These pages only contain news and results from races the car actually managed to "finish" or "run" at in all the race seasons up through 2004. There's always a few cases when we went to an event but the car did not want to cooperate... or something worse happened that we don't want our fans to know about (like Chuck's first Spec Miata race in 2004 where he cut a brain fart, bent the Miata's fender after smacking another Miata in the side and cut a tire thus ending the race before turn 2... for example). So, rather than report on a wash out we may simply try and forget those lost causes.
The reason Chuck recorded his race logs for so many years was both to remember the past as well as to give racing fans who have taken the time to follow along a better idea of how one evolves as a race driver and what one might really expect to encounter as you start your own racing adventures.
That said, here's an index to Chuck's various 2004 race season stories (in his own words) on this web...
NW Region SCCA Race #1 and #2 @ Pacific Raceway, WA
OR Region SCCA Rose Cup Races @ Portland Int Raceway, OR
TC/ICSCC Race @ Spokane Raceway, WA
IRDC/ICSCC Race @ Pacific Raceway, WA
Date: 05/30/04 and 05/31/04
These races (and stories) took place on Memorial Day weekend, 2004.
Saturday was cloudy with showers on and off. But Steve Sampson (running his jet black Z28 with a Slowrider-Racing rear end for boost) and I (running Jon's white hot Miata?) had an interesting practice session on a slightly damp track Sat morning. I never hit anything, although I did get run off into the weeds once at the T2 exit by one of those typical Rx7 drivers who never watch their mirrors very well when being over taken by "faster cars". And then later in the session the new NayKid Z06 driver, or should I say "novice driver", Ryan Snodgrass, pushed me up off the corner at turn 8 after I let him pass me going into T8 so he could get by. Apparently the NayKid team needs someone more like me on their team? I don't think Snodgrass can handle a Z06 all that well. He was running 1:38s vs Scotty's and Cindy's 1:32s and 1:33s all weekend. I've been known to run 1:32s to 1:34s in my Z28 for crying out loud. Well, I suppose Snodgrass was having fun though. I guess that's what counts.
There were a bunch of other fairly fast 911s to play with and the Viper Comp Coupe. I got a lot of
interesting footage on video all weekend when the "faster cars" would pass me and I'd tuck in behind
them in the corners under braking and catch some "close ups" with flame thrower tail pipes and wings
hanging out over my hood. Stuff like that made life more interesting in the Miata when I would get bored.
Didn't qualify very well for either race, to be honest. Only managed a 1:46.2 for race #1, which put me way back in 9th of 11 in class and 29th of 35+ starters (with Scotty and Cindy coming to grid at the end so they could play with everyone off the start by flying through the group from behind and finishing up in 4th or 5th over all by end of race). There was also an ITA Miata and a couple Rx7s in the field to chase around in race #1 (12 Miatas total per the qualify sheet), with Ken Sutherland leading the pack with 1:42s any time the track was dry. And guys like **Arnie Loyning**, Geoff Cochran and Gary Bockman were pumping out high 1:43s and low 1:44s too. But even they had to grid a couple rows back from Ken to take the green. So Ken pretty much had the SM race won right off the green each day.
Did a little better qualifying with a 1:45.7 for race #2 on Monday. But that was still 8th of 9 Spec Miatas that were still standing by race #2. A few of the Miatas didn't make it to race #2, naturally. Seems like the attrition rate for Miatas and 911s is about the same on any given race weekend. Anyway, that put me at 29th again in a field of apx 36+ cars (with the NayKids starting at the back and finishing up in 1st and 2nd thanks to some luck and a few of the faster cars not showing for race #2).
The second qualify session was cut real short thanks to the tiger stripe 911, driven by Henry Luft, being totaled in the kink after nearly killing a Spec Miata driver who didn't have a clue while the track was under a black flag all and should have exited into the hot pit, but instead decided to keep on driving SLOWLY out in mid track while three 911 drivers who ALSO had no clue going 120+ came blasting up from behind when they should have been watching for black flags also.
Basically, Henry ended up in the emergency room because he and the Spec Miata driver both had no clue what a black flag all means. Steve Sampson got that little episode on video as well. I had to gather up all the other hot shoes behind me and play pace car for them, to slow them down and get them off the track, so the workers could extract Henry from his bent up 911.
Skip Yokum, the Race Steward, held a little drivers meeting in impound after that qualify session was over... naturally.
The first race was in the rain, although it stopped and the race line finally dried about half way through. The start was VERY INTERESTING to say the least. From 29 cars back there was enough flying mist that I couldn't see the cars ahead of me or the walls or anything else for the most part. Finally I saw some brake lights as we heading past T1 and down into T2 and the cars started stacking up pretty fast. I started picking off Miatas one at time and had passed 4 of them, and a few other cars, by the end of the first lap. I got by a 5th Miata in lap 2 and things settle out after that, although I did pass a couple other cars someplace along the line. And, of course, there were a few slips and slides along the way to make it even more interesting.
Again, I got some great footage on the camera and somehow managed to finish up 20th over all (+9 positions) after giving up 2 positions on last lap when the #12 Miata (driven by **Arnie Loyning**... one of the SM hot shoes) got past me because I got hung up during the prior lap in T3a and again in T8 while filming the back end of the Viper Comp Coupe and Porsche 930 Turbo respectively for the tape library. Once #12 got by me after we went side by side through T2 I tucked in and we raced down into 3a on last lap. I set up left in hopes of re-passing under him through 3a. But he locked up his brakes on my right front corner and that forced me to lock up as well. Next thing I know I'm over shooting T3a and my left tires are dirt tracking the corner rather than passing anyone. That gave the #93 Miata behind us a clear shot at me as well. Thus I went two positions down and could not regain before the checker. Oh well. At least I didn't hit anything with Jon's Miata... that race.
Race #2, for some strange reason, went even better for me. The sun came out and so did the red mist in my eyes. Again, I was gridded way back in the pack, after we had our qualify session messed up by all the accidents that also resulted in the totaled 911 thing. By then though I was getting a real good feel for how the Miata would behave at Pacific and we had slightly adjusted the tire pressures based on how it handled during the qualify session. I was pretty sure the Miata had a couple seconds I could squeeze out of it by then.
We took the green and the NayKids, plus a guy driving Scotty White's black 2001 Z06, which had been converted into a Grand Am (?) car in SPO, all went up the left side along the wall, passing all us "back markers" like we were standing still or something. I guess they figured they would run the Cannon Ball Express, nose to tail, all 4 of them, all the way down into T2. But they didn't make it that far, as one of the Spec Miata drivers, whom I think was James Tilley II (who had posted a 1:44.066 qualify time) somehow got out of control going into T1 and managed to tag Matt Chamber's black "Area #5" Porsche 944 and then the very end of the T1 wall on the right, near the corner worker station. I think his right front tire locked up in the bent metal and he ended up looping it around backwards, across the track, through a bunch of cars going 100+, smoking their tires with locked up brakes, and into the side of Scotty's old 2001 Z06, driven by Bruce Beachman, taking out his passenger door. Bruce ended up spinning backwards and rolled off driver's left also. But he finished the race after going in to the hot pits for some band aids. Scotty kept going as Cindy went evasive left, across the infield grass and headed down into the drag strip shut down road towards T2, followed by some other car.
