Parma Christmas Classic - Sanibel Speedway - Wauwatosa, WI

Round 8 of 16

December 17, 1998

TRUE TEAM EFFORT GIVES MARGETTA ANOTHER WIN

-Key pit stop the difference in Christmas C/assic-

Wauwatosa, WI (Dec. 17th, 1998} - It took Dan Margetta over three years to get his second win in the series this season, but it only took him two weeks before he nabbed his third career win here at the PARMA Christmas Classic on Sanibel Speedway. Chalk this one up to the Miller Lite pit crew. Dan did. "I've gotta credit this one to the crew. That was a fantastic stop and that's what enabled me to get by Austin. I don't know if we would have had enough to catch him without that pit stop," said Margetta.

Dave Austin ran off to an early lead in the race and had built up a cushion of about a half-dozen laps heading into the mid-race pit stop sequence. That's when disaster struck. Rusty from a lack of Final Four appearances thus far this season, the new MCI crew bungled the stop badly. Austin stalled the car attempting to exit the pits, and the crew inadvertently forgot to have the manual starter in place at the back of the car. In the time it took to get the MCI car back out onto the track Margetta, who set a Christmas Classic record with 320 laps, had zoomed by to take the lead for keeps. Austin, who settled for second place, kidded afterward, "I think the team should have been practicing pit stops the other day instead of putting up a Christmas tree, but we're back and second place proves that tonight," he said.

Both drivers were quick all night, with Austin qualifying second on the grid and Margetta third behind pole-sitter Phil Cianciola, who made the podium in third place. The defending series champion complained about traffic in the early stages of the event. "Chad (Sorce) was all over the place, blocking me and getting in my way in the first half and that really put us behind. He did the right thing and let me by later, but it was too much ground to make up on the leaders by then," Cianciola explained.

Sorce, who finished well off the pace in fourth, (75 laps off the pace} said the car was "hitting something on the track in Tarpon Bay Turnaround and it was really frustrating." Sorce and Margetta, who are teammates this season, both won their heat races as well. They remain fifth and sixth respectively in the points standings at the season's halfway point holiday break.

The PARMA race provided several major stories, including the fact that points leader and two-time defending race champion Jim Kaehny didn't even make the field. Kaehny, who dropped to second in the standings, could only muster ninth. "We tried a brand new car and setup for this race and it was like I was driving on ice," he said. The Team Frugal Homebrewer stable for which Kaehny drives did not fare well in this event. Owner John Baas could qualify no higher than eighth, but he worked his way up to sixth with his ill-handling mount. And sophomore driver Phil Marich didn't show up for the race, which was a surprise to the boss Baas. "I don't know where he is," said the puzzled and slightly miffed owner.

Ferrari's driver Ev Kamikawa saw his Final Four string snapped at six, as he had to sit and watch the Final with a fifth place to show for the effort. Still, combined with Kaehny's disastrous showing Kamikawa gathered enough points to make him the PPPG Cup points leader by a single point at the holiday break.

Tony Perkins drove the Players-sponsored car to a solid seventh place and Tom Spehert brought up the rear in eighth position. Neither of the rookies of the series this season were able to make the field on the big island road course, with Mike Prelozni finishing 10th and Larry Rotter in 11th position, both out of the points.

The new Ortega Timing and Scoring system was used for the entire event for the first time this season and provided updated lap totals throughout the event, which saw not a single DNF and not a single car going into Lake Murex, where last year two top contenders crashed into the water and a murky fate.

The series begins the second half of the schedule in 1999 on January 7th, when stops will be made at the various tracks for the second time this season, starting with the Mini Milwaukee Mile and the "Firestone 400" event to be held in Franklin Wisconsin. Kamikawa is the defending race champion there.

RACE PREVIEW: THE PARMA CHRISTMAS CLASSIC

0    WHAT: The 6th annual PARMA Christmas Classic

0    WHERE: Sanibel Speedway    Wauwatosa, WI

0    WHEN: Thursday, Dec. 17th 6:30 p.m.

0  DEFENDING CHAMPION:  Jim Kaehny

0  DEFENDING POLESITTER: Jim Kaehny

0   TRACK LAYOUT: Gulfside island road course

0  RACE LENGTH: 20-min. Final Four

0    RACE RECORDS: Qualifying- 129 laps Jim Kaehny, 1997/Phil Cianciola 1996 Race-               313 laps              Jim Kaehny, 1997

0  RACE #: 8 of 16

0    NEXT EVENT: The Firestone 400

Thursday, Jan. 7th

Mini Milwaukee Mile  Franklin, WI

0    INSTANT REPLAY

There was plenty of excitement, except none of it had anything to do with winner Jim Kaehny who dominated. Two drivers, Chad Sorce and Phil Cianciola, crashed into Lake Murex a year ago, Cianciola going into the water while leading the last lap of his heat race! Tom Spehert made his first Final Four in his fourth series start and Rick Osterbrink competed in his final race before moving to Sicily.

THE PARMA CHRISTMAS CLASSIC HISTORY

Year  Race Winner       Pole Winner

1993 PHIL CIANCIOLA PHIL CIANCIOLA

1994 DAVE AUSTIN EV KAMIKAWA

1995 PHIL CIANCIOLA DAN MARGETTA

1996 JIM KAEHNY PHIL CIANCIOLA

1997 JIM KAEHNY JIM KAEHNY

Things to watch for this year... ·

Jim Kaehny tries to win here for the third year in a row, something no driver has ever been able to do. This is a place where Dan Margetta always runs strong and should be considered a Final Four prospect at least. And Phil Cianciola has never won on his home track, something he'd like to change this year. Add veteran Ev Kamikawa and that should be the list of top contenders on the island.

SlotCART Racing Series

1204 N. 120th Street, Wauwatosa, WI 53226

Tel/Fax: (414) 476-1931 • www.620wtmj.com (Click on GreenHouse)