2009 NASA U.S. National Championship

Race Day

2009-09-12T08:51:00.001-07:00

The race is at 2:20pm UTAH time or 1:20pm CALIFORNIA time.

Get live timing n scoring here:
http://www.drivenasa.com/liveresults/

Get live streaming race video here:
Http://www.SpeedCasttv.com

Enjoy!

Qualifying Day #2

2009-09-11T23:53:00.000-07:00

The following race report brought to you by Angela. Thanks for the great update.

Temperatures in the 90s with a cooling breeze made for another day of perfect race conditions. Today brought the second day of qualifying races, the results of which will be combined with yesterday's qualifiers to determine Saturday's starting grid. Tire choice is still being debated, although it looks like the majority will be running R888s.

The start was improved from yesterday's, perhaps encouraged by officials' promise to black flag any front row drivers jumping the start. As the green flag flew, one row did not start as well as the other, resulting in a number of cars being shuffled back.

Grant Westmorland was running strong until a spin while negotiating the Attitudes dropped him back. He regrouped and regained a number of positions, finishing 16th. Tim Weaver maintained a solid pace after starting 8th. Brian Bender and Curtis Gong ran a tight race and came in close behind Sean Douglass in 15th. Curtis had some minor contact with another driver, who chose to report it despite a lack of physical damage.

Tim Bonney ran well and gained a number of positions. Jeremy Barnes had been struggling with setup but drove a hard qualifier. Minor mechanical issues caused Ken Saward to miss the green, although he still stayed on the lead lap.

Overall the race was run well and no cars suffered any significant damage. Top three overall were Todd Lamb, Andy Rushing, and Sammy Valafar. All are looking forward to a great Spec Miata main tomorrow. Don't forget you can catch it live at 2:20pm Utah time or 1:20pm Califirnia time on SpeedCastTv.com.

Qualifying Day #1

2009-09-10T22:40:00.000-07:00

Another beautiful day in Tooele, UT. Today is the first of 2 qualifying days. Each day with a qualifying sessions and a qualifying race. The results of the 2 qualifying races determine the starting position of the main race on Saturday.

Grant and Tim Weaver qualified in 4th and 5th. Parts for Clement's car has not arrived but he managed to get it to 10th.

In the qualifying race, the start was waved off as the poleman tried to jump the start before the field even rounded the corner onto the straight. This made the short qualifying race even shorter as the field had to go around again for the green. The restart was marginally better.

On the 2nd green lap, Clement was punted going into turn #5 hairpin and was spun 360. He got going again and rejoined after a good part of the train went through. On the following lap, another car spun 180 at the exit of that left turn #5 hairpin and was facing the wrong direction.

Clement's week went from bad to worse as he came around that corner. With another car to Clement's right, he had no where else to go but head on into the stationary car. Both cars suffered enough head on damage to end the championship run. Meanwhile, Tim Weaver's car had wheel to wheel contact with another, but managed to finish the qual race in 8th. At impound, several spokes on his wheel broken off. Curtis suffered a broken the tie rod with a seemingly light contact with another car resulting in a DNF. But his repair is done and should be able to continue with Qual #2. Grant Westmorland drove a steady race and finished in 5th.

Friday will be qualifying day #2. The spare part for Clement's car can wait as he will make an early exit to go home. The rest of the SoCal field is in good condition and ready to do battle again.

Official Test Day

2009-09-09T20:25:00.001-07:00

Another beautiful day in Tooele. Most drivers were out testing today.
SM were in the same run group with the Hondas, Porsches, and others.
Fortunately the track was long enough to give everyone room to run.

Grant and Tim Weaver's 1.6 were hooked up and handling well.

Clement's '99 were have handling problem and motor issue, eventually
the car quit on track. He's has a part on order from Mazda, hopefully
it will be here tomorrow.

Curtis is running consistent. Brian is doing fine and Tim Boney is
having a blast.

Tomorrow is the first qualifying and will tell more of the running order.

The Compound

2009-09-08T20:41:00.000-07:00

Today is a private test day organized by Miller Motorsport Park's driving school. Drivers that took advantage of this opportunity included Jeremy Barnes, Grant Westmorland, Tim Weaver, Tim Boney, Brian Bender, Curtis Cong, Sean Douglas, Ken Saward, Sammy Valafar and several others.

Most are trying to figure out whether old tires or new tires are better. I think the concensus is that old tires are better. The question is how old! While the weather is nice, warm but breezy, the track is still green/slippery as reported by several drivers, so the times are slower than expected. Tomorrow is the official test day so with more cars and rubber laid on the track, the times probably will drop.

SoCal drivers have a nice compound set up (see pic). The other SM drivers are right next door and across the asile.

The Journey Begins

2009-09-07T07:19:00.000-07:00

Time to get on the road.

Most interesting part is the section skirtting the edge of the Grand Canyon!

Finally, after a 12 hour tow, arrived into Salt Lake City, and I wasn't even exceeding the speed limit...

Lock n Load

2009-09-06T21:42:00.001-07:00

The bags are packed and the truck is fully loaded, ready to make the
long haul to Utah tomorrow morning.

1 more week

2009-08-31T21:51:00.000-07:00

Championship week of events:
Wednesday (9/9) - Open test / practice (5 sessions)
Thursday (9/10) - Qualifying (12:50pm), Qualifying Race #1 (4:20pm)
Friday (9/11) - Qualifying (12:50pm), Qualifying Race #2 (4:20pm)
Saturday (9/12) - Warm-up (10:05am), Championship Race (2:20pm)
Sunday (9/13) - Return trip

3 weeks and counting

2009-08-17T22:44:00.000-07:00

to the 2009 U.S. National Championships at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, just outside of Salt Lake City, Utah.