USTCC Round 1 - Overall Pole in the WET

 Race Recap April 2026 - The Circuit at Buttonwillow 

April 24th Found Andy Chittum's Mad Man Motorsports team returning to USTCC competition at this time at The Circuit at Buttonwillow, a new track to many of the USTCC competitors.  Earlier in the week, the weather had been rough, but forecast was for a clear if chilly qualifying Saturday afternoon.  

As the teams prepared for qualifying after several practice sessions during the day, however, the afternoon grew darker and cloud cover intensified, and a few precipitation trails could be seen in the distance across the flat plain of California's central valley. 

Sure enough, as the USTCC competitors lined up on slick tires along with SpeedSF's endurance group for qualifying the first drops of water began to fall, and the track had a light sprinkle throughout qualifying to add excitement to all 26 driver's challenge of setting a fast lap.

Chittum immediately pushed hard to get heat into the sticky Hankook tires, and times began to fall in between laps where he negotiated lapped traffic.  While the track surface didn't puddle up too much, Chittum also found that his wipers had malfunctioned right at the start of qualifying, stuck at halfway position.  This left Chittum crouching down under the wipers to see the apex of right-handed turns, and straining to look over the wipers for left handed turns, but after a few laps he had the track dialed in. 

Initially, only 2:05ish laps were possible, but in the last lap of qualifying Chittum was able to fully send a few critical turns to eek out a 2:03.4 which was good for pole position not just faster than the USTCC SP class, but faster than all the USTCC cars, some with hundreds more horsepower, and it was good for pole position for SpeedSF's B Enduro class as well, and 4th overall in the entire group.  

Sunday morning 8am race time, started out as opposite day with the skies clear, but the track rather damp with standing water.  Chittum lined up at the front with high powered cars, and at the drop of the flag, fell back a few positions without the momentum of a full lap behind the MX5.

At the start, Reza Arsham driving the #30 Gogogear K24 Civic came motoring by, and in traffic got about a 5 second lead on the Mazda.  For the next 40 minutes, Chittum and Arsham would battle back and forth, gaining and losing ground, between 4 to 8 seconds the whole race, with Chittum finally finishing 2nd to the Civic on the fast Buttonwillow Circuit Course just about 5 seconds behind.  

Mad Man Motorsports will return to USTCC competition May 23-24 back at Sonoma Raceway where Chittum holds the lap record in the #99 Mazda MX5 in USTCC SP Class -- it promises to be one for the books!

USTCC Go Go Go - In 3 days

Wednesday afternoon.  Phone call.

"Andy, I need your help.  I bought a car yesterday, super cheap - it hasn't be run in a over a decade, and I want it to race this weekend."

On the one hand, something every race driver wants to hear - someone needs them to drive their car.  On the other, so many questions.  Are there tires?  Condition of the shocks?  The engine works?  Setup?  Testing?  By the way, what kind of car is it anyway?

The car was a 5th gen Honda Civic equipped with a B18C of uncertain build.  Shocks had been rebuilt by the prior owner recently, the engine had started when they tried it, they had some old Hankook F200s laying around and all the rest would be taken care of at the track Saturday before the race Sunday.

Sure thing, I'm in.

This car turned out to be the newest to race for USTCC Team Gogogear.com's stable, which includes other cars spread from the Sportsman class, where the Civic fit in, to the Super Touring class featuring a gorgeous S54 equipped BMW e90 driven by Lary Bani.  In fact, the team had another similar Civic painted in the distinctive team yellow-orange to be driven by Reza Arsham, which became my template for working things up, and figuring out what the car liked.

Saturday, with a reduced testing schedule, there was just time enough for the car's new owner Ali Arsham to jump into the car and give it a quick once over, as well as have to team update a few safety items before Sunday.

