NJHOSCR Race #3 - Full Circle Raceway - Saddle Brook, NJ - Sep. 28

Getting to Full Circle Raceway, from anywhere in America, is pretty easy. All you gotta do is take Rt. 80 East until you get almost all the way to the end. Just before you drive into the Hudson River, take the exit for the Garden State Parkway, then do the exits thing. Take the Parkway exit, then, before you get off the exit, you gotta exit the exit into another exit. Before you've finished taking the exit from the first exit, you gotta exit the exit from the second exit...until, finally exiting all the previous exits and making a left onto Pehle Avenue. A couple of lefts and rights later, and IF your left front tire didn't explode from the Saddle Brook infinity exit, you'll be at John Ciccone's gorgeous home, ready to race. Welcome to North Jersey.

Last Sunday we dropped the green at John's track for the first time in this new season. The usual suspects returned of course. Anthony Zampeli stopping in for the first time this year was a pretty cool bonus. As well, John Paul Ricci and Stefan Goetzinger were making their first ever start on John's difficult road course.

Trans Am Camaros and Mustangs hit the pavement first. Skinny tires and wobbly bodied cars are a tough way to start the day for drivers new to FCR, so, naturally, the experienced Trans-Am drivers made quick work of the field in their 2-minute heats. Dave K. was the first to rotate in. Dave's familiar blue #37 Camaro has turned as many laps on FCR as just about anyone else and it showed when his 8 minutes were up. He pitched consistent high lap numbers due mostly to pressure from hard charging JP Ricci, who gave no quarter when they were on track together. Mot Fitzcharles hooked in two rotations later and, as usual, scraped together a huge bucket of crabs to thrust himself into podium contention. John O'Brien also showed veteran toughness after starting the race in the green (last station) gutter lane, then cooling off for twelve rotations, then reconnecting after 30 minutes to lay down three terrific scores with his amazing looking Fruit Stripe Gum Camaro. That effort thrust him into a 3rd place tie with his brother, David Singer, and Jeff Crosley. Lastly, and just as impressive as Johnny O's cool off/reheat performance, JP plugged in for one final time into the red gutter lane and somehow bowled his best T/a frame to pull him into a now 4-way tie for 3rd! This is the kind of parity we hoped the shorter time format would produce. A fabulous start to the day.

Trans-Am Results

1. Dave Kosch (68 laps)

2. Mot Garlits (67)

3. John O'Brien (61 laps, 32 sections)

4. David Singer (61/15)

5. Jeff Crosley (61/12)

6. JP Ricci (61/9)

7. John Ciccone (59/42)

8. Anthony Zampeli (59/28)

9. Joe Lupico (57)

10. Jimmy Bee (55)

11. Charlie Clohessey (54)

12. Stefan Goetzinger (53)

The even more difficult to drive Indy Car class lined up next. These little bastards, with their limited power specs, crappy handling and Lego brick shaped bodies, usually produce the smallest number of laps and highest number of marshalling seizures; kind of what you'd expect on John's serpent shaped track sections. This season we hoped the shorter race format would work as sort of a laxative and provide a better, even race flow. It did just that, with ties up and down the finish order, a fast race finish and very few track calls. It also helped that Full Circle Raceway was in great condition throughout the day. I don't think we wiped down the track at all If I remember correctly. Kudos to John for working through all those track preparation aches.

In the end, Dave K. came out on top with his Yoohoo inspired, blue and yellow #5; a few sections ahead of Mot Fitzcharles. John O'Brien earned his second consecutive 3rd place finish after a close tie-breaker over JP Ricci. John Ciccone had a great race in his bright white "Caspar" Indy Car to round out the Indy Car top 5.

Indy Car Results

1. Dave Kosch

2. Mot Fitzcharles

3. John O'Brien

4. JP Ricci

5. John Ciccone

6. Anthony Zampeli

7. Dave Singer

8. Stefan Goetzinger

9. Charlie Clohessey

10. Joe Lupico

11. Jeff Crosley

12. Jimmy Bee

Before getting underway with TFX class, we enjoyed our customary pizza break, otherwise known as the Jimmy Bee 30-minute comedy hour. TFX would be quite a contrast to the Indy Cars we had run earlier, performance-wise. Lap counts were sure to balloon. Anthony Z. rotated in first and set the bar highest for himself, dialing up a strong 66. Two rotations later, Dave K. would take the lead, churning out 73 laps in a ride borrowed from his brother. Not one to be outdone by his own backup car, Mot then put his foot through the floorboard and yeeted out three more laps than his brother, giving him the lead for good. Two rotations later, Jeff Crosley chalked up his best finish on the day with a solid 68 lap total, good enough to earn 3rd. Anthony Z. drove his pants off to finish 4th and Charlie C. rounded out the top 5.

TFX Class Results

1. Mot Fitzcharles

2. Dave Kosch

3. Jeff Crosley

4. Anthony Zampeli

5. Charlie Clohessey

6. John O'Brien

7. JP Ricci

8. David Singer

9. John Ciccone

10. Stefan Goetzinger

11. Jeff Scott

12. Joe Lupico

13. Jimmy Bee

Our standard show closer, the Sportsman class cars, rolled under the gantry next. Final race length was dialed up to 3 minutes and all drivers prepped to run way more laps than previous. Tire cleaning stops might need to be a thing.

As mentioned earlier, the FCR track surface held up perfectly, despite the extended heat race length and drivers went through without much drama. Mot laid waste to the Sportsman field yet again, finishing with about 4 million laps, to no one's surprise. However, for the second week in a row, we had a new podium finisher climbing up to the 2nd step. At our last race Jeff Scott drove his new Turbo Dan Sportsman right up to Mot's front door to bring home a 2nd place check. This time, JP Ricci drove his Veyron bodied Sportsman car damn near all the way home, earning a well deserved 2nd place finish. Dave K., Anthony Zampeli and Charlie Clohessey rounded out the Sportsman top 5.

Sportsman Class Results

1. Mot Fitzgnarls

2. JP Ricci

3. Dave Kosch

4. Anthony Zampeli

5. Charlie Clohessey

6. John O'Brien

7. Jeff Crosley

8. Jeff Scott

9. John Ciccone

10. David Singer

11. Joe Lupica

12. Stefan Goetzinger

13. Jimmy Bee

Congrats to all drivers. Huge props to John Ciccone for providing a fabulous, full day of racing and the use of his lovely home. Next Race (Sunday, Oct. 5) at Jimmy Bee's super fast Maxx Trax in historic Lafayette, NJ for NJHO Race #4. We hope to see you there.