California Speedway Report

The 9th annual HSR West Historic Sports Car festival at Fontana, CA saw the long awaited return of our 2.5 Challenge series. We have been trying to re-energize this great series with mixed results due to the bad economy among other factors but with a promise by HSR West to return our own run group and a points challenge we saw a potential entry list of over 20 cars.  Even though a few could not make it for the event 18 did make it and 17 took the grid on Saturday.

We saw a lot of familiar faces that we had not seen in quite a while, such as original member Al Bourdet who made the long tow from the Bay area. It was good to see Bob Wass and John Samson back out as well and several new members like Rory Rinebold in his fast Ford Capri and Ken Mattice, Adam Carolla and Wayne McAttee in their Datsuns (we will do driver and car profiles on the new guys soon).  It was great to also see a few guys who ran with us before that just came to the track to see what the turnout was going to be.  Most of them expressed their enthusiasm and support for what they saw.  If the quality and quantity of the cars and the positive response we got can carry forward we should see some fantastic racing again soon.  We also had a few visitors that are currently building cars for the series and at least 2-3 of them could still be done this year for some of our fall races.

Attrition played a much smaller roll than normal this year as only 5 cars did not make the trophy race on Sunday and only 2 of those were serious issues.  For others it seems minor repairs like starters or rear diffs etc. We did have something new and rather serious in the Friday test day that everyone should take note of.  One of the 510's experienced a badly broken rear trailing arm and upon returning to the shop for repairs it was found that the other side was cracked as well.   It's a good reminder to never take anything for granted and always inspect your car carefully before every race.  This one had a good ending but such a major failure at speed could have serious consequences.

The Trophy race on Sunday saw a mix of the new old and returning regulars in the race. Twelve cars took the green flag with Troy Ermish getting the jump on the field into turn one and remained in first place the rest of the race.  It wasn't as easy as it might sound as he was chased by Tim Brecht (BMW) and returning veteran Ross Ditlove (510). One of our newest members, Adam Carolla (610), pretty much owned 4th place for most of the race but was closely followed by the original Trans-Am 510 of Bill Johnston ( driven by Steve Dragus ).  On lap 6 Steve made it by Adam but shortly thereafter something let go and made those noises you do not want to hear. Adam wasted no time taking back the position.  This was only Adam's second vintage race in his original Bob Sharp prepared Datsun 610 B-Sedan car.

Spots 5th through 10th had some great racing as well with five guys jockeying for those spots and racing hard.  Bill Pritchard had 7th spot on the grid but inherited 5th when Rory's Capri had a differential issues and another car fell back.  A lap later the field moved up one with the retirement of Craig Hauenstein. Pritchard's race started with Craig Carter (510), Al Bourdet (Alfa), Bob Wass (Alfa) and Jim McAdory (510).  McAdory dropped back early when his brakes became partially engaged due to a mechanical bind.  Prictchard chased Steve Dragus (510)  in the early laps but a missed shift allowed Craig Cater and Al Bordet to catch up.  A lap or so later Bordet spun in the hairpin and Prictchard followed off track as well which allowed Carter and Wass to pass   As this was going on, McAdory's brakes had released and he was back up to full power and soon was by Wayne McAttee(510) and set his sites on Bordet. The last 3 laps had Bordet and McAdory running nose to tail with Bordet holding off the charge to take the position.

Another of the newer members is Ken Mattice who recently purchased and had beautifully restored the Rob Dyson 510 to its former glory.  Ken drove a steady race even though there were a few extra neutrals in the gearbox. Look for Ken to move up quickly as he gets used to his new car.

I personally think we put on a great show and some pretty good races developed and to see all the guys gather in the garage and discuss the races with smiles on their faces.  This was what great Vintage racing is about.

 

BRE Reunion Video is Ready!

Two hours of discussion and vintage film from the BRE Reunion dinner held in 2008.  This video is available exclusively at www.BRE2.net.

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