As with most events, we took a ton of pictures at the NASA Utah season opener. Unfortunately we could only stick so many in the actual reports; however, instead of letting these photos hang out on our hard drives we made some galleries so you can see what didn’t make the cut. It’s broken down like the coverage posts were, (Thunder and Lightning combined groups, open wheel, and then TT) so you don’t have to scroll through a few hundred photos to find the one you want.
Thunder and Lightning:
Open Wheel:
TT:
Words by Michael Chandler. Photos by Michael Chandler and Michael Wells
*Article and Photos are copyright of CAMAutoMag.Com and their respective owners.
Smith-Burke Racing setting their second record of the day!
Paul McGarvey in his second run group and second Miata
Many TT drivers had moved up to the road racing classes, and several had not completed their off season builds yet. Absent was everyone’s favorite Wyoming local, TT1 Champion Shawn Murphy, but he came down to visit and show his support and supply NASA Utah’s own Matt Guiver with a well deserved malty beverage. Smith-Burke racing ran fast laps in both the racing group and the time trial group. Paul McGarvey joined the Vette with his V8 powered Miata, but Paul was one man splitting time between two different classes, while J.R. Smith and James Burke could split seat time. Hard work paid off and the Vette managed to break Danny Popp’s four year old TT1 track record with a 1:58.09.
Greg Valdez
Scott Corsetti chasing down Josh Miller
In TT2 Greg Valdez picked up right where he left off at Nationals last year. His 2:04.356 was more than enough to take the win over Scott Corsetti’s 911 turbo. Greg repeated his victory on Sunday. Both TT2 drivers were good sports and spent a great deal of their day instructing new drivers in the HPDE program.
Trip Hunter
Corry Perkins
John Carver
TT3 saw new and old Porches battle a Corvette and a WRX wagon. Rookie time trial driver Trip Hunter took the class win in his Martini Liveried Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS, posting a 2:11.793, 2.8 seconds ahead of Corry Perkins’s 911. Rounding out the podium was John Carver, who put his black and silver Corvette in third with a 2:15.329. Josh Miller drove his WRX wagon to a fourth place finish (2:16.879), and James Pasquier posted a best time of 2:18.657 in his yellow 993 chassis 911, the oldest, but perhaps classiest, car in the field.
Kyle Schick
Reigning TTU Champion Kyle Schick was learning how the RaceCo/OS Giken/Ohlins Racing/VP Fuels/AMS GTR handled in rear wheel drive configuration. 2:04.185 was his best time during Saturday’s sessions.
Will we see Shawn Murphy next round? Will Trent Smith get all four wheels of the GTR spinning together? Can there possibly be more Porsches on track? Find out all of this and more next month! The next race weekend is April 25-27 on the West track. Registration is open and we look forward to seeing everyone return for Round 2 of the NASA Utah racing series
Words by Michael Chandler and Matt Guiver. Photos by Michael Chandler
*Article and Photos are copyright of CAMAutoMag.Com and their respective owners.
The first NASA Utah weekend of the year brought with it its fair share of action. From new track records to people driving the wheels off their cars, local hero’s, rookies, and national champs all came out to enjoy Utah regions Round 1. Over 100 drivers challenged Miller Motorsports Park’s outer loop configuration, and our Thunder and Lightning race group featured well over 40 cars on grid for the start of Saturdays race!
David Donner
Peter Spencer
John Scarlett
The GTS drivers were out in force, and entirely in Porsche 911s. In GTSU David Donner put his red and white Air Power Racing prepped machine in First place ahead of Peter Spencer and John Scarlett, both also in Air Power Racing machines.
Roberto Albarran leading the pack
Alan Wilson
Russ Timmons
GTS5 demonstrated some close racing between Alan Wilson and Roberto Albarran, with Roberto edging out Alan by just under 1 second, despite Alan posting better lap times. Russ Timmons debuted his beautiful new orange and chrome wrap job to round out 3rd. Sundays race was another barn burner for these two, Alan was leading a close battle when a daring move in lap traffic, quickly turned into a carefully managed spin, moving him to 2nd, but with Desire supporting over the radio, Alan climbed back into 2nd place, while Mark Brouse finished 3rd.
Darrell Troester
Chris Vivolo
GTS4 was a two man battle between Darrell Troester and Chris Vivolo in their Tatum Racing 911s. When the checkered flag dropped it was Darrell taking the class win. Darrell was able to repeat his victory on Sunday, securing a healthy lead for his season.
