im sad i missed the race but i want to hear the results...i bet the time change helped you guys with an extra hr of sleep thats for sure.

i had looked at my clock at 10pm last night and figured i would still be driving home if i had gone fortunately i was chillin on my couch almost happy i didnt go hahah.

pictures and results please.

 

<---chad who was happy he blew his motor once....

 

Your title SUCKED.

I opened this thinking "Ah, great, THE RESULTS".

While we wait for somebody to tell us a story, how about an update on your prep for 2004?

Scott, who thinks this is even worse than a spoiler...

 

scott

sorry to trick you on my tittle. gotta get people to go to the right thread. i really want to hear what happened cuz i really really wanted to go.


anyway my car will be the same. the motor still only has like 500 race miles on it. still brand new!

I did get together a bump steer kit and hey! what do you know i finally got a front camber kit. believe it or not ive always used stock front upper control arms-just been lazy to buy aftermarket arms. Im preparing myself for some great steering response...that is once i get my car back on the track.

besides my own car you might see me piloting other cars next year...woohoo!


Modified by SBE at 11:12 AM 10/28/2003

 

Sounds like you'd like to drive a little more, and screw with the car a little less.

You figure on running both NASA and TCRA next year?

Maybe running more than just your car and one of Kiwi's eh?

Not worried that this will disrupt the special bond with your chassis?

Scott, who's rule is not to drive anything but his own car...I certainly don't want to drive anything worse...and I don't dare drive anything better...

 

I got word from Kiwi that they won by 8 seconds on Saturday. No word on Sunday. They did say that Tom Lepper's car was faster than theirs though.

C_A_T

 

JEFF OWEN WON ON SATURDAY? hell eff'n yeah kiwi!

celebrating on unofficial results is the only way to celebrate

celebrating on rumors is even better hahah.


scott: yes id like to be more recognised as a driver than a car builder. I do believe I do both well, but in the end if i want to be a "race car driver" that is all i should worry about leaving the car setup and design to someone else...its a load off your shoulder.

i am aware there are limitations to driving a worse off car and that can hurt you, but if you are respected, whos not gonna listen to you when you comment on car setup. i mean if they really want you to driver their car, why not set it up to your standards?

I wasnt referring to driving Kiwi's rides. Ive had other offers...but if Special Projects wants me to drive for them, I would be honnored.

 

It was a hot and sunny day at Sears Point, somewhere in the high 80's, low 90's.

KIWI won on Saturday and Sunday...they had a G2 integra LS that wasn't running for points that was there on Saturday and Sunday...it finished in front of KIWI on Saturday...but hey it's 1960lbs and it was running goodyear SLICKS.

Andy must have something against starting from the front of the field, on Saturday he had a clutch problem at the start and didn't launch...he finally started after all of the rest of the cars, worked his way up through the entire field to finish fairly close behind KIWI.

Andy on Sunday was following KIWI on the 1st lap, KIWI went a little off...just enough to bring some dirt on the track and Andy decided to take a look at one of the runoff roads, waited for the entire field to go by. Watching Andy yet again work his way through the entire field to finish behind KIWI was quite a sight. Speaking with Glen(Gansan) after the race he got a little depressed when he got passed by Andy on the 3rd lap, he was thinking that he was getting lapped.

Hartanto from NorCal in his daily driven Black EG did fairly well, it was nice visiting with him and seeing him again.

Blue EG from SoCal, Endless car, never remember his name, but he had a fairly good race considering that he had some damage from a practice day...surprised that he drove so well considering the steering didn't like him too much.

Hondata car...horrible with names, but it was the co-owner of Hondata in his first race, he did fairly well...he was out there having fun, I think that he was running on full tread depth RA-1's. Matt from Hondata, Javier from Hondata, and Joe Alaniz from Alaniz Cylinder Head porting were all together, very nice group of people.

I met quite a few people there, it was a fairly exciting race weekend, the races within the classes were pretty good. The only serious dent/accident that I saw on Saturday and Sunday was a spec miata hitting a tirewall coming down the back straight, right behind the old tower.

Watching Tom out there in his heavy accord racing around in the front was pretty cool, Gary Sheehan in his WRX was out there chasing him around, but it looked like the car was pushing fairly hard in a couple of the corners that I was able to see.

