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Ahh yes, it was that glorious time of year. As the sun was setting, the green flag would be dropping on the annual six hour endurance race. That would come later. Earlier in the day we had the regular slew of NASA Utah races and TT sessions. Because I have poor time management skills, and knowing that I wouldn’t be leaving Utah Motorsports Campus until the wee hours of Sunday morning, I showed up at lunch time. That was a mistake…
Time Trial
It was a mistake because I missed Shawn Murphy’s sessions. More importantly, I missed his record setting session. The one where he ran a 1:59.566, becoming the fastest Subaru to run the Outer Loop and setting a TT2 record. How does Shawn’s time compare? How fast did he push that full interior street car? Well…
Well, Brendon Stewart in the Makes & Models Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo, a purpose built racecar running in the Unlimited class, ran a 1:59.464. The V10 powered monster was less than a quarter of a second faster than Shawn’s ridiculous “street car”. HOWEVA, Shawn only needed to run one good lap. Brendon needed to run one good lap, and keep the car intact so it could run the Thunder race AND the enduro that same day.
Another local boy pulling double duty on the day was David Gilliland. Later in the day he’d be hoping in his Spec Z and running in the enduro, but before that he was in his bright orange Viper T/A for TT1 duty. He did pretty good in TT, winning TT1 with a best time of 2:06.270.
The enduro brought out a lot of driver’s from out of state. One such driver was Erik Davis. He brought out his gorgeous E36 M3, and was running in both TT and the Thunder race. He did very well in TT, taking home the TT3 win. His best time was 2:08.681.
Despite breaking his shifter, Darin Beaudoin laid down some fast TTB laps. He claimed another class win with a 2:15.318.
Todd Green got the win in TTE. He was not in Paul Mitchell, but the Smurf! Papa Smurf laid down a 2:17.629.
Another guy I missed because I don’t know how to sleep was Max Dufford. Max picked up another TTC win in his white Boxster, with a best time of 2:18.1.66
And finally, Trever “With an E” Pope banged out his umpteenth TTD win with a 2:22.819. Speaking of guys who just win a lot…
Lightning
Arthur Golebiowski was back in his old form, taking home the Spec Z win. Tom Kaminski and Chad Aalders battled it out for second place, with Tom and his HKS lookin Z taking home second place.
Toting the SCR Performance banner in GTS2 was, and probably still is, Doug Young. He came out, and went home with the GTS2 win over Mark Boschert.
Joseph DePillo was out and about in Spec E46, a class we don’t see much of in these parts. That’s a shame, we need more inline sixes wailing out there. Anyway, he picked up the win in class.
David DePillo, maybe related, in another E46 3-Series took home a win in GTS5.
Through a shrubbery came your PTB winner: Nathan Rohner. Still waiting on someone to challenge him…
Papa Smurf is wise, and had a charged battery this time around. Todd Green was back in his dominant form, and took home another PTE win. Fun fact: Todd’s and Nathan’s total race times and best lap times were nearly identical.
Are you guys watching Spec Miata like I told you to? You better have been, because this was another good one. Chris Bond beat out Mike Ferrara and Matt Williamson for the class win. The gap from first to third was only four seconds.
So this little M3 Compact, driven by Michael Schmitt, claimed the… GTSU win? Huh… Well, it’s on MyLaps and Race Hero… You know what? If this changes, we’ll update this post, but until then REVEL IN THE GLORY OF THIS TINY BMW!!!
PTD saw another SCR Performance car driven by another Schmitt: Mikey was at the helm of the Subaru BRZ, and took home an impressive win.
JF Martin turned some laps in PTC before taking the RSX into the night for the enduro. He took home the win.
And finally: OTTO SILVA LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! He’s out there, soldiering on in 944 Spec, by his lonesome.
Thunder
We’ve arrived at the Thunder race, where we saw a legend appear. A mythical creature, the stuff of folk tales. Swamp Thing, the chop top C4 Corvette that makes crazy power and doesn’t know what to do with it. James Miller harnessed the beast’s rage, and rode it to a class in Super Unlimited AND the overall race win.
The Makes & Models Huracan Super Trofeo had been through a day of testing, practice and qualifying sessions for this race, and some TT sessions. It qualified on the pole for the Thunder race, but Derek could not hold off a mythical beast. He did take home the GTSU win, which is nothing to sneeze at.
Bob Evans, Mr. Enchantment himself, ran over all the kerbs in the Attitudes. Our gentle giant climbed to the top of the podium in ST1.
Brett Strom, in the first M4 racer I’ve seen in person, took home the win in GTS5. Look at the exhaust: it’s not just a side exit, it’s coming out of the door!
Coming straight out of wherever the hell he lives now, and straight to the tippy top of ST2 is Travis Tidball! He lost a wing, but got it back on there for the race.
Dan McKeever was out in Old Blue for some ST3 laps. He took home the win for the Ford Performance Racing School.
Gregory Dell, and his metallic blue Porsche Cayman, picked up a win in the GTS4 class. Need legal counsel? From the looks of his car, he might know someone…
The American Iron class was won by on Mr. Garth Yettick, who did some sight seeing during the race…
That’s it for the NASA Utah coverage, but not the coverage from Utah Motorsports Campus. We’ll have coverage of the Utah 6 Hour coming up later this week!
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