Event #3 Report
By Phil Osborne

Heat one began at 10:03 just 3 minutes late. Within an hour and twenty minutes, the second heat was underway, and this was achieved while allowing each driver FOUR runs, as opposed to the three run events at this site last year. Within about the same time, the second heat was over, and the event was running extremely well, with only a couple of off course excursions and NO damage to property or vehicles...well, maybe a few gravel knicks in the paint, but nothing serious. Some grid issues in third heat slowed things down a bit, and caused a few drivers to finish their runs in the fourth heat, but still, all was running well...or so it seemed to the masses. In reality, Phil Adams had some equipment issues that prevented the timers from talking to the printer, as well as to the results computer. However, he and the crack staff in the trailer at that time handled the issue seamlessly, and following the end of fourth heat, we were shutting down, results in hand and trailer nearly loaded by 4PM. Trophy presentation began at 4:20 PM, and in a flash, we were outta there!

There's something about open wheeled mod cars and road courses. These guys were flying, and when the dust cleared, Stuart Lumpkin had taken top time of day driving Tommy Saunder's B Mod Dragon machine, as well as tops in PAX index, posting a quick time of 44.600 seconds. Tommy had posted top time about .2 sec. quicker, but had a cone penalty on that run, and settled for a clean run of 44.842. Dan Baker rounded out the top three driving Eddie Hernandez's DSR.

In Super Stock, Matt Lucas, who normally pilots the very quick MR2 E Stock car of Jimmy Stuart, took advantage of an offer to drive a Z06 belonging to Len Mills. Len was a student of Matts at the Solo Driver School in April, and wanted a bit more instruction, which Matt was happy to oblige. Bottom line, Matt won Super Stock, posting a best of 56.544 in the five driver class while Charles Cram took second place only a couple of tenths down.

In C Stock, an all Miata battle was brewing, and when all said and done, The General, aka Kenny Baker, led the field with a quick 56.543, with Iian Peebles in second place, only .4 sec. behind. Rich Keesecker rounded out the third and final trophy position in that class.

Jeremy Foley has become the "man to beat" in G Stock, piloting his blue Impreza RS to top position in that ten car class. Jeremy has come on strong this year, even at National Tour events where he as scared the pants off a National Champion a couple of times. His 58.885 was good enough to put him in the top 20 PAX index, placing solidly at number 15. Jeff Schaadt was second driving a BMW 325 E, followed by Ed Brown and his Audi A 4. Phil Adams completed the trophy count driving his SVT Focus.

Jay Mitchell and David Nurre played a cat and mouse game throughout the heat in A Street Prepared. Jay came out on top driving his white Lotus Europa to the class win over David's 2000 Corvette, 56.202 to 56.284 respectively...it doesn't get a lot closer than that!

In Street Touring Ultra, Buzz Draper bested the field with his BMW M3 posting a 58.058 during his final attempt. However, it didn't come easy as his previous run found him spitting weeds and gravel after spinning out at the slalom leading into the final sweeper. Andre Peralas was second driving his Subaru STi, only a second down. Most folks could understand seeing an STi flinging gravel and dust, but a BMW M3?

Street Modified has become one of the more popular classes in autocross these days, and Jim Harris has dominated the Regional standings this season. This weekend was not different, as he drove to a class winning time of 56.573, proving the BMW's are the class of the class. One of the reasons this class has been so successful is the diversity of cars that can be competitive with the right driver. Proving that point, Mark Comelia took second driving a 2002 Camaro, and third place was taken by a Honda Civic Si, driven by Derek Thorn, rounding out the trophy positions in the eight car field.

And now, there is Street Modified II, specifically for sports cars with two seats, and lots of power and suspension mods. Rob Waldrum was a regular in Super Stock a few years ago, and has returned after tuning his 94 RX 7 turbo to SM II specs. Rob took the win over Eric Carter, posting a quick 56.325 to Eric's 58.791 in his titanium Mazda Speed Miata. Joey Gabele took the final trophy position driving is MR 2 Spyder.

Then there were the shifter karts... Darrin Toweres guided his rocket, a 2000 ItalKart Supersonic, to a quick time of 48.795 in the two driver class. Someone sent me a video with a drivers eye view, and if you have never driven one of these things, they are amazingly fast.

In Jr. Kart III, it was Adam Star taking the win, flying through the course with a 60.710 in his 2004 Emmick Kart, taking the win over second place trophy winner Andrew Taylor.

Last month, I mistakenly listed Ashley Hernandez as an eleven year old Jr. Kart II driver. In reality, she is a 13 year old Jr. Kart II driver and she drives her Kart extremely fast, posting a 54.245 on her way to winning over Justin Martin on the TMS road course, and taking a 7th place overall in the PAX index, making a bunch of us old GUYS realize how good she will be when she graduates to full size wheels, especially those driving Mod cars.

There is just something about the speedway course versus parking lot courses that bring out the best in Mod car drivers. The fact that eight of the top 10 in PAX were Mod cars seems to prove that fact. Others in the top ten were Mark Madarash in his ESP Pontiac Formula, and Stan Whitney, driving the gorgeous 2004 Chevy Corvette prepped to the limits of B Prepared.

We have a great group of dedicated soloists in this club, and in particular, those who participate in the operation of the Solo program. For proof one has only to look at the event described herein, which is only one example of the extradordinary efforts these folks endure to assure quality events in our solo program. The road course event presents challenges much different than ordinary parking lot events, the most obvious being the amount of paved or concrete surface to work with, the lateral more so than the linear. For this reason, it is extremely important to take the time to draw out the intended course, put it on the ground, and then tweak it to the point that any and all safety issues can be addressed, re-dressed, and ultimately change it to virtually assure hazards have been eliminated, or at least kept to a bare minimum. You can't do this on Sunday morning when the gate opens at 7 AM, and you are expecting 200 drivers at registration in thirty minutes, all expecting the event to be well underway by 10 AM, with several course walks under their belt. We need to have the course ready to walk by no later than thirty minutes after the gate opens. To effect this effort, we need folks to arrive Saturday afternoon, solo trailer in tow, and ready to get to work, which is exactly how this event began. Unfortunately, Texas Driving Experience folks (of which I am one) had the road course rented, and due to unforseen circumstances, ran a bit longer than expected to finish their program. Since I was working this event, I was unable to participate in the initial cone drop and set up. Thanks to Greg Piper, Rick Clark, Tommy Saunders, Gary Kramar, Jerry Heppler, John Pulliam, Phil Adams, Peter Fehn, and others I'm sure I missed, these guys were able to get the initial course set up, and ready to tweak. As I stated earlier, we must be very careful when designing a course at this venue, and although it looks great on paper, the reality is usually a bit different. There is generally much discussion when the tweaking begins, but the common goal among those working is to assure safe, yet fun, drivable courses. It took a couple of hours of tweak time, but the end result was the best ever of the three courses we have put on the pavement at this site. Although the cone count on Sunday was unusually high, I never heard a negative complaint about the course design, and the speeds were kept well within the limits allowed. This course required finesse and patience to drive well, and those who could stay within those two parameters, were well rewarded. Thanks to all the guys who made it possible.