calendar, and you also really didn't want to see events with big entry fees. So we tried to keep those things in mind as we started to put a calendar together. As most of you also know, many 2022 schedules were released very late this year and there were several conflicts already. So what we have is three races to start with, with the plan to add one or possibly two more over the coming weeks. We have been flooded with emails and text messages over the past weeks to get the schedule out so we wanted to do that now; we will update all of you moving forward.

The Crossflow season will start a little later than usual this year, starting with the Laps for Laguna event on May 21/22. We then move to Thunderhill for September 9/10/11. And we will close out the season as per usual with the CSRG Charity Challenge at Sonoma on October 1/2.


TIRES
Some of you may know that Avon has started construction of a "new" compound tire: the A46. This is supposed to slot somewhere between the old A25s and the A29s we currently allow. This tire was constructed to accomplish a few things for the UK Formula Ford racers, and it may help some of our racers too. The construction and carcass is exactly the same as the A29. However the compound is designed to get up to temperature a little more quickly than the A29. It was designed to be run in the UK where temperatures are often colder (and wetter) than what we deal with over here. For the 2022 season, Crossflow will be approving this tire, along with the already legal A29 and Hoosier VFF.

Recently, Crossflow set up a test day at Sonoma with three of our fastest racers. A control driver on Hoosiers, and two of our regular front runners on Avon's. The A46 proved to be NO faster than the Hoosier, which we already know to be of close pace to the A29. Wear rate was quicker than the A29 (something that will be mitigated by those running at an more leisurely pace), but it showed that it is not as fast as the A25 was, so we have nothing to fear from people choosing to run the A46.

So why are we allowing the A46? A number of reasons. We feel that by going to the A29's we did a good job in reigning in the rampant spending on tires that we were seeing. The unintended consequence of this was that the midpack and tail-enders struggled on the 29's on cold mornings and on opening laps of races. We had more first and second lap spins this year than we have in the past few years. We think that the A46 will slot in nicely with those of you who have talked to me about missing the A25.

Additionally, we think that allowing another tire that isn't faster, but makes its laptime in a different way will give our drivers and crews another tool in the toolbox. Not everyone's car works with the same shocks, ARB's, gears, etc. By the same token, not everyone's driving style works with the same tires. This additional option will allow us the opportunity to help close the competition up and make our races even more exciting.

Finally, if you have talked to me at all over the past year, you know I am all about inclusion. The SOVREN guys to the north have approved the A46 (as the PNW isn't known for the 325 sunny days a year that we are blessed with..). And our friends to the south in the FFDC run almost exclusively on Hoosiers. I want us ALL to be on equal footing. The more people that come race with our group, the better our series gets. Simple as that. So get a set of A29's, A46's or Hoosier VFF's and come out and join us!

RULE CHANGES
First and foremost and effective immediately, Crossflow Cup will not be allowing any engines built by Picks Racing Engines. We have all heard the rumors and paddock gossip over the past few years. We don't want to get into any of that. We are a small series, we know 99% of you. We know those of you who build your own engines, and we know those of you who send your engines to Jay or someplace else. The simple fact of the matter is that that particular engine builder has a credibility issue. So if you are planning on running with us and have a Pick engine, please contact us now so we can handle this in advance.

2022
We will send another email in January with more information, possible test days, schedule additions (fingers crossed) and membership information. Thank you all for all for a great 2021, we wish you a Happy Holiday season and look forward to racing in 2022!

SONOMA, THE BIG FINALE

The final race…

Round 6 of the Crossflow Cup, our hottest race of the year in more ways than one! The Championship battles were blazing, air temp was in the mid 90's and track temps were over 130 degrees in the middle of the day!

36 angry Kent engines roared on track at 8:30 sharp to start the day. It was already warm at this point, and although track conditions weren't perfect, it was the best conditions of the weekend as temps continued to climb and the usual track oildowns worked against us as the weekend rolled by. The JARS stable came out strong, with Martin Lauber and Dr. Nick Colyvas locking out the top two spots early in the qualifying session, before eventually relinquishing the front row to Steve Romak in his now-familiar orange Titan, flanked by Andrew Wait in a very strong performance ending the session P2, only a scant .2 adrift. The rest of the top 10 were mostly familiar faces: Heil, Cross, the aforementioned Lauber and Colyvas while Wade Carter and Greg Hoff (both in their second Crossflow appearances) lined up 7th and 8th. And the final two spots in the top 10 were occupied by Brian's; Forster and Swanson in that order. The session was cut short however with just under 10 minutes remaining though after an unfortunate incident with Jay Streets and Paul Kitchen left us one car shy for the afternoon session. Further complicating matters, the timing loop neglected to pick up around a half-dozen otherwise perfectly functioning transponders. 

