ACRL: Rose Cup Race Report

Kreger, Arnold Win ACRL Portland Rose Cup Race, Fresno Takes Team Title By Roger Diez

Portland, OR June 13, 1999 - Tom Kreger eked out a close win over Steve Romak to take the Super Sports 2000 segment of the American City Racing League's third round at the Rose Cup races here. In 1998, Kreger had one pole and one win in two races...so far in 1999 he has equaled that record in a single event. Kreger switched his Ferenco Lola from Team Vancouver to Team Las Vegas for the event, in hopes of taking the team title as well, but Las Vegas came up short in that quest. Team Fresno's Romak, 1998 ACRL Drivers' Champion, pushed his Lola past Kreger at the start and began to pull out a modest lead, while the battle for third place among Brad Pierce (Las Vegas), John Ostlund (Fresno)and Rick Lee (Reno) began to lag behind the leaders. Lee dropped out with a duff engine at the end of lap two, elevating teammate Scott Shelley to fifth spot. On Lap four, Team Hollywood's Fiorenzo Tirinnanzi spun and Portland's Joe Giroski collected him in turn six, bringing out the caution for the next six circuits while Giroski's crippled car was towed away.

Kreger passed Romak on the restart, and managed to hold him off to the checker, with only .539 second to spare. The pair put on a stirring race for the last six laps, and while Romak got alongside several times, he couldn't make the pass. "It's great being able to race that close and come away with no damage," said Kreger. "I'll be replaying this one in my head for a while." Behind the leaders, Ostlund's Lola romped home in third after Pierce spun his very loose Carbir in Turn 12. Shelley also got by Pierce, finishing fourth in his Swift DB-2.

Fresno driver Frank Arnold made a triumphant return to the series, setting fast qualifying time and a new track record for the Aerocell Sports 2000 class. The split start sent the S2000 field off in a tight pack at the green. Arnold's Ashford Design Swift led all 19 laps, but was pushed hard by the Team Reno Swift of John Bachofner in the closing laps. Bachofner spun in Turn 12 on the final circuit, pulling back onto the course directly in front of Team San Diego's Ian Wood and winning the drag race to the flag. Second fast Sports 2000 qualifier Bill Bachofner retired with mechanical problems after just three laps. The six-car Sports 2000 field was the largest of the season to date.

Team honors went to Fresno by virtue of overall finishes of second, third and sixth. The accumulated points total for Fresno was 259.

Portland Rose Cup Race Results: Finishing position, start position ( ), driver, team, chassis, class, laps complete, qualifying time, best race lap, reason out (if any).

1 (1) Tom Kreger, Las Vegas, Lola 88/90, SS2, 19, 1:15.316, 1:17.261 2 (2) Stephen Romak, Fresno, Lola, SS2, 19, 1:15.671, 1:17.140 3 (5) John Ostlund, Fresno, Lola 89/90, SS2, 19, 1:16.634, 1:17.219 4 (7) Scott Shelley, Reno, Swift DB2, SS2, 19, 1:17.834, 1:18.290 5 (4) Brad Pierce, Las Vegas, Carbir, SS2, 19, 1:16.159, 1:16.755 6 (9) Frank Arnold, Fresno, Swift DB2, S2, 19, 1:19.905, 1:20.834 7 (11) John Bachofner, Reno, Swift DB2, S2, 19, 1:20.891, 1:21.020 8 (14) Ian Wood, San Diego, Swift DB2, S2, 19, No Time, 1:22.291 9 (12) Leo Giroski, Portland, Tiga Wasp, S2, 19, 1:22.037, 1:21.256 10(13) George Greenwood, Portland, Tiga, S2, 19, 1:24.989, 1:25.432 11 (8) Fiorenzo Tirinnanzi, Hollywood, Carbir, SS2, 19, 1:18.409, 1:18.881, Accident 12 (6) Joe Giroski, Portland, Tiga Wasp, SS2, 19, 1:17.746, 1:18.160, Accident 13 (10) Bill Backofner, Las Vegas, Swift DB2, 3, 1:20.131, 1:21.326, Mech. 14 (3) Rick Lee, Reno, Carbir, SS2, 2, 1:16.024, 1:20.327, Mech. 15 (15) Tom Vigil, San Diego, Lola 596, S2, DNS 16 (16) Tom Masters, Reno, Swift DB5, SS2, DNS

Race Time: 30:42.703 Race Length: 36.936 Miles Track Length: 1.944 miles

SS2 Average Lap Speed: 72.160 mph SS2 Fastest Race Lap: 1:16.755 (Pierce, new record ) SS2 Margin of Victory: 0.539 second

S2 Average Lap Speed: 70.693 mph S2 Fastest Race Lap: 1:20.834 (Arnold) S2 Margin of Victory: 15.28 seconds

Team Points: Fresno 259 Las Vegas 237 Reno 209 Portland 189 San Diego 70 Hollywood 61

SS2 DRIVER POINT STANDINGS S2 DRIVER POINT STANDINGS (BEST 2 OF 3 RACES): (BEST 2 OF 3 RACES): 1 Stephen Romak 195 1 Duke Johnson 102 2 John Ostlund 188 Michael Scully 102 3 Chris Ronson 175 Frank Arnold 102 4 Peter Zarcades 172 4 Jeff Clinton 93 5 Scott Shelley 160 Jeff Anderson 93 6 Fiorenzo Tirinnanzi 156 John Bachofner 93 7 Rick Lee 154 7 Doug Allen 88 8 Jay Messenger 149 8 Ian Wood 88 9 Sandy Popescu 140 9 Leo Giroski 84 Rick Eickhoff 140 10 GeorgeGreenwood 80 11 Tom Kreger 102 11 BillBachofner 76 12 Brad Pierce 80 13 Joe Giroski 73 TEAM POINT STANDINGS 14 Edd Ozard 64 1 Las Vegas 650 15 Dennis Pavlina 61 2 Fresno 642 Margie Smith-Haas 61 3 Reno 601 4 San Diego 353 5 Hollywood 202 6 Portland 189 7 Los Angeles 140 8 St. Louis 139 9 Vancouver, WA 52