Putnam Park May 13-15

#61

Lets not go crazy, I’ve improved but I’m not going to be doing a rain dance in the paddock, I’m ready for a dry race.

#62

Rich, what happened that you couldn’t race? Did you break?[/quote]

In short, there are a few weld issues with my roll cage that have been overlooked in previous tech inspections that surfaced on Saturday. Not a big deal and we have plan in motion to remedy by Memorial Day.

#63

RAIN THEN NO RAIN THEN RAIN BUT ALWAYS COLD - RAIN TIRES OR SLICKS
Another weekend of Spec E30 racing proved to be a rain soaked event at Putnam Park. However, the Spec E30 paddock area was packed with both racers and crew. Everyone was happy to see Richard Bratton along with his Dad (who also was at Putnam Park to drive), his friend and mechanic, Zach and Richard’s girlfriend, Stephanie. Jeremy Lucas and FasTech co-racer, Sean Luisin were there along with Kyle Smith driving another FasTech vehicle. Cameron Bullard’s Dad was with him as well as his girlfriend. Dan UnKraut crewed for Kevin Sweeney who was driving the Reverend Rob’s car. Michael Osborne was there with his crew chief, “Pappy O” also known as Dad who brought Karen. On Saturday, we were delighted to have Simon Hunter along with his wife, Shannon and twin sons Elliott and Oliver join us at the Paddock. Their dog, Lola, joined them much to the delight of the fourteen month old twins.
By Friday evening, six drivers were at Putnam Park almost ready to race. Cameron Bullard was fighting a brake and master cylinder problem and then a crushed brake line (watch where you put the jack stands!!). Friday evening was beginning to look bad for Bullard but thanks to quick action, Bullard’s car was fixed and back “on track” for Saturday’s events.
Seven Spec E30 drivers were in attendance. However Bratton’s #71 car experienced tech issues with safety equipment and could not race wheel to wheel. He was able to run HPDE3 so the SPEC E30 field was reduced to six on Saturday. Saturday had an early morning dry track for the 20 minute warm-up, and then later six Spec E30’s were on track for the 15 minute qualifying to establish their place in the grid.
Lunch was served to the SPEC E30 drivers, their families and crew. After lunch Denny Barker, another SPEC E30 driver stopped by to say hello to everyone.
By race time on Saturday, it had started to rain. As the SPEC E30 drivers thought the race was delayed due to the extremely wet track conditions, the only SPEC E30 to take the green flag was Simon Hunter. Kevin Sweeney, who was driving a borrowed car, did not have rain tires with him so he opted to watch from the sidelines. The order of the drivers was Simon Hunter, Cameron Bullard, Jeremy Lucas, Kyle Smith and Michael Osborne. During the race, there was a lot of slipping and sliding. First lap out, Bullard and Lucas both spun and Smith and Osborne both passed them. Osborne then passed Smith. Bullard and Lucas quickly caught up and re-passed Osborne and Smith. Osborne then spun and Smith moved back to fourth. Final order of finish was Hunter, Lucas, Bullard, Smith and Osborne.
The drivers skipped the “Banquet in the Rain” but met at the Coachmen in Plainfield for a “marvelous” dinner. There were sixteen for dinner with all seven drivers along with their crews in attendance (we missed Shannon and the twins). It was the perfect ending for a rainy race day but kept the camaraderie of the day going.
Rain during the night made for another extremely wet practice track. Kevin Sweeney chose to pack up and leave. Michael Osborne chose not to venture out on such a wet track however Lucas, Hunter, Smith, and Bullard did go out and “brave the elements”.
The track for qualifying was again wet with Lucas, Hunter, Smith and Bullard all competing for that number one grid position. After qualifying, order for the main event was Bullard, Hunter, Lucas, and Smith.
Lunch again was served to drivers and their crews.
After lunch Michael Osborne loaded Richard Bratton’s car in his trailer in order for the cage improvements to be completed in Ashland. In turn, Richard Bratton loaded Michael Osborne’s car in his trailer and arrangements to swap cars in a couple of weeks after the repairs to Richard’s car have been completed.
As Osborne and Bratton were preparing to leave the track, Cameron Bullard was dealing with a gas leak in his race car and “no reverse” in his tow vehicle. With the great teamwork of the SPEC E30 drivers, it did not take long to have the trailer for Bullard’s car hitched and ready to tow before he went on track.
In addition, the car troubles and the tow vehicles troubles did not slow Bullard down. For the race he had the pole position and led “flag to flag” to finish the race with a victory. Way to go Cameron. As the track was still wet, both Jeremy and Simon spun out but were able to finish the race.
The next NASA Spec E30 event will be held at Grattan Race Course at Greenville, Michigan near Grand Rapids. Jeremy Lucas has been to the track and it is one of his favorites. He reports it has a lot of vertical elevation changes, including a jump!! Its narrow width makes it challenging to pass. So far, 3 drivers have said they plan to attend and they include Michael Osborne; Sean Louisin and Cameron Bullard. We hope more can come with their families, crew or pets.