The sun was high in the sky as our gunfighters rolled out to start the final race of the season, and what a barnburner of a race it was to be. Andrew Wait jumped out to an early (and sizeable at one point) lead, followed by Colyvas, Romak, Heil (Club Ford leader), and Lauber. Colyvas departed the event at the beginning of the second lap, leaving Wait with a bit of breathing room.

Further back, newcomer Spencer Canon in his pretty Lola 340 moved up 3 spots on the opening laps, beginning a charge that would see him as high as 23rd before eventually finishing one spot back in 24th. Friends Rob Thull and Tom Minnich (making his Club Ford debut) began a racelong battle, duking it out with Jeff Rothman's Royale and Dan Wise's Crossle. Paul Kitchen didn't waste his time scything through this battle though, moving up nearly 15 spots to take the hard charger title for the race!

The battle for the final spot on the Club Ford podium was fierce as Neil Porter managed to stay on the tail of 2nd place Brian Forster's Tiga, but never out of reach of Brian Swanson's Van Diemen. Unfortunately the latter duos battle came to an ignominious end a few laps from the end when Porter spun and Swanson got tangled up while avoiding it. But this elevated Tom Duncan's PRS to the final Club Ford podium spot. 

Phil Ribbs left his high revving Formula Junior at home this weekend and joined the Crossflow craziness with a lovely Lotus 69. Phil had a great racelong tussle with Mark Keller, Steve Jeffords and George Jewett. George came out the best of this pack at the stripe though. I think Phil will be back for more!

While all this was going on though, the peloton (led by Jellyman Kelly Heil) had closed down on Wait and a hand to hand battle at 100mph was to ensue. Weaving in and out through lap traffic, the lead pack fought it out, swapping positions and lines for the final 3 laps of the race. Heil found his way though first and stretched out a gap, leaving Wait, Lauber and Romak in a three way battle for second, with Carter just adrift ready to pounce at a moment's notice. Passes and repasses occurred as the laps wound down, in typical FF fashion. As the leaders headed for T11 on the last lap, Lauber and Romak were side by side, and that would be how they would finish. Lauber taking for the Historic Ford win, Romak off to his side just inches behind, Wait in 3rd and Carter just off the podium. Andrew would have to settle for fastest race lap when it was all done, having fought it out to the end. Heil came home with the overall win and Club Ford win, with Forster P2 and Duncan P3. 

Club Ford Podium
1st - Kelly Heil, 2nd - Brian Forster, 3rd - Tom Duncan

Historic Ford Podium
1st - Lauber Team, 2nd - Steve Romak, 3rd - Andrew Wait

Masters Division
1st - Greg Hoff, 2nd - Ed VanTassel, 3rd - Chris Schoap

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS:

Although our points race was the the first race after lunch, quite a few hearty souls hung around for the festivities. And with good reason, there were lots of prizes and awards to be handed out!

Shippert Racing Services again offered up the prizes for giveaway's. This time another pair of suit dryers were handed out, and the ante was upped with FOUR Longacre digital tire pressure gauges given away. Last time out, we did our "Champagne Sponsors" on the podium and that proved to be a success. So this time there was no less than 50 bottles of bubbly available to be sprayed en masse. Each bottle was custom labeled with the 2021 Crossflow Cup season's events listed out.

Our championship podiums were up next. Club Ford saw Dan Wise's consistency earn him the bronze spot, the always quick Brian Forster in the silver spot, and Kelly Heil taking the top spot. Kelly and his brother Kris were put through the ringer this year. From a mysterious ignition problem that dogged them early in the year, to a small off track excursion that put a ding or two into their beautiful green and white, Ivey powered, Crossle 30F at Laguna Seca early in the summer. Together they fought back from adversity to take the Cypress Lane Trophy! Well done gentlemen!

