Round 7  CMC Season Finale

Thunderhill Raceway Park

November 29^th – 30^th , 2005

Highlights:

-         CMC Season Champion crowned

-         Perfect weather

-         Pizza and beer awards party courtesy of CMC

-         3hr Enduro

The West Coast CMC group gathered at Thunderhill for the final round of competition for 2005. The weather cooperated with clear skies and warm temperatures in the low 70s. Because of an enduro scheduled for Saturday afternoon, the schedule was slightly different than custom for this region. Saturday would start with a warmup/qualifying run, followed by a 25 minute race. On Sunday, there would be a 20 minute race, inverted from the Saturday results. Best time from this race would be used to set the grid for another 25 minute race.

Saturday Warmup / Qualifying

With the expanded run-off pavement in turns 8, 12, and 15 since the last CMC weekend at Thunderhill, everyone expected fast times and even a new lap record. The track proved that partly true: many people showed personal bests, but fastest time in qualifying was still over a full second off the lap record of 2:03.9. Nick Steel grabbed the pole and qualifying point, and felt confident for the upcoming race. Roger Lundegard had a brake rotor hat crack, sidelining his car while the search began for a replacement.

Saturday Race

The first race of the weekend would have a typical standing start format, with other classes in the group (AIX, AI, SU) following behind with their own flying start. Pat Stone displayed his skill and his nerves as he held on to the car on the outside through turns one and two with Nick Steel trying to keep the lead. At turn three Steel was now on the wrong side of an off camber turn and he wisely chose a more advantageous part of the track to grab the lead again and never looked back afterwards.

Brady Flaherty started strong, but a sparkplug wire failure induced misfire forced him to fade towards the back. Carson Scheller had an exciting moment as he slid off course on turn 10 and ended up half way up a five foot tall dirt embankment!

A typical multi car battle ensued between Kirk Theis, Jim Griffith, Julie Bergman, and Mike Donahue. Donahue would eventually pull forward to a 3^rd place finish, followed by Bergman, Griffith, and Theis. Tony Guaglione was taking it easy on a fresh motor, but late in the race decided to up his speed and pedaled the car to a solid 4^th place finish.

CMC Enduro

The group took advantage of the early finish time and set up three teams to run the 3 hour enduro. Carson Scheller, Mike Plum, and Nick Steel drove Carson’s 1987 Firebird. Brad Simpson, Al Fernandez, and Brady Flaherty drove Brad’s 1997 Camaro. Kevin Margetta, Tony Guaglione, and Brett Sciuto drove Kevin’s 2001 Mustang. The rest of the CMC field gathered to watch the race and help with refueling stops. This was a true CMC battle, only three hours in length! After three hours all three cars were only separated by one lap, with the Mustang of Kevin, Tony, and Brett up front.

After 3 hours only 4 seconds separated Carson’s Firebird and Simpson’s Camaro!!

Pizza and Beer Awards Party

Saturday night the CMC clan headed over to Round Table to bench race and enjoy some well deserved pizza and beer courtesy of CMC. The CMC Directors presented a few awards to recognize some of the CMC drivers:

Most Improved:

Pat Stone

Pat has improved tremendously this year, and his race results prove it. He is now consistently qualifying and running in the top five, and has scored several wins!

Coming to Your Senses Award:

Nick Steel

Nick took a year off from CMC racing to campaign an AI car. About mid year he picked up another 4^th gen Camaro and came back to CMC. He was sorely missed and we are all very happy to have him back in our group!

Rookie of the Year:

John Stahlman and Roger Lundegard, Team Hillbilly

Kirk Theis

CMC names a Rookie of the Year based partially on points scored, but also based on participation, attitude, action’s on and off the track…in general a complete picture of the racer’s participation in the group. This year it was impossible for the directors to single out one driver. John, Roger, and Kirk have all been a great addition to the CMC family with their excellent sportsmanship and participation and they were within a few points of each other in their on track performance.

2005 California CMC Series Champion:

Brady Flaherty

Brady drove through some fairly adverse conditions with his car over the course of the year, and still managed to score the most points for the season, clinching the Championship before the last race. His on track skill is second to none, and the results prove it. This once again proves that you can win this series even if things are going a little south in the beginning, but if you stick with it your chances are right there to win.

Series Director and CMC 2004 Champion Tony Guaglione, proudly handed over the “CMC John Force Award” to Brady at the Saturday night awards dinner

Congratulations to the awardees and to all the CMC drivers, crews, and most important families for making 2005 an excellent season!!!