Douglas Turnquist
Bill Noblitt
In the Pro Touring classes it was Douglas Turnquist versus Bill Noblitt in PTB and Todd Green versus his Miata in PTE. Douglas put his Porsche 944 ahead of Bill Noblit’s Boxster, which retired early due to a mechanical issue.
Todd Green ahead of the Spec Miata group
Todd Green had an exciting Saturday in PTE. After only 4 laps his driver’s front wheel decided it wanted to take a lap off. It took the hub and brake rotor off into the infield while Todd wrangled the rest of the car to a stop just outside of turn 6. Determined to get back in the game he recruited Matt Guiver and Travis Tidball to sacrifice the E3 Miata sitting quietly in the garage. Todd worked hard and got his #60 PTE Miata back on the grid in time to edge out Allan Anderson for the class win on Sunday.
Chris Bond
David Sherman
Troy Duffin
In other Miata racing news, Chris Bond was your Spec Miata winner, ahead of David Sherman and Troy Duffin respectively. Rounding out the class were McKay Snow, Paul McGarvey, and rookie Joe Shubert. David came back with all cylinders firing on Sunday and put down some consistent laps to take 1st place, Troy Duffin clinched 2nd, and Chris Bond had to settle for 3rd. Larry Carpenter had his hands full keeping cars tuned up for this competitive class.
Arthur Golebiowski leading Tom Kaminski into Release
Paul House
Spec Z featured all rookie drivers, in 3 brand new Nissan 350Z Spec racers. Spec racing rules meant the cars were nearly identical, but Arthur Golebiowski, Tom Kaminski, and Paul House drove them very differently. Arthur wrestled his Strace Z into first, Tom pedaled to 2nd place, and Paul closed the race in 3rd. Arthur even took home a BFG R1 race tire, and $250 from Nissan for his debut race with NASA Utah. Sunday saw a surprise reversal, Thomas managed to take advantage of traffic to secure 1st place, even though Arthur set a new Spec Z track record with a 2:11.4 his effort was only good enough 2nd. Paul managed to bring it home in one piece for 3rd. All weekend these three drivers could be found in the paddock discussing strategy, and working on each other’s cars, it’s always nice to see camaraderie in the race grids.
Samuel Kapp
Otto Silva
Rounding out the Spec classes is Spec 944, which was the closest racing of the day! Samuel Kapp in his Eurotonic backed 944 battled with Otto Silva and his orange Euroworks machine. It was close, but Samuel took the win by .396 seconds after 10 laps on this 3 mile course!
Madison Snow battling Todd Ainsworth
Smith-Burke Racing on their way to setting a new NASA Utah record
Dan Worley sporting a temporary two tone color scheme
Super Touring was a dense field, with the quickest cars and some very experienced drivers at the wheels. It also featured the widest variety of vehicles. From Alex Whetman’s Focus of Doom to Madison Snow’s IMSA GTD class 991 Porsche that sees action in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. There are also a good handful of Corvettes, and in ST1 is where we find the 2013 National champ Team Smith-Burke Corvette. They were competing with Dan Worley and his Chevy LS1 powered Porsche 944. They came out of the box with a fast pace, opening up a 1:15.701 gap, and setting a new NASA Utah record in the process.
Byron Smith
Brendon Stewart
ST2 had old hand Byron Smith in his BMW against rookie Brendon Stewart in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. Brendon was hoping to not have a repeat of last season’s catastrophic failures and missed races, and things seemed to be working great. However an incident with the the #33 Skullcandy Team Nissan Altima in Clubhouse turn resulted in a spin, and driver penalties for Brendon. Determined to learn from his mistake, Brendon found the very small pieces of his bumper, and got the car back together to take 1st on Sunday with a 2:05.4.
Cary Wilson
Alex Whetman
Gary Free
Ryan Curl
ST3 was the deepest class with eleven drivers, seven of whom with driving FR500S Mustangs. Of the Mustang drivers, R. Ryan Curl proved to be the fastest, coming in fifth in class behind Todd Ainsworth’s Us Against One Clothing backed Subaru WRX STi. Cary Wilson took the class win in his gray C5 Corvette, earning some Hoosier race tires for his efforts, and Alex Whetman’s managed his Focus into second despite a catastrophically failed power steering pump. His effort was good for a contingency award for 1 free BFG R1! Gary Free’s RaceCo prepped Mustang FR500S rounded out the podium in what is shaping up to be an exciting season. Sunday saw Cary once again secure 1st place, while battling a new to him car, Todd Ainsworth drove the UAO STi to 2nd place, and Ryan Curl put down a blistering pace in his Ford Racing school FR500S easily securing 3rd place with a 2:13.9.
