2002 Latest News and Results
PACIFIC NIGHTS 4-HOUR CAL CLUB ENDURO (NOVEMBER)
PRO MIATA CHALLENGE @ MAZDA RACEWAY LAGUNA SECA (SEPTEMBER)
SEE-YA MOTORHOMES 6-HOUR CAL CLUB ENDURO (JULY)
MAZDASPEED CUP AT MAZDA RACEWAY LAGUNA SECA (JUNE)
PACIFIC
NIGHTS 4-HOUR CAL CLUB ENDURO (11/24/02)
The team of Scott Webb, Dave Tobata and Richard Gray managed
to stay out of trouble for all four hours to bring the #1 LA Auto Show/San
Dimas Auto Racing Miata home 2nd in class and 11th overall at the Cal
Club Enduro on Sunday at Buttonwillow Raceway Park. After 104 laps of
hard-fought racing, only 43 seconds separated 1st and 2nd in Class 3,
with the 3rd place car of Kanavas Kompetition just one lap back.
Webb jumped out to an early lead at the start, putting lots of distance
between himself and the nearest pursuers, and setting the fastest lap
of the Class 3 finishers in the process. Tobata, making his auto racing
debut, and Gray, in his first race in several years, continued the trend
by posting consistently fast laps and performing mistake-free pit stops.
In the end, however, the Rush Motorports Miata proved a bit quicker, taking
victory away in the closing stages of the race. The pole-sitting San Dimas
team car of Andrew Fernandez, Alan Leukhardt and Todd Launchbaugh suffered
electrical problems early in the race and was forced to retire, but not
before Fernandez could snatch the best Class 3 lap time from Webb.
PRO
MIATA CHALLENGE @ MAZDA RACEWAY LAGUNA SECA (9/02)
Scott Webb, driving the #51 Star Shield Armor Miata, finished
16th in both SCCA Pro Miata Challenge races at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
Another large field of the nation's top Spec Miata drivers and cars descended
upon Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca this past weekend for two Miata Challenge
races during the Monterey Sports Car Championships. Track time was relatively
sparse for this event, so drivers had to get down to business quickly
in order to secure good results. Saturday morning qualifying saw the top
25 cars post times within three seconds of pole position, setting up close
racing later that afternoon. Scott Webb produced a time late in the session
that would put the Star Shield Armor Miata 23rd on the grid of 50 cars.
In fact, the racing got a bit too close in the accident-marred round one
of the Miata Challenge, which went full course yellow after just over
one lap of racing for an incident involving San Dimas Auto Racing owner
Andrew Fernandez. The long yellow flag period helped settle the pack,
which enabled Webb to recover from a poor start that saw him as low as
29th. Taking advantage of a car that was handling better with every lap,
Webb was nearly able to crack the top fifteen with a 16th place finish
in race one.
Race two was the final event of the weekend, and with no warm-up or practice
between race one and two, drivers were once again forced to come out swinging.
Luckily, the contact that had riddled the track with wrecked cars in race
one was but a memory, and the race went green to checker without a full-course
caution. Starting from his 16th spot on the grid, Webb held station for
most of the race, struggling with a car that developed a push. The Star
Shield Armor paint protection film got a real workout, as Webb unavoidably
hit the car in front of him exiting a corner as the driver in front missed
an upshift. Consistent lap times kept the Star Shield Miata in front of
faster cars, however, and netted Webb his second top-20 of the weekend.
Final
results from the weekend can be found on the SCCA Pro Racing web site
and along with photos at Spec Miata West. Special thanks to Star Shield
Armor for their support as title sponsor and for their protection of the
brand-new paint on the car! Thanks also to George and Andrew (hope that
broken sternum heals quickly!) at San Dimas Auto Racing for preparing
a great car, Craig and Meredith for crew support, TRS Racing for use of
their radios, Scott Lucas for the camcorder, and Modern Image for their
quick turnaround on the graphics.
Star Shield Armor produces exclusive paint protection film that preserves
paint finishes while protecting surfaces vulnerable to stone chips, bug
damage, abrasions and weathering. Star Shield is one of the nations leading
marketers of paint protection film, supplying kits to original equipment
vehicle manufactures in the automotive, RV and big-rig truck markets,
in addition to expert installers throughout North America. Star Shield
also produces a new line of headlight protection film that protects expensive
headlight lenses from costly damage. Visit Star Shield Armor at www.StarShieldArmor.com.
