In the mean time, though, Chuck managed to knock out an article that was published in the Loud Pedal magazine put out by Oregon Region SCCA. If you'd like to read some good racing news go here and grab a copy. Chuck's article begins on page 7...
April 2007 Issue of the Loud Pedal
So what happened during the 2007 season? Well... first the NTI Racing team headed back up north to Pacific Raceway near Seattle and ran a couple shake down races at the NW Region SCCA Memorial Day weekend event. Chuck started out a bit slower than normal but still managed a 2nd in ITE class and 4th over all in race #1... on some old rubber. "It was more like drift racing than road racing", Chuck said, as the rear tires did more sliding in the corners than anything else. But, Monday morning the old tires went into the recycle bin and a fresher set of used rubber was mounted up. Chuck then went out and qualified second in the group with a much more respectable 1:33.028 lap time. Once the green flag flew that afternoon Chuck and a GT3 Cup pilot, Jim Walsh, blasted out front with Craig Ranta giving chase in his 911 as well. Craig's car came up lame, though, and Jim ended up down the escape road in turn 3A on lap 4 (ABS failure). By the time the official standings were posted Chuck came back home with a first in ITE class and a second over all.
We then mounted up and took the car to Portland International Raceway for the annual Rose Cup race weekend where we managed a 6th in ITE, and over all, in the Group H, Festival Trophy, race after starting 9th on grid. The next day, in the Rose Cup race, unfortunately, Chuck tangled with a 911 Porsche in turn two after a 4 car train came to a sudden stop, at the start of the race, and the Camaro had to be removed from the race in turn four with a hole punched in the radiator and a pushed in (bloody) nose. We fixed the damaged parts and recovered in time for the next race at the end of August though.
Finally, at the August double race weekend, at Portland International Raceway, Chuck managed to run a couple good races starting second on grid each race. Chuck battled with a very fast Porsche 911 which was running a good 2.5 seconds faster in lap times and Steve Laughlin's 944T Porsche which was also about 1/2 second faster around the track. Chuck ended up 3rd in the first race and 2nd in the second race after leading both races for several laps and swapping paint with Steve about 10 laps into it the second race. That was a good way to finish out our season in Oregon Region SCCA.
Check back here for more 2008 racing news... coming soon.
Here's some of the low down about what happened during 2006...
It was a long winter break. We had the engine and heads reworked in the off season and made a few more improvements (such as a larger radiator and a fire system to allow us to race in SPO class also) over the winter and early spring. Got a bit of a late start this time but we decided to notch it back a little during 2006 and just HAVE FUN.
Ramona got to take the car out first at the Bremerton "Time Trials" event on Sunday April 30th. The car ran better than last year and she once again managed to bring home a podium finish (2nd place) in her class. It was fun watching her improve all day long.
We then packed up and headed back up north to Seattle on May 20th and 21st for an IRDC race at Pacific Raceway. The weather was perfect and Chuck finally got to run the car against about 36 other Group 4 starters, including 7 ITE cars. When the green flag dropped Chuck (who qualified 4th over all) and two GT3 cars shot out front and within a few laps were passing back markers and leaving everyone else in the dust. Chuck had a BIG lead in ITE class and held on to 3rd over all until lap 8 when the coil began to fail causing the car to run rough and to lose power. He milked the engine for two more laps holding on to 1st in ITE until he was "meat balled" in on lap 10 of an 11 lap race. Chuck also managed to drive the car within 1/2 of a second of bettering his fastest lap time at Pacific Raceway set back in 2003 (1:32.858) by cutting a fast lap of 1:33.312. Too bad he missed a shift in lap 2 or perhaps he would have pulled it off?