Madison Snow in the #13 Rum Bum Racing Porsche
2013 National Champ George Smith
Melanie Snow
SU was the class to watch. Two IMSA Tudor United SportsCar Championship Porsches paired off against the two Skullcandy Team Nissan Altimas which see action in Continental Tire Sportscar Challenge. Also in the fray were 2014 NASA SU National Champion George Smith and NASA Rookie Skip Sasser in Chevrolet S10. The Nissan’s were plagued by problems: the #33 had an incident with ST2 driver Brendon Stewart, while the #34 Nissan had clutch issues which forced them to retire after eight laps. No stranger to the race track, Skip Sasser drove his #38 S10 to a fourth place finish behind Melanie Snow in the #62 UIS Snow Racing Porsche 911. Ahead of her was George Smith in the yellow JDP sponsored C5 Corvette. And topping the SU podium in 1st place, Madison Snow. The 2013 IMSA GT3 Cup champion had a commanding lead by the time the checkered flag dropped. Sunday saw Les Long owner/operator of Air Power racing get behind the wheel of his Super Unlimited GT3, but there was nothing he could do to compete with Madison Snow. Driving hard, Madison managed a record shattering 1:52.0 to secure the win.
And so ends a successful opening weekend to the NASA Utah season. The next race weekend is April 25-27 on the West track. Registration is open and we look forward to seeing everyone return for Round 2 of the NASA Utah racing series
Words by Michael Chandler and Matt Guiver, Photos by Michael Chandler and Michael Wells
*Article and Photos are copyright of CAMAutoMag.Com and their respective owners.
We’ve known for years that the home markets for certain manufacturers have been getting far cooler things than we get here in the land of freedom and bald eagles and deep fried bacon. But what if you, between pieces of said bacon, decided you wanted one of those not available rides? For a while, you did nothing but deep fry more bacon and be content with what you had. Randy Reed of Greensboro, NC did not do that. He wanted a bug-eye STi, so he made one.
He slapped a JDM v7 front end on, and a front lip as well. The headlights were upgraded with a Morimoto projector HID kit, so as to see better. ChargeSpeed air ducts replaced the fog lights and a pair of carbon fiber STi side markers were popped in. The 4.5″ carbon fiber hood scoop brings in much more air and the occasional bird. Out back a wingless trunk from a 2.5RS was painted matte black, fitted with a STi badge, then installed. Keeping flying debris in check are a set of Rally Armor mudflaps.
Ahead of those mudflaps are a set of 18×10 Rota SVNs wrapped in Nexen rubber. Well, most of the time they’re there. With winter approaching Randy picked up a set of Enkei Evo 6s. Yes, they have winter in North Carolina. Yeah, I was surprised too!
The suspension and brakes on this bug-eye are pretty straightforward: ISC N1 coilovers with camber plates and STi brakes and hubs.
Inside is pretty simple as well. Full USDM STi interior, JDM floor mats, SPT boost gauge and a Blitz turbo timer. He sticker bombed the dash insert around the stereo, and he chucked the OEM head unit for a pop out unit with a 7″ screen. When he’s not changing radio stations, he’s changing gears via the short throw shifter toped by a Blox neochrome shift knob.
And now on to the good stuff! Here is the V7 STi motor, sitting comfortably in it’s natural habitat. For those unfamiliar, it’s a 2 liter motor with forged internals from the factory and a bigger turbo. In this case it’s a VF30 to go with the bigger top mount intercooler. Getting fuel to this home market masterpiece are a set of 750cc injectors. Getting the exhaust gasses away from the motor are a 4″ bellmouth down pipe feeding into a DC Sports exhaust. Sitting almost out of sight is a Grimmspeed 3 port boost solenoid. The car received an open source tune via a Tactrix setup and put down a very healthy 307whp and 300lb/ft.
