Season 6, Week 4 recap and analysis
This weekend's tournaments were made up of a wide range of classes and it was a great mix to see go head-to-head. Not everything was a surprise, but the rookies this season continue to show their stuff.
Back of the Pack - The only restriction in this tournament was rating, only those under 1180, which is considered below average. Nothing to new to watch in terms of the cars being entered but a few of them really surprised me, first of which was the Chevy Stocker. The Chevy Stocker is a HEAVY car which is usually an advantage but in the past the Stocker failed to impress. Well, this time it didn't exactly do good but it did make it out of the first round which was somewhat shocking. I think the adjustments to the Redline Derby track made all the different for it, however, I've never seen a car rumble and shake as much as this car. It has absolutely ZERO give in the axles and wheels so it feels every bump and shows it.
The 16 Angels car showed some guts in a come-from-behind win over the Ferrari to gain the first round victory, but it just couldn't compete against the Ford GT. The Ford was most certainly a favorite in this bracket and it performed but it only barely passed Fire Eater in the third round. The fire truck was moving like there was a 4-Alarm fire at the finish line. Elsewhere are the bracket, the Ferrari family appeared to lose some steam as neither made it out of the first round. The only other surprise in my book was the GTO FTE over the all-metal Dodge Concept car - that loss really blew my bracket up.
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Who saw that coming? Not me.
Hand Me Downhill - This was an interesting mix of cars because the only restriction was that they had to be cars that were donated. This tournament was filled to the brim with heavy, heavy cars and we really found out which cars have all the right stuff. Seeing Turbolence blow past the competition was really spectacular. It never broke a sweat as it raced the 20-feet to easy victory, it will most definitely be one to watch in the championship. Otherwise just about every match-up was a killer in my bracket...I went with old favorites rather than having faith in rookies. However, nothing surprised me more than the Radio Flyer stand up and leave the Studebaker in the dust. I don't put much stock into "gimmick" cars but that little wagon proved me wrong, and the second round loss against the GT Racer was nothing to be ashamed of, it was truly neck-and-neck.
The rookies out of the Washington races showed up as Shadow Jet, Baja Bug and the 80s Corvette all put up some points on the board. The 80s Corvette had to have been one of the smoothest I've ever seen cruise down the track, narrowly defeating its cousin the CR-6 in Round 2. If you went with the tried and true then you were left out to pasture because the new class came to prove their worth and boy did they. I doubt we've seen the last of these cars and with half the season left to go, a few more are most certainly bound for the championship in October.
All-Stars of the Week:
GT Racer, Ford GT LM
Top Prospects:
Fire Eater, Shadow Jet, 80s Corvette