2019 Spec e30 Season Finale

The NASA Norcal Spec e30 Championship blasted into Sonoma Raceway October 26th and 27th for a no hold barred double points smackdown of a weekend, consisting of qualifying and three races with the usual suspects, as well as a few ringers that showed up to try to take a win away from the usual suspects.

Saturday!

In the morning meeting, series organizer Nick Theimann pointed out that Andy Chittum was the points leader for the season, leading by a formidable 117 points, but with 600 on tap for the double points weekend, one misstep could shake up the order significantly.  Just to prove his point, Thiemann, in second position for the season then went out for qualifying and set a fast 1:56.8 lap on the twisty technical 2.52 mile course a good 8 tenths faster than previous round winner Chittum. 

But it was veteran Spec e30 racer Scott Clough that did Nick one better with a 1.56.3 that initially set the pace until local race hero Tim Barber stepped in with a legitimately fast 1.56.0 to take pole position.  Brian Shiflett, and Forrest Cook filled out the top 6, and the rest of the field fell within the 1.58s, just behind the leaders.

At the drop of the green the roared off the line without a single bauble on the standing start, but the right hand side of the track seemed to be slightly faster, with Clough getting the jump on Barber and Chittum just edging ahead of Theimann.  By the time the field poured into T4, the side by side had worked its way out and they filed into T6 in that order.

But Chittum missed a shift coming out of T6, allowing Theimann to come motoring by, and the rest of the field right on his bumper into T7.  Chittum got his act back together narrowly got out of the reach of the field, and chased down Theimann, while Barber took advantage of his speed advantage to sneak back by Clough with an over-under into T7 and making it stick in 8.  By the end of the first lap, the field had mostly settled down, except for sometime Spec e30 hotshoe Aristotle Balogh who had missed qualifying and making up nearly half the field on the first two laps.

While Barber slowly pulled away from Clough, Chittum caught up to Theimann and began pondering how he could make it by the fast #21 car.  Initially, Theimann proved difficult to figure out, but with Balogh free of the rest of the field, and starting to bridge a 6 second gap up to 4th place, Chittum began to push harder.

With a fast run through 10, Chittum made it through 11 just inches from Theimann's bumper drafted down the front straight, then cut inside, overlapping in T1 and up into T2.  But Theimann still held an advantage, and was able to stay ahead in T3.  Next lap Chittum did the same thing, but this time doubling up in T2, and was able to get up the inside of the exit of T3, making the pass stick.  Slowly, Chittum was able to pull ahead, just as Balogh reached the battle.

With Barber and Clough checked out, Chittum got a good gap, and was able to hold it as Balogh made his way around Theimann.  The two held even for a few laps, but with lapped traffic, Balogh was able to catch Chittum and make it past just before the end of the race.

Sunday!

With a hard fought race on a oddly greasy and difficult track the day before, cooler temperatures were forecast, but higher winds, which were sure to produce the battle of the year.  Unfortunately, due to nearby forest fires, NASA was unable to secure Emergency Ambulances for the Sunday event, so they were forced to cancel the event.

Season Points!

With a 117 point lead going into the final weekend, Chittum then retained the lead at the end, and pending official results becomes the 2019 NASA Norcal Champion.  This is Chittum's 3rd Championship, but 1st as a solo driver, previously teaming up as Team BTM Motorwerks and winning in 2011 and 2012.  Nick Theimann, while leading for much of the year held on to second place overall, and Forest Cook was able to make up enough points on JP Cadoux in the final race to hold on to third.

NASA Norcal Spec e30 will return March 14-15 2020 back at beautiful Sonoma Raceway for a whole new season, stay tuned for more!

Hot Hot Hill

The NASA Norcal Spec e30 racers slid into a seasonably warm and toasty Willows, California to contest Round 5 of the Championship August 3rd and 4th.   With temperatures forecast well over 100F and Spec e30 running the legendary track in the reverse direction for the first time in years, the event promised for thrills, chills, and some unexpected results.

In practice Friday a number of cars already suffering from the heat with Nick Theimann's car breaking a rocker, Round 4 winner Scott Clough's car's transmission mysteriously seizing up, and other various brake issues.  Teams worked through the evening, and the entire field of 15 cars made qualifying Saturday morning.