Making that power useful is the drivetrain, which received its fair share of upgrades. A USDM six speed transmission pulled from a 2005 STi was fitted with the two liter starter and works like a dream. A Clutch Masters stage 2 competition clutch and an Exedy lightweight flywheel were thrown into the mix for added driving pleasure. Because a transmission swap in a Subaru isn’t as straightforward as it seems, the axles have been swapped out for a set from The Driveshaft Shop and a R-180 rear end had to be installed as well.
Randy Reed’s STi sits as a testament to what a motivated man can do when he wants something you can’t just run out and buy.
Want to see your car on here? Send us some decent photos and a list of the modifications and we’ll get something going!
Words by Michael Chandler, Photos by Randy Reed.
*Article and Photos are copyright of CAMAutoMag.Com and their respective owners.
Nationals were only a month behind them when the Miller locals returned to the west track for Round 6 of the NASA Utah season. It was also three weeks before the season ending endurance race. That led to some of your favorites taking the weekend off. They still came out to instruct HPDE and hang out, but their chariots were still.
But that doesn’t mean the track was empty. Cole Powelson was out in RaceCo’s new Porsche, Todd Ainsworth was out in his STi in ST2, George Smith hustled his flying banana C5 Corvette to a win in the Super Unlimited class and first place overall in the race, and Park got a few runs in in his Vette as well.
Oh, and Jason Smith raced Roger Miller’s World Challenge Mustang. More on this humbling experience in a later post…
STR1 went to Bob Evans in the Snickers, EA Sports Ford Fusion. He battled with Jason for a good chunk of the race, but he left him behind when they encountered traffic. Passing Jason got him into second overall.
Again the Spec Miata/GTS guys were out with the bigger, faster guys. While Jason and Bob had a good battle going, there was a dog fight happening at the front of the herd of Miatas.
Todd Green and Mike Ferrara were never out of the other’s sight the whole race! They might as well have tied their cars together, thats how close they were. After an epic battle, Mike emerged the victor. They might not be as fast as the open wheel or ST cars, but they fight just as hard if not harder than those other classes.
Speaking of open wheel, the shorter track kept them closer than usual. There weren’t any dirt drops or wheel touching, a la the Japanese GP, but the closeness brought action.
This is Dave Wann. He ran a 1:49.75, and did the best pirouette of the day. Kudos to you Dave, kudos.
I see you race a Z32. I too like to live dangerously. And if I remember right this either placed or won TTC. You don’t see a lot of Z32 300ZX’s out on track days, which is a shame because, as our friend here is demonstrating, they can do some serious work. They’re also such handsome vehicles.
You don’t see too many Z cars out in general, at least out on our little ribbon of tarmac. 370z’s are pricey, and S30s are gorgeous and more people would rather do them up and then take them to shows instead of the track. Hopefully seeing that Datsun go will bring a few more out.
Here are some random photos from the HPDE session. Nothing too crazy to report, just some guys getting in some supervised laps. Anyway, thats what happened in a rather light day. We’ll be out there for the season ending endurance race on the 26th, and we’ll do a photo dump ahead of that. We’ll see you there!
Words and Photos by Michael Chandler.
*Article and Photos are copyright of CAMAutoMag.Com and their respective owners.
NASA racers and support crew swarmed Miller Motorsports Park between the 4th and 8th of September for the NASA National Championships. Every class of NASA sanctioned racer were out there, along with your humble reporter/photographer. Well, the teams were there the whole time. I, unfortunately, only made it out on Friday the 6th, but I brought you pictures! And results!
Us Against One Clothing printed up some stickers for the locals to run if they chose to. The locals weren’t going to roll over and make it easy for the out of towners to win.
The American Iron (AI), American Iron Extreme (AIX) and Camaro Mustang Challenge (CMC) guys were taking advantage of the Full Course layout by doing what Camaros and Mustangs do best: go fast in a straight line. There were plenty of straights for them to wring their pony cars out. The AI and AIX classes were dominated by Mustangs that made the trip to Miller Motorsports Park from as far away as Ohio! But it wasn’t all Mustangs (well, the winners were all piloting Mustangs) or out of towners.
Gary Free in his RaceCo prepped, South Towne Storage sponsored FR500S took fourth in AIX, besting two other competitors. Corey Weber and Todd Davis brought out some classic American wheels to compete with. Weber took fourth in AI while Davis took tenth.