In the mean time I went after all the remaining cars, who made it through all the smoke and flying car parts I was filming for the record, passing a couple stunned drivers left and right as we continued to race around the sweeper past Cindy, again, as she waited to turn left at the junction. I followed Snodgrass down into T3a as Scotty and the other front runners were long gone.
Post race theory was that Scotty had scared the you know what out of the Miata driver which lead to the chain reaction. Who knows?
But, as if that wasn't enough, I then almost swapped paint with Snodgrass again, in his black NayKid Z06, as we came
out of T3a and headed for T3b, under yellow, when yet another Porsche 993 Cup car, #23 driven by Chris Pallis, went
into road block mode in his white and blue "police car" with a wing on it. After getting by that spin out I checked
up to let Snodgrass back by me, hoping the corner workers would not cry foul for passing under yellow. It was that
or bang up Jon's car. I figured Jon would have preferred me being scolded by Skip vs. having to paint his car again.
After that I started hunting down every Spec Miata I could find up ahead as we made several laps through T1, checking out the empty Miata with no more nose parked along the left side of the road under yellow there. At least they didn't pull a full course yellow on us. So, we were able to keep on running the rest of the race at 100% vs. 110% without too many more screw ups.
In the mean time though the Miata seemed to be sorted out and I was on fire for the remainder of the race. I chased Snodgrass around for two more laps, believe it or not (I think he was driving with the shakes after having the white Miata cross his bow backwards off the start), until Cindy finally went by us and he snapped out of it and gave chase to her. Right after that I took down the #96 SM car driven by Garth Stein by drafting him down the straight and holding my revs until he did his 4 to 5 up shift and lost his momentum with a puff of smoke out his tail pipe. I left him in the dust going through T2. Two laps later Bockman and I were running side by side through T8 and T9 and I chased him across start finish, video taping his tail pipe while we headed down into the T2 breaking zone. He must have seen the smile in my eyes as he made himself wide and I waited for his tail lights to finally come on. Then I dove left and he drifted just slightly to the right giving me enough room to get under him by putting my left front tires on the edge of the grass and hoping we'd both drift at the same rate from left to right. I wagged my tail a couple times, which may have given him second thoughts too. By the time we reached the T2 apex zone I was in front of him.
Next I took the inside lines away from him as we made T3a and T3b so he could not put a reversal on me. After that I was out of there looking for yet another Miata to chase down.
The next one to been seen was just disappearing up the hill out of T6 as I was going through the T5b apex... maybe 3 to 4 seconds behind him. That was, as I would later come to find out, Geoff Cochran who qualified and finished 2nd in our class with lap times of 1:43.872 and 1:44.059 respectively. I may have posted my fastest lap while hunting him down, as somewhere along the line I managed a 1:43.847, which was the second fastest lap time in SM class for that race. Sutherland posted a much better 1:42.634.
The best I could do after that was get a lock on Cochran a few times as I very slowly reeled him in, to about 3 seconds out, only to miss a shift out of T3b and give up what little ground I had gained on him all over again. During the last couple laps we were being lapped by the fast cars, beginning with Scotty White and ending with Mark Gibson in a 944 Turbo. Started 29th over all and 8th in class and ended up 23rd over all (+6 this time) and 3rd in class.
And that was that.
Date: 06/12/04 and 06/13/04
This is going to be a tough one to write up and probably longer than average, although I have written up several other long winded stories in the past as well. I'm hoping I can keep my facts straight and that anyone who reads this will take it with a grain of salt too. Maybe it will be a learning experience with a little flair here and there to spice it up some. But, it is backed up by some in car video. So it should be pretty close to reality.
The Rose Cups race weekend generally lasts for three days; Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I was looking forward to the extra level of fun mixed in with some extreme competition which most of us race car driver types thrive on. I brought a fresh set of shaved tires just in case it rained and a set of used tires which already had about seven practice, qualify and/or race sessions on them. They had run pretty well a couple weeks before at Seattle. But, Seattle does tend to take its toll on race rubber too. So, I was glad to have an extra set just in case I needed them.
Jon and I set up shop Thursday evening around 8:30 PM out under one of my favorite shade trees in the grassy area and I saw Pat Newton's Miata was ready and waiting for the next day's practice session not far away also.
But on Friday morning, around 8 a.m. when I got back to the car for my 9 a.m. practice session, the chit was already to hit the fan. I started setting the car up and someone comes over and wants me to move my camp and car someplace else. For the past several seasons I have come to this race and the last two times I've run into issues with the Paddock Stewards about not setting up in an empty spot or them wanting me to move after the fact. This was the final straw. Three times is NOT a charm.
The only spots left at that point were out in a more muddy grass field with no trees for shade or protection from the rain which was pending per the weather forecasts. But my buddy Pat Newton came over and offered to help move my gear and we managed to get the car situated elsewhere and I had it ready to roll by the time we were allowed on track at 9 a.m. Thanks again Pat.
The Friday practice sessions (Spec Miata class in the morning and ITE in the afternoon) went pretty good all things considered. But, I wasn't very happy about the sticky factor in the Toyo tires. They were too unpredictable heading into T1 of the "chicane" which is a hard right, quick left and another right hander after that... T1, T2 and T3. Sometimes I could hit my apex and get through there fairly well. Other times, though, I found myself practicing an extra measure of counter steering when I least expected it. I was also finding that the right front pushed pretty bad out in turn 6 which is very typical on the Portland track. So, after each session I came in and tweaked the tire pressures in hopes of improving matters for the pending qualify session the next day. In fact, I wanted to talk Jon into loaning me his less used Toyos for the Saturday qualify session because I felt mine had seen their better days. So, I adjusted their pressure to match mine figuring they would be ready IF Jon would see things my way.
Saturday morning Jon showed up to help but he was convinced that my tires, with 9 sessions on them, would perform a lot better than his tires, with only a few heat cycles in them. So, I went back out to qualify on the older tires.
Most the guys went out hard and fast. I don't like to press my luck until lap 3 personally. So, I moved right down the front straight and let the hot shoes go on by. After a few laps the tires finally started hooking up and I began searching for that fast lap. I still wasn't able to get the right feel in T1 or T6 though. But, I figured I got at least one or two decent laps. Then I came in after seeing that Pat had done a little weed whacking off to the right side of the exit road at T11. As I pulled into the hot pits to get a quick tire pressure adjustment from Jon he was speaking with Pat, and finally came back and tweaked my tire pressures for me. I went back out but saw a meat ball flag at start finish and came back in. It was for the car behind me apparently. I go back out again and they throw the checker flag one test lap later and that was it for qualifying, with better tire pressures at least... I hoped. All I had managed to get was a 1:35.640 which put me 24th overall and 14th in Spec Miata class. Not good at all. James Tilley in the #93 car, Pat Newton in #79 and Annie Bauer in #47, whom I had tagged the last time I ran at Portland, had each qualified right behind me with 1:35.700, 1:36.088 and 1:36.129 respectively. The front runners in SM had posted much better 1:33s and 1:34s. It was looking like a lost cause. But, I had a couple close races with James at Seattle and knew Pat and Annie probably both had purchased hunting tags for me as well. So, I expected to see some close racing action Saturday afternoon for sure.
