NASA June 6, 2015 Morning Event
NASA-AZ concluded the first semester of 2015 with an early morning race at WildHorse Pass West track. The morning events are a way allow drivers to get an extra track day and still avoid some of the summer heat. Luckily this June 6th began with rain showers early in the morning and yet still dried up enough to allow the racers to experience a mostly dry track.
Due to the compressed schedule the early morning events are not a Points event for Race Group but are for Time Trial and Time Attack. We also ran a full complement of HPDE classes which included 11 registered new HPDE drivers. It’s always exciting to see new drivers joining in and getting a taste of the action. Congratulations and Welcome to: Ahmed Mohamed, Vince Burbes, Carlos Cardenas, Mike Iannacone, Mike Kelly, Larry McEnnis, Tim Robertson, Matt Springer, Tony Thomas, Alejandro Timbancaya, Conor Wroble. Hope to see each of you come back soon and move up to HPDE2 and beyond.
There were 19 drivers registered for HPDE2 and while I know the rain scared away a few we still had a good turnout. HPDE 3 & 4 were similarly well attended with about 14 in each including some new faces and a bunch of NASA-AZ regulars. We appreciate everyone coming out.
Julie Shugarman moving up to HPDE3! Nice driving and great video.
A Whopping 44 drivers signed up for the Time Trial sessions with what looked like about one of every type of car ever made. UMS Tuning’s Tony Szirka ran the best lap overall and was first in Time Trial Unlimited at 1:01.17. John Bianchi, Jeremy Renshaw and Erik Davis posted the best speeds in TT1, TT2 and TT3 respectively. Michael Kasdorf was the lone driver in TTB and Eric Jacobson had similar competition in TTF. TTC, D and E were all well attended with 6-9 cars in each with best times by Team Schotz, Chris Ambrosio and Team Whiskey Business respectively leading their class.
Time Attack, sponsored by UMStuning.com ran 14 cars across 4 classes. Aaron Hiar and Jay Ronquillo led the A group as usual with Phil Robles and Eric Kennel #1 & #2 in B, Team Shift Fast and Russ Whelan in C.
The Summer Break is now upon us and many have plans for big engines upgrades and suspension swap projects. I remember sitting in a download several years ago at Inde and the instructors mentioned this same thing… but encouraged each of us to go easy on the performance modifications and look at investments in driver safety first. It’s a good time to look at installing a fire-system or roll cage to get yourself eligible for RaceGroup in 2016 with completion of an upcoming Competition school.
Additionally summer is a good time to do an “Annual Inspection” on your car. Virtually all aircraft complete an Annual Inspection which includes opening up all the panels, inspecting engine, pulling the wheels, bearings and brakes and correcting all “squawks” found. This also makes it easier to check each and every nut and bolt and apply TorqueSeal to have a visual indication of a loosening fastener (http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/f900.php)
Have a great summer and we look forward to getting back on track in just a few short months.
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Edits and comments: [email protected] PS… Always glad to get input from other classes and drivers that want to help expand the information in the recap. Pictures, notes, assistance, editing are always appreciated!