March 15th, 2009
Event 3 of 4 for the 2009 Spring Series
by Dave Lahey
Finally, Sunshine !!!
Yes, it is FINALLY getting nice around here; no more rain for a while, and time to break out the sunscreen! But it was once again advantageous to be driving an AWD car, as the resurface on the lot is still a gravelly sandy mess. There were the occassional clouds of tire smoke from too much brake or throttle, but there were also rooster tails of gravel shooting off the back of some cars! Yeah, get out in that clag and you were toast, but hug the cleaner inside line and take what you were given, and you were rewarded with a decent time.
Rob Rockefeller designed this course a few years ago, and it was brought back due to popular demand. And a fine course it was, and still is! While some of the usual fast folks were over in San Diego at a practice day for the upcoming National Tour event, the rest of us had to deal with a surface and conditions that are, to say the least, not optimum for certain cars and tires. Then again, be in the RIGHT car, and you were up there in the rankings!
The start line was near the trailer location, and a quick right turn got you into the course and the loop at the start. Curl around to the left and then shoot the gap toward the bottom of the course, with a little offset to keep speeds in the sane range. Around that bottom turn, and continue left, but watch out for that pinch gate, then pour on the power and continue left, then into a tightening right 180, where patience really paid off and got you a better approach to the finish slalom.
The brooms and blowers got another workout on the surface, but the gravel is still an issue. What to do? We are exploring other venues, and it sounds like there will be some events up in Taylor this summer. Meanwhile, it is what it is, and the same for everyone, so deal with it as best we can. It is somewhat debatable whether running first is better than running later. In the early groups, the surface is not gravelled up yet, but later in the day, the sealer has been worn away enough to give a clean grippy line, BUT, get off that line and you were toast, as many proved. Not to pick on Brock at all, but here is just one example of what could happen:
And that is an AWD car, mind you, so somewhat of an "advantage" on the slippery stuff, but even with that, the possibility of looping the car was always there if you pushed too hard. Again, not picking on Brock, but he just happened to be in camera when this little extracurricular event took place. There were plenty of others doing the same!
Top time of the day went to Alan Wagstaffe (co-driver pictured), who ran in the A group and kept things nice and tidy. This may be Alan's first TTOD in Phoenix, so congrats to Alan in that wacky B Mod LeGrande Dragon. Next best was Clint Child, who has found a new favorite car, driving the Clements' Mitsubishi Evo. Word is that the Clement gang has been working on the car a lot and attending as many events as possible to tune up for the San Diego Tour. Should be good expectations! Third fastest was Flyin' Brian Peters, still tweaking the Z06. In fourth was Steve Steele in his CSP Miata, who ran early and really turned up the wick! Steve Eymann came fifth in his GT3, followed by Ben Clement, Jay Balducci, Rob Rockefeller, Teresa Clement, and Mad Matt Soeffner rounding out the top ten.
Looking at the PAX standings for the day, Clint scored at the top and collected the 1000 points. Co-driver and car owner Ben Clement was next best, with Britt Dollmeyer thrashing his ST Civic around for third. Next was Brian Peters, then Rockefeller, Teresa Clement (you go girl!), Wiggy Graecen in his Sti, Mad Matt in 8th, with Elliot Speidell in the Bimmer next, and Brad Owen taking the tenth spot. Perhaps not what we are used to, seeing ST cars on top and R tires fading into lower scores, but again, it is what it is!
Just have to feature Kim Kemper and those pretty new wheels, who took top spot in SS Open, still running by himself in that class, but hey, a win is a win, right? Nathan Crum brought out his 2008 Subie WRX Sti and ran A Stock Open, taking that class. Sean Morrill is once again showing at the top of E Stock Open, taking the win over Tom Tkacik and Joe Sandoval. Evan Brom showed enough self control on the throttle in his Camaro Z/28 to take the win over Jim Barks in F Stock Open.
Matt Soeffner took honors in C Stock Open, thrashing and tossing his '99 Sport Miata around to take the win over Brad Owen, Kevin Venisnik, Larry Burrow and Jeff Hancock. The C Stock Miatas were really tearing it up, and put the whooping on even the supposedly faster CSP cars. What's up with that? Must be all that body roll ...
Speaking of CSP, Dave Lahey BARELY squeaked out the win over Derrick Disharoom, but had to dispute a random cone call on his last run to do so. In the end, the officials deemed it as erroneous, and put Lahey in the top spot. These guys ran later in the day, in the F run group, and were dealing with a hug the inside or die condition. In XP Open, Kirby Goodman tossed his Chevy powered Rx-7 around for the win. TTOD man Alan Wagstaffe took B Mod Open, and Mark Shaw took E Mod in the Red Baron Porsche Spyder.