Saturday

Bennett McMicking set the early time to beat with a speedy 2:08.8 on his first timed lap, and Nick Theimann came back next lap dropping a 2:08.5, but perennial pole sitter JP Cadoux dropped a 2:08.1 on his third lap which looked to be the fastest any e30 would set the entire weekend.  Behind the fast 3, Andy Chittum, Forest Cook, and Scott Clough, and Rina Balogh took up postion, with just around 2 seconds covering the top 8.

Race 1 took off with an incredibly long hold on the green flag, but the field tore away toward turn 15 after it finally fell.  The front of the field funneled in to the T15-14 complex in order with Cadoux, McMicking and Theimann.  Chittum, and Forrest Cook came out side by side on the exit of 15, with Chittum edging ahead by T12.  The front then consolidated into a train of 4 cars with Cadoux unable to drop the group, but nobody able to pass.

Crazy.  But that's how it goes.

At the back, the excitement started early with Team Unibrow CEO and driver James Gouvia getting a great standing start, while ahead of him Rina Balogh missed a shift.  With the slightest of scrapes, he made it by on the inside between the wall, and joined teammate John Lothrop's car side by side into the 15-14 complex.  Balogh quickly caught up, and the three battled the next lap.

James G's Start Video!

"We had a good battle going for a little while, then she got our number, took off, and we never saw her again."  Said Lothrop after the race.

James G's Race Video!

Lothrop and Gouvia continued the battle with multiple passes and re-passes until finally Gouvia pulled ahead just at the checkered flag.

Back at the front, the train continued.  McMicking had managed to put his nose around Cadoux early on in the race, but had settled into second.  After the halfway point, Chittum started attacking Theimann as well, overlapping in several places.  But the turning point of the race came about 8 laps in when coming down super fast 9 - 8 - 7 back straight Theimann made a move up the inside of McMicking.   In video review Theimann called the move 'somewhat overly optimistic' - braking from over 110 mph into the tight T6, he put two wheels on the dirt, then caught air off the edge of the inside berm, then nosed into McMicking's rear quarter panel.

Crash Lap Video! 

This resulted in McMicking spun on the inside of T6, Thiemann crossed up sliding to the outside and Chittum neatly driving through the hole to take over 2nd place.  McMicking and Thiemann were both able to continue, but mixed into the rest of the field.

Post-race, two cars were found to be over power on the dyno including Cadoux, which handed the win to Chittum, 2nd to Forest Cook, and 3rd to Uwe Druckenmuller.

Entire Race 1 Video From Andy's Car!

Sunday

Cook challenged at the start.

Race 2 of the weekend started with Chittum and Cook on the front row, followed by Rina Balough and Uwe Druckenmuller.  The start proved to be exciting with Cadoux, McMicking, Thiemann, Scott Clough and Ari Balogh all at the back determined to charge though the field and make Chittum earn his pole position start.  This time the standing start went relatively uneventfully, aside from Lothrop taking a high-speed weed-whacking tour on the outside of T14.

Chittum, Cook and Rina Balogh ended up 1 - 2 - 3 for the first few laps while the back and midfield sorted itself out.  Slowly, Chittum pulled ahead while Cook fell back with braking issues.  JP Cadoux moved up quickly, but touched Rina Balogh on the outside of T9 - both ended up spinning off the outside of the turn and falling back down the field.

Bennett McMicking and Ari Balogh proved to be the most deft at making their way through the field cleanly, and made it up to 2nd and 3rd with Theimann, Clough and Druckenmuller close behind.  Chittum managed to keep ahead of the fray and pull in his second win of the weekend.

Race 3 saw the highest temperatures of the weekend, with ambient just over 101, and the track temperature suitable for most forms of cooking.

The group blasted off for the final time of the weekend, and while Ari Balogh was able to get by Bennett McMicking, most of the rest of the field ended up about where they'd started.  The one real challenge was JP Cadoux starting from mid-field again, still with the fastest lap times at his command - could he get around the cars around him and chase Chittum down for the win?

Chittum's challenge was steady and fast, while keeping tires alive.

The lap chart shows the top 10 positions covered by just 1.3 seconds of lap time, with JP putting down a few laps a half-second faster than Chittum.  With about 4 laps to go, JP cleared the rest of the field, and started to bridge the 4 second gap Chittum had built.  On the fast west side of the track, JP had a few ounces of secret sauce to spend and made up time, but across the technical eastern section, Chittum seemed to have saved some tires to hold off the charge.

