Hi folks,

What an amazing weekend of racing we had in socal last weekend during the NASA event at Buttonwillow. The racing in HPD Honda Challenge is second to none.

I thought some of you might enjoy this video. It's go some great action in it with a coupe "yikes" moments in it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al3BkAoCdqE


Thanks to all the folks that came out and participated in the event. Hope to see you in Nov!

 

Yikes! that was close

 

"Yikes" is an understatement! What was that guy in the slow car thinking!?

So I'm confused. In the vid, you crossed the finish line first, but the comment at the end says that 1st got moved to 2nd because of the contact and you won? The contact looks like the EG's fault, but I'd like to see his in-car video.

 

Now, that was.."***** out".... Great job! Was the slow civic driver asleep at the wheel!?(seriously)

 

I actually crossed the finish line second behind the EG. I pointed him by on the next lap and then fought with the car until the end of the race finishing just in front of 3rd place because the car was so ill handling with the broken trailing arm.
Then the reposition happened after the race concluded.

I've got no idea why the red civic wasn't watching his mirrors. Scary to say the least.

 

Ah I see. Anyway, good saves. I wouldn't have been able to do the same

 

That's because you guys don't hunt for Sasquatch or raise baby panthers . All those cars being passed are from the wtcc for those who want to know.

 

LOL Marcel you guys dont have a sasquatch down there.
No there isnt one in the San Bernardino mountains either, he was killed by a big rig years ago.
We have a few dozen up north, and Im going to hunt a few soon.
Baby panthers can be pretty tricky to raise if you dont have a good set of gloves.

That red coupe was not checking his mirrors at all.
Twice Jeremy and Renan had to dodge him.
NO situational awareness to speak of.

I have some pics I havent seen yet so give me a few days to post them up.
What a race. nail bitting action to say the least.

 

insane save from the civic
My ***** would have been by my throat lol

 

Oh and I forgot the snail farm lol . For those that don't believe me google it. It was an awesome race . I'm sorry about your car Paul hope you had fun.

 

damn thats fast, what lap times do you run?

 

Nice drive Jeremy.

 

Marcel.. Im sure your car is on the mend right now too.
Me and the GF had a total blast down there.
The So Cal Gang are so much fun to hang out with.
Jeremy had me driving my car soooo much damn quicker than I thought i could drive it.
Small changes to the sway bar and tire pressures, and my car was just so much easier to handle.
Every lap was getting faster and faster, until the final drive took a crap.
Let me tell you that you can never get enough coaching.
Thanks Jeremy!
I saw a totally different driving line the first time out and it was soooo much faster.
A wise man once told me "paul you paid to use the track... use all of it."
I now will live by that quote.

It was great to see some of the guys I have hung out with before, and meet alot of new ones.
Jeremy
Justin
Marcel
Sam
Manny
Greg
Renan= still looking for a rice cooker or at least a Mfactory decal that glows in the dark.
Brian Kono of Afterhours Automotive.
Robert
Ryan
The crew of Croiset Racing.
The H4 guys who I dont remember your names.
Of course Benny

Great bunch of guys who pit, work on cars,and party together.
Their families support these guys 110% too.
To me thats just beautiful!

 

Thanks Paul! Get that car all fixed up and we'll see you back out in Nov!
Look forward to doing some more coaching with you again!

Thanks Nike!

 

FMI...What brand of final drive was it? You can pm me if you don't want to say in public...
Thanks....

 

is that the same car/driver that caught fire last year at nats? h1 car, maybe now a pt/st car?

anyway, good save and boy oh boy does that car seem fast, and i don't necessarily mean power fast either.

 

I dont know Brad....

 

Yes! Different chassis, same owner/car that ran final race there.

 

pt car or something? is that why was he not around you guys for the restart, for one? two, did you question him after the race? was he tweeting or making a status update?

 

It's a USTCC car this year. They started in front of us because of TV or something. We caught them in only a couple laps (and the red car on the first lap).

I didn't bother finding him after the race. I was too busy dealing with the contact with Renan after the race talking to the race director and Renan about it. Was all good in the end and everyone left happy (I think).
As for the red car, didn't bother finding him. I'll give him crap for it if I see him at the track again, but I'm pretty certainly someone will fwd him the video and it'll be self explanatory!

 

Crazy...Jeremy you were running faster than BMWCCA D-Mod M3's...by a few seconds. Good work.

 

I dont think you can give the red civic too much **** for that. He was on the line, you guys were passing him. You would of met him at the apex, he had the corner. Now i know this isnt hpde, but what if you planned to pass him offline and then he moved to the outside?

I dont think the red civic was entirly in the wrong here.

Great driving though! Guys were flyin out there! Hope to make it down there one of these days.

 

Finally someone with some racing sense.

 

HAHA! Seriously? You've got to be kidding right?
Are you watching the same video?

The red civic can get tons of crap here IMHO. He was WAY off pace going slow for some reason, approaching the kink slowly without watching his mirrors with 2 MUCH faster cars approaching from the rear. As the two faster cars get near, he attempts to apex the kink there for no reason what so ever!


It was a seriously dangerous brain fart on the red civics part! If your car is broken and way off pace, it's just as much your responsibility to watch your mirrors and be predictable than it is the passing drivers! You can't just veer across the track at the last minute in front of 2 cars with 50+ mph closing speeds and say "it's not my fault, you need to make a safe pass".

He was on the outside of the kink approaching the kink and gave every indication to the faster cars that he'd remain there so they could pass. He didn't remain predictable... and that's the blame he gets!

 

Not quite sure what that means...but

I watched that part of the video numerous times. Pete Bovenberg's car (i assume he was driving) was way off the racing pace-as if he was suffering a mechanical problem, which he should've been looking in his mirrors knowing that there was another group of cars that started behind his group. as a result, he needed to go WAY offline if there was a problem with his car-which there probably was since the other ustcc cars were nowhere around him and way ahead of him. In addition, he really wasn't on the racing line at all. He was in the middle of the track at the apex of the turn. If he was online, he would've been A LOT closer to the inside part of the track. Instead he was midway, taking room away from the passing/faster cars.

I've raced against Bovenberg since 1998 here in norcal and ALMOST everytime we share the track, there's always been an issue with his car and/or contact. Last year at nationals in Utah, he tried holding me up during qualifying which befuddles me because he was in H1 & I was in H2!
I guess the fact that an H2 car being faster that him was too much for him to swallow.

During the Pacific Touring car days in 1998, he always found a way to come in contact with my car while racing. One time I returned the favor, and he tried to dq me for bumping him!!! Then I found out that body damage is no issue for him since he owns a body shop. He can afford the contact.

You guys should've seen his car after the San Jose Grand Prix in 2005. It was smaller than a Mini Cooper.

He'll never change his driving habits. That's why, I try to stay away from that hot mess.


Great vid and some serious hard racing!! Hopefully, I'll be back down in socal for a couple races next year.