Sunday Inverted Race:

The field made a flying start Sunday morning, inverted based on the previous day’s finishing order. Dave Dunlap got out front early and started stretching his lead. Julie Bergman and Nick Steel passed each other several times in one lap before settling on an order and marching towards the front. Flaherty tried a daring outside pass, but was pushed outside by Dunlap and put four off. Coming back on track, he made slight contact with Steve Sparklin’s Mustang. It was enough to push the Mustang’s quarter panel into the tire. Sparklin continued on but eventually the tire let go and he was forced to retire. Steel pulled out front and began creating a gap while Bergman and Flaherty duked it out for 2^nd place. At the flag, Julie Bergman posted her best finish of 2^nd behind Nick Steel.

A little farther back, Roger Lundegard, back on track after having spent hours locating a rotor, was part of a big battle between himself, Ed Hamilton, Carson Scheller, and Kevin Margetta proving that it doesn’t matter what position you’re fighting for in CMC, its always a good fight. Dennis Smith and Jim Carroll joined the CMC race in non-spec cars to get a taste of West Coast CMC action.

Sunday Race #2

The last race of the season was a standing start with the grid set by the best time in the previous race. Nick Steel was on the pole, and led flag to flag. Pat Stone made every effort to mount a challenge, but was relegated to 2^nd place. Julie Bergman drove a very fast and clean race to finish 3^rd and post her fastest lap time ever at Thunderhill!

Newcomer Dave Dunlap drove a clean race to finish a personal best 7^th in a non-inverted race. Mike Plum borrowed the new West Coast CMC Champion’s car to try and make up some points, but an ignition failure sidelined his efforts inside of turn 2. Carson Scheller took advantage of all the extra wheel time the previous day in the enduro to crank out some solid laps and tie his personal best finish in a non-inverted race, ahead of Ed Hamilton’s Mustang, Roger Lundegard’s Camaro, and Kevin Margetta’s Mustang.

Wrap Up

The season is over on the West Coast, and it’s been a memorable one.

We did a first time enduro, and I think we will be seeing that again in the CMC future.

Diversity is a major play in this series, and is only one of the reasons we continue to grow and have so much fun when we are all together at the track.

 A few short months from now the CMC group will gather again at California Speedway, until then…keep the shiny side up.

The CMC Directors

Round 5 at Infineon Raceway

August 6-7, 2005

Highlights:

-Huge field-biggest of the year!

-Newcomers Dave Dunlap, John Alameida, Kevin Margetta, Scott Margetta, Bjork Rueter

-Fantastic BBQ compliments of Sam Stowell/crew and Tony/Susan Guaglione

The Camaro-Mustang Challenge rolled into Infineon raceway August 6-7 after a two month hiatus.  Many still remember vividly the spectacular crash of Tony Guaglione in his #55 Mustang when CMC last visited Infineon back in April.  The crash destroyed the car and left Tony sore for weeks.  In typical Tony form, he found a suitable donor car that same weekend and began rebuilding almost immediately.  Fellow CMC competitors John Stahlman and Roger Lundergard took the old cage out of the destroyed car and installed it in the new car in record time.  After switching out the running gear and checking everything for soundness, Tony was ready to paint the “new” #55 in the same paint scheme as the destroyed car.  The result was nothing short of fantastic and everyone was glad to see the red, white and black #55 back on track

Friday Practice:

Longtime CMC competitor Julie Bergman wins the Hard Luck award after she elected to break in a new engine in her Firebird only to suffer catastrophic engine failure most likely due to a bearing problem.  She was on the phone right away with the engine builder and plans to be back in action soon! 

Saturday:

CMC once again proved to be the largest run group of the weekend on this, the largest NASA Norcal event ever at Infineon.  Tony Guaglione made his first laps in the “new” #55 without any glitches.  Newcomer John Barker was not so fortunate however as he was collected by a SU class Porsche as he was setting up for the famous Carousel turn.  John would continue after making repairs to his ultra clean Camaro.  Also, new to CMC was Dave Dunlap driving the #12 Mustang for the first time.

Race #1 was a standing start in front of AI/X, FFR and SU.  Just after the start, Keith Drake and Jeff Bernard made contact forcing Mike Plum and Tony Guaglione to make evasive maneuvers.  This seemed to be a harbinger of things to come; soon the attrition would begin.  Ed Hamilton had a big shunt coming over the rise into the Carousel and went hard into the tire barrier.  Ed was okay and with the help of his crew, did an outstanding job of repairing the car for Sunday’s race.  Steve Sparklin would retire with clutch issues.  Kirk Theis spun but was able to continue as was the case with Brett Sciuto.  Brett went off in Turn 8 in what looked like a huge crash from all the dust and dirt but he was able to quickly get going again.  Tony Guaglione retired early voluntarily after feeling ill about halfway through the race.  Mike Plum, Brady Flaherty, Addison Lee and Mike Donahoe were all sent to the rear of the field for passing under the yellow.  In addition, Addison Lee was sent to the back of the finishing order for “avoidable” contact and placed on probation.

