Road Race Report

Road Race Report
By Bill Perry

Newer Road Race Reports

Road Atlanta Panoz GT / ProIT -- May 27, 2000

New Civic gets Raceworks Sticker

Bill's new Civic gets a Raceworks sticker
before the Pro IT

Will and Bill Perry took their ITC Hondas for this event with Jamie Hamilton, Gail Perry, Randy Bailey and Roy Yother as crew and Jeff Boatright as photographer. Will was defending his lead in the ProIT Series points, and his Championships for 1998 and 1999. Bill was trying out his Civic for the first time.

Will qualified first, and Bill second in the ITC field of five. At the start, the inside row, which included Will and all the other ITC cars, shot forward. The outside row, including Bill, went nowhere.

Will cruised to a very easy win in class and fourth overall.

Bill ended the first lap fourth in class. But all the ITC cars, except Will, were in a tight bunch for lap after lap. Positions 2, 3 and 4 changed back and forth several times. By using the draft better, Bill was able to take second ahead of his young competition about fifteen laps into the 20-lap race. He held off the attack of the Datsun 510 and VW Scirocco to take second, with one second covering 2 - 3 and 4. This was the hardest Bill had found it necessary to drive in many years.

Carolina Motorsports Park SARRC / ECR -- May 27-28, 2000

1st Place in Kershaw ECR George Lewis served as lone crew for Vesa Silegren and Carl Blevins in their ITC Hondas. In Saturdays SARRC, Vesa qualified first in a field of 10 ITC cars, with Carl fifth. This was Carl's first look at the CMP at Kershaw. The race ended with them in first and fifth. Vesa finished second overall. He now has four wins in his quest for the SARRC Championship.

The Endurance Championship Racing event was one and a half hours long. It included 8 ITC cars. Vesa started and eventually dropped back as far as fifth, due partly to a missed shift in Carl's car at the start. Carl took the wheel after 50 minutes. By speed and attrition, they steadily pulled forward. At the end, they scored another first place! This makes two first place finishes in two endurance races this year for Carl's Honda.

Harvey Templeton Club Racer of the Year Points:

Races Points Best 6

Vesa Silegren 8 166 144

Will Perry 5 88 88

Carl Blevins 5 81 81

Bill Perry 3 33 33

Jamie Blair 1 15 15

Brian Stubblefield 1 10 10

May 30, 2000

The weekend of May 13 was a busy one for the Rivergate Racing Pod - in three locations.

Virginia International Raceway Double MARRS, Double SARRC
-- May 13-14, 2000

With this event being a double for both the Mid Atlantic and the South Atlantic Road Racing Championship series, turnout was huge - about 370 racecars. Vesa Silegren and Bill Perry raced, with Gail Perry and Art Thompson crewing. Bill had to take Will's CRX because the Civic he just bought has a motor that froze and cracked last winter.

There were 23 ITC cars in our race group, which included 70+ cars - ITC, ITB, Spec RX7 and both Showroom Stock classes.

VIR is a fantastic race facility - 19 turns in 3.27 miles. I haven't driven all the racetracks in the world, but I don't think I need to do that to conclude that there is no course on earth more fun and challenging than VIR! If another is better I couldn't stand it anyway! The corners are named, not numbered - Horseshoe, NASCAR, Snake, Climbing S's, Oaktree, Roller Coaster - get the idea? Complex, fast corners, one after another. VIR operated thru the 1960's until 1974 when the owner closed it because of vandalism by motorcycle racing fans. I raced there 1966 - 1969. In fact when I lined up for the race Sunday I was beside the same racer that lined up near me on October 15, 1966 at VIR.

For Saturday's race, Vesa qualified 8th and me 15th. As soon as Gail Said "Green, Green" on the radio, mayhem began. I had to lock up my brakes before the starting line, as cars were 3 wide and four deep all trying to crash each other. The chief steward warned at the driver's meeting that "only 3" hits would be tolerated - some used up their quota before they actually crossed the starting line. I backed off and cruised for 3 laps to let the tempers cool off. The cars from up North were shedding chunks of Bondo everywhere.

