West Coast Round 3
Saturday
Round three for the West
Coast Challenge Series took
place this past weekend at
Buttonwillow Raceway Park.
Six drivers converged at the
track to challenge the type
13 configuration (clockwise)
: Dave Standridge, Karen
Salvaggio, Robert Walter,
Rick Anderson, Mike Beeler,
and T.C. McNett. It was
great to have T.C. and Mike
back with us!
Warm temperatures and clear
skies greeted everyone for
Saturday’s racing. After a
brief warm-up, it was time
to qualify. Again, it was
clear that Dave had his
sights on establishing a
track record, with a time of
2:04.552 (1.5 seconds faster
that the #2 time of Rick’s
at 2:05.9 and Karen’s
2:06.1. For the grid it was
Dave, Rick, Karen, T.C.,
Robert, and Mike.
For the race, the group took
the green with a rolling
start. At turn one it was
Dave, followed by T.C. and
Rick side by side. Following
closely was Robert, Karen,
and Mike. As a side note:
Because of a blown head
gasket, Karen was forced to
remove the “old 28” from
HPDE and drive it in the
race while the “new 28”
received it’s new gasket. At
turn two, T.C. put a great
move on Rick on the inside
and took the second spot.
As Karen fought to keep up
with the pack, Mike had
transmission problems on lap
4 and had to retire. The
good news, Mike was able to
pull off behind a flag
station, thus avoiding a
caution, and tow truck.
Meanwhile, Dave was slowly
pulling away from T.C. and
likewise T.C. was putting a
comfortable gap between
himself and Rick. Robert was
staying firmly in 4th, with
Karen gamely staying in the
race at 5th. As the race
wound down, everyone was
able to get through traffic
cleanly while still keeping
in touch with the leaders.
At the checker, it was Dave
for the win, followed by T.C.,
Rick, Robert, Karen, and
Mike.
Once again, running with CMC
and AI proves to an ideal
run group to be a part of.
The different groups treat
each other with respect
while maintaining close
racing. Well done!!
Sunday
For the Sunday qualifying
race, the group gridded up
according to the Saturday
race results. At the flying
green, Dave took the early
lead with T.C. right on his
bumper. The remainder of the
pack was also off to a good
clean start. First lap, turn
two, T.C. made the identical
move on Dave as he did on
Rick the previous race. Now
T.C. was leading with Dave,
Rick, Robert, Karen, and
Mike in hot pursuit. That
order lasted with T.C. and
Dave battling for the lead
for a while until Dave
finally got the best of T.C.
at the entry of Star Mazda.
At the checker, it was Dave,
T.C., Rick, Robert, Karen,
and Mike rounding out the
class.
For the main race, the grid
was set by best lap of the
qualifying race. T.C. took
the pole with a blistering
best lap of 2:04.612
compared with Dave’s best of
2:04.562. Dave’s Saturday
record held up by .01
second!!! The remaining grid
was Rick, Robert, Karen, and
Mike. At the standing start,
everyone got off with a
clean start and were looking
to catch T.C. At turn one,
Dave had the edge on T.C. to
take the lead. At turn two,
Dave protected the inside
line from T.C. and Rick who
were looking inside for a
chance to squeak by. At
about lap three T.C., still
battling with Dave, made a
slight bobble at turn one
and spun. By the time he
recovered, Rick had passed
him and was trying to catch
Dave. Several laps later,
T.C. was on Rick’s bumper
and the two dueled for
almost the entire lap until
T.C. overcooked the exit at
Star Maxda and spun. Now T.C.
had to serve a stop and go
penalty (a NASA rule for
this event) and had to go
out at the back of the pack
and try to make up
positions. Meanwhile, Karen
had passed Robert for third
spot with her sights set on
Rick. Fortunately, the race
ended without further
incident. In the end it was
Dave for yet another win,
followed by Rick, Karen,
Robert, T.C., and Mike.
A good weekend overall, good
competition, great friends,
and warm weather! Next up:
Willow Springs May 24,25.
The weather will be hot and
the competition will be even
hotter!!
Rick Anderson
West Coast Director