SEE-YA
MOTORHOMES 6-HOUR CAL CLUB ENDURO (07/02)
The oft-used phrase "That's racing" definitely
came to mind this past weekend at Buttonwillow Raceway Park. The Hartmann
Motorsport/Intrax Suspension crew arrived with what they thought was a
race-winning car, only to fall prey to ignition problems that kept the
Audi A4 1.8T Quattro stationary in the paddock the entire day, except
for one lap in testing. Despite the best efforts of Fabryce Kutyba and
the entire crew to find the necessary parts under the hood of nearly every
VW and Audi at the track (everyone asked agreed to offer any necessary
parts!), in addition to combing the phone book for parts stores and VW/Audi
dealers, the team ended up missing only one of the necessary parts to
affect repairs. So about an hour into the 6-hour race, the team, in remarkably
good spirits, finally packed the transporter and headed south. Webb had
secured a second ride in Jim Colombotos' awesomely fast Sports Toyota,
which led most of the early laps, only to watch that car succumb to a
failed wheel bearing only 10 minutes before Scott was to climb aboard.
Another dejected team packed up and headed for home before dark. Not exactly
the weekend Scott Webb or Scott Hartmann had planned or prepared to have,
but one that drivers must accept in motor racing. The Intrax team is already
planning for the future, and is hoping to contest the Grand-Am Cup in
2003 should sufficient funding materialize.
MAZDASPEED
CUP AT MAZDA RACEWAY LAGUNA SECA (6/02)
After a hard-fought battle for 15 laps around Mazda Raceway
Laguna Seca, the #51 Star Shield Armor of Scott Webb managed to finish
22nd in a highly competitive field of 70 cars at the MazdaSpeed Cup race
in support of CART at Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca in June 2002. Qualifying
netted the team a 21st starting position in what was the largest starting
field in Mazda Raceway history.
Amazingly, the 70-car MazdaSpeed Cup field made it through turn 2 on the
first lap without incident, becoming the only race of the weekend not
to go full-course yellow on the first lap. A turn 3 incident a bit further
up in the pack, however, caused Webb to take to the dirt to avoid spinning
cars, resulting in a loss of 10-12 positions. Undaunted, Webb clawed his
way back up through the field, turning qualifying-speed laps in the process.
Even with more than 2 laps of caution mid race, Webb was nearly able to
make it back up to his grid position, finishing in 22nd place after a
pass on the final turn of the last lap.
The Star Shield Armor Paint Protection kit installed just days before
the event sure got a workout all weekend long. After six very crowded
on-track sessions, featuring lots of thrown debris, the nose of the car
looked as good as it did coming off the trailer. The Modern Image graphics
also transformed the car from plain-Jane to eye catching right out of
the box. Results can be found at : www.MazdaSpeedCup.com.
GRAND-AM
CUP @ CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY
TRS Racing debuted their #51 Honda Civic in Grand-Am Cup
competition this past March at California Speedway with drivers Scott
Webb and Mike Davis. The car competed in the ST I class, which featured
stiff competition from Lexus, Porsche, BMW, Acura, Mercedes and Hyundai.
As the only Honda in the field, the little Civic was a bit outgunned against
several factory-backed competitors, but Webb and Davis got as much out
of the car as possible during practice and qualifying in the days preceding
the race.
At the green flag, Webb began to climb through the field, passing several
cars that had qualified ahead of the Civic. The Honda had an advantage
in several of the braking zones and through the infield twists and turns,
but with an engine a fraction of the size of most of its competitors,
the car gave up ground on the ultra-fast oval section of the California
Speedway track. Car-to-car contact was a common occurrence in the opening
stages of the race, and during the second full-course caution, the TRS
team decided to perform its fuel stop and driver change. The stop itself
went just fine, but Davis encountered drive-train problems on his out
lap, later attributed to a failed throwout bearing. Without drive, the
team was forced to retire the car and spend the rest of the race as spectators.
While it was not the result the team had hoped for, they were pleased
with the progress they had made throughout the weekend. Lap times fell
by 8 seconds a lap as the team worked to improve the car. Results for
the weekend, including practice, qualifying and race results, can be found
at California Speedway Results on the Grand-Am Cup website.
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