Chairty Challenge Race Report

FFotos by James Kim

5 and 6, pick up sticks...

Schedule conflicts to the north and south, meant that a reduced grid of only 34 cars would be taking part in the fight this weekend. In addition, some of our "Crossflow die-hards" like Danny Baker, Art Hebert, Dan Wise, and our HF points leader Andrew Wait would be at Goodwood for the weekend. Meaning all was to play for, and lots of points were up for grabs. Ever the shrewd tactician, Wait hired noted local pro Tim Barber to keep the seat warm on his ever-fast Titan Mk6. Other than the benefit to our series in having another car on the grid, when said car is piloted by a bonafide pro that is likely to snag some points away from the thundering herd breathing down ones neck, all the better, right?

Most all of the grid used the Friday test day to knock off the rust,  get up to pace for the weekend, and work out whatever ails that might come to the fore when the green flag dropped for qualifying. There would be little time to waste. 

Qualifying 1:
Not long ago, a 1:48 was a front row time... Those days are gone my friends. Long gone. 

The snarling horde was released from the grid to sunny skies and a clear track. Immediately fast times were thrown up on the board with ex-SCCA National Champ Bob Lesnett immediately going P1, bettering his time every lap until lap 3 where he would stand with a 1:45.54. Lesnett only did 5 laps and 4 of them were in the 45's. Gauntlet, consider yourself thrown down. 

Not one to back down from what was clearly going to be a fight, Tim Barber went P2 on lap 7 (class pole for HF), also firmly in the 1:45's. Row two on the grid was all orange with Kelly Heil's Lola and Steve Romak's Titan (P2 in both CF and HF, respectively) both in the low 1:46's, followed by Adam White and Oliver Ramleth (P3 in CF and HF), Martin Lauber and Brian Swanson (P4 in HF and CF, with the top 10 closed out by the Club Fords of Neil Porter and a personal best qualifying effort for Max Minshull.

The grid was quite close with the top 17 cars all well below a 1:50, with Brian Forster in P17 and a career PB laptime for Tom Minnich, who yarded his Tiga into the low 1:49's and the 8th row on the grid. How's the view from up there Tom?

Alex Dodd had a great qualifying run to roll off P21 (P13 in HF), flanked by Jack Wilson, Mike Wirrick, and Ed Lauber, and closing out our grid we welcomed back George Jewett. Great to see you back on the grid George!


Race 1:
Overall polesitter Bob Lesnett used a Texas start to beat the field to the green, leaving the next few rows in his wake. After a lap or so though, the gap to Tim Barber, Kelly Heil, Steve Romak and Martin Lauber was gone and they got down to fighting. Barber got past for the point on lap 4 and didn't look back, leading with a small gap for the rest of the way to take his first Crossflow overall victory. The battle between Romak and Heil was fantastic, with Lauber never out of touch. Again and again Romak would throw a haymaker into T11, only to be rebuffed by the stupendous front braking prowess of Heil's Lola. Heil however eventually conceded the spot to Romak after an unforced error in T4, Steve went off in pursuit of Lesnett's dark blue Crossle.

Adam White held solidly onto the 6th spot (3rd in CF), more or less on his own, a similar position to Oliver Ramleth (7th OA, 4th in HF) as the pair had fallen back from the lead battle just past half distance.

Max Minshull showed that with the Royale chassis, he was going to need to be reckoned with by finishing up a solid run to the 9th spot overall (5th in CF), tailed by the now familiar faces at the front end of the grid of Paul Kitchen and Ed Van Tassel in 10th and 11th overall respectively. They weren't far ahead of Marty Benck at the stripe, who started off a solid weekend with a 12th place finish (7th in HF) and the top step of the Masters podium. Marty closed out his race fighting it out with Neil Porter, who had an eventful Round 5, losing nearly 10 spots on the second lap before clawing his way back forward to 13th overall (6th in CF) and second spot on the Masters podium. Eric Verdin rounded out the Masters podium with a 15th overall finish (8th in HF). When the checker fell, David Dupuis had moved up 7 spots to take home the Katusha Speed Shop Hard Charger Wine Country Motorsports $100 gift card in his super cool Gemini.