TIME TO RACE
Saturday afternoon rolled around and the track was still dry. And I was still running on tires I'd rather not be running on. I had decided that once this race was done I was going to mount up the fresh rubber and heat cycle them at the Sunday morning ITE qualify session and break them in for the Spokane race during the ITE race. Plus, I wanted to compare my lap times from Saturday and Sunday to see if Jon's information about Toyo tire age and lap times held any water. In the mean time, though, it was time to put the old tires to rest by using them up once and for all. We'd just have to see how the chips would fall I guess.
This race was called the Festival Trophy Race and we were allowed a "parade lap" followed by a "pace lap" to warm up the tires. I was glad for that, because I knew my tires were going to need the extra lap to come around and deal with T1 anyway I sliced it. Plus T1 is always a bee hive in this race group.
By the time we came around T12 on the pace lap, row 1 had already been given the green and the race was on. Plus James and Annie, who were on the left side, had already moved up two slots while Pat and I on the right side were behind some slackers and had dropped back a couple positions before the green had even been waved.
So, once again, I got a bad start and dropped way back. James took off like I was standing still, and so did Annie. Plus Pat was all over my rear end. And Greg Fordahl, in his ITS Porsche 944, who had engine trouble during qualifying, was back in the game and coming up fast on my right hand side. Pat would have passed me too had he not tucked in behind me to let Greg go on by us. I just pointed the nose dead ahead and waited for T1 to come into sight. This time I also remembered to watch for the break markers on the left side, so I was sure not to over shoot the chicane and hit anyone, like I had done to Annie the last time I started a race at Portland here.
Catching up with James wasn't going to happen as he seemed to get out of T2 in record time, traffic and all. Annie was no problem though, as it turned out, because I started seeing puffs of smoke from locked up Miata tires right and left as we entered T1. By then I had dropped back 3 or 4 positions as well. Then I saw in my mirror that Miata #80, with checkered tail lights that are easy to ID, had blown through the chicane and headed through the by-pass while a couple more Miatas were high left between the sand box and the FIA curb dirt tracking towards T2 left. I did my best to stay ahead of the cars behind me and between the cars on all sides. Miata #30, driven by Jim Boemler who started two rows up on me, cut in front of me as we rounded T2 and headed for T3 right. #80, who ran the chicane, didn't come to a full stop and then re-entered back onto the track. He went on by the worker there who threw his hands in the air and nearly banged into Annie's driver door just behind James and ahead and to my left. Pretty interesting merge job Geoff Cochran just pulled, gaining him a couple extra positions after starting the race right behind Annie, 1/4 mile back.
And, as if that wasn't enough, one of the Baby Grands, car #1, had stalled right in front of Annie and she already had her hands full dodging around that guy right before T3 as it was. How she managed to get past T3 without any fresh dents was beyond me. But she made it this time. I passed her in T4 right, after going side by side, while chasing #30, and was on my way.
Geoff, in #80, Annie and Pat were now hot on my tail while I peddled like mad to stay up with Jim in car #30. Everyone diced down the back side all the way through T12. Then we headed for lap 2. #80 was coming up fast behind me and #30 was walking away. My rental car typically runs slow down the straights it seems. And this was no different, as I watched #80 finally move right and up along my passenger side while we crossed start/finish and started counting the break markers looming ahead. But, I'm no retard under pressure. I figured this driver just might get by me and tuck in front of me. If he did I was ready to move back out to the right and drop anchor at the 300 marker for my normal entry to the chicane. And that's exactly what happened. I saw the checkered tail lights brighten up in front of me and went to his right and repassed him under braking. But, I was just 1 mph too hot at my turn in point and that resulted in a tail wag through T1. I recovered and followed #30 through T2 while #80 got a clean pass through T1 and more exit speed out of T2. I stayed right through T3 and let him reap his reward as he got by on my outside. No harm, no foul. It was worth the try.
Lap 2, T4 and I was apx. 3 positions down from 24th where I started. Although several cars who qualified behind me were now in front of me. Not that I was actually counting at the time. We were all way too busy for that this far back in the pack. By lap 3 #80 had gotten past #30 and I was trying like mad to keep up with them and ahead of Pat who was scoping for me from behind. Pat's car always got that extra 1 mph down the straights as well. So, I was working my war worn tires pretty hard in the corners to regain what track I was losing down the straights.
Then, during lap 3, I spot a BMW coming up at a pretty good clip from behind as we carved the back side through T9 on the "back straight". I was gaining on a 240Z, #18, that seemed to be out of breath and slowly eased out to the left to establish track position for the eventual pass on that car. But I tried to thread the needle so the BMW could still get by on my left if he managed to catch up with me before T10. It was going to be very IFFY for the BMW and I wasn't about to let up to let him get by with 2 Miatas I was trying to stay up with ahead of me and two more, Pat and Annie, trying to put the hit on me from behind. So, this late comer ITS BMW, #03, who also must have started from the back of the pack for some reason, would just have to fish or cut bait.
The BMW should have backed out and let the rest of us race, at least through T12, but he didn't. Instead he pushes on past me as we approached the 400 break marker and then he tucks in to the right and lights up his break lights on me at the 400 marker. Well, that's 300 too soon dude. I moved left and waited for my normal 100 marker to go past, along with his left front fender, tapped my brakes and took the inside of T10 away from him. BUT, he comes in on me anyway as I drive hard and high onto the FIA curb to try and avoid contact from him and to let him have as much road as any BMW should need. He still blows back by me and manages to tag my right front corner. Oh well, at least I still have some momentum and it wasn't much of a bang. So we all head for T12 even though Pat is now all over me again. Somehow "objects are closer than they appear" in my the mirror.
By S/F Pat is up beside me as we head for T1 again thanks to the BMW thing and checking up for him again in T12. Pat manages quite well to get into and out of T2 ahead of me. OK Pat. Good job. I continue to give chase and manage to poke around for openings in T4 and T5 w/o hitting him. Mostly a matter of feathering the gas vs. popping the brakes like he was doing. But can't find a decent opening. Pat does the perfect defensive line carving T6 on the inside as well. Well done again. Didn't open the door by going wide and back to the double apex there. Smart driver for only a year of seat time under his belt. Well, let's see if I can carry enough speed to get under him in T7 then. Yep, I finally make that work and he has to back out just enough to let me seal the deal and away I go down the back straight again. Annie's back there still also. I drive T10, T11 and T12 pretty hard but Pat meets or beats me and somehow he manages to track me down again in the front straight. Dang this guy is pretty darn good today.
