Something new to the mix, Spec E30 Series director Shawn Meze led the
way friday after the track closed to do a course walk with a handful
of drives. Very few drivers have actually laid foot to the asphalt and
a better understanding of the track was had by many. I know one driver
would walk the course again on saturday and figure out something in
sundays race to move up in the pack. Could this be the next ritual for
the E30 drivers for the 2012 season? We will see!

13 drivers showed up to a soggy track as the rains returned to add to
the mix. No matter, the morning sun dried out the track and the
morning warm up would be a dry session, as would the entire day. The
sun gods would shine upon us all day and clear sunny skies would rule
the day.

Cool air temps would make great power and a sun soaked track would
allow for great traction on the track on this day. The current track
records would not hold out as no less than 5 drivers would run faster
in the qualifying session. The current record, 2:17.345 set by
Geoffrey Sykes in June, wouldn’t last the day. Allan Hauser would lead
the way with a 2:15.543.

Our newest drivers, Sean Trapp would make his first debut at
Buttonwillow, but not with SE30 racing and qualify in the 10th spot.
Sean Aaron’s first race with us and finish up the pack in a car he
just picked up and raced for the first time.

Saturday Qualifying Results:
1.     320    Allan Hauser           2:15.543
2.    21    Matthew Thiemann    2:16.322
3.    67    Steffen Thompson    2:16.651
4.    343    David Reed            2:16.706
5.    28    Steven Stepanian    2:17.102
6.    55    Team Road Runner    2:17.574
7.    59    Patrick Vogel            2:18.859
8.    11    Frank Reed            2:18.874
9.    25    Chris Donnelly    2:19.199
10.    24    Sean Trapp    2:20.315
11.    111    Erick Strong    2:20.737
12.    99    Mitchell Pepper    2:22.587
13.    33    Sean Aaron    2:26.922

A good start by most while others struggled to get away mixed up the
field a they entered turn one together. Even with some 3 wide racing
into the first turn, there was some light contact with the front
runners but that didn’t matter as everyone made it out of the first
turn together. Heading into the Riverside turn, Steffen Thompson would
not have enough heat in the rear tires and a slow left hand spin would
put him off to the inside where he would stand on the throttle and
roost up the fresh muddy stuff all over the windshields of Allan
Hauser, David Reed and Steven Stepanian. This would have a dramatic
effect on their races. Matthew Thiemann was able to get past the
incident without issue and drive off to a commanding lead.

Mid pack Kevin Nichols in the Team Road Runner entry was having a
great battle for position with Steven Stepanian until he finally got
around Steve to take over the 4th spot. Sean Trapp was moving up thru
the field and quickly got to the back bumper of Steven Stepanian who
gave Sean a great battle to the very end. “One more lap and I would
have got him”! Trapp was heard saying after the race.

Nichols continued his charge and went after the 3rd place  holder,
David Reed. Reed was suffering from a mud covered windshield but
didn’t give up the fight. Nichols got around David Reed cleanly and
held onto the 3rd place finish.

Allan Hauser closed the gap on Matthew Thiemann for the lead but was
too far behind to make a move when the checkered flag came out. This
would be Matthew Thiemann’s first ever Spec E30 race win but he was
not able to set the fastest lap of the race. Allan Hauser’s 2:16.476
would reset the track lap record in Spec E30 and be one more step
closer to the championship. Matthew Thiemann was awarded the Midnight
Oil hard charger award!

Patrick Vogel would have an electrical issue on the first lap and the
car would be stranded on the track but would be towed in and repairs
were made. Patrick was able to get back out as the checkered flag
flew.

Matthew Thiemann was unavailable for post race commentary as it was
rumored that Roger Penske was speaking to him on the phone. We were
not able to contact Roger Penske for a comment on the rumor.

Unfortunately the #28 car of Steven Stepanian failed the post race
tech inspection and was DQ’d for the race. An error in setting the
right fuel level before the race is a hard lesson to learn.

And though the race might have ended, the party was just getting
started. Hanging out, watching some great race video, a nice Tri Tip
dinner and adult beverages were had by all that were camping out at
the track. It was a fitting end to a great day!

Saturday Race Results:
1. 21    Matthew Thiemann    2:16.966
2. 320    Allan Hauser    2:16.476
3. 55    Team Road Runner    2:16.756
4. 343    David Reed    2:17.287
5. 24    Sean Trapp    2:18.590
6. 11    Frank Reed    2:19.536
7. 25    Chris Donnelly    2:20.021
8. 111    Erick Strong    2:20.700
9. 99    Mitchell Pepper    2:21.556
10. 33    Sean Aaron    2:24.319
11. 67    Steffen Thompson    2:20.388
12. 59    Patrick Vogel
DQ. 28      Steven Stepanian    2:17.364

The rain gods were at it again as a downpour would drench the track at
3am and not stop until well after sunrise. The weather forecast was
for clear skies until 3pm, then it was to rain yet again. Our race was
at 12:45, so we thought we would be fine. The morning warm up went off
without a hitch and the guys were ready for the qualifying session.

