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Norcal News
By Jeff Galletta
Published: July 20, 2006
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On June 24th & 25th the Norcal contingency of NASA Times Trials packed up and headed out to Reno-Fernley Raceway (RFR) in Fernley, NV for it’s 7th event of the 2006 season. For those of you who have never been to RFR, it’s sort of like this: If man decided to place a race track on Mars…it would be exactly like RFR! It took forever and a day to get out to it, and when you got there wasn’t anything there but rocks (and lots of them). But, nestled between all that rock (and the occasional hard place) was a race track of pure genius – a real road course racers paradise. At its longest configuration, this track can take drivers 4 miles start to finish. Thankfully, Jerry and company decided trim off some distance and spare us all from having to re-fuel on the back “straight.” Note that I used quotation marks on the word “straight” in that last sentence? With the obvious exception of the 1/8 mile of track on either side of the Start/Finish line, there’s nothing straight about RFR! We drove course configuration B which was only 2.8 miles long. However, in that 2.8 miles the track designers somehow managed to insert (get this) 29 turns! I haven’t checked with the Guinness people, but if that isn’t world record, it sure is close. In all fairness, some of these turns were very fast and only required minimal steering input. On the other hand, many of these turns were downright challenging -- double apex, off-camber, uphill, downhill, blind, rapidly descending radius and one high-banking 180-degree turn lovingly referred to as “the drain.” If you think Infineon is a curvy course, it’s got nothing on Reno-Fernley!
As I mentioned above, this is a real road racer’s course -- a “rhythm” track. For those who got it right, it paid huge dividends. For those who got it wrong, they were treated to an up-close and personal look the Nevada desert! If the drivers stayed on the circuit, they were still plagued with a variety of technical challenges. A very demanding course combined with the searing desert heat pushed drivers and their equipment to their limits. As a result, a vast majority of best times we scored earlier rather than later as tires and brakes faded toward the end of the day. In addition, many Check Engine lights came on as a result of overheating. The NASA TT Purple Heart of the weekend award goes out to Ryan Wilson who -- with the expert help of John Griggs (or “Big Johnny” as he is known by his inner circle) – had to replace a transmission after breaking in the second session. With that kind of track support, no wonder our Griggs racers are so devoted to their cars! Other than that, everybody seemed to manage to keep their cars in good working order throughout the weekend.
Once the subtleties of the track became apparent and the drivers settled into their grooves, we went to work on the clock. With respect to lap times, this weekend was all about Steve Reader (TTR) and Bud Harris (TTA) -- the “Corvette Twins” as they became known. These guys blew in all the way from Washington (State, fellas…not DC) and showed us all how it’s done in Fernley. On day one, these guys laid down times of 2:20.5 and 2:22.2, respectively. The closest anyone came to hitting that mark was Andy Sutak (TTU) with a 2:25.8, Team Antihybrids (TTC) with a 2:27.8, Team RFR (TTB) with a 2:28.4 and Team Bell (TTB) with a 2:29.0. On Sunday, the “Twins” were still at the top of heap with Reader blowing the doors off his ZO6 with a smoking 2:19.2 and Harris stopping the clock at 2:20.9. But, after some serious soul searching in the paddock, a passion for winning and perhaps a Red Bull or two, Andy Sutak split the pair with a blistering 2:19.5. Not to be outdone, Teams Antihybrids & RFR clocked in at 2:26.8 and 2:27.8, respectively. With limited track time and a new transmission, Ryan Wilson made it into the sub-2:30 club with a 2:29.3. In the other classes, Jeff Galletta (TTD) proudly represented the class as the sole competitor by turning in a 2:41.2 (his best) on Sunday. Teams B&H and TNL as well as Kim Wilcox all turned in solid times for the TTE gang. B&H led the group with a 2:34.0 with Mr. Wilcox hot on their heals with a 2:35.8. Team TNL held down TTE as the only competitor to run on Sunday and turned in a respectable 2:40.6. In TTF, Joe Craven, Steve Fuss and Dave Rowsey all were there for the entire weekend. By the time the dust had settled on Sunday afternoon it was Craven on top with a ground-pounding 2:36.2 on Saturday. He was followed by Fuss with a 2:38.3 on Sunday and Rowsey with a 2:48.8.
In terms of track records, we set them in every class. Thus, answering the question if NASA TT had ever run at RFR – apparently not! (Actually, the truth is that we have been to RFR, but TT was not tracking track records at the time.) Congratulations to everybody listed below – great job! The ultra-cool thing about these records is that they will without a doubt remain intact for at least another YEAR as we will not visit RFR again until the 2007 season! So, send a link to this website to all your friends, family, fellow competitors and the girl that dumped you in high school because you weren’t cool enough for her and let them all know that you are “the MAN!”
