Aiea City Beach, Hawaii -- The second week in a row at the famous sandy shore brought more controversy and surprisingly opportunity then any other week in the fourth Past Present Racing League season. When the sand settled it was Jordan Robson the Fall Madness 5 Racing Champion picking up the win and leap frogging in the standings two positions overall and into the top ten in Classic Racing. A night marred with angry competitors about the tracks steep ramps left officials scratching heads and drivers wondering what might of been.
"I got lucky tonight with this racing victory" touted Robson pilot of Black Stallion. "I never once got an unpredictable amount of air and managed to see many opponents succumb to over driving the track." In the final round of Thunder Trax Robson matched up against dark horse title candidate Mark Iron who was two tenths away from being the fastest truck all evening in qualifying in AM/PM Rocket. Robson was treed by the North Carolina native but saw things swing his way when the Rocket literally became just that over the first set of cars. "I saw him go up and away and knew it was my race then" said Jordan.
"Coming into the event tonight I didn't expect to make it past round one, let alone be P2 on the time sheet and finish second overall" Mark Iron spoke. "I wound up launching way to high on the first set being over anxious. If I could have back peddled the first set that would have been my race" sighed Iron.
One man left not so much retrospective but livid was Tim Smith our Overall points leader who went out early on by launching his truck to hard on the first set of cars. "This is ridiculous. It's a per event thing now where my truck can not adapt to the ramps PPRL provides us in the classic division" lamented Bigfoot's driver. "I'm tired of losing points because of this, I realize PPRL's trying to provide tough tracks that make events unpredictable but it's been this way since the second classic event and I'm tired of it" as he gazed off into the ocean.
League President Dave Collard had little sympathy for the likes of Smith or anyone else bitter about track choice for the classic division. "I realize drivers are ultra competitive but this is the hand they're going to be dealt all season with ramps. Currently the series has run at Aiea for every season with the same course design and ramp angles. We're not changing a thing about this place and look forward to returning in the future. We as a League do not have a giant amount of raceable Classic Tracks available that fit the PPRL criteria and we're doing the best we can with what we got so to speak."
Collard also was questioned by competitors about the lack of turning courses in the classic division and provided the following response: "We get that complaint every season after we run a few turning courses to start things off then hit the drag racing meat and potato's of the year. Classic Racing simply was not conducted on turning courses on a constant basis and we're attempting to depict that to everyone by including a modest amount of both. I would love to have one or two more turning courses but they simply do not exist right now."
Looking at the points standings Tim Smith holds a little over a 40 point lead heading into Cocoa Beach in Overall Standings. Austin Grams and Dave Collard have been suffering the same luck as Smith and haven't gained or lost ground in several weeks. Mark Iron has steadily begun to regain some missed points with his second place finish at the beach (with a 10 point Fast Loser deduction factored in) while Jordan Robson moves within two events of a points lead. Classic Racing points see Ryan "Hot Head" McCauley atop the standings by ten markers over Tim Smith. With both drivers faltering this week it's left things ultra tight at the top of the heap. The entire top ten in the standings have a shot at the title at this point. Jordan Robson with his event win leap frogs two thirds of the pack into 9th spot and with a win at the next classic event he could possibly be sitting tied for the points lead! Classic Racing will go to the wire at Monster Mania's Classic Clash for sure.
As stated the series concludes it's Hawaii Mini-Tour this weekend at Cocoa Beach Off Road Raceway. A special start time has been arranged at 7:30 PM EST to accommodate fans of the Nascar Toyota AllStar Challenge Race held in Irwindale, California at 10PM EST. Racing for Cocoa Beach is slated to start at 8:15 PM EST with the first heat races. The sandy and watery beach track had been labeled track of the year for circuits in season two. It's high speed puddle jumping twisty turns will separate the good from elite of circuit racing! Do not miss it!
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