Thunder Strikes Twice! (Part 2 - Sunday)

Day 2 of the May NASA event was forecast for 80% rain, and indeed on the three mile drive from town down Hwy 162 toward Thunderhill Raceway Park, the rain, fog, and even snow threatened in the distance. Teams readied their rains, but took to a dry track for qualifying. In spite of the overnight rain and a green track, some very fast times appeared on the board.

Mike C dropped a smoking 2:05.6 in the #10 car, firing a shot across Brad McClure's lap record 2:05.8 from the previous day. The usual suspects in the top 5 included Greg P, Lauren T, a newly revitalized Steve F, BTM Motorwerks' own Andy Chittum. Brad, suffering slightly from a late-night strategic session, took the line in 7th, right behind Andy.

At the drop of the flag though, Brad got an insane launch, blasting by Chittum on the inside, while Chittum held Ted B off on the outside. Early in the race, Brad was also able to sneak by Lauren T on the inside, but as the lead cars settled in, the top 6 became a train of cars that for nearly half the race was covered by less than two seconds.



Finally, nearly halfway through the race with six drivers each scrambling for every hundredth just inches away from each other, Steve F got a move on Greg P for 2nd, and passed him on the outside of the 85+ mph Thunderhill Turn 1. This allowed Steve F to move up and really start pushing Mike C, and McClure started pushing Greg hard as well. Several times the wiley McClure tried to sneak inside Greg P as he'd done the previous day, but Greg had learned his lesson and kept that door firmly shut to the BTM Motorwerks driver. Finally a few laps into the 91 car's assault, Greg's tires seemed to overheat, and he went wide in turn 11, allowing Brad, Lauren, and Andy all to get past. But Brad's car was also looking a little ragged at this point, and Lauren began to attack as well. At the same time, each time Lauren tried to get an advantage, Andy also attacked, keeping the fast TFB Performance #69 car in a very unforgiving BTM Sandwich, just where he'd been in the middle of the round 6 endurance race just a few weeks previous.

The three cars battling let Mike C and Steve F away to eventually take 1st and 2nd, but the final podium spot might have been the most hotly contested battle all weekend. Lap after lap Lauren T pounced on the series-leading #91 car, and Andy pounced again from behind, making it very difficult to him to get an advantage on Brad.

Finally, on the white flag lap, Andy was able to get a run on Lauren's #69 car and eke out a 4th place finish, with Brad hanging on for the final podium position. Kudos out to all the top drivers, including Scott N that kept the back of the group honest early on, and Ted B for making a late-race charge nearly catching up to the back of Andy's #19 car and getting involved in that battle as well.



Earlier in the day, Chittum also won the 2nd GTS Challenge race of the weekend, starting in the back of the back due to a qualifying snafu, but passing Bennet M on the last lap. Many of the other GTS cars took advantage of stickier slick tires allwoed in GTS Challenge, but Andy drove the Spec e30 required Toyo RA1s and pushed his competition hard enough that the Toyo's longer-life advanage made the difference.

Team BTM Motorwerks Racing will return to NASA Norcal competition June 11th and 12th, this time to their home track Infineon Raceway at Sears Point. The team's 91 car leads the series championship by a healthy margin, and the team will be looking for solid, reliable race finishes to bring home the season trophy at the end of the year.