Team BTM Motorwerks 2012 NASA Norcal BMW Spec e30 Champions!

With two 2nd place finishes this weekend at Sears Point, Brad locks up the 2012 NASA Norcal BMW Spec e30 Championship for Team BTM Motorwerks, successfully defending the team's 2011 title.

And with a 3rd and a 4th place finish this weekend, Andy brings the #19 BTM car home in 3rd overall for the season.

Full story, Video, and more coming soon!

BTM Triple!

The NASA Norcal Spec e30 Championship returned to Sears Point October 27th and 28th for the penultimate weekend of racing in the 2012 season, rounds 15 and 16 of 18.  The fantastic Sonoma weather treated the team to a weekend of balmy 80 degree temperatures after a week of rain, which left a relatively green track.

Fresh from his late season resurgence, Brad McClure led the team off the two cars managing 3rd on the grid and Andy Chittum right behind in 4th after recovering from a broken front sway bar link.  Eric Deck and Matt Row led off the field.

At the start, Andy managed to get around Matt and slot into 2nd, however, an spinning car in turn 2 ahead of Brad meant he had to slow, and another car hit the rear of the series-leading #1 car.  Undaunted, Brad fought back and finished the race in 5th place.

Andy stayed just a few feed off Eric Deck's rear bumper and, though he had more speed, and even overlapped the car down the front straight, he was unable to make a clean pass and finished the race in 2nd, with Eric earning his first win in the series.

Sunday found an all BTM front row, with Brad qualifying on Pole, Andy 2nd, and new BTM employee Mike Shawhan in 3rd.  At the flag, it was Andy that got the hole shot into T2 and a notably incident-free field behind.  Several laps into the race, Andy overshot T7 slightly, and Brad took advantage getting into the lead.  After many more laps of battling, the trio crossed the line Brad 1st, Andy 2nd, and Mike 3rd, with BTM Motorwerks taking its first podium sweep.

The NASA Norcal Spec e30 series will return November 10th and 11th for the final weekend of racing for the 2012 season.  Brad looks poised to take Team BTM Motorwerks to their second consecutive championship, and Andy has a chance of a top-three finish in the series as a solo entrant.  Stay Tuned!

Summer Catchup

Catch the story of Brad pulling out podium finishes at the ultimate Norcal vs. Socal showdown, the first NASA California Cup at Buttonwillow Raceway!

Mayhem Hill, Part 2

NASA Nocal Spec e30 returned to Thunderhill Raceway May 19th and 20th, and the racers found themselves in store for even crazier weekend than the first trip there in April. Qualifying worked out well for Team BTM Motorwerks, with Brad on the front row, though Andy was only able to manage 7th with some slight oversteer issues in the #19 car. So close was the competition that Brad's 2:06.972 was only 49 thousandths off pole position sitter Paul Blickman. Being a second slower would have put a driver in 14th. 

The tight pack charged off at the drop of the green, and Brad McClure got one of his signature starts, blasting to the front of the field and leading for the first few laps. Further back, Andy god a good start and filed in behind Steve Ferrario who had qualified 5th, and pulled alongside the powerful #93 car several times on the first two laps, but was unable to make a pass stick. But the race was cut short as further back in the pack the new #45 car had a low tire – when he pulled off track to let everyone by, the hot car caught fire and the NASA emergency crew had to respond and put out the small ensuing brush fire. While the driver was unhurt, the car was destroyed.

Sunday qualifying was to be based on the Saturday finish to make another 50 minute race for the spec e30 field. Again, the racers took off, Brad from the pole, and Andy from 6th. Start of the start was Bennett McMicking who got ahead of Brad and had a two car lead going into T2. Jimmy B also started well from 3rd, and made some time on Brad, but the BTM Motorwerks driver held 2nd. Steve Ferrario took over 4th, and Chittum and the #9 car took off side by side through T1. Going into T2, however, Chittum in the #19 and the #9 car brushed each other side to side, which resulted in the #9 going into a slow spin that took him off T2 on the inside, and back onto the track again, unfortunately collecting 3 other cars. The race was stopped for several minutes while the NASA emergency crew untangled everyone. Luckily, none of the drivers were hurt.

