Reno-Fernley, NV - August 9 - 10

Round 5 of the Camaro-Mustang Challenge had 14 racers making the long drive to the new Reno-Fernley Raceway on August 9-10-03. Nick Steel and Greg Robinson made the long haul from SoCal. The long distance award went to Robinson with a 678 mile trek from San Diego which earned him a free dinner. With the full road course still under construction, racers found themselves testing their abilities on a short, compact 1.2 mile circuit. Amenities were scarce but the track staff was very helpful and did their best to make the racers feel welcome. Several drivers were on hand Friday morning to take advantage of open testing. The buzz in the paddock was that of caution. The track was narrow with little safe runoff. Additionally, overtaking would be extremely difficult due to the compact nature of the circuit. On a positive note, spectators could see the entire circuit from one vantage point.

Saturday began with a driver’s meeting to discuss the serious potential for a disaster on this new track. It was unanimously agreed that any body contact would result in a loss of points and disqualification from that race. Qualifying was split between AI and CMC. Both groups enjoyed having the track to themselves, at least briefly. Saturday’s first race saw Nick Steel and Tony Guaglione in the first row. A standing start was chosen because the short front straight led almost immediately into the esses. When the green flag dropped, Guaglione’s Mustang with its 3:73 gears won the drag race against Steel’s Camaro to the first turn. After 5 laps Sam Stowell hit the wall hard on the last turn which brought out the yellow flag for 5 more laps. The race would stay yellow until Tony Guaglione took the checkered flag followed by Steel in second place. Third was taken by Dave Morin, followed by Van Wagenen, Varon, Plum, Bullock, Blain, Robinson, Stone, Trask, Helldin, Bergman, and Stowell. Fastest lap of the race was a 53.771 by Guaglione.

Saturday’s second race featured the famous CMC inverted standing start. The crowd absolutely loved the standing starts! As with the first race, limited passing opportunities seemed to be the norm and kept the whole pack nearly nose to tail for the duration of the race. Per Helldin jumped out front and never looked back enroute to his first win for Team Esse. Everyone joined in congratulating Per on a well-deserved win. Per has been through a lot this year and it was good to see his yellow Camaro up front. Finishing results were as follows: Helldin, Trask, Robinson, Blain, Varon, Van Wagenen, Bullock, Steel, Plum, Morin, Bergman, and Guaglione. Fastest lap was by Steel at a 53.063

Saturday evening was spent enjoying the company of our fellow racers and talking about all the usual CMC bashing of the days events over dinner at a local casino. Everyone enjoyed the cool air-conditioning and the storytelling. This is just one more reason CMC has fun both on and off the track!

Sunday’s qualifying and practice were combined, but again allowed CMC and AI to have separate track time. Great qualifying efforts had Dave Morin up front with the pole position, followed by Nick Steel and Eric Van Wagenen right behind him, which placed them up front and ready for action with another standing start. Nick Steel took off and never looked back with a strong first place finish. Passing was almost impossible and saw Van Wagenen take second. Mike Plum had a great performance and took third. It was then Morin, Varon, Trask, Robinson, Guaglione, Blain, Helldin, Bullock, and Stone. Fastest lap was by Nick Steel with a 53.215.

The fact that no one had any contact with any other car was a testament to excellent driving, especially at this track! We woud like to thankall the drivers for this, it shows our ability to run super tight, but still under control. At the end of this hot weekend many had horrible traffic on the way home. Much of the problem was from Hot August Nights traffic from Reno. CMC has a lot of dedicated competitors and it showed this weekend.

Thanks everyone! Our next race will be at Thunderhill on September 6/7th. See you there!!

Race report by Greg Robinson and Tony Guaglione

Infineon/Sears Point - June 28 - 29

Infineon/Sears Point Race Report Round 4 of the Camaro-Mustang Challenge heated things up in Sonoma on June 28-29, 2003.