Historic Ford had some familiar faces. Our perennial championship podium finisher Martin Lauber (in fact, he has been on the championship podium 4 out of the last 5 years) took the bronze spot. Steve Romak showed his consistency and pace at the front with one race win to earn the second spot on the championship podium. But Mr. Three-peat, Danny Baker was able to come home with his third consecutive Crossflow Cup Historic Ford championship and his first Cypress Lane Trophy! Danny opened his 2021 account with a string of wins. His Competition Touring Cars prepared/Ivey Engines powered Lotus 61 was incredibly strong and unbeatable early in the year, winning the first half of the season with bonus points for poles and fastest laps. Can he do it again next year? Time will tell!

Awards were up next! Colin Cross won the rookie of the year for 2021. Although Colin isn't a rookie in the purest sense of the word, he's a rookie to vintage racing. And he's returning to the cockpit after a long layoff. Colin purchased his Van Diemen late in the spring, and was quickly a force to be reckoned with on the track, fighting through adversity, engine problems, and learning how to race on treaded tires and did it all smiling. He will be a threat to the frontrunners next year!

Jay Streets handed out his Garagiste award. This year, the Garagiste was given out to the "long haul" guy: the one who started AND finished every race of the season. Towing to all 6 rounds, and making every green flag lap of every single race was none other than Dan Wise. Congrats Dan!

Next up was our Best Appearing Ford winner. This year, we felt that the choice should really go to someone who does their own work. Someone who puts long hours and effort into making their car look podium ready. The clear choice was Marty Benck with his beautiful tri-colored Titan. For those of you that haven't seen Marty's work in the past, he is known for beautiful sympathetic restorations. The Titan is the latest in his long line of gorgeous machines. Marty missed the party as he was affecting some repair work to be ready for Sunday's races which is why he's not pictured. But if you have a chance next season sometime, seek him out in the paddock and take a look at how it should be done!

Our season MVP award went to Steve Romak. Steve has come a long way in a couple short seasons. He is a bona fide contender every weekend, he has a great attitude and nothing but friends in the paddock. That's not a task easily accomplished but Steve does it with aplomb.

The Ivey boys once again made and donated a beautiful trophy for the Crossflow Cup. This award is our series' highest honor. The recipient represents all the best attributes of our group: camaraderie, competition, respect for one's fellow competitor, and a winning attitude on and off the track. Series founder Andrew Wait was the obvious choice this year. We all owe a debt of gratitude to Andrew for his efforts on our behalf. He is a weather gauge in the paddock, an agitator for our best interests, and has a clear read on what FF racers want and like. There's not a person in the paddock who doesn't know Andrew, and vise versa. He has led this group of misfits open wheel racers to become what is (in our opinion!) the best vintage series on the west coast. Thank you for all you have done and continue to do for the Crossflow Cup, Andrew. And congratulations!

Rookie of Year: Colin Cross Garagiste: Dan Wise Crossflow Cup: Andrew Wait MVP: Steve Romak

Best Appearing Ford: Marty Benck
photo by Vincent Puleo

CLUB FORD 2021 CHAMPIONSHIP
1st Kelly Heil
2nd Brian Forster
3rd Dan Wise

HISTORIC FORD 2021 CHAMPIONSHIP
1st Danny Baker
2nd Steve Romak
3rd Marin Lauber

POINTS STANDINGS:

HISTORIC:
Baker, Danny - 46
Romak, Steve - 40
Lauber, Martin - 35
Wait, Andrew - 30
VanTassl, Ed - 18
Lauber, Ed - 16
Ballantyne, John - 13
Colyvas, Nicholas - 13
Schoap, Chris - 12
Streets, Jay - 12

full list (give or take a point or two due to transponder issues) on website here

CLUB:
Heil, Kelly - 47
Forster, Brian - 40
Wise, Dan - 28
Swanson, Brian - 24
Dezzani, Alan - 22
Cross, Colin - 21
Lynn, Jim - 16
Duncan, Tom - 14
Hill, Ralph - 11
Jaremko, Mark -11

UPCOMING RACES:

Stay tuned for a 2022 schedule...

FUN-DING THE FUN

Thanks so much to our sponsors and those of you that have helped out with either your efforts or financial contributions throughout the season. This couldn't have happened without the help and assistance from Ivey Engines, Scott Young Gearboxes, Shippert Racing Services, and of course our series pointskeeper Dana VanTassel! Thank you all so much! See you in 2022!!