At the flag, Chittum held on by 2.240 seconds to take his 3rd victory of the weekend.

The exciting 2019 season will conclude October 26-27 at the legendary Sonoma Raceway, where we'll be once again hoping for a little rain to cool down the warm summer.

See you there!

-A-

Sound Engineering vs. The Corkscrew

At this weekend's United States Touring Car race at Mazda Laguna Seca every car in the field sported new appendages.  In previous years USTCC had run on one of the few unrestricted sound days at the lovely facility, but this year sharing the track with SPEEDSF, a whisper-quiet 92Db was the rule.  If you fail sound once, you're done for the session.  Fail again, pack up and head home.

There's a number of reasons behind these rules, and if you're curious about their genesis at Laguna Secca, then I'd recommend listening to Gill Campbell's interview in Episode 17 of Dinner with Racers.  This post won't discuss the why.

What we will explore is the science, engineering, craftsmanship and, dare we say, art behind the protuberances behind the cars that kept them quiet along the unique 2.214 mile course in our season opener this year.

We begin with none other than the #85 Minideck Motorsports / BTM Motorwerks MINI Cooper S driven by yours truly.

In the past, this car has been a lot louder, yet for this event, Rich Petersen, the car's owner and Chief Tinkerer had fortified the new stainless steel muffler system some unknown amount of 'special high-tech packing'.  And proving size indeed does not matter, the car stayed clear of the dreaded meatball all weekend.

Ratings:

Stealth: 9/10
Tech Level: 9/10
Slim 'n' Trim Factor: 9/10



Mike Shawhan's Mighty BTM Motorwerks #22 BMW 330Ci sported a new custom setup just for the weekend.

Reportedly made from 'A Mustang muffler with MINI tip welded on the end' Mike's car was so quiet, hardly anyone could event hear it go by.  The whisper smooth I6 didn't suffer much as Mike led at least half of the race and finished a close second.


Ratings:

Stealth: 8/10
Tech Level: 7/10
Raid the BTM Parts Bin Factor: 9/10



Tom Milburn's #14 Bay Area Drafting RSX ended up with one of the more shiny and high-tech noise deflectors.

Reportedly, he'd been worried about both intake and exhaust noise, and got a strike from his peppy Honda exhaust note.  A passing wisenheimer quipped he should put an intake elbow on his exhaust pipe to pass sound.   That's exactly what he did, and he ran trouble-free the rest of the weekend.

Ratings:

Stealth: 6/10
Tech Level: 8/10
Make 'em Eat their Words Factor: 10/10



Mike McColligan's gorgeous #36 MC Racing RX-8 was right at home at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway.

And he went right to the off-the-shelf for his sound deflectors.  No irony that it rained during the final race, and drainpipe was his weapon of choice.

Ratings:

Stealth: 6/10
Tech Level: 5/10
Home Improvement Factor: 10/10



Patrick Cho's #88 Speed SF Nissan 350Z has been a regular at the front of the TC field.

And he played the part well, with the longest shiniest cannon style muffler in the field.  V6's always sound a bit odd to me personally, but this bit of kit stayed under sound and ran some very fast qualifying times to boot.

Ratings:

Stealth: 5/10
Tech Level: 9/10
Super Shiny Factor: 9/10



The two Honda S2000s in the field, the Hartanto / Ostby Prima Racing #98 and the #82 S2000 driven by Victor Ng chose the same strategy.

Bone stock.  Considering the gains from a typical aftermarket S2000 Exhaust (not much) and the sound restrictions, this was a wise move.  Even wiser once Andrie took the checkered flag just a few feet ahead of Mike Shawhan's Mustang-mufflered BMW.

Ratings:

Stealth: 8/10
Tech Level: 9/10
Soichiro Knows Best Factor: 9/10



George Kibilov's #24 Speed SF e46 M3 sported a somewhat dented stubby elbow that appeared to carry equal parts DNA of both Supertrapp and Trumpet Mute.

At some point during the weekend, the M3 had issues which were thought to have been caused by the increased backpressure, but they were later attributed to a loose hose up front.  Once repaired, George proved to be speedy and sound great, handily winning the ST class.