Temperatures reached 104 degrees on Friday as the drivers unloaded their rides for a weekend of close battles on the track. Saturday brought temperatures in 85-90 degree range with slick track conditions. The heat coupled with the rubber laid down by NASCAR the previous weekend could best be described in one word-greasy!

The CMC drivers would be sharing the track all weekend with AI/AIX and ASC, a combination that had many concerned on this tight track. These worries seemed to be unfounded as the weekend progressed and all drivers showed speed and courtesy to each other. Saturday's qualifying saw Steel and Guaglione on the front row.

CMC Director Tony Guaglione secured an extra race with the predominantly BMW Group D prior to the main CMC/AI/AIX/ASC race. The format would therefore be back-to-back races without a fuel stop. Many drivers were concerned with fuel load issues but an adjustment was made to remove 45lbs. from the post race weight to allow for the extra fuel needed for two races. The second race would be an inverted start. Excitement started early when during the start of the first race, Trask and Plum would try to occupy the same spot on the track simultaneously. The resultant contact would throw Trask into a spin in turn 1 across the accelerating field! Everyone did a great job avoiding a potential disaster and should be commended for keeping their cool. Tony "first to last" Guaglione, Led for the first 5 laps until the same continuing overheating problem forced him to side line the car once again.Final results saw Eric Van Wagenen taking the checkered flag with Dave Morin in 2nd,followed by a hard charging Mike Donahoe with a great 3rd place finish. Steel and Robinson made it interesting all the way to the finish with a drag race from turn 11 to the checkered flag with Steel taking 4th from Robinson by less than two feet! Now that's close racing. It was then Righetti, Team BAF, Trask, Arnheiter, Bullock, Plum, Helldin, Bergman, Stone, Guaglione, Santos ,and Al Fernandez who had a small electrical problem on the starting line.Fastest lap of the race was held by Guaglione at a 156.604.

The start of the second race was a bit unusual with some drivers launching at the first green flag meant for the AI/AIX group and the rest waiting for the second CMC start flag. The race showed Steel making a hard charge from the back of the field to first by the time the second flag flew. Clean racing through out saw Steel taking the win with Van Wagenen in 2nd and Trask taking 3rd. It was then Righetti, Morin, Plum, Bullock, Robinson, Helldin, Donahoe, Arnheiter, and Stone. Fastest lap was by Nick Steel at a 157.639.

Sunday brought a welcome relief from the heat as the cloud cover kept temperatures down all day. By midday it was breezy and sunny with track conditions in the 70 degree range. The missing grip seemed to reappear to the delight of all drivers. The qualifying and practice session were combined to allow race time to be moved up and allow drivers to make their way home at a decent hour. Qualifying saw Van Wagenen, Steel, Morin and Trask taking the first two rows.… Righetti received a penalty for passing under the yellow during qualifying and had to start at the rear of the grid. The weekend was topped off by a fantastic BBQ lunch, courtesy of Sam Stowell and his wife, and also having the CMC A/I AIX combined pre-race meeting which put together all the group G racers. It was a great chance to enjoy each other's company and to meet other racers from AI/AIX and ASC.

Race number three started with another standing start and saw Van Wagenen and Steel jump out front with Trask, Morin, Stowell and Robinson giving chase early. About 2-3 laps in Robinson would go off in turn 8 and back his car into the tire barrier only to quickly recover and rejoin the mix after losing several places. Van Wagenen and Steel exchanged battles over the same real estate nearly every lap until the finish. The race was long--about 35 minutes-and allowed racers to push it to the limit as they battled amongst the pack.

Final results saw Steel taking the win with Van Wagenen within one car length to take second place. Don Trask held off Stowell to take a strong third, with Stowell, Morin, Righetti, Plum, Robinson, Donahoe, Fernandez, Bullock, Bergman, Stone, and Graves/Heldin rounding out the field. The past weekend was one of highest attended NASA events of recent memory, as evidenced by the crowded paddock conditions. A big thank you to all competitors who did their best under these conditions.

Last, we would like to dedicate this CMC race Weekend to Per Heldin and his father. Pers father passed away this last month and we all were sadden by this tragic news. We all wish Per and his family the best in these hard times.

