It was a beautiful weekend for the 4^th NorCal CMC race at Llihrednuht.  A total of 10 CMC drivers arrived to tackle Thunderhill in reverse - 7 in CMC2, and 3 in CMC.    

Saturday’s qualifying went smoothly while the drivers learned (or re-learned) the “new” track, and ultimately turned in some great lap times. In CMC2, James Griffith had the fastest lap with a 2.07.649, followed by Karl Chicca with a 2.08.180 and Nick Steel with a 2.08.433.   In CMC, Dave Morin qualified first with a 2.09.407, followed closely by Brady Flaherty with a 2.09.981.  Jeremy Bua qualified third, with a 2.11.228. 

Saturday’s race had James Griffith in pole for CMC2, and Dave Morin in pole for CMC.  It started a bit late, and unfortunately a number of drivers went off the track, including Team Whitelaw with mechanical issues. 

In Saturday’s CMC race, Dave Morin started in pole position, but Jeremy took the lead on the flying start and led for the first few laps, followed closely by Brady (driving Kirk Theis’ CMC car) and Dave.  Jeremy briefly left the track in turn 11, where Brady and Dave passed him.  Brady led for 2 more laps with Dave in second while Jeremy worked to catch up. Suddenly over Brady’s radio, his friends heard: “I think my car’s on fire!” Brady pulled into pit lane and was surrounded by NASA workers, who helped him get out of the car safely and arrange a tow to his pit.  Fortunately everyone was safe and the electrical fire went out with no injuries or damage to the driver or the car.  For CMC, Dave took the win, followed by Jeremy in second and Brady in third.

In CMC2, James Griffith started in pole position, soon to be passed by Nick Steel.  Nick pulled ahead, while several close races behind him provided excitement for the racers and spectators.  James Griffith and Jeff Bernard battled for 2nd, followed by Karl Chicca and Larry Klamecki.  Nick took first place, followed by James in second, and Karl in third. 

Unfortunately, Saturday’s race was cut pretty short.  Between Brady’s car fire, several cars going off track (including CMC2’s Team Whitelaw with mechanical issues), and a number of passes under a full-course caution (all classes were guilty), the full 30 minute race just wasn’t in the cards.  However, the 7 laps the drivers ran proved exciting to watch!

Although it’s not a CMC race, also noteworthy is that Brady Flaherty and Jeremy Bua got some (OK, a lot!) of extra seat time on Saturday afternoon when they drove the #14 Miata in the 3 hour Enduro.  The car’s low on horsepower but surprisingly fast – they came in 7^th out of 15 cars in their class. 

On Sunday, the inverted CMC “Qualifying Race” became the main race so that the SoCal drivers could get home at a reasonable hour.   When the green flag dropped for the flying start, 9 drivers began the race – 6 in CMC2, and 3 in CMC.  It proved to be a record setting day!  Brady Flaherty set the new CMC1 track record with a 2.07.904 lap, while Dave Brown expertly drove Karl Chicca’s car and set a new CMC2 record of 2.05.008.  Great job, guys!  Congratulations to you both.

In CMC, Brady and Jeremy were able to repair the car to ensure it was safe.  Brady took the lead, followed by Jeremy and Dave.  The entire race was very close, with many near passes, but the drivers never quite got by each other.  Brady pulled off the track just before the checkered, allowing Jeremy and Dave to pass.   It appeared that Jeremy took first, Dave second, and Brady third, until Jeremy received a position penalty for touching the white line (not a good thing at Thunderhill in reverse).  Dave took the win, with Jeremy in second and Brady third. 

In CMC2, veteran CMC2 driver Dave Brown  drove Karl Chicca’s #33 Camaro, while James Griffith drove Dad Jim’s #11 Mustang.  Dave took the early lead and remained in first place for most of the race, with Nick Steel following closely behind.  Nick was determined to close the gap, and got closer to Dave each time around.  In the final lap, Nick was waiting for Dave to make any small mistake and it finally happened and he passed Dave to take the win,  Dave took a very close second, and James in third.  They were followed by Jeff Bernard in fourth, and Larry Klamecki in fifth. 

After the main race, in addition to the usual weight and safety gear check, all drivers had to practice exiting their car in case of fire.  They had 15 seconds to get out with their window nets up and wearing all of their gear.  All the drivers did great!  A note to drivers who missed this exercise – your HANS device will likely get hung up on the roll cage, so if you’re ever in this scary situation, remember to pull it down under the top door bar. 

Many drivers headed for home early on Sunday, leaving only 5 cars for the final points race.  In CMC, Jeremy and Dave Morin had fun trying to stay with the CMC2 pack.  Jeremy took the win, followed by Dave in second.  In CMC2, Karl Chicca, Jeff Bernard, and Larry Klamecki fought hard for the win, as well.  Karl led the race and took first, followed by Jeff in second and Larry in third.   

Although they weren’t racing, we were glad to see some other familiar faces.  Julie Bergman’s car wasn’t fixed in time, but she came out to watch and say hi.  It would have been a very strange Thunderhill weekend without you, Julie!  Pat Stone also joined the fun, and worked hard assisting with tech and overall coordination.  Pat - glad to see you recovered after last month’s accident on the way to the track!.  Future CMC racer Dusty is continuing to work his way up the ranks in HPDE and stopped by again, as well.  We look forward to seeing Dusty in CMC someday.

Great to Have Larry Klamecki with us  after his long build with a new S197 Mustang.

Great to see everyone, and looking forward to June’s crossover race in Buttonwillow!