OK Pat. Time to take you deep into the end zone and see what happens. He gets along side me at start finish again and I hold my breath and count down the markers, this time staying over closer to the wall though. Then I finally go to brakes at the 250 spot... 50 deeper than normal for me. Pat follows suit and I watch in my mirrors trying to time my turn in and what he might do. But he isn't turning. A little brake fade or tire lock maybe? I clamp down harder on the binders and he slides on by while over shooting T1. I could have easily turned in and T-boned him. But I turn in gradually, not too fast, wait to see his tail light go by and turn in the rest of the way. I manage to get a decent turn in at T1 anyway and then T2 and I'm out of there. Pat recovers from major push and still wards Annie off, though not so gracefully this time. I put about 100 feet between us through T3 and head for T4 with room to spare on lap 5.
The three of us peddle around to T10 again and I see Annie dogging Pat behind me. From my mirror/video I later see that Pat somehow gets too aggressive in T10 and ends up running off track at T11. Not sure why but I'm finally in the clear and can go hunting for cars #30 and #80 again. Once again I catch up with the fast guys by entering hot into the chicane on lap 6. This time #30 and #80 are dog fighting and slowing each other up and I'm back in the fight. As we carve through T1 #30 over shoots a little and goes wide. I get a good T1 apex and set up well for T2 only to have #30 round T2 wide on me. I give up every inch except the grass and he once again gets in front of me as we head out through T3. #80 is now in the clear and #30 and I are slowing each other up. Then, it rains on my parade. I miss my 2-3 upshift and hit 1st gear. And try to reset and hit 1st gear again. Well three times is a charm as I hit 1st gear one more time. CHIT!! Annie, #47, goes by. A Porsche 944, #49, goes by and so does Ken Tubbs in car #50. Boy was I pissed at myself!! Finally I got 3rd gear with low rpms and the car started moving forward again, though not very fast.
OK. Now I'm really off my game. Time to start playing again about 5 positions down. I gave chase to car #50 and watch his methods through T5 and T6 and got some speed on exit there. He moves left and sets up for a normal late apex with a normal tap of the brakes for T7. I go offensive and under him and feather the gas again trying to pass without a foul. It works and we launch down the back side and through T10, T11 and T12. Then another brain fart. I miss my 3 to 4 upshift on top of everything else. Once again Tubbs has a run on me. Once again I start plotting my reversal and repass in T1 if I can pull it off. Once again another Miata driver gets by me, cuts back in front of me at the 500 marker and lights up his brake lights a tad too soon. And once again I dodge out to the right and try my best to retake the lead through T1 by braking at the 300 marker. And once again my darn tires slide out on me and I'm working the wheel to get it back under control. And once again the car behind me is taking T2 fast and wide. And Ken nearly hits me. But I see him coming in my driver side mirror and dive into the grass to avoid swapping paint and probably avoided reprimands by the race steward too. I recover and get after him one more time now that we're on lap 7. My tires are toast but what can I do about it? I just have to keep on plodding on.
Lap 8 one LAST miss shift at T3 again, after chasing Tubbs in his mirrors for a slower lap and trying to cool my jets a little. But time is wasting and the tires are wasting away just as fast. Tubbs seems to be missing every apex on the track this lap. I wonder if maybe his tires aren't pretty much gone away also?? He's 200' up on me and the 944 is another 200' up on him as we all make for T12. I decide to close in and try to trim 100' entering in the chicane on lap 9. That backfires as I can't get the tires to cooperate and I go sideways instead. Grab 1st and get going before yet one more red Miata carves the corner behind me. Is that Pat? Nope, I guess not. I wonder where the heck he went anyway??
It was #42 and I'm now a grand total of 7 spots down by my count. This is getting pretty bad. Not one of my better days for sure. (Turns out a few cars dropped out of the race to give me back a couple spots and I only ended up finishing in 25th place vs. the 24th place start.)
Anyway, I take a deep breath and get back on my horse and repass #42 in T7 after he does a very good job of carving a nice defensive inside line around T6 to avoid any nose poking in there by me. He must have been taught right by someone. So, here I am on lap 9 and #50 and #49 are a LONG way ahead. By the time I cross S/F for lap 10 they are already turning into T1. It takes me until lap 16 to finally have Ken Tubbs back in my cross hairs at T7. By then I've gotten back in my zone and had lots more practice carving the chicane, etc... perhaps .5 secs per lap faster than he and #49. I try a repass in T7 there. But he comes down on me and I skid my fronts to avoid contacting him there. That was strike two Ken Tubbs. And, I also noticed Tubbs is making himself very wide down the back side, either to block any passes by me or thinking I would stay out of his draft? I wasn't interested in passing until several corners later though, as my car probably will never pass another Miata on a straight as long as I shall live... or until Jon figures out what the Miata "go faster" juice formula is. Until then, anyway, I was relaxing.
Next thing I know we are coming out of T12 and all three of us are drag racing down the front straight with time running out faster than my fuel. Up till now Tubbs had been at least two car lengths behind #49. But, for some reason, #49 had come out of T12 slower than normal and Tubbs managed to get outside of him going for S/F. I drafted #49 and plotted my next move. It was fairly obvious that Tubbs was going to get the pass in T1 and that was going to force #49 left of the apex there. So, no reason for me to do anything except hang behind #49 until the turn in and then just stick to Tubbs like stink on a skunk and I too should be around #49 by the time we exit T2. Perfect plan. And that's exactly what happened. #49 was now two spots down and the Miatas were each a spot up.
But, it was now last lap as given by the Start/Finish man. Time to get with the program for one last effort before the cool down lap. I reeled Tubbs in nice and tight WITHOUT any of the typical "bump drafting" chit. Again, he made himself wide through turns 4 and 5. But would he hang tight left at T6 or would he swing out? I was ready for him to swing out as he had done several laps in a row already. And he probably figured I would for sure in order to get a drive out of T6 and drag race him to T7. But, that wasn't my plan, because I was learning that the inside line into T6 was actually fairly good traction on my worn tires and I was betting on getting an open door there instead. If not I would hang loose until T12 and go for the gold there.
Next thing I know Tubbs swings out to the right, after coming very late out of T5. I squirted my gas and punched it up along his driver side wheel and got my nose up to his door and then eased off the gas and began watching his door hoping he would be watching his flank in his mirrors and not pinch down on me as I began to ease back off my go peddle, so as to carve my inside line without drifting into his 6' of asphalt. Like Skip Yokum once said at Seattle, "When someone is beside you, you give them 1 car width + 1". That's all I wanted. If Tubbs was smart he would give me 6' 1" on a corner that was about 20' wide. If he wasn't we'd cross that bridge as we came to it. For some reason though he slammed the door on me and I back peddled as fast as I could while on the ragged edge already. I also ran my left tires up onto the curbing at the first T6 apex there. I managed to back out to his left rear fender before CONTACT!! Around he goes and I see him counter steering full right. I lock up the binders and start sliding right myself, then unlock and try to steer left again and try to avoid more paint swapping. But he powers on a bit (naturally) and eases the car back forward and I can not avoid his left front fender now. PUNCH! And off into the grass he goes. I check my back and off goes the 944 also. That's strike 3. 1st gear and I take off, somewhat irritated, thanks to the damage now done, but not that surprised.
