Wolf Hunting Through the Trees at Pacific Raceways

We came to the Pacific Northwest and Pacific Raceways in search of another Majors win to give us the national points title and a shot at the elusive "Super Sweep".  The national points title is made up of your seven best races in Major's events and one more win would give us a perfect seven wins and 175 points.  The track is a throwback to bygone days when safety mattered little.  The entire backside is run through the forest with trees not far from the track's edge.  If you think too much about it, you'd become paralyzed with fear so best to just act like they don't exist.

Rain threatened for much of the first 3 days, but in actuality never caused a problem.  Our run group was very small with only 6 racers making up four different classes.  However, I had one good competitor in P1 running a state of the art custom made Wolf chassis that was beautifully prepared.  This racer, Miles Jackson, also finished 3rd at the Daytona Runoffs just behind us last year.  We hadn't faced each other since then.  For most of our on-track sessions prior to the 2nd qualifying run, I had a gap of just under 1 second over Miles most of the time.  But Miles was able to up his game and get within .068 seconds of my time of 1:16.589 in the last qualifying run so it looked like a real close race was in the cards.

When race time came and we were ready to roll off pre-grid, I couldn't get my Norma going.  As I was stuck on pre-grid, Miles and the others took off behind the pace car.  Finally, we got my car going but I was forced to start from pit lane on really cold tires and couldn't go until the field had passed me by.  This basically spotted Miles over a 10 second advantage and the full length of the enormous straight away.  Check out the video to see how this turned out.

Jason, of Bulldog Motorsports, and Brian, of JFC Racing, had a good natured ribbing going on over whose lunch was going to get eaten ... Little Red Norma or the Big Bad Wolf. So in that spirit, enjoy our Wolf Hunt.

Jason and I take our hats off to Miles and Brian (JFC Racing) for being ultimate sportsmen and helping us get a severely cracked exhaust header welded up at their shop near the track.  Without their assistance, we more than likely would have scratched out.  Their facilities, haulers and race cars are always exquisitely prepared and neat to see up close...a true class act.  They have made big strides in their development effort and should be a factor at the Runoffs.

Check out the post-race interview here.

The Art of Passing

We went to a double regional event at Thunderhill this past weekend to continue to work on our set-up at this track since we made the "big" change earlier this year.  Last time we were here at the Majors event in March we did manage to barely break our old qualifying record, but not our old race record which stands as the fastest lap ever turned in a race in SCCA competition at THill.  So the focus of the weekend was to make the car better and reset the all-time race lap record.

In testing, we scorched the track with two back-to-back laps in the mid to high 1:35's, a first for us.  To up our odds of duplicating this feat,  we waited and put new sticker tires on for the first race.  Bringing our new Avon tires up to temperature correctly means a slow gradual build-up of heat that requires patience.  With ideal cool morning temperatures after a rainstorm the previous night, this meant more laps than normal...about 5 total.  So just as we finally are ready to go for it, we catch the back of the field and the passing began.  Normally you can find a hole in traffic and get in a few good unobstructed laps.  Not this time, the race went green for the whole 25 minutes and we had to pick our way through traffic for the final 10 laps.  Even though we never got the clear lap we wanted, we did accomplish the goal and took 7/10's off the old record--it is now 1:36.574.

All the group 2 competitors did a great job of racing hard and clean as we made our way through to lap the field.  At the end of the weekend, Stew Tabak, a fellow racer in formula Mazda, told me he appreciated my courtesy on track in not over-pushing and causing any problems as we knifed our way through...that comment made my weekend.  Enjoy the highlight video we've entitled "The Art of Passing" as the dream season continues.

Click on the picture to view The Art of Passing.

Dream Season, Super Sweep and Other Musings

Leading the way at Buttonwillow

We are 5 weekends and 10 races into the season and, so far, no one has matched our pace on track.  We've had one DNF from a broken electrical connector but otherwise we've won every race entered.  This past weekend was no exception at the Buttonwillow Majors event and again we crushed the all-time SCCA track record in each race.  Ultimately we lopped about 4 seconds off the old race record in turning a 1:37.321 and averaging 108 mph on the 2.9 mile track.  In Q2 we turned a weekend best time of 1:36.513.  So the season is off to an exceptional start as we near the halfway mark.  We now hold the all-time track records on Buttonwillow's two most challenging configurations.

Several years ago the SCCA started a special award for something called the Super Sweep.  The Super Sweep is the most challenging award a Club Racer can achieve.  To earn the award the driver must (in a single class):

1. win a Majors Conference Championship
2. win at one of 10 key Majors races
3. win the national point standings
4. win the National Championship Runoffs

We have pretty much wrapped up #1 and #2 and are currently 2nd in the national point standings and need one more win to clinch that honor.  So we are adding another Majors event to the calendar at the end of May for Pacific Raceways in Kent, WA.  It's a classic old track in the Pacific Northwest region.  If we can get another win we will achieve the maximum points possible and check off #3 above.