Austin

 

I'm starting to think that Glen is the poster child for the counterargument to the advice to buy an already built race car.

Thanks for the report Austin.

Scott, who hopes that maybe someday Sears will be one of his local tracks...

 

woohoo! kiwi! great job.

you did what you had to do. didnt need me there afterall tho it sounds like i would have had a lot of fun on a new track. maybe next time.

 

Austin,

nice to see you again and nice to see lots of SoCal drivers out there. The SoCal boys came to our backyard and lay some smack down. I'll make sure to return the favor in the next socal-norcal crossover race

First we need to go on a diet. My car weigh in at 2400 lbs with me inside is way too heavy for Sears. Email me, I'm interested on your ideas to get more HP. 180HP at the wheel is barely enough.

I don't think Tom Lepper drove the Accord. I think Anthony Vanni drove the Accord.

 

Well we finally pulled off a couple of wins in H1...

The Kiwi …(Flightless Native bird of New Zealand)…Can fly!
The few laps of practice on Friday at Infinion were well worth the effort of going a day early. The new motor is working great! Thanks to everyone at Church Automotive, CMW Motor sports, Clutch Masters, Pro-Drive, GTP Importfan.com,
Evolution, Hondata Joe Alaniz, SkunkII and Progress Group. It's nice to have some HP at last!!! 2 Cars next season!!! (Depending on the rules)
We had a few problems with the engine breathing system throughout the weekend. At high RPM's we were blowing oil into and overflowing the catch tank which then ran down the firewall and all over the left front wheel and found its way right down the underside of the car to the left rear tire as well just to make things interesting!
We tried all sorts of things to cure the problem but in the end the only thing I could do was keep the revs under 8000! Thanks to Clutch masters new twin disc clutch I got some really great starts! The acceleration off the line was just wonderful!

The Race on Saturday was a rolling start with a mixed field of HC, USTCC, Spec Miata and Nissans. I got a great start... while Andy sat around the start line with his Clutch pedal stuck to the floor! I chased down the leading USTCC BMW and raced with him for a while, until the tell tale trickle of oil around my feet and my V-Tec cutting in and out told me I was losing more oil from my breather tank and it was time to back off! So I just cruised around doing consistent 1:53's keeping an eye in the mirror for that pesky Gold CRX! Andy did a great job coming through the field and must have driven his nuts off to finish where he did! Sundays warm up saw Tom Leppers Accord (Anthony Vanni driving) Andy's Crx and myself all with 1:52 sec. Lap times. A shortened Qualifying session where I got to chase the Accord for a few laps was a great help to me even though we ended up with only a 1:53 time behind the Accord and next to Andy on the Grid. I expected the Multi group Standing start to be a cluster ****! But it worked out not to bad for me…The acceleration and bite off the line of our car is really great now! I went straight up the middle of the pack, through the USTCC back markers and comfortably into third position overall by the end of the second lap after some paint swapping with a USTCC Civic at turn 7.And a slight off course excursion earlier in the race. I believe Andy tried to avoid some of my dirt & rocks and took an off track excursion himself? After a couple of laps I passed the 2nd placed USTCC BMW and set out after Anthony Vanni in the Tom Lepper Accord. I knew I could catch him and probably pass him? Then I said to myself “Why am I doing this?” There was no need to drive the car any harder, and I was showing some signs of blowing out oil but not as bad as earlier sessions. I backed off a notch and just concentrated on driving the track consistently and keeping an eye out for Crazy Andy in the mirror. Fortunately I had a good lead but I knew he was still lurking back there somewhere, just waiting for me to lock up a wheel, spin off or do something stupid! Which has happened on occasions. However I managed to win the HC Race again. Congratulations Andy on two well deserved 2nd placings, Great driving man! I hope you’ve worn that thing out at least a little before the finals at Buttonwillow? So now it is really going to be interesting when we get to Buttonwillow. I’m not sure what the point’s standings are going to be after we both drop the mandatory 2 events or races?
Whatever happens, a DNF by Andy would be very helpful or at least a couple of finishes at less than 4th. But somehow I don’t think that will happen. Perhaps I should get really friendly with Shawn, Varro, Glen, and Derek? Hmmm I wonder what it would take???? Pitty the second car won’t be ready.

