This past weekend the 944 crew of racers took to the famed Infineon Raceway(Sears Point) one weekend before the NASCAR boys,  and put on a show for the pro’s. Five cars showed up for what was shaping up to be a hot weekend at one of the most challenging tracks in the world and we prove to be mostly up for the challenge.

Saturday qualifying was cut short to two laps due to a red flag crash so times were not good but determination was high for the 5 o'clock race start. Steve Lewis and Jim Foxx were one, two separated by 2/10ths, followed by Jerry Whitteridge, and Ron Dale(me). Ken Huey qualified but a prior commitment made him put Ken Myers from IO port racing in the car for the race. Ken is an accomplished veteran racer who’s business sells great racing products at great prices and he is a part time 944’er so look him up for any parts you need.

The start was a barn burner with Jim taking a small lead over Steve, and Me and Jerry duking it out. I stuck my nose inside Jerry going into turn 4 and he gave me just enough racing room to make it a clean pass. Ken Meyers pressured us from behind and got past Jerry, who was struggling with grip all weekend and eventually came in early with a mechanical. I set sail for the leaders and kept them in sight when Jim, feeling the pressure of Steve behind him, made an ill advised pass attempt on a Boxster going into turn 11. He dove to the inside, locked up all 4 tires and slid.  I saw my chance and pushed hard to get by Steve but Infineon is a track that rewards skill over bravado and he has it in spades. All I could do is keep him in sight and hope for a miracle. What I got instead was a whirlwind of driving fury in the form of Jim Foxx. I got a call on the radio saying he was coming back through the field like he was on fire, and if you have ever raced with Jim, you know you don’t want him behind you when his blood is up. I put my head down and hustled the car but that only led to mistakes. He caught me on the last lap at turn 7, got inside me but went a little wide. I was determined not to be bullied by the Big Dog this time so held the gas down flat and we went side by side through the famed esses where nobody goes two wide. Jim gave me plenty of room but pulled a small advantage out of 9 leading into 10 and the braking zone of 11. I went through 10 faster than ever before, sliding sideways like a sprint car all the way into the dirt and made up enough space to make turn 11 interesting. I was hoping for a mistake and Jim didn’t disappoint! Jim is 10/10ths at all times and under braking he stepped it up to 11/10ths, going wide of the apex leaving me room inside but I carried a little too much braking into the turn and got sideways exiting, ruining a chance for a side by side finish. Great racing!!

Sunday was a quick schedule, starting with 8 am practice and ending with 11 am race time. During practice I started losing gears so brought it in. I lost all forward drive right in front of my paddock spot. After burning my arm on the exhaust, I found the shift linkage bolt had backed out again and got it fixed in time to make the last half of qualifying, getting one hot lap good enough for third following Jim and Steve. Jerry led Ken to the green in fourth and fifth respectively. The start was another wild one! Going full tilt into the uphill turn two(Is there a turn one?)on cold tires, Jim lost control and slid off fast into the tire barrier nose first. After a few corners with no red flag I knew he was ok but I also noticed there was no yellows or safety truck flags so that meant Jim is back on course and coming! Sure enough my wife said on the radio he was very fast and looked angry. Steve put in flawless laps and stretched a big lead over Jerry, Ken and I. He was in sight of me but just. Jim was setting the fastest laps of the weekend and soon caught all of us but Steve.

He got close and made it a race but Steve is the master of Infineon (at least until Rick comes to defend his throne!) and scored a clean sweep of the weekend. Jim took another second and I rounded out the podium again. Jerry and Ken followed us closely to cap off another great weekend.

Thanks go out to 2Ken racing which is Ken Huey and Ken Meyers. Ken Huey and his tireless work and gracious manner make 944 racing special and Ken Meyers and IO Port racing bring class and experience to our group, and he races us tight and clean.

Also we love having Jim Foxx and his girlfriend Katie racing with us in Norcal. They are always a highlight of the weekend and host the best parties at the “Mothership”. It was nice meeting Katie’s parents who came from Florida for the race and are staying to watch the NASCAR race. Jim gave Katie’s dad Charlie a ride at speed around the track and he loved it!

Hope to see you all soon back at the track for “Porsches at the Point” in October. If you have never raced this track, mark your calendar, you will not be disappointed!

