With just one weekend off, the entire field of Spec e30 racers returned to Infineon Raceway at Sears Point, and as usual welcomed a few new racers with brand-new cars, and looked toward the sharp end of the field where the veterans would play a part in a storybook ending for the challenging 16 race season. Brad McClure, Andy Chittum, Greg Petersen, Loren Trefethen, Steve Ferrario, Tommy Oliver, and the rest of the 25 car field would all figure in the hard-charging drama. With Brad’s misstep in the Saturday race the previous weekend, and Loren losing an engine and falling far back down the field the previous Sunday, just four points separated Team BTM Motorwerks with Loren's speedy TFB Performance car. Considering there were 200 points available for a 1st place, the entire season was going to simply be down to who could get their car across the line first. With rain forecast, many racers prepared for it, and the morning warmup session was typical Sears Point soggy, with enough overnight rain on the track to cause puddles and spray. One surprise was John Trefethen joining the field for the second time laying down a warmup lap two seconds a lap faster than anyone else - when questioned about it later he claimed he was ‘just getting a feel for the car’ but many took note he could be a force to be reckoned with if it were to rain.
But, by the time qualifying began midday Saturday, the Sonoma sunshine was warming things up, and the racers found themselves on a very green very dry track. Andy managed to make the best of a busy track and qualify 3rd with a 1:58.141 and Brad did one better by throwing down a 1.58.105, just 4 hundreths faster. But the session would belong to Tommy Oliver who managed a near-magical 1:57.8 on the slippery track. Season points leader Loren Trefethen ended up just one position behind Andy, with Greg Peterson and Steve Ferrario right behind him.
The NASA organizers also contributed to the excitement by scheduling qualifying for Saturday, then Sunday run a 30 minute race followed by a 50 minute race later in the day. The racers would need to mind their cars in the morning race to be sure they were ready for the longer afternoon event.
But as can happen, the morning race’s drama began sooner than expected... in fact right about the time everyone was hitting second gear from the spec e30 standing start. Everyone except Tommy O - lining up on pole position he took off as the green flag fell, but the experienced NASA racer missed getting into 2nd gear. Brad, lined up on the outside also missed his shift to 2nd, but managed to recover quickly and take off after a speeding Loren Trefethen who took excellent advantage of the mayhem on the inside of the track. Andy hit second gear perfectly just to find Tommy slowing in front of him. Andy tried to avoid on the inside of the track, but the pressure from the other 25 cars behind the leader caught up too quickly. He glanced off Tommy’s rear bumper, which in turn knocked his car out of gear. As he recovered and got up to speed, a number of other cars had already passed him, putting him in 10th position. Luckily the #19 car was not damaged badly from the contact, and Chittum took off after the leaders.
Up front Brad caught up to Loren and pulled out a gap over Steve Ferrario and series organizer Scott Neville who had both benefited from the chaotic start - Scott had managed to stay clear of the mess and made it up to 4th from his start in 12th, all in the first half lap.
But heading out of the carousel and up the hill for the first time, Brad got a great run and got inside Loren. He braked so hard he locked up his tires, but somehow in the resulting smoke he was able to get the mighty 91 car turned and took the lead.
Loren pressed Brad continually throughout the race, but wasn’t able to take back the lost position.
Meanwhile, Andy had his work cut out for him coming back through the field. He worked the field, passing cars up to 6th place, but after getting by the blue #2 Shawhan car, the top 5 cars had a several second gap. He took off after them setting the fastest lap of the race catching up to the familiar green #76 car driven by Greg Petersen. Greg must have seem him coming as well, because the two caught and Greg passed Scott Neville in a single fell swoop on the inside of the Turn 11 hairpin. Chittum snuck by the 44 car as well on the inside of the double-apex turn 7 shortly thereafter. But even though Chittum had the speed, and harried the 76 car repeatedly, Chittum had to settle for 5th behind Peterson. Tommy O recovered from even further back in the field after his fatal mis-shift, and managed an impressive 7th, still possibly in the hunt should Loren and Brad not finish the race for any reason.
The morning race was to set the grid for the long afternoon race, Team BTM Motorwerks then held down the 1st and 5th positions, and as it turned out would be key in the final battle. Brad had finished ahead of Loren and the 91 car had retaken the series point lead, but given the double points given out at this particular event, he still couldn’t let Loren get away, it was still very likely which ever car crossed over the line in the final event would be the series champion.
The afternoon race’s start was a bit less dramatic, Brad again not quite getting his 2nd gear shift right, but managing to avoid any major carnage. Loren again got a blistering start and blasted off into the lead, and Greg shot by the mis-shifing McClure followed by Steve Ferrario, Andy, and Tommy O right behind them. While this time the racers knew they’d be out punishing their 205mm Toyo RA-1 tires for a full 50 minutes of racing, the less-chaotic start meant that nearly the entire field crossed the start-finish line nose to tail on the first lap...it wouldn’t stay quiet for long.
A few laps later found bunched up field each looking for an advantage, and the first one to find it was Greg, getting a good run inside Loren in T 11. At the same time, just a few cars back, Andy had tried to get a run on Steve, but couldn’t quite get it done and lost speed in T10, leaving the door open on the inside of 11. As Greg powered around Loren nearly followed by an opportunistic McClure, Tommy O got inside Andy and got the inside line in T10. Tommy motored off after the top 5, but Andy had to deal with traffic for a few laps before getting back up to speed. And shortly later, Brad was also able to get a run inside Loren in T11 and took over second going into T2.
Andy gapped the rest of the field then, on his way back up to the front. As he caught up to Tommy O and Steve’s battle, the two got together on the slippery entrance to T7, and Andy slipped by on the inside.
This left Greg still leading, Brad in 2nd, and Loren right behind, with Andy about 10 lengths back...and the race still only half over. For a few more laps, everyone still driving flat out, Andy struggled to make up time on the three leaders. Furthermore Loren started to push as well, starting to try moves on Brad. If the cars finished as they were at this moment in the race, Team BTM would win the championship, but not if Lauren could make up any more positions.
As their battle intensified, Greg was able to relax a little, but Brad came further under fire, twice running wide in T11, T7, and once even nearly off in T1 - Lauren’s assault was both solid and persistent, sometimes even drawing even with the 91 BTM car. While Brad’s style of driving was solid and persistent if occasionally sideways like Nigel Mansell, Lauren played the perfect part of a Montoya, completely fearless, completely unforgiving, lightning fast and completely willing to put his car anywhere jaw-droppingly necessary to get the job done. It seemed that Brad’s defense was weakening...
And then Andy caught back up to the three leaders. Making contact coming out of 4, he nearly got by Lauren going into the carousel, but Loren fought back quickly closing the door and preventing Andy from sliding down the inside of 7. But while he was able to keep Andy from stealing the last podium position, including some extra-difficult-to-pass sideways action, Brad was free to recover his car, and give Greg a final chase before the end of the race. Andy also gave Loren a serious run for his money as well, finishing just about a half second behind the last podium spot. But, with Brad in the 91 car ahead of Loren, that gave Team BTM Motorwerks the points boost needed to take home the season championship for the first time. 3rd in 2009, 2nd in 2010, and finally a season win for the team.
And an especially heartfelt congratulations to Greg and his family for their new baby - a great drive on his return to the series.
Brad and Andy would like to thank:
Ross Martindale, Gary McClure, and Jennifer Chittum
QStarz Motorsports GPS Lap Timer
LPI, Inc
NASA, Scott Neville, and our fellow Spec e30 Competitors!
We’ll see you all next year!