Bottom line, the race was over, we go to impound. I can't see Tubbs (or the BMW driver) anywhere. I sit there a LONG time and review my video tape footage of the last lap. Show it to a couple folks and eventually the Race Steward comes over after letting all the good boys and girls leave. She offers me a bottle of water and asks me what happened. I tell her I have it all on tape but she just wanted the short story. I told her pretty much what I wrote up above and she asked me if I wanted to do anything about my bent fender. I said I didn't care about that. And she said I was dismissed. That was fine by me. Apparently my explanation matched up with any eye witness reports from the corner workers... or something.
LESSON LEARNED
Had it been me and had I decided to swing out right and had I allowed someone to come up along my door it would have been a simple case of driving the rest of the corner real hard and just giving them 1 car width and forcing them to ride their left tires up onto the FIA curb and going down the short chute on the outside while I take the inside line there also, if I had to, thus forcing them onto the rumble bumps at the exit of T7 on top of it. Either way the driver on the outside of T6 has the advantage via the inside of T7 and will probably go hotter onto the back straight.
So, there is no good reason to pinch down on another car in T6 and RISK getting spun and/or losing the battle in the first place.
SUNDAY'S ITE RACE WENT SOMETHING LIKE THIS...
The Group A ITE race gridded for action at about 3:45p.m. after we had qualified earlier that morning. I had mounted up fresh rubber to heat cycle them for the race during the morning qualify session and, as a result, got the expected slower lap time of 1:37.349. But, the ITE race was more for fun and my only objective was to find out if fresh tires could put down laps any where near as fast as tires with several sessions on them or not. As I was about to find out, once I had tweaked the pressures, they were ready to do their stuff as I posted a 1:36.283 fast lap during the race later that afternoon (as compared to my SM race fast lap of 1:36.225 the day before).
So, we did our pace lap, this time with Annie Bauer and Pat Newton three cars up ahead on me. I had qualified 35th over all, as most of the cars in this group were real ITE cars with the likes of Scotty White on pole with a 1:24.102 qualify time. He'd end up lapping most of the Miata folks twice before this race was finished. Craig Hillis and Jim Walsh were 2nd and 3rd with 1:25 and 1:26 lap times, although Craig's car was sick all weekend and it ended up dropping out at lap 12 with a DNF. Ended up that Chris Pallis took second in his Porsche 993 Cup car with a 1:26.019 while Scotty posted a 1:20.484 for the win. Sure wish I had had my Z28 running for that race...
In the mean time, WAY back in the pack, we finally see the green fly and off we peddle in our rice burners, paying just as much attention to our mirrors as what was going on up ahead at each corner.
The start was a little confusing. But I think Lovejoy in the #42 Miata had to lock up and smoke his tires to keep from tagging Tilley in the red #93 Miata and in the process I ended up pulling and passing #42 and #81 as I see Pat to my left and Annie up ahead. Tilley went right past both of them and set up for the Chicane also. So Tilley and I got a couple spots before going to binders at least. The Miata clan ended up swapping positions and going 2 and 3 wide through T1, T2, T3 and T4. Things sorted out by the tighter T5 right and through T6 it was only 2 wide. Luckily no paint was swapped in the process.
Somehow, by the time we got onto the back straight, Pat was a few cars ahead of me. Not sure where Annie went. But we got bunched up again going through T12, heading onto the front straight, and I had to check up which gave Pat a run farther out on me as he managed to get some speed going down the straight. I held off another Miata through the chicane and we started lap 2 which got real interesting real fast as I went side by side through T4 with Greg Jones in his Honda CRX. Finally managed to get under him in T5. Pat was now 3 Miatas ahead of me at that point. Figured I'd be lucky to catch him and would probably never see Tilley again.
Not sure how, but Dan Hall must have gridded late and next thing I know he's coming on hard from the back in his 200SX GT5 car and passes me as we head through T10 left.
Lap 3 was less balled up as the group began to thin out and the lead cars walked away from the rest of us. I went into the chicane pretty hot and found myself right on Pat's bumper coming out of T2 as he held up a little while dicing with someone in Miata #68, after they both got passed by #77 going 3 wide into the chicane. As we exited T2 it was #68, then Pat and I. I drafted Pat through several turns and he defended left in T6 left as I took a wider line to get a run out on him in hopes of getting a pass on him in T7 right. But no way. So I tail him down the back straight instead as he walks away with more power than my car has. By T12 I was in his draft again.
Lap 4 was similar to lap 3. Just keep following Pat and waiting for an opening. This time he's held up in T6 by an RX7 and finally managed to get by him in T7. That means I would have to do the same pretty fast if I wanted to keep up with Pat. So once we get to T12 I'm all over Boyd Campbell in his #18 RX7 after he tried to repass Pat also in T10. That slowed them both down enough for me to get back into the battle. I took a risk and got a run under Boyd and he didn't see me. I locked my binders at the entry to T12 and he heard the tires squeal and it got him off guard enough that I got along side him as he checked up and swung wide and lost his run onto the front straight. Now I was after Pat with Boyd along side me. I'm sure Pat was happy about that also... except that now he'd have both of us to deal with instead.
Scotty went flying by as did Boyd as we started the next lap. I got a perfect set up going in and out of the chicane and managed to come out of T2 side by side with Boyd again. Pat had several car length on us both as we slowed each other up. Finally, I think in the heat of battle Boyd missed a shift because by T5 I was finally free of him once and for all. Guess he'd have to find someone else in his own class to dick with. Now it was time to drive like a mad man and try to catch back up with Pat. My fresh tires seemed to be running well though. Perhaps that would be my ace in the hole?
Lap 6 there was a small group of cars ahead, then Pat and I and the other back markers. Just chased Pat around. Lap 7 same as lap 6. Pat would pull me on the straights and I'd regain lost ground in the twisties. Gained a car length at a time was all. Finally, Hillis came along to assist me with Pat after I noticed that Tilley had somehow gone AWOL out into the grass off of turn 6 and rejoined Pat and I as we headed down the back straight. Hillis went by me like I was standing still down the back straight and caught up with Pat under breaking into T10 left. Pat should have taken his usual line be he gave way to Hillis and that allowed me to reel Pat in nice and tight again with Tilley hot on my tail as well. I took Pat in T12. Another 911 flew by us both as we exited onto the front straight. I then see Pat closing on me as he had the extra poop and he performs a little "bump draft" on me as we head for start/finish and lap 8.
