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