2011 ARLA Elite Series Rookie Shootout

The 2011 ARLA Elite Series Rookie Shootout marked the third-annual running of the event, which is open to all rookie full-time drivers.

Unlike in the previous two seasons, where the winner was guaranteed a slot in the season-opening race, the winner earned 25 points toward the championship.

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Pre-race storylines
The presence of Derek Dudding in the field gave many drivers pause; Dudding gained notoriety for failing to make the first turn at Watkins Glen in 2010. He was well off the pace in practice for the event.

Dudding also caused a ruckus at the position drawing event, where, upon pulling the 13th position, was heard shouting, "how dar they give me thurtenth! its not fare! there agenst me! i hat evry1 and im calling teh cops!" Dudding was removed from the stage by officials, but kept his starting spot.

Eligible drivers
This year's race also was the largest by a wide margin, at 29 cars.


 * 0 - Rene Recarmier
 * 7 - Bruce Wilkinson
 * 10 - Dan Mackay
 * 04 - Cletus McGuffie
 * 11 - Matas Kazimeras
 * 18 - Scott Dalitz
 * 20 - Nico Petrov
 * 22 - Makoto Yamada
 * 24 - Libby Bell
 * 33 - Raibeart Scott
 * 55 - AJ Young &dagger;
 * 57 - Damien Snyder
 * 58 - Salvatore Provenzano
 * 64 - Michael Madrigal
 * 66 - Edwin Schwarzloski
 * 73 - Amy Patti
 * 77 - Jeremy West
 * 89 - Chuck Bloomers
 * 91 - Phil Summers
 * 070 - Hawk Slider
 * 100 - Rachel Rainsford
 * 149 - Gary DeSouza
 * 152 - Mumba Kumangu
 * 165 - Holden Roberts
 * 231 - Jacob Eichholtz
 * 313 - CJ Cameron
 * 610 - Mike Howard
 * 611 - Nick Howard
 * 4968325 - Derek Dudding

&dagger; – Young started five races in the 2001 season, but did not race in the Elite Series again until the 2008 season finale. As such, he still retained rookie eligibility.

Summary
Nico Petrov and Dan Mackay led the field to the green, and battled for the lead for the first lap. Mackay would eventually allow Petrov to hold the lead, though. A few cars, including Derek Dudding, AJ Young, and Cletus McGuffie all fell off the pace fairly quickly. Rene Recarmier, meanwhile, passed Dan Mackay for second. A lap later, he passed Nico Petrov for the lead. At lap 5, the caution would wave for the first time when Libby Bell clipped Holden Roberts sending them both sliding into the inside wall. Roberts slid back up the track directly into the path of Rachel Rainsford and Raibeart Scott. As Rainsford's was coming to a stop, Derek Dudding slammed into the back end of Rainsford's car. All cars involved were knocked out of the race.

Rene Recarmier restarted with the lead on lap 10, with Nico Petrov in second, and Mike Howard in third. However, the caution came out again on that same lap. Chuck Bloomers, Hawk Slider, and Matas Kazimeras go three wide, but it ends badly for all three, Slider slams the wall, Bloomers slides down the track into the path of AJ Young, and Kazimeras runs into the side of Mumba Kumangu, who gets into Damien Snyder and spins. Edwin Schwarzloski gets collected as well. Cletus McGuffie, who was running behind this, managed to drive through the entire wreck and come out unscathed. As the cars were slowing down, Michael Madrigal turned Salvatore Provenzano into the wall, earning Madrigal a trip to the hauler.

Rene Recarmier restarts in the lead again, with Mike Howard moving into second, and Jacob Eichholtz now in third. Only laps later, Eichholtz makes a pass for second. Meanwhile, Nico Petrov, who won the pole, has fallen to fifth, passed by Recarmier, Howard, Eichholtz, and Scott Dalitz. Back to the front, Eichholtz would pass Recarmier for the lead, and work on building his lead up. A scary moment in the race for pole sitter Nico Petrov, who had contact with Gary DeSouza, sending Petrov sliding through the grass at full speed. Petrov kept control of the car and got back up on the track without losing any positions.

After Petrov's close call, the field calmed down quite a bit. Only a few passes took place for a while, most notably Bruce Wilkinson passing Mike Howard for third. Eventually, the leaders would catch the tail end of the field, which brought another twist to his exciting race. Jacob Eichholtz lost some of his lead trying to lap Cletus McGuffie, but would hold on and pass McGuffie's much slower car. The next car that Eichholtz and Rene Recarmier caught was that of Salvatore Provenzano, who was slow from damage he received in a wreck with Michael Madrigal. Meanwhile, Recarmier's teammate, Gary DeSouza, has moved into third place. However, it does not appear that DeSouza will be a factor unless the caution comes out. However, Bruce Wilkinson and Michael Madrigal will challenge DeSouza for the third spot, but neither Wilkinson nor Madrigal had enough to catch DeSouza. Back up front, Rene Recarmier's handling has gone away, bringing Recarmier's speed down very much. This led to an easy win for Jacob Eichholtz, who would win the third annual Rookie Shootout, and score 25 bonus points for the 2011 ARLA Elite Series Season.

The top 10

 * For the remainder of the running order, click here.