By David McKenney Qualifying started off cool and humid for Race Group 2, which seemed to suit the Vees as top times were within a second of the lap record. Jonathan Weisheit had top time in his ProtoformP3-JKT, 1:15.755. Glenn Tupper was right there with Jonathan in the Tupper family Protoform P2, 1:15.940. Rick Shields and Ray Carmody were third and fourth respectively, only 0.005 seconds apart, and led a group of 7 cars in the 1:16's. Second session came just after lunch. With a short shower an hour before the lunchbreak, most were predicting that no improvements would be found, but a few drivers proved the nay-sayers wrong. Gary Kittel shaved 0.6 off his morning session to move up to 3rd on the grid with a 1:15.974. Shields and Carmody, now 4th and 5th on the starting grid, each improved by about 0.08 seconds and are now seperated by 0.003 in times! Gary Blanarik improved by 0.16 to move ahead of Dave Scaler, who had to do some engineering on his steering mechanism between sessions. QUALIFYING (best of 2 sessions): 1 .... Jonathan WEISHEIT ............ ProtoformP3-JKT ..... 1:15.755 2 .... Glenn TUPPER ..................... Protoform P2 .......... 1:15.940 3 .... Gary KITTEL ........................ Caracal D ............... 1:15.974 4 .... Rick SHIELDS ...................... VDF 2 ..................... 1:16.025 5 .... Ray CARMODY .................... Mysterian M2 .......... 1:16.028 6 .... Ed WOMER ......................... Womer EV-3 ........... 1:16.182 7 .... Jim KEARNEY ...................... Protoform P3 .................... 1: 16.389 8 .... Gary BLANARIK .................. Caracal C ............... 1:16.716 9 .... Dave SCALER ..................... Mysterian M2 .......... 1:16.725 10 .. Russell FREDRICKS ............. Caracal D ............... 1:17.541 11 .. Jim ROWLAND ..................... ProtoformP2 ........... 1:17.687 12 .. Greg DAVIS ........................ Lazer mk.II ............. 1:21.500 RACE: The entire tone of the race was set on the first lap: EXCITING! Off the start, 2nd-place Glenn Tupper made a go at poleman Jonathan Weisheit and put his yellow Protoform in the lead by turn 3, but that lead was short-lived as he and Weisheit touched going into turn 4, both cars going off and Weisheit gettng airborn. Both drivers are unhurt and damage looked somewhat minor but both cars were done for the day. First lap wasn't done thrilling the crowd: the leading pack of Gary Kittel, Ray Carmody, Gary Blanarik, Rick Shields, and Ed Womer all came up the back straight together and went through The Kink ... 3 wide?! 4 wide?!! Two rows deep?! I couldn't tell, it was a flying fist of Formula Vees all going through the fastest corner at Nelson Ledges, side-by-side and nose-to-tail! The remaining pack of Dave Scaler, Jim Rowland, Russell Fredricks and Greg Davis were right there with the lead pack and had a front-and-center seat for what's becoming known to Nelson regulars as The Vee Show. The order at the end of the 1st lap was Gary Kittel, Ray Carmody, Gary Blanarik, Rick Shields, Jim Kearney, Ed Womer, Dave Scaler, Russell Fredricks, Jim Rowland, and Greg Davis. The next laps saw the front eight stay close together. Ray Carmody took the lead from Gary Kittel on the 3rd lap. Kittel retook the lead on the next go-round. Gary Blanarik had a mechanical malfunction and retired on lap 6, about the same time that Russell Fredricks disappeared from radar (had an off and got caught on a tire in the tire wall). Lap 7 was the Big Move. Ed Womer, who had been running mid-group, was suddenly running in 2nd as the pack came into view up the back stretch. Ed moved his Womer EV-3 into the lead on the next lap and held it for the next four laps, Kittel hot on his heels. Jim Kearney and Rick Shields displaced Ray Carmody back to 5th spot on the 9th lap; Dave Scaler was in 6th right behind Carmody. Gary Kittel took the front spot from Ed Womer with a pass at The Kink on lap 12. Ed used the same spot to recover the lead on lap 13. Ray Carmody moved past Rick Shields the next lap and those two set to each other for the next couple rounds, Shields within inches of Carmody as they came under braking for turn 12. Jim Kearney turned up the wick on his Protoform, moving into 2nd on lap 15 and taking the lead on lap 16. Womer regained the lead the next lap, only to lose it to Kearney the next time by. Shields moved his VDF into third spot on lap 20, putting Kittel back in 4th and Carmody 5th. Final lap: Jim Kearney leads Ed Womer coming up the back straight, but Ed moves to pass going through The Kink. Side-by-side out of The Kink and coming into turn 12, Ed wiggles past Kearney to take the lead onto the front straight. Kearney is only .21 seconds behind at the stripe. Rick Shields completes the podium, a mere half-second back of Kearney. Ray Carmody had overtaken Gary Kittel for 4th but Kittel drag-raced Carmody up the front straight and nipped him by .007 seconds for 4th spot. RACE RESULTS: 1 .... Ed WOMER ........................ (1:16.485) 2 .... Jim KEARNEY ...................... (1:16.326) 3 .... Rick SHIELDS ..................... (1:16.283; fastest race lap) 4 .... Gary KITTEL ...................... (1:16.340) 5 .... Ray CARMODY ................... (1:16.302) 6 .... Dave SCALER ..................... (1:17.114) 7 .... Jim ROWLAND .................... (1:18.295) 8 .... Greg DAVIS ....................... (1:21.629) dnf .. Gary BLANARIK ................. (1:17.057) dnf .. Russell FREDRICKS ........... (1:17.401) dnf .. Jonathan WEISHEIT dnf .. Glenn TUPPER DMcK