Race #1 Results:

1. Team Wild Ride-Dave Whitelaw
2. Nick Steel
3. Dave Morin
4. Mike Donahoe
5. Pat Stone
6. Tim Bullock
7. Dave Dunlap
8. John Almeida
9. Carson Scheller
10. Kirk Theis
11. Team Hillbilly-Roger Lundergard
12. Brett Sciuto
13. Kevin Margetta
14. Steve Sparklin
15. Ed Hamilton
16. Keith Drake
17. Team Hi Line-Tony Guaglione
18. Jeff Bernard
19. Team Flaherty-Brady Flaherty
20. Mike Plum
21. Team Search-Addison Lee

Saturdays’ huge BBQ was sponsored by NASA/Sam Stowell/Tony Guaglione and provided all CMC competitors and crews a chance to relax and enjoy bench racing with their fellow competitors. Keith Drake added 15lbs of tri tip steak and CMC fed well over 100 people.

This is now a CMC tradition that will carry on for years to come.

Sunday:

Sunday provided another opportunity for CMC to put on a great show.  In Race #2 the starting order would be inverted from Saturday’s finishing order.  The race also featured a first for CMC: a professional announcer.  Thanks to Brady Flaherty’s friend Todd, who does some announcing for local sports cable programming, the race was called with help of Al Fernandez and Tony Guaglione.  It was a treat just to hear Todd rib his buddy Brady about his pink car numbers!  And Brady seemed to appreciate it as he waved (or at least, it looked like a wave) to the starting tower.

Results Race #2:

1. Keith Drake
2. Mike Donahoe
3. Brett Sciuto
4. Pat Stone
5. John Alameida
6. Steve Sparklin
7. Nick Steel
8. Team Wild Ride-?
9. Team Search-Addison Lee
10. Tim Bullock
11. Kirk Theis
12. Carson Scheller
13. Dave Morin
14. Mike Plum
15. Team Hillbilly-Roger Lundergard
16. John Barker
17. Kevin Margetta
18. Team Flaherty-Brady Flaherty
19. Team BAF

Sunday:

Race #3 of the weekend had CMC competitors launching from a standing start and marked the return of Ed Hamilton.  Ed and his crew did an amazing job putting his Mustang back together with spare body parts and lots of bright red racer’s tape!  These guys just never quit and show real CMC spirit.  Late in the race, Nick Steel would make a late breaking maneuver on race leader Keith Drake going into Turn 7 that came up a little short on traction.  Nick spun Keith and though both cars were able to continue, Keith lost valuable track position.  It was a drag race to the finish with Nick looking like the race winner despite a squealing front tire due to his contact with Drake, but James never wavered and held his foot to the floor from Turn 11 to the finish edging out Steel for the win.  A very consistent Mike Donahoe showed his mastery of this track with another Top 5 finish.  Nick Steel would be relegated to last place, however, for his contact with Drake and placed on probation.

Race # 3 Results:

1. Mike Donahoe
2. Team Search-Addison Lee
3. Keith Drake
4. John Alameida
5. Dave Morin
6. Mike Plum
7. Team Wild Ride
8. Pat Stone
9. Team Flaherty-Brady Flaherty
10. Tim Bullock
11. John Barker
12. Carson Scheller
13. Steve Sparklin
14. Team Hillbilly-Roger Lundergard
15. Ed Hamilton
16. Kevin Margetta
17. Brett Sciuto
18. Team BAF
19. Nick Steel

The weekend’s racing enabled another point’s drop (the 3^rd this year) which changed the Championship chase slightly. 

Season Points Standings Top 10:

1. Team Flaherty-1105
2. Team Wild Ride-1101
3. Mike Plum-1084
4. Dave Morin-1083
5. Pat Stone-1073
6. Brett Scuito-1053
7. Julie Bergman-1044
8. Steve Sparklin-1037
9. Carson Scheller-1014

CMC will have a bye for the month of September and returns in October to Buttonwillow Raceway for Round 6.  See you at the races!

Greg Robinson

CMC Editor

Round 4

Buttonwillow Raceway June 11-12 2005

Highlights:

-Rookie Kevin Margetta’s first race

-West Coast’s first 99 up body 4.6 Mod motor Mustang

-Mechanicals for Ed Hamilton, Keith Drake, Tim Bullock and Kirk Theis

Friday Testing:

Brett Sciutto made a full day out of  Friday testing by  working on his alignment settings all day with the help of 7’s Only, the onsite raceshop.  With their help Brett was able to maximize his Mustang’s grip and show  some impressive speed during the open track lapping sessions.  Brett is determined to run up front and is definitely doing his homework!

Saturday:

Although the weather was a bit warm with the temperature hovering around 87, the breeze was kind all day and kept things comfortable.  I huge contingent of CMC racers all shared the same area in the paddock.  The morning’s practice went well with Mike Plum, Dave Whitelaw and Brett Sciutto showing good speed right away. 

