Championship goes to Sting Ray

Episode 336

October 25, 2020

Champion

Championship photo says it all! Sting Ray Robb from Payette, Idaho is the Champion. Idaho is not known as the hotbed of talent in any racing major series. Brian Scott in NASCAR and Davey Hamilton in Indy Car were probably the best known. Scott and Hamilton are from Boise. Robb won a scholarship for Indy Lights in 2021 and is guaranteed a tryout with an IndyCar team at the end of the 2021 season. UpNorth Motorsports will let readers know who Robb will be with in 2021.(Road to Indy photo)

Road to Indy Pro 2000 Presented by Cooper Tire season has ended and the young man UpNorth Motorsports has been following for the past two years, Sting Ray Robb is the champion as reported last week in Episode 335. Robb could have coasted knowing that he has secured the title, however, he made a statement by winning the pole position in both races. The race weekend was part of the NTT IndyCar weekend finale at St. Petersburg.

Robb won the pole for each race in the doubleheader weekend and set track records both times.. The Saturday race was won by Robb leading every lap of the 25 laps on the challenging 1.8 mile street course. After the race Robb commented, ““That was a hard race, even though I was leading the whole way. The team set a goal for me to hold a certain lap time and I did, until I saw Danial (Frost#68 DEN-JET Turn 3 Motorsport Tatuus PM18starting to catch me. I started pushing harder and set the quick race lap time, bettering my own race record from last year. Two lap records in one day here, that’s pretty special!”

“Huge thanks to the team, I don’t know what more I can say that I haven’t said all year. They are so amazing. And I’m so happy to have so many of my friends and family here. They get to see me on the top of the podium, and I get to share it with them. And the glory goes to God, as always.”

Comeback Kid

Sting Ray Robb and Braden Eves battling for a podium finish at Park. Robb finished second followed by Eves. After this race the series moved to Indy for a tripleheader. It was during the first race of three that Eves had a left front hub break. When the tire fell, it caused his car to flip over the wheel two times before hitting the SAFER barrier wall in road course turn 11 or turn one of the oval. Corner exit speed was 120 mph. (Road to Indy photo)

Update on Braden Eves, New Albany, Ohio, who UpNorth Motorsports reported on earlier this summer after the young man crashed heavily  at Indianapolis Motor Speedway during the Road to Indy. He suffered two fractures in his neck and a fracture over his right eye. From the Road to Indy Press Release:

“The 2019 USF2000 champion got off to a tremendous start in his Road to Indy / Andersen Companies Tatuus PM-18 with his first series win coming at Mid-Ohio in late July. Braden was in the middle of the hunt for the championship when a nasty incident at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway sidelined him for the remainder of the season. Now well into completing his recovery, Eves has refocused on the 2021 season and is eager to get back behind the wheel.”

“I’m extremely excited to rejoin Exclusive Autosport for the 2021 season,” said Eves. “This season we showed our incredible pace and the team did an incredible job consistently throughout the year. I’ll be coming back next year with unfinished business and I’m ready to get back after it. I can’t wait for a much more normal season after this year was so shaken up by the pandemic, but next year I’m coming back and I’m coming back stronger than ever!”

Be a part of preserving history of Spud Speedway

Spud Speedway located in Caribou, Maine, opened in 1964 and has been in operation on again…off again over the fifty six year history of the northern Maine track. No formal written history of the track has been written though many have suggested the importance of doing so.

Motorsports enthusiast Jesse Michaud created the Facebook site https://www.facebook.com/groups/180708495373115 Spud Speedway photos and memories to provide a spot for those who may have competed at the track, been a spectator, or official to share memories. The page has 739 members as of publishing time this evening.

In his most recent post Michaud said, “Preserving racing stories was something I hoped would catch on here, it didn’t. I have started recording these more so for me after my memory is gone I can live on through my own words.”

“Feel free to share, subscribe, whatever. It won’t just be racing stories and I will likely keep them all to 10 minutes or less. This was a trial run.”
Michaud posted two videos titled ‘Spud Speedway 1991, How I got hooked on racing’ Parts I & II’. Viewers will probably relate to some parts of the videos where Michaud shares some of the details on how he, as a teenager, fell in love with racing while convincing his father to field a car in the four cylinder class.
The success of that Mercury Capri provided just the right dose of adrenaline and dopamine which has led to a lifetime of racing addiction. Many hardcore racing enthusiasts can relate to the power of the pull of racing.
When asked if he wants the followers of the Facebook page to post videos of their experience, he replied. “No. I mean if they do, great, but I just look at what’s been lost over the years. So many stories will be gone forever.”
It is now a matter of wait and see if memories of the 1/3 mile asphalt oval track are shared to the site. Maybe someone will be encouraged to pull those details together and write the history of the track and help preserve those memories that Michaud and others cherish.
Throttle Car Club construction well underway

Throttle Car Club plot plans posted to the Scarborough Planning Board which approved the plan on June 1, 2020. The 20,000 square foot two story center building on 1.2 acres for auto enthusiasts required enlarging Lot 29 of the Innovation District of the Downs at Scarborough Downs site. (NonniCorp LLC. plans)

Throttle Car Club conceptual drawing by Kevin Brown Architecture. A total of nearly 35,000 square feet will be available when the club is projected to open in April 2021. A 80 kw 192 panel solar array is expected to meet the needs of the club.

Left to right Jamie Nonni, Kevin Gross, and Derek Parent with their collector cars on the construction site of Throttle Car Club in Scarborough, Maine. (Samuel Nonni photo)

Three childhood friends, Jamie Nonni, Derek Parent, and Kevin Gross dream is coming true as the estimated $4 million Throttle Car Club building began being constructed on July 24, 2020. The plan is to have storage for up to 72 cars and fully equipped four bay garage for members to work on their car.

A 1,500 square foot lounge with a bar, racing simulators, and meeting rooms will dominate the second floor. Viewing of the first floor will be possible from the upper floor.

Car shows, cruise ins, new car introductions, charity events, and meetings will be primary functions, however, non-automotive events will be welcomed as well. Club membership sales will begin November 1. Annual membership will range from $1,500-$2,000.

The club will enter into discussion with Beech Ridge Motor Speedway, which is only 1/2 mile away, to see if members might be able to get some track time on the 1/3 mile oval.

Construction progress at the site of Throttle Car Club in Scarborough, Maine on day 90. Projected opening is April 2021. (Throttle Car Club photo)

“Mystery” Scat Cat  hydroplane builder will be revealed soon

Only a few loose ends need to be tied up and the actual builder of the Scat Cat hydro  featured in episodes 332-334 will be revealed right here in UpNorth Motorsports. Some great detective work by a local man has revealed a name. Conversation with the family needs to take place and then the revelation!

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Let’s go racing,

Tom Hale

Soli Deo Gloria (Matthew 5:16)

 

 

 

Tom Hale

About Tom Hale

Tom wrote 14 years as freelancer for the Bangor Daily Sports covering motorsports in Maine. Now blogging and concentrating on human interest stories about people and places in racing. He races Champ Karts and owns HTF Motorsports in remote Westmanland, Maine