Marlene (see above photo op) was one of many fans/supporters of ours during the 2006 season. She loves fast cars (she drives a Porsche 911 on the street) and everything racing related. Marlene was, as she says, "all over it" during the Rose Cups weekend. She helped out as part of our busy Rose Cup weekend crew and inspired Chuck to trim about 9/10ths of a second off his prior best lap time (1:25.006) by posting a 1:24.101 at Portland International Raceway (with the new Chicane) during his SPO Group C qualify session. The car was running strong in both the SPO and ITE races. Too strong in fact, because the clutch, once again, started slipping. But, we HAD FUN and that's really where the rubber meets the road.
After shopping around for a better clutch set up we decided to convert the car over to a QuarterMaster Pro 5.5 triple disk race clutch. It took a while (and a truck load of money) to fab the needed parts and install it. But we got the job done just in time to head down to the August 4th, 5th and 6th double race weekend at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Willows, CA.
It has been a long time between runs at Thunderhill when Chuck's old lap times were in the 2:07 range. Well, he and Randy Mackintosh (another Camaro racer) both managed to race hard enough with each other to shave 5 seconds and get into the 2:02+ lap time ball park (check out the numbers below).
Chuck qualified 3rd for the first race and jumped right into second, before turn one, off the green flag. Randy gave chase from the #5 spot moving into 3rd. After several laps Chuck missed a shift and the turn in point at T14 and Randy took over 2nd place. Chuck was in his mirrors until he was black flagged for "going 4 wheels off in turn 14". He had to come in for a "stop and go" per the region rules but was held for nearly 1:30. Thanks to this error by the officials (both a miss call at turn 14 and the extended delay in the hot pits) Chuck's 3rd place finish was wiped out in no time. He eventually battled back to a 8th place finish in ITE that race.
That same afternoon Chuck qualified 5th for the Sunday morning race. Randy qualified in 2nd. The green flew again at 9:40 a.m. Sunday and Chuck shot back into 3rd by the time he was out of turn 1. He chased Randy for a few laps and eventually caught up, with the fastest lap time between the two of them for that race. Then under braking for turn 14 Randy's front disk rotor exploded and he went AWOL. Chuck moved into second and held off the 3rd place Honda turbo until lap 13 when he was passed in T14 after sliding on hot tires. He also lost his tail pipe and had to wait for the last lap (lap 15) to try and exit T15 (near the sound meter) and repass the Honda before the finish line. With a perfect exit and full power he gave chase to the #8 car, ran up into his left side mirror and then, at the last second, he broke hard to the right, between the Honda and the pit wall, to make the pass 1/2 car length ahead as they crossed below the start/finish stand, to retake 2nd at the line. Unfortunately the region officials then took away a lap, saying Chuck's car had exceeded the 103db sound limit on the last lap. You just can't win for losing in San Fransisco region SCCA racing it seems. But, once again we came back home knowing the car was running strong, and that's what really counts.
We made the long haul to Laguna Seca for the last couple races of the season. Chuck did better than expected considering how many of the SF Region's fastest ITE cars showed up. We didn't score any podiums but Chuck did a lot of close racing with Randy Mackintosh in his Camaro and trimmed a few more seconds off his prior year's lap times (see below) while getting a 6th and 7th place finish in the two races after starting in 13th and 8th respectively. Well time to refresh the car and get ready for 2007. We'll see what we can cook up over the winter. Check back later for more racing action.
In the May race the NTI Racing Camaro had just battled into second place when it was involved in a rough accident causing extensive damage to the front nose cover. Again we battled back and finished second. Then we went home and started working on the car repairs.
Chuck did very well getting a 2nd and 1st in his races while Ramona pulled off a pair of 3rd place runs in the Time Trials at Seattle. Ramona had a blast that weekend adding those podium finishes to her 1st place at a prior Solo II event. Chuck regained some much needed points to add to his collection in the Oregon Region SCCA ITE class points race.
We also have been experiencing some ignition system gremlins which resulted in a poor finish at the Rose Cup races in June, when the car died just after getting past a couple fast cars and moving up into 5th place, again after starting back a ways due to rainy qualify sessions. But we keep battling on.