Kiwi

 

Hey Shawn,
Sorry you could'nt make it to Infinion it would have been fun to have you and Varro there. I hope you will be at Buttonwillow? You know the one thing I did miss was the Tropy Girls! They did'nt have any at Infinion!!! In fact actually finding someone to give you your Tropy was harder than running in the Race!
We need to talk... I've been doing some Testing for a Mazda World Challenge drive next season and I still have anoher two Type R's to finish.

Kiwi

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SBE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">woohoo! kiwi! great job.

you did what you had to do. didnt need me there afterall tho it sounds like i would have had a lot of fun on a new track. maybe next time.</TD></TR></TABLE>

It would have been good to see you up here, it's a great track, recently repaved, and the temps were great. I kept hearing people ask "Where's Shawn, anyone know where Bota is?" I'll have to wait to see you when I make it down to another track day in your neighborhood.

Austin

 

That was Derek. I think he will be one to watch next year if he can structure a full effort around the strictures of being the co-owner of Hondata. He's a solid, consistent driver and he's got a technical edge when it comes to engine management

C_A_T

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Austin &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hondata car...horrible with names, but it was the co-owner of Hondata in his first race, he did fairly well...he was out there having fun, I think that he was running on full tread depth RA-1's. Matt from Hondata, Javier from Hondata, and Joe Alaniz from Alaniz Cylinder Head porting were all together, very nice group of people.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by C_A_T &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">That was Derek. I think he will be one to watch next year if he can structure a full effort around the strictures of being the co-owner of Hondata. He's a solid, consistent driver and he's got a technical edge when it comes to engine management

C_A_T

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Right you are...and he's quite a nice person, it was good to have spent Sunday in their pit area next to KIWI. I was hoping that I wasn't asking Derek and Joe too many questions.

 

Whew! That was an awesome race weekend!

OK, so I talked a lot of smack leading up to the event. And, well, I lost. But I can say that yesterday was by far the most fun I’ve ever had. Here’s how my weekend went.

I pulled an all nighter on Thursday finishing up my air dam, rear wing, changing fluids and all that other stuff that’s supposed to be done a week earlier but never is. I fired up the car at 4:30 AM (my neighbors love me) and loaded it on the trailer. Met my teammate Tom Liang at the gas station and by about 5:15 AM Friday we were on the road. It was a long 8 hour drive. It was the first time that we had towed the twin CRXs on open trailers together. Tom was borrowing a trailer from Bernardo Martinez and a truck from Dave Andrews (thanks guys). Staying awake was tough but we got lots of waves and thumbs up along the way, which helped. We got to the track with just enough time to get some tires shaved and do all of the final car prep. Then Tom headed off to the airport at Oakland to pick up his girlfriend Amy and I headed to the motel to get some much needed sleep.

The track schedule was a little tight for me. We had warm up at 8, qualifying at 10 and the race was at 12:50. I was a little worried that I wouldn’t have time to learn the track. I’d only been to Sears once and that was in 2000. The scariest part, the esses, had been completely redone since then. So I decided that for the first session I’d concentrate on getting that part down. But unfortunately at 8AM in October, the sun is blazing right in your face as you run through there. So that didn’t go very well, and I didn’t really pick up the rhythm of the track but the car felt really good. Of course it always does after I send it to Darin at WestEnd, but on the perfectly smooth surface it was beautiful.

The qualifying session went much better. The sun was up, I was awake, and I started to really have a good time out on the track. The harder I pushed the car the better it felt. The car would go wherever I wanted it put it. Ripping around the track that session made the whole trip worthwhile. It felt fast, but sometimes when a car feels fast you’re really going slow. And other times when a car feels sloppy it’s just because you’re going crazy fast. So I was the first one to run to timing and scoring to see how I did. When I saw my name at the top of the list, ahead of the entire USTCC and Honda Challenge field, I was like “oh yeah, this is my favorite racetrack.”

I pulled up to pregrid early for Saturday’s race. I figured that way I’d be in the car and ready to go with 15 minuites to focus and prepare for the task at hand. But when I got there, there was an UMBRELLA GIRL waiting for me! She was cute too. So much for concentration. To Nor Cal NASA and whoever hired the umbrella girls.