The race restarted then with other cars filling in and taking off once more. On the start Brad managed to maintain 2nd position, with Bennett leading and Jimmy B right behind. Mike Shawhan in the new blue #2 got an insanely good start launching from several rows back but passing both Chittum and Ferrario on the outside of T2. By the time the train reached T8, a charging McClure tried a pass on Bennett for the lead, but both drivers ended up side by side with compromised momentum. That led to Jimmy B passing the two going into T9, leading to a 3 wide stackup, slowing Shawhan, Ferrario, and Chittum, which let Larry Fraiser move past the group as well.

The train continued on for several laps then, with Jimmy B leading, Bennett in second, and Brad in third. Eventually Ferrario made a move and got by Shawhan, and later Shawhan slide off on the outside of T9 – the mighty neon 93 had been leaking gas, and Shawhan fell victim to the Spy Hunter like move from the crafty veteran.

Larry Fraiser wasn't done either, he got a good run on Brad late in the race coming out of T11, then pitched his car sideways going into T14. Brad went wide avoiding the fishtailing rookie, but Larry hung on and moved into 3rd. Ferrario was then able to take adavantage of Brad's lost momentum and pass for 4th.

And so the race ended, with a surprise win from the NASA Norcal Spec e30 co-coordinator, in the #68 car – another podium for Bennett, and a very nice bit of driving from Larry Fraiser charging up from a 7th grid position to the last step of the podium. Brad and Andy finished 5th and 6th, not exactly the results they were hoping for, but they did maintain 1st and 2nd in the overall points totals for NASA Norcal, and good momentum for the following event - the California Crown, held June 23rd and 24th 2012 – the series first trip to beautiful Buttonwillow Raceway since 2009.

Watch the full race video here: http://vimeo.com/42606031

April Mayhem

The first event for NASA Norcal at the famous Thunderhill Raceway promised to be full of the unknown, with a full week of rain leading up to the event, and the 39 drivers with points on the board for the season more more accustomed to Infineon Raceway at Sears Point where the last 4 race weekends had been held. As everyone was soon to find out, expectations for pure chaos were far behind. Team BTM Motorwerks looked to be in great shape for the year, with Chittum and McClure heading up the season points standings with two 1 - 2 finishes at the last event. As the teams converged on Willows California, the weather cleared, and spirits ran high at a typical Casa Ramos evening the night before racing began. Saturday Qualifying began normally for the racers, and when the smoke cleared Brad had a credible 3rd place in qualifying behind Paul Blickman and the ever-speedy #10 car usually driven by Loren Trefethen. While Loren was unable to make the race Saturday, Tim Barber stepped in and put the car on the front row . Ray Zanatto slipped in right behind Brad, and, after some minor difficulty with setup for this new track, Chittum qualified fifth next to a fired-up Steve Ferrario. The hallmark standing start and blastoff was fantastic - completely the crack cocaine equivalent that racers spend long nights polishing a washer to achieve. Blickman, Zanatto and Ferrario got fantastic launches, and Brad’s was good as well. Chittum’s was okay, but Ferrario stormed ahead of him in 2nd gear. Barber’s launch from the front row consisted of a long smoky burnout, very impressive, but not the fastest way off the line.

