After threats of first 90+ degree heat then possible rain, the weather turned out perfect – dry, sunny, and mid-70s - for the April Nor-Cal Camaro Mustang Challenge race at Thunderhill.

10 drivers arrived ready to race, with Mike Plum in his beautiful new CMC-2 car – you’ve got to see this car!  Jim Griffith had his new CMC-2 car, and Jeremy Bua drove his “new” look-alike CMC car.  Sam Stowell was also back with his Trans-Am, and Dave Morin sported a new orange paint job.  Good lookin’ field!

Although the drivers were ready, not all of the cars cooperated.  Karl Chicca struggled with clutch problems and was unable to race, while Julie Bergman also suffered from engine problems throughout the weekend.  We wish them both good luck getting their cars repaired and race-ready for next time.

Saturday’s qualifying resulted in Dave Morin getting pole in CMC with a 2.06.9, followed by Jeremy Bua with a 2.09.1. In CMC-2, both Tony and James turned 2.04.961 lap times.  Wow! Tony opted to give James the pole for Saturday’s race.  Since Dave and Jeremy were the only CMC drivers, they decided to race with CMC-2 for the remainder of the weekend.

In Saturday’s race, Tony and James pulled ahead of the pack quickly, and began a fantastic 6 lap battle, trading the lead at least 3 times. After the race began, a number of their fellow drivers suffered from mechanical issues.  Julie came in early with engine problems, followed by Sam who was having suspension issues, then by Jeremy whose car had a broken ball joint.  Tony and James’ battle for first ended when James was the next to fall victim, and his throttle broke.  Tony took the win, followed by Mike Plum, Jim Griffith, and Dave Morin.

 In Sunday’s exciting Qualifying/Race, the top 4 finishers from Saturday’s race started up front.  Unfortunately, the first turn went badly for several of the drivers. Jim turned in as he had position and  Tony’s could not quite stop in time and tagged his rear bumper , then Jim hit Dave’s right front fender.  Dave slid through the dirt while Jim spun out, collecting Tony along the way.  Tony left the track at Turn 1 and watched the rest of the race from the flag stand, while Jim made it to Turn 2 before driving off the track. 

The incident ended the race for Jim and Tony, but the remaining cars emerged from the dust and continued the race.  James Griffith joined about a lap later, after finishing up repairs to his car.  In spite of the early hit, Dave kept the lead for most of the race.  However, Jeremy was on a mission, and passed Dave in turn 10 on the final lap to take the victory.  Jeremy was followed closely by Dave in 2nd, and Mike Plum in 3rd.  After the win, Jeremy took a long and bumpy ride up the hill in Turn 1.  The spectators joked that he was going to say “hi” to Tony. 

Sunday’s final race featured a standing start.  After what seemed like forever, the flag dropped, and the drivers were off.  James and Jeremy started on the pole, with James taking the early lead.  Jeremy and Tony fought for 2nd place for a few laps, passing and re-passing each other in Turn 1, until Tony passed on the outside of turn 5 for 2nd place.    James took 1st, followed by Tony, then Mike Plum.

We also saw a number of new faces over the weekend.  Mike Martin came by looking for a future race class to run, Tom Murphy’s working on his license, and running HPDE in his #44 Camaro, and Dusty also ran HPDE with his #93 Camaro.  Tony took Dusty on a fun ride in Group 4, helping to wet his appetite for CMC.  Great to meet some possible future CMC drivers! 

We had a fantastic weekend, and look forward to the next event.