The next Event will be on August 9/10th at the new Reno-Fernley Raceway in Fernley, Nevada. Should be interesting to say the least! See you there!

Tony Guaglione
CMC Director

Greg Robinson
CMC Editor

May 24 - 25 - Willow Springs International Raceway

Round #3 of the 2003 Camaro-Mustang Challenge rolled into Willow Springs International Raceway for some hot action on Memorial Day weekend. Temperatures soared on Saturday and were accompanied by some strong winds. Still, the drivers of CMC put on a great show of close racing action on the fast 2.5 mile circuit.

A field of 18 cars took to practice Saturday morning with many driving this track for the first time. Some drivers had tested on Friday and were continuing to test their abilities especially through turns 8 and 9, the highest speed turns on the track. Nick Steel’s #45 Camaro and Brad Simpson’s #36 Camaro both had fresh motors and thus took this time to break them in.

Saturday’s qualifying session was split by NASA to allow more clear laps for the CMC cars, a move welcomed by the CMC drivers. Tony Guaglione’s #55 Mustang and Greg Robinson’s #12 Mustang experienced cooling problems that would be an omen of things to come. Dave Adams in his white #74 Mustang put in quite an effort despite suffering from an intestinal bug the night before. A great effort by Sam Stowell in his #4 Mustang put him on the pole. Less than one second behind was Nick Steel in his #45 Camaro.

Race #1 on Saturday had a clean start and looked like a tough battle throughout the field in the early laps. A few laps in however, things began to change. Guaglione’s #55 Mustang overheated and forced an early retirement. Erick Van Wagenen’s #21 Camaro lost 5th gear but continued on despite losing a few positions. Brad Simpson in his #36 Camaro was anxious to finish his first race but ran out of fuel before the checkered flag. Greg Robinson’s #12 Mustang suffered from overheating and was forced to back off the pace to save the motor. Al Fernandez in his #5 Camaro had a great view of Steve Sparklin’s spectacular off-track excursion in turn 2 in his #19 Mustang. Final results showed…Stowell crossing the finish line first ,but would later take second place due to a yellow flag infraction ,which put Righetti in first followed by Stowell ,and David Morin taking 3rd.It was then Steel, Trask, Varon ,Fernandez ,Robinson, Van Wagenen, Plum, Sparklin, Bullock ,Bergman, Adams, Simpson, Helldin, and Guaglione.

Race #2 was an 8 lap sprint held during the first portion of the three hour enduro. This race featured an inverted starting grid based on the results from Race #1. Van Wagenen managed to put in a new transmission between races and make the starting grid thanks to a transmission from Julie Bergman who had recently borrowed it from Mike Plum! Drivers Per Helldin, Steve Graves and Al Fernandez elected to run a CMC car in the enduro and prove that a V8 powered Camaro could compete. The Helldin/Graves #81 Camaro normally would compete in CMC. More on their enduro effort later.

Guaglione, who started in last driving Sam Stowell’s # 4 Mustang, passed the entire field to take the lead, was chased closely by Ed Varon in his # 24 Camaro. Varon was a little too aggressive in turn 4 and punted Guaglione out of first place, on the last lap. Both cars would spin off turn 4 and allow Righetti to move into the lead and take the eventual win followed by Van Wagenen, Morin, Steel, Fernandez, Helldin, Simpson, Sparklin, Robinson, Bullock, Ellison, (in his first CMC race), Guaglione, and Varon with a DQ for Punting Guaglione. Many drivers stayed after Race #2 to cheer on Team Esse’ in the #81 Camaro as they competed in the three hour enduro. Driver Steve Graves took the initial driving duties followed by Al Fernandez at dusk leaving Per Helldin to drive the final leg as darkness fell. These drivers did an outstanding job and stayed true to their projected race pace. Graves gave the team a great starting position and managed the tires well allowing Fernandez to take over and turn consistent laps at 1:44 each for several laps in a row. Fernandez would later be black flagged for non-operational tail lights but the team responded quickly and made good use of the repair time by refueling at the same time. Despite a long hot day and some fatigue halfway through his stint, Helldin did a great job bringing the #81 Camaro home in one piece to finish 10th overall. Everyone involved with CMC congratulates Team Esse’ on a great effort and representation of what a CMC car can do.