Allan Hauser let it be known he still has it by posting a smoking
2:15.501 for the pole! Steven Stepanian found some time and laid down
a personal best lap of 2:16.318 claiming his first outside pole
position. Kevin Nichols and Sean Trapp would not be able to
participate in Sundays race but Joe Powers would return to do some
racing to finish out the season with SOCal! Erick Strong found 3 full
seconds out of nowhere and moved up the chart to start in the 5th
position!

Sunday Qualifying Results:
1. 320    Allan Hauser    2:15.501
2. 28    Steven Stepanian    2:16.318
3. 21    Matthew Thiemann    2:16.788
4. 343    David Reed    2:17.024
5. 111    Erick Strong    2:17.716
6. 59    Patrick Vogel    2:18.208
7. 67    Steffen Thompson    2:18.335
8. 11    Frank Reed    2:20.134
9. 25    Chris Donnelly    2:20.407
10. 33    Sean Aaron    2:22.344
11. 15    Joe Powers    2:21.098
12. 99    Mitchell Pepper    2:21.428

Sure enough, the rains come early and it didn’t let up. As the guys
roll off the grid, orders are given to the the pace car driver to take
an additional lap to give the drivers some much needed recon regarding
what the grip levels are on the track. This season has only seen one
standing start in the rain, which was back at CA Speedway. Not knowing
for sure what RPM to launch at, and even what gear to use for the
start, the drivers made their last minute choices and the grid was
set.

As the green flag dropped for the last time this season, the guys got
away cleanly and all but one made it thru turn one without issue. The
crowd would ooh and aah as Steffen Thompson would find the limits of
the tires on the wet asphalt and spin to a stop going into turn 1. The
guys behind him would do a great job to avoid his car.  Thompson would
get it going and rejoin the race.

While all of the lap times were not fast for this race, the battles on
track were non stop! With 2 laps to go Mitch Pepper would lose control
going into Riverside and would spin off track to the inside and get
firmly stuck in the ankle deep mud. Full course caution would slow the
field while his car was extracted. Unfortunately, Dave Reed made a
pass under yellow and it cost him.  While he gave the position back,
he suffered for it.  However he was not the only one because by this
time, Stepanian had gapped the field by a good distance.  Fortunately
for the rest of the pack,  the full course yellow allowed most of them
to all catch up due to a slower moving PT car in front of Stepanian.

When the track finally went green, there was a pack of 4 cars
(Stepanian, Thiemann, Hauser and Vogel) all bumper to bumper for what
would be the remaining 2 laps. Thiemann went on the attack immediately
by trying to force the issue on the inside of turn 1 on Stepanian
while Hauser followed Thiemann’s lead and decided to take the outside.
Stepanian wisely drove mid track, where most of the grip was, and
pulled away from both of them going into the esses.  Thiemann would
again challenge Stepanian in Star Mazda by trying the outside line
against Stepanian’s mid-track line.  Once again, Stepanian was able to
stay in front all the way to the Cotton Corners where Thiemann would
give one last try.  However, Thiemann found himself under attack by
Hauser.  Just to make things difficult for them both Patrick Vogel was
trying to challenge Hauser for 3rd place.  The three of them would
battle through every turn for the remainder of the race.  When the
checkered flag came out, Steven Stepanian had redeem himself.  After a
poor start, he battled his way to the front about half way through the
race and drove on to collect his first win in Spec E30!  Stepanian
would also be awarded the Midnight Oil hard charger award for Sunday’s
race!

Matthew Thiemann showed that Saturdays win was no fluke and finished a
solid second place.

Allan Hauser took the 3rd spot and secured his bid for the SoCal Spec
E30 Championship!

Patrick Vogel in the Vogel Boys entry, claimed the 4th place finish in
the race to secure their teams 2nd place in the Championship points!
David Reed would have visability issues and would fall all the way
back to 10th after being as high as 2nd in the race. His brother Frank
Reed was too far back in the points to dethrone his brother and they
would finish 3rd and 4th respectively in the championship series
points.

It was a great race and an exciting finish to a great season of
racing! The field has grown, the drivers are getting faster; which is
evidenced by us having two first time winners on the final racing
weekend of the season. I just can’t wait for the 2012 race season to
start again!

Sunday Race Results:
1. 28    Steven Stepanian    2:43.618
2. 21    Matthew Thiemann    2:43.786
3. 320    Allan Hauser        2:43.632
4. 59    Patrick Vogel        2:43.174
5. 11    Frank Reed        2:49.738
6. 111    Erick Strong        2:49.095
7. 67    Steffen Thompson    2:46.921
8. 33    Sean Aaron        2:52.870
9. 15    Joe Powers        2:53.933
10. 343    David Reed        2:46.145
11. 25    Chris Donnelly        2:57.507
12. 99    Mitchell Pepper      2:55.928
–
Shawn Meze

Two cars and three drivers from NASA’s NorCal region couldn’t stay away so joined us for the weekend of racing. All but one regular SoCal driver was able to return and we saw 19 drivers in 14 cars including the “Enduro”. We were also joined by two new drivers for their first ever races, Mitch Pepper and Erik Strong. The new guys would put the rubber to the asphalt for their first green flag starts and are both a great addition to the SPEC E30 group!