Race #1 Qualifying, Top 10:

1. Brett Sciutto

2. Dave Whitelaw

3. Mike Plum

4. Greg Robinson

5. Steve Sparklin

6. Brady Flaherty

7. Tim Bullock

8. Dave Morin

9. Pat Stone

Race #1 of the weekend featured a standing start with AI and AIX.  With so few cars in AI/X it seemed like a CMC only class!  Greg Robinson of Team Hi Line caught Dave Whitelaw sleeping on the start and swerved hard left putting 2 wheels in the dirt to get around Dave’s stalled car.  Unable to get all  four wheels back on the pavement due to a stalled AI car, Robinson had to stay two wheels in the dirt until a safe re-entry could be made.  By Turn 1 everyone was up to full speed and Dave Whitelaw was able to re-take third place from Robinson in a great, late braking maneuver.  The order of the top 4 would remain the same until the last lap when Dave Whitelaw shredded a left front tire going into the bus stop.  Brady Flaherty, running 2^nd,  had been hounded by Whitelaw the entire race.  Tire smoke under braking from Dave Whitelaw’s car could be seen several times as Dave tried everything to get around Brady’s 4^th Gen Camaro to no avail.  With Dave Whitelaw limping in with a flat tire, Greg Robinson inherited 3^rd with a hard charging Addison Lee in 4^th.  Nick Steel who missed the qualifying session due to electrical problems started dead last and finished a strong hard charging  5^{th  .}

Race #1 Results:

1. Brady Flaherty/Team Flaherty

2. Greg Robinson/Team Hi Line

3. Addison Lee/Team Search

4. Nick Steel

5. Dave Morin

6. Mike Plum

7. Pat Stone

8. Julie Bergman

9. Kirk Theis

10. Steve Sparklin

11. Carson Scheller

12. Dave Whitelaw/Team Wild Ride

13. Tim Bullock

14. Kevin Margetta

15. Brett Sciutto

Kirk Theis developed an oil leak that turned out to be a crack in the oil pan.  The crew at 7’s Only was able to make the repair.  Brett Sciutto had to pull off early due to clearance problems with a new driveshaft.  Ed Hamilton had his Mustang develop electrical problems which would keep his crew busy for hours as they chased down the gremlin.  The mechanical event of the weekend had to be Keith Drake with what looked like blown head gaskets on his Mustang.  Don Lee of Team Search provided the necessary gaskets and contributed labor along with Tony Guaglione and Mike Plum.  Greg Robinson and crew provided Margaritas!  Several other CMC racers stopped by to offer help and encouragement.  A true group effort resulted in Keith making it back out on track for the rest of the weekend; a testimony to how great CMC really is!

Sunday:

The second race of the weekend would be inverted from Race #1’s results.  The drama started early in the race and didn’t let up for the duration!  Keith Drake, no doubt anxious to get back in the action, ran hard with Greg Robinson including going door handle to door handle through the esses with mere inches between them!  These two cars ran close and fast, giving each other just enough racing room and had no contact.  The cars of Dave Morin, Mike Plum, Steve Sparklin, Keith Drake and Greg Robinson all found themselves mired in battle as they entered the braking zone of Turn 1 at the end of the main straight.  Mike Plum made his turn-in and at the apex and was hit by Steve Sparklin who made a late breaking,  overtaking attempt.  Mike’s car was turned sideways across the track in front of Greg Robinson and Keith Drake.  Robinson turned hard right into the dirt and Keith Drake pitched his car into an avoidance slide.  Robinson ran off in the dirt on the right side of the track until his car suddenly swerved left and shot back across the track narrowly missing Dave Morin!  Dave saw nothing but a red blur as Robinson passed directly in front of  him!  Luckily, everyone was able to continue.

Race #2 Results:

1. Dave Whitelaw/Team Wild Ride

2. Brett Sciutto

3. Addison Lee/Team Search

4. Nick Steel

5. Brady Flaherty/Team Flaherty

6. Pat Stone

7. Keith Drake

8. Dave Morin

9. Steve Sparklin

10. Carson Scheller

11. Mike Plum

12. Kevin Margetta

13. Ed Hamilton

14. Julie Bergman

15. Greg Robinson/Team Hi Line

16. Tim Bullock

Race #3 featured a standing start.  Good, close racing ensued until Brady Flaherty and Addison Lee had contact in the Buttonhook turn which took both of them off the track for a little agricultural work.  Both cars had been running well at the time but Addison was unable to continue due to damage to his left front fender and a flattened tire.  Tim Bullock had to retire with mechanical problems as well.