We go hot and side by side into T1 and I got a little loose and out of shape. Pat checked up and got a better run out of T2 as a result. But he see Mike Belzer in his red hot 944 Turbo closing FAST and he back off and follows me as I let Belzer go by between T3 and T4 and tuck into his draft for a couple corners of up close and person video footage. When Belser and I exit onto the back side in lap 8 I see Pat and Tilley doing battle several car lengths behind me. Cool. I've now got a decent lead on both of them at apx 4:04 in the afternoon.
Lap 9 they both gain on me as I head for T1 again. This time Tilley is by Pat though and coming on VERY strong. He's a good driver and probably wants my hide just as badly. So nothing to do but drive even faster I guess. Then my luck goes south as a faster Accura NSX gathers me in going into T1 again (I deal with him once my Camaro is running next season) and I have to give way and Tilley get the jump on me this time. Now he's in my draft. Tilley gets along side me in T3 and T4 but has to back out for T5. Then, along comes Scotty White in his Speed GT Corvette hot rod who's about to lap me and everyone else between T6 and T7. Scotty decides to take the long way around though which forces me to check up for T7 and take the much tighter inside line. That slows me down a BUNCH as Tilley gets a perfect run through T7. Oh well. That's how the cookie crumbles in a Spec Miata I guess. You win a few and you lose a few. Scotty just blast off and leaves us both in his wake. Tilley goes by down the back side.
Another 911, probably Gary Rall, goes flying by us too as we begin lap 10. I follow Tilley with Pat not far behind us. Then Hillis goes smoking by again. I take video of Tilley's bumper in turns 1 through 12. Pat's still back there. Lap 11 same old same old until Scott Culberson goes by me in T10 in his Nissan 350Z and I run off the road in T11. That kind of rains on my parade as Tilley gets the lead and Pat is now breathing down my neck again.
Then we battle a couple more laps and somehow I manage to regain on Tilley until a couple laps later when we gather up a couple other dudes doing battle and in T7 Tilley nearly runs into one of them as he spins out. I end up having to go into the grass to avoid gathering them both up while Tilley and Pat managed to stay on black top as they get by on the better side. By the time I get going again Pat and Tilley are both past me and it stays that way until we finally get the checker flag. And that was that for the ITE race. Very interesting.
Date: 07/19/04
I decided to run this race mostly to support my club, Team Continental, and to just have some stress free fun for once. So, I just signed up the rental Miata for the Monday afternoon race in the ITE class. Never really expected to finish very well in group 4, let alone ITE. Going up against GT2 and GT3 cars, A-Sedans and a hand full of faster cars in ITE isn't exactly easy pickings for a slug like a Miata.
So, we come around on the pace lap, down the long front straight, which seems like a mile LONG, and head for the green. I was hoping to hang with a couple BMW drivers, fresh out of the Novice school, who had recently upgraded in their BMWs for this race. One driver was Tobias Basiliko in his green GT3 class BMW 2002. The other new hot shoe was Tom Olsson in his orange BMW 325is #321. Both of them had qualified near me, with Tom running against me in the ITE class along with the likes of Bruce Beachman in his black Corvette and Darren Dilley in a white and green RX7 that posted a qualify tiime at least 2 seconds faster than my Spec Miata. As it turned out though the black Corvette would only manage one lap and have to drop out after over heating. I didn't actually find that out until the race was over, thinking I was battling for 3rd or 4th with Tom the entire race. Anyway, the green flies and we all head for turn 1.
Spokane is a 10 turn track that's nearly 3 miles long. Turn 1 is a high speed right hand bend that leads into a fast sweeper, turn 2 left. From there you head up over a blind rise and through a couple kinks to turn 3 left. Then down a short straight into turn 4, which is a hard right that transitions into turn 5 left as you shoot hard for a hard left hand hair pin, turn 6 left. Turn 6 leads to turn 7 right which is an even tighter hairpin. You get up a gear as you go through turn 8 left and down another short straight to turn 9 left. Through a couple more kinks and around turn 10 left as you finally head back onto the main straight again.
Once the green flew I got the drop on Tobias as we all headed for T1. But his BWM pulls harder and he goes by me again just before T1. I brake later and slip back by him into T2 left and tuck onto Darren's rear bumper through the corner. Darren, in his ITE RX7, and most everyone else, exit T2 and take off leaving the rest of us slower cars behind, with Dean Miller setting the pace in his GT2 Fiero, followed by Manfred Duske in his GT2 240 SX and a few other fast cars, including the black Corvette. As we head around T3 and go for T4 Tobias gets along my inside and I hang it out wide to give him room. But he was apparently a tad too fast and he slipped out on his cold tires and tagged my passenger door and nearly punts me off the track. I hang on and look in the rear view to see both he and Tom, in the orange ITE BMW, driving out in the rough. At Spokane any off road adventure is truly an "off road adventure". Most cars that go out through the sage brush collect enough rocks and damage that they don't come back. Tobias and Tom both get back on track quite a ways behind me and Tom is now ahead of Tobias. I start peddling faster as the tires begin to warm up on the hot day.
I ended up turning a slow 1:57 in lap 2 and then trim it down to some fairly consistant low 1:56s for laps 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. My best lap time was in lap 12 with a 1:55.476, while Tom's car managed to click off at least one 1:53.910. So, on paper, he should have been able to get past me several laps sooner than he actually did. As it turns out I held him off by stretching my lead in the twisties while he would reel me in down the main straight each and every lap. I even made sure to toss a few rocks and dust on the track in the kink between T9 and T10 just to help slow Tom up a little extra each lap.
By lap 8 we were being lapped by the faster cars like Dean Miller, Mac Russell (who dropped out also) and Manfred Duske. Each time Tom would mark me up he'd end up letting some faster car go by and lose some ground in the process. I'd make the other hot shoes pass me where I would not lose speed in the process and add some space at the same time. I figured it was only a matter of time, though, and Tom would figure out how to reel me in and take me down.
Laps 9, 10 and 11 I was back on pace with the 1:56 laps. By lap 11 Tom was shadowing me finally. I managed my fast lap, a 1:55+, in lap 12 to hold him off one last time. Then in lap 13 I took turn 9 just a tad too fast, slid out, managed to catch it and trimmed a 1:55 back to a 1:57. Tom smelled blood and came hunting for me. He got along side in T1 but I ward him off in T2 again. By T3 he was in my draft again and he passed me as we headed for T4. But, the worm turns as he over shoots his break point and can't keep it on the black top in T4, even though he had several car lengths on me. He goes AWOL once again and this time must have hit a rock. I was watching him and missed my apex and put a tire off myself. But, I hang in there and retake the lead.
My next time around through T4, T5, T6 are OK. Then in T7 I hit an oil patch where Tom had crossed back onto the track, just before parking his car with zero oil pressure. Lap 13 was a 1:57 lap. Lap 14 was a 1:58. Lap 15 was a 1:57. Lap 16 was a 1:56 for good measure. I just cruised on to the checker flag in lap 17 with a 1:57. So, I guess sometimes you don't have to have the fastest car to still get a podium finish. Managed 2nd place that day by just driving good enough to stay out of trouble and while some of the other guys got all the bad luck. 2nd place is a lot better than nothing.
