Flatout Motorsports AZ Archives - Page 2 of 5 - #DRIVENASA - Arizona Region

FIR East Recap

June 10, 2012 Travis

June is a beautiful time of year. The sun is shining and the temperatures are a perfect 75 degrees with light breezes to keep everyone cool. It truly is a wonderful time to live in California. Meanwhile in Arizona, NASA AZ is hitting the tracks with the hair dryer at full blast! 100+ degree temperatures must mean a summer morning event for this group of dedicated drivers. Despite less than ideal weather, the NASA AZ drivers met early June 2^nd for Firebird International Raceway’s beloved east track. This short track continues to remain a favorite among participants.

Race Group

Photo by Dan Klaudt from www.arizonamotorsportsconnection.com

Small Bore
As with each summer event, an early morning event schedule is used to beat the heat. With shortened run groups, racers enjoyed a qualifying race on Saturday followed by a sprint race on Sunday. Following a slight paperwork confusion, Scott Phillips had an impressive warm up lap. Jim Richard was quick off the line in his 44 Porsche putting a large gap on the field. In Honda Challenge, Doug Evans jumped out to a lead. Leland Forbes had not qualified Saturday, therefore was forced to start from the back. Wasting little time, Forbes quickly found himself passing Team LBR. Now working on Doug Evans Forbes was looking for another pass. Pushing as hard as possible, Forbes found himself dipping two wheels off in turn 9 and performing a beautiful off track drift in turn 10 to rival any Formula D driver. Having also started last, Scott Phillips was eager to make up ground in his 97 Miata. In only the second lap, he managed to pass Rob Davis, Paul Seiferth, and Dean Schaefer. With Doug Evans increasing his HC lead, Forbes again found the pass on Team LBR and closes the gap on Evans. With some fine driving and numerous attempts, Forbes takes the pass in turn 4 and holds his position to finish the race.

Small Bore Results

PT-D

1^st – Jim Richard

944 Spec

1^st – Dave Hauck

2^nd – Stephen Marlow

3^rd – Rob Giorgio

HC2

1^st – Leland Forbes

2^nd – Doug Evans

3^rd – Team LBR

PT-F

1^st – Paul Seiferth

1^st – Scott Phillips

Photo by Dan Klaudt from www.arizonamotorsportsconnection.com

Big Bore

Mark Alger took off just as the green flag dropped. The entire PT-A pack was hanging close following leader Jeremy Renshaw in the 11 BMW. Team ArizonaPain.com failed to qualify Saturday. Starting from the back they worked quickly to pass the pack and work their way up to the front. Within 2 laps Alger was the only car in front of Team ArizonaPain.com. In SU, Michael Papworth is leading the rest of the group. Leroy Moore and Bryan McCormick worked hard to put the pass on the 58 Corvette of Papworth. With half the race to go, Team ArizonaPain.com takes the pass on Alger for the lead, Matthew Seech loses 3 positions, and McCormick takes the pass on Moore and Papworth. In turn 4, a slight mistake by Team ArizonaPain.com allows Alger to take the lead back but not for long. By turn 10, AZPain.com had regained position. Having worked hard to pass the SU field, McCormick goes off and drops to the back of the pack. Meanwhile in the front, Alger refuses to give up and finds the inside line in turn 10 and a drag race ensues down the straight. This was a great match as the low weight Radical SR8 gets the jump initially with the monster HP Viper pulling at the top. Approaching traffic, Team ArizonaPain.com would be the first to begin lapping the field. This traffic would seal the positions for these leaders.

Big Bore Results

1^st – Team ArizonaPain.com

2^nd – Mark Alger

3^rd – Bryan McCormick

PT-A

1^st – Jeremy Renshaw

2^nd – John Dowling

3^rd – Matthew Seech

GTS3

1^st – Martin Saltzman

Photo by Todd Hiar

Time Trial Saturday

Despite having been to the track dozens of times, it seems Time Trial drivers are always pushing the boundaries of speed on Firebird East. With summer temperatures blazing, drivers still managed to put down some very fast times and even throw in a few new records. In TT-R, Team ArizonaPain.com was out in their black Radical SR8 and managed a .54.044 in their second session for the TT-R win and a new track record. We are looking forward to seeing this team break into the .52’s or better come cooler temperatures this winter. In TT-U it was Mark Alger continuing his domination this year running a .59.558 for the win. In 2^nd was Taylor Wilson with a 1:01.890, marginally beating Ken Gerhart who ran a 1:02.900 for 3^rd place. TT-S was led by Steve Eyemann in 1^st with Gabe Ortega in 2^nd and David Montgomery in 3^rd. Jeremy Renshaw was flying in TT-A with a 1:02.241, good for 1^st place and a new TT-A record. In 2^nd was Erik Davis running a 1.03.468 and Matthew Seech came in 3^rd. Ravi Tomerlin ran a 1:06.717 winning TT-B. He claims his secret to success, is his ability to “shift fast.” Justin Markiewicz was the TT-C winner with a 1:07.284 followed by Aaron Hiar in 2^nd and David Snyder in 3^rd. TT-D was by far the largest class of the day with nine competitors. In 1^st place was Jeff Abrams running a 1:07 flat. He was followed closely by Jim Richard with a 1:07.089 and Robert Rose with a 1:07.090. Finally in TT-E was Michele Abbate keeping it JDM Fresh with a 1:14.365.

