New Track - New Leader

Courageous Stadium went through major renovations this winter after complaints of poor track conditions in the Naney Invitational. In addition to a track with better traction, the GCRCR was able to totally eliminate radio signal issues. “We spoke with some engineers and implemented their recommendations and everything worked perfectly,” Commissioner Rodrick Crousey said in a press conference Saturday. Leading up to the race some of the racing teams did not have faith the GCRCR had was capable of fixing the problem. Some had even indicated faulty equipment and accused the Commissioner of trying to shelter sponsors. But Friday night all accusations were laid to rest. All radio signals were limited to regulated areas and not a single radio interference issue was reported. The signal regulation along with a state of the art track makes the new Courageous Stadium the best facility in racing.

No one adapted to the new track better than Patchy Anderson (#3). Number three exceeded all expectations Friday night with a brilliant performance that brought him victory in a hard fought race. Early in the race, both McEnaney (#6) and Maag (#1) pulled ahead of Anderson, but on lap four, Patchy secured the lead and never turned back. Patchy modestly accepted his victory citing the unfortunate difficulties some of the other drivers experienced. Anderson’s sympathy is perhaps in part due to his own experiences in the Naney Invitational. But considering the stellar performance by Anderson on Friday, it is difficult to imagine that the outcome could have been any different. Anderson said in a press conference Friday that, “My car and I were just in tune with each other tonight-” and it showed. Thanks to that performance Patchy has a lead in the Naney Cup.

Maag had a similar night to Anderson but barely fell short of first place. Second place is still a big leap forward from Maag’s disappointing 4th place finish in the first race of the Naney Cup. The better performance seemed to improve his opinion of his pit crew and eliminated his suspicion of cheaters in the cup. One more average performance by Maag could place him in a good position for winning the Naney Cup- if some other drivers don’t perform.

For Crousey, the night left mixed feelings. Third place was an obvious disappointment for a racer that was favored by some to win. The night was plagued by car mishaps and foolish risks. The veteran driver is usually risk adverse but, on the first lap of the race Crousey made a dangerous move that severely damaged his car- crippling him for the rest of the race. Considering the seriousness of the mishap Crousey should be ecstatic with a 3rd place finish. This brings us to the major disappointment of the night- Nate McEananey.

If you ignore just three horrendous laps from the race, McEnaney’s performance was good enough to make him a true contender. In fact, the #6 car pulled off the fastest lap of the night… 18 laps after first place finished the race. That statistic goes down as one of GCRCR’s most bizarre. It was a tough night for McEnaney, but luckily for him, no one has pulled ahead as the dominant leader in the cup. Crousey and Patchy flipping 1st and 3rd place performances has helped keep the Cup race tight. In fact, anybody could guarantee a cup win with back to back wins in the last two races.

GCRCR Power Rankings

Racing fans everywhere have been have to be impressed by the results of the Naney Invitational held just last week. Although the Invitational had fewer teams than expected, the race made for a close call none the less.

Seasoned veteran Rod Crousey took the lead and it looks to be a very promising season for him. Not only does Team Crousey have the experience, but it looks as though they also have the technical knowledge.

Nate McEnaney pulled out a lot of stops to try and pass up Crousey, but in the end just couldn't take the lead. McEnaney's consistent time in this race solidified his 2nd place finish. There could be very promising times ahead based on his performance at the track.

Another two racer's destined to struggle in this race are Patrick Anderson and Josh Maag. Very close at first with Maag taking a slight lead and holding his pace. Later in the race, however, Anderson began closing the lap with faster lap times, on pace with the race leaders but unfortunately a few laps behind already. Anderson passed Maag 3/4 through the race and held onto the lead until the very end.

All the contender's are on equal footing at this point, so don't put too much money down on these rankings.

Power Rankings

	Team	Rank	Record	Comment
	Crousey	1	1st	Team Crousey's experience in addition to his performance in the first race place him in this ranking.
	Anderson	2	3rd	It seems that the slow first laps were just there to get them out of his system and there may be hope for him in the future.
	McEnaney	3	2nd	As the main sponsor of the track location and style, McEnaney should have a slight advantage over the other players.
	Maag	4	4th	This racer's style just doesn't seem to match up with the rest of the top contenders, but he did manage to beat out both the newcomers and take a close 4th.

-Joshua
Race Analyst

Hiccups Plague Naney Invitational

Colerain, OH (IP) - The Naney Cup kicked off last night in the newly constructed Courageous Stadium. Wednesday GCRCR officials acknowledged that the track conditions were sub par after test drives were performed for Commissioner Rodrick Crousey and Judicial Chair Nathaniel McEnaney. Rumors that the race would need to be postponed erupted Thursday morning. Work crews stayed until late Wednesday night and continued working until near race time Friday night. Track Manager and official GCRCR Course Architect, Patrick Anderson said on Friday that, "I've swept the track several times and it's as clean as we can get it... I think the track is going to be much better then it was Wednesday night."

Though track conditions were less than ideal, other blunders ruled the night. Off the starting block Patchy Anderson (#3) had trouble getting his car in gear. Patchy accused veteran driver, Rod Crousey (#4) of foul play claiming sabotage from the Crousey Crew. A spokesperson of the Crousey team declined to comment Saturday, but Crousey was heard Friday night saying that the Anderson pit crew is, "the least experienced," and, "rather incompetent."

Troubles continued for Patchy as steering and clutch issues forced #3 into the pits throughout the night. By the end of the race the Anderson team had finally gotten their act together and gave #3 the chance to pass Josh Maag (#1) in the 36th lap for a respectable, but less than expected, third place finish for the veteran driver. Maag finished with a disappointing 4th place, despite placing the top time in the qualifiers. When asked how he felt about his performance Maag responded, "That Crousey team cheats," and "my pit crew was pretty slow." Maag did not mention his spin out on the 40th lap that dashed his hopes for a third place finish. Fan, Josh Stettler, was quoted after the race saying, "I was very disappointed with his performance."

The night went even worse for Craig (#2). After the second lap, Craig's engine started showing signs of high temperature. By the third lap it was clear he was not going to finish the race. On the 6th lap his car had totally died and he was towed into the pit where he watched the remainder of the race.

Rookie driver, Steve (#5), was able to hang with the pack until lap 15 where he hit frequent wrecks for about 10 laps. By the middle of the race he was too far behind to stage a comeback, despite his consistent lap times for the final 25 laps.

Nate McEnaney (#6), was plagued by communication failures. For about 6 laps Nate and Crousey exchanged the lead until Nate had a major hiccup on lap 24. According to a pit crew member Nate had intercepted radio signals instructing the #5 car to pull over for a pit stop. Nate believed that it was his crew manager calling him to the pit. Nate pulled into the pit and handed Crousey the lead. Crousey took advantage of the situation and never looked back. Nate told the press Saturday that he, "had a couple of hiccups." After a few more of those hiccups, Crousey was able to keep close to one lap ahead of Nate for the remainder of the race. Crousey claimed lap leader on an impressive 44 of 50 laps on his nearly flawless night. The veteran driver has developed a solid slow and steady reputation over the years that proved valuable on a night with a slick and crowded track. On a press conference Friday Crousey said, "I don't think I was the fastest driver tonight, but I kept my car under control and took each lap one at a time- sometimes that's all it takes."