This event coverage is being brought to you by brothers Frank and Chuck Barsalow. They will be covering some oval events for us in the northeast.

When people think of Vermont, often times cheese, beer and skiing come to mind. One of the great secrets of this tiny state is that it’s home to a couple of the finest R/C oval tracks in the Northeast.

One of the two is the Riverside R/C racing club, located in the modest town of St. Johnsbury. Riverside has been in existence for many years and recently got a complete facelift. The old hook and loop rug is replaced by a new CRC racing carpet. Beneath the new carpet is a laser level subfloor, making for one of the smoothest surfaces imaginable. A funny thing happened when the carpet was replaced, while the 105′ run-line was retained, records began falling and speeds increased dramatically. Old 13.5 lap times soon became good 17.5 lap times, the difference of 1/2 second a lap and more.

This fresh track and new speeds has garnered the club a lot of attention in this neck of the woods. This year’s annual “Winter Bash” was the first opportunity for a lot of anxious racers to give it a whirl. The second of a three race series attracted an impressive 63 entries. Mark and Justin Turner, promoters and operators of the club were quite pleased with the numbers. Assisting with race operations was Dewey persons at the tech table and Jeff Garfield announcing the action. Dewey, a builder by trade, put his skills to work on the new race surface. In a little less than a week the old surface was out, subfloor constructed and new carpet down. What a tremendous feat! Jeff, a former race announcer at Beech Ridge, provided color commentary the likes of which you don’t often see at area races. He’s able to keep the drivers informed, calling out lap times and close battles throughout each and every race. Racers came from New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and Quebec for this great event.

We got a sneak peek at the new GQ WGT tires and rims! They look awesome!

The Sportsman 17.5 division showcased Howard Stockwell, 10 year-old son of Nascar legend Kip Stockwell, driving a Hyperdrive car. Young Howie was the class of the field for most of practice and qualifying. He won the A followed by Mike Moses and Randy Trombley.

In 21.5 Nastruck, Patrick Courchesne of Quebec- driving a vintage ADX- had a really strong truck but Al Smith Sr. of Glens Falls had bigger plans. Al took the win followed by Patrick in second and Richard Campbell of Quebec took third.

SK Mod action was all Mr. Courchesne. Pat set the track record and was TQ for the day. His KCM car was stellar. While his car was running well, he worked to help his fellow SK racers get their cars dialed in. Richard Campbell driving a Pemberton car and Lee Bell of Barre, Vt driving the Hyperdrive looked really strong out there all day. Patrick took the win followed by Scott Hancock and Lee Bell

North/South COT was all local super star, Jesse Switser of St. Johnsbury leading the way with TQ and a new track record with his KSG SCX. Justin “Big Papa” Pierce of nearby Lyndonville, Vt had a fast car throughout the race day. Jesse took the win followed by Justin Turner driving a C&M C4 and Wade Bissonette of Whitehall, NY driving a KSG SCX

In 13.5 Nastruck local driver Dale Bickford, on a Hyperdrive Pro 5, looked like he was going to be the man to beat. Early on in the day he was fast but he couldn’t keep it together long enough to show how good his truck was. Scott Hancock was the winner followed by Dale”Double Discharge” Bickford and Jamie Lamont.

TOUR 13.5 Spec COT featured local racer Derek Ming of nearby West Burke leading the way with the TQ and track record to get the pole position for the A Main. Quebec racing legend, Danny Flag had his new Custom Works SE3 looking really good. Ricky “Ricky Bobby”Gratton, driving a KSG SCX, was ready to quit oval racing in favor of touring cars earlier in the day but held on for the win. Ricky took the checkered flag but was followed by Derek Ming and Claremont, New Hampshire’s veteran racer, Phil Chastenay driving a KSG SCX.

In 13.5 Pro Stock it was Wade Bissonette driving a KSG SCX claiming the TQ and new track record with a 2.95 fast lap. In the main Wade and second place qualifier Jesse Switser touched momentarily allowing Chuck Barsalow driving a TOP Rebel 10ss to squeeze by while setting the fast lap of the day of a 2.94. Chuck went on to win the fastest division followed by Steve Murray (coming off a third place run at the CRC New Year’s Dash in 17.5 open) driving a SCX and Justin Turner running a C&M C4. Justin is always the man to beat at Riverside in both Pro Stock and North South COT.