Date: 08/08/04
This race turned out to be more of a battle with cars in other classes, in the same run group, than with someone racing me in my own class. But, before the race even got started I had managed to lose a couple positions on grid when my best qualify time, a 1:44.451, from the second qualify session, had been revoked because I had managed to pass a Neon under yellow in turn 2 (after some other car got parked half way around the corner and way up off the track). So, as we come around for the green, I'm back in the 5th row vs. the 4th row and 9th on grid overall. I would have started right behind Carlo Sparacio and Jeff Clark who were separated by 1 point for the championship in Spec Miata in Conference. Carlo had qualified with a 1:43.927 and Jeff managed a 1:44.111.
So we get past the kink, turn 10, and come into view of Start/Finish and the green flies with my car revving real high in 2nd gear due to the lead car's pace. I only gun it a short time and up-shift to 3rd. Carlo got a bad up-shift and hit 5th instead, while a bunch of us blow right by him, although I didn't know it at the time. As we round turn 1 and head for turn 2 I'm too busy avoiding contact to keep track of where Jeff or Carlo are. Instead I'm trying to figure out how to get away from a red MGB, #7, and around a blue Honda Civic, #9, running in the E Prod class. Plus there was another black Miata, #52, also running in E Prod to deal with. All these cars had better straight away speed, as I would soon find out, but seemed to lack the agility, for whatever reasons, in the corners.
By the time we had rounded the apex at turns 3a and 3b (a couple tight hair pins at Pacific Raceway) I had managed to get into the 7th place position just a tad ahead of two of the E Prod cars and on the tail of the other E Prod car, #9. Jeff was in 3rd also. That would not last long though as we headed down the back straight, through T4 where #7 managed to get along side me. The tires were still cold and being on the outside of 5a left was not safe this lap so I let up enough to get behind the #7 car and avoid any chance of going into the gravel at this point in the battle.
We zipped through turns 5a left and 5b right with me in 8th place pan caked between the E Prod cars. Then we apexed turn 6 left and headed up the hill for turn 7 left which carried us to turn 8, a 180 banked sweeper to the left also. T8 is the key corner on the track, other than T2 which is also a long banked 180 left hander. You have to carry as much speed as possible through both these corners while making sure to nail the other corners well if you ever hope to maintain any sort of decent lap times around Pacific Raceway.
By the time we got past T8 I could see Jeff had dropped back to 5th as I drove down hard under the MGB to try and move back into 7th myself. It worked, for the most part, but I had to give up some exit speed as a result. The MGB driver was just as intent on staying ahead of me as I was to be ahead of him as he wanted to gain on the #9 car and stay ahead of the #52 car as well. We exited T8 and I tried like mad to set up for turn 9 right which leads back to the main straight where top speed was a priority. The MGB was right in my passenger mirror so I swung wide through T9 to avoid pushing him into the wall right in front of all the fans there. We then drag raced for the kink and the start/finish line again.
We passed through the kink side by side, perhaps the MGB missed a shift, as car #52 was gaining fast with better exit speed through T9 and right behind him was the 3rd place yellow Spec Miata car, #06, driven by Doug Jennings, who posted a 1:45.110 qualify. Doug was now gunning hard for me too. The MGB held up the faster #52 car and #06 stacked up on my bumper as the four of us started lap 2 and headed fast for T1 and T2 in a tight 4 car pack. This race was getting more interesting than I had expected already!
As we head down into T2 both #52 and #7 get past me, with #06 right in my shadow. I get under #7 while #52 takes the point in our four car group. #7 and I stay side by side heading into turn 3a right as I take the left wing of #52. #7 holds up behind #52 as we exit 3a and go hard for 3b. I now have the inside line into 3b left. But, then is when I realize that the blue Miata behind is really a red and blue number either driven by Carlo or his team mate, Jon Ament in car #329, who qualified with a 1:46.288. At this point I figured either I was driving a sub par race and way off my qualify pace or SOMEHOW Carlo had found a way to lap us all and was now gaining like a bat out of hell from behind. I checked the lead cars and began to realize that Carlo wasn't in front of me. So, I concluded, Carlo must have goofed up at the start and was now making up for lost time.
As we rounded 3b I got under #52 and Carlo had his cross hairs on #06 four cars back. But, once again, having taken too tight a line through 3b, my exit speed just wasn't good enough. The chips were not falling in my favor at all this race. I grabbed 3rd and floored it and stayed right figuring #52 would pass me first, which he did. BUT, he was using the standard swing wide for 5a approach and held me up badly there. The MGB, #6 and Carlo stacked up behind me too. We race through 5b and 6 and headed up the hill, quite a ways behind the #9 E Prod car by now. Jeff was still in 5th place over all and I was now in 8th again. I tailed the #52 car in his draft through T8, where he held me up yet again, and T9 as we headed for the front straight. Between #52 and #7 I was losing all sorts of valuable lap time.
In the mean time Carlo put the move on #06 and made it stick. Got to hand it to Carlo, he wasn't letting anything stop him from going after Jeff and the championship points he needed to stay in the hunt. In my case I had no choice as the chips were just not falling my way. All I cared about was getting 3rd place though. I wasn't after a championship like Carlo and Jeff were.
As we head for lap 2 and T1 and T2 the red MGB was once again on my right flank. #52 got good exit speed out of T9 after holding me up, so he stretched his lead on me a few car lengths by the time we got to T2. Carlo, in the mean time was also going like he was on fire. I took the low line into T2 and the MGB had to settle for the high line. I'm fast through T2 and push it as hard as I dare. Carlo got a bit carried away and tried to go even harder right behind me. It backfired on him as he slid higher up the track and right behind the MGB's tail. He lost all the ground he had gained and then some as #06 passes below him too. I'm now in 8th again behind #52, with #7 and #06 on my tail and Carlo back behind #06 again. We head down hill hard for T3a again on lap 3.
I regained lost ground on #52 again and had to lock up to avoid contact as we enter 3a. Jeff is still in 5th and I'm in a close 8th. We head through 3b and, when I check my mirrors, I see that SOMEHOW Carlo was back in 9th again behind the MGB and ahead of #06. He was definitely hauling ass! I stuck to #52 as best I could. But I could not get my Miata, with about 20 hp less than the E Prod Miata, to do much more than stay in his draft. I manage to collect him through T7. Again he holds me up in T8, screwing up my much needed exit speed there. Again, the #7 car is all over my tail and Carlo is darting in and out of his mirrors searching for a way to get after me rather than him. Again #7 get beside me through the kink as we head for lap 4.
This time though #7 takes my left flank and Carlo is now behind me, sizing things up, as #52 stretches his legs ahead of us and starts gaining on the #9 E Prod Civic. I go real deep into T2 knowing it would take a great run through T2 to ward off Carlo and the MGB trying to get under me there. My tires squeal as they try to find grip and all I do is down shift from 5th to 3rd and trail brake gently into the corner.