Frank Miller FINALLY put the whoopin' on the Bimmer drivers in his Mitsu Evo RS and took the Street Mod Open class. Perennial favorite Dave Young was second, followed by Tim Bergstrom and Frank Adams, all in the German M3s of varying vintage. Frank is vying for the wildest wing award with an aero piece sitting WAY up in the air on the back of his red rocket.
Clinton Campbell made the trek down from Flagstaff and showed what he can do in his Mini Cooper with some crazy slip angles and wild driving! Good enough for the win in ST over Chris Largent in an Imprezza, Adam Vega in an Accord, Josh Johnston in his 240SX, Shaun Brown in a Mazda 3, Manfred Reysser in his BMW 318, and Dane Traines in his Super Beetle.
George Sklyarevsky in his Rx8 took top honors in STX over Chad Mizner and Ryan Bernholtz, both in Honda Civics, followed by Mark Osier's appliance white BMW 535 and Sergio Perez in a 328 Bimmer. Dave Branson took the STS win in his Miata, and Brian Weikert brought out his new toy, a 1995 BMW M3 to take STU Open over Travis Berry in his Subaru STi.
In the PAX Ladies' class, Teresa Clement just deMOLISHed the rest of the gals. Her 971 was not only good enough for the win, but also cracked the overall standings! Next best was Kat Morrill in her '97 Miata M, followed by Deb Eymann in the Porsche, Mitzi Burrow in the 10th Anniversary Miata, Dianne Deanovic in FrankenLotus, and Elizabeth Crosdale in the Legrand Dragon.
By now, you all know what that wicked fast Clement Evo looks like, so no repeat photo for Clint or Ben who went 1-2 in the Sportsman class! Next best was Britt Dollmeyer in his '90 Civic, follwed by Brian Peters in the Z06, Rob Rockefeller in his S2000, Wiggy Graecen in his '04 Sti, Elliot Speidell, then Steve Steele, Jay Balducci, and Doug Rowse in the tenth spot. Sound like the PAX overall standings? Well, these are pretty much some of the fastest drivers in the fastest cars, so it should!
In the Street Tire classes, newcomer Matt Davis showed up with an '07 Mustang GT to shake things up a bit and take ST1. Greg Rubenstein had to settle for second in his Sti, followed by Robert Smithson in an Evo MR, Jon Roesch in a Porsche Cayman S, and Sharon Roberts in the black S2000. In ST2, Jim Rohn once again drove the O'Neill TT to the win, followed by the steadily improving Kevin O'Neill, Scott Meyers in his Mustang, Mike Rogers' RSX and Jeff Williams, bringing out his '99 Miata Sport for a first run. Colleen O'Neill took the STL win over Glenda Meyers.
Dan Tracy took the Novice 1 class win in his '05 Sti over Travis Harrison in an '08 Sti, Dustin Schertz in an '05, Richard Nalven in an '04, and Sam Nalven in an '02. Yup, all Subies at the top of the class here! In Novice 2, Richard Krencius put his Gti VW in the top spot over Chris Steele in a Mini Cooper S, Anthony Smith in his Scion Tc, Chris Ambrosio in a 328Is and Michael Beiser in an '07 Civic. Chris Kohler took the NV3 win in his BMW 535 over Kevin Chenoweth in a 240SX, Elliott Goltsman in an SRT-4, Gunther Scharrer in a '93 Miata, and Terry McGraw in a neat little Mazda 323 GTX. Kim Possible Chenoweth took the Novice Ladies win in her blingy Mazda 3 over Gwen Hanigan-Baily in her Golf R32.
In Time Only runs, no one could better Clint's PAX time, or Alan's Fastest Time. Sure, the Clement Evo was on top again, but only a 991, with Ben and Clint nearly identical! This is certainly not the norm, as TTOD and PAX usually get creamed. Is it the heat? The gravel? Certainly nothing to do with lack of effort on everyone's part. Britt was again third, with Wiggy finding some more time, Elliot and Doug thrashing the DSP BMW, and Steve Eymann tossing gravel around. Dave Rock put his '01 Celica into 8th, followed by Brian Peters, nearly matched by co-driver Jay Balducci!
So, as many head out for the San Diego National Tour event this coming weekend, some are scratching their heads, some with anxious anticipation, and others just hoping not to be near the bottom of the pile. One often finds out where one stands at these things, so we'll be looking forward to hearing all about it.
As for our next event in Phoenix, April 5th, we wonder if this AWD street tire domination continue? Will the gravel rear its ugly head again and muck up the results? We will see ... But as mentioned, it is the same for everyone, so something we have to deal with for now. See you all out there !!!
As always, thanks to Rob Rockefeller for the photos featured here and on the Arizona Autocross Photos website.