Sunday proved to be cooler and a lot less windy which provided for more comfortable conditions for both car and driver. Hot Rod TV and KDOC TV were on hand to interview Guaglione, and Steel, to show the differences in a Mustang verses a Camaro and film the action in and around the pits as well as on the track. Qualifying showed everyone getting faster as they got used the track. Again, Sam Stowell led the field and took the pole . Don Trask was unable to compete due to a broken windshield caused by a hood that decided to open unexpectedly.

Race #3 was a standing start and provided some great drama early on. Greg Righetti’s Camaro had transmission trouble which prevented him from launching at the green flag. Erick Van Wagenen, who was just behind Righetti , had to take major evasive action to get around Righetti, but impacted him in the left rear, but both cars continued. Mike Plum in his #38 Camaro experienced brake problems in turn 3 which made life exciting for Dave Morin in his #68 Camaro and Greg Robinson in his #12 Mustang. A few laps in Nick Steel also suffered brake problems which put him out for the race. Al Fernandez suffered clutch failure and had to be towed in. Despite a hard charge by Robinson, Stowell came home with the win. Final results showed Stowell with the win followed by Robinson, Morin, Van Wagenen, Righetti, Varon, Helldin, Simpson, Bullock, Fernandez, Steel, Sparklin, and Plum.

It was another great weekend of CMC action and camaraderie off the track. CMC continues to enjoy a great reputation among the various NASA race groups, something I think all CMC drivers should be proud of. A big thank you to all the drivers who participated this weekend.

Round 4 will be at Infineon Raceway at Sears Point June 28-29. See you at the races!

Greg Robinson and Tony Guaglione

April 5 - 6 Thunderhill Race Report

Thunderhill Park Racetrack in Willows, California brought out 20 registered CMC racers ready for action. The weather was a perfect 65 degrees,and we would again have our own race group combined with American Iron and AIX.. Saturdays qualifying saw Dave Morin taking the pole with a 2:05.8, with Team BAF, Guaglione, Steel, and Van Wagenen rounding out the top five.

Race number one would have us grid with A/I and AIX in the front of us with a standing start. I must say hearing 30 American powered V-8’s revving up getting ready to burn their tires a half a block was something to see, and the crowd went wild to attest to that! The green flag dropped and we were off, and it was Team BAF and Guaglione fighting for the first corner as we were already trying to pass some of the slower A/I cars! After the first lap it was team BAF and Guaglione locked bumper to bumper and hard charging Van Wagenen, Steel, and newcomer Ed Varon were in the chase.

After a few laps it was still team BAF in the lead with Guaglione in second who was breaking in a new engine ( I guess that’s one way to break it in ) , also a few mid pack lead changes were going on. One thing I have to say is that with 28 cars on the track, there were at least five different races going on at the same time, which makes it a blast for everyone who is out there. Final results saw the two Mustangs, (finally) of team BAF, and Guaglione taking the first and second positions respectfully. Taking a strong third was Van Wagenen, followed by Steel, Varon, Morin, Trask, Donahoe, Plum, Helldin, Stone, Bergman, Bullock, Gregory, Fernandez, and Sparklin.

Race number two for the day would put us in with the BMW group, and we would be running the famous CMC inverted race as the slower ones go to the front and the fast guys to the back. I am convinced that doing this makes us some of the best drivers out there. There is no better way to get good at driving then when you are in traffic, as your skill level goes way up. This time the A/I and AIX cars would start behind us, but again in the standing start method. As the flag dropped all I could see were 20 cars going for every inch that there was on the track, and with no less than FOUR wide into turn one and three wide into turn two. It goes to show that the respect we have for each other off the track, also continues on the track, as we had no body contact, which is quite amazing if you saw how close we got!

