As usual our GTIs would be racing in Group "A" along with the Factory Five Cobras, Spec Miatas, Mazda Pro7s, Pro Sedans, Honda Challenge cars and a mix of Super Unlimited cars.  For the weekend Group A had a showing of up to 49 cars.   Weather for the weekend was relatively mild for Willows in the summer...low 90s for both Saturday and Sunday....we considered ourselves fortunate as it could have been a lot hotter this time of year!    Race Group A was the last scheduled race for both days with the race start at 4:15 PM.   Lap times for all the Nor Cal NASA races can be access at MyLaps.com by clicking here.

Saturday:  Saturday's qualifying saw Joe Craven grabbing pole with a qualifying time of 2:15.06 followed by Carlos Suarez with a 2:15.87.  Don Bailey qualified third with a 2:16.34.  Scott Neville qualified forth with a 2:18.13,  Dan Pina qualified fifth with a 2:18.32 and Tom Aiken qualified sixth with a 2:20.90.  As with the last event in May we were going to have a standing race start as opposed to our usual flying start.  The GTIs were grided next to one another at the rear of the the first standing start wave.  Behind us, in the next start wave,  would be the Spec Miatas on a flying start followed by the Super Unlimiteds also on a flying start.  On the first lap heading into Turn 2 Carlos' car got bumped causing him to spin backwards into a PS/2 Toyota MR2.  This resulted in a number of GTIs running off course into the weeds to avoid body contact.  Click here to see a short video clip of the start through Scott's in car video.  Both Scott and Dan went off course into the weeds, Carlos ended up backwards in Turn 2 next to Don's car.  Joe, who had in the inside lead made it through unscathed as did Tom who was at the rear of the pack when accident occurred.  Carlos' car suffered only cosmetic damage and he was able to continued racing.  Dan was in forth at this time but an off road excursion in Turn 4 during Lap 5 resulted in:  1) Scott passing him in Turn 5 and 2) Dan getting a flat tire.  On lap 7 Carlos earned the "hard charger award" for this race as he fought back from last to 3rd by passing Scott and two Pro7s in Turn 3.  Click here for a short video of Carlos passing Scott and two Mazda Pro 7s.  Carlos then took over 2nd place when Don's car began to run rough (it was a faulty ground wire) and Scott was able to pass Don at this time to claim third. The checkered flag saw Joe first,  Carlos second, Scott third, Tom forth, Don fifth, and Dan sixth.  Individual fastest race laps were as follows:  Joe 2:15.59, Carlos 2:16.06, Scott 2:18.27, Tom 2:20.22, Don 2:17.43, and Dan 2:18.00.

Sunday Qualifying Race: The grid for Sunday's qualifying race was determined by Saturday's sprint race finish.  After Saturday's action in Turn 2 at the start, the GTIs decided it might be a good idea to separate ourselves a bit from the main pack of Group A cars...so we grided ourselves about 50 yards back from the main crowd (see photo below).  This proved to be a good idea as three cars got tangled together near the starter's stand at the green flag drop and the GTIs all made it through unscathed.  Click here for a video clip of the start for the Shed Racing in-car camera.  This race turned out to be a real bare knuckle contest....with Joe, Don, Carlos and Scott all within contention for lead position...Carlos took the early lead followed by Joe, Dan, Scott, Don and Tom.  By Turn 9 Don had passed Scott and the order was then Carlos, Joe, Dan, Don, Scott and Tom.  The rest of the race is frankly a blur... Don was having mechanical problems and fell out by about Lap 5.  By about lap 6 or 7 Scott was able to make a pass in Turn 14 and get by Joe and Carlos to take over the lead with about 3-4 laps left in the race.  Scott led for two laps and was about 5 to 10 car lengths ahead of Carlos followed by Joe, Dan and then Tom with two laps left in the race.  As Scott exited Turn 3 two things occurred which dashed his victory hopes...1) he developed a wobble in his steering (another bad wheel bearing maybe?) and 2) two spun cars in Turn 4 completely blocked the track....Scott had to drive off-track up the Eagles Nest and re-enter the track in the Turn 5 bypass.  Just as he re-entered the track Carlos had made the pass and Scott's car was making ugly grinding noises so he pulled onto the interior access road and was out with a bad CV joint.  Somehow Joe made a pass on Carlos on the last lap and took 1st place.  Carlos took second place, Dan third, Tom forth.   Scott was 5th and one lap down, Don was 6th with 5 laps down. Fast race laps were as follows:  Joe 2:15.30, Carlos 2:15.87, Dan 2:17.26, Tom 2:18.46, Scott 2:15.37, and Don 2:19.60.

Sunday Final Sprint Race:  The grid for this race was set by the finish of the Qualifying race...Joe, Carlos, Dan, Tom, Scott then Don.  The race started without any accidents...and the GTIs all made to Turn 1 without incident...but a dust cloud awaited them on the beginning to Turn 2 as a Group A HC4 car had gone off track.  Tom got a great start and was poised for second place behind Joe coming out of Turn 2 when he got behind slower PS7 Mazda and was passed by the remaining GTIs.   Click here for a video of the start from Tom's in-car camera.  This put the field in the following order on the first lap:  Joe, Carlos, Dan, Scott, Don then Tom.  Don worked his usual fast magic through Turns 4-6 to pass Scott and Dan.  By the second lap Joe led, followed by Carlos, Don, Dan, Scott and Tom.  This order held and on lap 2 a Pro 7 managed to get in between Scott and Dan.  This Pro7 did a dive bomb on Dan in Turn 14 and the two cars bumped causing the Pro7 to spin.  Scott got by the Pro7 and was able to pass Dan in Turn 5.  Dan's car was damaged by the contact with the Pro7....the right rear suspension was bent causing excess rear toe (great for left turns) but increased understeer on a car that has too much understeer already!   Also, the contact apparently dislodged the internal fuel tank pickup causing the car to gas starve and die on right hand turns.  Joe, Carlos and Don held their order with Scott trying to catch up to them.  Scott got stuck behind a back-marker Factory Five Racer (Cobra replica) who Joe & Crew had just passed...he dogged the Factory Five Cobra in the twisties...but with the extra 3.2 liters of engine the FFR would pull his GTI in the straights.  Scott eventually passed the FFR on Lap 5 in Turn 3....but, by this time, Joe, Carlos and Don had pulled an uncatchable 30-40 car length lead.  Scott almost lost 4th place as he spun off track in Turn 2 to avoid the two lead Spec Miatas who had to brake hard to avoid a spinning Pro7.  He got back on the track before Dan and Tom could catch up to him (and unfortunately behind the #6 FFR he worked so hard to pass earlier!).  Tom and Dan were having a good battle for 5th position...Dan really had to fight Tom off until Tom got passed in Turn 9 by a Super Unlimited car causing him to loose momentum.  Click here to see the in-car video clip their last lap battle from Tom's car.   In the end the finish order was:  Joe 1st, Don 2nd, Carlos 3rd, Scott 4th, Dan 5th and Tom 6th.   Individual fast race laps were as follows:  Joe 2:16.17, Don 2:15.25, Carlos 2:15.61, Scott 2:15.96, Dan 2:18.78 and Tom 2:18.70.   Congratulations to Tom Aiken as he completed his Rookie Provisional period and earned his full competition race license.  Also, Tom bettered his previous Thunderhill fast lap times by a little more than 3 seconds.  Once again...thanks NASA for another great weekend of racing!