CSRG: The final Crossflow Cup race of 2021

We are 4 days from CSRG.
The final race.
The Championship.

 If you have already registered for this weekend, you have this information, but if not, here it is...

• CSRG Event Schedule (Group 6)

Paddock:

• Paddock load-in will be no earlier than 6PM on Thursday, September 30th

• Prior to that, the staging area will be in Lot 2

• CSRG Staff will direct load-in

• Paddock Map (also note new Grid location)

• Friday morning is a Blood Drive, NOT a test day like previous years

Tech:

• At the Driver's Lounge

• Friday 7:30am-12:30pm, 1-6pm

• Saturday 7:30am-12:30pm

Registration:

• At the Tech Center

• Friday open at 9am

• Saturday/Sunday opens at 7:30am

• eWaiver

Scales:

• At the SRS Compound, across from Garages 5-8

• Friday open 1pm

• Saturday open at 8am

Party:

• 5:45-ish -- after the final session, after the final checkered flag

• At the SRS compound, across from Garages 5-8

• Awards, adults beverages and prizes!

• Must be present to win:

  • 2 Longacre Digital Tire Gauges

  • 2 Suit Dryer Hangers

• Trophies:

  • Championship

  • Crossflow Cup

  • MVP

  • Rookie of the Year

  • Best Ford

SATURDAY:

• 8am Driver's Meeting in the Grandstand

• Qualifying at 8:30am

• Race at 2:00pm

• Party 5:45pm-ish

MASKS A MUST - MASKS A MUST - MASKS A MUST

23 days til the Season Finale

CROSSFLOW CUP SEASON FINALE with CSRG @ SONOMA

• 23 days away...

• Enter online here through Motorsports Reg

• Paddock load-in, Thursday, Sept 30th (6pm or later)

• Tech - CSRG forms are electronic, bring your car, gear and logbook

• Event Schedule - to be released the week of the event

• Garages available - email Geoff Pitts: Race.Director@csrgweb.org

• Other CSRG rules and info

USUAL SITES & SCENES:

• Scales - to open mid-day Friday, open Saturday @ 8 AM

• Stickers/Patches - for sale!

• Awards & Adults Beverages (Saturday after the last race, the last checkered flag)

• ALL the above will be located at SRS paddock area

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS:

• We really, really want to take advantage of the opportunity to have a highlight video from this season. HOWEVER, we need YOUR video to do so...

• Please purchase a spare flash drive so you can hand us your previous race video(s)

• Please also email or write down where the highlights start in your video ("great pass around turn 5 lap 6 in the feature race, or fast-forward to 13:52, etc…")

• Please bring these to CSRG and hand off to Rebecca

• Or, upload to the Drop Box Folder

OTHER NUTS & BOLTS:

• If anything changes for the CSRG weekend, we will note it in our next email

• Thank you to all of those that participated in the survey, we have received some excellent feedback

Championship Trophies, still up for grabs!

Rose Cup Race Recap

Photo by dbpics.com

RACE REPORT #5:

***Thanks to Darrell LeBlanc for hosting Round 5 of the Crossflow Cup. He has also graciously provided us with the following race report and photos! Disclaimer however, while the race report does NOT reflect which cars were running on Crossflow Cup legal tires, the points will. And a special thanks to our pointskeeper Dana VanTassel for being paddock police and keeping tabs on who was running what tires for us! ***

Round #5 of the Crossflow Cup too place July 9-11 with perfect Portland weather in the 80's all weekend.

25 cars took to the track for Friday morning practice. Ralph Hill got off to a fast start in his Crossle 35F with a 1:24:03, followed by John Greeven in his Crossle 32F with a 1:24:41. Historic Ford practice saw Bob Posner's Titan post a 1:24.82, followed closely by Wade Carter's Titan 1:25:31. Since this was a three day event, two qualifying sessions allowed drivers to get used to the track and have multiple opportunities to set their qualifying time for Saturday's feature race. In the Friday afternoon qualifying session, Crossle 32F's topped the Club Ford timesheets with Mark Jaremko (past SCCA DSR National Champion) setting a time of1:24:38 and Quinn Posner two tenths behind with a 1:24:58. Dan Cowdrey, in his Crossle, led the Historic Fords with a time of 1:24:73, followed by Bob Posner a few tenths behind. Saturday mornings qualifying saw Ralph Hill take pole with a 1:24:01, but John Greeven found a new line around the track with a 1:24:12. Dan Cowdrey topped the Historic Ford timesheet with a 1:24:15. The top seven drivers were separated by less than half a second - a hint of what was to come that afternoon.