So we roll out, warm up, and I set the pace for the rolling start. I go with second gear at around 6000 rpm. The green drops, and I bolt ahead of the sleepy USTCC BMW next to me. The shiftlight pops and I push in the clutch, grab third and all I get is 8800 rpm of rev limiter. I think “ok, this is bad, give me 4th, nothing, 5th, nothing, 3rd again, no dumbass still nothing.” I coast along the left wall and come to a stop at a little access road on the inside of turn 1. Then I look down to see that the clutch pedal is stuck on the floor. “Hmm that’s a new one.” So after I futz with it for a while I finally get my foot behind it and pop it back up. By now the whole field has zoomed by and it’s totally silent at turn 1. I grab first, ease the clutch out, and to my amazement the car lurches forward. OK time to go. I did the best I could from there. I ended up 3rd overall, 2nd in H1 behind KIWI. I was gaining on him. Especially after he cracked up his front splitter but there just wasn’t enough time. We both had our trouble and he took the much deserved win. We actually beat the USTCC. The only car that was in front of us was this mystery DA with Goodyear slicks and some mega motor. It was a great car but I’m not sure what it was doing there. But I won’t go into that. Anyway, it was a great race. On Saturday night NASA a had a BBQ at the track. They even busted out the famous gas powered blender for margaritas. It all looked tempting but it was Amy’s birthday so the team headed off to Napa for some Italian.
Sunday morning went well. Between sessions Tom wrenched on my car trying to figure out what was up with the clutch. I stomped on the pedal about 50 times but couldn’t get it to stick again. He ended up loosening the cable hoping that would do the trick. Joe Alaniz was out there. He’s my motor guy. He told me that it was looking like today’s race was mine. Instead of wishing me luck he told me to put on a good show (little did he know what was to come.) I raced over to be first on the grid for qualifying. I figured I’d better do everything I could to take home at least one win. When I got to grid I was met by my umbrella girl again. I did my best to spit some game and I thought I was getting somewhere when some guy walked up behind her and started rubbing her shoulders. I was like “Hey buddy, Can’t you see I’m working here!” Then they wandered off together “typical.” OK back to racing. So we go out for qualifying and they send a pace car out in front of me. I’ve never seen that before. It worked great for me though. When the starter threw the green I got 5 laps with no traffic. I decided that as soon as I caught a backmarker I’d bring it into the hot pit so I could practice a standing start out of the pits. Unfortunately just as I was heading into the pits we went full black because a Spec Miata put it in the tires.

For Sunday’s main I was once again on pole. But this time instead of mixing us, they gridded the USTCC field in front of the HC, SE-R and Spec Miatas. I came to road racing from import drag racing so I figured I’d take down about half the USTCC field by turn 2. However when the green flag dropped I picked up the clutch way to quick and ended up doing the classic open diff peg leg. When it finally hooked up it was time to grab second. So I stomped the clutch, grabbed second, and of course once again 8800 rpm. This time I kicked the clutch back up fairly quickly and only lost a few positions by the time we cleared turn two. I picked off 3 or 4 USTCC guys in the first half lap and as we were approaching the esses I saw KIWI getting sideways and sliding across the dirt. He gathered it up pretty quick but he obviously had lost speed. I thought that if I could power through it I’d be able to pass him at turn 10. It was a bad choice though. The dirt landed on the track right in front of me and I slid wide. I was left with the choice of drifting through the dirt and hopping back on the track or going down this other paved section that I was pretty much heading toward anyway. I chose the pavement hoping I could just take it till it merged back with the track. But in font of me was a tight 40 mph chicane that would spit me out into the other cars that were going 100+. So just like the day before I had to stop and watch the whole field of 38 cars go by. After that there was really nothing to loose. So I got a little run and shot back onto the track just as the last car was going by. The car was working good. I was flying through traffic like never before. First it was the Miatas, then the SE-Rs, then H4. It was so much fun. Each car was slightly harder to pass. Getting through the USTCC and H1 cars I’d have to chase them down, pick a spot and take it. The final few were tough. Andrie Hartanto was out there in an H1 EG Hatch. For a whole lap I inched up on him, finally getting right up on him under braking in turn 11. Then I drafted him down the front straight and pulled along the inside going into turn 1. He has ***** though. Neither of us lifted way past the turn in point. But being on the outside he had to lift first and I slid up to the turn 2 apex in front of him. Next was Gary Sheehan in the WRX. He ran the cleanest smoothest lines that I saw out there. But the race was nearing the end and it looked like the brakes and tires were getting tired on the overweight sled. I think he knew that I business to take care of with KIWI up ahead of him so he kindly let me through. I could finally see the red and white DC2 up in front of me. I was reeling him in but once again I ran out of time. Well, at least I clocked the fastest time of the race at 1:52.437.