Buttonwillow has many different configurations and for this event the track configuration would be Clockwise number 13 a familiar configuration for Spec E30!

Buttonwillow and NASA hosted a Friday test and tune session. These aren’t usually an eventful occasion and mechanical issues are pretty rare and when they do pop up, they are normally uncomplicated such as “teething problems”. This would not be a normal Friday test and tune.

As they happened…

1. Vogel Boys racing would blow a head gasket in the afternoon.

The guys in the Spec E30 community helped with some needed parts and the car was repaired in the pits before the sun set on the track.

1. Steven Stepanian took delivery of his freshly built Spec E30 dubbed “The Great Pumpkin” and Friday’s afternoon session was the only shakedown session the Midnight Oil team had.

A strange electrical gremlin would keep the car from running correctly so the crew worked into the night and into Saturday diagnosing the problem.

1. Dave Reed lost 4th gear just before the test session ended.

A spare transmission was sent up from the Midnight Oil Shop in Miramar, four hours away. Dave’s car was put in the trailer and the transmission was swapped out because space was running out in the garage!

1. Meanwhile, the Midnight Oil crew was helping another BMW team change the transmission in an E36 BMW race car.

Everyone made it to the morning warm-up. There was so much work going on the night before the racing even started, the Spec E30 series director Shawn Meze was nervously hoping that Friday was not a preview of things to come.

Saturday Qualifying:

After two months off from racing, the racers were itching to get back on the track and the morning warm-up looked more like the Great Land Rush of 1893. Once the guys got that out of their system, everyone began to focus on the qualifying session.

Steven Ferrario made a profound statement in qualifying with a dominating 2:08.128 to take the pole position and only missed the track record by a half of a second! Alan Hauser and David Reed battled the clock and qualified within a tenth of one another but Alan would claim the outside pole position putting David back to the third spot almost a second and a half behind Ferrario.

Results from Saturday Qualifying

1)	93	Steven Ferrario	2:08.128
2)	320	Allan Hauser	2:09.534
3)	343	David Reed	2:09.685
4)	21	Matthew Thiemann	2:10.684
5)	67	Steffen Thompson	2:10.704
6)	15	Team Road Runner	2:11.195
7)	25	Chris Donnelly	2:11.627
	59	Mike Vogel	2:11.834
9)	11	Frank Reed	2:13.571
10)	3	Shawn Meze	2:14.016
11)	111	Erick Strong	2:14.322
12)	28	Steven Stepanian	2:15.980
13)	99	Mitchell Pepper	2:16.022
14)	75	Jeremy Sykes	2:17.073

The Spec E30 series director Shawn was not able to watch this race from the tower to see the events as they happened. Instead he was driving the Number 3 Midnight Oil car! And his perspective was from the back of the pack.

The start was great, almost everyone got off the line well. There were at least two rows of cars that went three-wide through Turn-1. Despite the aggressive start everyone made it to away without contact or damage. Shawn Meze had a great start right behind Mike Vogel who struggled off the line. Mike moved to the outside leaving Shawn the middle and he moved up next to Frank Reed and all three went through Turn-1 door handle to door handle.

At the start of the race, David Reed passed Allan Hauser to take over the 2nd spot and pursue Steven Ferrario for the lead. On the second lap, David Reed was able to pass Ferrario for the lead in the sweeper. A couple laps later Ferrario repaid the favor by passing Reed in the same turn to retake the lead.

On lap four Stepanian’s race was over with reoccurrence of Friday’s electrical issues and retired from the race. The Midnight Oil team would find and fix the problem before the 3-hour Enduro scheduled to start only a few hours later. Fellow Spec E30 driver Kieran Gobey teamed with Steve for the Enduro and “The Great Pumpkin” ran flawlessly for the entire Enduro.

Meanwhile, Dave Reed would misjudge Ferrario’s speed going into the sweeper, and collected Ferrario to spin him to the inside. Reed would control his car and continue into the lead. Ferrario would drop back to 6th place. Mike Vogel was 5^th in front of Ferrario and while coming out of the Buttonhook turn Vogel missed a shift and Ferrario was unable to avoid Vogel and would tap him just enough to force him off the track to the inside.

As Shawn Meze went by the parked Vogel, as he did he thought for certain he would remain there for the remainder of the race. Meze figured that the front left suspension was broken because it was sitting so low and his right rear tire was freely spinning in reverse.  On Meze’s next lap, Vogel wasn’t there anymore!  Vogel somehow got the car out of the dirt and was again circling the track.

Mid-race Chris Donnelly overcooked a corner that him off track providing the other racers with a thick dusting of the track surface. Donnelly would lose a couple positions and fell back to the 12th spot but would battle back up to 10th. While he was catching and in turn intimidating Meze with his pace, Donnelly lost it again at the bus stop and Mitch Pepper would inherit the 10th spot from the unfortunate Donnelly.

On the last lap Vogel dropped a wheel off track causing the car to spin and hit the tire wall. Initially the car was thought to have suffered cosmetic damages to the passenger door and mirror and Vogel was able to continue and take the checkered flag.