TTU, 1, and 2 were dominated by the home team. Kyle Schick ran a blistering 1:55 to take TTU, while Shawn Murphy and his full interior STi took TT1 with a 2:03. Smith-Burke Racing took TT2 by two tenths of a second! Their 2:01.039 was just barely quick enough for the title, while Greg Valdez missed out on the podium by four tenths. He still managed to out run a twin turbo 911 and a 911 GT3 by four and six seconds respectively.
George Smith took the fight to the STR-1 crowd and emerged with the title in the JDP Motorsports/Smith Marketing Services C5 Corvette. Corvettes appeared on the podium in ST2 (won by Smith-Burke Racing), ST3 and SU, with outright wins in ST2 and 3!
SU field was the most exotic. A pair of prototype-esqe cars, a pair of Thunder Roadsters, a Viper, a Honda S2000 and a Corvette all vied for the title, but when the checkered flag dropped the #7 Elan DP02 of Jon Van Canegham emerged victorious.
Also, the Brits were represented.
Spec Miata was arguably the most action packed field. Most of the packs were at least four cars deep, and dueling pairs of Miatas and lone Miatas were more the exception than the rule. Blinkers were left on, doors were smashed, it was one of the more fun groups to see tear it up. When the dust settled Matt Schultz climbed atop the podium. He represents the NASA Northwest region. The best the hometown crew could do was 13th (Chris Bond, 007). Can’t win them all…
If Spec Miata was the most action packed, most fun group to watch; then the GTS group was the prettiest. Porsches and BMWs running hard lap after lap. The sight was glorious, and the noise was epic!
Out of a possible twenty-eight championships, MMP locals took six. Nearly one quarter of your NASA National Champions call Miller Motorsports Park home… Well, not literally, but you get my drift. The number could’ve been more just as easily as less. Brendon Stewart’s Evo was still in pieces, Jason Smith sold his very quick Civic, Travis Williams’s FR500S was still down from the endurance race, and I’m not sure where Dave Dingman disappeared to. Sally McNulty’s WRX was dealing with a bad head gasket, Jordan Priestly was doing support work for some of the drivers. Those are six locals who could’ve competed for, if not taken a championship. And we’ll just gloss over the Snows and John Potter, because we know how well they usually do.
The championship trophies may have been handed out, but the racing isn’t over for the season. The final two events are in October: 4th-6th on the West track and 25th and 26th on the Outer Loop. Still plenty of good times to be had, and for the TT guys, faster laps since it *should* be cooler out.
A full list of winners, placers, show-ers, just missed its and also rans can be found here. BUT since you’re here, I present you with a list of the Champions, their class and their home region:
Alec Udell, American Iron, Texas
John Miksula, American Iron Extreme, Midwest
Aaron McSpadden, Camaro Mustang Challenge, Texas
Matt Schultz, Spec Miata, Northwest
David Schotz, TTB & C, Arizona
Sonny Watanasirisuk, TTD, California-Southern
Jason Kohler, TTE, Great Lakes
George Smith, STR1, Rocky Mountain
Michael von Quilich, Super Touring 1, California-Southern
Team Smith-Burke Racing, Super Touring 2, Utah
Kenneth Smith, Super Touring 3, Great Lakes
Jon Van Caneghem, Super Unlimited, California-Southern
Tyler Palmer, 944 Spec, California-Southern
Dick Hunter, GTS2, Texas
Tony Colicchio, GTS3, California-Northern
Michael McAleenan, GTS4, Northwest
Peter Spencer, GTS5, Utah
David Schotz, PTB, Arizona
Dennis Holloway, PTC, California-Southern
Need Speed Orozco, PTD, California-Southern
Jason Kohler, PTE, Great Lakes
Walter Carlos, PTF, California-Southern
David Dirks, Spec Z, Rocky Mountain
Shawn Murphy, TT1, Utah
Team Smith-Burke Racing, TT2, Utah
Christopher Mayfield, TT3, Rocky Mountain
Kyle Schick, TTU, Utah
And there you have it. See you in a a few weeks, and because I told them this is where to look, here’s a picture of this AIX Mustang:
-Words and Photos by Michael Chandler
*Article and Photos are copyright of CAMAutoMag.Com and their respective owners.
This past weekend Miller Motorsports Park hosted the 2013 NASA National Championships, and the MMP Locals held down the fort against the out of towners!
