Norcal News
By John Anderson
Published: November 22, 2006
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NASA NorCal Time Trial Series
Thunderhill Recap
By John Anderson
11/22/06
First, let me apologize for the late recap. We spent several days ironing out tech compliance issues that have now been resolved. The last event of the season took place on 11/11/09 and 11/12/06 at Thunderhill Raceway in Willows, CA. As expected for this time of year, we had some very cold weather (for NorCal) and a little rain Saturday morning. Once the track dried out in the afternoon and it began to warm up a bit, ideal conditions for breaking track records ensued throughout the weekend.
First to burn the pavement was TTC classed Team Anti-Hybrids in a ’98 M3 BMW. The old record of 2:05.213 set by Jeff Cavano back in March was simply destroyed. The black BMW turned a time of 2:03.762. An interesting note is that newcomer Steve Kane also broke the record with a time of 2:03.997 in his black ’06 Mustang GT. Steve plans to drive a full schedule next year so this could be the making of a great match-up in 2007.
Next to do the deed was Ben Brandt in his feisty red ’92 Miata in TTE. Young Ben, who just turned 21 years old recently, has his sights on bigger things in the years ahead and certainly has the talent to succeed. Ben turned in a time of 2:09.780 Sunday morning which obliterated the old record of 2:11.377 set in April by Patrick Canlas in another 110 H.P. Miata. Let me repeat that: 110 H.P. WOW!
Last, but not least was the battle brewing in TTU to knock off Carl Byck’s record of 1:58.482 set way back in October of last year. The top dogs have been gunning for this record for quite some time. Andy Sutak was the first to strike in his blown ’04 Mustang Cobra. In the second session on Sunday, Andy set the new mark of 1:58.433. Unfortunately for Andy, another driver named Michael Neujahr had his yellow ’93 RX-7’s turbo on full boost that morning. A few laps later the Mazda tuned a time of 1:58.310 and the new record belonged to Neujahr. But the story doesn’t end here. The third session saw Sutak’s car in need of a little repair to the front splitter and Neujahr decided to pack it in for the weekend after he was unable to best his earlier record. Then, as the autumn sun began to fall quickly on the last session of the season, Sutak rolled his semi-repaired, Griggs’ prepared rocket to pre-grid and decided to unleash the beast for one last assault on the coveted record. By the third lap the new record was his by posting a lap time of 1:57.581, an exciting conclusion of the 2006 season.
In other action, Percy Howard was able to take home his first victories of the season in TTA. His ’03 EVO bested the field with a 2:02.777 on Saturday and 2:03.780 on Sunday. Team Z Car Garage won both days to solidify the season championship and ousting yours truly as the reigning NorCal Champ in TTB. With his new track records and a few class wins, Team Anti-Hybrids walked away as the new Champion in TTC. Virtually unchallenged this weekend, all of the following drivers came in first this weekend and all wrapped up the season championship in their respective classes: (TTD) Team Brown-Heyer (Doc Brown), (TTE) Ben Brandt, (TTF) Dave Rowsey and (TTG) Hugh Carter.
The 2006 season has come to an end. The results have been posted on the TT website here: http://nasa-tt.com/Norcal
Congratulations to all the 2006 award winners below. Some drivers competed in enough events to qualify for season honors but fell a bit short of a podium finish. You may notice that I have also included a few of these 4th place finishers to receive trophies at the NASA Awards Banquet in recognition of their devotion and strong participation throughout the season. The banquet will be held on Saturday, January 13th, 2007 at the Irish Cultural Center in San Francisco. EVERYONE is welcome to share in the festivities.
I’ll be sending out a final note next week covering issues from this past season and a sneak peek at what’s in store for 2007. The new rules will be emailed to everyone around Dec. 1st so hold off on any changes to your car for just a few more weeks. A reservation form for the banquet and a tentative schedule for 2007 can be found here: http://www.nasaproracing.com/norcal
Regards,
John
NASA NorCal TT Director
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2006 NASA NorCal Time Trial Results
TTR – No drivers qualified for season honors.
TTU - 1st Team Griggs Racing TTU - 1st Michael Neujahr
TTU - 2nd Lowell Fennie
TTU - 3rd Andy Sutak
TTA - 1st Kevin Smith
TTA - 2nd Ryan Willson
TTA - 3rd Don Templeton
TTB - 1st Team Z Car Garage
TTB - 2nd John Anderson TTB - 3rd Team3S
TTB - 4th Team Right Foot Racing
TTC - 1st Team Anti-Hybrids TTC - 2nd Ken Baer
TTC - 3rd David Snelson
TTC - 4th Jeff Cavano TTD - 1st Team Brown-Heyer
TTD - 2nd Jeff Galletta
TTE - 1st Ben Brandt TTE - 2nd Greg Barron
TTE - 3rd Team TheNextLevel TTF - 1st Dave Rowsey
TTF - 2nd Steve Fuss
TTG- 1st Hugh Carter