Saturday Race Results & Fastest Lap Times

1)	93	Steven Ferrario	2:08.689
2)	320	Allan Hauser	2:10.932
3)	343	David Reed	2:10.250
4)	67	Steffen Thompson	2:11.325
5)	15	Team Road Runner	2:12.047
6)	21	Matthew Thiemann	2:11.267
7)	11	Frank Reed	2:13.306
	75	Team Sykes	2:13.655
9)	3	Shawn Meze	2:13.057
10)	99	Mitchell Pepper	2:13.712
11)	25	Chris Donnelly	2:11.628
12)	111	Erick Strong	2:15.199
13)	59	Mike Vogel	2:12.455
14)	28	Steven Stepanian	2:22.919

Sunday:

One thing about a great racing community is that if you have problems with your car, there are a ton of people willing to help you get your car fixed. Making it back out to compete again the next day is nearly always possible.

Upon further inspection of the Vogel Boys Spec E30 it was noticed that all the motor mounts, transmission mounts and the drive shaft support “carrier” bearing were smashed! The team was able to borrow all the parts they would need except for the carrier bearing. After a search of the local parts stores, they found a bearing from, of all things, a John Deer supplier. Tractor parts in a race car! The team had to modify it to make it work but they did make it work and would only miss the morning warm-up & qualifying sessions. The Vogel Boys team was ready in time to make the race. This is the never say die attitude that makes amateur racing so great! While Patrick Vogel would have to start the car in the back of the field, he would be able to start!

Sunday Qualifying:

As everyone was getting up to speed, a BMW Club race car sharing the track with Spec E30 blew a motor going into the very fast Bus-Stop turn. Moments later cars started careening off track everywhere at the Bus-Stop turn. Luckily everyone avoided contact, and there were just a lot of dirty cars scattered across the track. The session was canceled to clean the track. The SE30 field was left with whatever time each of them had run in the abridged qualifying session.

Steven Ferrario again claimed the pole position but the surprise second place qualifier was Steffen Thompson squeaking out David Reed in 3rd by a tenth of a second!

Sunday Qualifying results:

1)	93	Steven Ferrario	2:09.071
2)	67	Steffen Thompson	2:10.056
3)	43	David Reed	2:10.185
4)	15	Team Road Runner	2:11.223
5)	320	Allan Hauser	2:11.536
6)	21	Matthew Thiemann	2:12.399
7)	25	Chris Donnelly	2:12.743
	11	Frank Reed	2:13.093
9)	3	Shawn Meze	2:15.389
10)	99	Mitchell Pepper	2:17.301
11)	111	Erick Strong	2:17.591
12)	75	Team Sykes	2:24.157
13)	28	Steven Stepanian	DNQ
14)	59	Vogel Boys Racing	DNQ

The chaotic qualifying session left the starting grid in a disorganized state. The Vogel Boys also had the last spot – not a place that Patrick Vogel was about to settle with for race number 2. Geoff Sykes took over for his father also on day two and was stuck with his “out lap” time. Steve Stepanian having encountered his last mechanical issue during the qualifying session was also sitting in what was to prove to be unworthy position on the grid.

The start was slow in coming together as Steve Ferrario brought the large field to a picture perfect starting format. The starter dropped the flag after giving the field a long and thoughtful pause, Stepanian and Frank Reed both got a tremendous start, each dispatching 2 cars ahead of them before Turn-1. Matt “the Gaffer” Thiemann had a terrific start, taking 2 positions into turn 1 and managed to keep ahead of J. Powers and Allan Hauser for the first few laps before dropping back into the clutches of Allan’s powerful drive back through the field.

Ferrario roared off into a convincing lead and Dave Reed followed Thompson for the first lap. The surprising back row of qualifying also started a relentless push forwards through the pack, slicing aggressively yet safely through the field ahead of them. By lap 3 Patrick Vogel had caught Stepanian who was in turn on the heels of Frank Reed after having already overcome new guys Eric Strong and Mitch Pepper and had worked past Meze heading towards the front!

In a peerless drive through the pack Patrick Vogel managed to pass from 14^th to 4^th by the end of the race winning him the hard charger award for the race and on his heels having come from 13^th up to 5^th was the man in the “Great Pumpkin” Stepanian!

Meanwhile at the front of the pack, Ferrario lost the lead to a typically hair-raising late pass by Dave Reed in Turn-1 and they continued to battle this way until Dave fell victim to the ever increasing pressure from Ferrario as he dropped 2 wheels off at the exit of the Bus Stop and rode the dirt on both sides of the following turn “Riverside” before safely re-entering the track behind Stepanian and Frank Reed – his brother.

The dogged hard charging Dave Reed never gave up though and over took Frank and Stepanian to get as far forwards as 4^th before again falling victim to his now overheated tires at the exit of the Bus Stop and managed a wild ride back across the track and all the way around the outside of Riverside before being able to re-enter the track. This was the end of Dave’s charge towards the front and he managed a stalwart, though dirty 7^th place behind Theimann.

