Infineon
April 29-30th 2006
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What
a great Wine Country weekend this was for racing at Infineon Raceway...the
weather was perfect! Sunny and low 80's for both Saturday and Sunday.
This weekend had a four GTI contingent of racers....Ron Swett and Tom Aiken
of Shed Racing, Scott Neville , Carlos Suarez and GTI-Cup rookie Tom Chandler in his first NASA race.
Tom had recently purchased Carlos Suarez' GTI
which won the E-3 Class in NASA's 2005 25-Hour Enduro. This was
a good turnout for NASA as the paddock was full of racers and HPDE drivers. As usual, the GTIs would be racing in Race Group
A along with the Pro7s, Spec Miatas, Performance Touring, Honda Challenge
and Super Unlimited cars. One of which was a beautiful Ferrari 430
with a driver in an equally expensive Marlboro-Schumacher replica driving
suit....this is what's great about racing with NASA....GTI-Cup race cars
worth all of $3,000 on the track with $250,000 Ferraris.
Carlos Suarez shows off his newly painted MkII
GTI....Nice Job Carlos!
Lto R: Ron Swett, Tom Chandler and Scott Neville
(photo courtesy of Shed Racing)
Saturday: Saturday's
race was schedule for 3:15PM in the afternoon and we would be running
"long 7" course configuration. The Long 7 takes the wide entrance
to Turn 7 which effectively adds a couple of extra seconds to lap times.
Scott took Saturday's pole with a 2:06.2,
Carlos was in second position with a 2:06.5
Tom Chandler qualified third with a 2:15.3.
The Shed Racing boys missed qualifying as they were still in the
paddock tracking down a vacuum leak (which ended up being a loose fuel
injector not seated into its O-ring).....an easy fix once you diagnose
it.....thanks again to Carlos!.
Saturday Race Pregrid
(photo courtesy of Miller Motorsports)
Scott took the early lead with Carlos on his tail followed
by Tom A. and Tom C. A faster GTS BMW passed both Toms and put Tom
C. out of position for Turn 3 giving third place to Tom A. Scott and
Carlos began their 30-minute slugfest for 1st place and they exchange positions
three times all the while pulling slowly away from Tom A in third place.
In the end Scott finished a hard won 1st place only 0.4 seconds ahead
of Carlos. Tom A. took 3rd and Tom C. 4th. Scott had
a bit of excitement on the next-to-the-last-lap when he got passed by the
Ferrari and the Modified Stock Car, both battling for position in SU....exiting
Turn 11 the Ferrari checked up just as Scott was accelerating out of the
corner...he almost rear-ended the $300K race car....that would have been
a big bill at the autobody shop. Race fast
lap times were: Scott 2:07.1, Carlos 2:07.0, Tom A. 2:08.6
and Tom C. an improved 2:13.9.
Carlos
and Scott battle for 1st position - this was a hard fought 30-minute slugfest
(photo courtesy of Miller Motorsports)
Saturday's
race winners: Lto R Carlos Suarez, NASA friend, Scott Neville,
NASA friend and Tom Aiken
Sunday:
Race time would again be late in the afternoon at 3:15 PM.
Qualifying saw Ron Swett getting pole position with a 2:05.9 despite some reported odd handling issues
with the Shed Racing GTI. Carlos grabbed the #2 spot with a 2:06.6 followed by Scott with a 2:07.2 and Tom C. with a 2:15.1.
For Sunday's race the GTI-Cup racers asked the race director to grid
us behind the much faster Super Unlimited cars. That way we would
could have our own uninterrupted race (unlike Saturday's race where we got
mixed up with the SU's on the first lap). Like Saturday, our start
would be a flying start with out GTIs at the tail end of Group A...just the
way we like it! Ron from his pole spot, grabbed the early lead
only to lose it to Carlos on the first lap through Turn 6. Scott
got by Ron when he missed a shift in Turn 11 this same lap. Scott
could not gain on Carlos and Ron could not gain on Scott and these positions
held until the finish of the race. Fast race laps were as follows:
Carlos 2:06.1, Scott 2:06.5, Ron 2:06.3
and Tom C. a much improved 2:12.4.
GTIs
get the green flag for Sunday's Race (photo courtesy of Miller Motorsports)
Scott
leads Ron for the battle for 2nd place during Sunday's race (photo courtesy
of Miller Motorsports)
Shed Racing Report
Shed Racing Photo Gallery
Miller Motorsport's Saturday Photo Gallery
Miller Motorsport's Sunday Photo Gallery
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