Saturday afternoons feature race saw 24 cars take the green flag, with Mark Jaremko finish first overall with a best lap of 1:24.29. Ralph Hill finished second in Club Ford and second overall. Ralph grabbed the fastest lap of the race with a 1:23.95 - the only driver to dip into the 1:23's all weekend. In Historic Ford, Ed Van Tassel got his first win of the year, beating Bob Posner by two thousandths of a second. Some drivers were running on fumes at the end of the 30 minute race, with Ed running out of gas on the cool down lap.

At the conclusion of Saturday's exciting Feature Race we honored our Master's Division racers which consist of racers 60 years or older on race day. All of our Master's podium winners did exceptionally well in the Feature Race with Masters first place John Greeven finishing 4th, our second place Russ Werner finishing 7th and our third place Brian Forster finishing 8th overall in the Feature Race. These fine racers fit the definition of a Master: a class for competitors over the usual age for the highest level of competition.

Masters Division
1st - John Greeven
2nd - Russ Werner
3rd -Brian Forster

Club Ford Podium
1st - Mark Jaremko
2nd - Ralph Hill
3rd - Quinn Posner

Historic Ford Podium
1st -Ed VanTassel
2nd - Bob Posner
3rd - John Ballantyne

POINTS STANDINGS:

HISTORIC:

Baker, Danny 46

Romak, Steve 31

Lauber, Martin 24

Wait, Andrew 23

Lauber, Ed 16

Cowdrey, Dan 14

VanTassel, Ed 14

Ballantyne, John 13

Colyvas, Nicholas 12

Streets, Jay 12

full list on website here

CLUB:

Heil, Kelly 34

Forster, Brian 31

Swanson, Brian 23

Wise, Dan 23

Cross, Colin 21

Dezzani, Alan 19

Lynn, Jim 15

Hill, Ralph 11

Jaremko, Mark 11

Posner, Quinn 10

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS:

Thanks to the Ivey's for hosting the Portland round party at Ivey Engines HQ! A great time was had by all!

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
Please share any onboard video with our Crossflow Cup Drop Box. Just a quick 10-15 seconds (or if a longer video note where to start to see the highlight of a good pass, restart, close finish, three-wide, etc). If you are having technical difficulties, message us for a physical address to mail your flash drive to.

UPCOMING RACES:
CSRG @ Sonoma: October 1-3 (season finale!) stay tuned for updates and countdown

FUN-DING THE FUN

Many people have asked how they can help the series - prizes for the party, beer, wine, even donations via paypal ethan@shippertracingservices.com

Rose Cup Races- 26 days out!

Photo by James Kim

ROSE CUP RACES: 26 DAYS OUT
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO...

• Rose Cup Race: July 9-11

• Register here $475 entry fee (3 days, 5 sessions)

• Test Day, Thursday July 8th ~$400 (see link above)

  • Track walk/slow drive first thing in the AM

  • If more than 10 FF's sign up, we'll get our own group!

• Weekend Schedule

  • Friday 10:30am practice, 2:55 Q1

    • Party @ The Ivey's - drinks, food, prizes!

  • Saturday 10:35 Q2, 3:15 Points Race

    • HF & CF winners get a VICTORY LAP!

  • Sunday 9:35am Race 2 (then head home!)

• COVID protocol:

  • Masks are optional(!)

• Portland FF gears:

  • 1st 18:32

  • 2nd 20:30

  • 3rd 22:29

  • 4th 25:26

• Supplementary Regulations

• Any questions you don't see answered here:

  • Try the Rose Cup Website or email

  • Darrell LeBlanc: darrell@fopir.com go to guy for maps, hotels, where to get a good burger, any other event/weekend questions

A WORD FROM YOUR CROSSFLOW CUP TEAM:

We will not be able to attend due to previous commitments. In the meantime we are happy to answer any questions or you can reach out to Darrell (email above). We hope to get a full report back about the best FF racers and groups as we have been seeing all season long. We will be following you on Race Hero from the paddock at Watkins Glen! We are down to the final two races, the Championship is not locked in, so if you need points, GO.TO.PORTLAND!