As the pack hit 3rd gear and stuffed three-wide into Thunderhill’s T1, Blickman led Zanatto and McClure with a good margin, and Barber, right behind him dove to the inside, with Ferrario right behind. Chittum had better momentum, and dove back to the outside, neatly passing both Barber and Ferrario on the outside the long T2, and securing 4th by the exit of T3. The racers lined up looking for advantages through 4, 5 and 6. The line bombed through T8, but Blickman appeared to slow slightly heading up the hill for T9. Zanatto took a flying dive up the inside, and the two went side by side into T9. But out on the marbles, Blickman wasn’t able to keep his car from going nearly sideways, and he went off on the well-worn dirt on the outside of T9, later to rejoin in 11th. The Zanatto - McClure - Chittum - Barber then rounded T14 and T15 onto the front straight - and found a yellow flag. Unfortunately, the Miata field that started behind the Spec e30s had several cars crash, and it took most of the remaining time in the session to clean up the mess. NASA officials granted points for the race based on qualifying, and set up the grid for the Sunday 50 minute race as well. Sunday’s race took off in the same order, with Trefethen and McClure on the front row, with Chittum and Zanatto 3rd and 4th. At the drop of the green, all 4 cars got decent launches, with Trefethen edging out McClure, and Zanatto getting ahead of Chittum. Once again, the pack ended up nose to tail and for the first few laps, none of the front runners could seem to get an advantage on any of others.

But, up in front, Trefethen seemed to be having problems. McClure, King of the T5 Rodeo got a good run on him going into T6, but Trefethen ran wide, taking McClure right off the outside. Next Zanatto caught up to the canny racer, and made a credible pass attempt on the outside of Thunderhill’s super fast T1. He ended up on the outside of T1 in the marbles, and got a rough ride on the grass before rejoining the race. That left Chittum in 2nd behind Trefethen, with only a little breathing room before Greg Petersen and Steve Ferrario caught up and made his life difficult. But noticing Trefethen seemed to have the most problem with right hand turns on the predominantly left-turning track, Chittum set up for an undercut going into T14, and sure enough, Trefethen went wide, barely able to keep the car on the track. Later, Trefethen would pit, and return to the fray with a new rear tire - he’d somehow managed to get a slow leak, and his car’s handling had suffered progressively in the race.

This left Chittum with a few lengths of lead that he slowly stretched into just about a full straightaway by late in the race. In fact, he looked set to clinch another win, but the mayhem was not yet played out. First, an incident in T9 that affected several cars including McClure on his way back to the front that left a car stranded on the outside of the turn. NASA officials initially ran a full-course yellow that bunched the field up while they towed a few other suck cars, then later had a yellow in T7 through T9 to finish the cleanup. Chittum got a good gap on the restart, but got caught behind a lapped car in T1. Unable to begin passing until just after T9, Zanatto was able to keep more speed through the yellow area and pass both cars going into T10. In one last surreal moment, the #12 A-1 Autowerks car caught and passed Chittum going into T1 with the white flag flying. So hard was the car pushing, that it went right back off the track again in T5, to finish back off the podium.

Finally, at some point during the race, the entire timing system conked out, so while unofficially it looked like Zanatto, Chittum and Peterson finally made the podium, we will update this space once the official Sunday results are published. Team BTM Motowerks will return to Thunderhill Raceway May 19th and 20th to contest Rounds 7 and 8 of the 16 round NASA Norcal Spec e30 Championship.

Brad's Saturday Race Video!

Head on over to YouTube and catch Brad's Saturday drive from 11th to 2nd!

The Double Double vs. Mid Pack Mayhem

After a promising start to the season in February at the legendary Infineon Raceway, Team BTM Motorwerks prepared for round 3 and 4 returning to the same track with 28 other cars, all looking to get an early lead in the year-log 18 round championship.

While the Februrary event remained dry with beautiful cool lap record inducing weather, the specter of rain loomed throughout the weekend, with most forecasts pointing to rain Sunday. Team BTM had sets of full-tread RA1s ready, but as this NASA event was run along with the WERC Endurance Racing Championship, the schedule was changed to accommodate - Saturday qualifying would count for the Saturday race, but the Sunday race would be started from the Saturday finishing order, and that race would be extended to a 50 minute race.

This meant qualifying Saturday would be crucial for a good weekend's result. Norcal NASA's officials are famous for throwing curveballs at the massive Spec e30 field to keep the racing exciting, but nobody was prepared for the insanity they'd prepared for Saturday.