Of course, the hardest part and the real focus of our season is #4, a win at the Runoffs.  We've got a plan to up our game to a whole new level for that shot at the gold medal at Mid-Ohio.  Stay tuned... and watch the post race interview here.

Smiling for my son after a satisfying win on Sunday.  Thanks for coming Aaron.

Thunderhill Major

San Francisco Region decided to try a bold move and have its Major's event contested on two different tracks--the so called 3-mile and 5-mile.  For whatever reason, it didn't attract many participants in my class but overall had a decent sized field.  We previously had raced on the original version of the 5-mile on opening day a couple of years ago.  It was fun to drive on it but many questioned how much passing could take place on the super twisty west section.  So for this event, a new iteration was created that eliminated the worst of the single file stretches.  In my opinion, this new version is a big improvement and I'm in favor of trying this format again next year.

The car ran great all weekend long and we were the fastest car on track by a bunch.  We brought home two poles and two wins and now we have a big lead in the Western Conference as well as the San Francisco Regional Championship.  Also, we were able to break our old qualifying record on the 3-mile track by a hundredth...the new record is now 1:36.448.  Watch that lap here or on the Race Video page.

On Sunday, my camera failed so no video from the Sunday afternoon feature race on the 5-mile track.  We set a blistering pace with a fastest lap of 2:39.983 which now becomes the new track record.  Tim Day is coming back for a re-match at the next event at Buttonwillow.

Jason's kids came to the track and some great photos emerged of them enjoying the action.

Jackson wearing the lucky hat.

Willow Springs--Fast, Bumpy & Kinda Scary

Anyone who has followed racing through the years knows that it has gone from being a very dangerous sport to one with manageable risk.  Most tracks have been improved with modern safety features and generous runoff areas.  Well, Willow Springs is a throw back to the beginning as it opened in 1953, is virtually the same as then, and touts itself as the "Fastest Road in the West."  The pavement is in poor shape, the edge of the track at the fastest corner has a raised asphalt edge just waiting to grab your tire, and any off track excursion is going to be through knife-edged rocks.

I'd never been to WS before, but had heard stories about it.  I'd already mentally committed to leaving myself a margin of error at key spots around the track.  We had a semi-private test day scheduled the day before the Majors weekend was to begin.  We did get two sessions in to learn the track but that was it, as the clutch kept giving us issues.  Jason and Chris split the car in half about six times over the course of the weekend working on it and finally got the clutch issue solved.

In qualifying with new tires, we finally got in a couple of clean laps in the 1:13.7 range that easily put us on pole by two seconds over Tim Day Jr.  Our average speed on these laps is about 124 mph and peaks at about 147 mph headed into turn 9.  It is very difficult to get an unimpeded lap as slower traffic interferes a lot.  Check out my fastest lap of the weekend here in Q1.  We also secured the P1 track record during the first race.

In race 1 on Saturday, Tim again out accelerated me into the first turn just like he did at Auto Club Speedway last time we started side by side.  It's a little maddening to me to have to give up the lead because my car gets outgunned from the get go.  Our engine builder is still working on getting more power so I'm hopeful we can prevent this by the time of the Runoffs.  We had a great little go at each other for 3 or 4 laps so enjoy the show on the Race Video page or here.  We had some light contact that damaged my nose but we ultimately prevailed and won the race handily.

Race 2 on Sunday was a repeat at the start except, before I could get around Tim, double yellow flags came out for an incident and during this pace car period an electrical wire connection broke at the alternator and my car died on track and had to be towed in.  Tim went on to get the win and our rivalry continues to grow now that Chris Ferrell has announced his retirement from the sport after the Auto Club Speedway event where we trounced him.  Chris was a great competitor, 3-time national champion, and I'll miss racing him.

Off To An Impressive Start

WOW is all I can say to just how well the season started.  We've taken a major leap forward in the development of our car.  We've brought on EFM Racing for engineering assistance and the first tweaks to the set-up have yielded big time gains at both Buttonwillow and Auto Club Speedway.  The car performed flawlessly at our first race last weekend at ACS and we won going away.  We were the fastest car on track by a lot in a 30+ car run group.  We broke the all-time track record in qualifying turning a 1:32.329 and followed it by breaking the race record in P1 with a 1:32.646.  There were 6 competitors in P1 including Chris Ferrell, Tim Day, and Jon VanCaneghem, all fast and capable drivers.  We couldn't have asked for a better opening weekend and we accomplished everything we wanted.  So much so, we skipped race 2 at ACS as it was run in the rain on Sunday.  The track doesn't drain well and standing water created treacherous conditions.

Next race is at Willow Springs in SoCal, a track we've never run before.  It is one of the fastest tracks in the USA and our speed will average about 125 mph.  Let's see if we can back up this performance with another good one.

You can catch the start of the Auto Club Speedway race and the track record run on the Race Video page or here.

The Season Begins

Our 2016 schedule is now out (get it here) and we start the season early at the end of January at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana...the site of our last race.  Chris Ferrell is coming back to P1 so looking forward to our first dust-up right from the get-go.  This event is shaping up to have several other top competitors in attendance.  We'll have a few new things to try out from what we learned last time.  This will be a year of refinement as our basic package of the Norma chassis and Honda power is excellent.  I'm also adding data collection to the car which is a first for me.

Over the off-season, Jason won a very prestigious award, "Mechanic of the Year", from the Sports Car Club of America.  This prize is nationally recognized, not always given every year, and his equivalent of winning the Runoffs.  Jason is so deserving of this award and the recognition that comes with it.  He puts more effort and heart into what he does than just about anyone.  I feel honored to have Jason as my head mechanic.  Jason's company, Bulldog Motorsports, is thriving in a very small niche business that helps make championships possible.  In addition to our Western Conference and NORPAC Championships, he supported two other teammates in two different classes who also won championships in 2015.  Visiting his shop is always a thrill as the diversity of race cars on display is impressive.

Our schedule for 2016 is the most ambitious yet, 12 events and 23 races.  Jason and I have a solid game plan for a great season.  Let the racing begin.

Norma all stripped down.  Chris doing the work and Jason thinking out loud...

Portent of Races to Come

We changed our schedule and decided to go race at Auto Club Speedway last weekend in the Pacific Coast Road Racing Championships.  This race used to be a big deal out west for many years and then stopped as it fell out of favor.  SCCA Cal Club has been trying to rejuvenate it for a couple of years now and we decided to show our support plus a fellow Runoffs competitor, Tim Day, was entering the event in his Stohr WF-1 with a 1,615 cc Hayabusa motor.

Tim and I met at Daytona and hit it off and are hoping to race a lot more together in 2016.  The first Majors race of the year is at ACS in January and this would be a chance for us to learn the track and use this weekend as a warm-up event.

It's a relatively easy track to figure out and we got up to speed quickly and I put the car on pole with a lap time of 1:34.774.  Tim started next to us and out pulled us at the start showing the potency of his lightweight Stohr with the big Busa engine.  The next few laps were great fun and show what's in-store for next year.  Watch the video here.

Runoffs Highlight Reel

The amount of team effort it takes to compete in the Runoffs is huge, especially when you have to go all the way across the country to do it.  I was fortunate enough to also have several family members and friends in attendance.  I have to give a big THANK YOU for making the trip to my wife, Tracey, my brother, Mike, my sister-in-law, Audrey, and my friend and cohort, Robert Carpenter, who also acted as the official photographer for race day.

In Cranbrook Group's Modesto office, we have a lot of talented folks with diverse skills.  One of them is Trey Broaddus, CPA who is our Assistant Controller and a very accomplished editor.  Trey put his skills to work and created a wonderful highlight video of race day at Daytona.  The beginning segment is a real masterpiece and gets me excited each time I see it.  Thank you Trey and I hope everyone enjoys the video as much as I do.

Daytona Runoffs

We went to Daytona with sky high expectations given our record setting season and came back a little humbled, but none the less, still pleased with the outcome--2nd place.  What makes it extra rewarding is that we were really tested as a team and we came through it stronger and wiser.  We rolled out of the trailer with an immediate electrical gremlin that took 2 1/2 days to eliminate.  We finally got one good session under our belt on the last test day and prepared for the start of qualifying.  Qualifying is when you have to go out and put it all on the line and run as fast as you can to secure a good starting position.  But in order to do this properly you really want the car dialed in so you can give it your best shot.  With our lack of testing, we were behind the curve.

Our problem was a lack of top speed as we found it difficult to go over 160 mph when the top runner was hitting 182.  To go faster we needed to remove drag from our car, but still be able to drive it in the twisty infield section.  Finding a set up that would yield a reasonable compromise became our goal after one "swing for the fences" effort ended with me going off-track and coming up a foot short of contact with the Armco barrier.  The unique high speed nature of this track gave us a one-of-kind challenge that was more than we anticipated.

After four rounds of qualifying, we were locked into starting in 4th place.  We decided to make some final adjustments and race the car in what we felt would be a relatively stable condition while hitting a top speed of about 167 mph.  This turned out to be a wise decision.

The race started and we lost a couple of spots as we were feeling our way into the revised set-up.  After two laps, everything felt pretty good and we set our fastest lap of the race on lap 3 with a 1:51.48.  Then the pace car came out and bunched up the field due to a wreck by Tim Day.  He was uninjured but his car was damaged and had to be towed away.  During the double yellow laps behind the pace car, the lead car dropped a lot of oil on the track so when racing resumed, the surface was very slippery.  I restarted in 3rd and quickly passed the 2nd place car as he struggled mightily in the oil.  From there until the end I drove as hard as I dare feeling my way through each lap.  My average time over the last 5 laps was faster than anyone else, except for the winner.

The irony was the leader was the one dropping the oil creating havoc for those behind, but the rest of us driving through his oil helped clean a path for him the next time around.  It's hard for me to complain too much, though, as it played into our strategy of having a well behaving car that allowed me to adapt easily to the challenging conditions.  In any event, the winner, JP Ciancimino, drove a blistering pace and deserved the win.