Kyle Schick: TTU Champ in the RaceCo prepped Nissan GTR
Shawn Murphy: TT1 Champ in the GrimmSpeed/The Boost Creep Limited STi
James Burke: TT2 Champ in the JDP C5 Corvette
And barely missing out on the podium by FOUR TENTHS of a second
Greg Valdez in #lelantos, the Ziptie Dynowerks/GolfTec/DC Spinal Care STi.
More photos are coming down the pipe, but in the meantime enjoy these photos of some of your favorite champions. They might not have all gotten hardware, but they’re definitely winners regardless.
Words and photos by Michael Chandler
*Article and Photos are copyright of CAMAutoMag.Com and their respective owners.
August 10th was an extremely busy day at Miller Motorsports Park. The Gotham Dream Car Sprint was happening in the Midway, starting at 6pm there was a Western Endurance Racing Championship six hour endurance race, and during the day the NASA locals were joined by some SCCA fellows for some laps! Exciting right? You betcha! However, the arrival of the SCCA guys meant that some of your NASA heroes raced with them instead of in the NASA groups.
This was most apparent with the open wheel guys. It was one of the larger open wheel fields in recent memory. And since this was a SCCA deal, I don’t have the results… Sorry guys, but I do have more pictures!
Looks like you herped when you should’ve derped there Bill.
See? That kinda makes up for the lack of actual information!
I’m not 100% sure what these are, but I think they’re Club Ford cars. Whatever they are, they’re very cool and deserve some time in the spotlight.
I don’t have results for the SCCA groups*, but I do have results for the NASA guys. With the increase in traffic on track, they split the NASA folks in to three groups:
Thunder: GTS 3, 4, 5; American Iron, Camaro Mustang Challenge, Spec Z, STR1, and ST2, 3 and U
Lightning: GTS1, 2, 3; Spec Miata, Spec E30, Spec 944, and PTB, C, E and F
TT: I’m not explaining this one
Let’s start with the TT group.
Despite a momentary lack of traction control, which led to a slight off track excursion, Kyle Shick took top honors for TTU in the RaceCo/Envision Wraps GTR with a 1:59.336. The car is fine, and Kyle was his usual smiling self about the incident at the awards dinner later in the evening.
The TT1 crown was claimed by Steven Streimer in the Lux Performance/Streimer MotorSports/Natalie’s Estate Winery Porsche 911 with a time of 2:03.395
Greg Valdez took #lelantos to the top of the heap in TT2 with a time of 2:09.348. The Ziptie Dynowerks sponsored STi has been getting better over the course of the season. Fun fact: the wing on the car is wider than Greg is tall.
The TT3 title was claimed by this fellow: Steve Nagel in the MarVista BMW M3. His time: 2:09.318. I would say something witty or funny, but I know nothing about him so I shall refrain.
Emilio Cervantes and his 949 Racing sponsored Mazda Miata took the TTB crown with a 2:13.901
Another Miata took TTC. This time it was Sonny Watanasirisuk with a lap time of 2:17.986
AND Jay Kidd took first AND last in TTE by being the only competitor in the field. The Track Speed Engineering Miata put up a 2:20.258.
Moving on to the Lightning group, and more specifically the three Spec classes that were running.
Dan McKeever took Spec Miata in the #10 Falcon Graphics sponsored roadster.
Larry Moore took the Spec E30 win in his wild Bavarian coupe. Quick question: when did red and blue become the official M colors? This came up while out shooting and nobody had a good answer.
And Samuel Kapp was deemed the fastest of the Spec 944s.
The Pro Touring field was pretty deep, featuring privateers and a factory backed effort. Logically the factory team would be the fastest on the day right? Allow me to show you why that isn’t really true.
When you show up in a Fit, you make Miatas look like fire breathing Blancpain series Lamborghinis. That said, it probably had to fill up once the whole weekend. It also took the PTF class.
Andrew Kidd put the #71 Track Speed Miata in the winner’s circle again in the PTE category. See that Porsche he’s chasing?
It’s the PTC class winner driven by Ed Mineau! Eight hundredths of a second separated the fastest laps turned by your E and C class winners.
And speaking of Porsches, Douglas Turnquist took the PTB win in his non-Spec 944.
In GTS they really turned up the wick! Well, sort of. These still are semi-reasonable cars we’re talking about.
Lee Bohning took the #36 Alpine Autohaus M3 to the winners circle in GTS2.