Ratings:

Stealth: 4/10
Tech Level: 5/10
Blame it on the Exhaust Factor: 8/10



Daniel Akhromtsev's #16 Red Star Racing BMW M3 has run at the front of the GT field for some time now.

His offset elbow featured an additional sound deflector which looked like an up-side down smokehouse chimney.  Minus the bacon of course.  Mmm bacon.

Ratings:

Stealth: 3/10
Tech Level: 7/10
Spend a Lot of Time With the Welder Factor: 8/10


The Initial P Lexus IS300 driven by Edgar Lau chose a somewhat disturbing tentacle shaped design.

While effective on the race track, it reminded me of the limb of Chaos Eater from Dark Souls.  Late in the race, in fact, the exhaust took a hit in hard-fought action, and the speedy Lexus had to retire from the race for exceeding sound once it was broken.

Ratings:

Stealth: 2/10
Tech Level: 5/10
I'll Dream About Tentacles Tonight Factor: 10/10


And Finally, the King of Marching to His Own Drummer, Pete Bovenberg's #2 MBO Motorsports Honda Civic.

Pete's tailpipe actually began shorter earlier in the event, was meatballed, then grew steadily until in priapic fashion it finally reached its full potential.  Multiple bends?  Check.  Many yards of heat resistant / sound deadening wrap? Check!  A disturbing sound diffusing tip that resembles a shotgun pierced coffee can, yet appears to be able to light the whole back of the car on fire? Heck yeah! Check!

Stealth: 0/10
Tech Level: 4/10
Pete's Dragon Factor: 11/10


United States Touring Car will return to action May 20-21 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, where sadly, sound is completely unrestricted.  We'll be keeping an eye out for more bits of technology enhancing the racing action.

Just Slow Enough to Succeed

Losing Our Head

Last weekend USTCC Round 4 took place at the Utah Motorsport Campus, and I was really excited.  Not only would I be back in Rich Petersen's outstanding MINI, but the car was in really great shape after a promising podium at Laguna Seca in Round 2, and a dangit-could-have-passed-that-guy result at Sears Point in round 3.

The MINI had been to the engine doctor, tuned, re-tuned, had a minor miss and an ever so slight vacuum leak fixed, and looked to be really competitive compared to the rest of the USTCC TC field.  The other more powerful heavy RWD competitors were sure to be good on the long drag race from a standing start at UMC's 3500ft front straight, but fresh optimal tuning, forced induction, a base elevation of over 4000ft, previous experience on the track and the possibilities looked quite good for the little car.

In fact, morning practice on Friday went well - in the midst of a busyish NASA Utah practice session, we dropped down to 2:14s during those first few re-discovery laps.  Given the allowed mods and power to weight ratio for the TC class, this looked pretty promising for the following day's race.

But in the second practice session, the car had difficulty starting, and didn't want to stay running.  A problem with an improperly mounted tire brought the car right into the pits, and then a small coolant leak surfaced.

After some diagnostics in the paddock, it became apparent the small coolant leak had been letting just enough water out of the engine for just long enough to not set off any major bells or whistles, but to cause the engine some serious problems.  The old 'turn it over with a spark plug out' test produced a perfect geyser of clear coolant right out of the cylinder 1 spark plug hole.  Not good.  Need a new head gasket.  At least.

After a few minutes of consideration (we'd come a long way, the field was reduced in size, some other cars had issues as well, good opportunity to score points) Rich began the intricate process of removing the head gasket, and I scoured every auto parts store from Tooele to Ogden looking for the right head gasket.  If the car could be just patched up to finish half the laps of the race, we could salvage some of the trip.

After locating the part in Napa Auto Parts of Salt Lake City, I hopped into my rent-a-Prius and motored away, made the 74 mile round trip, and returned to the final unveiling of the head as it came off the block.

Brad from BTM Motorwerks applied his expert eye to the cleaned up head, and few things became apparent at that point.

1. There was about an 8 thousandths gap between two cylinders.
2. The valves weren't sealing properly in their seats anymore.
3. The MINI would not be racing this weekend, at least not with that head.

