January 2017
Tips for Faster Lap Times by James Chartres
Want to go faster? Of course you do. Here are some tips that helped me get faster lap times. These tips come from variety of sources including shared wisdom from other racers, racing books and things I have found that work for me: Look where you want to go, ignore the cones, make the car do something, and more.
Complete article in this month’s issue. Download the pdf – ->
Drivers School 101, Tips for Faster Lap Times, Sacramento Solo Enduro, Annual Road Racing Awards Banquet
December 2016
For at least 15 years, Bryan Nemy was the go-to guy in Solo. If something needed to be done, he was getting it done before anyone even asked. You want a Pro Solo, National just called Bryan. You need a safety steward tomorrow in Fresno, you just called Bryan. You want a National Tour at barely usable Golden Gate Fields. Bryan got the site, organized the weekend, and got a team together to make it happen – the best it could be.
Read more about Bryan and Pat Kelly who also passed away recently – complete articles in this month’s issue. Download the pdf – ->
Solo Site project; Regional 13 & 14; Solo Slush 1 & 2; Tributes to Bryan Nemy and Pat Kelly
November 2016
Double Regional #11/#12, September 24-25, Thunderhill Raceway Park
Race 1, Group 7, SMT, SSM, SM
Saturday afternoon started with 49 cars taking the green flag in the 11 lap, 25-minute contest. Fifty-one cars set qualifying times. Pole-setter, Will Schrader, #97, SM, would be victorious, over a relentless, Ken Sutherland, #91, SM, by 1.202 seconds. Eric Jones, #2, SM, finished 3rd, 6.5 seconds behind Ken. Coming in 4th and 1st in SMT was the #90 of Roland Kamber, while the #50, SMT of Tupper Hull, was right behind him. Over in the SSM ranks, Kirk Uhrlaub, #84, held off David Allen, #61, by 2.4 seconds, finishing 15th and 16th overall.
Read about all the weekend’s races in the November issue –>
SFR 2016 Road Racing Champions & Trophy Winners; Danville Concours; Mazda Road to Indy; Why I Bought a Spec Racer Ford
October 2016
Back to back weekends featured the 100th anniversary of BMW and as with all “pro” events, I was behind the wheel of Rollback One joining the Emergency Crew for six days of vintage automobile racing.
Saturday morning had practice sessions for eleven different run groups ranging from 1947-1955 Sports Racing and GT cars through 1981-1991 FIA/IMSA GTO and GTP cars and everything in between.
Complete article in this month’s issue. Download the pdf – ->
Coverage of Rolex Montherey Motorsports Reunion, A Typical Corner Worker’s Day, Fiberglass Repair How-to, Ferndale Concours and more.
September 2016
Double Regionals #9 & #10 – Laguna Seca
The weekend’s Pit Crew Challenge, sponsored by Tech, was won by Jason Hohmann and Chris Garcia from Bulldog Motorsports. They pulled a spark plug from the #34 SRF3 in about 11 seconds. They did so without breaking the plug, burning themselves or others, or in any way jeopardizing public safety.
The novice winners for the weekend were:
Group 4. Lyn Greenhill, #56, CF, from Roseville.
Group 5. Michael Cummings, #35, ITA, from Fairfield.
Michael Detmers, #88, from Castro Valley.
Group 6. Parker Briggs, #6, SRF, from Healdsburg.
Group 7. J. D. Medlin, #7, SM, from Los Altos Hills.
Rob Fuller, #76, SSM, from San Jose.
Duke Zander, #09, SMT, from Placerville.
Full weekend coverage in this issue. Download the pdf –
New column – SRF News; Double Regional 9 & 10; Solo Fresno Points and Bay Area Final Rounds
August 2016
Spec Miata Festival Race, July 3, Sonoma
The grid for the festival race was determined by the fastest lap in Race 2. Thirty-nine cars would make up the field in this 16 lap, end of the day, event. Pole-setter Marco Gallaher, #8, would clinch his third win of the weekend in SMT, and his FIFTH checkered flag of the weekend! He managed to hold off a relentless Tommy McCarthy, #23, who was the SM winner but barely, as the margin of victory was a mere 1.104 seconds. Tommy also bagged his THIRD checkered flag of the weekend! Kirk Uhrlaub, #84, finished 8th overall but was victorious for the SECOND time in SSM. “Hard Charger” award was given on the RaceHero app. to the #79 of Sushanth Sureshkumar, who qualified 45th and finished 24th.
The Flagging & Communications crews picked Marco Gallaher, #8, SMT, as the Driver of the Weekend. He set the fastest qualifying times in all three Group 7 sessions, and won all three race in a field of 52 cars in races #1 & #2, and 39 cars in the Festival race. Good sportsmanship in lapping cars during the events. Nice Job!
Sonoma Sprints Double Regional, Solo Bay Area Rounds 6 & 8, Sacramento Solo Rounds 5 & 6, Alameda Point Concours d’Elegance
July 2016
Are you interested in Sports Car Road Racing? Have you ever watched it on TV and wondered how you could become involved? Wish you had the money to race, but cannot afford it (yet…)? Come out and learn about Road Racing in the Bay Area (& beyond!) by joining us at one of our three Norther California Road Racing Circuits; Sonoma Raceway (aka Infineon & Sears Point), Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca, and Thunderhill Raceway Park.