"JP" John Plavan's race ended early with a misfire, as did Reno's Sam McCord who brought his beautiful Zink back out with a fresh nose to play with us this weekend. Jack Wilson and Ed Lauber also retired early.  3 of the 4 retiring drivers were to return to the grid on Sunday, with McCord's weekend ending early.

Qualifying 2:
A cool and gray Autumn morning awaited our racers on Sunday as they got their fireproof jammies on for qualifying. The field rolled off at at 9:17 to see how they would line up for the race later that day. 

Tim Barber drew first blood with a 1:46.7 to put him on the top spot at the end of lap 2 but it wasn't to last as Big Bad Bob Lesnett layed down a heater at a 1:45.7 to take the top spot for the second day in a row. Romak and Heil would swap positions from Saturday with the orange Titan besting the orange Lola this session. Adam White would round out the top 5 to make it the second ever time that we would have two Lolas in the top 5 of qualifying. Perhaps the most noteworthy performance from this session might likely have been that of Martin Lauber who managed to set his 7th place (4th in HF) qualifying time while dealing with a stuck-wide-open secondary butterfly on his carburetor; no mean feat. 

Brian Forster finished up the session .033 out of the top ten and would line up inside row 6, with Jay Streets a few tenths shy of him in P13. Tom Minnich showed that his Saturday Quali pace wasn't to be doubted by notching his Tiga in 15th spot, ahead of perennial contenders Will Jackson, Eric Verdin, and Mike Wirrick.

Ed Van Tassel had a rough session, completing only one lap before the splines on his clutch disk took the morning off of work, and he parked on the outside of the esses to watch the session. His single flying lap was good enough for the 25th spot though. Further back Fred Greis was doing his best to come to grips with the beautiful papaya orange Titan Mk5, and he would slot in just behind George Jewett, rolling along now on his comeback weekend. 

Race 2:
A repeat of Saturday's start was not to be as the grid hung with Bob Lesnett when he went to the power, and something in the neighborhood of 3500 prancing ponies were released in the mad dash up the hill and into Turn 2. Jellyman Kelly Heil wasn't to join in the moshpit though, electrical failure sidelined him on the pace lap. 

Tim Barber took the point up the hill with Lesnett and White right behind, the argy-bargy ensued with Romak and Lauber going hammer and tongs ahead of Ramleth and Swanson. White hung a wheel off as the door closed on him but the only lasting impression was a cloud of dust as all the cars made it through. 

The lead pack stretched out fairly quickly with Barber holding a comfortable 3 carlength gap over Lesnett. The lack of passing belied the tension though; all the drivers up front were working at max capacity to keep the guy in front of him close, and the guy behind him back there. While Barber, Lesnett, White, Romak, Lauber, Ramleth and Swanson didn't let up, the positions looked pretty solid until Lauber spun his way out of the top 5 at about 1/2 distance, eventually ending up in 7th (5th in HF).

Ed Van Tassel however, was on the move. His new clutch disk was putting all the power from his Ivey engine down and he was slicing his way through the pack, picking up several spots on the first three laps en-route to joining what was to be arguably the best fight on the grid. The battle between Jay Streets, Will Jackson, Tom Minnich, Brian Forster, and EVT was a slobberknocker with Minnich's driving at an all time high as he fought back attempt after attempt by Forster to take the spot. All the contestants in this battle rolled though tearoffs as Jackson's car fired off a steady mist of oil, one could've guessed a James Bond-ish attempt to win the day, but a leaky oil line was merely the culprit. Jackson ended up leading the gaggle home for the 10th spot (7th in class), with Minnich a personal best P11 (P5 in Club Ford), Forster and Van Tassel picking up the Katusha Speed Shop hard charger award with his move up to 13th spot. 

John Plavan, still fighting a persistent misfire managed to bring his beautiful Crossle home in the 15th spot. Mitch Roth spent the day fighting it out with everyone's favorite bus driver, Chris Schoap, and the beautiful Winkleman of Jack Wilson. Jay Streets had a last lap booboo and spun his way out of the battle he had been engulfed in, and ended up P22 overall, just ahead of the Titans of Ed Lauber and Dave Sandlin. And finally Max Minshull's exciting debut weekend of his new Royale ended on a down note, with him retiring early. 

Top Gun Qualifiers (including this weekend):
Andrew Wait, Art Hebert, Bob Lesnett, Brian Forster, Brian Swanson, Oliver Ramleth, Paul Kitchen, David Dupuis, Ed VanTassel 

Our Crossflow Cuppies modeling the Top Gun Shootout Championship Belt!