Meanwhile, in GTS3, Stefan Sajic piloted his E46 M3 to victory. In addition to being M3s and winning their classes, these cars have something else in common: red roll cages. I support that 103%.
And now on to the senior circuit: the Thunder group.
Mark Smith piloted the Eagle Marine Boss 302 Mustang to victory in American Iron, beating an F Body with a big wing. However, the General would have his revenge!
And that came in the form of Joe Bogie taking the Camaro Mustang Challenge win!
The Spec Z crown was claimed by David Dirks, seen here chasing down a CMC competitor.
GTS was dominated by Porsches. Gus Stribakos took his physics defying machine to glory in GTS3.
Darrell Troester won GTS4 in his 996 GT3.
And Les Long turned a blistering 1:58.901 on his way to a GTS5 victory! His time was THIRD fastest of the day!
ST3 was loudly won by Daniel Wennerberg in the Pure Performance, high visibility BMW.
Bob beat Skip for the STR1 win. One of my favorite moments from the day was Matt Guiver, at the awards presentation, asking “Hey Bob, where’s Skip?” Not sure why, but I enjoyed it.
And the Davidson Racing team took top honors in SU, the Thunder Group, and on the day. They won their class by 1:07.978, making second place George Smith (and his fastest lap time 1:57.705) look like he was standing still.
After the NASA guys finished up, the SCCA guys got to turn some laps…
And this happened. Spec Miatas might not be the fastest cars on track, but they aren’t afraid to bang! Not entirely sure how, or why, but Tyler Dahl and Glenn Conser were going at it the entirety of the SCCA Small Bore race.
And on a more somber note, this was unfortunately the last NASA Utah event Regional Director Roger Miller attended. The following weekend he traveled to Kansas City for the GRAND-AM Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. He and co-driver Ian James finished eleventh in the race. Tragically that evening, Roger passed away in his sleep. Roger was a truly great man, and driver. His passion for racing was unparalleled, and he wanted to bring more people into the fold and share that passion with them. He will be missed, but the work he has done with NASA Utah will never be forgotten.
Words and photos by Michael Chandler
*If anyone has the SCCA results, feel free to send them over and we’ll get a post up for them
*Article and Photos are copyright of CAMAutoMag.Com and their respective owners.
In the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, the Black Pearl is the fastest ship in the Caribbean and is “nigh uncatchable”. This 1996 Subaru Impreza coupe ruled the unlimited AWD class in Lap Battle, and for a while was battleship gray. The next season it returned in its black and gold trim, and was even quicker. And then it disappeared…
It wasn’t destroyed or taken off to rule other tracks, it just went into Zane’s garage. See, Zane sells cars and to really make a living doing that, you need to be there on Saturdays. Lap Battle happens once a month on a Saturday. Push came to shove, and Zane decided to sling cars, learn his family’s business and generally make a living instead of burn expensive gas and shred expensive tires. During this time the car sat in the garage, battery attached to a trickle charger, waiting to be unleashed.
Pirate ships like the Black Pearl were small ships either bought or captured and then outfitted with arms. This Impreza is no different. The beating heart of the Pearl started with a Rallispec short block stuffed with Cosworth main and rod bearings, and 9.2-1 pistons on Manley H Beam rods. The heads are packed with Cosworth cams (274 intake and 278 exhaust), valves and high RPM springs and retainers.
A built motor like that NEEDS a proper turbo set up and fuel system to truly fly, and the Pearl is no exception. An Ultimate Racing GT3076 rotated turbo kit sits at the center of the setup, with a Tial 44mm wastegate hanging off of the turbo. That big turbo pushes air through a giant TurboXS front mount and into the engine. A Walbro in-tank fuel pump gets the fuel to the 850cc Deatschwerks fuel injectors, but when things get serious, the fuel in the Sard surge tank gets set to those injectors by a 280lph fuel pump.
After hearing that list you might be thinking this whole set up is run by AEM or MoTEC, but it isn’t. A Cobb ACCESSPort v2 runs this, and runs it well.
Backing this setup is a complete 2004 STi 6 speed drivetrain because it is rather stout. Other stout things are the Tein Super Racing coilovers, the Whitline swaybars and lateral links, and the APR extended wheel studs. The Michelin slicks are stout and meaty as are the StopTech 355x32mm ST40 brake kit in the front and the STi Brembos in the back, both of which are filled with Hawk DTC70 pads.
