First off, my sincere thanks to all my fellow NorCal SE30 racers for the great gift (the custom jacket) I was presented with this last weekend. It's awesome and I'm so proud to wear it and equally proud to be the leader of such a great group of guys. At some point I'm going to have to quit wearing it in bed though!
Wow...even more SE30s than our season opener! We had 32 SE30's in Saturday's rain-soaked race! This I'm pretty sure is a record turnout of SE30's in any NASA Region. We welcomed to the group veteran racers Tommy Olivier (Pro7 and Spec Miata) and Mike and Chris Lock (Honda Challenge), Frank Bushman (Go-Karts), Bill Shawhan (Formula Ford) and rookies Glenn Kent and Shawn Sipos.
The pointy end of the spear is filled with some great drivers, the competition for the top podium spot is as good as any other race series, Club and Pro...just ask Jeff Lepper! He told me he thinks SE30 is the best racing bang-for-the-buck anywhere in the country. I agree!
Speaking of rain...as the legendary Al Butterfield once said...racing in the rain is "twice the fun at half the speed". Yes it can be fun, but it can be disastrous too. Unfortunately Tommy ("Tommy O") Olivier and Scott "Scuff" Clough both wrecked badly going into Turn 7 after hydroplaning on a big puddle of water that was impossible to see. Tommy O wrecked in Saturday's SE30 race and Scuff in the Saturday GTS race. Both emerged unhurt but Scott's car was totaled, I don't know about Tommy's car. The rest of us survived the ass-puckering moments of hydroplaning, spinouts and mowing turf. Seeing all the clover being harvested this weekend by Jimmy "Neutron" Bucha, I think I can safely dub Jimmy the "Master Gardener" of the weekend! In Jim defense, he later found a screw in his rear tire, which deflated his tire slowly, causing his car to become ill-handling mid-way through the race...it happened during the GTS and the SE30 race...same lap and same spot.
Additional weekend fun was provided with cash awards for the fastest pole, the fastest race lap and the coveted Evil Genius Hard Charger Award and various random draw prizes. Plus, thanks to PointSix Racing and GoGoGear, we are receiving handsome podium trophies. Additionally, NASA has lent us Race Director and SE30 racer Jeff Lepper for his professional presentation of the awards. Jeff's resume includes radio station host work and he was the voice of NASA's USTCC Touring Car Series. Thanks Jeff!
Saturday saw Brad McClure (Team BTM Motorwerks) grabbing the rain-soaked pole with Loren Trefethen in second and Gary Rieger (Team Berkeley Motorwerks) in third. The race was won by Gary followed by Brad McClure in second and Donny Edwards in a close third. Gary was later DQ'd for having extra rain grooves in his treaded RA-1's thus giving the win to Brad McClure with Donny in 2nd and Derek Welch taking the 3rd spot. About mid-way into the race, Tommy Olivier and Loren Trefethen hydroplaned on the back straight before Turn 7. Tommy's car took an abrupt left turn straight into the K-Wall while Loren went sailing in the opposite direction into the muddy turf. Tommy's car looked pretty destroyed, but luckily he walked away unscathed.
Sunday's qualifying was on a wet but slightly faster track. Brad McClure showed his wet driving skills taking the pole a full three seconds faster than the number two car of Loren Trefethen. Third and forth qualifiers were Eric Deck and Donny Edwards respectively. The track was starting to dry out before Sunday's afternoon race and racers were wondering if they might be better on shaved rather than wet tires. The decision to stay on wet tires was a good one as, if right on queue, heavy showers started 3 minutes before heading out on track. Brad was the rainmaster again, finishing in first place 5 seconds ahead of Loren Trefethen and 6 seconds ahead of Donny Edwards who was in hot pursuit. Brad has earned the title of "Rain Master", nice job. With this win, Team BTM Motorwerks has taken a strong early lead in regional points. Four races and four wins!
I'd like to take a moment and discuss Gary's DQ. This is a classic example of not double checking the rules. It cost Gary 100 points and will likely put a dent in his efforts of securing a second NorCal regional championship. Remember this...a big part of being a racer is knowing the rule set! Every racer should have a copy of the current SE30 rules on hand at every race. The SE30 rules are not a big document, only 21 pages in length with a nice large font for old guys like me who need reading glasses! Rule 9.3.9.3 concerns tires and is only two short sentences long. Furthermore it is completely unambiguous: "Commercial tire shaving, evenly across the entire width of the tread, to any depth is allowed. Tires shall not be modified in any other way." Gary's mistake is that he relied on someone else (in this case the person who grooved the tires) for assurance that this was a legal modification. The lesson learned here is to double check the rules before you consider a modification to your car. If the rules are unclear to you then seek out a clarification! NASA folks are always ready and willing to help.
