THUNDERJET CHALLENGE

DATE	3/26/2005
RACE	#13	Race Report below
	DRIVER	VEHICLE	ROUND	ROUND 1		ROUND 2		TOTAL
	NAME	BODY STYLE	TIME / LANE	LAPS-SEC.		LAPS-SEC.		LAPS-SEC.

1	Jeff Eve	Lola GT	10 Min.	203	16	203	32	406	48
2	John Peckham	XKE Jaguar	"	202	63	202	24	404	87
3	Mike King	Dino Ferrari	"	205	50	199	2	404	52
4	Larry Weaver	GTO 250	"	196	63	195	23	391	86
5	Steve Dickinson	Mustang	"	193	61	193	11	386	72
6	Austin Lesterhuis	XKE Jaguar	"	190	56	195	61	385	117
7	Mark Webster	Camaro	"	183	37	181	69	364	106
8	John Durbin	Ford J	"	181	67	182	27	363	94
9	Fran Thorne	Ford J	"	176	60			176	60
10	Rick Kibler	E type	"	175	21			175	21
11	Nathan Peckham	XKE Jaguar	"	174	28			174	28
12	Chris Mathewson	Ford J	"	169	7			169	7
13	Jan Lesterhuis	Porsche 904	"	166	52			166	52
14	Shawn Mulcahy	Lola GT	"	162	64			162	64
15	Colby King	Cobra GT	"	146	35			146	35
16	Donovan King	GT 40	"	122	68			122	68
17			"					0	0
18			"					0	0
19			"					0	0
20			"					0	0
21			"					0	0
22			"					0	0
23			"					0	0
24			"					0	0
25			"					0	0

13^th ANNUAL THUNDERJET CHALLENGE
_{Race Report}

	3/26/05 - Squeezed between Good Friday and Easter, Greenbrier Raceway's 13 Annual
THUNDERJET CHALLENGE had a pleasantly surprising good turn out. While many 'distant' racers were
missed, 16 local HO enthusiast made the field. There was, however, one additional participant that was
not welcome… Murphy (as in Murphy's law).
	The day started with one slight glitch… after installing fresh batteries in the 2 modified Tyco style
lap counters, one set would not work. This was a bit puzzling, as these counters had NEVER failed in 8
years. However, the problem didn't seem serious. After some wiggling, the counter came to life and the
race was on.

Round 1

	John Durbin, Colby King, and father / son team Jan & Austin Lesterhius seemed a bit conservative
as they set the pace at about 45 laps on the first 10 minute segment. But within just a few heats, Austin
had bumped the laps into the 50 range. By heat 4, Mike King had pushed it even further with 52 laps… and
actually held that number for the next 2 additional heats.
	As the saying goes "What can go wrong, will". Just short of 1/2 way into heat 6, the lap counter just
simply turned itself off. Using 'American know-how' (whacked the lap counter a couple times) the lap counter
was back in service. Wires were quickly checked, heat 6 was re-started, and the remainder of Round 1
finished up without a hitch.
	At the end of Round 1, it would be Mike King currently holding first with a 49 and three 52 lap runs for
a 205 total. Jeff Eve would finish just a couple laps down, with John Peckham and the rest of the field just
one or two laps down (in sequence) from that.

Round 2

	Starting Round 2 it was still anyone's race. As mentioned, Mike, Jeff, John, and Larry Weaver were
all within a few laps of each other… with the rest of the 'top 8' field not far behind. Remember the TOTAL of
both Rounds would be added and they all still had 40 minutes to better their score.
	The next two hours progressed with a good amount of excitement... professional racing at its best.
Nearing the end, it was clear it would be a Mike, Jeff, & John shoot out. It was about that time "Murphy"
thought it would be fun to add to the drama.
	In the VERY LAST heat of the race (heat 8 / Round 2), Jeff would pick up an extra lap as another car
zipped threw his lap counter. This, along with Jeff's skill of racing and current outlook on laps, would all
but guarantee Jeff the win. Moments later, a Marshal noticed the lap counter was blank and not counting.
Was this due to "Murphy" or the counter not being reset properly? No one really knew as no one
remembered checking the counter up to that point of the heat. The counter seemed to reset fine and was
tested… all looked good. The heat was re-started, much to the dismay of Jeff, who had now lost his extra lap.
	Greenbrier was ready for a winner. All counters were working well and this time around, Mike King
seemed to be hooked. At the 5 minute mark, Mike had a clear lead over anyone in the heat when… Poof...
the counter went blank AGAIN!!!
	It was now time to FIND MURPHY!!! The lap counter was removed and dismantled. It actually only took
a few minutes to locate the problem… a very small amount of corrosion around the battery terminal
(when the batteries were replaced, it must have knocked loose and hampered the connection).
	Once everything was put back together and double checked, heat 8 was re-started… for the third
time. With "Murphy" gone, the race did finally finish in a clean, clear manner. After a very frustrating and
intense ending, the numbers were added up.

	Now, was it really "Murphy", or the fact this was the "13th" annual race? Who knows. Either way,
Congratulations go out to Jeff Eve on his second TJC career win, and being Greenbrier Raceway's
2005 THUNDERJET CHALLENGE Champion.