NASA Willow Springs California Crossover July, 2014

NASA Arizona teamed up with NASA Socal again this past July 12 and 13, 2014 for a crossover points event at Willow Springs International Raceway in Rosamond, CA (http://www.willowspringsraceway.com/).  This track has been around since the 1950s and comprises a total of 600 acres with several different racing surfaces.  We ran the high-speed 2.5mile 9 turn road course.  It is an intoxicating combination of fast banked turns, steep hills and long straights.   The track takes some getting used to for new drivers as the speeds are just faster than many of us usually see with most of the course topping out 4th and 5th gear.    Here is a great tutorial video by Jack Olsen to get acquainted with the surface: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLCpHnA54cQ

photo6

Only about 9 of Arizona’s toughest NASA drivers braved the summer heat and the 8+ hour drive from Phoenix to this remarkable and historic track.

  • Team Snail Performance – (Taylor Wilson and Markos Mylonas) purple Civic unfortunately broke on 1st lap on Saturday and was unable to be restored for the remaining weekend.
  • Team LBR – (Gabe Ortega & Mervin Tan) 1st place both days!!
  • Thomas Johnson – Battled 4 other ST3 cars for his first podium finishes of 3rd on Saturday and 2nd in class on Sunday.
  • Jonathan Greenfeld – Another ST3 competitor in his blue 12A powered Rx7 taking 2nd place on Saturday and 3rd place on Sunday.
  • John Bianchi – ran his yellow Corvette in TT1 both days landing 5th in TT1 Saturday and 6th overall on Sunday.
  • Jeff Abrams – blue & orange Miata ran TTD with a fast Sunday morning lap time of 1:36.942
  • Harold Dunn – white Scion FRS making consistent lap time gains all weekend.
  • John Atkinson – picked up 5 spots from Saturday for a 6th overall finish on Sunday in the red TT1 Corvette #64
  • Jeff Wojnar – 944 Spec raced both points sessions in a tight field of 944 spec cars.

photo7

The drive to Willow Springs is about 7-8 hours from Phoenix on excellent roads for the most part.  By the time you are almost there the highway narrows and becomes a bit of a roller coaster ride requiring concentration and a steady course.  It was also just plain hot.  The track resides  at roughly 4000 elevation and it was still 100 degrees, dry and very sunny.  Despite continuous warnings from all the officials I believe just about everyone was dehydrated by mid-day on Sunday.  NASA Socal ran the show and I found them to be friendly, efficient and very helpful throughout the weekend.  It was a well run event and a great track.

So, more importantly, whats next!!  NasaAZ’s return to Inde Motorsports Ranch in Willcox, AZ (http://www.indemotorsports.com/site/) on October 11 & 12 featuring an optional Saturday enduro!   photo3

Additionally this weekend marks the return of NASA Competition School for those that have the required experience prerequisites and want to move their racing or Time Trial experience to the next level.  I would consider this course almost mandatory for any driver that wants to get more serious about their racecraft even if you plan to just stay in DE4.  The course focuses not only on rules and technique but general etiquette and operating in close confines with other cars.  Speak to your Group Leader or the Regional Director to discuss your participation.  Having personally completed the course in 2013 I promise it is a LOT more fun than it might sound.  Full details of the upcoming Inde event:  http://forums.nasaaz.com/showthread.php?t=6598

Please keep an eye on the forum and Facebook pages for more details on this upcoming event and get registered early for the enduro or Comp school:  https://www.facebook.com/NASAAZ

Author:  Tom Johnson ([email protected] / 602-628-2701)

What a blast!!

photo4