Race #3 Results:

1. Nick Steel

2. Dave Whitelaw/Team Wild Ride

3. Pat Stone

4. Brett Sciutto

5. Keith Drake

6. Dave Morin

7. Greg Robinson/Team Hi Line

8. Julie Bergman

9. Steve Sparklin

10. Mike Plum

11. Brady Flaherty/Team Flaherty

12. Kirk Theis

13. Carson Scheller

14. Ed Hamilton

15. Kevin Margetta

16. Tim Bullock

17. Addison Lee/Team Search

Probations/Incidents:

Steve Sparklin was placed on probation for 2 races for at fault contact with Mike Plum in Race #2.

Wrap-up:

Another weekend of what CMC does best-put on a great show!  The atmosphere of camaraderie and helpfulness in the paddock continues with racers helping racers.  The competition is getting tougher and tougher with drivers steadily improving.  The fact that so many cars run nose-to-tail, lap after lap shows just how close the competition is in CMC. 

CMC action returns to Infineon Raceway August 6-7 and is sure to produce tremendous action once again!  See you at the races.

Greg Robinson

CMC Editor

Round 3 at Thunderhill Raceway

May 14-15 2005

Highlights:

-19 cars entered

-Return of Nick Steel

-Changing weather

-Standing starts

-Al & Becky introduce Daytona to the group

Saturday:

The early morning temperatures signaled one of the first few warm days of the year in northern California.  The afternoon brought temperatures in the mid eighties and high humidity due to the unusually long and plentiful rain season this year.  Nick Steel showed up Saturday morning with the former Perry Kincy car in tow.  After over a year running a Camaro in AI, Nick decided he missed the close racing and ease of off track maintenance afforded by CMC and made the decision to come back.  The ear to ear smile Nick wore an all weekend long was proof that he made a good choice.

The CMC cars were grouped together with a small bore race group for practice.  The 3 mile long course however allowed the 50 plus cars to spread out and find room to run.  The qualifying session was limited to CMC and a handful of AI cars, which left plenty of room for the racers to put in some hot laps.

Race #1 of the weekend featured a standing start along with the small contingent of AI cars.  For a change of pace, the AI cars started behind the CMC field and both groups launched with one flag.  The hope was that this would create a better racing experience for both groups.  Dave Morin started on pole.  Mike Plum and Tony Guaglione, driving a car borrowed from Sam Stowell, had great launches and tucked in behind James.  This running order didn’t last long as Plum wagged his tail through turns 3 and 4 and eventually looped it.  Dave Morin settled into second after Tony suffered a mechanical issue.  Keith Drake also suffered mechanical woes and was forced to retire early.  Further back in the pack there was a great 4 car battle going between Brady Flaherty, Jim Griffith, Brett Sciuto and Mike Plum.  Jim and Bret were eventually able to work their way past Brady who was driving an ill-handing car.  The finish order follows:

1. Dave Morin
2. Sam Stowell/Team BAF
3. Nick Steel
4. Pat Stone
5. Jim Griffith
6. Brett Sciuto
7. Brady Flaherty
8. Mike Plum
9. Julie Bergman
10. Kirk Theis
11. Brad Simpson
12. John Stahlman/Team Hillbilly
13. Ed Hamilton
14. Mike Donahoe
15. Tony Guaglione/Team Hiline
16. Keith Drake

Saturday evening found many of the CMC group gathered at the local pizza joint where everyone got to meet Daytona Fernandez, Al and Becky’s beautiful new baby girl.  It was very obvious Brett Sciuto was going to be engaged in baby conversations after seeing Heather’s reaction to the baby.   The group also celebrated Dave Morin’s 49^th birthday.  Dave claimed he was really 49 and not 49 and holding. 

 Sunday:

The racers were greeted with decidedly different weather on Sunday morning: the temperature was down significantly and the overcast skies were threatening rain.  The plan for the day was an early morning practice followed by a qualifying race and the main race mid-afternoon.   The talk in the paddock was of fast times if the rain held off.  Ultimately, that is what happened.  A few rain drops fell on and off throughout the day, but they had no impact on the racing surface and the cooler temperatures led to quicker times. Keith Drake suffered a blown head gasket in practice and was forced to retire for the weekend.  The unfortunate thing for Keith was he was slated to start on the pole in the inverted race.

