Well it went sort of OK. We had two wrecks, one car with a broken shift fork in the tranny and sunny weather. The group as a whole did very well and was congratulated by Jerry for doing so.
February was the start of the season and the start of the first contingencies. The prizes up for grabs total $1220 for the weekend. I handed out the prizes on Saturday and with a little help on sunday from fellow racer Kevin Borchers it was a success. I had double duty on Sunday and needed the help. Thanks Kevin for stepping in. Also I wanted to thank Scott Neville for his duty as Race chair for the event weekend. Scott is very helpful and knowledgable in all aspects of racing and is a great asset to the group.Thanks again Scott.
We hope to see the addition of drivers and cars grow as many teams are appearing each weekend for spece30 competition. There has been additional interest in Spece30 contingencies brewing in the paddock so be on the lookout and be in good form, the guys staring at your car just may be the next set of contingency sponsors.
Good Luck Good Health and Good Racing
See you all at Thunderhill
Infineon report
It was great having a balance of experienced racers out there like Donny, Dave, Scott and Kevin to keep all us wild, orange-placarded rookies in line. The weather was phenomenal, Sears Point is legendary and a great place to open the season, gang was all there having fun and doing all that last minute stickering (Scott, Brenden, me…) so we could win some contingency dollars that Steve, Ron (AIM Tires) and Walter (Valley Motorwerks) have provided for us. I got up there Friday night and appropriated several NASA cones to hold paddock space for the 9-10 E30s that came out, right in front of the grandstands where we can get plenty of exposure (except it was blocked off by that huge motorhome!). Walter showed up camera in hand, herded the cats up to an area with a fantastic backdrop to do a bunch of photos to further promote the series.
The Saturday race was pretty uneventful, Donny qualified on pole and ran away with it. Personally, I learned some valuable lessons about managing traffic and trying to keep up with him. Kevin and Dave both exploited by rookieness by taking advantage when I did something dumb like leaving plenty of room on the inside of 4 or 6 respectively. I was scared to death of dropping a wheel or bumping into somebody and getting a Go to Group 4 card, do not pass go and do not collect any contingency money. That’s how the top 3 finished - Donny, Kevin, Dave. Everyone ran clean and finished the race, and it further stoked the fires for what was to come the next day.
Sunday held a bit more drama - Scott didn’t run practice because his tranny was making noise, I almost didn’t run qualifying because my fuel pump decided to take a dump in the paddock and Kevin coached it back to life for me. I ran two good laps and qualified 3rd, right behind Scott and Dave. With the always present Brenden and dangerous Carl in the defending champion car in the row behind me. I could tell that Sunday’s race was going to be different right away - everyone shook off the rust, rookies got more comfortable, and everyone wanted something to take home on Sunday night. Right out of the gate, Scott got a bit jittery at the top of 2 - a very difficult turn to take at high speed - with Dave and me right up his tailpipe. He spun and the rest of the field sped past. We held like that for a while until Brenden decided he had enough of 3rd and wanted to see what 2nd place felt like but unfortunately timed his braking a little late and was forced to sit in a corner until the race was over. Carl and I had several good laps together but I managed to hold him off til the end. And that’s how that one ended - Dave, me, Carl.
Unfortunately, Dave had an issue with his car in impound which eliminated him from the official results. The owner (a different guy) had made a serious error in the interpretation of the rules, specifically related to a part. I felt bad for Dave because he worked hard for his win, but was also happy to see us support the integrity of the series by following the rules to the letter. There was high drama in impound between Dave’s car and Brenden’s adventure, but when all was said and done we had finished our first weekend of the year and most had a great time and can’t wait to get out there again in March.
I second everything that was said… the series is really taking off. Scott and I are getting alot of new racers on board over the next few months (we have a plan that will be unleashed in a few days). It is Scott’s idea but due to my overactive EGO I have to claim SOME responsibility for it. 
Nice lineup…
Nice photo walter. Sorry we couldn’t get the car up the hill.
The growth of spece30 on the west coast is very exciting to say the least. New cars every event are popping up.
Still shooting for our own run group by the end of the year.
We have a lot to be proud of…
That was a fun weekend, Can’t wait to do it again, minus the late braking…
. Everyone else out there did a great job, and I think the series will grow rapidly…A little warning, My car may be a bit brighter when I come back…
. Our own run group would be ridiculously awesome…
Help.
I just spent an hour on a post, then got thrown out & lost my message when I hit submit.
I finally found the site the local racers use & I’d like to communicate with the group.
Can someone help me?
Dave
Dave,
Welcome to the site. This is where everthing happens or at least we talk about it happening.The forum boots you off if you type to long, so I suggest typing in word then paste it over.
