The 2006 NASA sprint race season ended this weekend and this would mark the last ever GTI-Cup race as the series is being retired by NASA.  All the GTI-Cup racers were sad to see our series end as GTI-Cup represented an inexpensive and relatively easy way to get into the sport of road racing.  We still have a place to race with NASA either in the new Performance Touring class or we can also run our German-built cars in NASA's  German Touring Car Series ,

The weather this fall weekend was going to be rain early on Saturday and clearing on Sunday.  This weekend would see a 3 GTI contingent of racers.... Scott Neville , Carlos Suarez , Chris Gonzales.  Scott  and Carlos would be vying for top finisher in season points...however at this point it looks like Scott had a points lead that would be hard for Carlos to overcome...short of a blown engine or crash on Scott's part.  At the weekend start Scott had accumulated 1045 points to Carlos' 955 points.  Carlos had a chance at winning the series only if Scott DNF'd  early during the weekend.   Chris would be taking his test for his NASA racing license on Saturday and then racing in his first rookie race on Sunday in Joe Craven's GTI.    Don Bailey brought out his newly finished GTI to race but unfortunately new car gremlins were at work and he only managed a few laps in the first practice session before his car succumbed to fueling problems (likely culprit was a fouled gas tank). He and Carlos worked on the car most of the weekend but couldn't fix the problem...Don packed up on Sunday after only completing three laps in his new car.  Tough racing luck.    Ron Swett and Tom Aiken of Shed Racing would be sitting out the weekend as their #43 GTI greneded an engine the last month at Infineon finishing their season early.   Scott drove up on Friday afternoon to grab paddock space and was lucky to secure a spot under the metal awnings.  Later that evening, Marcus Miller and his father Robert of Miller MotorSports showed up with Marcus' new Spec Miata and set up camp next to Scott under the awning.  Marcus would be testing the car that weekend in preparation for an attempt at the NASA's 25-Hour enduro in December.  The 3-hour WERC enduro scheduled for Sunday.  Tom Aiken would co-drive with Marcus and Scott Neville would help out with fueling duties.  As always the GTIs would be racing this weekend in Race Group A along with the Pro7s, Spec Miatas, Performance Touring, Honda Challenge and Super Unlimited cars.  This weekend would also be the last race for Pro7 as this once very popular race series was going to be retired too.

Saturday: The spot under the awning was a good one as a fairly heavy rain storm arrived about 11 PM just when everyone was settling in for the night.  We awoke to a very damp paddock and track with a light rain falling.  Saturday's practice would be in the wet so treaded Toyos were the choice of tire for both Carlos and Scott.  The front wheel drive cars dominated the practice grid (except for Bobcat's RX7 which grabbed the fastest practice time of 2:27.7).    Scott was the 6th fastest on the practice grid with a lap time of 2:37.6  Carlos was 8th fastest on the grid with a 2:39.2  ...the advantage of FWD in the wet!!  By qualifying time the track was still damp so both Carlos and Scott left the treaded Toyos on.  Scott took pole with a 2:15.8  Carlos followed with a close 2:16.0.  Saturday's race was scheduled for 12:55 PM and Carlos had been busy all morning helping Don try to repair his GTI and didn't  take the time to change his treads to shaved tire before the race (it was still cloudy).  Scott on the other hand, went ahead and changed to shaved tires (a decision that would ultimately pay off).  The two GTIs were at the back of the grid of Group A cars lined up behind the Super Unlimited cars and would take the third green flying start flag.  At the drop of the green Scott punched the throttle but soon realized his car was in 4th gear instead of 2nd.  Carlos (who was in the right gear!) shot ahead of Scott as they passed the starter stand.  Scott, trying to make up for his mistake, went into Turn 1 a little too hot and spun his car.  He quickly recovered and got back on the track yet was behind Carlos by about 10 to 15 seconds.  The shaved tire advantage kicked in and about mid point in the race he found himself gaining on Carlos.  He was turning laps 1.5 to 3 seconds faster than Carlos with his shaved tire advantage and with only a few laps left in the race passed Carlos to take the checkered flag.  Fastest laps of the race were Scott 2:13.4 and Carlos 2:14.3.  After Saturday's race, Scott's points total was 1145 and Carlos 1045....therefore a DNF for Scott on Sunday and a 1st place by Carlos would yield a tie in seasons points....interesting scenario....!

Sunday: Sunday morning the weather was looking to be clear with no rain!  Air temps were still cool with a highs predicted in the high 50s low 60s....good for a little extra horsepower in our buzz-box race cars.   New minted Rookie racer Chris Gonzales earned his provisional license on Saturday and would be racing in the last GTI-Cup race with Scott and Carlos.  Sunday's qualifying session was hampered by a number of yellow flags resulting in slower qualifying times.  Scott took pole with a 2:16.8  Carlos second with a 2:17.2 and Chris with a 2:20.0.   Our race was scheduled for 11:35 AM and we gridded last in Group A and would take the 3rd green flag on a flying start behind the Super Unlimited cars.

 

Scott shakes hands with Chief Paddock Marshal Don Barnwell for the last GTI-Cup race

Scott made sure this time his car was in the right gear for the flying start.  The GTIs took off cleanly on the green flag drop with Scott making it to Turn 1 ahead of Carlos followed closely by Chris.  As they were approaching Turn 2 they were quickly overtaking a slower Thunder Roadster and by the exit of Turn 2 Scott and Carlos were trying to figure out the best way around this car.  Carlos took full advantage of the situation and nosed his car to the inside of Turn 3 and making a clean pass on Scott on the inside.  Chris was following closely but ended up spinning his car on the off-camber portion of Turn 3.  Scott was on Carlos' tailpipe as they both roared over Turn 5 passing the Thunder Roadster who gave them a point by.   Scott was keeping the pressure on Carlos but his car got loose in Turn 6 (Scott thinks it may have been due to gasoline spilling out the filler)  resulting in a near spin (and nice little drift...one that Dan Pina would be proud of!).  With Scott's Turn 6 drift Carlos pulled about a 10-car advantage on him...something hard to make up.  Scott recovered from the Turn 6 drift and now knew he had his work cut out to try to catch up to Carlos but entering Turn 9 (this same first lap) his car got loose again causing him to go wide into the dirt on the exit of Turn 9.  He could not catch up to Carlos for the remainder of the race.  Click here for a 7MB video clip from Scott's in-car camcorder of the start and portion of the first lap.  Click here for video (12 MB) of the start from Tom Aiken's video camera with a view from the paddock.  There were no yellow flags or incidents that would help Scott catch up to Carlos and in the end Carlos would take first, Scott 2nd and Chris 3rd.   Fast race laps were as follows: Carlos 2:12.2,  Scott 2:12.7 and Chris, a very respectable 2:15.2.   This finish would end the season points totals with Scott at 1235,  Carlos 1145 and Shed Racing 895.