Race #2 featured a double file flying start. Mike Donahoe on pole did a great job of getting the field lined up behind him.  Mike jumped out to an early lead, but quickly found competition from Mike Plum who sliced through traffic from his mid pack starting position.  While the Mikes battled up front, Sam Stowell fought his way through the field from their back of the pack starting positions.  James was eventually able to capture the lead and went on to a last place to first place victory.  The battle for second was incredibly tight with only 3 tenths of a second separating the second, third and fourth cars.  Mike Donahoe came out ahead in this battle.  Sam Stowell came in third by getting a great run off of turn 15 on the last lap and was able to just inch out Plum for the position.    Ed Hamilton celebrated his best finish ever in eighth position and continues to improve event after event.  Brady Flaherty’s handling problems deteriorated and found himself fading to the back. Inspection after the race showed a control arm mount that was cracked and allowing the suspension to move, forcing his early retirement for the weekend. The finish order follows:

1. Mike Donahoe
2. Sam Stowell/Team BAF
3. Mike Plum
4. Nick Steel
5. Jim Griffith
6. Dave Morin
7. Ed Hamilton
8. Brad Simpson
9. Pat Stone
10. Brett Sciuto
11. Julie Bergman
12. Brady Flaherty
13. John Stahlman/Team Hillbilly
14. Kirk Theis

 Race #3 of the weekend featured a standing start with Sam Stowell on the pole.  The AI cars were again positioned behind the CMC due to the positive experience the racers had the previous day.   The race got off to a clean start with cars two and three wide for much of the first lap.  The field then settled into several different battles.  James and Sam were out front battling for the lead while a short ways back Nick Steel, Mike Donahoe and Mike Plum carried on their own tussle.  Behind this group, Dave Morin was trying every trick in the book to get past Jim Griffith who had a great weekend and showed good consistency.  One of the great things in CMC is that no matter where you are in the field there is always someone to race with.   The finish order follows:

1. Sam Stowell/Team BAF
2. Nick Steel
3. Mike Donahoe
4. Mike Plum
5. Jim Griffith
6. Dave Morin
7. Julie Bergman
8. Brett Sciuto
9. Kirk Theis
10. Pat Stone
11. Ed Hamilton
12. John Stahlman/Team Hillbilly

In attendance this weekend was Dennis Smith who elected to “fun run” the weekend in his not quite CMC legal Mustang.   Future CMC competitors Ron Corey and Wolf Fischer were enrolled in HPDE and were made to feel welcome to CMC.  Wolf’s weekend ended early with a detached transmission cross member.  

Overall, it was another great weekend of racing.  The pace was fast and the competition was close, but in true CMC style the racers cooperated on and off the track so all could enjoy the event.  We’re all looking forward to CMC’s next event which is at Buttonwillow Raceway on June 11-12.  See you at the races!

Mike Plum

CMC Director

Round 2 CMC at Infineon Raceway

April9-10 2005

Highlights:

-24 cars entered

-Rturn of Tim Bullock

-Keith Drake back with new engine

-Two Standing Starts

-Tony’s big crash

Saturday:

Early morning brought out a bit of sunshine but the track was still wet from the previous night’s rain so practice was to say the least, slippery.  A few brave souls ventured out during the session to get their feet wet, literally!  Tim Bullock was on hand at his first event this season after rebuilding his engine.  His new engine ran well as he gradually broke it in only to have a sudden drop in power and oil pressure during qualifying.  He wisely decided to park it before something really major came apart.  Keith Drake was back after his catastrophic engine failure at CalSpeedway with a new crate engine and was looking forward to actually running the whole weekend this time!  Pat Stone had electrical gremlins early and would not be able to remedy the problem, forcing him to retire for the weekend.

Qualifying was cut short after an FFR car let loose of its vital fluids and decided to catch fire!  The fire ended up being minor but the damage was already done to the session as the field ran several yellow flagged laps.  Despite the shortened session, Tony Guaglione of Team Hi Line set the pole for the afternoon’s race.

Race #1 of the weekend featured a standing start along with the small contingent of AI cars.  Tony Guaglione had a great launch and headed out front as super tight racing began throughout the pack.  It was truly something to see when the field took off into Turn 1!  Tony Guaglione took off in the lead and had quickly passed two AI cars when, just short of completing his second lap, he entered Turn 10 slightly off-line and instantly lost traction possibly due to some residual oil left on track.  At about 100mph Tony attempted to regain control and was successful in at least preventing a front-end impact with the tire-protected wall by swinging the left rear of the car around before impact.  The initial jolt was severe and brought the front end back around for the second impact which sent more debris and pieces of the tire barrier flying.  The car gained altitude and wobbled its way through the air giving everyone watching a fantastic view of the undercarriage of the car!  Upon touch down the car slid sideways briefly until the right side tires dug into the soft grass and pole vaulted the car onto its roof.  All stood still until we could see Tony crawling out under his own power!  It was a violent crash and it was sure good to see that Tony was okay.  Thanks to a well constructed car/rollcage and the proper safety gear (Hutchens device, properly adjusted and installed restraints) Tony ended up with nothing more than some minor soreness and some wounded pride.  He was able to think clearly and follow the exit routine he practiced many times over in his head: master cutoff, fire system if needed, belts, window net and get out safely to a corner worker’s station or over the wall. Everyone was glad to see that he wasn’t seriously hurt.  The race was obviously shortened due to the clean-up and the full course yellow. Mike Donahoe started his season off in fine fashion by finishing first. The finish order follows:

1. Mike Donahoe
2. Don Trask
3. Keith Drake
4. Dave Morin
5. Mike Plum
6. Brady Flaherty
7. Jim Griffith
8. Steve Sparklin
9. Julie Bergman
10. Carson Scheller
11. Ed Hamilton
12. Geri Bledsoe
13. Perry Kincy/Team Kincy-Blaine
14. Roger Lundegard/Team Hillbilly
15. Sam Stowell/Team BAF
16. Addison Lee/Team Search
17. Tim Bullock
18. Tony Guaglione/Team Hiline

Sunday:

Race #2 would be something special indeed as CMC paid tribute to founding father Don Trask in the form of an “age-sensitive” grid.  The oldest competitor, Don Trask, was placed on pole and the rest of the field was formed from oldest to youngest.  Don is moving to North Carolina soon and this event marked his last California race.  Thank you, Don, for all the hard work and dedication you have shown in 10 years of CMC racing!

Don managed to stay out front of Sam Stowell for the majority of the race until a full course caution came out.  Somehow, several CMC drivers missed the yellow flags and took advantage erroneously of the slowed traffic ahead of them and passed under the yellow.  These drivers were easily identified and made the subject of the post-race meeting!  Their penalty was being moved to the back of the pack in finishing order thus giving the well-deserved win to Don Trask.  Congratulations Don!  The finish order follows:

1. Don Trask
2. Sam Stowell/Team BAF
3. Keith Drake
4. Brady Flaherty
5. Mike Plum
6. Addison Lee/Team Search
7. Geri Bledsoe
8. Julie Bergman
9. Roger Lundegard/Team Hillbilly
10. Dave Morin
11. Alan Blaine/Team Kincy-Blaine
12. Jim Griffith
13. Mike Donahoe
14. Steve Sparklin
15. Carson Scheller
16. Ed Hamilton

Race #3 of the weekend featured a standing start with Keith Drake on the pole.  The race got off to a clean start with cars two and three wide for much of the first lap.  Addison Lee unfortunately spun off in turn three while avoiding another car.  The top four cars stayed in qualifying order with Brady Flaherty and Mike Plum chasing the front row Mustangs.  This order held until late in the race when Keith Drake suffered a tire problem.  Plum made multiple attempts to pass Flaherty, but was unsuccessful.  Further back in the field Mike Donahoe and Jim Griffith were engaged in their own nose to tail battle that saw Donahoe coming out on top.  Mike was later sent to the back of the finishing order when it was determined that he passed under yellow.   The finish order follows:

20. Brady Flaherty
21. Mike Plum
22. Don Trask
23. Alan Blaine/Team Kincy-Blaine
24. Dave Morin
25. Jim Griffith
26. Steve Sparklin
27. Julie Bergman
28. Carson Scheller
29. Geri Bledsoe
30. Addison Lee/Team Search
31. Ed Hamilton
32. Roger Lundegard/Team Hillbilly
33. Keith Drake
34. Mike Donahoe

In attendance this weekend was Dennis Smith who elected to “fun run” the weekend in his not quite CMC legal Mustang.   Future CMC competitors Ron Corey and Wolf Fischer were enrolled in HPDE and were made to feel welcome to CMC.  Scott Peterson stopped by to meet the group and was welcomed to CMC with lots of advice on how to get his car ready to go racing. Future Texas CMC racer Kevin Turner and fellow Tx AI driver Mike Patterson were in attendance shopping for a car to export home.  

Overall, it was a great weekend of beautiful weather and the scenic green hills that surround Infineon Raceway.  Despite Tony’s tremendous crash and some mechanicals along the way it was CMC doing what we do best: enjoying good racing and good friends.  It was a reminder of just how serious this activity can be and to make sure all your safety gear is up to the task.  Before the weekend was over, Tony had already located a new car and promised to be back soon with an even faster version with the same paint scheme!

CMC’s next event is at Thunderhill Raceway Park on May 14-15.  See you at the races!

Greg Robinson

CMC Editor

2005 California CMC Season Opener

Round 1, California Speedway

March 12-13

Highlights:

-23 cars entered, largest NASA run group of the weekend!

-Clean racing!

-New faces!

-New cars!

-Surprise guest driver!

-Pizza bash Saturday night!

-Big Boy Track!

Friday Testing:

Friday saw many drivers anxious to start the 2005 season.  The return of CMC veteran Julie Bergman was a welcome sight by all and her enthusiasm was obvious.  She had arrived the night before!  Also returning was Perry Kincy in his 4^th Gen Camaro.  This is the same car that he turned upside down 2 years ago at this very track!  Newcomer Keith Drake and his SN95 Mustang looked good in early practice until the motor let go.  Keith built this car in 10 days from a street driver into a gutted racecar using Tony Guaglione’s car as a guide.  Keith promised to be back in time for Round 2 at Infineon next month. Also new to CMC was Kirk Theis in a 3^rd Gen that was driven by Brady Flaherty last year.