Class
| Driver
| Car
| Time
| Date
| R
| Steve Raeder
| 2004 Chev. Corvette ZO6
| 2:19.232
| 06/25/06
| U
| Andy Sutak
| 2004 Ford Mustang Cobra
| 2:19.548
| 06/25/06
| A
| Bud Harris
| 1991 Chev. Corvette ZR1
| 2:20.901
| 06/25/06
| B
| Team RFR
| 2003 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo
| 2:27.892
| 06/25/06
| C
| Team Antihybrids
| 1998 BMW M3
| 2:26.867
| 06/25/06
| D
| Jeff Galletta
| 1998 BMW 328i
| 2:41.257
| 06/25/06
| E
| Team B&H Racing
| 1990 Mazda Miata
| 2:34.070
| 06/24/06
| F
| Joe Craven
| 1984 VW GTI
| 2:36.226
| 06/24/06
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In terms of the standings, it breaks down like this:
TTR
Steve Reader is on top with 200 points followed by Vageli Karas (100) and Jeff Leaver (90). The ironic part of this is that none of these guys will be able to officially win the group as none of them will have participated in the required minimum number of events (8). Unbelievable!!! I’m not sure about the rest of you, but I am going strip down my car and turn it into a rolling gas-can in order to qualify for TTR next season. Like Hugh Carter in TTG, all you have to do is show up to at least 8 events and you will be crowned king! I expect to see many more competitors in this group next year.
TTU
John Griggs (890), Michael Neujahr (765) and Lowell Fennie (645) are your top 3 group leaders with Andy Sutak (370) and Greg Pribble (340) close behind. With only a few hundred points separating the top 5 guys and only 6 events left to go in the season, it may all come down to attendance in TTU. This will be a dogfight to the finish if all these guys show up to every event from here on in.
TTA
The top contenders in TTA are Ryan Wilson (940), Kevin Smith (895) Jim Black (625) and Don Templeton (604). At this point Ryan Wilson (armed with a new transmission from Summit), looks to have an edge over Kevin Smith for 1st place. But we all know Kevin to come alive when the chips are down, so I would keep and eye on this battle. Jim and Don look as if they are going to slug it out for 2nd place.
TTB
In the largest group we have in TT, it is no surprise that there is a 4-way slug-fest for 1st place. Currently, John Anderson (915) is sitting on top with Team Bell (895), Team3S (845) and Team RFR (705) hot on his heals. John is headed to the NASA Nationals this year and is going to try to preserve his equipment for that event. Teams Bell, 3S and RFR might try to capitalize on this and make a play for first. Will John hold to his current plan and take it easy on the ‘66 Mustang in the next event thus giving up some points? Will the Teams make a run for first here? And, what will happen when John returns from Mid-Ohio? This is going to be a nail-biter, folks…stay tuned!
TTC
With only 25 measly points separating the top three guys, TTC is literally a footrace to 1st place. At the moment Ken Baer (925) holds the lead over Jeff Cavano (905) and Team Antihybrids (900). This is going to come down to two things: attendance and performance. Just showing up will not be enough. These guys are going to have to driver the wheels off their cars in order to advance if not just maintain their positions. David Snelson (760) and Mario Lento (638) hold onto 4th and 5th respectively.
TTD
Consistent with the above groups, there is a close battle for 1st place between Team Brown-Heyer (880) and Jeff Galletta (810) -- only 70 points separate them. Close analysis of the history between these two will reveal that Galletta has yet to lay down a faster lap time than Team Brown-Heyer. So, unless Galletta finds a way to get that BMW around track faster, he is going to have to pin his first place hopes on the unlikely event that Team Brown-Heyer pulls a no-show for the rest of the season. Comfortably sitting in 3rd place is John Bachan (350). However, John will need to attend at least 4 out of the next six events in order to be eligible for the season honors.
TTE
Until recently, TTE has been all about one driver – Ben Brandt (835). That was until Ben decided to drop out of TT in order to race in Spec Miata. With Ben clearly out of the picture, Greg Barron (785) is salivating at the thought of winning this group. One more first place finish for Greg will bring him level with Ben for first place (with Team TNL (735) hot on their heals). The tricky part of all this is that Ben could decide to rejoin the chase – we just don’t know at this point. No matter how it all plays out, it is certainly a competitive field.
TTF
Dave Rowsey (945) is sitting in first place with a comfortable lead over Steve Fuss (580). And, statistically, it looks as if Dave might have this one sewn up. However, Fuss has been on a mad winning streak as of late. If he keeps winning and Dave doesn’t make to every event from here in, that lead position could change. I’ve said it all along, you’ve got to show up and be in it if you want to win it!
TTG
TTG can be summed up in one word: “Hugh Carter.” Alright, so that’s two words…and technically their not really words…but you get my point. Hugh has got used to coming in first place. He has come in first place in every event in which he has participated this year. And now, Hugh has come in first again by being the first winner of the 2006 points race! He has met the minimum required events and has zero competition for the title. At this point we can all go over and congratulate him on his honor. Congrats, Hugh…well done!
Our next event will be on August 12-13 at Thunderhill. This event will sell out, so please register NOW (right NOW) if you want to attend. Also, please remember to book your hotel rooms now as well as they will fill up quickly.
See you there… Jeff Galletta NASA NorCal Time Trials
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