Club Clash VIII Recap - Super Coupe Club of Iowa

Club Clash VIII - A Chilling Victory!

By Michael Albee
(October 17, 2004 - Earlville Ia.) - After a Friday evening of inventing new tools and fending off the local ricers at the pizza place, gusting winds threatened to postpone Club Clash VIII on Saturday morning at TriState Raceway.

Cold temperatures and 35-40 mph winds had track officials considering closing the track for the day. But after our urging, and an offer to assist in running the event, they reconsidered, allowing some 28 contestants from three states to face off for the coveted "Club Clash" Trophy.

The lack of usually great track preparation and no morning test and tune session, made traction the biggest issue for everyone. In spite of it, many competitors still posted personal record runs and one driver said, "I had a blast this weekend. Even though it was cold at the track and we didn't get as much time to race as we hoped, it was still fun". He went on to say, "I'm for sure going to try to make it next year."

Club Clash VIII incorporated everything we've done in the past with one big addition. That addition was a "Second Chance" bracket. It was added to allow competitors eliminated in the first round to work their way back through the "consi" bracket to challenge for the trophy in the final round. This proved to be important for one driver, as it allowed him to make it to the finals and take the trophy home to Nebraska!!! Thomas Aden faced Matt Smith, (winner of the main bracket), where he was able to get the hole shot on the way to victory.

With a little bit of sleet in the air, Thomas ran a 14.57 @ 97.10 mph on a 14.50 Dial-in, while Matt posted a 13.643 @ 104.09 on a 13.40 Dial. Thomas had just a .0027 second advantage at the starting line and took the win by .171 seconds. Congratulation Thomas, you did a great job and made us all proud.

We want to thank TriState Raceway and their great staff for going out of their way to work with us this weekend. It was their extra effort that allowed everyone to have such a great time and help us give our members and guests an event to remember.

After the races, the T-Bird/Cougar/Mark VIII's drove into Manchester to have pizza and refreshments. We also took some time to reflect on the day. After a few hours, some of us headed back to Cedar Rapids for a few cold ones and some more fun before splitting up and heading home.

As the president of the Super Coupe Club of Iowa, I want to thank everyone for coming, (and trying to come), to Club Clash. I know you had as much fun as I did and I hope you will be able to come back in the spring for Club Clash IX.

Club Clash IX will be held in April of 2005 at TriState Raceway. Members from Club GTP Iowa will be on hand again and we are expecting participants from Ia, Ill, Mn, Ne and Mo. to be in attendance. So if you want to have some fun, all you have to do is .... show up!!!

If you would like more information about the Club Clash, just drop us an email and let us know. The Email address is: forcfed93@juno.com

Here are some pictures from Club Clash VIII