Once again it was time for ECHORR the Veterans Day Race to honor our heroic Veterans who fought for our country. There were 17 racers making their trip from the states of Washington D.C., New Jersey, and Pennsylvania to the back roads near Oley, PA to attend the annual event.
Saturday was an open practice for everyone who wanted the opportunity to get their cars prepared for Sundays event. Our fine host Jody and Mark Williams had snacks prepared for those who were there. This was nice having something like this included on a practice day. When practice was over around 5 a few of us went out for dinner to the local eatery. A few hours of socializing went by before we decided to leave and get some rest before race day.
On Sunday morning the doors opened at 8am and there was coffee and doughnuts for all. Everyone had more practice time and racing was to start at 10am for the Nostalgia cars. A little bit of history and a nice tribute speech about our Veterans was given by Herman Farrer. This was followed by a moment of silence for all the Veterans who served our country.
This year the Wizzard road course was set up as the shorter 12 foot version. The starting racers were called to the track and we all realized there were no colored lane stickers. Someone forgot them and I will not mention any names but their first initial was Randy. We improvised with tape and other stickers we could find (thank you Mark). So, after we got through the "Stickergate" debacle, Bryan "BK" Kisthardt (Macungie, PA) took top honors defending his 1st place finish of last year winning the race. 2nd was Derek Scheaffer (Dillsburg, PA) and Dan Wirfel (Wellsville, PA) taking home the 3rd place plaque. Less than one lap separated all of the top three finishers. 4th was Randy Jay Haydt (Kutztown, PA) and with a good run for 5th was Sheldon Hiester (Shillington, PA).
Next on the racing agenda was the Indy car class on the 24 foot long 6 lane Tomy oval. Thank you to Joe Hoopes for being prepared and making all the colored lane stickers using masking tape and colored markers ending "Stickergate". Showing he has a little bit of oval racing experience and using a Hiram built Indy car was Randy taking the 1st place finish. BK was 2nd and Hiram Durant (Fleetwood, PA) in 3rd. In another top 5 finish was Dan in 4th then then followed by Donny Auriema (New Providence, NJ) for 5th.
After the first two races it was time for the food break. Everyone enjoyed the sausage sandwiches, side dishes, and deserts served by our host Mark and Jody.
After the food break it was back to the road course for the final event. The Super Stock class is always fast and competitive shorter Wizzard track version. The top two places were less than 1 lap apart. 1st place went to Derek and in 2nd was BK. 3rd through 5th again were only separated by less than 1 lap giving 3rd place to Hiram. Donny and Randy tied for 4th, but Donny had 6 sections more than Randy placing him in 4th. Randy finished in 5th.
BK and Derek did a great job at the end of the day to tech the cars.
There was close racing in all three classes we raced throughout the day. The first and second places in some classes were separated by only one lap. All throughout the classes there were ties below the 5th place position.
I would like to thank Mark and Jody for hosting the annual ECHORR Veterans event at Randy's Raceway II. Thanks to the racers who made it a great day of racing.
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