NASA March 2015 WHP-East
Wildhorse Pass East track hosted the Arizona Region of NASA on March 7 and 8, 2015 for a full weekend of training and racing. It was hot! Or at least it felt hot in the afternoons. Our mornings were cool and dry but the afternoon rays sunburned many of us.
Not many changes to the familiar East track this round, but it’s certainly a convenient venue. Our next NASA event marks our first return to the West track in 2015. Register early as the number of events prior to the summer heat is rapidly winding down.
Registration for April’s event: https://www.drivenasa.com/events/2072
NOTE: We have had a number of changes to the published schedule this year and advise all members to keep an eye on the official schedule for updates: https://nasaaz.com/schedule/. Also keep an eye on the forums to learn all sorts of interesting inner workings of our dynamic organization: http://forums.nasaaz.com/index.vb.php (make sure to give us your Name and Car details in your forum signature so we can spot you in the paddock).
We’ve seen a lot of new faces on track lately, remember there is a discount available for new drivers: Special Offer: Anyone who has never driven at a NASA event can get 25% off their entry fee! To get the discount use this promo code at the time of registration “AZCH19FV14”. NOTE: In order for the code to be valid, it must be their first time running with NASA.
HPDE
Another strong group in HPDE this time with 17 new drivers signed up for DE1, 19 drivers for DE2, 23 for DE3 and a whopping 27 in HPDE4. Thanks for the great participation!
As usual the new drivers are the heart of our organization and we thank the following for coming out for their first “hit” on track with NAZA-AZ: Richard Arthur IV, Brandon Casto, Scott Cleinman, Lucas Hayhurst, Damon Humphries, Josh Hunter, Brett Innocenti, Mark Johnson, Mark MacLeod, Jonathan Madonia, Jesse Martinez, Zac Moore, Aaron Osoy, Patrick Ramirez, Steven Reedholm, Chris Senkow, Danny Shaffer.
Love this car.
I also got a note from Merv Tan that a number of drivers moved up from DE2 to DE3 which is a big step. Congrats to Tim Bushnell , Michael Hillard, Robert LaCoste, Michael Pearce, Cable Rosenberg, Trent Tanner and Eddie Kobziak.
RACE GROUP
We ran our standard classes of Small Bore and Big bore cars once again. Saturday ran two separate classes of racing for Small Bore and Big bore. I can apologize in advance for dumping some nice fresh Redline 75w90 gear oil on the track late Saturday afternoon when my differential sprung a leak and got me a black flag.
Note to drivers, pay special attention to the corner workers just prior to the Track-Off point as you will most likely be served your Black Flag there to facilitate an easy exit from the track.
Sunday was a combined Small Bore and Big Bore race and I personally think these are a whole lot more fun since there are just more cars and more opportunities for learning and passing in these. Congrats to Drew Wadolny for dropping the 1 and getting his 59, an ST2 track record, Sunday Pole and being a good sport overall!
Congratulations to our overall winners of the weekend; Tim Rollins, Team LBR, Ron Ballard and Norm Hamden.
Click here for full and official results.
TIME TRIAL
Time Trial is the logical competition move after HPDE and with upwards of 40 competitors it is a very well attended group. In Time Trial you get a chance to really push you and your equipment about as hard as you can without going “4 off” or spinning into a DQ. It’s a great time to expand your skills.
Under the leadership of Jeremy Renshaw there were over 40 entrants signed up for the Time Trial sessions. Erik Davis on his eternal quest for 58s took the fastest lap on Satureday at 59.206. Team Schotz and Hal Dunn led the TTC group in a Corvette and race-prepped Scion respectively. Sunday was close to a repeat except for Zach Niemeyer in 2nd place of TTC behind Team Schotz with Jeff Abrams close on his heels.
Please visit the NASA Timing and Scoring sight here for official results from Saturday.
Sunday Time Trial results are posted here.
TIME ATTACK
The UMS Tuning Time Attack series had 16 competitors in 4 run groups. The Time Attack series always showcases a wide variety of cars including front wheel drive, rear wheel drive, all wheel drive, normally aspirated and boosted machines. Tucson’s own Jay Ronquillo had the best time in TA-A. Michael Kasdorf turned the fastest lap in TA-B, Steven Powers in TA-C and Chris Mcara running the TA-R group.
Click here for full results are posted online.
DRIFT
14 cars signed up for the Drift sessions. A few notable Drift cars included Chris Soehren s monster V8 powered car and a very unique mini-van with a whole lot more power than it should have. Great fun watching these high powered cars smoke tires all the way around the track.
Maintenance reminder: Racing is violent and abusive to our cars. A tech reminder is to spend a day on jack stands before the event and put a 
wrench on every single nut and bolt on the car’s suspension and drivetrain. There are also several compounds that can be used to make a witness mark on the fastener to quickly see what has moved and what is stationary. We have always used a product called “Torque Seal” on aircraft and it would work just fine on any car, available by mail order usually: http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/cspages/f900.php
That’s about it for now. Get signed up for the April event ASAP so we can start configuring the run groups early: https://www.drivenasa.com/events/2072
Additionally the 2nd ever NASA West Coast Nationals is coming up real fast at the world famous Laguna Seca Raceway July 31 to August 2nd. I’ll be doing everything I can to rearrange my schedule to drive at this amazing track: http://nasachampionships.com/west-event/
See ya on track soon!
NASA-AZ Info
Join the NASA-AZ forums to check out the latest info on upcoming events, questions and answers, Etc.
Also check out our Facebook page.
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!