August 2008 Thunderhill Raceway Report, Willows, CA
written by Steve Krshul
August 2008

Sunday's Pregrid Line Up -- Ten Cars Raced on Sunday
Photo by Kregg Miller

Well it was HOT and I mean HOT. Not as hot as I have witnessed in beautiful Willows, Ca in August but it was hot nonetheless. For me this weekend meant catch up after a two month absence due to this lovely economy we are all experiencing. So as always I overloaded myself with extra duties within Nasa. Seems I am not the only one to be missing out on volunteering lately. Tech was down on people, Safety had a few missing and generally everyone was busy so it was time to step up once again.

The group was on the growth spurt as always so that meant introductions, compliments on the beautiful cars and a little verbal coaching everyone in the paddock so gracefully allows me to continue with. We seem to bounce up and down with cars and drivers, especially with the split teams(the growing trend out here). Donny was missing Elliot (At Pepperdine…OOOH AAAAH) and Carl was missing Kevin (practicing for some sort of 8 day granola hike in the woods by himself) (be safe Kev). Walter was splitting duties in the #37 Vmwerks car with our own Group A Race Director Will Faules. AJ is still out due to that misfortunate incident a few races back and Brenden is off at school again (Texting me at 3:35am to chat, lots of studying going on there). Mike Schwarzbart was there but driving his E36 M3 for some reason and not sure where Steve Russo is at these days. The Ten Tenths car of ours is still undecided in fate and may even become sold in the near future. The awesome RED BARON machine of Sean Trapp (www.speedtrappracing.net) was in full force vying for the top of the podium with an excellent guest driver (long time BMW and EVO racer Navid Kahangi) behind the wheel. We received two new rookies after Saturday testing and again added to the field. So as you see we have a lot of ins and outs and if for some strange reason we all show up at the same time……Look out Spec Miatas (they have their own run group but are down to 9-12 car fields).

The racing on Saturday was successful in that no one did anything to get any attention and it went off without a hitch. There were some good battles in mid pack as Will and Donny drove away from the field in the early laps. Donny would continue to lead and bring home the win sticker to share with Sgt Pepper (dine…that’s good enough to repeat...LOL). We ended the day with the official NASA barbeque that is held every Saturday night at every race weekend….GO JERRY. Oh and we sipped some beverages at the local Fine Mexican restaurant (Casa Ramos) as well.

Sunday's Line Up Awaiting the Drop of the Green Flag
Photo by Kregg Miller

Sunday, well that went a little different. Adam was having some overheating issues and Ron kept leaking power steering fluid in the paddock for which I was yelled at by the safety crew for not policing and cleaning up. The warm up and Qual went good and Donny once again was on top. For Sunday Walter was in the #37 car and Will set out (in the air-conditioned top floor of the tower). Carl and Navid where doing exceptional jobs staying close to Donny’s heals in the times so the race was set and looking good. The Qual ended up Donny, Carl, Navid, Scott N and Walter rounding out the top five. In the past we have shaken up the pack by making the drivers draw positions from a hat and inverting the field. This weekend though we had two new rookies Gregg Peterson and Bennett McMicking and a new pavement surface so we needed to be crafty. The decision was made to invert the top five positions giving Walter the pole and keeping Navid in third with his solid performance. The group gridded up all looked well. The flag flew and for some reason Walter had an issue and the pack looked like an accordion in front of the flag stand. Click here for in-car video from Walter's Car. Donny and Navid went in all directions including the infield briefly to avoid the rear ending of the #37 car. Turn one and Scott N was in the lead with Navid, Carl and Donny at his heals. Someone later quoted Walter in saying Scott looked like a rabbit being chased by three wolves, or something to that degree. Scott held off the attack for awhile but was overtaken by the three cars to end up 4th overall. Donny took the win with Carl and Navid at his side on the podium. Way to go guys. So after all the weekend was a huge success for Spece30 and the car count grows. The winners of the Auto Analyst II Hawk Brake pad drawing are: Saturday/Scott Clough and Sunday/Gregg Peterson. Congratulations and see you all at the next event.

For official results and lap times Click Here. For additional event photos Click Here. For an album of Kregg Miller event photos Click Here.

Will Faules gets ready on Saturday to do battle in the #37 VMWerks Rental SpecE30
Photo by Walter Ford

Guest Racer Navid Kahangi gets prepared on Saturday with help from Speedtrapp Racing's Tony Zwain
Photo by Walter Ford


Rookie Bennett McMicking leads a Spec Miata in Sunday's Event
Photo by Kregg Miller

Rookie Greg Peterson in front of Scott Neville exiting the S's during Sunday qualifying
Photo by Kregg Miller

Scott Clough leads Ron Harness, Adam Lazur and Greg Peterson in the Ss during Sunday's race
Photo by Kregg Miller

SpeedTrapp Racing's Nicely Prepared #48 "Red Baron" Driven by Navid Kahangi
Photo by Kregg Miller



Carl Chiu leads Navid Kahangi and Scott Neville through the Ss in Sunday's Race
Photo by Kregg Miller

Scott Neville (Rabbit) leads Wolves Donny Edwards and Navid Kahangi through the Ss
Photo by Kregg Miller