Through all this wild and crazy race, in the face of drivers slicing their way through the field and dust and dirt covering the track and hanging in the air like clouds of brown fog, Allan Hauser quietly and carefully picked his way forwards to a brilliant 3^rd place and Steffen “old school” Thompson managed a very fast 2^nd place. Donnelly managed a clean race and finished on Frank Reed’s tail and Mitch Pepper was one of only 3 drivers to manage to finish where they started!

Great job by everyone involved.

Race Results:

1)	93	Steven Ferrario	2:09.124
2)	67	Steffen Thompson	2:10.723
3)	320	Allan Hauser	2:09.329
4)	59	Patrick Vogel	2:10.148
5)	28	Steven Stepanian	2:10.723
6)	21	Matthew Thiemann	2:12.266
7)	343	David Reed	2:10.107
	11	Frank Reed	2:12.151
9)	25	Chris Donnelly	2:12.553
10)	99	Mitchell Pepper	2:15.366
11)	3	Shawn Meze	2:15.656
12)	15	Team Road Runner	2:11.695
13)	111	Erick Strong	2:16.717
14)	75	Team Sykes	2:10.364

Our last race of the season will be again at Buttonwillow where we will decide the Spec E30 Championship!

After the morning warm-up, cars were prepped for the qualifying
session. With clear skies with nary a breeze meant that the day was to
be a hot one.

Hauser would post the top time putting him on the pole, Dave Reed was close behind.

Four seconds would cover the entire field in qualifying, a standing start on this tricky banked front stretch will have a say on who gets to turn-3 first though!

Saturdays Qualifying:

320 Allan Hauser  2:04.699
343 David Reed  2:04.781
67 Steffen Thompson 2:05.009
75 Jeremy Sykes  2:06.469
21 Matthew Thiemann 2:07.544
45 Rius Billing  2:08.113
11 Frank Reed  2:08.389
3 Steven Stepanian 2:08.795

59 Vogel Boys  2:05.934 **

Mike Vogel unfortunately did not attend the mandatory drivers meeting

and would start the race at the back of the pack to serve his penalty.

Saturday’s race start was a good one! All nine cars made it off the
line and would charge into turn-3. The racing was close and there was
multiple passes made all over the track!

A freak incident happened in front of Billing’s car. Billing pulled
down behind an E36 BMW to use the draft as they went into turn-2, the
E36’s under-tray came off and landed on Billing’s hood shattering his
windshield. Billing was thankfully not injured but had to retire from
the race.

Vogel fought lap after lap to get to the front of the SE30 pack after
another E36 made contact with the 2nd place car of Dave Reed. Vogel
was able to take and hold the 2nd spot at the finish. But he simply
ran out of time as the race ended. Vogel received the hard charger
award for starting last and finishing 2nd! Dave Reed held onto 3rd to
finish on the podium. Once again, Hauser would keep his car on point
and take the victory!

With the exception of Billing’s early retirement, all of the SE30
drivers would finish on the same lap! Spec E30 is not only a growing
racing series, but the level of competition has closed up a lot and
everyone is bringing their A-game to the track.

Saturday Race Results:

320 Allan Hauser
59 Vogel Boys
343 David Reed
67 Steffen Thompson
75 Jeremy Sykes
21 Matthew Thiemann
11 Frank Reed
3 Steven Stepanian
45 Rius Billing

Sunday saw a huge change in the whether as Mother Nature decided to
change things up!

Sunday morning at the track at around 3am the skies opened up with a
downpour that would last well into early afternoon. Nobody brought
rain tires and as a result very few drivers went out in the morning
warm-up in fact only three Spec E30 drivers would venture out onto the
wet conditions. This would be a mistake for those who stayed in the
pits as the qualifying race was to be in the rain and those that had
not tried out the wet conditions would not know what to expect from
the saturated track, much less a saturated track in race conditions.

Sunday’s qualifying format would be different from Saturday’s. The
race results from Saturday’s race were the starting grid for a
“qualifying race”, and as an added wrinkle the grid was also inverted,
placing the race winner at the back of the pack and the last place car
on the pole.

The very fast and very experienced Steven Ferrario from the NorCal
series also joined us for Sunday’s race!

Garrett Katzenstein, the owner of the #45 SE30 that Billing drove on
Saturday was able to replace the windshield before Sunday qualifying.
This allowed Billing to start from pole position for the qualifying
race. That’s the never say die attitude that we all love about this
group of racers.

This was to be the very first SoCal Spec E30 standing start in the
rain! The 10 car field took to the starting line and waited for the
flag man to drop the green. Everyone got away cleanly!

Unfortunately at the start Billing’s hood opened enough and forced him
to drive off track to look for help to the hood secured. Two of the
three drivers that ventured out for the wet morning warm-up made good
use of the rain soaked experience and claimed the top two spots for
the race start. It was Dave Reed who achieved pole for the race.

Sunday Qualifying Race Results and race starting grid:

343 David Reed
59 Vogel Boys
93 Steven Ferrario
320 Allan Hauser
21 Matthew Thiemann
3 Steven Stepanian
67 Steffen Thompson
11 Frank Reed
45 Rius Billing
75 Jeremy Sykes

Rain stopped before race time and the track’s imitation of “Florida”
became very convincing with its high heat and humidity! The track
actually dried out before race time.

