2017-18 Round 12
Quarryfest Deslotmania - Quarry Heights Raceway - Wauwatosa, WI
February 22, 2018
Round 12 of 16
Wiedemann Takes Gold At Deslotmania
(Wauwatosa, WI) -- In the one event that isn't in the Winter Olympics that surely should be, John Wiedemann took the gold medal in "Slot Car: Deslot Format". The special rules event that requires precision driving, Wiedemann was flawless for the entire 20-minute final, finishing four laps ahead of Ev Kamikawa and going home with the "Pole-to-Win" prize fund for taking the checkers after having won the pole position. "JW" led the grid with a 4.150 second lap, ahead of Bill Black, who lined up on the front row as well. But while Black would suffer a DNF with three "de-slots" in his heat, Wiedemann would hold off Kamikawa in the third heat race to advance to the final along with the Ferrari driver, who transferred in with the highest lap total of the non-heat winners.
Wiedemann's Angry Squirrel Speedspot teammate Mike Lack easily won the opening heat, but for the second race in a row, his car would meltdown in the final and finished a distant fourth, allowing the championship points lead to shrink by 20 markers to 57 with four races left in the 2017-18 campaign.
Pete Dorn took down his Black-Atom Racing teammate, Bill Black and Dan Margetta in the second heat, to make his second final of his career, as both Black and Margetta would DNF due to deslots in the heat. Dorn would score third on the night, his best career finish.
The final was never in doubt as Wiedemann opened an early lead and never looked back, at one point going up by as many as seven laps, but backed it down towards the end to avoid any "deslots" and to avoid having any of the issues with his car that teammate had.
After a three week layoff, the series gets right back at it next Thursday, heading to Vegas and Stardust Speedway oval for the Stardust 500.
Quarryfest Deslotmania Fast Facts
Race date: Thursday, Feb 22
Track: Quarry Heights Raceway, 2 mile natural terrain road course, Wauwatosa, WI
Race distance: 20 minutes
Twitter: @indyslotcar
IndySlotCar Website: indyslotcar.com
2016 race winner: Mike Lack (No. 1 JAM Racing Dallara-Honda)
2016 Chick-fil-A Brookfield P1 Award winner: Mike Lack (No. 1 JAM Racing Dallara-Honda)
One-lap qualifying record: Dean Strom, 4.025 seconds, 2015
Race record: Mike Lack, 248 laps, 2017
YouTube Broadcast: IndySlotCar Channel
At-track schedule (all times local):
6:30 – Driver introductions
7:00 – IndySlotCar Series Practice
7:20 – Qualifying for the Chick-fil-A Brookfield P1 Award (group qualifying/ fastest single lap)
7:45 – Heat races
8:30 – Quarryfest Deslotmania
Race Notes:
· Ev Kamikawa returned to victory lane at the last round at Rapids, his 41st career win and the first since January of ’17.
· Kamikawa’s win makes him the seventh different winner this season.
· Dan Margetta has a streak of six straight finals, the second longest streak of the season, behind Mike Lack’s run of seven to open the season.
· Mike Lack has won the last two de-slot races, as the defending race winner from Deslotmania and having won the Turkey Trot in November after having not won a single “de-slot rules” race in his previous nine seasons.
Deckertring Grand Prix PRE-EVENT QUOTES:
Mike Lack No. 41 Angry Squirrel Speedsport: These deslot races aren’t so bad
John Wiedemann No. 59 Angry Squirrel Speedsport: Shut up Mike!
Dan Margetta No. 20 Team Castaway: The last time I was at a racetrack it was sunny and 79, what happened?!
QUARRYFEST DESLOTMANIA HISTORY (5 event, 2013 - Present)
Date Race Winner
1/30/2013 Mark Walczak
2/13/2014 Matt Hayek
2/19/2015 Dan Margetta
2/18/2016 Matt Hayek
2/16/2017 Mike Lack
Multiple Race Winners: Matt Hayek-2