Kevin Hall also had motor problems during Friday testing and packed up early.  We all know Kevin loves to compete so it was especially hard to see him retire early.  Hopefully the problem is small and he’ll be back soon.

Brad Simpson showed up in his beautiful silver 4^th Gen Camaro and a big box full of parts still left to install.  His #36 still had the center console, power windows, and full door trim in place.  The cup holder was still there and many joked that the a/c and stereo must be operational.  Brad and crew installed the window net and last few items at the track.  The stock suspension looked as if the car was still on jack stands but Brad took all the ribbing in stride!

Brady Flaherty arrived in his new 4^th Gen with his family crew and enough tools and equipment to handle anything that may come up.  The team was also sporting a nice new enclosed trailer with Team Flaherty Racing graphics.

Configuration changes to the track took away some of the intimidation factor and made for faster lap times. Speeds continued to increase throughout the weekend and were capped by Ryan Flaherty setting a new configuration record at 1:57.103.  Ryan proved he will be a force to be reckoned with by setting a new lap record in his first CMC race.

Saturday:

Morning fog was a bit of a surprise for everyone and didn’t clear until midday so the practice session was run behind a pace car.  By the time qualifying came around the weather was perfect and a surprise guest took to the track in the #9 Team Trask 4^th Gen Camaro.  CMC founder Jeff Trask showed that he still has what it takes by setting on pole.  Dave Morin suffered clutch problems and had to retire from the weekend.

Top 5 Qualifying-Saturday

1. Jeff Trask

2. Jim Griffith

3. Brady Flaherty

4. Perry Kincy

Saturday’s race began with a bit of a jumbled start as the leaders and the front of the pack had the green flag before the rear of the field had come around the last turn!  Despite the awkward start, the racing was clean and fast.  The 4^th Gen Camaros showed their speed on the long front straight.  The leaders were swapping positions the whole race and finished within a few feet of each other.

Race #1 Results:

1. Jeff Trask/Team Trask

2. Brady Flaherty/Team Flaherty

3. Perry Kincy

4. Mike Plum

5. Greg Robinson/Team Hi Line

6. Pat Stone

7. Julie Bergman

8. Brett Sciutto

9. Greg Righetti

10. Steve Sparklin

11. David Whitelaw/Team Wild Ride

12. Brad Simpson

13. Carson Scheller

14. John Stahlman/Team Hillbilly

15. Ed Hamilton

16. Kirk Theis

Saturday evening:

NASA sponsored a pizza and beer bash for CMC and AI and was a great way for everyone to wind down after a long day.  The 2005 season is officially underway and everyone was happy to be at the racetrack again with old and new friends.

Sunday:

No fog this morning although it was much cooler with light winds and cloud cover all day.  Brad Simpson had spent most of the night and some of the early morning hours installing new front springs/shocks on his Camaro with the help of Perry Kincy and Alan Blaine.

Race #2 used the finishing order from Saturday’s race and inverted it to form the starting grid.  This placed newcomer Kirk Theis on the pole along with Ed Hamilton on outside pole.  Both did an excellent job at the start and there were no problems during the race despite 3 and sometimes 4 wide going into the treacherous Turn 3 off the main speedway.

Race #2 Results:

1. Ryan Flaherty/Team Flaherty

2. Greg Robinson/Team Hi Line

3. Pat Stone

4. Greg Righetti

5. Perry Kincy

6. Brad Simpson

7. Jim Griffith/Team Wild Ride

8. Julie Bergman

9. Steve Sparklin

10. Brett Sciutto

11. Mike Plum

12. Carson Scheller

13. Kirk Theis

14. Ed Hamilton

15. Roger Lundegard/Team Hillbilly

16. Don Trask/Team Trask

Race #3 used the fastest lap times from the previous race to form the grid. Pat Stone was on the pole.  During the warm-up lap, Greg Robinson/Team Hi Line experienced brake failure from a vacuum line that came off and had to pull into hot pit while the green flag flew for the rest of the field.  NASA’s Ryan Flaherty and John Lindsey were there to lend a hand and reconnect the line and the #12 Mustang charged off after the field already ¾ of a lap ahead.  Robinson would catch the field and work his way up to a 11^th place finish despite the setback. New rookie Kirk Theis set his fast 1:58 lap,but had brake line failure on the last lap, but what a great time for a new racer!

Race #3 Results:

1. Brady Flaherty/Team Flaherty

2. Perry Kincy

3. David Whitelaw/Team Wild Ride

4. Don Trask/Team Trask

5. Mike Plum

6. Steve Sparklin

7. Brad Simpson

8. Brett Sciutto

9.