The NASA 944 Spec Midwest season opened April 20-22 with smokin’ lap times, close competition, and clear, cool weather at Autobahn Country Club.  The conditions were perfect for great racing: 50 degrees; sunny; and a double digit field of sharply prepared cars at the nation’s premier motorsports country club.

Sprint Race #1 – Saturday April 21

Did I mention that the lap times were smokin’ fast?  The field jumped into Round 1 qualifying as if the offseason never occurred.  Eric Kuhns took the pole under lap record pace, with Neal Agran only a hundredth of a second behind.  Dan Pina and Angel Blazquez captured row 2, followed by Ken Frey, Sid Chhikara, Michael Dalton, rookie Kurt Ristow, and Ray Freundt, who started “shotgun” after a malfunctioning transponder left him without a recorded qualifying lap.

At the start, Kuhns did a masterful job of moving Agran over to the left, giving Pina an opening to move forward and challenge for 2nd.  Agran and Pina ran through Turn 3 mirror-to-mirror, with Pina coming out the victor, Blazquez close behind in 4th, and Kuhns taking advantage of the melee to build a small gap.  Agran managed to re-pass Pina under braking for turn 11, by which time Kuhns had built a three second lead.  An epic chase followed, as Agran and Kuhns reset the lap record time and again in their identical Pine Tree Motorsports cars.  After 35 minutes of lapping at sub-qualifying pace, Agran managed to close only half the gap; Kuhns took the checker with a 2 second lead and scored the new lap record of 1:39.8 to boot.  Perfect bifecta!

Behind Kuhns and Agran, Pina held third over Blazquez, nicely working traffic to open a gap.  Frey, Dalton, and Chhikara engaged dramatically for 5th, swapping the position before Frey regained it for good over Dalton in 6th.  Ristow finished in 7th, while Chhikara was forced to the pits with an unfortunate cut tire and Freundt retired with a leaking exhaust.  Lap times across the field were… smokin’!  Several drivers recorded a personal best and reached their target times for the weekend.



Sprint Race #2 – Sunday April 22

Sunday dawned with a clear blue sky, lots of sunshine, and more cool temperatures.  With ideal conditions ahead and everyone back in the groove, several drivers took advantage of TraqMate data coaching and a chalk talk by Agran and Freundt on Sunday morning.  And the lap times reflected it.

Agran took the pole, with Pina on the outside of row 1.  Positions three to seven qualified within tenths of each other.  Series regular Sam Grant and Frey secured the second row (Kuhns was unable to attend the Sunday race and generously loaned his car to Grant for the day).  Blazquez, Dalton, Chhikara, and Ristow filled out rows 3 and 4.

When the green flag fell, Agran held off Pina for the lead through the opening turns.  Pina was not to be denied, hounding Agran for three laps with a pace below the prior lap record and some cagey feints.  Agran was ultimately able to use traffic to stretch out a lead, at which point he went to work trying to regain his lap record and take the overall win from FFR driver Brian Sanders.  Sanders and Agran exchanged the lead twice, with Sanders taking the overall win and Agran coming *this close* to getting the lap record back (picture a thumb and forefinger a tenth of a second apart).  Pina turned in a flawless drive for 2nd (and 3rd overall).

Frey and Grant also deserve special mention for hard charging laps in this race.  NASA Instructor Frey took advantage of our regional allowance permitting him to use up a set of TOYO R888 tires and came within a couple of tenths of the R888 lap record.  Grant took 4th never having seen the wickedly technical Autobahn south track before (or driven Kuhns’ car) and turned amazingly competitive lap times.  Absolutely incredible!

Sometimes it all just comes together, and that’s what happened at Autoclub Speedway in early March.  The pros might be racing in Fontana later this month, but they are not likely to match the fun had by 944 Spec drivers this past weekend.  The weekend started out well, with 18 entries from as far away as the Midwest Region lined up in their garages and ready to race.

Saturday morning was so windy you could feel the wind pushing against your car on the front straight, yet times were still very competitive.  By race time the wind had died down, and the large class was lined up and ready to take the green flag.  The battles throughout the race were competitive.  By the last lap, it was Tyler Palmer, last year’s National champion, in first, Norm Hamden, visiting from Arizona region, in second, Eric Kuhns, National 944 Spec director, in third, and Everett DeLano, SoCal’s own 944 Spec Series Director, in fourth place.  As they approached turn 3, the sharp left hander at the end of the banked oval, both Norm and Eric went into it too hot.  Eric spun out and Everett slipped into third place.  Everett gave Norm a good run for his money and the two were in a tight race to the finish line, with Tyler finishing in first, Norm in second, and Everett in third.  That night the bench racing was fierce and fun.

Sunday’s weather was warmer and expectations were high for another good day of racing.  In practice, Tyler ran a lap time just over 2:00, very fast at this track.  At race time, the top four qualifiers decided to add a little spice to the race, starting in the back of the pack.  Once again, the battles on the track were fierce as those qualifiers made their way through the group of outstanding drivers.  There was considerable passing and re-passing as the cars jockeyed for position throughout the event.  At the checkered flag, it was Tyler in first, Norm in second, and Eric in third place.  As the drivers packed up and headed on their ways, it was clear this had been one spectacular weekend and plans were already being made for more great racing in the months ahead.

NorCal crowned their 2011 944-Spec Champions with a awards luncheon followed by a competitive go kart race.

Congratulations to Steve Lewis, Ron Dale and Jerry Whitteridge!

Congratulations to Kevin Webb, winner of the 2011 NASA Texas Regional Championship!!!!

(left to right, Al Fernandez, Kevin Webb, Todd Covini)

The Texas season ended with a four race event at Eagle's Canyon, a very hilly and challenging course. Eight 944Spec cars were in attendance for this final event of the innaugural Texas 944Spec season. Chris Blazer and Steve Coomes came down from Kansas to join Texas regulars BJ Meyer, Ryan Patterson, Todd Imwold, Todd Covini, Kevin Webb, and Al Fernandez.

BJ drew first blood, taking the win in R1 after a tremendous fight with Chris. Todd Covini got up on the podium, holding off Kevin and the rest of the field. R2 featured an inverted start from R1 results, and the group diced over and over for advantage. Steve managed to hold off Chris for a well deserved win while Al Fernandez closed out the podium. Unfortunately Covini suffered a cracked radiator end cap which would sideline him for the remainder of the weekend.

Saturday night NASA Texas treated the all drivers and friends to a grilled dinner lubricated by plenty of beer from the dual station kegerator. After that a special feature of Airplane showed on the giant projector while the drivers told lies about their prowess.

Sunday began with a wet and foggy track, really skewing qualifying times. It was dry and cool for the race though, and Chris showed it with a scorching 2:11.292 lap time and a solid win followed by Kevin and Al. It was down to R4 for the Regional Championship though, with Kevin holding a slim 25 point lead. Al did what he could, taking the last win while passing and being passed by BJ multiple times, but it wasn't near enough with Kevin taking the 3rd spot.

Congratulations to all of our Texas 944Spec drivers, families, and friends. Its been just an incredible first year for 944Spec in this region, with 14 drivers scoring points and an average car count of 6...considering in January there was one 944Spec car that had run an event with NASA Texas this is a strong testament to the attractiveness of the series! Next year the competition will be even stronger with several new cars and drivers already mid build and working on their licenses!! See you in January!