Post by Keith Tanaka on Oct 21, 2015 19:55:36 GMT -8
This year's Nats had some new records set, some surprises, a lot of fun as usual and was a bit crazy.
New records were set by Ryan Miller and Gonzo (Hector Gonzalez).
Ryan who drove down to BPR from the Napa/Sonoma area up north, set a new total lap record for the '57-'79 Nascar class with 232 laps (was 231). Ryan also won two Concours. For those who don't know, Ryan was a regular hardbody racer at BPR a few years ago before moving up north.
Being an architect by profession, his cars are well engineered. He takes great pride and patience in building his cars and the build quality and excellent finish is easily recognized when you see any of his hardbody cars.
Gonzo as usual had some super lightweight, super fast cars. He destroyed the existing lap total record for 3 C's (247 laps) with 254 laps! His 2004 Corvette convertible was super lightweight and easily the fastest car in the 3 C's race. He also nearly broke the 5 second barrier when he recorded a fast lap of 5.050 on black during the 3 C's race. Gonzo also won Concours for the 80's-2015 NASCAR race. Eddie Shorer had a good race day on Sunday as he won the GTP race and was second in the 3 C's race. Two podiums in two races he entered. Phil Nyland was very consistent and earned 4 podiums. Victor Dubrowsky also earned two podiums in two races. I had my best Nats ever as I snuck into the winners circle a few times and had a great day of racing, but I had more pleasure watching others having a good time.
It was a surprise that we had several of our regular racers unable to participate in the Nats this year, yet we still had the same number of race entries for this year's Nats as last year's event (64 entries both years). I would predict that next year's Nats will have many more entries than the last two Nats.
Although not a surprise, it was nice to see quite a bit of close racing in many of the races. In particular, the NASCAR, 3 C's and GTP races had some moments when it seemed most of the field were running nearly side by side for several laps. When you have most of the field running side by side for several laps it is quite a sight to see. The Jalopy race also had many exciting moments as the top heavy cars did a lot of crashing as they usually do.
You could see and hear the fun racers were having. Jay Henry in particular, who admits he is an "A" type personality, was very vocal thruout the event. He either was yelping for joy or disappointment depending on how he was doing during each race. A lot of yelling and laughter was seen and heard among several of the racers. Gonzo could be heard from time to time depending on how his race was going. His ongoing verbal exchange with race director/fellow racer, Victor Dubrowsky, is always good for a chuckle or two. Some craziness by these racers as well as a lot of fun racing hardbodies at the Nats.
A big surprise after the GTP race was the result of the raffle for the two race prizes (donated by Jeff Bell and Craig Gilbert, thanks guys). Among the GTP racers (11), we decided to do a raffle based on the starting lane choice of each racer. So each racer had a lane color or one of three sitout choices. After the race, the raffle drawing was performed by Gladys (Gonzo's girlfriend). She did a random draw and picked the blue lane sticker. Guess who started the race on blue? Yep, it was Gonzo. Was that luck or a setup? I heard "fix" as soon as we found out it was Gonzo winning the raffle. Gonzo won the Tamiya Jaguar XJR-8 model kit (donated by Jeff Bell). Ryan Miller's lane choice was selected next for the second raffle prize (Tamiya 206 Peugeot WRC model kit donated by Craig Gilbert). It was an appropriate prize for Ryan as he's going to compete in next year's WRC enduro.
Our next big race is Nov. 29th, Second Chance GTP Enduro. We still have room for one more enduro team. Let's get another team to join the fun soon.
Keith
New records were set by Ryan Miller and Gonzo (Hector Gonzalez).
Ryan who drove down to BPR from the Napa/Sonoma area up north, set a new total lap record for the '57-'79 Nascar class with 232 laps (was 231). Ryan also won two Concours. For those who don't know, Ryan was a regular hardbody racer at BPR a few years ago before moving up north.
Being an architect by profession, his cars are well engineered. He takes great pride and patience in building his cars and the build quality and excellent finish is easily recognized when you see any of his hardbody cars.
Gonzo as usual had some super lightweight, super fast cars. He destroyed the existing lap total record for 3 C's (247 laps) with 254 laps! His 2004 Corvette convertible was super lightweight and easily the fastest car in the 3 C's race. He also nearly broke the 5 second barrier when he recorded a fast lap of 5.050 on black during the 3 C's race. Gonzo also won Concours for the 80's-2015 NASCAR race. Eddie Shorer had a good race day on Sunday as he won the GTP race and was second in the 3 C's race. Two podiums in two races he entered. Phil Nyland was very consistent and earned 4 podiums. Victor Dubrowsky also earned two podiums in two races. I had my best Nats ever as I snuck into the winners circle a few times and had a great day of racing, but I had more pleasure watching others having a good time.
It was a surprise that we had several of our regular racers unable to participate in the Nats this year, yet we still had the same number of race entries for this year's Nats as last year's event (64 entries both years). I would predict that next year's Nats will have many more entries than the last two Nats.
Although not a surprise, it was nice to see quite a bit of close racing in many of the races. In particular, the NASCAR, 3 C's and GTP races had some moments when it seemed most of the field were running nearly side by side for several laps. When you have most of the field running side by side for several laps it is quite a sight to see. The Jalopy race also had many exciting moments as the top heavy cars did a lot of crashing as they usually do.
You could see and hear the fun racers were having. Jay Henry in particular, who admits he is an "A" type personality, was very vocal thruout the event. He either was yelping for joy or disappointment depending on how he was doing during each race. A lot of yelling and laughter was seen and heard among several of the racers. Gonzo could be heard from time to time depending on how his race was going. His ongoing verbal exchange with race director/fellow racer, Victor Dubrowsky, is always good for a chuckle or two. Some craziness by these racers as well as a lot of fun racing hardbodies at the Nats.
A big surprise after the GTP race was the result of the raffle for the two race prizes (donated by Jeff Bell and Craig Gilbert, thanks guys). Among the GTP racers (11), we decided to do a raffle based on the starting lane choice of each racer. So each racer had a lane color or one of three sitout choices. After the race, the raffle drawing was performed by Gladys (Gonzo's girlfriend). She did a random draw and picked the blue lane sticker. Guess who started the race on blue? Yep, it was Gonzo. Was that luck or a setup? I heard "fix" as soon as we found out it was Gonzo winning the raffle. Gonzo won the Tamiya Jaguar XJR-8 model kit (donated by Jeff Bell). Ryan Miller's lane choice was selected next for the second raffle prize (Tamiya 206 Peugeot WRC model kit donated by Craig Gilbert). It was an appropriate prize for Ryan as he's going to compete in next year's WRC enduro.
Our next big race is Nov. 29th, Second Chance GTP Enduro. We still have room for one more enduro team. Let's get another team to join the fun soon.
Keith