speed circuit [Updated October 2005]  

2005 WBC Report  

 2006 Status: pending 2006 GM commitment

Dennis Nicholson, NY

2005 Champion


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Event History
1991    Scott Goehring      24
1992    Mike Fitzgerald      18
1993    Chris Hancock      16
1994    Andrew House      29
1995    Lane Hess      23
1996    Trevor Bender      26
1997    Robert Kircher      25
1998    John Weber      38
1999    Kevin Keller     27
2000    Gerald Lientz     28
2001    Scott Cornett     29
2002    Lance Ribeiro     35
2003    Douglas Schulz     32
2004    John Welage     30
2005     Dennis Nicholson     37

 Laurels

Rank  Name              From  Last  Total
  1.  Scott Cornett      FL    05    122
  2.  Kevin Keller       MD    05     54
  3.  John Welage        OH    04     52
  4.  Lance Ribeiro      NH    02     52
  5.  Jimmy Fleckenstein VA    05     46
  6.  Doug Schulz        MD    04     46
  7.  Gerald Lientz      VA    03     43
  8.  Dennis Nicholson   NY    05     40
  9.  Terry Schulz       PA    04     40
 10.  Trevor Bender      CA    02     32
 11.  Darin Morley       NC    04     26
 12.  Jeff Cornett       FL    01     24
 13.  Chris Hancock      PA    05     20
 14.  Lane Hess          PA    00     16
 15.  Jason O'Donnell    OH    01     13
 16.  Lane Newbury       TX    04     12
 17.  Franklin Haskell   NH    03      9
 18.  John Sharp III     FL    05      8
 19.  Dan McGowan        ME    01      8
 20.  Dave Anderson      PA    00      8

2005 Laurelists

Jimmy Fleckenstein, VA
2nd

Scott Cornett, FL
3rd

Kevin Keller, MD
4th

John Sharp III, FL
5th

Chris Hancock, NH
6th


Past Winners

Scott Goehring, OH
1991

Mike Fitzgerald, CT
1992

Chris Hancock, NH
1993

Andrew House, MD
1994

Lane Hess, PA
1995

Trevor Bender, CA
1996

Robert Kircher, RI
1997

John Weber, MD
1998

Kevin Keller, MD
1999

Gerald Lientz, VA
2000

Scott Cornett, FL
2001

Lance Ribeiro, NH
2002

Doug Schulz, MD
2003

John Welage, OH
2004
 


still playing with toy cars ...

37 entrants, just one shy of the previous record, participated in six races during three heats Heat 1 had 29 drivers split into two separate races of the tight and twisting Hungaroring. Heat 2 split 16 drivers between two Adelaide courses. Heat 3 pitted 18 drivers against two sets of LeMans, the first WBC appearance for this track

The top 14 finishes from these heats qualified for the Final. Kevin Keller, Scott Cornett, Chris Hancock, and Jim Fleckenstein won qualifying heats to grab the pole positions. Kevin and Scott actually won two heats each and Jim won the only heat he entered. Darin Morley, Terry Schulz, Doug Schulz, and Franklin Haskell qualified with second place finishes. Gerald Lientz and John Wellage both qualified with third place finishes. Dennis Nicholson and Stuart Tucker both produced fourth place finishes in qualifying heats. Peter Ticole and John Sharp rounded out the field as fifth place finishers in qualifying. John was the last driver to qualify, improving on his previous eighth place finish in the last qualifying heat. Lance Ribeiro and Paul Haynes had also qualified but did not participate on Sunday.

The Final was a very competitive race with eight different drivers making serious plays for the championship resulting in one of the most dramatic finishes in recent memory. Chris parlayed his 1st place qualifying finish and a high bid into a spot on the front row of the grid. When the lights went out, Chris got an excellent start and led the field into the first corner. Generating some early excitement, Darin plotted 80 mph over the first corner and blew into the tire barrier for the first of five retirements.

Chris got through the first two corners of the track with a lead and entered the long back straight in first hoping to gain separation on the rest of the field. But Chris' lower top speed prevented him from capitalizing on his early lead and the pack caught him by the end of that straight. Although Chris was able to stay near the front for the remainder of the first lap, he eventually fell back and finished sixth. Gerald made his move early in lap 1 and moved into the lead after half of a lap. Gerald was also unable to maintain his early pace and dropped back into the pack by the half way point, finishing seventh. Jim hung around in third or fourth for most of the first lap, but would take the lead by the midpoint of the race. Doug, Scott, and John Sharp battled for position behind Jim for most of the mid-race but as Doug and John S. fell off the pace in the last lap, Scott began to make up ground on the leader.

Jim took excellent advantage of running first and used a lot of resources building a two-turn lead by the end of lap 2. But Scott used his wear and skill chips to reel in the leader during the third and final lap. With half of a lap remaining, Scott had cut Jim's lead in half. With one corner remaining, Scott pulled even with the leader at the cost of his significant advantage in chips. Earlier in this same lap, Dennis used the long back straight and his better tires to out-break and pass three cars through the next corner suddenly vaulting him into third, within sight of the leaders. Scott spun out in his bid for an unprecedented second WBC Speed Circuit championship in the final corner. Although Jim would retain the lead on this turn, Scott's push moved Jim off line, allowing Dennis to catch the two leaders. With the finish line in sight, Jim's engine failed him as he called for a little more speed. This allowed both Scott and Dennis to catch Jim - three wide with mere spaces to go for a win. But Dennis had the better top speed and was able to reach it - crossing the finish line just ahead of Jim. Scott finished third, a nose behind Jim. Kevin finished fourth after spending most of the race in the back of the pack. A forced pass with two corners left was the key move in a frantic lap that saw Kevin move up from 9th to claim the last plaque.

More details on Speed Circuit racing as practised at WBC at http://www.lucidphoenix.com/sc/wbc/

 GM      Doug Schulz  [9th Year]   NA 
    doug@lucidphoenix.com   NA

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