One of our best races yet yielded another first place finish in July at Portland. Now we're on a roll!
Ramona did another time trials event at Bremerton and showed some of the folks what she's all about... and brought home another 1st place certificate. She really got going by the end of that day and improved a lot in a short period of time on a track she's never seen before.
We then headed down to Laguna Seca and had a FUN trip seeing the sights and running the wheels off the Camaro, and off the track in turn 10 as well, on one of the best tracks this side of the Rockies. Let's just say we found out what it's like running against some GT level cars in an ITE class in the San Fransisco region at the same time.
The August race at Portland is one we'll remember for a LONG time too. Chuck qualified on pole and was running in first during the sprint race just to have a $1.50 plastic part crack and blow one of the coolant hoses off. So, he started the main race back in the 27th slot out of apx 30 cars in the group. But, by lap four, Chuck was back up into 2nd where he stayed, after driving to within a car length of the race winner on the last lap... and on melted rear tires to boot.
Then, over the Labor Day weekend, on September 3rd and 4th, Chuck and Jim took the Camaro back down to California to Sears Point Raceway and came back home with a 4th place finish while once again shaving a couple seconds off Chuck's best lap times there from back in 2003.
We ran yet another Oregon Region SCCA race at Portland on Sunday, September 12th and Chuck snatched one more win to add 30 more points to the kitty.
NTI Racing's 2005 "Days of Thunder" BBQ and race on Sunday, September 25th went off almost without a hitch. The day before (Sept 24th) Ramona drove the NTI Camaro in her first ICSCC Novice class race and, although she had to pit for a brake light check, ended up finishing the race in style. She learned what door to door racing is all about and how important the mirrors are. Plus she got a better idea about traction limits (she drove a bit too hard in her first practice session managing a 360 spin out in turn 6 once) and various other side by side racing lessons.
On the 25th we had plenty of good food and working tail lights. But the tires were on their last legs and, as it turned out, so was the Camaro's race clutch. Chuck qualified 3rd in ITE, a few seconds off his normal pace, but the first two ITE cars failed to show. Apparently their equipment was in worse condition than ours. Chuck started out fast. But as the clutch began to slip more and more each lap he eventually found himself pulling rabbits out of his race helmet in order to ward off the second place ITE car to retain his first in class spot.
The last event of the season didn't turn out exactly as planned. Our goal was to get at least 11 points to assure the ITE class championship would be locked in. What happened turned out to be the hard way to get a few racing points. Read all about it here.
But, the bottom line is that the NTI Racing Z28 Camaro, piloted by Chuck Jessup, landed 1st place in the Oregon Region SCCA Club Racing ITE class 2005 championship with 192 points. The second place car racked up 154 points and third place had 136. So, NTI Racing fulfilled all its objectives for our first season as a new team. Can't beat that!
The ITE class fielded 49 different race drivers and cars (more than any other class) chasing down the class championship this season. It is a tough class to win, as it has few restrictions on engines, suspension, etc. About the only restrictions are the car body panels/chassis should be factory stock, the engine block should be the same "type" as stock, the transmission and rear end cases must remain stock and you have to run on DOT type race tires. Beyond that it's a "run what you brung" racing class.
If you want to view the 2007 standings for the ITE class or any other Oregon Region SCCA class you can click HERE to see how things panned out.
If you want to view the 2006 standings for the ITE class or any other Oregon Region SCCA class you can click HERE to see how things panned out.
If you want to view the 2005 standings for the ITE class or any other Oregon Region SCCA class you can click HERE to see how things panned out the year we ran a full season to take the Oregon Region championship in ITE.
Before starting off with the race stories of the past here is a table of some of Chuck's best lap times in either the Chevy Z28 Camaro or a rented Mazda Miata (2004 season) so far; they were taken from official time sheets at various events/tracks during the 2006 season and the several pre-2006 seasons. These should give one a pretty good idea what to shoot for with an ITE or SM type race car...
