The 2011 Run for the Championship!!

[Rob Simmons]

Now that we have completed this weekend's racing fun and have a couple weeks until the next Slant 6 race in Woodburn, Oregon 25-26 June...

Let's look at what the "Run for the 2011 Championship" is shaping up like:

Killer Bees racer CJ Stoakes nabbed the first race win in Las Vegas back in April earning 41 points. PJ Jesiolowski was 2nd with 31 points.

The next race of the season was over to the East Coast where a "Double Points" race was held at the Mason-Dixon Dragstrip in Hagerstown, MD. That 2 day race allowed Lou Madsen to take the lead with 52 points where he won one round on Saturday and won the race on Sunday.

CJ was bumped further down the ladder by Saturday's race winner Charlie Schmid who earned 41 points by winning Saturday and then earning that one point for racing on Sunday. Ron Hamby and Ryan Covalt also earned 42 points by winning rounds both Saturday and Sunday.

So, at the end of the Hagerstown race we had the East Coast racers taking advantage of the 2-Day race and the lead in National Points for 2011.

Lou Madsen - 52
Charlie Schmid - 42
Ron Hamby - 42
Ryan Covalt - 42
CJ Stoakes - 41
PJ Jesiolowski - 31
Brian Droschak - 31
Micah Covalt (Rookie) - 22
Seymour Pederson - 21
Scott Jones (Rookie) - 21

But wait! This past weekend we had simultaneous races at Kearney, NE and Medford, OR!!

Points leader Lou Madsen was on hand at Kearney in his '68 Dart with its freshly installed turbo set up. He ran on Saturday, but then let his friend Neal Hines (Rookie) take the wheel on Sunday. Lou and Neal finished installing the turbo just a couple days before the race and DROVE it from Minnesota to Nebraska for the race!! They made it there and back without incident and now Lou will have to convince Neal to give him back the keys to the Dart.

So, how did this weekend shake out? Here's what I've been able to glean from the different posts I've seen:

With another 2-Day race in Kearney and a 1-Day race in Medford we had a lot of movement on the "Leader Board"...

Mike Jeffrey came on the scene with a bang and jumped into the Number 1 seat by winning both days in Kearney and earning 62 total points,...

But there's this little lady further out West that wasn't just sitting around over the weekend either. Mrs. PJ Jesiolowski also won her race in Medford for another 31 points to tie at 62 for that Number 1 seat!

CJ Stoakes was also at Medford and won a round to put him back in third with 52 points.

So, after an exciting weekend of racing we have the Killer Bees back on top with 2 racers tied for 1st and another in 3rd. Here's what the Leader Board looks like getting ready for the next Killer Bees race in Woodburn, Oregon:

PJ Jesiolowski - 62
Mike Jeffrey - 62
Lou Madsen - 53
CJ Stoakes - 52
Charlie Schmid - 42
Ron Hamby - 42
Ryan Covalt - 42
George Harris - 32
Brian Droschak - 31
Seymour Pederson - 23
Micah Covalt (Rookie) - 22
Dennis Schumers - 22
Richard Bjerklund - 21
Scott Jones (Rookie) - 21

Look for the Killer Bees to remain on top through mid July as the next two races are out West at Woodburn, Oregon and Eureka, CA.

Then the racing action will swing back East with 2-Day races at both Elk Creek, VA and Knoxville, TN (that's a total of 4 races!) before turning back West for two more as the racing returns to Woodburn and Medford.

Then in September and October the racing will bounce back and forth from TN to CA to KY and back to CA to end the season. (Unless Charlie Schmid or someone else can reinvigorate the South GA race)

Will those 2-Day races on the East Coast make the difference and allow the Travelling Trophy to stay out East for another year?

Will Lou Madsen continue to push hard and come out on top for 2011?

Will PJ Jesiolowski win her next two races as well and make it a clean sweep?

Who will be the "Rookie of the Year" for 2011? Killer Bees Scott Jones and East Coast racer Micah Covalt have won two rounds apiece, but Micah is a point up on Scott by attending that 2-Day race in MD...

Follow along with us as we keep an eye on the racing action across the nation!

That's it for now from Racing Headquarters. I'm your Laff-A-Lympics commentator, Rob Simmons...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EC4l-P20V-Q

_________________
Rob
I want to "Slant" the world!
... one vehicle at a time...

[Dart270]

Rob,

Thanks for the detailed play-by-plays and points. Kearney was a 2-day race, and I ran Saturday but lost 1st round (1 pt). Neal raced Sunday and won 1 round so he has 11 pts (to be clear).

Believe that puts me in 3rd with 53 pts. Sorry CJ!

I wonder if we can get Mike J to come to another race??? I was noting that he is one of the few Slant 6 racers who still bracket races regularly, and is really deadly...

Lou

_________________
Return of the 64 Dart. Hang on...

[Ceej]

Thats OK Lou! I still have two races to put some points on the sheet, and they are historically 40 pointers!

Now that was just evil...

I keep changing the car, I'll be lucky to get it to stage.



CJ

_________________

Tyrde-Browne Racing

I'm off to find myself. If I should return before I get back, keep me here.

[Rob Simmons]

Thanks Lou. I've edited it above. I'll shoot you, Seymour, Rick and Ceej the running 2011 spreadsheet to make sure I'm on track.