Typically, the racers would qualify and later, some portion of the field would be inverted...top 10, top 5, sometimes the entire field. This morning however, they decided to invert the top 15 -- but they actually announced it first in the Saturday driver's meeting before qualifying. Calculating what fastest laps were possible, perhaps high 1:56s or so, a mid-field position would probably be somewhere in the high 1:58s. Given a few good tools, and Jennifer Chittum returning as BTM Motorwerks race director, the team split their approach both cars coached on pace as qualifying began.

Both cars took off and attempted to set good baseline times, but by halfway through the session, given the plethora of Spec Miatas and an extremely healthy USTCC field mixed in to 30 Spec e30s all trying to hit a slow laptime it was nearly impossible for anyone to get a clear lap. Both Chittum in the #19, and McClure in the #1 car pitted for instructions, and both were told to get back out and set a faster lap, lest they miss starting even in the top 15.

McClure took off again and set a time just slightly faster than he'd intended, with a 1:58.5. But having sat in the pits for extra time to find a clear spot, Chittum took off on a similar pace, but slightly cool tires and a odd brake vibration caused him to essentially miss T2, brake too late, and go sideways through the turn. Then, upon reaching T4, an incident left a yellow flag flying there, and he managed a slower 1.59.1. Upon checking in again, Jennifer calculated that McClure's faster lap, after the 15 spot invert should land him about 13th, and Chittum 3rd, so the team decided to head in and stand on those times.

After weigh-in the paddock was in chaos with drivers all comparing lap times. NASA Norcal officials quickly posted results after some adjustments for on-track penalties, McClure would start 10th, and Chittum on pole. This would be Chittum's second pole of the year, the previous one in round 1 earned from a stellar lap in a well prepared car back from a long vacation...this one fired like a shot from an explosion of sheer chaos.

In the interim between qualifying and the race, the team prepped the cars and investigated the brake shimmy Chittum had discovered in qualifying. North Bay Bavarian’s Rick Row also pitched in, showing the fantastic camaraderie found in the Norcal Spec e30 field.

At the drop of the green flag, Chittum got a great launch up front, just edging out Scott C by T2. Unfortunately, Scott and Kevin N tangled someplace right around the apex of T2 causing Scott to spin. By the time he’d recovered, he rejoined in 28th. But the mayhem gave Chittum a clean break with the field, and a few laps of pushing found him far out of reach of the field.

Meanwhile, McClure starting from 10th began a charge that was the cornerstone of BTM Motorwerks’ 2011 championship. After initially slowing in the first lap snafu, Brad battled his way up to 2nd place by the end of the race, ahead of Kevin N and DJ Riley at the checkered flag. In post race scrutiny, however, Kevin was DQ’d due to the contact with Scott C, and relegated to the back of the pack, while DJ ended up just a scant 5lbs underweight. That left Andy with the victory, Brad in 2nd and put Bennett M on the 3rd podium step - a great drive for the familiar red and yellow car.

For the Sunday race, the Saturday finish left BTM Motorwerks covering the front row. Both BTM cars blasted off and set a blistering pace that again outpaced the field. Their first 1-2 finish the day before, BTM got its second, and ended up taking over the lead in the season championship as well.



BTM Motorwerks will return to the track April 14 and 15th at the legendary 3.0 mile track at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Willows, CA.

2012! Let's Race!

A chilly damp February morning met 28 shiny BMWs at Infineon Raceway Saturday morning for the first round of the 2012 NASA Norcal Spec e30 championships. Overnight rain left the track puddled, but clouds were clearing, and it looked to be yet another gorgeous day racing in Sonoma.

Team BTM Motorwerks returned with both cars ready for action, the old 2011 Champ #91 car rebadged the new #1 car, and most of the body repainted for the occasion. The #19 car also sported some fresh paint, and both cars had been meticulously prepared by the BTM Motorwerks crew.