Once again the SE30 field lined up for a standing start and once again
everyone got away cleanly into and through turn 3! The cars were nose
to tail for the first few laps and they were pushing as hard as they
could, sometimes too hard! Hauser would start 4th but early on in the
race, going through the complex, the field checked up in front of him
and Hauser would get into Steven Ferrario while trying to avoid him
and the end result was Ferrario would retire from the race with a flat
tire. Hauser would continue but fall back to the 8th spot before
resuming the fight.

Meanwhile, up front Dave Reed, Jeremy Sykes and Patrick Vogel were
battling for the lead, swapping positions lap after lap! In the
process, Hauser was catching the threesome, picking off positions as
he went. The threesome of Reed, Sykes and Vogel was battling so hard
that he simply drove past them on the inside on the exit of turn 4!
Hauser drove away to a huge lead while Reed, Vogel and Sykes continued
to fight one another, often times going 3 wide into and thru turn 3
and 4!

A little further back in the field, SE30 rookies Thompson and Thiemann
would have a battle of their own, continually swapping positions.
During the Thiemann/Thompson fight, Billing would catch, battle, and
finally pass Thiemann to hang onto the 5th spot. Unfortunately, Frank Reed, in the 11 car, had to retire around this time due to a bent tie rod after a bit of contact in turn 5.

On lap 9, the 3 way battle between Reed, Sykes and Vogel came to a
head when the trio went into turn 3 together and Sykes did not get the
car slowed down enough and hit Reed door to door. Sykes retired from
the race. Reed would school Vogel lap after lap with a classic
crossover move out of turn 3 followed by a run through turn 4 to
reclaim the position from Vogel. However, by the end of the race Vogel
figured out how to keep the position and claimed 2nd place spot over
Reed. Hauser was able to again duplicate his Saturday win but he had
to work much harder this day. Hauser claimed the hard charger award
because of this terrific comeback.

No track records were broken, but that is not to understate how hard
everyone tried! They pushed hard and a few of them working together to
experiment with the advantage of bump drafting.

Sunday Race Results:

320 Allan Hauser
59   Vogel Boys
343 David Reed
67   Steffen Thompson
45   Rius Billing
21   Matthew Thiemann
3     Steven Stepanian
75   Jeremy Sykes
11   Frank Reed
93 Steven Ferrario

It was one of the hardest fought races of the season, and with 2 more
events left, the points chase tightened up yet again. It’s anyone’s
championship!!

We have 2 months off until our next event so until then…..

–
Shawn Meze

Saturday morning warm-up went off without a hitch. 10 cars would take to the track for qualifying. 3 first time racers would join us for a weekend of racing bliss!

Dave Reed or “Mr. Buttonwillow”, as his peers would come to call him this weekend, went out in the qualifying session and laid down the pole winning time of 2:18.805.

1. David Reed 2:18.805
2. Allan Hauser 2:19.476
3. Chris Donnelly 2:19.664
4. Matthew Thiemann 2:19.983
5. Steffen Thompson 2:21.970
6. Vogel Boys Racing 2:22.333
7. Frank Reed 2:22.754
8. Team Sykes Racing 2:22.788
9. Rius Billing Transponder failed
10. Midnight Oil did not qualify

The SE30 field was much tighter time-wise to each other compared to the last time they were here. This is especially impressive considering we have a couple new drivers to the group!

After a solid standing start, Dave Reed would maintain the lead into
turn1. Before there could be any further racing, behind them was to be
an incident leading the 2nd group of Spec Miatas to their green flag.
The pole position and 2nd place starting cars would get together on
the front straight and one car would end up in the tire barrier….
the race was stopped with a full course caution and the decision was
made to do a complete restart displaying the red and yellow flag. This
caused considerable confusion in the SE30 group as nobody had ever
seen a restart before! The lineup for the start was a little messy but
the restart would go off without a hitch and once again, the group
would clear turn 1 cleanly with Dave Reed once again claiming his spot
up front and would run a flawless race for the full race distance..
The group would race nose to tail for the first couple of laps. The
field would develop into 2 groups of cars where the racing very hard
through the first part of the race.

The ever changing track conditions and low-grip levels found in key
turns would catch a few drivers out. Car 22, Rius Billing thought he
had a tire going down so he made a pit stop and had it checked. He
would return back to the race but would finish 1 lap down. Steve
Stepanian rented the #3 Midnight Oil for the weekend (and the 3hr
Enduro) and would keep it on track and have a good battle to the end
and finished an impressive 4th. Steve’s own car is being built by
Midnight Oil and is slated to be finished for the next event so this
was a good way to get his feet wet. New drivers Matthew Thiemann and
Steffen Thompson also made a good showing, finishing 6th and 8th
respectively.

