September 28th Event Report

Event #8 is in the books! The morning started off like no other. As event organizers arrived before dawn, Damon Cuccia had been there for a good hour. The tables were setup, the registration bins removed, the paddock and grid already established with cones, and the area secured. Damon was a one-man setup crew!! With everyone else on setup taking it easy because of Damon’s efforts, the course setup went quick and easy. The site was shod with banners and flags from the event’s sponsor, Hoosier tire. A big thanks goes out to Hoosier and Rick Ruth for their support of the event!! The driver’s meeting was done, novice walk through complete and the first car out by 10:30AM.

Drivers quickly learned that the course was not what it seemed at first. A second run through the slalom proved more technical (read PAINFUL) than most had thought. This brought some interesting lines and lots of oversteer as drivers got later and later. Right off the bat the distinctive roar/whine of Bill Sims’ supercharged Alpha Romeo traversed the course with Ryan Pope behind the wheel. Ryan was fast but roughed up a few cones along the way – something quite a few drivers did in the first heat. Unfortunately Bill’s Alpha went down early and both drivers had to switch rides to finish the day. Justin Victor DNF’d his first run but quickly overcame that to end the day with a 39.4, good for 2nd place in SM behind Jimmy Jumonville in his black EVO. Other group 1 drivers included Ian Brook took the AS trophy in his AS WRX pulling a clean 41.6, Walter Smith grabbed BS bragging rights in his 350Z going from a DNF to a 43.443. The Miguez men had their usual family fight going on with Beau winning this one with his 45.663 final run – long ride home Warren?. Josh Lowrey brought his 04 Tiburon out for the first time and, by the looks of things, is fully addicted!! He took a full 5.6 seconds of his runs throughout the day ending up with a 46.826 and a first place finish in DSP. Chuck Weiss was out in his white Cobra and went home with the ESP trophy with a 41.663. Thomas Morcom sat atop the FSP crowd with his 45.434. Mike Brockelsby laid down an impressive 45.720 in his 1994 Nissan Pickup Truck (yes, a truck!) Sean Fortier did very well on his inaugural autox taking home a STS2 trophy after shaving four seconds off his time throughout the day. Robert Istre overcame a flat tire before the event to take home the SM2 trophy, and AJ Thurman flew threw the course in hi J Kart in 50.917. The fast driver in group 1 in the morning was Mr. Tony Sheppard in his CS Miata. He finished the day with 40.429, a CS 1st place trophy and a Hoosier coffee mug for being the oldest driver J. The fastest drivers of group 1 were Brett Mount and Ryan Pope in Brett’s 08 MS3. These two drivers took 1st and 2nd in PAX with Ryan taking top honors from the car’s owner. Group 2 drivers kicked it up a notch taking the top 4 of the top 5 PAX places. Benson Young, after losing a tire in his SM2 S2000 jumped in Brian Harper’s beautiful Lotus Elise and immediately laid down the fastest time of the day with a blazing 38.187 (Brian – STOP LETTING HIM DRIVER YOUR CAR!!!!) Max Bales, just .155 seconds behind Benson, maneuvered is “family sedan” around the course in just 38.342 seconds – good for the BSP win and 3rd in PAX. Mitchell Mark co-drove the familiar blue and white 10AE Miata taking the CSP 2nd place trophy and a 7th place PAX finish. The day ended with trophies, Hoosier T-shirts for the top 4 PAX drivers, and Hoosier hats for some of the class winners.

Another great day! Now on to TLAC.