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS

Beer and wine for the whole weekend were supplied by Steve Romak. Thank you so much Steve!! And we had a bunch of great giveaways provided by our series sponsors!

The raffle for the Lechner Racing Design helmet paint job was won by Jay Streets. Jay proudly commented that he bought ONE ticket. Thank you all for purchasing tickets, your funds help to keep the prizes and fun flowing!

SRS really stepped up their game with the Fastest Mechanic prizes; this weekend Riccardo Pinero won both a WIFI borescope and an infrared digital pyrometer. 

The Katusha Speed Shop Hard Charger award ($100 to Wine Country Motorsports) went on Saturday to David Dupuis and on Sunday to Ed Van Tassel. This also qualified both drivers for the Top Gun Shootout at Laguna next month!

Alan Dezzani has graciously donated a digital print at every Crossflow round this season. Alan's artwork is fantastic (some of his portfolio can be seen here: http://dezzanidigitalart.com/home/vintage_racing)This weekend's print was won by Eric Verdin who will have a lovely portrait of his Titan to hang on his wall this fall!

The Ivey Engines crew donated some gift certificates, which were won by Tom Minnich and Will Jackson. Jay and the boys also gave out a TON of great swag. 

Brian Forster, our race weekend trophy sponsor gave away to the Long Tow award to our resident East Coaster Fred Greis who comes all the way from Long Island!

The CSRG Top Gun Shootout qualifiers for this weekend were:  Bob Lesnett (twice!), and hard chargers David Dupuis and Ed Van Tassel.
 

Final Rounds - Laps for Laguna:
Rounds 7 and 8 will find the Crossflow Cup tackling the new surface at Laguna Seca for the first time this year. We will be sending out information about this event in the coming weeks. Some pertinent items of information about the event that we DO know:

• The "1 race drop" rule: I mentioned it earlier this year. Only your SEVEN best point finishes will count. So if you have missed a round, or you are worried that the DNF you had early in the season is going to hurt, never fear. We are only counting the best 7 finishes. 

• The Top Gun Shootout! This will take place AFTER the final points race on Sunday. We don't know a schedule yet but for those of you who do not qualify, you will want to delay leaving the track until after this race!

• Awards - we will do all our spirit awards (Crossflow Cup, MVP, FFanciest FFord, etc) on Saturday. The point championships will be handed out on Sunday. 

• This is our best chance for a big grid all year. To that end, if we hit 50 cars, I'll give away one free entry out of my pocket. So PLEASE come out and support Crossflow. 

• Swag will be available! If you haven't already bought  shirt, a hat, sweatshirt or tumbler, we will have them for sale there as well! All proceeds help to support YOUR series!

View points standings HERE

~ Thank you all for making Rounds 5 and 6 a success! ~

Top Left : CF Podium - Bob Lesnett P1, Kelly Heil P2, Adam White P3 

Top Left Center: Sunday CF Podium: Bob Lesnett P1, Adam White P2, Brian Swanson P3

Top Right Center: Lechner Helmet Paint Job won on Saturday night by Jay Streets

Top Right : HF Podium -  Tim Barber P1, Steve Romak P2, Martin Lauber P3

Bottom Left: Sunday Historic Ford Podium: Tim Barber P1, Steve Romak P2, Oliver Ramleth P3

Bottom Left Center: Saturday Masters Podium - Marty Benck P1, Neil Porter P2 (Mitch Roth standing in for Neil), Eric Verdin P3 

Bottom Right Center: Sunday Masters Podium: Neil Porter P1 (Riccardo Pinero standing in for Neil), Marty Benck P2, and Eric Verdin P3
Bottom Far Right: Fastest Mechanic Award Winner, Riccardo Pinero 

Sonoma Season Opener Race Report

Half a league, half a league, half a league onward...

Welcome to the 2023 Crossflow Cup Season! The long winter's nap was finally and officially brought to a close this past week at Sonoma, under much hoped-for blue skies and chilly temperatures. But the cool breezes were of little matter; the battles on track were hot enough to start a five alarm fire.