The list of track records that were broken:

SK Modified, Patrick Courchesne 85-5:02.85

North/South COT, Jesse Switser 90-5:02.11

21.5 Nastruck, Patrick Courchesne 81-5:02.05

17.5 Sportsman, Howard Stockwell 64-4:00.87

13.5 Pro Stock, Wade Bissonette 79-4:00.37

Some of our regions fastest met for what was a superb weekend of racing by all accounts. A huge thanks to the father and son team of Mark and Justin Turner for hosting this event! The final race of the three-part series will be held on March 22.

Results:

17.5 Sportsman B-main
1-Bill Garneau 56-4:01.96
2-Mathius Courchene 41-3:59.60
3-Avery Stockwell 25-3:47.52
4-Gary Holbrook 17-1:40.72

17.5 Sportsman A-main
1-Howard Stockwell 64-4:00.87
2-Mike Moses 60-4:03.36
3-Randy Trombley 57-4:03.07
4-Kevin Holbrook 18-1:56.29

SK Modified A-main
1-Patrick Courchene 85-5:03.15
2-Scott Hancock 81-5:01.19
3-Lee Bell 80-5:00.97
4-Richard Cambell 80-5:02.10
5-Tim Burroughs 74-5:00.40

N/S COT C-main
1-Phil Chastenay 85-5:01.44
2-Danny Flag 85-5:01.58
3-Al Smith 84-5:02.85
4-Kip Stockwell 79-5:03.44
5-Frank Barsalow 3-10.20

N/S COT B-main
1-Wayne Bissonette 87-5:00.05
2-Mark Harran 87-5:01.93
3-TJ Towne 86-5:00.79
4-Ricky Gratton 86-5:02.87
5-Chuck Barsalow 83-5:00.60
6-Mark Turner 83-5:01.37

N/S COT A-main
1-Jesse Switser 90-5:02.11
2-Justin Turner 89-5:01.20
3-Wade Bisonette 88-5:00.73
4-Justin Pierce 88-5:02.65
5-Mark Lapan 88-5:03.21
6-Erik Steele dns

TOUR COT A-main
1-Ricky Gratton 94-5:00.41
2-Derek Ming 94-5:02.59
3-Phil Chastenay 93-5:02.41
4-Danny Flag 92-5:02.51
5-Erik Steele 53-2:54.61
6-Chuck Barsalow 28-1:36.35

21.5 Nastruck A-main
1-Al Smith 80-5:02.49
2-Patrick Courchesne 79-5:01.35
3-Richard Cambell 79-5:03.53
4-Lee Bell 76-5:01.43
5-Jamie Lamont 72-5:03.18
6-Kip Stockwell 70-5:02.33

13.5 Nastruck B-main
1-Kevin holbrook 61-4:02.96
2-Bill Garneau 58-4:00.71
3-Gary holbrook 54-4:00.27
4-Bryce Baker 19-1:17.42

13.5 Nastruck A-main
1-Scott Hancock 72-4:01.95
2-Dale Bickford 69-4:02.65
3-Jamie Lamont 68-4:03.05
4-Kip Stockwell 64-4:00.70
5-Dewey Persons 56-3:39.23

13.5 Pro Stock B-main
1-Mark Harran 78-4:02.32
2-Wayne Bisonette 76-4:00.82
3-Erik Steele 75-4:01.50
4-Sean Fowler 75-4:03.06
5-Frank Barsalow 74-4:02.01
6-Mark Turner 65-4:00.44

13.5 Pro Stock A-main
1-Chuck Barsalow 79-4:00.83
2-Steve Murray 79-4:03.04
3-Justin Turner 78-4:00.04
4-Jesse Switser 78-4:00.37
5-TJ Towne 76-4:01.74
6-Wade Bisonette 9-35.83