Now you can get back to cheering on former Formula Ford driver Josef Newgarden at Detroit today!

CSRG @ Laguna: Race Report

Photos by James Kim

LAGUNA, RACE #4
(a.k.a. the Steve Romak Show)

Round 4 of the Crossflow Cup, took place under sunny skies and warm weather of the Monterey Peninsula in June. After the cold and gray weather of Round 3, it was a welcome change!

38 cars took to the track at 11:30 AM on Saturday to start qualifying, with Martin Lauber's familiar blue Titan striking first, topping the timesheets in the early part of the session. A heated battle for the top starting spot ensued; pole position was held for a bit by Art Hebert and Danny Baker at different points before Steve Romak in his bright orange Titan eventually put his stamp on the session with a 1:39.138. Baker's Lotus locked out the 2nd spot, followed by Hebert and perennial Formula Ford Drivers Club front runner Todd Strong, who put in a solid effort in his Titan to start him off on the outside of the second row.  A few spots back, the Club Ford pole was snagged by Kelly Heil, followed closely by Brian Forster's Tiga and Colin Cross in a strong qualifying effort in only his second Crossflow Cup appearance.

4:30 was the scheduled race time and 19 rows of cars lined up nice and tight behind the pacecar for what was to be a very slow but clean start. When the green flag flew, the mosh pit began! Steve Romak immediately took the point, but Baker, Martin Lauber, Art Hebert, Todd Strong, Andrew Wait and Ed Lauber were all in lockstep behind. Other than Baker, Nick Colyvas' and Kelly Heil's cars were the only dissenters in Titan Town, with the Crossle and the Merlyn duking it out on lap one on the run to turn 5.  The heated battle ended early for Heil though, as he found himself in the Turn 4 wall a lap later. This was to be a deciding factor later in the race. 

Local yellows covered the scene of the incident in 4 so racing continued around the 2.238 mile course, as battles raged between locals and out-of-towner's, Kim Madrid's Crossle fought it out with Tom Minnich's Titan, Lotus 61's driven by Kitchen's (of both the elder and younger variety), and Brian Swanson's Van Diemen RF80.

Chris Locke's beautiful blue Merlyn made a really strong showing, hanging out inside the top 10 all day, besting both Brian Forster and Tom Duncan's Club Fords. Locke ended up on top of the Master's division podium for his efforts, flanked by Jay Streets in 2nd, and Ed VanTassel in the 3rd spot. 

After 7 laps, race control decided to put out a full course yellow quelling the fights, and the field circulated behind the safety car for a few laps before the checker waved. An unfortunate halt to what was a dominant performance by Steve Romak, who came through to win his first Crossflow Cup race, followed home by Baker and Lauber. The Club Ford podium was home to Colin Cross (another first time Crossflow Cup winner), Brian Forster, and Tom Duncan. 

The points battles are really heating up with two rounds remaining; so if you need points you'll want to go to Portland next month! Both of the Cypress Lane trophies are still completely up for grabs with the top 3 in both classes still in striking distance of taking the honors. 

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the dangerous situation of the incident in turn 4 and how our drivers dealt with it. I heard many mea culpas on the part of most of our drivers; I feel like most of you were very uncomfortable with racing past a car lap after lap in a precarious position. I cannot expect you to come in to pit lane en masse and say "please stop this race". What you can do, however, is reach out to CSRG and voice your opinion. Thank you all for being heads up and racing safely past what could've been a very regrettable situation. 

So in closing for Rebecca and I, we thank you all so much for another great weekend! Looking forward to Round 5 already!