The Friday test day showed that the winter testing did little in the way of calming the storm of competition. Our frontrunners had all racked up the miles of testing but it was clear that as the sand fell down the hourglass leading towards Q1 on Saturday morning, it was all to play for with no clear vision as to whom would be standing the top step later that day. 

Qualifying 1:
There were some familar names at the front of Q1, accented by some folks making a statement with big moves for the opening salvo of 2023. In Historic Ford, Oliver Ramleth showed he was here to play in '23, following Kelly Heil as they rolled out for qualifying and laying down a low 1:48 to put him safely inside the top 10, and Alex Dodd showing that the off-season testing really paid off with him laying down a personal best 51 flat to put him in the 17th spot overall (just under 4 tenths would've found him 5 whole spots further north). Up front, Andrew Wait laid down a heater on lap 4 to take the pole (and be the first to qualify himself for the CSRG Top Gun Shootout) with Martin Lauber .009 (yes, you read that correctly) sec adrift in P2 and Danny Baker P3 a tenth back. Both Lauber and Baker's cars were fresh off massive winter rebuilds at the hands of the Katusha and CTC crews respectively, and all 3 drivers were clearly trying to put their mark on the season early.  

In CF, Bob Lesnett showed that he had lost none of his speed during his brief respite as he took the 4th spot overall and class pole in his freshly restored Crossle, ahead of Jellyman Kelly Heil's euro-spec Lola 540. Brian Forster's Tiga was P3 on the CF grid, followed by newcomer Adam White's USA-spec Lola 540, and thankfully Chip Ganassi and Alex Palou let us borrow Terran Swanson for the weekend so he could qualify 12th overall and 4th in CF. A little further back, Alan Dezzani was sorting out his freshly rebuilt Royale, and Sam McCord had honored us with debuting his beautiful Zink Z10 after over a decade of dormancy. 

Race 1:
A 36 strong field rolled off to take the green flag to really get the season underway and almost immediately the mosh pit began. The grid refused to line up single file until the race was almost 6 miles old; nearly 3 laps of the 2.5 mile Sonoma Raceway circuit had lapsed by that point. Clean racing from nose to tail though as battles raged all the way through. Before the end, mechanical gremlins culled Dr. Nick Colyvas' stunning Titan from our ranks, and the new car shakedown blues took Tim Monahan out of the fight as well. Losing Will Jackson and Brian Swanson both to engine woes meant we finished a few less than we started but the race ran clean and green from start to finish. 

No less than SEVEN cars fought it out for the top spot for the entirety of the race distance: Wait, Hebert, Lesnett, Romak, Lauber, and Baker slugged it out, swapping spots over and over but being very egalitarian in their fight. Seemingly everyone had their turn at the point at one time or another. Rarely less than 2 wide, and occasionally 3 wide, the frontrunners showed tenacity but gave fair racing room. 7th place starter Kelly Heil struggled with engine issues that kept him from having a say in the battle but he hung in there, notching up the first race finish for his car since 1979. The finish was equally bonkers as last year's Champ Martin Lauber showed '22 was no fluke as he took top honors by a nose over Wait, with Hebert, Romak and Baker filling out the Top 5. Lesnett took CF honors with Heil P2. 

The second pack scoffed at a 7 car battle and said "hold my beer". At one point there were 10 cars in the scrum which included Terran Swanson's Van Diemen, Adam White's beautiful new-old-stock Lola 540, Oliver Ramleth's Titan, "The Ed's"  both Lauber and VanTassel in their Titan's, Paul Kitchen's Lotus, and more. Ramleth found his way to the front of this group by the checker, and Brian Forster showed that he didn't actually need to qualify after a starter issue on the grid forced him to start last and he managed to fight his way forward right into the thick of this battle, winning the Katusha Speed Shop Hard Charger award in the process and qualifying himself for the CSRG Top Gun Shootout. Swanson finished P3 at the checker but fell afoul of the scales of justice, moving Adam White to the final spot on the CF rostrum.

Some of our Crossflow newcomers, perhaps wide eyed and swinging for the fences were John Plavan (in the ex-Heil Bros Crossle 30) ending up 18th overall, just ahead of Eric Verdin's Titan, while Sam McCord enjoyed a race long battle with Alan Dezzani and Fred Greis showing that the midfield fights just as hard as the frontrunners. 

Our Masters podium was topped by Marty Benck, Eric Verdin in the second spot, with the always shy and reserved Bob Posner on the final step. 