Getting back to the prize winnings, Brad McClure won $100 cash prize from North Bay Bavarian Motors for clocking the fastest pole of the weekend and took home another $100 from PointSix Racing for setting the fastest race lap.
I drafted Race Directors Geoff Mohler and Will Faules to oversee selection of the Evil Genius Racing Hard Charger Award. On Sunday, the choice came down to two racers, Brad McClure for his hard-charging race effort in Saturday's contest (Brad spun in Turn 10, managed to extract his car from the mud and clawed his way back to finish 2nd) and rookie Bryan "Lightening" McQueen for racing on barely treaded tires (in both GTS and SE30)...never spinning...never dropping a wheel and, following the each session, rushing back to tech to help out Alan Blaine. It was a hard choice as both Geoff and Will were equally impressed by both drivers. We ended up tapping Bryan for the Evil Genius Hard Charger of the weekend since these clean races completed his rookie book and earned him his full competition license. Congratulations Lightning!
The AIM Tire $100 gift certificate went to 15th position in Saturday's race, the racer who finished 15th was Jason Alexandridis! Congrats Jason!
With their two first place finishes, Team BTM Motorwerks won two certificates from ProRacing Simulators (you guys might think about donating these to some deserving rookies). For the ProRacing Simulators hard charger awards (biggest position gain in Saturday's and Sunday's race) according to my ciphering, go to Shaun Sipos for Saturday and Dan Gorman for Sunday. Thanks to Tom Pabst at ProRacing for his support of NorCal SE30.
Robert Lamb and Mike Sekhon earned $75 gift certificates from TFB Performance for finishing 10th and 20th on Saturday. Thanks to Tim Barber for helping support NorCal SE30. Trefethen bottles of wine went to 3rd place and 7th place, for both days, winners were then Derek Welch and Andy Chittum for Saturday and Donny Edwards and Gary Rieger for Sunday. Thanks Loren for the great wine gifts!
Kevin Nichols was giving out bottles of spirits too...bottles went to 5th place for both days in honor of his old car #55. 5th place on Saturday was Frank Bushman and 5th on Sunday was Derek Welch. A big thanks to "The Shoe" Nichols and his company Nichols Wealth Management.
Anarchy eye-wear sunglasses went by a random car number draw. Greg Peterson drew the car numbers for Paul Blickman and Dan Gorman. Congrats guys! These are nice sunglasses...I'm hoping to win a pair!
German Parts and Restoration discount coupons went to Saturday's 13th and 17th place finishers and the 9th and 6th place finishers on Sunday. Drum roll please...Matt Row and DJ Riley for Saturday and DJ Riley and Andy Chittum for Sunday.
We also awarded two $75 gift certificates from Fast Signs in Natomas for those racers finishing 13th on both days...lucky winners were the Father and Son team of Rick Row and Matt Row!
Steve Ferrario won the restaurant gift certificate for Plaza Jalisco in Roseville...but promptly gave it to Valley Motorwerks mechanic Jon Parvo, who had been working extra hours on Steve's car before the race. Jon was at the track in HPDE2 (in a BMW of course).
Lastly...the Quick Graffix helmet wrap went to the racer who finished 2nd on Saturday...that lucky racer was Donny Edwards. Thanks to Mike Barbee for this fun prize.
The rough weather made for some very challenging racing on an unforgiving racetrack. We lost two cars but no one got hurt. This is a testament to the safety rules we adhere to and the folks who watch over us in Tech. Thanks again to Alan Blaine, Bryan McQueen and the rest of our tech volunteers.
I look forward (as I'm sure all of you) to the next race at Thunderhill. I hope to see all of you at Casa Ramos on Friday for Margaritas and merriment. Stay tuned for some prospective SE30 BBQ action on Saturday at Thunderhill...more info will follow as it gets organized. Mike Lock is bringing his projector and screen so we can watch our in-car video of the day.
Cheers,
Scott (Scoot) Neville
NorCal SE30 Region Director