Halfway thru I drafted by an ITB VW GTI at about 105 MPH in the middle of the back straight. I must have crowded him because he hit my back bumper spinning me off the straightaway and into a concrete wall (well off the track). I was able to continue after losing many positions. I finished the race in14th.

Vesa stayed up front of much of the wildness and finished 7th.

Art worked hard Saturday night to get the front of the CRX ready for Sunday.

On Sunday I could tell before we got to turn one that the drivers had decided behavior like on Saturday would be inappropriate for Mother's Day. I still took it very easy for several laps until traffic cleared, so as not to wreck Will's car again. The last half I had the most fun I can remember in a racecar. I again finished 14th.

Vesa had a fine race. He was finally learning some of the fine points of driving the track. He finished third, but very close to first & second.

If you have the opportunity to drive VIR - DO IT! A Solo I later this year will use the South Course - it looks like you couldn't help but giggle in your crash helmet while driving it.

The North Carolina Region, under the leadership of RE Kaye Fairer, does a great job of operating races. They deserve to have a spectacular track like VIR to hold their events. Kaye spent much of Sunday delivering roses to all the mothers at the event.

Road America Regional -- May 14, 2000

Jamie Blair took his Honda CRX to Road America and set a new lap record for ITC at 2:58.138. He finished first in class of eight. The new motor, transmission and final drive are paying off, as is his increasing experience.

Park Rapids, Minnesota - Club Rally -- May 13, 2000

Randy Bailey, driver, and Will Perry, co-driver, took Carl Blevins' Toyota MR2 to the Headwaters Club Rally. Team LeConte also took the Dodge Shadow for Kendall Russell. Randy and Will did surprisingly well, going forward to 5th overall and first in the GT2 class by the evening meal break. There were 17 cars in their class and 57 registered overall. In next to the last stage, after dark, the MR2's brake fluid boiled, as it has done at several endurance races. The car plunged off into the mud about 100 feet off the road, losing several positions. They lost two more positions because the driving lights were lighting the sky, not the road. They finally hugged the back bumper of a car that passed them, using his lights, to finish the section. They finished a close third in class and 14th overall.

Kendall lost a wheel on the final transit (but a civilian car found the wheel - right in its grill!). This brought on a penalty causing her to finish 6th in class and 32nd overall.

Harvey Templeton Club Racer of the Year Points:

Races Points

Vesa Silegren 6 120

Will Perry 4 69

Carl Blevins 3 46

Bill Perry 2 18

Jamie Blair 1 15

Brian Stubblefield 1 10

May 24, 2000

Roebling Road SARRC -- April 16, 2000

With George Lewis as crew (did a great job we hear), Vesa Silegren raced at Roebling Road in his quest for the ITC SARRC Championship. With 13 ITC cars qualifying, Vesa qualified first in class, and behind only one ITB car. Outside pole - all right!! In the race, Vesa got trapped behind an SSC Neon - fast down the straight; slow and sloppy in the corners. This caused Vesa to lose the lead, but for only a few laps. He then cruised to another first place - Three SARRC races - three first places!

Harvey Templeton Club Racer of the Year Points:

Races Points

Vesa Silegren 4 74

Will Perry 4 69

Carl Blevins 3 46

Brian Stubblefield 1 10

April 24, 2000

Road Atlanta Pro IT -- April 2, 2000

Will Perry took down his ITC Honda CRX to defend his ProIT Title (1998 & 1999). Art Thompson, George Lewis and Bill Perry crewed. He qualified, and finished, first in class, without significant challenge.

Sebring Motorola Cup -- March 19, 2000

Andy Felker took his Miata to Sebring for the Motorola Cup race, run the day after the Sebring 12 Hour race. His co-driver is Rob Ebersol. They finished ninth according to officials, provisionally, but the crew (Darlene I expect) had them finishing sixth. I say always go with family on matters like this.

Harvey Templeton Club Racer of the Year Points:

Points

Will Perry 69

Vesa Silegren 47

Carl Blevins 46

Brian Stubblefield 10

April 15, 2000

Road Atlanta ECR/ProIT/SARRC -- March 4 & 5, 2000

Vesa Silegren, Will Perry & Carl Blevins took their Rivergate Racing Pod Honda ITC racers down for this very busy weekend. Crew was Gail & Bill Perry.