Year Race Track Qual Time Race Time ---- -------------------------------------- --------- --------- 1998 Bremerton Raceway, WA (Solo I) 1:02.894 1998 Portland Int, OR (w/chicane) 1:33.210 1998 Port Orford, OR 0:46.875 1999 Bremerton Raceway (Solo I) 1:02.300 1999 Mission Raceway, B.C. 0:58.252 0:58.254 1999 Portland Int Raceway, OR (w/old chicane) 1:31.830 1:32.598 1999 Portland Int Raceway, OR (w/o chicane) 1:22.670 1999 Seattle Int Raceway, WA (old config) 1:39.777 1999 Seattle Int Raceway, WA (in rain) 1:44.450 1999 Spokane Raceway, WA 1:49.250 1:49.850 2000 Bremerton Raceway (old config) 1:01.161 1:01.277 2000 Portland Int Raceway, OR (w/old chicane) 1:31.223 1:30.717 2000 Portland Int Raceway, OR (w/o chicane) 1:20.488 1:20.391 2000 Seattle Int Raceway, WA (old config) 1:39.232 1:40.237 2000 Thunderhill Park (standard 15 turns) 2:10.901 2001 Bremerton Raceway (new config) 0:59.282 0:58.372 2001 Mission Raceway, B.C. (new 9 turn track) 1:21.434 1:21.750 2001 Portland Int Raceway, OR (w/o chicane) 1:18.920 1:18.859 2001 Seattle Int Raceway, WA (old config) 1:36.682 1:35.153 2001 Thunderhill Park (by-pass 14 turns) 2:07.864 2001 Thunderhill Park (standard 15 turns) 2:11.203 2:12.313 2002 Bremerton Raceway (new config) 0:57.983 2002 Pacific Raceway (new config) 1:36.047 1:35.674 2002 Portland Int Raceway, OR (w/old chicane) 1:30.013 1:27.345 2002 Portland Int Raceway, OR (w/o chicane) 1:16.721 1:17.699 2002 Thunderhill Park (standard 15 turns) 2:07.867 2003 Bremerton Raceway (new config) 0:56.888 2003 Laguna Seca Raceway 1:45.185 2003 Laguna Seca Raceway (Johnson's Corvette) 1:44.292 2003 Pacific Raceway (new config) 1:34.434 1:32.858 2003 Pacific Raceway (old config) 1:32.200 1:31.972 2003 Portland Int Raceway, OR (w/old chicane) 1:25.927 1:25.828 2003 Sears Point Raceway 1:54.256 1:53.456 2004 Pacific Raceway (new config) 1:44.451 1:43.847 (Miata) 2004 Portland Int Raceway, OR (w/chicane) 1:35.640 1:36.225 (Miata) 2004 Spokane Raceway, WA 1:55.??? 1:55.476 (Miata) 2005 Laguna Seca Raceway 1:44.566 1:43.089 2005 Pacific Raceway (new config) 1:37.055 1:36.693 2005 Portland Int Raceway, OR (w/new chicane) 1:25.006 2005 Portland Int Raceway, OR (w/o chicane) 1:16.401 1:16.693 2005 Sears Point Raceway 1:52.620 1:51.531 2006 Laguna Seca Raceway (new surface) 1:42.736 1:41.427 2006 Pacific Raceway (new config) 1:33.615 1:33.312 2006 Portland Int Raceway, OR (w/new chicane) 1:24.101 1:25.182 2006 Sears Point Raceway 1:51.374p 2006 Thunderhill Park (standard 15 turns) 2:04.458 2:02.785 2007 Pacific Raceway (new config) 1:33.028 2007 Portland Int Raceway, OR (w/new chicane) 1:25.664 2007 Portland Int Raceway, OR (w/o chicane) 1:17.693 1:16.560 p = practice time only
Now. Let's go racing...
2004 RACING STORIES - CLICK HERE