So yeah, I talked lots of smack. I called everyone out. And I lost. But when it’s this much fun, loosing isn’t so bad.

Andy Hope,
2003 WCHC H1 CHAMPION



Modified by AndyHope at 8:59 AM 10/28/2003

 

If I was there Andy I would've run interference so that guy wouldn't have made it to the umbrella girl. It would've been a classic play for "Great Moments in Hookup History." And I would've gotten "Assist of the Year"!

I wish I was there to see you slice up the field. I could've taken some great shots of your umbrella girl too and head out to Fry's or Best Buy to "test" their demo photo printers to see how good those printers print out 8.5x11 photos!

I'll see you in Buttonwillow...

 

Good Job KIWI and Andy! My car is finished, tested, and will see you at Buttonwillow! Is there typically an HC paddock?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by AndyHope &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

The only car that was in front of us was this mystery DA with Goodyear slicks and some mega motor. It was a great car but IÂ’m not sure what it was doing there. But I wonÂ’t go into that. Andy Hope,
2003 WCHC H1 CHAMPION

Modified by AndyHope at 8:59 AM 10/28/2003</TD></TR></TABLE>

It was an E Prod. car which isn't legal for HC. He wanted to run with us since it was an Acura. The driver's just wanted track time & were doing the race as a fun run. Sorry, it was my bad for not letting the field know ahead of time on Sat.

I want to thank all the SoCal guys for coming up to race. There was good racing throughout the field! Everyone drove clean. It is pretty evident that you guys are good drivers. The track times got quicker as the weekend went on!!

 

C'mon Mike. Let's hear about the H4 battles...

 

sorry i didnt make it guys. i didnt have a rear window. FAL has a backorder.

getting wisdom teeth pulled also didnt help.

i will talk to you soon KIWI. congrats again.

 

For those interested in us slowies, here are some takes on the H5 races.

Once again I was pitted against superior machinery and drivers. Al Butterfiled has god-knows-how many years racing, and I have my pitiful 1. I usually finish about 20-30 seconds behind his 89 hatch and I expected to again, even though I felt very fast on the new surface at sears and posted a 2:03. The new surface was SLICK without rubber, and you could carry so much more speed up turn 1 that I went 4 off in turn 2 on accident. Saturdays race included my typical poor start up the hill at SPIR , I need more hamsters. After passing a few rookie Miatas, I was inthe clear the whole race, and won when Al's #70 tangled with some cars at the bottom of 6 and handed the race to me.

Sunday races was infinitely cooler. First we were order by class then time, second it was a standing start. When the green dropped, I of course "launched" as must as my little d15 will do, but I got some great help from the SE-R pole sitter behind me, as he bumped me up to speed. The SE-Es quickly passed me and I found my self at the back. As we went up turn 1 (4 and 5 wide), everyone started to file onto the racing line. I noticed that the outside of two was totally open, calling me. I made the best move in my life and kept the pedal down aroudn theoutside of two and passed 4 rows of cars! I quickly had to get over being impressed with myself because I landed myself righ tin the middle of the H4 battle. The only thing that sucked about that drive was the fact that #70(driven by a new girl named Donna) had been misgridded at the front of the HC group. once the dust settled she was half a lap infront of me. My spotter told me over the race i made it up to 5 seconds behind her, and I could see her by the end of the race. They asked me if I wanted her DQed but I had such a good drive I really didn't care . so i got second, but it sure felt like a victory.

 

I have an in car video if anybody interested in hosting (Sunday race). there is Andy rubbed in with USTCC civic and went wide on T9.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SBE &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
scott: yes id like to be more recognised as a driver than a car builder.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I think that you are a recognized driver...shoot, you always open the can of whoop *** at big willow!