Rose Cup Racing 2011
Tuesday, July 26th, 2011
Nick Fluge and the Gatrell (Pro Fab – Crew) team along with the Harris (Pro Drive – Coach / Ambassador) team put together arguably the quickest car of the 2011 Rose Cup Races (the oldest sports car races west of the Mississippi). Their lap times (along with those of 2010 Rose Cup champion Matt Crandall) of 1:12 – 1:13 in practice, qualifying and racing were outstanding but a collision with a slower cobra on Friday prior to the race caused the FGA team to work 48 hours in a row with no sleep to prepare for the Sunday Cup races. Fluge and Crandall (team-mates) once again qualified for the front row of the races. Challenges put Matt out of the race early prior to the start. Fluge led the group into turn one but found Richards, Beggs, and Lux quite fast and formidable throughout the race. Early passes of Beggs and then an edgy pass of Richards put Fluge on the grass at the back of the pack of some of the best racers in the county. His journey became very difficult to work his way back to the front.
Although Fluge managed to craft quite a few lap times in the 13’s with the races’ fast lap of 1:13.2 (which was almost a full second faster than the ultimate winner), he was unable to come back from his early off road excursion. Still, being able to race against great competitors, and within the prestigious Sports Car Club of America’s top race, and also being able to shake the hand of legend, Monte Shelton was an honor that few can say they’ve done. After the race, as the car was being taken from the track, Fluge had little time to worry about a blown race as his plane was leaving to Vegas and the World Series of Poker – more on that result soon.
