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SEARS POINT RACE REPORT


Tony G

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Sears Point Race Report

 

The Camaro-Mustang Challenge headed back to Infineon Raceway at Sears Point for the season finale on November 9-10, 2002. The championship would be decided this weekend as the points battle was close. Cold, windy and rainy weather may have kept some from making the trip but the weekend provided excellent racing and tense drama for a perfect ending to a great season of racing. Thanks to NASA and INEX Legend Car Racing, limited practice time was made available at no cost to competitors on Friday. The unpredictable weather provided cool temperatures and the opportunity to run the circuit under wet conditions. Many drivers may have wrestled with the limited traction available on the track but none would deny that sliding around in a V8 powered sedan wasn't a blast!

 

A large area for all CMC participants was cordoned off by Nick Steel

early on Friday morning and began to fill steadily all day. Rain and

sometimes gusty winds splattered the pit/paddock area but had no effect on diluting the enthusiasm of the competitors. Tony Guaglione led some lead and follow sessions as drivers tried to dodge the many chunks of mud left by countless off-course excursions. No one particular type of car seemed to have a strong advantage in the wet. Fortunately, mud washes off easily!

 

Saturday morning saw more fellow CMC racers arrive and a slight

improvement in weather. Rain however, was constantly a threat and factor for many in choosing which tires to run. The buzz around the paddock was entertaining as drivers quizzed each other about tire selection. The choice was simple really; full tread or well-worn! Frank Little was seen with his car up on jack stands and both tire selections sitting at each corner of his car waiting for the last possible moment before choosing wet or dry tires! That's great preparation! Tony Guaglione provided instructional lead and follows again for all those interested. This has got to be one of the best reasons to run CMC and I believe a large reason the series is growing. Simply put, CMC is racers helping fellow racers enjoy their cars, the track and each other.

 

Saturday's qualifying saw a great grid take shape for the first race of

the weekend. Sam Stowell took the pole followed by Nick Littleton, Don

Trask and Tony Guaglione. Dry conditions prevailed by the drop of the

green flag and continued for a long 34 minute race! There were no problems sharing the track with AI/X cars however several CMC drivers did provide some great action. Tony Guaglione went off in turn four while leading early. Frank Little would spin here later as well in his beautiful yellow #7 Mustang. Nick Steel managed to spin a full 360 degrees in turn 10 and not hit anything or anybody! Nick Littleton finished with the win but during the post race inspection was found to be three pounds under weight and therefore disqualified. Thus, the final results had Ben Pfaff with the win followed by Don Trask, Don Campbell, Mike Donahoe, Greg Righetti, Nick Steel, Dave Morin, Mike Plum, Greg Robinson, Frank Little, Julie Bergman, Perry Kincy, Sam Stowell and Tony Guaglione.

 

Sunday proved to be a busy day with a race/qualifying session in the morning and two races planned for the afternoon. Although weather reports predicted sunny conditions, the clouds remained and threatened rain all day. The CMC field had a dry practice/qualifying session and managed to make it back to the paddock before the rain began...perfect timing! Fortunately for CMC, it didn't rain during our scheduled track times which made for perfect racing conditions.

 

Race one saw an eager field of racers ready for the flag, and we were all

off and running after a super clean start. Nick Littleton jumped out front

and never looked back on his way to the win despite a hard charging Nick Steel who held on to second place. Greg Righetti, who rejoined CMC

competition after a hiatus, put his usual pressure on the front runners and

finished third. The rest of the field consisted of Campell, Trask,Pfaff,Guaglione,Donahoe,Morin,Santos,Robinson,Bullock,Kincy,Plum,Little,Bergman,and Team BAF who came in early with motor problems.

 

Race two would be in the usual CMC inversion format, but would be run in the Enduro group with lots of traffic. Inverted pole sitter, Julie Bergman, led Little, Plum, Kincy, Bullock, and Robinson to the front. Inversion races are always the most fun especially when CMC has the opportunity to run with another group of cars as we did in this enduro. After a few laps it was Little, Plum, Donahoe, Santos and Morin up front, but Guaglione was

beginning his attack! Nick Steel brought out the yellow flag for a broken

torque arm on his Camaro and when racing resumed, only five laps remained.

Guaglione new what he had to do and Kicked it into overdrive and eventually took the checkered flag in a great late race charge. Frank Little drove a great race to come in a close second with Trask, Donahoe, Plum, Pfaff, Santos,Littleton,Morin,Campbell,Robinson,Kincy,Bullock,Bergman,Righetti,and Steel Rounding out the finishing order.

This was our last race of the year, and I must say that is was quite a year.

Don Campbell took 14 pole positions and set several track records which we will be posting soon. On behalf of everyone in CMC, I would like to

congratulate Don Campbell for being our 2002 CMC champion! I know what kind of persistence and skill it takes to accomplish this tremendous

accomplishment.

 

I also must say that Nick Littleton deserves a huge amount of credit and

came in only 20 points behind Campbell to take second place this year. He kept the points battle close to the very end and will certainly be a threat next season. Also, Nick Steel ,after driving to all of the events(and putting an extra 10k miles on his truck!), takes this years third place position in seasons points. This year was also a great year for CMC itself, as it has grown almost 100%. I know of no other racing series that has taken off like we have this past year,and I can only attribute it all the one thing...FUN! Nowhere else can you find the people like we have in our group and we are getting noticed fast! Next year looks great with an expected 5 additional drivers in our series who already have cars built and are ready to go.

And remember, the mid-packers are improving quickly and will ensure great competition in CMC for some time to come!

 

One more note..Greg Robinson, who contributed to this report, will be in

charge of this column next year so lets all help him out as much as

possible.

 

Thanks for a great year,

 

Tony Guaglione

CMC Chief Director

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