This last weekend at Infineon, now Sonoma Raceway (but it will always be “Sears Point Raceway” to us old timers) was one of redemption and getting back to what we’re used to….being in the Winner’s Circle!!! Dave Brown not only piloted the Life’s Good Racing!TM Lancer to a first place in round #3 of the USTCC series, he lead the field from flag to flag!
Dave had a great qualifying session with a 1:51.459 lap which positioned him outside front row with the KPAX Volvo taking pole with a qualifying time of 1:51.007. The Volvo chose the right side of front row, placing the Life’s Good Racing!TM Lancer on the left as seen in the attached image.
Thanks to the phenomenal efforts on the part of the entire crew from WORKS we fielded a very strong USTCC entry that turned out to be the class of the field. Putting the Mitsubishi Lancer’s formidable four-wheel drive system to work at the drop of the green flag, Dave was able to take a convincing lead at the very drop of the green flag and hold that lead throughout the entire race and finish with an 8.5 second lead over the next closer competitor. Fantastic driving was demonstrated by Dave as he worked his way through slower car traffic, but stayed on his game to pull off our first win of the season.
Additionally, we had strong outings both days in the 1969 Camaro running Time Trials Unlimited (TTU) as unofficial results have us winning both days by putting down fastest times each day. If these unofficial results hold, it would mean that we have gone undefeated eight race days across four race weekends this season. This if further impressive as we struggled with handling due to the extreme high temps this past weekend, particularly on Saturday as air temps reached 102 degrees!
What made this Time Trials event further challenging if not interesting was the presence of greater than 70 cars on this track which is not much longer than 2.5 miles! To say the field was crowded is an understatement.
As always, we would not have performed as well in either of the two cars had it not been for the confidence inspiring braking performance provided by Hawk Performance brake pads, the best in the business. I had a track employee come up to me on Sunday inquiring about Hawk.
And, as noted above, we would not have had the great performance we experienced in the Lancer if WORKS hadn’t worked around-the-clock in preparing the car for us. These guys are pros, providing unprecedented expertise and work ethic on all levels of Mitsubishi machines, ranging from stock to the most exotic, including servicing and upgrades to not only Mitsubishis, but many brands of performance cars such as Porsches, Nissans, BMWs and more. Check out their shop at the top of the hill at Infineon and say “hi” to this great group of guys. They have some amazing machines up there.
If you were at the track this last weekend you would have seen that we hosted an old high school friend of mine and his family. Dave Pittinger, his wife Pam, and their son Andrew hung out with us both days, and father and son were brave enough to take a ride in the passenger seat of the 1969 Camaro. I think both are still smiling! I’ve posted Dave’s ride in the 69 Camaro with Dave on YouTube.
I met up with Dave at a memorial service for Todd Connor, two weeks prior in Aptos. Todd and I were best buddies, sharing all those growing-up experiences through adolescence and teen years and beyond. Todd had an untimely passing at the age of 55 and I dedicated the race weekend to his memory. Todd will always be remembered by those of us who had the good fortune to call him our friend!
This last race weekend concludes the first half of the race season as we enter the summer break. Our next event will be at Thunderhill Raceway August 18 & 19 as we compete again in Time Trials Unlimited along with the fourth round of the USTCC professional race series. Should you have an interest in hanging out with us, come up to Willows. The beauty of amateur racing is that the pits are wide open for you to walk around and talk with drivers, crew and other spectators. Unlike professional events, you get to see it all, up close and personal!
See you at the races!