Carlo is as good as they get at Pacific Raceway, having been an instructor at ProFormance race school quite a while there. He can run this track in his sleep I suspect. The MGB gets under me and as he swings out from the apex I stab the gas hard and go back past him with an even later apex and get beside him again on the exit as we head down for 3a again.
Carlo is a couple car lengths behind me with the MGB on my right. We go 2 wide, with reduced speed, through 3a right and I squirt ahead of the MGB thanks to his slower inside line. Then we all set up for my slower inside line through 3b. Carlo does the standard line and I can hear him thinking of ways to get into 9th behind me. But #7 cuts him off as we round 3b. We exit 3b and I get a weak up shift from 2nd to 3rd. The Miata is slow out of 3b even with a good up shift. That was all it took for #52 to stretch out his lead on me and #7 to once again get beside me as we head for T4 and 5a. I let #7 past and quickly move behind him before Carlo can get his nose along me too.
I'm now in 9th over all, with Carlo HOT on my tail, and still 2nd in SM class. Carlo drafts me real tight up the hill through T7 and, true to form, he squeezes real low down under me as we head into T8. I only gave him one car width. No more, no less. But he doesn't back out. He wants Jeff Clark even more than he wants me. But, first, he has to get past me and I'm debating if I should let him go or not. Well, I decided there's only one reason to race with Carlo and that's to make sure #06 stays behind me in 4th in our class. So, I push on, running my race as best as I can without screwing up Carlo's race any more than I have to in the process.
As we exit T8 I finally get some decent speed, even though Carlo is haunting me at will. I apex T9 perfect, for a change, check my mirrors and see Carlo has backed out about 2 car lengths now. We go down the front straight and begin lap 5.
This time around there is less dicing, for a while at least. I'm back in 9th and Jeff is still in 5th, 4 cars ahead. It stays this way through T2 even though Carlo matches my every move and then some. I go as deep as I dare into 3a and as fast as I dare through 3b. Somehow, by the time we get out of 3b, #9, #52 and #7 are all nose to tail just a couple car lengths in front of Carlo and I. We head for T4 and I run over a cone someone had dragged and dropped in the middle of the back straight. Apparently there's a lot of crazy driving going on ahead of our 5 car pack as well.
Carlo blasted out of T6 as we headed up hill, right in my wake. I ease right through T7 and he moves along my left flank. I give him the low line into T8 and he takes it. We swing through T9 and out on the straight and he waves, wanting me to bump draft him. I shake back at him as I watch #06 gaining on us both in my mirror. As we cross Start/Finish for lap 6 I manage to get a run on Carlo and dart out through T1 beside him. This time he goes low in T2 and I go high and #06 goes low behind us. I tuck behind Carlo as we head down in 3a, wishing somehow we can get rid of #06 through the hair pins. I know Carlo will go deep and I plan to match his every move. In the mean time #52 and #7 have both managed to pass #9 putting all three of the E Prod cars just ahead of us in a bit different pecking order. I figure it won't be long before Carlo puts #9 to rest also.
We brake hard enough for 3a that my tires skid a little. I'm sure #06 checked up behind me. Carlo is now right on #9's fanny. As we exit 3a and head for 3b, he gets beside #9 and they nearly swap paint. Carlo weaves to keep from getting tagged. I ease up to avoid collecting them both and possibly banging up my rental Miata in the process. #06 is now carving the 3b apex perfectly behind me. Once again we exit in a mess and #06 gets the drop with more exit speed. DANG IT! Doug gets by me as we head for T4 and 5a. I tuck in his draft and end up one more place down. Just no luck today. By now I'm back in 11th vs. where I started out, in 10th, behind Doug Jennings (rather than ahead of him). Not to mention the fact that I'm now 4th on class too. Time to get back on the horse.
By the time we round T9 again Carlo gets by #9 and I'm still in #06's draft. We blast back down the straight heading for lap 7. #9 gets to Carlo's right in T2 as Doug and I close back into Carlo's wake. We're all in 2nd, 3rd and 4th in our class now with #9 playing the wild card position. I'm hoping we can all get by him and turn this into a cleaner Spec Miata battle.
Carlo retains his lead over #9 as we head down hill into 3a and I fade right into #9's wake hoping to repass #06. Doug goes into 3a too hot trying to hang with Carlo and almost goes off into the rough. I scoot past him per my plan and back into 10th over all... right on #9's tail now. As we navigate back up hill I close on #9 and he points me by in T7. I like that and get a good run through T8 and T9 again as I'm hoping to re-catch Carlo. #9 tucks in behind me as we again go for the kink where Carlo has a 1.5 second lead on me.
We begin lap 8 heading for T1 with #9 so close on my fanny he can almost bump me. He moves high right as we go into T2. Doug gets under him as we exit T2 and by then I've cut Carlo's lead to under 1 second as I really drive T2 HARD! Down the hill we go again. I decide to try late braking 3a in hopes of getting lucky and hooking back up with Carlo by the time we exit 3b. But, naturally, I blow it as my brakes lock up and the car pitches sideways. I nearly manage to slide it around 3a but finally the rear end loses traction and into the dirt I go. By the time I recover from my brain fart both #06 and #9 are by me again and Carlo is off to the races after Jeff without me.
Now my goal is to just figure out how to regain my position from Doug, which is going to be plenty difficult from this far back; the better part of 3 seconds behind Doug by T6. Only option is to drive like mad and do no wrong, something I'm pretty good at once I'm alone and in the clear like this. It takes me until T2 of lap 10 to get past #9 again. And, after we start lapping the slower cars, I finally catch back up with Doug, passing him in T7 of lap 12.
He drafts me through T9 and gets back beside me in the kink. Then he almost hits me as we cross start/finish for lucky lap 13. Next he stays low as we head for T2 forcing me to take the high line. I late brake him and drive the corner on the ragged edge of the traction limit of my tires as I manage to get just past his nose above him. Then the worst happens. He either drifts up and tags me or he purposely drifts up and punts me. Either way my rear loses traction and, just as if we were a couple NASCAR racers, I go sliding up and off the corner NASCAR style... luckily without any wall to bang into. "God damn it!" I say, as I put both feet in and grab 1st and get going again. The steering feels jammed up, for a few corners, as all the gravel finally gets shaken out of the system. Then I go after him again.
But, now as we come back around they display a 5 minute sign at start/finish and I know there's no way, short of Doug making a major mistake, for me to re-catch him again. The best I can do is close about half the distance I had lost when the checker flag flies. Carlo, in the mean time had managed to pass Jeff and came in 1st place!!
But, the story does not end there, because I protest Doug for tagging me and causing me to lose a position. And Jeff tries to protest Carlo for "not allowing race room" in turn 5b. As it turns out, I had the better protest. But Conference rules in Doug's favor for the lack of any turn worker eye witness report on my incident. And Jeff's protest was tossed out, as it should have been, so that Carlo's win stands.
And that was that for my 2004 season as I decided to spend the rest of my racing budget restoring my Z28 for 2005.
2003 RESULTS PAGES - CLICK HERE