Race Day!
But the weekend held both ups and downs for the black and neon-orange racers at their home track, beginning with NASA's schedule indicating a 50 minute race Sunday and a qualifying race Saturday instead of just a regular qualifying session. And the NASA officials would also throw in several turns and twists of their own for the huge Norcal field - ones that would rival even those of the famous raceway itself.
First thing Saturday morning, drivers were randomly assigned a grid position for the qualifying race, Brad drew 18 and Andy drew 16 - both drivers definitely had their work cut out for them with many of the faster drivers drawn toward the front. In addition, the field would have its first rolling start of the year, which added another element of the unknown.
As the field rounded T11 and hit the front straight, the leaders choose a blindingly fast pace for the rolling start, which immediately broke the field apart and left the BTM drivers with a lot of ground to make up. Andy and Brad both made progress forwards through the field, Brad moving up to 3rd by the end, but Andy getting caught in a crash in T11. Though the 19 car was undamaged, it was stuck for over 10 seconds, which had Andy fall back to finish 15th, back where he started.
The canny NASA officials then threw in their next twist, a full grid inversion for the race. The start held slightly less drama this time, but was still quite fast, and the field strung out again quickly. Andy and Brad moved up together through the field, moving into 10th and 12th within just a few laps, but when Andy caught up to Robert L's impressively powered #30 car, his forward progress was balked for several laps. Brad and Greg P caught up to the back of Andy's #19 car, and, in a daring move Brad got by both drivers and continued his march to the front. Tires overworked from his previous battle, Andy settled in about 6th place or so, and got some life back into the car with the daunting trio of Greg P, Steve F, and Tommy O approaching from behind.
While the leaders had a large enough gap to not be caught, Andy still had plenty left in the car to hold position and looked in great shape to do so. But on the white flag lap, the #19 car had a burp in the electronics, a result of some troubleshooting Andy had done previously on the ABS system on the car. The 19 car lost power for about 5 seconds after hitting the bump coming out of T7, and that was enough for the three fast racers to zip by bringing Andy home in 9th.
At the front, however, Brad caught up to the Gary R who was running in second and began a massive battle with the 2010 Champ that amazed spectators and racers alike. Even Dave B running in the USTCC class in the same session remarked to Brad, "You attacked him everywhere, very good drive - I even slowed down to watch!" High praise indeed from the multiple champion USTCC driver.
But in the end, Gary R showed the stuff that earned him the 2010 Norcal Championship and 2nd overall at NASA Nationals, and held off the hard-charging BTM Motorwerks driver. Lauren T took the top Saturday podium step with an excellent drive as well.
Sunday's schedule tersely listed a 50 minute race as Spec e30's only event for the day other than warmup - and there was an air of speculation and trepidation as the drivers assembled for their morning briefing.
And the fiendishly clever NASA officials were indeed in rare form. First, the starting position in the race would be determined by the Saturday race finish. But the top 10 finishers from Saturday were all moved down 10 places, meaning Brad's 3rd place started him 13th, and Andy's 9th place started him 19th. Next, the course would be changed - Saturday had been the normal sports car course at Sears Point along with the long Turn 7. Sunday, the drivers would run the long race on the shorter course that NASCAR uses - with an extended Turn 4 that skips the carousel and hooks right up to Turn 7. Finally, in the meeting as well, NASA's Technical Director Will F ominously noted several times that NASA can change the course at any time for any reason, safety or otherwise...a warning that would prove to be instrumental in the race.
Returning to the traditional standing start, the Spec e30 field lined up in perfect precision and, at the drop of the green flag blasted off in perfect unison into T2. Lacking the usual T2 drama from Saturday, it was an event-filled trip Sunday with a few cars spinning off the track. The long run out of T3 into the extended T4 was interesting as well, both for the additional speed and shift into 4th gear, as well as the high inner berm and very solid wall on the exit. In spite of the fact that around two-thirds of the field (including both BTM drivers) had never been through that turn before, the entire field made it through without much trouble and got racing.
Andy got a good start and picked up several positions on the first few laps, including passing Steve F and Tommy O in the lap 1 T2 melee. After passing a number of slower cars, he settled in behind Greg P just as the two were cracking the top 10. However Andy's overnight repairs to the 19 car's electrical system proved to be more of a hurt than a hindrance. This time, instead of a few seconds loss of power, the car's ECU shut off entirely, right in the same bump coming out of T7. Most of the field passed before he restarted. A few laps later, as he was catching the back of the field, it again cut out, putting him back further. Realizing the car could be driven as long as it didn't hit any bumps, Andy noted this and soldiered on.
Meanwhile, Brad's race was going quite well in the mighty #91 car. He chased Lauren T through the front of the field until the two cars were far ahead of any of the others. Again, Brad went to work on his competitor, but the NASA officials had one last twist to drop on the drivers.
About 30 minutes into the race, a full-course yellow was thrown, and the safety car came out, leading the 56 car field around. However, this time, it took the normal T4, went through the carousel, and took the usual short T7. But instead of the tight line through T8 out of the esses to T9, the safety car took the long T8 toward the kink that the Moto GP bikes use instead - an actual course change right in the middle of the race to anther course that Spec e30 typically doesn't run at Sears Point.
Once synced up, the safety car came in, and the field took off again, finishing the last half of the race on the new course. In longer race a driver can fall into a routine, a rhythm between the car's inputs, the course, and the conditions, but the NASA officials managed to keep the racers on their toes the entire race long.
And Brad's natural flexibility from years of Autocross experience really paid off - with the new course and the restart, he was able to finally get by Lauren T for the win. And for not only his amazing Saturday drive from 18th to 3rd, and victory Sunday, Brad also spent most of his free time in the paddock working on the #5 Roadrunner Racing car too get one more of his competitors on the track, he was awarded the Hard Charger award of the race, and will receive a pair of Anarchy Eyewear Sunglasses in addition to the other fine contingencies available to the NASA Norcal Spec e30 field.
Welcome Back, Krshul!
BTM Motorwerks would also like to extend a warm welcome to Steve K, the new NASA Chief Technical Steward as of the weekend's race. We first met Steve at Mid-Ohio of all places, when Andy was competing the 2007 NASA Nationals in his usual USTCC 328ti in Performance Touring D - the small contingent of NASA Norcal Spec e30 racers had made the trip as well, and Steve's loud, boisterous wide-eyed tales of tough competition and an exploding transmission on his car made us like him immediately. While he'll certainly bring some new perspective to Spec e30 technical inspection that will throw some for a loop we believe his overall influence will be positive on the field, and his knowledge and experience with these cars will continue to support fair racing in a huge spec field, which of course is why we're all out here.
Next Round
BTM Motorwerks will return to the track August 13th and 14th for what will undoubtedly be the hottest races of the year at Thunderhill raceway. We'll see you all there!
Thanks to LPI Inc, and QSTARZ for Support! T2 Pictures by Ralph Warren - Thank you!
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