Top Left to Right: 

Saturday Masters Podium - Marty Benck P1, Eric Verdin in the second spot, Bob Posner P3 (Teo Lauber as stand-in)
CF Podium - Bob Lesnett P1, Kelly Heil P2, Adam White P3 (Noah Shippert as stand-in)
HF Podium -  Lauber Family P1, Andrew Wait P2, Art Hebert P3
Party People!
 

Bottom Left to Right:

Sunday Masters Podium: Marty Benck, Chris Schoap, Eric Verdin (Noah standing in)
Sunday CF Podium: Bob Lesnett, Kelly Heil, Adam White

Sunday Historic Ford Podium: Andrew Wait, Art Hebert, Martin (and Teo) Lauber
Ivey Cylinder head refresh winner - Mike Wirrick

Qualifying 2:
Q1 showed our racers that it didn't much matter where you qualified, you were going to have to slug it out when the green dropped. Nerves were jangling as the field of cars awaited the clock to start. 

Martin Lauber drew first blood with a mid-46 to put him on the top spot at the end of lap 2 but it wasn't to last as Andrew Wait put the big two-three on the board with a 46.08 on lap 5 to take the first chair. Flanked by Art Hebert and Steve Romak in 2nd and 3rd; 4th and 5th of Bob Lesnett's Crossle and Danny Baker's Lotus respectively doing their level best to take the fight to the army of Titan's. 

John Plavan showed he learned a boatload about wheeling a FF on Saturday with an outstanding 11th place starting spot. This was to line him up just behind Tim Monahan who's Titan had been given the "full triage" approach by the Katusha and Ivey brigade on Saturday night. Monahan's car wasn't the only one that the good Dr. Ivey performed surgery on; Kelly Heil's Lola was benefitting from some carb work and a new distributor and was firing hard on all cylinders now. The Jellyman would have legs to stand on in the afternoon's battle. 

Tom Minnich had an epiphany and used his fresh Ivey power to lay down a personal best to put him him the 20th spot on the grid, followed by Chris Schoap who struggled most of the weekend with braking issues. Never one to let it dampen his spirits, Chris kept a smile on and kept chipping away. Speaking of braking issues, Dan Wise was putting some new pads to good use as he knocked off the winter's cobwebs in his Crossle. And our Southern CA interlopers, the Monise crew had put in some hours on Saturday finding and eliminating an electrical gremlin on Max Minshull's blue Crossle 32. Max was to line up outside row 11. 

Race 2:
A partial track oildown by a Porsche in the group before caused a delay to the start of Round 2. This was to prove key as it led to a messy start and some action early on.  The grid formed up nicely but the starter threw an incredibly late green nearly causing a disaster as the grid went 4 and 5 wide into and through T1 at the start; Steve Romak commented that he actually pulled his shoulders in as cars blasted past him on both sides as he fell from 3rd place! Thankfully all our racers made it safely up the 13 story climb to the top of Sonoma Raceway's Turn 3A, plunging down into the off-camber Turn 4. Sam McCord got caught out on some errant oil in T4 however, and came together with Mitch Roth's Winklemann which brought out a full course yellow as the field came through to complete lap 1. Roth's car was able to roll in under its own power (though his day was done) but McCord's weekend ended with a slightly wrinkled Zink. 

The field, headed by Wait, circulated behind the pace car for a few laps. When they were released, Wait jumped quickly to a two-car lead, which he was to hold all the way to a truncated finish. After Saturday's donnybrook, Sunday's race was a bit of an anticlimax. Hebert was P2, Lauber P3 with Romak and Baker filling out the top 5 in class. Lesnett was 4th overall, again taking CF laurels, with Heil and White nose to tail in 2nd and 3rd (7th and 8th overall).  Our car-trouble twins from Saturday (Colyvas and Monahan) ended the weekend on a good note with top 10 finishes for both, and a tie for the Katusha Speed Shop Hard Charger award between Oliver Ramleth and Paul Kitchen.  

A little further back, Ed VanTassel finished up another solid performance by rounding out the top 15 and Chris Locke's lovely little blue Merlyn went toe to toe with Dave Sandlin's Titan with Sandlin coming out on top. Our Master's podium again found Marty Benck at the top spot, with Chris Schoap in 2nd, and Eric Verdin in 3rd. 