Send me a PM with your email of choice so as things progress for the race weekends I can update you.
davidallen wrote:
[quote]Help.
I just spent an hour on a post, then got thrown out & lost my message when I hit submit.
I finally found the site the local racers use & I’d like to communicate with the group.
Can someone help me?
Dave[/quote]
Hey Dave,
Send me your email address and I’ll add you to our NorCal SpecE30 mailing list. Also, I’d like to fill in your bio on the NorCal SpecE30 website. BTW…thanks for not hitting me when I spun in Turn 2. Here’s a video clip I put together:
You can email me at sneville44@yahoo.com
Cheers,
Scott Neville
NorCal SpecE30 #44
Scott,
What was your cold tire pressure? You look real loose and it appears to be the car not you.
Steve, dirty laundry time …Is there anything other series directors should be on the lookout for as a result of the impound? I’m guessing it was something innocent/simple like the car being too light 'cause it was the first ime on track/not sorted out yet?
Regards, Robert Patton
motormuncher wrote:
[quote]Scott,
What was your cold tire pressure? You look real loose and it appears to be the car not you.[/quote]
Hey Steve…It was all me in Turn 2…I carried a tad too much speed and wasn’t lined up with the apex as Dave Allen was coming into my inside. Also, I have to break my FWD habit of giving the car gas to pull the car out of a spin! After four years of racing a FWD car it’s a reaction that is hard to not do! In Turn 8a the green Honda surprised me with that inside pass just as I was beginning to turn in…I misjudged that his car was as fast as it was. Not a big deal he was chasing the first place H1 car and was more aggressive than what I was anticipating. It’s all good…I’m just glad no one hit me and I didn’t hit any K-walls or tire-walls!
It was a great weekend and thanks for your help making it so. We’re going to have a very competitive 2008 season…!
Robert,
The issue was much bigger. The springs were incorrect! Also the battery was repositioned to just behind where the passenger seat was.
Impound should concern themselves on obvious things like those and leave the minor objects to the paddock sweeps. As a NASA Tech inspector I am required to sweep the paddock looking for safety issues but as Norcal Spece30 Series Director I get to look deeper at our group. One thing that was recently brought to my attention by the chief scrutiner and the race director is that if I race then I cannot have a say at impound. I am only able as are all racers to provide Spec regulations if asked for by one of the tech inspectors in impound. It becomes somewhat of a conflict of interest.
Scott,
Your car control was very good with what you were delt with. I would agree having a VW of my own once but never racing it. I too had some learning on sunday with that specmiata. I kept trying to rotate it in the corners and diving way to deep in the corners. Just something we have to overcome. Well I will say our EVO is finally underconstruction in a big way so i will have more to learn soon enough. Thanks also scott for your hard work keeping the group notified of cars and parts that come up.
Steve, oops.
I’ve got some Turner J-stock springs from my BMWCCA days. They’re about twice the spring rate on front and rear as the stuff we use. Yet, with them on the car, lap time wise, it is no better or worse that what we use. Yes the car is more gocart-like, and the sideways snapback/correction is not as big as it is with our softer springs. Well, it matters not.
The series will have growing pains and I wish you well with larger fields to follow.
Regards, Robert Patton
First of all, that’s a great picture of the group. You look like a proud bunch…and you should be.
Regarding body contact and rookie drivers, I’ll offer a few comments, especially since we went through the exact same situation when we started to see good growth.
Back then, we didn’t have the NASA Driver’s Points system. Therefore, as the Mid Atlantic Spec E30 Series Director, I took it upon my self to issue penalties for contact, and NASA Mid Atlantic supported my decisions. I even had to penalize myself for late braking and nudging a Spec E30 car off the track. No damage but I had made the mistake. I had three drivers decide my penality, and I accepted it.
Now, NASA has designed a Driver Points system and we have used it several times. At VIR this weekend, NASA issued driver points to a Spec E30 driver for punting another driver off the track at turn one. The offending driver got three points and a DQ, and the “victim” driver got one point.
I was removed from the system which is a good thing, with me being a driver as well.
Have you guys thought about using the NASA system? Like the Spec E30 Rules, it takes the guesswork/subjectivity out of it (mostly) and seems to work well for us. Speak to the NorCal Region Compliance Director and ask for his thoughts.
And do consider posting race reports on the General Discussion board. I look at most of the boards but more people will see it if you put it there. And we want everyone to see how you guys are doing.
Carter
Carter wrote:
[quote]The offending driver got three points and a DQ, and the “victim” driver got one point.
[/quote]
Carter, The system sounds good, I’m curious why the victim got a point. Is that the norm in the NASA system - any contact receives at least one?
Sounds like a great idea.