And ready they were - mid-morning qualifying went off cleanly, and Chittum managed to find room in between the other 27 Spec e30s and 18 Spec Miatas on the tight track to lay down the first sub 1:57 lap of the season. Chittum's 1:56.9 was a good four tenths faster than 2nd place's Loren Trefethen in fact, and McClure was right behind with a 1:57.6. Steve Ferrario and Team Race 38 North filled out the top five.

The racers lined up for the typical standing start, and took off with a minimal amount of carnage given the long winter break. Chittum and Trefethen on the front row took off side by side charged up the hill toward T2. Typically, one car would have the advantage by T3, but both cars still managed to stay neck and neck until the exit of 3, where Chittum found some marbles on the outside exit, and lost just enough ground that Trefethen got that crucial half length to stay ahead. Rather than experience the even worse grip on the outside of T4, Chittum dropped back and filed in behind the speedy #10 car to look for an opening.

Meanwhile, from the 4th grid position, McClure got a slightly worse launch, losing ground to silver and neon #93 driven by Steve Ferrario, and, on the exit of T4, going slightly wide and being passed by Bennett McMicking's characteristic red and yellow #17 car. Brad recovered quickly though, got back by the #17 car quickly and charged after Ferrario. Setting the fast lap of the race just on one thousandth faster than Chittum's pole lap, he caught up to the three way battle making it into a four way train.

For fully half the race then Trefethen - Chittum - Ferrario - McClure motored on. Chittum got an opportunity on Trefethen coming out of the carousel, but overlapping Trefethen in T7, he quickly had to defend against Ferrario. Nearly passing Chittum, then Ferrario had to fight off a McClure right on his heels. While this repeated several times, in the end the top four ended up finishing in just that order, with a 2nd and a 4th to Team BTM Motorwerks.

Sunday started drier and a little colder, but that didn't stop Loren Trefethen's momentum from the previous day, and he laid down a smoking 1:56.5 lap for pole position, with Chittum just a few tenths off his pace. The #114 Team Race 38 North car qualified 3rd, and Brad qualified the #1 BTM Motorwerks car in 4th.

Proving once again for 2012 they have not only a sense for crazy fun but also a rather dark sense of humor, the NASA officials inverted the grid for the top ten starters, meaning that McClure would start in 7th, and Chittum back in 9th, next to Trefethen in 10th. Several other fast runners had been unable to qualify well, however, Ferrario's #93 car started in the first few rows as well as one of the other front-runners in the field, Tommy O in the #11 car. BTM Motorwerks 2011 Rookie of the Year DJ Riley took the honors having qualified 10th, and lead the grid out on pole.

All 27 cars lined up for the standing start again, and after a slightly late green flag they lit up their Toyo RA-1s once again to charge into Infineon's super-technical Turn 2. Being on the inside line, McClure and Chittum made up several spots each as a few cars on the right side of the track got very slow getaways. Trefethen proved to be quite slippery as well though and got through that mayhem and filed in behind McClure and Chittum, running 5th and 6th by T3. Reaching T11 once again in a tight train of cars, McClure locked up his rear tires under braking. Chittum and Trefethen scattered to give him room, which let Chittum sneak through on the inside and took off after Scott Clough, running in 4th.



Chittum once again charged up T2, but Clough's new #444 car slowed, forcing Chittum to go wide in T2, compromise T3 slightly, and before he could recover, Trefethen and McClure both made it up the inside of T4, dropping Chittum from 5th to 7th. Trefethen then was able to attack Clough right away in T7, and McClure and Chittum both attacked and got by on the inside of T11 the same lap. A few laps later, Trefethen, McClure and Chittum reached the top three cars, Ferrario, DJ Riley, and Derek Welch driving the green 76 car, as teammates with Greg Petersen this year. Trefethen attacked, lost momentum, and McClure got by into 4th. Half a lap later, McClure attacked, lost momentum, and Trefethen got back by. In spite of the cool weather at this point, both cars' tires looked to be pretty cooked, with both cars putting two tires in the dirt in the exit of 3 and 4. But a yellow flag at the exit of 6 put a stop to the action - some of the cars further back in the field had tangled, leaving a fair amount of debris at the entrance to T8, and a full course yellow was called to regroup the field and allow the fine NASA safety crew to tow a damaged car and sweep off the track.