Then come visit us at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey July 22nd through 24th and learn how to …:
Be a Flagger…Be a Fire Marshall…Be a Grid Marshall…Be a Course Marshall…Become a Timing & Scoring Assistant
Double Regional June 2-5 at Laguna Seca; SFR Solo Round 5, 6 and 7 ; Sacramento Rounds 3 & 4; Fresno Rounds 4 & 5
June 2016
During the Double Regional #3/#4 at Thunderhill, the Announce Crew picked David Ray, #30, SMG, as the Driver of the Weekend. David had issues with sound during his first qualifying session and had to start the first Group 5 race at the back of the field, which was position 45. He managed to finish 3rd overall. During race number two for that group, he battled with fellow SMG driver, Sean Wheeler, #06, and was the overall race winner.
The Social Crew picked James Herbst, Chief of Worker Transportation at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca due to the fact he helped bring the heavy items in for the Social Crew and shopping, as needed. He also provided outstanding support to the Course Marshal Crew, by transporting their truck and trailer. He was a tremendous help wherever he was need during the event.
VMB Driving Academy, Thunderhill May Double Regional, Solo SFR #2 & #3, Sacramento #1 & #2, DRAFT Program Expanded
May 2016
Thunderhill Major “Ultimate Challenge” – by Steve Jaroch
One hundred and forty-four cars were pre-registered for the opportunity to experience the first “Ultimate Challenge”, which included races on Saturday using the 3-mile, East course, as well as Sunday’s races, using the additional 2-mile, West course.
Congratulations to Group 6 driver Tom Burt, #45, SRF3, for winning the free registration fee for the event.
The Emergency Crew conducted mock extraction training after the last checkered flag Friday evening. They wanted me to acknowledge and thank the two drivers that volunteered to participate. They were Brent Hatchet, #1, SM, and Tommy McCarthy, #23, SM.
Ultimate Challenge – Thunderhill Major, Faces of the Ultimate Challenge, Tribute to John Kelly, Around the Corners
April 2016
News from the Flagging and Communications- by Rhea Dods
The third event was the Season Opener Regional at Laguna Seca.
- Well as usual, the fog had to be incorporated into the Friday and Saturday schedules, as we had to wait to start the day due to visibility issues. However, Sunday was clear and sunny.
- We welcomed 4 new members to our crews: Waheed Brown, former motorcycle racer; Bill Browning, who flagged in the past with Cal Club, has been absent for a few years, and is joining our crews and expects to be quite active this season; Nik Peter, who brought his great smile and enthusiasm to his first event; and Joseph Singh, who wrote us and said he had a great time and will join us at the Laguna events.. WELCOME Waheed, Bill, Nik and Joe.
- A shout out to our one day workers: Jack Daniels and Paul Clark, who joined us on Friday to help. Appreciate it JD and Paul. And Mike Lee for joining us on Sunday. Thanks Mike.
- It was so nice to have Bruce Runyan as Flag Chief for Friday and his help as a logger in the tower. Also, it was great to see his daughter Sandy. Thanks guys.
- There was some great racing and the novices did a very good job.
Next up will be our historic, unique and prestigious Ultimate Challenge MAJORS event at Thunderhill April 6-10!!!! Want to get on a corner at our 2016 events? Email office@sfrscca.org and we’ll put you in touch with the flagging chiefs.
2016 Drivers School sees 72 new drivers; Stories from the students; News from F&C, Solo first 2016 rounds
March 2016
RE News by Gary Pitts
Well, the new year is off to a great start. The last time I counted, we have 52 entries for the drivers’ school and more people are trying to find rental cars so they can run the School. I found one renter who has a few cars left so I expect we’ll get a few more entries. I haven’t counted entries for the season opener, but entries are already coming in for the Majors, “The Ultimate Challenge” where we will run both the 3-mile and the 5-mile courses in one event; we’re hoping for a big hit here and when we get it, I think we’ll have a great start on a traditional Big Event that will be the envy of all the clubs on the western tier.
We also have a very interesting project developing in our solo community which is being led by Board member Clint DeWitt in conjunction with the Autocross leadership. We are in early-stage discussions with the government agency which currently operates a solo and racing facility in the Stockton area to take a long-term lease on the facility, make improvements using mostly funds held in the solo site fund, possibly supplemented with a loan or other participation from SCCA National, to develop the site for use by our own club and rental to other organizations. This is in the very early stages and I’ll keep you informed as progress is made.
All in all, the Club is doing well both financially and socially and the future is bright. I call that pretty good for an organization which is struggling with our real competition, which is mostly electronics-based nowadays.
See you at the races!
RE News, Cal Club Majors, 2016 Drivers School Students, Thunderhill Report
February 2016
The DRAFT program has been in effect since 2004, allowing an SCCA driver to earn credit for test days by volunteering as a race official in any specialty: Flagging, Tech, Timing, Grid, or Worker Transport. A driver earns credit depending on the number of hours worked.
Starting this year, the DRAFT program has been expanded to include Region Race Entry credits.
By volunteering two full days, a driver can receive a $150 race entry credit. Volunteering four days earns a $300 entry credit.
2015 Year in Review; DRAFT program expanded; RDC Last Enduro ever; Test at Thunderhill