Warmup - Really Warm

Sunday dawned with perfect spring Sonoma Raceway Weather, sunny, 80 degrees and a light breeze.  I slid into the Honda, and headed out for a warmup.  The one minor issue noted in the shakedown Saturday was a slight tendency for the car to overheat, so with one eye on the temp gauge, I worked on figuring out the car.

After two laps, I'd started to drop my times pretty quickly - the little car had tons of stick, and could do more each lap.  The newly rebuilt shocks handled the uneven pavement well in T1.  T3 was a light dance.  T6 pulled my cheeks sideways and the chicane for T8 was well balanced all the way through.  Even the (not my favorite) FIA configuration chicane in T9 worked better than I'd have thought for a smaller car.

On my 3rd time across the line I got a signal to pit, so I came in, the GogoGear Guys did the tires, and we pulled in to look at the data from the run.

To combat the unusual water temperature, the GogoGear team put together a makeshift shroud to force more cool air through the radiator.  I discussed tire pressures and setup with Reza again, and we settled on the final plans for qualifying and the race.

Qualifying - If Ida Had One More Lap

For qualifying late morning the Gogogear team put me on scrubbed slicks, and I found it a challenge to get the big Hankook F200 race slicks warmed up on the 2300lb car.  After some major scrubbing, I got a decent lap in for the bank, and looked to really give it the beans, hoping I had enough thermal runway to make it a good one.  I had put everything I'd learned in the morning together and put a good lap together, but I got the signal to pit again, and had to abort the lap.

The setup on the car looked good, but there was still some tinkering to be done so we came in and started prepping for the race.  Edgar Lau's #9 BMW 330i had some legs on the field with a roughly 3 second advantage, but the next 4 of us were separated by a half second, putting me inside second row to start.

Go Go Go

At 1:10 PM the entire USTCC field took a green flag, and 22 cars left stripes of sweet Hankook rubber en route to a chaotic blast through Sears Point's T1.  While Lau quickly checked out, the rest of the SP field upended on the first lap.  I figured out a pretty good standing launch procedure and moved up, while both Bovenberg and Gardner had trouble getting away.  Reza Arsham made a great start up through T2 and made another pass into T5, but I managed to get around him on the mid-exit of T6, and come across the line in 2nd place on the first lap.

Awesome Race Start Video!

Awesome Overtake Video!

The battle for 2nd settled in Chittum - Arsham - Bovenberg - Milbourn - Gardner for the first 5 laps or so, and I was able to manage the pace, pushing harder for a lap, gaining a gap on the field, then taking it a little easier for a bit.  Coming out of T9 on lap 5 I was a little overly easy just to get the engine temperature down, and Reza managed to overlap me into 11.  I didn't protest too hard with my teammate, and we charged up into T2 together.

As I unwound the steering wheel for T2, suddenly, there was an impact on the back of the car, the car was pitched to the left, and I got a lovely view of the pedestrian bridge out the windshield as I slid sideways up the hill at about 80 mph.  It's always interesting to see what comes to mind in such a situation like this, and I recall simply - 'dontrollover, dontrollover, dontrollover' until a deluge of dirt and grass blasted through the passenger side windows and the car headed for the tire barrier.  The tires didn't catch in the dirt, and I came to an easy rest not too far from the tire barrier.  Barely missing a beat, I got the car back in gear and took off up T3, but there was a lot of dirt and grass built up, and it took a few slow turns to get the car to work normally again.

Awesome get punted off video!

By that time, the water temperature was right at the upper end of workable, so my best choice was to pull it in, and save the car rather than trying to chase down the field and risk blowing the engine.

Later, Ali expressed his appreciation that the car showed good speed in the class, and ran as high as second place.  It seemed like he was just about an upgraded radiator away from a very competitive car.  Maybe even at the next USTCC event, October 26 and 27th with NASA.  Maybe I'll even get another phone call.

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.

USTCC Video from the R Petersen Mini!

Check out the in-car video from the #58 MINI Cooper S, Driven by Andy Chittum!