Saturdays Results:

1. 343 David Reed 2:18.758
2. 320 Allan Hauser 2:18.872
3. 59 Vogel Boys Racing 2:22.332
4. 3 Midnight Oil 2:22.116
5. 25 Chris Donnelly 2:20.526
6. 21 Matthew Thiemann 2:20.662
7. 11 Frank Reed 2:22.994
8. 67 Steffen Thompson 2:22.555
9. 75 Team Sykes Racing 2:24.206
10. 22 Rius Billing 2:19.49

Saturday night included 4 E30′s entries into the 3 hr. enduro for the
E3 class. Everyone finished and a great time was had by all! Post-race
festivities were a great time and went well into the night. The clock
struck 12 and the party ended. Sunday would be a long day!

Sunday morning bright and early and the pits were alive with action.

We were told in the drivers meeting that we would have a qualifying
race! The results from Saturday’s race would be the starting grid for
the qualifying race. All 10 cars lined up for the race and as the
green flag dropped, a familiar gold car shot to the lead heading into
turn 1. The car 343 driven by David Reed would once again lead wire to
wire, closely followed by Allan Hauser. The story of this race would
be Rius Billing, who started the race from the last spot and would
charge thru the field and work his way up to the 3rd spot before time
ran out! Steffen Thompson would claim the 4th spot and making his
first appearance in SE30 was Geoff Sykes in the 75 car finishing 5th.
He would also reset the lap time record with a blazing 2:17.396
backing up his morning warm-up lap of 2:17.381!!

Sunday Qualifying Race Results:

1. 343 David Reed 2:18.278
2. 320 Allan Hauser 2:18.591
3. 22 Rius Billing 2:18.023
4. 67 Steffen Thompson 2:21.244
5. 75 Team Sykes Racing 2:17.396
6. 3 Midnight Oil 2:20.938
7. 21 Matthew Thiemann 2:18.893
8. 11 Frank Reed 2:20.229
9. 59 Vogel Boys Racing 2:20.815
10. 25 Chris Donnelly 2:20.351

Sunday Race:

The anticipation for this race was very high! Drivers were prepping
for the race in ways not yet seen in SoCal! This time out, the E30
group would not have a pace car to lead them to the starting line for
their standing start. So, David Reed decided that he wanted to get
back to the starting line very quickly to get this race started! It
was like watching a Mother Duck scurry quickly across the road and all
the little ducklings scrambling to keep up! The cars lined up and the
flagman dropped the green to another fantastic start from the group
and clean entry into turn 1 without issue. Once again, the one they
call “Mr. Buttonwillow” David Reed would keep the lead going into turn
1. But now the guys are calling him “Pace Car”.

On lap 3 Rius Billing would hook a left rear tire on the rumble strip
exiting the last turn leading onto the front straight and would spin
to the inside hitting the wall, damaging the front and rear of the
car. The steering was broken and would not continue. A full course
caution was required to remove his disabled car from the track.

Once the race resumed, David Reed would lead the group into turn 1.
Battles were had all over the track and it was hard to keep up with
everyone but Geoff Sykes in the #75 car started 5th and would work his
way thru the cars to get to the #2 spot and claim his first podium
spot! He would also reset the track record in much hotter conditions
with a 2:17.345! Matthew Thiemann would also move up a few spots to
claim his first ever podium spot in only his 2nd race!

By far the hottest battle on the track was the battle for the 7th
spot. Hotly contested by Steve Stepanian in the Midnight Oil #3 car
and Frank Reed, Frank really wanted that 7th spot! They battled nose
to tail racing hard and very clean, lap after lap until the checkered
flag flew! Both drivers congratulated one another after the hard
fought race.

Other than Rius Billing having his “off” and the damage to his car, it
was a great weekend for Spec E30 Racing. Hopefully Rius can make
repairs and make it out to the next event at California Speedway at
the end of July. All 3 first time racers did a great job, as well as
our returning drivers. The competition level of all the drivers
tightened up a notch and I expect to see more of this at our next
event at AAA Speedway.

Sunday Race Results:

1. 343 David Reed 2:19.236
2. 75 Team Sykes Racing 2:17.345
3. 21 Matthew Thiemann 2:19.889
4. 320 Allan Hauser 2:18.758
5. 59 Vogel Boys Racing 2:20.257
6. 67 Steffen Thompson 2:20.329
7. 3 Midnight Oil
2:22.732
8. 11 Frank Reed 2:22.554
9. 25 Chris Donnelly 2:20.500
10. 22 Rius Billing 2:19.406

–
Shawn Meze

Saturday morning’s early warm-up was on the schedule right out of the gate. Four drivers would attend this event. Experience at Willow Springs was extremely limited for all four drivers, setting everyone up for a very steep learning curve and very little time to learn the nuances of Willow Springs. Allan Hauser in his white #320 did not disappoint either he went out and set a blistering 1:40.551 which was already 5 seconds faster than the existing 2007 lap record. Mike Vogel piloting his #59 “Vogel Boys” SE30 set a 1:43.869 while the red #22 of Rius Billing set a 1:46.366 to start his weekend. Jeremy Sykes with a car he’d only just taken delivery of didn’t make the morning warm-up.

