08/11/2026
🏁 2026 ECHORR MINI CHALLENGE 🏁
The 2026 ECHORR Mini Challenge brought racers together for a two-day event combining individual competition with team-based racing. Saturday kicked off with the field split into two groups running Fray and Indy concurrently, followed by an afternoon of Team IROC action that carried over into day two. Sunday saw the SoS and Nostalgia events run concurrently, alongside a continuation of Team IROC racing on a different set of cars.
🔧 FRAY
Competition in Fray was fierce from start to finish, with drivers running nose-to-tail and any slip-up proving fatal to a run. Shane Bartella turned in an outstanding drive, gluing his car to the track like he'd packed a bottle of Elmer's in his race box, and topped the group with 107 laps and just 10 sections. Donny Auriema gave it everything he had, driving the wheels off his car in a determined bid to run Shane down, but couldn't quite close the gap, settling for second at 105 laps. Right behind him, Hiram Durant pushed the pace hard with Dave Lockwood glued to his tail — Hiram edging ahead on section count to take third, Dave close behind in fourth. Joel Lux dealt with slight car trouble early on that cost him a strong start, but fought back to round out the top five.
Fray Results:
Shane Bartella – 107 Laps, 10 Sections
Donny Auriema – 105 Laps, 27 Sections
Hiram Durant – 102 Laps, 33 Sections
Dave Lockwood – 102 Laps, 15 Sections
Joel Lux – 100 Laps, 41 Sections
🏎️ INDY
Paul Ryer looked untouchable in Indy, turning in a run so dominant it earned him the nickname "Oval King" — literally, crown and all, though it remains unclear whether he actually ate the Whopper to earn it. He set the pace at 179 laps and 8 sections, a clear step ahead of the field. Donny Auriema backed up his Fray runner-up finish with another strong, consistent drive to take second. Randy Haydt showed why he's a perennial contender on a tri-oval he's logged countless miles on, taking third. Hiram Durant proved his consistency shows up on any track with a solid fourth, and Shane Hiester rounded out the top five, ovals being right in his wheelhouse.
Indy Results:
Paul Ryer – 179 Laps, 8 Sections
Donny Auriema – 173 Laps, 9 Sections
Randy Haydt – 169 Laps, 27 Sections
Hiram Durant – 167 Laps, 19 Sections
Shane Hiester – 166 Laps, 26 Sections
⚡ SOS
SoS was fueled by drivers pushing as hard as they could to squeeze every ounce of power out of their Aurora Chassis and armatures. Hiram Durant continued his weekend of consistency, topping the field with 73 laps and 35 sections. Kyle Eck ran him close in second on matching lap count, with Randy Haydt, Joel Lux, and Dave Lockwood rounding out a tightly packed top five. Some pushed so hard they only realized after the fact they were running an illegal chassis — maybe Donny Auriema needs another DQ shirt.
SoS Results:
Hiram Durant – 73 Laps, 35 Sections
Kyle Eck – 73 Laps, 13 Sections
Randy Haydt – 72 Laps, 25 Sections
Joel Lux – 72 Laps, 7 Sections
Dave Lockwood – 71 Laps, 48 Sections
🕹️ NOSTALGIA
The Nostalgia track ran tight, rewarding a punchy car that could make the most of every inch of it. Marc Sevier took the win with 73 laps and 12 sections, edging out a closely bunched field — a run strong enough to earn him a new nickname, "Mr. International." Joel Lux and Donny Auriema went lap-for-lap in a battle for second, with Vic Q and Hiram Durant completing the top five.
Nostalgia Results:
Marc Sevier – 73 Laps, 12 Sections
Joel Lux – 72 Laps, 24 Sections
Donny Auriema – 72 Laps, 22 Sections
Vic Q – 71 Laps, 17 Sections
Hiram Durant – 70 Laps, 1 Section
🏆 TEAM IROC
Team rosters for Team IROC were determined on Friday, after practice wrapped up, through a randomized draft. Captains were selected first and split among the six teams, each paired with an equally important co-captain assigned at random. The remaining participants were then randomly placed to round out the rosters, leveling the playing field before a single lap was run. With teams set ahead of time, squads huddled up over lunch on race day to hash out strategy for the head-to-head IROC-format racing that would carry across both days of the event.
Every matchup across the weekend was tight. Racing came down to countless drag races to the finish line, final-turn crashes that flipped results in an instant, and pedal-to-the-metal driving that caught more than a few guys sleeping. Sunday's IROC racing, run on a different set of cars, kept that same intensity going — the driving remained top notch, with many heats once again coming down to last-turn, drag-race finishes.
Teams & Rosters:
🔹 Turd Ferguson: Dave Kosch, Kyle Eck, Ed Shultz, Dave Figura, Shane Hiester
🔹 Outlaws: Dave Lockwood, Paul Ryer, Jay Fredrick, Sheldon Hiester, Bill Trotter
🔹 Rubbins Racing: Joel Lux, Marc Sevier, JP Ricci, Chip Lewis, Gary Eck
🔹 Du-Barty-Jets: Hiram Durant, Shane Bartella, Bob Windle, John Ciccone, Danny Rinehart
🔹 Watts Up: Donny Auriema, Vic Quinones, Dave Singer, Mr. Who, Joe Rinn
🔹 Randy's Raceway Rowdy Reckers: Randy Haydt, Robin Schroy, Brian Wooton, Dennis Moore, Kenny Provost
Final Team Standings:
Turd Ferguson – 8W-2L
Outlaws – 6W-3L-1T
Rubbins Racing – 6W-4L
Du-Barty-Jets – 4W-5L-1T
Watts Up – 4W-6L
Randy's Raceway Rowdy Reckers – 1W-9L
Turd Ferguson ran away with the team title behind a dominant 8-2 record, with Outlaws and Rubbins Racing rounding out a competitive top three — a strong showing given the randomized draft put every team on equal footing at the start, and the tight, chaotic racing that defined the weekend.
🥇 OVERALL INDIVIDUAL STANDINGS
With four individual classes on the schedule — Fray, Indy, SoS, and Nostalgia — the overall weekend champion was decided by adding up each driver's finishing position in every class they ran. Lowest total score wins. Hiram Durant's weekend-long consistency across every track paid off in a big way, taking the overall title with a total score of just 13. Joel Lux backed up his gritty top-five runs all weekend for second overall, with Randy Haydt, Marc Sevier, and Dave Lockwood rounding out the top five.
Overall Individual Standings:
Hiram Durant – 13 points
Joel Lux – 17 points
Randy Haydt – 21 points
Marc Sevier – 28 points
Dave Lockwood – 30 points