Plan B

There are a number of top notch motorsports shops and race teams headquartered at the world class UMC facility, and between talking to anyone that would listed to me, and touring the paddock for anything that would remotely fit into the USTCC Touring Car class (this discounted the race-prepped Lamborghini Rich found for rent) three reasonable options:

1. Tatum Racing's beautiful Martini & Rossi liveried Porsche Boxter.
2. Another team's professionally prepared 350z.
3. A Touring Car B Spec Ford Fiesta.

The Boxter seemed like the best option, but there was some question as to how close to legal I could get it in the short time I had before the Saturday race.  The 350z owner quoted me $3000 plus tires rental fee.  =:-o

Pass the Nachos - we're having a Fiesta!

The Race

The first thing you notice while sitting in a grid of legit touring cars making between 220 to 300+ hp at the wheels is how competitively quiet a TCB car is.  I was also glad I'd chatted with the driver of the USTCC Sportsman class e36M3 that was gridded behind me, so he was aware I would be doing my best, but proceeding from my standing start in my 120hp Fiesta, it would not be a breathtaking procedure to say the least.

I did manage to keep the back of the field in touch for the first lap, but once the field hit UMC's main straight, they basically disappeared, and I set about the business of proceeding as fast as I could manage.  One area the Fiesta has going for it is a really outstanding braking system.  But I quickly found in my first few turns that if you used more than about 50% of it for more than a fraction of a second, then you'd slowed down way too much.

Sometime later, the GT and Super Touring leaders came through at what seemed like FA-18 passing a pigeon speeds, and finally the TC class cars.  BTM Motorwerks' Mike Shawhan's e46 328 was closely followed by Speed SF's Patrick Chio's 350z and Gogo Gear's Gary Sheehan's Hyundai Genesis.  Looked like if I could just keep it on the track for a few more laps, I'd end up a respectable 4th.

But a few turns later, I passed two huge clouds of dust, one on each side of the track - I couldn't tell at the time, but I'm told the Hyundai was in one of them.  I came around for a white flag, finished the race, and learned I'd managed to squeeze out a podium from a weekend where we'd completely lost our head.

I can't thank the fine staff of NASA Utah, Dave Kizerian for helping me scope out rental cars and especially Cheri Miller for loaning me a great little car...that went just fast enough.

USTCC will be back at Sonma Raceway at Sears Point Oct 29th and 30th - stay tuned to USTCC.COM and FinalDrive.tv for all the hard charging action.

The MINI goes to USTCC with WTCC

Friday, September 21st - 630am.  Arrive Sonoma Raceway.

After a drive from Southern California beginning at 10pm the previous night, Rich Petersen towed his MINI Cooper S into the paddock at Race Sonoma where Andy Chittum had just arrived with the BTM Motorwerks Racing Trailer ready to set up for three days of US Touring Car racing.  This weekend would promise to be a real crowd pleaser with The Maserati Trofeo World Series arriving from Paul Ricard, and both World Touring Cars and Auto GP arriving from the  Autódromo Internacional de Curitiba.

In addition to these international series that would be competing, the US Touring Car Challenge boasted a field of 31 cars that would also take part in the weekend’s racing.  In the MINI’s previous outing with USTCC, a 2 hour race at Thunderhill Raceway, Andy managed to show some speed in the MINI, but the race effort was cut short as the MINI was pulled into the pits for exceeding sound restrictions.  How would the team fare in the biggest USTCC race since 2005?

1000 am - Free Practice 1.

The team set up quickly and got the little car prepared, and was the first to grid.  At the green flag, it was the MINI that took to the track first, and kicked off the weekend’s proceedings with a few hot laps before coming into the pits for tire readings and adjustments.  Generously, the schedule included full 45 minute sessions for practice, which gave the team time to try a few settings, and Andy to re-familiarize himself with the car.  It was a surprise when the team found out their time on the modified course, a 1:58.9 was second fastest, only a tenth away from the fastest car, the KPAX Volvo c30 driven by Robert Thorne.  

1145am - Free Practice 2.

After setup adjustments, the team returned to the track for some longer running, and to test further changes.  While the team was only 4th fastest this time, the consistency the MINI showed was very encouraging, especially in the hot Sonoma weather.  Though they completed nearly a whole race distance, the MINI’s driver side CV joint let go toward the end of the session, necessitating the team to jump into action to find a replacement part.  NASA regulars on the team Hans Dinse and Mickey Kennedy set about removing the broken part, and Brad McClure of BTM Motorwerks came to the rescue with a replacement.  The piece arrived 25 minutes before Q1 began, Andy strapped in 15 minutes later, and the car hit the ground just as the end of the field filed out to start qualifying.