A couple hours later with the track temps a little warmer and the winds uncharacteristically calm, the qualifying session began. Hauser reset his best lap time by nearly 2 tenths claiming ‘P1’. During Rius Billing’s second time on Willow Springs ever, found a lot of time out there shedding 4 seconds off his morning lap-times to claim ‘P2’. Mike Vogel also found more time on the track qualifying only one tenth behind Billing. Jeremy Sykes joined us for the first his first SE30 race weekend ever to qualify in ‘P4’.

Saturday Qualifying:
1) 320 Allan Hauser 1:40.398
2) 22 Rius Billing 1:42.102
3) 59 Vogel Boys 1:42.248
4) 75 Team Sykes Racing 1:48.649

Race control deemed that it was not possible that SE30 could do a standing start with 4 cars. The group was to start with a traditional “rolling-start” and they took the green flag into turn 1 right behind the Spec Miata group. The race would start at 1PM. By now it was warmer, yet the wind wasn’t really as much of a factor like it typically is in the high-desert in the afternoon. A good clean start by all cars allowed everyone to get through turn 1 cleanly, the rest of the race remained clean. Hauser was able to lay down a 1:41.322 in the race to claim the Spec E30 Lap Record as well as completing his Rookie license requirements! Billing continued to take large strides and laid down a 1:41.710! Mike Vogel was less than a second behind with his 1:42.648. Team Sykes Racing closed the field out with his best race-lap of 1:53.402.

Saturday results with fastest lap time:
1) 320 Allan Hauser 1:41.332
2) 22 Rius Billing 1:41.710
3) 59 Vogel Boys 1:42.648
4) 75 Team Sykes Racing 1:53.402

Sunday’s schedule was to be a little different format but the racing would remain the same! Allan Hauser started his day with a fresh cup of Catalytic Coffee from our latest sponsor. As the sun rose over the desert, Allan stood on his RV’s porch in his vintage “Speed Racer” robe and welcomed the morning in all its glory with a cup of Catalytic Coffee’s “Midnight Oil” blend in hand! Hauser would take that energy to the track and managed the fastest lap of warm-up. Patrick Vogel would take over driving duties in the #59 Vogel Boys SE30 and armed with what team Vogel had learned from Mike’s post-race download, Patrick was able to immediately get up to speed which resulted in a very quick 1:42.041. Billing still finding his feet at Willow Springs managed a 1:42.934. And Jeremy Sykes in the #75 ran 2 seconds faster than Saturday! The entire field was hoping that the weather just stayed good!

Morning warm-up:
1) 320 Allan Hauser 1:41.039
2) 59 Vogel Boys 1:42.041
3) 22 Rius Billing 1:42.934
4) 75 Team Sykes Racing 1:46.833

Early morning qualifying and the winds were starting to show up, but still not as bad as it could be. Patrick Vogel would claim ‘P1’ from Hauser, but by only a tenth! Rius Billing improved his personal best time of the weekend by almost a second to claim ‘P2’ and Jeremy Sykes also improved upon his best lap time of the weekend for ‘P4’. Little do they know, the Series Director has decided that qualifying positions have already been inverted for the Sunday afternoon start!!

Sunday Qualifying
1) 59 Vogel Boys 1:40.162
2) 320 Allan Hauser 1:40.273
3) 22 Rius Billing 1:41.383
4) 75 Team Sykes Racing 1:46.548

Because the SE30 field was inverted for the race, the SE30 pole was now Jeremy Sykes! Outside pole was #22-Rius Billing, starting behind Sykes was #59-Patrick Vogel and starting 4th behind the #22 was #320-Hauser. The race start would also show us some of the winds that Willow Springs is famous for.

The race start had the group three-wide into turn-1 and again everyone made it to the other side without incident. Patrick Vogel got to the front and ran away from the group quickly. Hauser took a little longer to get thru the field and set his sights on Vogel, 12 seconds ahead. Those 12 seconds would prove be very difficult to overcome, the checkered flag flew on the field with Patrick Vogel getting his very first SE30 race win of his career in only his second race start!

Patrick also won the one pound of Midnight Oil coffee from Catalytic Coffee! Congratulations Patrick!

Sunday Race Results:
1) 59 Vogel Boys 1:41.512
2) 320 Allan Hauser 1:42.282
3) 22 Rius Billing 1:43.411
4)75 Team Sykes Racing 1:47.647

The Midnight Oil Hard Charger $100 award goes to Rius Billing for having gained the most time of the weekend. Congratulations Rius!!!

The SoCal Spec E30 drivers continue to get faster and faster. Every driver got progressively faster all weekend long! It was a great weekend of man vs. track and the elements, and everyone finished out the weekend with damage free and running cars. I look forward to seeing you all again at the next event at Buttonwillow!

Shawn Meze
SoCal Spec E30 Series Director

7 drivers showed up to battle it out on Saturday. Qualifying would reveal that team Road Runner, driven by Jeff Lepper in the white #5 would take Pole position for the standing start with a lap time of 2:11.368. All the way from Las Vegas, Vogel Boys Racing in the #59 car would claim outside pole turning with a 2:11.762 lap time. David Reed piloting his gold #343 took the third spot posting 2:11.808. All 3 teams are making their presence known in their first race in SE30 this year! