(Words and Photos by Charlene Felton-Haney) – The Optima Batteries ChumpCar World Series (www.chumpcar.com), made their debut at Motorsports Park Hastings located in Hastings, NE just 157 miles west of Omaha.

Hastings is known as the town where Kool-Aid was invented by Edwin Perkins in 1927.  Every year the town celebrates that event with the Kool-Aid Days festival….”Oh Yeah”.  The town is now proud to host its very own road course track, which was built just eight years ago.  This 2.15 mile track, features a very challenging thirteen turns that makes one feel that as soon as you come out in one turn you need to set up for the next turn.

The weekend was looking to be, yet again, another beautiful sunny weekend with temperatures in the 70’s for a 12 hour + 6 hour endurance race.

As the sun rose up and over the railroad tracks, Chumps were busy making last minute adjustments.  By seven forty-five cars were on grid for a few parade laps while drivers were getting a good feel of the track and Chump Control could verify that all transponders were working.  With the “all’s-clear” signal, the green flag dropped and twenty-four ChumpCar’s began racing their way to, what they hope was a podium finish, or with a twelve hour race to avoid mechanical issues.

Not long after the race got underway, Car #148 of Free Candy Racing in their 1991 Honda Civic received a black flag and had to pit due to excessive smoking.  Shortly after, Car #184 of BROvado Racing (1987 BMW 325) stopped on the straight-away and had to get a tow in.  They had melted a wire to the fuel pump.  With a quick fix they were able to get back out to racing.  Unfortunately, BROvado Racing, was not the only team dealing with mechanical issues.  Team Alan Parson’s Project (1993 Subaru Impreza) was involved in a “rubbin is racing” incident and ended up with a shattered left rear hub.  After further investigation, this was not going to be a quick fix.  Having to drive over two hours, to and from Omaha to a salvage yard to get a “new” hub, they were finally able to get back to racing by 4:00 pm.

Despite having several Chumps in the paddock dealing with mechanical issues, there was some great racing happening on the track.  The biggest culprit of the day seemed to be cars going off track and getting into the alfalfa.

As racing continued throughout the day, back in the paddock was team # 128 of Bare Metal Racing as they were having issues with their 1992 Nissan Sentra.   At first, they thought it was a clutch issue.  They drove an hour and a half into Lincoln and replacing the clutch, only to find out that it was actually an axle.  Back on the road again, they headed to Omaha to get a new axle.  Finally getting the issue fixed, they were back on the track by 4:00 pm.

Unfortunately Car #888 of Purple Headed Chump (1987 For Mustang) saw more time in the paddock then on the race-track.  The first issue they encountered was a broken timing belt.  Luckily they have been through this issue before and had a spare engine and hoist in their trailer.  For the rest of the race they were nursing a brake issue.  The next day, shortly after the race began their exhaust fell off.

Throughout the day, the race was dominated by Chump Faces (1988 BMW 325is).  A battle for second place was between the 1985 Porsche 944 of Car 54 Where Are You, Car #51 of British American Racing (1988 Hawk BMW E30 325is), and Team F1 1ab (wanna bees) in their 1998 BMW 325is.

With the F1 1ab (wanna bees) starting the race with a 6 lap deficit they had a lot of territory to make up, however with posting some of the fastest lap times of the day they were quickly on the heals of the first place car, Chump Faces.  With a race that is green flag all day a teams pit strategy plays a big roll in the outcome of a race.  As Chump Faces came in to pit, F1 1ab (wanna bees) took over first place.  After the pit stop, Chump Faces came back on track on the same lap as F1 1ab (wanna bees).  Chump Faces was coming up on the back of F1 1ab (wanna bees) and tried to overtake them in Turn 9 but got shut down.  Chump Faces went for it again in turn 13, taking the inside, right at the apex and overtook F1 1ab on the straight away!

With racing quickly coming to an end, the day provided  yet again, one of the cleanest races all year.  There were no reds, and only a few standing yellows. Most of the calls for the day were cars spinning, going off course, and safely re-entering the track to resume racing.  There were a couple of non-intentional racing contact, but other than those few incidents, the drivers had an awesome time.

As the checkered flag came down the first and second place car were within seconds of each other.

The official Race Results for Saturday’s  12-hour Enduro were-

1. 1. Car #39 Chump Faces—1988 BMW 325is
2. 2. Car # 197  F1 1ab (wanna bees)—1998 BMW 325is
3. 3. Car #351  British American Racing—1988 Hawk BMW E30 325is
4. 4. Car #54 Car 54 Where Are You—1985 Porsche 944
5. 5. Car #53 Team Party Cat—1994 Mazda Miata

With Saturday’s twelve-hour endurance race complete, Sunday morning featured another beautiful day for a six-hour race and should be a walk in the park compared to a twelve hour.

With only two laps in, British American Racing (1988 Hawk BMW E30 325is) would not podium again.  They encountered a valve spring issue, which ended their day.  Luckily Car #54 of Car 54 Where Are You (1985 Porsche 944) was continuing where they left of yesterday and making a run for a podium finish by taking an early lead.  However don’t count out Chump Faces and F1 1ab (wanna bees).  Two hours into the race, Chump Faces was already in third place and guess what, F1 1ab (wanna bees) where on their tail in fourth place.  These two teams, again, swapped positions back and forth between second and third place.

With only two laps in, British American Racing (1988 Hawk BMW E30 325is) would not podium again.  They encountered a valve spring issue, which ended their day.  Luckily Car #54 of Car 54 Where Are You (1985 Porsche 944) was continuing where they left of yesterday and making a run for a podium finish by taking an early lead.  However don’t count out Chump Faces and F1 1ab (wanna bees).  Two hours into the race, Chump Faces was already in third place and guess what, F1 1ab (wanna bees) where on their tail in fourth place.  These two teams, again, swapped positions back and forth between second and third place.

With the race nearing the end, Car 54 Where Are You had a strong three- lap lead in first over Chump Faces and there just wasn’t enough time for Chump Faces to make a run for it.

The official Race Results for Sunday’s 6-hour Enduro were-

1. 1. Car # 54 Car 54 Where Are You—1985 Porsche 944
2. 2. Car # 39 Chump Faces—1988 BMW 325is
3. 3. Car # 197  F1 1ab (wanna bees)—1998 BMW 325is
4. 4. Car # 991 Moss Racing—2008 Ford Crown Vic
5. 5. Car # 184 BROvado Racing—1987 BMW 325

The Optima Battery ChumpCar World Series would like to thank all of its sponsors, Chump drivers, and Chump fans.  We would not be able to do this without your continued support.

The next Optima Batteries ChumpCar World Series race is May 17-18 for a 24 hr. event in Buttonwillow, CA.  To find out more about The Optima Batteries ChumpCar World Series and the entire 2014 racing schedule, visit us at www.chumpcar.com.