The The Life’s Good Racing!TM team has just been, well, busy…. very busy! Since NASA’s National Championship’s at Miller Motorsports Park, where Dave Brown competed in CMC2 and I competed in PTB, we had a race weekend at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma during the weekend of October 9 and 10, and then we competed at Buttonwillow Raceway outside of Bakersfield during the last race weekend of the season this last weekend of November 6 and 7. And in between all of that , we have had some minor activities such as each of us have made mulit-week trips to Asia for business, Dave moved his household to be closer to work, and I got married!!!! More on that later.
NASA Nationals Recap
CMC2:
After taking second place in the first qualifying race on Thursday and a third in the second qualifying race on Friday, Dave accumulated enough points to take the pole for the national championship race on Saturday in the Life’s Good Racing!TM 33x Camaro!
The championship race turned out to be a hard fought battle between Jeremiah Kellam and Dave as Nick experienced some handling issues, which later turned out to be a suspension part failure. Dave crossed the finish line first to take–what appeared to be–the championship! Unfortunately, later in impound it was found that a small portion, approximately three inches, of our front radiator air deflector was 1mm too low to the ground in a section just off center. This resulted in our disqualification and the loss of the championship. The root cause for the small defect occurred when the deflector was trimmed (by hand) to meet minimum height. That, combined with having to run a set of very worn tires compounded the issue, resulting in our DQ. Unfortunate, given the herculean effort Dave put in to hold off Kellam, however the rules are the rules, even if they do not aid in performance.
PTB:
After taking a significant hit in the first qual race on Thursday, causing me to limp home with a damaged car and no power steering for a fifth place, I was able to take a second in the second qual race on Friday, after starting in 16th position in the overall field. These two finishes placed me on the inside of the second row in the overall field, a starting position of third. I was able to hold off many a competitor throughout the 45 minute race and bring home a 3rd place podium finish for the Life’s Good Racing!TM 33x Camaro in my first national championship race!
The car not only place well, it looked great as evidenced by the pictures displaying Claudia’s special design for the event. Allan Verret Design brought her design to reality with a high quality wrap which proudly displayed the logos of all of our key contributing sponsors, Hawk Performance, AIP Electronics, ClutchMasters, and Bridgelux.
Infineon Raceway, Sonoma CA October 9 & 10
While I was off getting married, Dave campaigned the Life’s Good Racing! TM 33x Camaro to four wins in four races, both in CMC2 and in PTB at this NASA NorCal event! His performance effectively wrapped up the CMC2 regional NorCal championship and the PTB NorCal regional championship. Another phenomenal performance from the iron man himself with the assistance of Charles Roberts who worked tirelessly to keep the car in top shape throughout the grueling schedule that weekend at the world famous Infineon Raceway.
Buttonwillow Raceway, Buttonwillow CA November 6 and 7
CMC2:
With both the CMC2 SoCal and California Pony Cup Challenge up for grabs in a close battle with the Klamecki brothers, Dave was able take the pole position for Saturday’s race where he battled hard with Nick Steele for the win.
That win positioned Dave at the back for Sunday’s qualifying race as the tradition is to have an inverted field for the Sunday morning race. In a heads up move by Dave at the start, he was able to get a jump on the field coming around onto the straight and charge into the lead. He was able to hold off multiple late race charges by Nick Steele for a second CMC2 win for the weekend.
Starting in the pole position in Sunday’s afternoon race, Dave was able to hold off the entire field, while working his way through significant slower car traffic, and pull down his third win of the weekend, bringing home the Life’s Good Racing!TM 33x Camaro for its first weekend sweep of the season. This stellar performance also locked up the CMC2 SoCal championship and the California Pony Car championship as well resulting in a clean sweep of the entire state!
PTB:
In PTB I was successful pulling down two wins which moved me into podium territory for a 3rd place for the season in NASA SoCal.
All in all, a great end to a fantastic season for the Life’s Good Racing!TM 33x Camaro. Thanks go to many who supported us. First and foremost our sponsors: Hawk Performance, AIP Electronics, ClutchMasters, and Bridgelux. Each played a significant role in our success. Also, a significant contributor to the results that were achieved came from Charles Roberts, our crew chief. His never-say-quit attitude kept our car on the track in spite of countless issues, including being hit by other cars. Also, thanks go to Chris Carstens for providing crew support at select events and to Mark Deshetler for fabrication support.
Finally, a big thanks goes to Claudia Castillo for her creative energy that went into designing the wraps that made our car stand out and apart from others during the second half of our season. She just so happens to be my wife now as we were married on October 10, 2010 (10-10-10). Look for many more creative looks in our car in the future! And, a guy with a big smile on his face…me…as I have not only been lucky this last year on the track, I have also been lucky to find my Claudia!
See you soon!
Karl Chicca, Campbell, CA