All of that is serious stuff, and you might be thinking the wheels are Volks or Weds Sports, but you’d be wrong. Those gold 18×10 wheels are Rota SVN-Rs. Yes, those cheap wheels you see blasted on forums for being fake and see destroyed in photos are on this 400+ horsepower race car. A car that laps the 3.08 mile outer course at Miller Motorsports Park in two minutes and 4.7 seconds!
The Impreza coupes are the lightest Imprezas ever brought to the U.S. This one has been lightened slightly. EVERYTHING was ripped out, and eight things went back in. A Sparco Circuit seat, harness, and steering wheel went in. An STi dash and cluster replaced the old ones, and DEFI gauges went in the dash. A Beatrush division panel sits where the back seat used to be and an Autopower six point roll cage provides moar safe.
Much like the ship it gets its name from, this car is purpose built for speed. There aren’t any frills outside, unless you consider that huge APR GTC300 wing a frill. The Seibon carbon fiber doors, hood, trunk lid and front lip shed weight. The 22b widebody kit and rear fender flares allow for the fitment of those massive wheels and meaty slicks. The custom front canards and rear diffuser help channel air in the right direction to allow this car to run as fast as possible.
At the end of this week this car shall make its return to competition. It shall rise from the depths of the garages of Miller, but Zane doesn’t need to make a pact with a dead man to do so. All he has to do is open the garage door, fire her up and take her out.
Words by Michael Chandler, Photos by Michael Chandler and Trent Bray, Video filmed and edited by Trent Bray
*Article, photos and video are copyright of CAMautoMag.com and their respective owners. Images and words may not be re-posted, re-distributed, modified or copied without expressed written consent from CAMautoMag.com
This STi has a history. This car was owned by a guy who tracked it here and there. It had the prerequisite big wing and decals, but now it’s retired. But retired doesn’t mean it left it all at the track. Oh my no, it left nothing at the track…
Staring at you from within the bumper is a massive APS 525 front mount intercooler. That is 314 square inches of intercooler hanging out there! AND it’s good for 525 horsepower, but this car isn’t making 525 horsepower. No, it’s making 340 horsepower at the wheels on 91 octane. E85 in the tank brings that number to 380. Impressive considering this car was rated at 305 crank horsepower seven years ago. Behind that giant intercooler is a big Koyo radiator. Cooling is key everybody.
A Garrett 3076 ball bearing turbo sends hot, pressurized air through that massive intercooler core and into the two and a half liter mill. An AEM 3-Bar MAP sensor monitors the incoming air and dictates how much fuel the massive 1000cc Deatschwerks fuel injectors to spray into the cylinders. Those big injectors are in an Aeromotive fuel rail, and there’s an Aeromotive fuel pressure regulator between the fuel rail and the 255lph Walbro fuel pump. Not all that fuel gets used, but more on that later…
All of the air the turbo pressurizes isn’t used either, so a Tial blow off valve releases the excess air. The car is tuned at 20 lbs of boost, and a Tial wastegate helps keep boost levels stable.
17×9 Enkei NT03′s are sitting at all four corners, as are the Brembo calipers that came bolted to the car. Inside those calipers are Stoptech pads, and Stoptech lines feed Motul brake fluid to those pretty, gold calipers. The rear rotors are OEM, but the fronts are slotted Stoptech pieces.
This thing has some serious suspension pieces, being a former track car. JIC Magic coilovers hang at all four corners, and COBB sway bars are at either end. Also keeping the chassis flex to a minimum are a Cusco strut tower bar in the back and a Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru’s parent company) strut tower bar in front.
Inside the cabin the US spec seats have been replaced with JDM STi Version 7 seats. Still OEM, and comfier than the stock seats. Thats a win/win situation. Behind those seats is a Sparco harness bar, but no harnesses to speak of at the moment. The old shift knob was taken off, and replaced with that stylish white Beat Rush unit.
This car was a track car, but it left none of its track capabilities behind when it became a street car. A fact that became very apparent when we went out for some rolling shots. Throw some BFG R1′s on this bad boy and it’ll do some work out at Miller.
Words and photos by Michael Chandler.
*Article, Video, and Photos are copyright of CAMautoMag.Com and their respective owners. Images and words may not be re-posted, re-distributed, modified, or copied without expressed written consent from CAMautoMag.Com