Ron Dale

Turnout was a little light for this event for the new Texas region 944Spec racers, but the strong growth continued to show with three new drivers completing Comp school and getting their racing licenses! Phil Hanson and Jason Stanley joined the fray for the whole weekend after Friday's comp school. Kilynn Weber completed the school but his sharp 924S needs a few safety items before it can compete.

Phil Fromme took home three out of the four wins, showing both he and his car are in top form. The rest of the 944Spec world needs to be worried about Hallett next month as that is one of Phil's favorite tracks. Al Fernandez won the fourth race, while rookies Phil Hanson and Jason Stanley dramatically improved their lap times until they were within a mere second and a half off the pace over the relatively long TWS track. That is just excellent progress!

The next Texas region event is at Hallett, which always draws entries from the Rockies and even the Great Lakes and Midwest. You dont want to miss that one!

The NASA 944 Spec Midwest season opened April 20-22 with smokin’ lap times, close competition, and clear, cool weather at Autobahn Country Club.  The conditions were perfect for great racing: 50 degrees; sunny; and a double digit field of sharply prepared cars at the nation’s premier motorsports country club.

Sprint Race #1 – Saturday April 21

Did I mention that the lap times were smokin’ fast?  The field jumped into Round 1 qualifying as if the offseason never occurred.  Eric Kuhns took the pole under lap record pace, with Neal Agran only a hundredth of a second behind.  Dan Pina and Angel Blazquez captured row 2, followed by Ken Frey, Sid Chhikara, Michael Dalton, rookie Kurt Ristow, and Ray Freundt, who started “shotgun” after a malfunctioning transponder left him without a recorded qualifying lap.

At the start, Kuhns did a masterful job of moving Agran over to the left, giving Pina an opening to move forward and challenge for 2nd.  Agran and Pina ran through Turn 3 mirror-to-mirror, with Pina coming out the victor, Blazquez close behind in 4th, and Kuhns taking advantage of the melee to build a small gap.  Agran managed to re-pass Pina under braking for turn 11, by which time Kuhns had built a three second lead.  An epic chase followed, as Agran and Kuhns reset the lap record time and again in their identical Pine Tree Motorsports cars.  After 35 minutes of lapping at sub-qualifying pace, Agran managed to close only half the gap; Kuhns took the checker with a 2 second lead and scored the new lap record of 1:39.8 to boot.  Perfect bifecta!

Behind Kuhns and Agran, Pina held third over Blazquez, nicely working traffic to open a gap.  Frey, Dalton, and Chhikara engaged dramatically for 5th, swapping the position before Frey regained it for good over Dalton in 6th.  Ristow finished in 7th, while Chhikara was forced to the pits with an unfortunate cut tire and Freundt retired with a leaking exhaust.  Lap times across the field were… smokin’!  Several drivers recorded a personal best and reached their target times for the weekend.



Sprint Race #2 – Sunday April 22

Sunday dawned with a clear blue sky, lots of sunshine, and more cool temperatures.  With ideal conditions ahead and everyone back in the groove, several drivers took advantage of TraqMate data coaching and a chalk talk by Agran and Freundt on Sunday morning.  And the lap times reflected it.

Agran took the pole, with Pina on the outside of row 1.  Positions three to seven qualified within tenths of each other.  Series regular Sam Grant and Frey secured the second row (Kuhns was unable to attend the Sunday race and generously loaned his car to Grant for the day).  Blazquez, Dalton, Chhikara, and Ristow filled out rows 3 and 4.

When the green flag fell, Agran held off Pina for the lead through the opening turns.  Pina was not to be denied, hounding Agran for three laps with a pace below the prior lap record and some cagey feints.  Agran was ultimately able to use traffic to stretch out a lead, at which point he went to work trying to regain his lap record and take the overall win from FFR driver Brian Sanders.  Sanders and Agran exchanged the lead twice, with Sanders taking the overall win and Agran coming *this close* to getting the lap record back (picture a thumb and forefinger a tenth of a second apart).  Pina turned in a flawless drive for 2nd (and 3rd overall).

Frey and Grant also deserve special mention for hard charging laps in this race.  NASA Instructor Frey took advantage of our regional allowance permitting him to use up a set of TOYO R888 tires and came within a couple of tenths of the R888 lap record.  Grant took 4th never having seen the wickedly technical Autobahn south track before (or driven Kuhns’ car) and turned amazingly competitive lap times.  Absolutely incredible!