Historic Ford Podium

1st - Steve Romak
2nd - Danny Baker
3rd - Martin Lauber & Art Hebert

Club Ford Podium

1st - Colin Cross
2nd - Brian Forster
3rd - Tom Duncan

Masters Division

1st - Chris Locke
2nd - Jay Streets
3rd - Ed VanTassel

Champagne Sponsors

Podium finishers were asked to a select "champagne sponsor" to let someone spray bubbles on their behalf this round

POINTS STANDINGS:

HISTORIC:
Baker, Danny - 46
Romak, Steve - 31
Lauber, Martin - 24
Wait, Andrew - 23
Lauber, Ed - 16
Colyvas, Nicholas - 12
Kitchen, Paul - 9
Cowdry, Dan - 8
Monahan, Tim - 8
Hebert, Art - 7

CLUB:
Heil, Kelly - 34
Forster, Brian - 26
Wise, Dan - 22
Cross, Colin - 21
Dezzani, Alan - 19
Swanson, Brian - 19
Lynn, Jim - 15
Duncan, Tom - 7
Keller, Mark - 6

full list on website here

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS:

Being the last race of the day has its benefits, as a bumper crop of smiling faces attended the post race festivities. The new Crossflow Cup koozies were a hit, and we changed up the usual champagne spraying by asking our podium finishers to select a "champagne sponsor"; someone who had never had the opportunity to spray the ceremonial victory bubbly before. It was quite entertaining to see!

Shippert Racing Services offered up the prizes for the drawings this time with a pair of driving suit dryers going each to Andrew Wait and Jim Lynn respectively. An Amsoil care package with spray cleaners and engine fogger went to Ed VanTassel, and Steve Romak continued the theme of the weekend by winning the Longacre digital tire pressure gauge!

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
Please share any onboard video with our Crossflow Cup Drop Box. Just a quick 10-15 seconds (or if a longer video note where to start to see the highlight of a good pass, restart, close finish, three-wide, etc). If you are having technical difficulties, message us for a physical address to mail your flash drive to.

UPCOMING RACES:
Rose Cup @ Portland: July 9-11 (more details coming in the next few days!)
CSRG @ Sonoma: October 1-3 (season finale!)

FUN-DING THE FUN

Many people have asked how they can help the series - prizes for the party, beer, wine, even donations via paypal ethan@shippertracingservices.com

CSRG @ Laguna - 3 days away!

Photo by James Kim

3 DAYS OUT - KNOW BEFORE YOU GO: 

• CSRG @ Laguna, June 5-6

• Laguna COVID waiver

• Paddock load-in, Friday starting at 9am

• Registration CSRG Speedwaiver, Friday starting at 2pm

• Tech, Friday starting at 9am

• Paddock Map for registration/tech/etc locations

• Event Schedule

  • Drivers Meeting 8am - stairs to suites

    • SAT Qualifying 11:30am

    • SAT Race at 4:30pm

    • SAT Party at 5pm - right after our race!

CROSSFLOW CHECKLIST:

• Scales - open Friday 1pm-ish, Saturday 8am

• Stickers/Patches - NEW sticker available for purchase this weekend!

• Awards & Adults Beverages (come in your drivers suit!)

• Our weekend drawing (must be present to win!) for prizes will include:

  • Two Racing Suit Dryers

  • One Longacre Digital Tire Pressure Gauge

  • One Amsoil Care Package

• ALL the above will be located at SRS paddock area

A WORD FROM YOUR CROSSFLOW CUP TEAM:

We have heard all the positive feedback about the 3:1 schedule (P/Q/R1 on Saturday, R2 on Sunday) unfortunately, it was not available to us this weekend. We did want you to know we will try again for future events, especially those without a test day on Friday. As always, this is YOUR race series, we are just trying to facilitate it the best we can for you.

CSRG at Laguna - 11 days!

Photo by James Kim

CSRG RETURNS TO LAGUNA, June 5-6

• Enter online here through Motorsports Reg

• Paddock load-in, Friday the 4th (exact times TBD)

• Tech - CSRG forms are electronic, bring your car, gear and logbook

• Event Schedule - to be released the week of the event

• Garages available - email Geoff Pitts: Race.Director@csrgweb.org

• Other CSRG rules and info

USUAL SITES & SCENES:

• Scales - to open mid-day Friday, open Saturday @ 8 AM

• Stickers/Patches - for sale! (be sure to check out our latest sticker design!)

• Awards & Adults Beverages (Saturday after the last race, the last checkered flag)

• ALL the above will be located at SRS paddock area

DROP US THAT VIDEO

• Any onboard video from the last race? Upload to the Drop Box Folder or email us for a physical address to send your flash drive to

LOOKING AHEAD:

• Rose Cup Races - registration is OPEN

• Registration Fees: Race Entry $475; EARLY BIRD $425 by June 1!

• Thursday, July 8th will be a Test Day