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Page 2 of 4 The morning warm-up session was a zoo. We had 65 cars in our Group A and it was a combined warm-up with Group C, there must have been about 90-100 cars out there. The qualifying session was still crowded. Tom was on pole followed by Steve, Rick, myself, Jerry and Sid. Sid miss the warm-up and forgot to connect his transponder duing qualifying. We were at the tail end of the third Green flag group of about 20-30 cars. The green flag dropped before some of us even got around the kink to the main straight. Steve checked up to form a 2x2 line but the flag was already green, Tom and Rick saw that and put a good five car lengths before Steve even floored his pedal. It was pretty much a single file start for us. I ask our guys to help with the race report and I'm glad Sid stepped up. Here's his report embedded in this one to give a two person perspective of the race. Sid's Sat. race report: On Saturday, I forgot to plug in my transponder so I had to grid in the last position. Ken and Jerry were nice enough to let me pass without working too hard so I can catch up to Steve and the others so I can play. I caught up to Steve and was really breathing down his neck as I was trying to see if he would make a mistake so I can capitalize on it. Steve was solid as a rock and I was thinking of dive bombing him on Turns 4, 7 or 11 but somehow felt he would not allow me to do so cleanly so I stayed behind him for at least 5+ laps. 
We must have caught up to Tom after the 4th or 5th lap and had a nice three car race. Rick was nowhere to be seen. 
We were able to weave through some of the slower cars and also let some of the faster cars pass between us and still manage to stay three together. It was the closest race that I have seen and been in with. My adrenaline was running overtime and Steve made a bold move and passed Tom on Turn 11 and I couldn't follow Steve so I tucked behind Tom. 
Coming down the front straights, I saw the white flag which meant I had this lap to make a move otherwise I will end up 4th. I felt confident and took the inside line on Turn 4 which Tom and I went into together and probably within 1 feet apart from contact, I managed to pull a half car lead which we took into Turn 5 and Turn 6. Since I was on the outside of Turn 6, I knew I was in a bad position but I also knew I had to push down on my throttle to get traction coming out so I don't go off into the dirt. There is a small dip somewhere out there on the exit burm area which I managed to hit and it disrupted my car that the rear came out slightly to the right and then it went to the left and I found myself skidding sideways out of 6. I didn't panic and was able to get the car right back into control and straightened out and got into Turn 7 a little hot and my front tires just plowed. I was still ahead of Tom, which really surprised me as I thought he would have surely passed me while I was sideways. In any case, I was able to maintain my lead and finished in 3rd position. That was the most exhilerating race that I have ever experienced. I was behind Tom, Steve & Sid for a little while and starting to put a little gap on Jerry when I came up to a Miata who got left behind from his own group and decided he wants to race me. I normally wouldn't mind but I was trying to get closer to our guys. While this was going on for more than half a lap Jerry caught up and now we're having our own three way battle. This went on for more than two laps when a pack of the faster SU & HC1 cars came up behind us. Jerry was able to catch the train pass the Miata, I wasn't able to. I finally got around him in Turn 11 but not enough time to catch up and settle for sixth.  Congratulations to Rick Lofgren for a strong 1st place finish. Steve, Sid, Tom and Jerry came in 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th respectively. 
After the race we had a chance to talk to Tom regarding the R888's. Tom really wanted to practice and qualify with the R888's but didn't have enough time because he was getting teched for his annual logbook at impound. The R888's were mounted before our race session so Tom was going out there with unkown tires. Tom said the R888's gripped really well in the beginning of the race but got sloppy towards the end. After everyone got out of their hot race suits and a chance to drink some cold refreshment Tom checked his tire pressure and it was at 41 psi which means they probably were 44-45 psi hot. Way too much pressure!
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