245pm - Q1

Chittum hit the ground running, and thanks to quick work from the team, the MINI was right back to form, posting another 1:58.9, in spite of the late afternoon Sonoma heat.  Brandon Kraus, the 2011 Champ posted the fastest time in his Honda Civic, while KPAX’s Robert Thorne kept his lead, leaving the MINI third in Q1.

Saturday, September 22nd - 1215pm.  Q2.

Overnight, BTM Motorwerks again made suspension tweaks on the MINI and made some weight adjustments to ensure the MINI could run a full race distance and still end at the right weight.  Even though most teams were slower, the MINI was still able to run a 1:58.9, and qualify P3 again for race 2.

420pm - Race 1.

The field lined up for the traditional standing start under the newly constructed starting lights at Sonoma raceway, and blasted off as they went out.  Dave Brown, starting from 4th next to Andy in the MINI got an astounding start in his AWD Mitsubishi Lancer, and shot to the front.  Thorne and Kraus got good starts as well, though the MINI wasn’t any faster right behind them.  Larry Bani’s M3 managed to get alongside the MINI and for several laps challenged before the speedy car got clear.  Kraus and Thorne got around Brown quickly, but the Chittum had to wait a few laps for the powerful Lancer to heat up, so good was its traction out of the slower turns.  Finally, Chittum made a daring move around the outside of T6, and got the inside line to T7, and drove away from the powerful car.  Late in the race, Chittum caught Thorne’s ailing Volvo c30, but only just as the checkered flag fell.  Perhaps a few more laps, and Chittum could have taken his traditional spot on the second step of the podium.

Sunday Saturday, September 23 rd - 315pm.  Race 2.

Once again, Chittum lined up P3 behind Kraus and Thorne, however, this time it was Chris Lock’s Honda Prelude that lined up in P4.  Without threat of Brown’s Lancer blasting through the field at the start, there was a little more parity at the front, but just to keep things interesting, Kraus bogged his civic down on the start, and Thorne, Chittum, and most of the front of the pack went flying by.  This left Thorne in P1, and Chittum in the MINI running P2 for the first part of the race.  But the additional rewards weight, the 50lbs added since Race 1 was to play a vital factor in the race.  The MINI’s tires only lasted a few laps this time, and in turn, Lock and Kraus were able to get by, with the MINI eventually finishing 5th.

Thanks!

This weekend would have not been possible without the support of

• Mickey Kennedy
• Hans Dinse
• Niello MINI
• Brad McClure and BTM Motorwerks Racing support
• Josh from BTM Motorwerks
• Jason Chittum
• Mary Walters
• Jennifer Chittum on the headset
• Rich Peterson RM Petersen Construction, for building a really outstanding little car - not only a real kick in the pants to drive, but the fastest and most reliable MINI to USTCC specifications

And the fans.  The team handed out tons of autograph cards and Niello MINI T-shirts this weekend, and the little car was a true crowd favorite.  We’ll hope to see you all at our next event! Follow us here on this blog, on Twitter @mmmotors (Andy Chittum) and @USTCC (US Touring Car Challenge), www.ustcc.com for our next adventure!

USTCC, WTCC and the BTMMINI

September 21-23 the BTM Motorwerks of Campbell tuned MINI Cooper S build by Rich Petersen of RM Petersen Construction is racing at Sonoma Raceway! Stop by the BTM Motorwerks paddock area for a tour of the mighty MINI.

In addition to the US Touring Car race, FIA World Touring Cars are racing, along with a number of other series.

Keep track of the weekend's action by following Andy @mmmotors on twitter, and come on down Saturday and Sunday to root for the little car!  And get a MINI T Shirt!

Season Wrapup for Norcal Se30

Don't forget to visit BTM Motowerks' season wrapup here!

We were fortunate enough to have a storybook ending to the season and come away with the win for the year. And Happy New Year to everyone - 2012 should be outstanding! And may see the emergence of yet another fine BTM Motorwerks race car!