After a long period of yellow, the safety car pulled off, and the race resumed - Ferrario - Riley - Welch - Trefethen - Chittum all took off again. After the yellow as well Grand Am Driver Gregory Liefooghe, driving the new #12 car caught up to the melee and joined in the fun.

Hitting the front straight the next lap and getting the white flag, both Trefethen and McClure got a run on the Green #76 driven by Welch. Loren went inside and Welch defended, giving a slightly more advantageous line to McClure who made it around the outside of 1 and took the apex in 2 to slip into a podium position with less than a lap to go. Welch and Trefethen's speed was compromised which gave Chittum an opportunity to either go for the gusto and try to pass Trefethen or defend against Liefooghe. He nearly made it up the inside of 3, but once again, the marbles on the outside of 3a caused the #19 car to wash out slightly, giving the wiley veteran the only chance he needed to pass.



Charging down the hill, Chittum got a great run through 10 and 11, and onto the start finish, had the opportunity to pass both the 12 and 76 cars ahead of him on the front straight, but alas, the checkered flag flew, and the race was over.

In all, Team BTM Motorwerks brought home two podiums and a pole position for the opening weekend, and if Chittum's outright speed and McClure's gritty racing determination in the first event are any indication, the team will have another fantastic season in 2012.



Team BTM Motorwerks would also like to thank NASA for a fabulous 2011 season banquet on Saturday night, as well as Nichols Wealth Management for sponsoring the 2011 series championship team with jackets commemorating the season.

NASA Spec e30 will return to Infineon Raceway March 10th and 11th. Come on out and cheer us on!

Ready...Set...

Less than 24 hours before Team BTM Motorwerks hits the track at Sears Point. Paint - Shiny. Weather forecast - Rainy. Drivers - Ready.

Hit it!

If you build it, they will inspect it

2011 took off with a blast, and finished with a Stephen J. Cannell style ending, but 2012 is time to begin another chapter. There's still time to slip into the Art of Road Racing Racing School, where BTM driver Andy Chittum will be instructing, but Team BTM has spent some time this winter going over 2011 data, overhauling both cars, and planning for another good year of hard fair racing.

NASA Norcal, and the fine technical inspection crew that help govern Spec e30 play a large part in keeping huge Spec e30 fields fair, after all, with fields likely to surpass 35 cars in 2012, the last thing that a competitor wants to worry about is that car just ahead that seems to be magically just a little faster than possible. Looking through a year of 2011 tech notes, the thoroughness of the NASA tech crew was amazing:

• Air Mass Meters inspected, checked for compliance.
• Intake opened up, camera inserted looking for signs of machining anywhere on the intake
• Fuel was removed from each car and analyzed. NASA didn't specify the scope of the analysis.
• Steering Racks were checked for ratio and proper part number.
• Front and rear camber was checked multiple times throughout the year for compliance.
• Front and rear track were checked multiple times throughout the year for compliance.
• Differential gear ratio was checked
• Rear LSD breakaway force was checked
• Spare Tire weight was checked
• Wheel Weight was checked - NASA took a wheel from each car, removed the tire, weighed the rim and had AIM reinstall and rebalance the tire on the wheel.
• Car Weight was checked on most every car after nearly every qualifying, and top cars after the race.
• HP & Torque was checked on the dyno at Thunderhill.
• Flywheel was removed, weighed and checked for modification.

What is telling is that the championship winning #91 car was inspected in just about every one of these procedures (one of the downsides of finishing up front!) that car never had any technical infractions. In fact, the top cars in the series remained all relatively free of trouble, a testament to the fine competitors and camaraderie in NASA Norcal Spec e30.

The early pre-season announcements look to have tons of excellent incentives, prizes, excitement and fun for the group, so stay tuned to this spot for Team BTM Motorwerks' defense of their championship in 2012!

Coming Soon...

Winter projects...