Camaro-Mustang Challenge Race Reports

March 8, 2008 – Thunderhill Raceway It was a bright and sunny weekend at Thunderhill Raceway with temps in the mid 70’s for the first race of the West Coast CMC season. 20 cars were registered, but 16 showed up prepared for battle, and what a battle it was. Ron De Blauw showed up for his first CMC race under his provisional license. New CMC driver Dave Schotz and his dad Joel were there, with both his orange Camaro and a 4th gen Firebird. Both made the tow all the way from Arizona, talk about dedication to the series! We also had several new contingencies awarded to CMC West this year. Larry Marsala is heading up the CMC tech/impound this year, and he brought in a $5,000 Redline Contingency, which we are very grateful for! Carbotech Performance has also joined in with a nice Contingency for us this year, so we have Toyo, Redline, and Carbotech to sponsor us. Saturday qualifying went well with Dave Schotz posting the fast time in CMC with a 2:08.2, with Mike Plum behind him with a 2:09.2. In CMC-2 Michael Arnheiter set the fast time with a 2:06.2 followed by Peter Hopelain with a 2:06.7. First race Saturday was a flying start with CMC and CMC-2 mixed in together by time. Recently licensed driver Jeremy Bua also joined the CMC fray. The race started with Michael Arnheiter and Peter Hopelain taking off battling for the lead in CMC-2, but by turn two Tony Guaglione had taken the lead using an impressive inside pass on both front runners. While all this was going on, Brady Flaherty was making a charge from the back since he missed qualifying while repairing a broken differential from the morning practice session. He eventually caught up to the leaders to join in the already tense battle. Tony Guaglione ended up winning the CMC-2 race, followed by Flaherty, and Arnheiter. Meanwhile, in CMC, Dave Schotz was quick to take off and Mike Plum was quick to follow. Schotz kept his lead for the entire race, and ended up with the victory, followed by Plum, Kevin Margetta, Ed Hamilton and Mike Donahoe rounding out the top 5 CMC positions. New racer Jeremy Bua ran a 2:09.5, which was fantastic for his first CMC race. Unfortunately, other newcomer Ron De Blauw blew a head gasket and had to retire early. In impound however, Flaherty’s car was found to be without a dyno sheet, and was DQ’d from the race. Something was also wrong with Flaherty’s teammate Kirk Theis’ car, as he had an engine problem which also ended his weekend. Saturday night, the group gathered at the local pizza place for fun and dinner. Everyone had a good time exchanging stories and good natured insults as we always do. Sunday morning started off with a blast as CMC, CMC-2 and FFR had an inverted start race (based off of the previous day’s finishing order) during their qualifying session. Karl Chicca was unable to make the race as he had sustained engine difficulties during practice. The race started well, and in CMC, with Ed Hamilton jumping out to the lead. Hamilton held on to it until Mike Plum took the point, who in turn was then overtaken by Dave Schotz. Schotz went on to win the race, followed by Plum, and Kevin Margetta. In CMC-2, Tony Guaglione took the quick lead after starting last and held onto it for the rest of the race. He was followed by David Whitelaw, Michael Arnheiter, and Peter Hopelain. Whitelaw however, was later DQ’d, as he came to grid late and passed under the double yellow in an effort to pass the entire field and rejoin the CMC cars on the pace lap. The final race on Sunday was shaping up to be an exciting one until a Mazda GT crashed at the beginning of the session. To make matters worse, another Mazda GT ran into the already immobile car that was stopped right in the middle of the straight, and it almost ended the entire race. But thanks to quick work by NASA’s great safety team, the race was eventually restarted. In CMC, Mike Plum got a quick start and took the lead for multiple laps until Dave Schotz tracked him down and then took the lead. Schotz again held onto it through the end, making for a CMC weekend sweep, followed by Plum, Kevin Margetta, Ed Hamilton and Jeremy Bua. In CMC-2, Julie Bergman was on pole with a blistering 2.04.420 (fast time of the weekend). At the green flag Tony Guaglione once again had a great start and took the lead at the beginning of the race. Guaglione kept the lead for the rest of the session, also getting a weekend sweep of CMC-2 as well. Guaglione was followed by Michael Arnheiter and Peter Hopelain. Unfortunately for David Whitelaw, a mechanical failure ended his race prematurely. It was an exciting weekend and we hope to see everybody back at Infineon on April 12/13. It should play out to be one of the year’s best-attended events, as Infineon usually is. Tony Guaglione CMC National Director Kyle Plum CMC Editor