Top Left: Sunday Masters Podium: Marty Benck, Chris Schoap, Eric Verdin (Noah standing in)
Top Right: Sunday CF Podium: Bob Lesnett, Kelly Heil, Adam White
Bottom Left: Ivey Cylinder head refresh winner - Mike Wirrick
Bottom Right: Sunday Historic Ford Podium: Andrew Wait, Art Hebert, Martin (and Teo) Lauber

Below: Your Crossflow Cup couple, Ed and Dana VanTassel
Below Below: Adam White, looking sharp in steelies and a snorkel

PARTY HIGHLIGHTS

Beer and wine were supplied by Crossflow donations, entertainment was provided by the Lauber and Shippert children, and we had a bunch of great giveaways provided by our series sponsors!

SRS donated some Amsoil Miracle Wash which was won by Terran Swanson. Convenient, considering Terbear had a bit of oil mess to clean up on the King's Royal Van Diemen. 

Alan Dezzani has graciously donated a digital print at every Crossflow round this season. Alan's artwork is fantastic (some of his portfolio can be seen here: http://dezzanidigitalart.com/home/vintage_racing)This weekend's print was won by Chris Locke who's Merlyn Mk 11 will be immortalized by Alan. 

The Ivey Engines crew donated a TON of great stuff. First up was a Tilton clutch disc which was won by Marty Benck, next was a discount on rebuild won by Alan Dezzani. And finally the big prize, a certificate for a cylinder head refresh which was won by the luckiest man in the paddock, Mike Wirrick. For those of you keeping score at home, you may remember Mike won the free set of tires last fall.  I strongly recommend someone set up in the paddock next to Mike next time and take him to 7-11 to buy some lottery tickets. 

This year's Crossflow race weekend trophies were donated by Brian Forster. The trophies feature a lovely image of a Compomotive basketweave wheel off of his Tiga. In addition to the race weekend trophies, Brian is giving away a "longest tow" award each weekend. This weekend's recipient was of the $50 Starbucks card went to Bob Posner for his 800 mile trip from the Pacific Northwest. Thank you so much Brian for stepping up to take this on!

Scott Young Enterprises donated a Mk box dogring, which was won by someone... but your writer is having a mental block and cannot for the life of himself remember who. Remember racers, call Scotty for ALL your Hewland needs, and remember to tell him you are a Crossflow Cup racer and Ethan sent ya for a 10% discount. 

The CSRG Top Gun Shootout qualifiers for this weekend were: Andrew Wait, Brian Forster, Paul Kitchen and Oliver Ramleth. 
 

Next Up, Thunderhill:
Rounds 3 and 4 find the Crossflow Cup tackling all the challenges that the 3 mile circuit of Thunderhill has to offer. We will be sending out information about this event in the coming weeks so please sit tight. Some pertinent items of information about the event that we DO know:

• A CSRG license is acceptable, you do not need an SCCA license for the weekend 

• There will be ample track time. SFR is going to give us our usual Q1/R1 Q2/R2 setup, as well as a possible Saturday AM practice session. There will be an optional track-run Friday test day for an additional charge, but this will not be mandatory

• We are our own group. If you have a buddy with a modern FF, they can run in Group 4 (the SCCA FF group). Ditto for those of you with Atlantics, or other SCCA cars. Even those poor unfortunate souls with fenders and doors. Come on out and double dip!

• They are going to try to give us our own space in the paddock. If you didn't come to T-Hill last September, this is one of the best parts. It's like going to summer camp with your racecar buddies.

• I really want this event to be a success. If we like this, we have the option to run more events with San Francisco Region SCCA in the future. If you want to have a say in how Crossflow is run, I need you there to "sample the merchandise" as far as what SFR SCCA has to offer. This is YOUR series after all; Rebecca and I are merely trying to steer the ship in the way you tell us to.  

• To that end, if we hit 30 cars, I'll give away one free entry out of my pocket. If we hit 40 cars, I'll give away two. Simple as that. That would be a 1 in 20 chance of winning, those are WAY better odds than the California lottery (and ironically better odds than any single car has of winning a on any given Crossflow weekend...) So PLEASE come out and support Crossflow. 