Saturday Time Trial Results

TT-R

1^st – Team ArizonaPain.com – .54.044 – New Track Record!

2^nd – Jim Harris – 1:06.233

TT-U

1^st – Mark Alger – .59.558

2^nd – Taylor Wilson – 1:01.890

3^rd – Ken Gerhart – 1:01.900

TT-S

1^st – Steve Eymann – 1:02.185

2^nd – Gabriel Ortega – 1:05.476

3^rd – David Montgomery – 1:07.072

TT-A

1^st – Jeremy Renshaw – 1:02.241 – New Track Record!

2^nd – Erik Davis – 1:03.468

3^rd – Matthew Seech – 1:05.029

TT-B

1^st – Ravi Tomerlin – 1:05.817

2^nd – Jason Griepentrog – 1:08.684

TT-C

1^st – Justin Markiewicz – 1:07.284

2^nd – Aaron Hiar – 1:08.147

3^rd – David Snyder – 1:09.137

TT-D

1^st – Jeff Abrams – 1:07.00

2^nd – Jim Richard – 1:07.089

3^rd – Robert Rose – 1:07.090

TT-E

1^st – Michele Abbate – 1:14.365

Photo by Todd Hiar

Time Trial Sunday

Team ArizonaPain.com was at it again on Sunday running just .02 seconds off their time from Sunday. A .54.067 was good for 1^st place TT-R with Jim Harris in 2^nd. TT-U was led by Mark Alger running .5 seconds faster than Saturday. Other highlights included Jeremy Renshaw once again taking the TT-A win. Robert Smithson also had a great showing in TT-A Sunday after fixing some mechanical bugs and found 3 seconds from the previous day. Aaron Hiar took 1^st place in TT-C and Jeff Abrams once again won TT-D finding another .5 seconds.

Sunday Time Trial Results

TT-R

1^st – Team ArizonaPain.com – .54.067

2^nd – Jim Harris – 1:04.475

TT-U

1^st – Mark Alger – .58.955

2^nd – Kent Porter – 1:01.655

3^rd – Ken Gerhart – 1:01.879

TT-S

1^st – Gabriel Ortega – 1:05.169

TT-A

1^st – Jeremy Renshaw – 1:03.221

2^nd – Robert Smithson – 1:03.745

3^rd – Erik Davis – 1:03.768

TT-B

1^st – Ravi Tomerlin – 1:05.518

2^nd – Jason Griepentrog – 1:07.939

TT-C

1^st – Aaron Hiar – 1:07.195

2^nd – David Snyder – 1:08.564

TT-D

1^st – Jeff Abrams – 1:06.552

2^nd – Robert Rose – 1:06.857

3^rd – Douglas Evans – 1:06.986

TT-E

1^st – Michele Abbate – 1:15.370

TT-F

1^st-Paul Bloomberg – 1:12.642

Photo by Todd Hiar

UMS Tuning Time Attack Series

On Sunday, 22 competitors joined the UMS Tuning Time Attack Series for 2 laps at 100% to see who could put down the best time. The series welcomed a number of new drivers for this event. With times ranging from low one minute times and up, a great job goes out to each of the competitors. Split into four run groups, here is how the competition stacked up.

TA-C

1^st – Taylor Wilson – 1:01.182 – New Track Record!

2^nd – Russell Whelan – 1:03.068

3^rd – Justin Bowie – 1:03.312

TA-B

1^st – Robert Smithson – 1:03.395 – New Track Record!

2^nd – David Stark – 1:04.783

3^rd – Ravi Tomerlin – 1:05.631

TA-A

1^st – Jeff Abrams – 1:07.095

2^nd – Aaron Hiar – 1:07.881

3^rd – Stenos Wijaya – 1:08.094

HPDE

HPDE Drivers were out in full force last weekend. With run groups double and triple the size of Time Trial groups, the future of NASA AZ looks promising with these drivers showing great abilities on track. The instructors and group leaders were very impressed with each of the HPDE drivers. While HPDE is a great experience to gain track time, we encourage each of the HPDE drivers to continue moving through the ranks towards Time Trial and Race Groups. Come join the fun, competition, and open track.