For Saturday's Enduro, Carl qualified first in class. Will pulled out a good lead for the first half, then Carl took over to pull out a win by two laps.

Will qualified first in ITC for the 65-car ProIT field. He pulled away steadily to win his class by a full lap in the 20 lap race.

In SARRC qualifying, the top three were Will - Vesa - Carl. Soon after the start, an ITB car ahead of Will missed a shift and Will hit him, just hard enough to break a headlight. Vesa took this opportunity to take over first in ITC. Will finished the remainder of the race following Vesa, not pushing too hard in respect of Vesa's SARRC Championship effort. This allowed Vesa to move to the top of the SARRC points standings.

Carl missed a shift soon after the start and lost many positions. But he pushed back through the field. His final challenge was to get by the Krispy Kreme Donut sponsored VW from Florida. This accomplished, he finished third.

Three cars, three class poles, three firsts, and a 1-2-3 finish! We badly needed a crew of more than two to celebrate this much success. Gail even had to do a double stint of carrying the checker flag for drivers on their victory laps

Harvey Templeton Club Racer of the Year Points:

Points

Will Perry 53

Vesa Silegren 47

Carl Blevins 46

Brian Stubblefield 10

March 8, 2000

Dave Marino, our resident scrutineer, held Annual Inspection of racecars at the Rivergate Shop on February 19th. He inspected four cars _ all passed his thorough inspection. He previously had inspected Vesa Silegren's Civic in preparation for his trip to Kershaw.

Carolina Motorsports Park Double SARRC -- February 19-20, 2000

The 2000 racing season has begun for the Chattanooga Region's racers - and it began with a Bang!

Vesa Silegren took his Honda Civic ITC racecar to Carolina Motorsports Park at Kershaw, for the double SARRC, to begin his quest to be SARRC Champion. George Lewis was crew.

Because it was Vesa's first time to see the track, he qualified mid-pack in a field of 12 ITC cars. At the start he began his move forward. Following is the report of the ITC pole sitter, who was now just behind Vesa: "A couple of laps later, he (Vesa) passed her (Rose Hawley) cleanly into turn 1. Rose decided that wasn't acceptable and slammed into his rear bumper turning him sideways on the nose of her car. She then proceeded to drive right through him, pushing him across the turn 2 apex curbing sideways. Never lifted. He spun and was out of the race _ the car started misfiring immediately and he parked it."

I understand that four different drivers Mrs. Hawley had hit (all reportedly intentional hits) protested her driving. She was disqualified and placed on a 4 race probation. George was able to diagnose the problem with the car as being a vacuum line blown off when the engine turned backwards during the spin.

On Sunday Vesa qualified first in ITC and faster than all but one ITB car, so started outside the front row. In the race he held first place throughout, setting a lap record in the process. His time of 2:00.322 was two seconds faster than the previous lap record!

Vesa reports that the new motor built over the winter is even faster than last year. This may be very bad news for the other contenders for the SARRC championship.

Memphis Motorsports Park Driver's School/Regional -- February 26-27, 2000

Carl Blevins took his Honda CRX racecar to this event. Brian Stubblefield borrowed it to do the Driving School on Saturday. He wanted to get some time in a front wheel drive car. Brian owns a 14-year-old CRX that wants to be a racecar when it grows up.

Brian in CRX The school ran in the rain until afternoon, when the rain got too hard to continue. It was completed Sunday AM. In the five-lap school race, Brian finished first in ITC. He started 13th and finished 8th overall.

Carl qualified second in ITC in the Regional race. He raced to second place in the race too. This was his first outing with a new transmission that is geared so low that it requires the somewhat awkward shift to fifth gear.

The Rivergate Racing Pod will be taking three cars to Road Atlanta March 4 & 5. Carl, with Will co-driving, will run the Enduro Saturday. On Sunday, Will plans to run in the ProIT race. Also on Sunday, Carl, Will and Vesa will be running the SARRC race. Come join us!