• Swag will be available! If you haven't already bought  shirt, a hat, sweatshirt or tumbler, we will have them for sale there as well! All proceeds help to support YOUR series!

~ Thank you all for making Rounds 1 and 2 a success! ~

2023 Schedule Update!

WE HAVE SUCCESSFULLY ADDED A FOURTH WEEKEND!
 

The change in the schedule for this year moving laps to October has caused a wrinkle for all of us in our planning. 

As of 8 AM this morning however, your Crossflow Cup team has confirmed a date with SF Region SCCA for a Crossflow Cup Rounds 3 and 4 to take place at Thunderhill on June 3/4. This will be a 2 day weekend with an optional (run by Thunderhill) test day on Friday. Entry fee will be below $600 with the Friday test day being an additional fee. They are giving us lots and lots of track time, our own space in the paddock, and best of all this gives us the 4th round and the extra weekend we needed to fill the hole left in the schedule by Laps moving to October.

HOW WILL THIS AFFECT THE POINTS?
Good question! The addition of a 4th weekend allows us to add a drop rule to the points as well for the first time. We will count your 7 best finishes of the 8 races towards your final tally for the year. Too many margaritas on Friday night cause you to have a bad race Saturday? Not a problem, your humble  pointskeeper will throw that race out. Have to miss a whole dang weekend because your second cousin is getting married for the third time? Well buck up little camper, you’ll only be one race down, not two. 

BUT WAIT... THERE'S MORE...

CSRG PRESENTS: THE TOP GUN SHOOTOUT
Crossflow Cup Racers- CSRG loves you. "Yeah yeah, we know" I can hear you saying. But as love professed is outdone by love shown, let me show you how much they love you. The Top Gun Shootout.

This season CSRG is giving the Crossflow racers a bonus race at the final round of the season. AFTER the final points race on Sunday at Laps for Laguna, there will be a 5 lap shootout race for 16 cars. There are only two ways to qualify for the Top Gun Shootout: by being a polesitter or by being a hard charger. If you win a pole position for one of the 8 rounds, you qualify for the Top Gun Shootout. If you are the hard charger for one of the 8 rounds, you qualify for the Top Gun Shootout. This race is a bonus event to feature what is effectively our 8 fastest qualifiers and our 8 best passers in an incredibly brief sprint race with no points up for grabs, just bragging rights. Qualifying will be set by pill draw for maximum excitement!

The winner of the Top Gun Shootout will be canonized by yours truly as The Top Gun for a whole year and take home the Top Gun Belt.

Champions and race winners are great... but what we all want to know is who's gonna be the Top Gun?!?

I Heart Racing: 2023 Season

Getting ready for the 2023 Championship Season!

Hello gang! Happy Valentine's Day! We are nearing the start of our 2023 season, and it's looking stellar. We go into the season with the same rules package as last year, and the same point structure. We have had an absolute EXPLOSION of new competitors coming in for the '23 season; fifteen(!!!) new drivers slated to do at least one weekend, most have a verbal commitment to run the whole schedule. 

LATE BREAKING/BRAKING NEWS
NEW DRIVERS!!! To start with, we have a smash of new drivers under the age of 35; Adam White in his beautiful "new old stock" Lola 540, Jake Wadman in the ex-Bob Lobenberg Crossle 32, Clay Carr also in a gorgeous Crossle from back east, and 19 year old British FF standout Gabe Tesch piloting Tony Jimenez' Titan. We also have some returning faces like multiple time SCCA Champ and perennial Crossflow frontrunner Bob Lesnett returning to the grid, albeit in a Club Ford this time. Speaking of National Champs, we will have 2015 SCCA nat'l FF champ Rick Payne in a Van Diemen RF79 joining the grid. Ed Abate will make the grid in the new-to-him ADF later in the season. John Plavan has picked up the super fast ex-Kelly Heil Crossle 30, and will be running out of the Reilly & Co stable this season. Clay Carr's father Randy will be joining his son at the wheel of the ex-Jeff Rothman Royale, and we will have a bona-fide pro in the form of ex-Indycar driver Mark Smith helming a Titan Mk6 from the PNW. 

