Thunderhill 8-23/8-24 Race report


#1

Thunderhill
August 23rd and 24th

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 none the less. 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 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 S was there but driving his e36 m3 for some reason and not sure where Steve R 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 Machine of Sean Trapp(www.speedtrappracing.net) was in full force vying for the top of the podium with an excellent driver 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 Miata’s(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 as well.
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. 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.
:woohoo:


#2

Here are photos of the weekend’s festivites:

http://www.vmwerks.com/gallery/gallery.asp?categoryid=53

Great event! The new track surface is smoooooth! Looking forward to running backwards in October!

Cheers,
Scott Neville
#44 NorCal SpecE30
http://www.norcalspece30.com/


#3

Wish I could have been there, looks like a good time. Man, those new cars look good in the pictures…


#4

I need the usual. Team driver each day and the configuration run (CCW w/bypass, CW w/T5 etc). TIA!

http://www.mylaps.com/results/showrun.jsp?id=933294&perclass=1


#5

THill CCW w/bypass

Team Brimstone Dynasty - Donny Edwards both days
Team VMWERKS Racing (37) - Will Faules on Sat, Walter Ford on Sun
Team Valley Motorwerks (36) - Carl Chu both days


#6

Missed you too Brenden! And you missed my new track car!


#7

laz wrote:

[quote]THill CCW w/bypass

Team Brimstone Dynasty - Donny Edwards both days
Team VMWERKS Racing (37) - Will Faules on Sat, Walter Ford on Sun
Team Valley Motorwerks (36) - Carl Chu both days[/quote]

Correction: name is “Carl Chiu” for car 36.

Cheers!
Carl.


#8

dang - sorry I missed it fellas. The new green and yellow cars look like really nice restore projects, I look forward to meeting you guys. I haven’t done much work on mine but hope to get some stuff done during this long weekend.

Cheers,
AJ


#9

Doh! Sorry about the misspelling Carl. You get 1 free “Adam Lazer” :wink:


#10

Steve:

Thanks for the good report!

And the cars look great in the photos. Spec E30 cars are always faster with bright color paint on the body.

:stuck_out_tongue:

Carter


#11

The Race Report has been posted on www.norcalspece30.com with great photos by Kregg Miller and Walter Ford. Thanks to Steve K for doing the write-up.

http://www.norcalspece30.com/news/news_August_08_Thunderhill.html

I also set up an album of Kregg Miller photos here:

http://www.norcalspece30.com/news/Albums/KM%20THill%20Aug%2008/KreggMillerPhotosThunderhillAugust2008/index.html

Cheers,
Scott Neville
#44 NorCal SpecE30
http://www.norcalspece30.com/


#12

I had a great time and Will Faules proved that this really is a driver’s class. Our 37 car is purposely NOT built to the edge of the rules. No wheel spacers, stock OLD motor and clutch, high mileage differential etc. The only way to go faster is build a solid, race finishing car and get good behind the wheel.
I was running 6 seconds behind Will in the same car, I guess I have to race more than 3 times a year, it shows!! Doug Johnson has a really good driving coach that is willing to come out and split his time between up to 4 drivers, we can split the cost. Also by all means talk to Donny, Carl or Kevin and get some pointers, I do but it hasn’t helped me yet… :slight_smile: but I think I know everything already. :lol:

As always I am willing to share car building pointers and tips, we are an open book. Just don’t ask for shift technique tips from me, apparently I cannot find 2nd gear in a standing start!

Here’s the proof!