_________________
Rob
I want to "Slant" the world!
... one vehicle at a time...

[Dart270]

Yeah, tell me about the new setups...

Thanks, Rob!

Lou

_________________
Return of the 64 Dart. Hang on...

[Rob Simmons]

Did I get Seymour in the right group? Is he a Killer Bee or an East Coaster?

We never did come up with a better name for the East Coast group after the North and South combined, did we?

What about Neal Hines and Ryan Peterson? They're both from MN too, right?

_________________
Rob
I want to "Slant" the world!
... one vehicle at a time...

[Rob Simmons]

With the conclusion of the race at Woodburn, Oregon we have a new leader in the Points Race for 2011,... and she's a Girl!

PJ Jesiolowski continued to rack up points in her third race of the season at Woodburn, OR by finishing Runner-Up behind another female racer, Wendy Pine.

That puts PJ solidly into the #1 slot as we battle our way to crown the Slant 6 Drag Racing Champion for 2011!

She has earned 31 points in each of her three races for a total of 93. She has one more race where she can claim points (Total of 4).

Will she be able to make history and become our very first female Champion? She's "Chasin' the Dream" this year, but it's "all about the light"...
Check it out: http://www.pjjonessingscountry.com/

Will the Killer Bees put together a race with enough racers to give her the opportunity to earn 41 or even 51 points at Woodburn or Medford later this season?

Or will those heavy hitters from the East Coast start showing up and earning points at races planned for Elk Creek, Knoxville, Bristol and Clay City to give her a run for her money?

Lou Madsen seems hungry for some wins this season and still has two races where he can claim points. He's in a three-way tie for third with 53 points.

Three-time National Champion Ron Hamby has plenty of opportunity with only two races completed and standing in a four-way tie for fourth with 42 points. Ron is hosting the new Elk Creek race this year that is replacing the long standing North Wilksboro race. The Roll Call for Elk Creek is starting to look pretty good, so there will be some points on the table for him to grab.

There are some other East Coast racers that have yet to make an appearance. Two-time National Champion Rodney Hargis and last year's Champion Meril Bruner will start showing up to races at Elk Creek, Knoxville, Bristol and Clay City.

There are some other Killer Bees racers that would like to add their names to the Slant 6 history books as well. CJ Stoakes and Wendy Pine are in that three-way tie for third with Lou Madsen with 53 points. And then there is the ever popular Richard Bjerklund (Fopar) that just doubled his points at Woodburn to put himself in a four-way tie for fourth at 42 points.

Here is where the 2011 points stand with the conclusion of the Woodburn race.

PJ Jesiolowski - 93
Mike Jeffrey - 62
CJ Stoakes - 53
Wendy Pine - 53
Lou Madsen - 53
Richard Bjerklund - 42
Charlie Schmid - 42
Ron Hamby - 42
Ryan Covalt - 42
George Harris - 32
Brian Droschak - 31
Seymour Pederson - 23
Micah Covalt (Rookie) - 22
Dennis Schumers - 22
Scott Jones (Rookie) - 21

Stay tuned for the latest in Slant 6 drag racing action!

I'm your Laff-A-Lympics commentator, Rob Simmons...

_________________
Rob
I want to "Slant" the world!
... one vehicle at a time...

[Doc]

Rob,
Thanks for the fast-up-date.
It sure looks like PJ is "on-a-roll".
DD

[Dart270]

Thanks for the update, Rob! Should get interesting after Elk Creek in 3 wks...

Lou

_________________
Return of the 64 Dart. Hang on...

[Rob Simmons]

This is fun stuff!

I edited the list to fix an oversight. I had left out Micah Covalt.

So far we have eight Rookies racing with us this season (4 Killer Bees and 4 East Coasters )

It looks like Micah has a good chance of following Ryan as Rookie of the Year!

We've had 44 racers earn points so far this season, so we're a little over half way there to meeting or exceeding our best two years (2007 / 2008) where we had 85 racers nationally.

Rookies account for 18% of our racers so far this year!

_________________
Rob
I want to "Slant" the world!
... one vehicle at a time...

[Dart270]

Great stats there, Rob. Keep up the event reporting!

Lou

_________________
Return of the 64 Dart. Hang on...

[Rick Covalt]

We are bringing another rookie,and a lady at that, to Elk Creek. Ryan's wife, Whitney, will run Lou's Slantkota. We are trying to get her hooked. I think she will like it. I also think she would like it if we had some more ladies! Hint Hint.

Thanks for the reporting Rob.

Rick

_________________
2 Mopars come with Spark plug tubes. One is a highly refined, record setting, world class, racing machine. The other is a 426 CI. boat anchor!
]

[Ceej]

Maybe Edd will pipe in on his experience supporting his lady racer. He's got some positive things to share about being crew chief for PJ!

I'll tell you, the ladies certainly can be consistent at the tree!

CJ

_________________

Tyrde-Browne Racing

I'm off to find myself. If I should return before I get back, keep me here.

[Mrs.pj225]

Come on "Whitney"!! We need more women racers! CJ...I am going to keep my crew chief "all to myself" until this season is over.

ROB..Thanks for the plug on my new Country album.

[Rob Simmons]