The fight from front to back will be stellar this year as we have so many returning faces! Last year's Crossflow Cup winner Ed VanTassel is gearing up to pick up where he left off at the end of last season, joined by the Pacific Northwest's fastest bus driver Chris Schoap. As always, Ed Lauber will keep everyone up front honest, along with Steve Romak in his super fast Titan. Andrew Wait has been pounding laps at the kart track all winter in preparation for the coming season; Tom Minnich's Tiga has a fresh Ivey bullet and he was looking strong in preseason testing; Dr. Nick Colyvas is committed to running the beautiful papaya orange Titan Mk5 at couple times this year; Alex Dodd has been racking up the testing miles at Sonoma, and Max Minshull and the gang from Frank Monise Motors will put in some serious miles commuting from down south to run a bunch with us this year. Our returning class champs are coming back with a vengeance, Martin Lauber will have a fresh chassis for his Titan, and the Jellyman has decided to change mounts completely and the Brother's Heil have been testing all winter to develop their Lola 540E (shocker, it's mega fast). Brian Swanson will again be fielding cars for himself and his son Terran who had so much fun he will fly out to run most of the races this season. We should see the yellow Van Diemen of Michael Malone a few times this year, and if you hear the opening chords of Def Leppard's Let It Go echoing through the paddock, that means Will Jackson is in the house. The "capo di tutti capi of Garagiste's" Jay Streets is raring to go (he might already be set up in the paddock at Sonoma), Dan Wise (who I believe missed his first Crossflow race ever last season to work at the SCCA Runoffs) will be coming back strong, and I've been told that Danny Baker has been doing an extensive amount of training at high altitudes in Mexico City for improved performance behind the wheel. Jim Lynn, Chris Locke, one or both of the pugilistic Posner's of the PNW (how's that for alliteration?), Neil Porter, Dave Sandlin, Richard Hybels, Mike Wirrick.... This is going to be a season for the ages. 

In 2023, Crossflow Cup will be the premier race series for Historic and Club Ford racing in the US. And you have yourselves to thank for this! By racing hard and racing clean, but most of all having fun while doing it, you are all showing the rest of the country how it should be done. 

SPONSORSHIP:
In sponsor news, Brian Forster has stepped up to provide the race weekend trophies this year, and we all owe him a round of applause and a cold one for that! Thanks so much Brian!!! And Brent Katusha from Reilly & Co will again be sponsoring the Reilly & Co Hard Charger award this year for each round. If anyone else out there would like to put money towards an award or a traveling trophy, please feel free to reach out! Anything helps keep the fun factor high and our racers wanting to come back for more.  

Once again this year we are asking for a "membership fee" to cover costs of beer/wine/champagne, stickers, giveaways, championship/year end trophies, 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. Please paypal to ethan@shippertracingservices.com (or if you'd rather send a check or cash contact us privately). We are going to have some new swag for sale at the David Love, and as usual all proceeds go right back into the series. We want to keep Crossflow at the very forefront of FF competition, but more importantly we want to keep the smiles per miles at an all time high!

If anyone has any pre-season testing photos, or off-season new paint jobs, maybe a new helmet design, send them over! We'd love to share on social media :)

We are looking forward to a great season!  David Love is just 4 weeks away so we will be reaching out again soon with event info! Thanks!!!
Your Crossflow Cup Team

2023 Schedule Released!

2023 Season Schedule Released...

Tis the season to be grateful, to be thankful, to celebrate with friends and family and to start planning for next season!

We have three weekends lined out for next year, all with double races again. So six points races leading up to and into the final race of the season to crown our champions.

We are, at this time, still hoping to add another race weekend at Laguna with HMSA, but we all know Laguna is ankle deep in repaving and have yet to complete the project before adding more dates in late spring/early summer. If HMSA is able to get a date, we will add that to the calendar. Obviously this isn't ideal but it is what it is. You will all know immediately if this comes to pass.

We would have loved to have Thunderhill on the calendar again since it was so much fun, but it was not to be for 2023. So, without further ado we present 2023 to you:

• March 24-26, Sonoma Raceway

• June 23-25, Laps for Laguna

• September 8-10, Sonoma Raceway

RULE CHANGES:
NONE! We had a fantastic 2022 season. Points fights went down to the final lap of the final race, we have good parity between compounds and brands of tires and the two classes are really competitive together. So we have good rules stability and no reason to change a dang thing for 2023!

WHAT CAN YOU DO?
We will be reaching out in the next few weeks regarding series donations to help fund the fun and excitement.

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!