I actually had several people in the crowd come up to me after the race to say “that was the most exciting race I have ever seen”, boy I love to here that, but then again, why do you think CMC has had such explosive growth! Back to the race, we all stayed in a huge pack for several laps as passing was going on all over the place, but no one was running away with it. Some of the A/I guys blasted through us, while some others stayed with us the entire race.

The final results saw Trask and his beautiful 95 Camaro taking first, with Steel, Helldin, Guaglione, and Varon rounding out the top five. It was then Team BAF, Van Wagenen, Plum, Donahoe, Morin, Bullock, Bergman/Marshall, Sparklin, Fernandez, Stone, and Gregory. Sunday morning would see a practice then qualifying, and everyone getting ready for our final race of the weekend. I must commend the A/I and AIX group that we run with for their driving talents as well as ours. We mix it up pretty close out there and we have great respect for each other. Driving in a group of “like” cars is really an excellent combination. Sundays race was as clean as ever but everyone was reported to come into impound after the race, and after Ben Pfaff looked at all of the required Dyno sheets, eight of the 18 cars would be disqualified for Dyno sheet infractions…live and learn. This gave Erick Van Wagenen his first and well deserved first place finish, with Dave Morin taking second, and Guaglione third. It was then Varon, Plum, Steel, Bergman, with all others being Dq’d.

Some notes:
Tough Luck goes to Perry Kincy who was back after flipping at Fontana which is quite a comeback, but only to have his rear end let go in the Saturday warm up. Myself (Tony Guaglione), actually ran the entire weekend without blowing up a motor. I hope that’s all behind me now.

Julie Bergman blew her trans only to find Mike Plum giving her another one to race with, thanks Mike!

Scott Gregory learned all about Legends driving, and how to take dents out of a car at the track. Nice effort Scott!

Al Fernandez really knows how to spin that Camaro, but he is on the learning curve and doing very well.

We missed Dave Adams, Greg Robinson, Rick Santos Greg Righetti, and a few more.

Next event will be at Willow Springs in Rosamond Ca.on May 24/25th. See you there!!

Tony Guaglione
CMC Chief Director
CMC # 55

March 7 - 9 - California Speedway Race Report:

Gentlemen, start your engines! The 2003 Camaro-Mustang Challenge season opened with a bang in Fontana. With heavy rains in Socal just the week before, it looked like the weather on race weekend would be anyone's guess. But it appears the weather gods must be race fans, and CMC fans at that! Warm temperatures and clear, sunny skies greeted an eager field of CMC racers ready to test their skill against the massive California Speedway oval and infield road course. Although the crowds were a bit less than the 140,000 normally present for a NASCAR weekend, the CMC drivers sure put on a show of clean, close racing.

Friday morning racers began to arrive for a day of practice and tuning. Many made long drives from Norcal and were still in good spirits and full of optimism. Newcomers Brad Simpson, Scott Gregory, Al Fernandez, and Erick Van Wagenen took full advantage of the track time to get accustomed to their new CMC cars. It certainly took some getting used to leaving your foot in the gas going into the turn one banking at 140 MPH! This was a totally new experience for all and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the variety this track offered. No less than fourteen CMC drivers were on hand and all pitted together in the huge garage area. Many returning and veteran drivers were seen giving advice freely to the new drivers. This is a great testament to the friendly, helpful nature of CMC drivers. Many drivers took advantage of the wonderful facilities and camped at the track.

Saturday morning saw a bustling paddock gearing up for an eventful day of racing. CMC series director Tony Gauglione was still suffering from the flu he'd had the last few days but managed to put on a brave smile and was busy making sure racers were set to go. If anyone should ever question Tony's dedication to this series, they need look no further than the fact he drove from Norcal with a fever of 102 degrees to make the opening race weekend a smooth one for all racers. Thanks Tony.

Saturday's practice and qualifying found some new names up front. Erick Van Wagenen, Greg Robinson and Perry Kincy found themselves among the fastest in practice. Van Wagenen showed he could be fast in last year's championship winning car and Robinson was enjoying a fresh motor with the proper amount of horsepower. Kincy wowed everyone with his fast fourth gen Camaro. Qualifying ultimately saw a fast Nick Steel take the pole with his freshly painted #45 Camaro followed by Greg Righetti, Perry Kincy, Erick Van Wagenen and Tony Guaglione rounding out the first five on the grid.

As the green flag flew on the main straight, the V8 thunder of CMC sprang to life! By turn one, Nick Steel and Tony Guaglione were neck and neck but were closely hounded by Greg Righetti, and Greg Robinson. Nick Steel turned into turn two a little wide to find Guaglione taking advantage of the open door which put him in first place, but it was not to last very long. By the third lap Righetti, Guaglione and Robinson were out all due to mechanical failures. This would be an omen for the rest of the weekend. After a great battle throughout the pack, the checkered flag flew for Nick Steel with his first win! Newcomer Erick Van Wagenen placed a strong second followed by Perry Kincy who was Dq'd for being under weight, Dave Morin, Mike Plum, Frank Little, Tim Bullock, Per Helldin, Brad Simpson, Steve Sparklin, Al Fernandez, Dave Adams, Scott Gregory, Pat Stone. It seemed the sustained high RPM an the long speedway section may have played a part in the mechanical failures.

True to form, Tony Guaglione was able to secure a second race on Saturday afternoon and this one would have an inverted starting grid. Pat Stone preferred not to take the pole so that responsibility fell onto Scott Gregory's shoulders! Gregory lead Dave Adams, Al Fernandez and Brad Simpson and the rest of the field to the green. These drivers did a great job with their first start up front. Massive passing was the name of the game for the first few laps. A strong charging Nick Steel quickly worked his way through the field. A scary moment for all quickly changed the tone of the race. Perry Kincy, while letting faster BMW drivers go by, found himself just a bit out of shape while exiting a turn and just clipped a tire barricade. This minor contact sent his Camaro over onto it's roof in the blink of an eye. The race was black flagged for the clean up. All thoughts were for Perry's well being and it was certainly a good sign to see him climb out under his own power.

Saturday evening proved to be entertaining with an impromptu carne asada BBQ complete with margaritas provided by the Robinson family and crew. Some of the tall tales from the drivers present actually had something to do with racing! We all learned a lot about our fellow competitors in a casual setting.

Sunday's qualifying saw the familiar front runners leading the pack with one twist. Dave Morin took the pole followed by Erick Van Wagenen, Nick Steel, Frank Little, Per Helldin, Tim Bullock, Steve Sparklin, Brad Simpson, Scott Gregory, Pat Stone, Al Fernandez, Mike Plum, and Dave Adams. By race time almost every competitor had performed some sort of repair over the weekend!

After the green flag Nick Steel charged to the front but it wasn't easy. Dave Morin was very strong and the two looked very evenly matched for several laps. Great racing from the mid packers as well with close battles between Al Fernandez, Tim Bullock and Pat Stone. Final results showed Dave Morin with the win after a strong consistent performance. Nick Steel nursed his ailing Camaro into second place followed by Erick Van Wagenen who later was Dq'd for tapping the rear of Steels car, Frank Little, Pat Stone, Al Fernandez, Tim Bullock, Steve Sparklin, Dave Adams, Mike Plum, Brad Simpson, and Per Helldin.

The weekend's mechanical problems would ultimately effect nearly everyone. This is absolutely unheard of in CMC racing but all of those involved promised to be back to action soon. CMC is growing and growing and getting better and better. Look for more new drivers and cars coming into the series along with some veterans considering returning to the fray in 2003 and beyond. A big thank you to all who made the weekend a success. Without your dedication and willingness to make the trip to Socal and support CMC, this series would not be as great as it is. CMC looks forward to another great showing at Thunderhill on April 5-6. please sign up now ! See you at the races!

Greg Robinson CMC #12 Mustang
and
Tony Guaglione MC #55