1998-99 Round 6

Hobby Town Turkey Trot - The Inside Edge, New Berlin, WI

Round 6 of 16

November 12, 2998

THRILLING "TROT• VICTORY FOR KAEHNY ON FINAL LAP

-Frugal Homebrewer finishes 1-2-

New Berlin, WI (Nov. 12th, 1998) - Veteran driver Jim Kaehny took until the closing seconds of the annual Turkey Trot race before putting himself into the record books as the all-time winningest driver in the series by taking the win at the Inside Edge road course. Kaehny, who has now won three races this season and two in a row, has gathered 15 career wins, none more thrilling than this one. After a botched mid-race pit stop when he parked his Swift-Ford too far from pit wall for the fuel hose to reach, KaBhny battled wheel-to-wheel with Ev Kamikawa in a race that had the de-slot rule in effect. On the final lap of the race Kamikawa, knowing one more de-slot would put him out, made a bold move to overtake Kaehny by out-braking him into turn one, where he dove down low and made a narrow pass. But two turns later he found he had carried too much speed and spun the Ferrari, allowing Kaehny to take the checkered flag seconds later.

"I was driving by the seat of my pants," said Kaehny. "That was incredible... some of the best racing in this series ever." The win bumped Kamikawa from the points lead and put Kaehny there by just two points after six races. Kamikawa was feeling the emotion of losing his chance to make history by becoming the only driver to have ever won the same race three years in a row. When approached by a television reporter with a question after the race, Kamikawa was heard yelling, "How can you ask me a stupid question like that," before shoving the reporter and storming off to his transporter. He had placed his car on the pole for the race with a record-setting 109 laps. His cause wasn't helped in the race by a lengthy pit stop once again. For the third race in a row the electronics broke down and the 'black box' of the Ferrari had to be replaced.

For the record, the fateful incident came with just six seconds remaining on the clock in the timed event. The Kamikawa DNF, according to de-slot rules, pushed John Baas up into second place, making it a Frugal

Homebrewer 1-2 finish, the first time that has taken place this season. Baas said, "It's fabulous. At the end there

I was just hanging out hoping someone would go out and that it wouldn't be my partner."                 •

Phil Cianciola, who has now been in the Final Four in every race he has entered this season, finished fourth. "We had about a fourth-place car tonight. I'm kind of glad I DNF'd at the end so I could watch that great finish," he kidded.

Rookie Larry Rotter gobbled up a feast at his first Trot, putting his Valvoline machine a career-high sixth on the grid, then moving up to fifth in the race. He beat out Tom Spehert, who finished sixth, by one lap and Chad Sorce, who finished seventh, by two laps. Rotter closed the gap to two points in the Rookie of the Year chase. Rounding out the field it was Phil Marich showing plenty of speed when he qualified a strong fourth. After running in the lead for a time in his heat race, things fell apart after the halfway point when he got stuffed down into a low groove where he said, "The car just wasn't right." Marich picked up two de-slots within the first two laps of the second half of the heat race and was parked for the night with a DNF. He did go on to win the Consi race, picking up a championship point for the effort.

One of the big stories of the night was the fact that for the first time in his five-year career Dave Austin failed to make the grid, missing by a single lap in qualifying. Afterward, a dejected Austin was asked about his new Toyota engine and MCI team. "Nothing's clicking on this team yet. It's one-third driver, one-third team, and one­ third engine. We've just got to figure out a way to do better for MCI," he said. He finished ninth, just ahead of last-place finisher, rookie Mike Prelozni driving another Toyota-powered car.

The second place finish pushed Baas into fourth in the standings, with Sorce now slipping to fifth in the chase for the PPPG Cup.

The series travels to the newly-rennovated Rapids Raceway road course in Milwaukee next on December 3rd, where Austin won the only other Rapids Grand Prix-Presented by Goodyear back in 1996.

RACE PREVIEW: HOBBY TOWN TURKEY TROT

WHAT: The 6th annual Hobby Town Turkey Trot

0 WHERE: The Inside Edge   New Berlin, WI

0 WHEN: Thursday, Nov. 12th 6:30 p.m.

0 DEFENDING CHAMPION: Ev Kamikawa

0 DEFENDING POLESITTER: Ev Kamikawa

0 TRACK LAYOUT: Temporary road course

0 RACE LENGTH: 20-min. Final with de-slot rule in effect

0 RACE RECORDS: Qualifying- 105 laps Ev Kamikawa  1997

Race-      287 laps Ev Kamikawa  1997

0  RACE #: 6 of 16

0 NEXT EVENT: The Rapids Grand Prix- Presented by Goodyear Thursday, Dec. 3rd

Rapids Raceway   Milwaukee, WI

0 INSTANT REPLAY

Ev Kamikawa's domination at this tricky road course continued, as he set a record in the race and won from the pole. The de-slot rule gobbled up all but three drivers in the end. Phil Cianciola raced Kamikawa hard until the final laps when Phil picked up an additional de-slot, then had to back off to protect the second place finish. Jim Kaehny managed third and was the only other driver running at the finish.

THE HOBBY TOWN TURKEY TROT HISTORY

Year RaceWinner Pole Winner

1993 PHIL CIANCIOLA JIM KAEHNY

1994 DAVE AUSTIN EV KAMIKAWA

1995 JOHN SHEA JOHN SHEA

1996 EV KAMIKAWA JIM KAEHNY

1997 EV KAMIKAWA EV KAMIKAWA

Things to watch for this year...

Lets see, on the list of things you can count on--death, taxes, Kamikawa winning here. Certainly, the Ferrari of Ev Kamikawa has a setup here that works... no, dominates the field. Kamikawa could set a record for winning the same race three years in a row. Who could knock him off? You have to consider the home track advantage of Jim Kaehny and the veteran patience of Phil Cianciola to make challenges again.

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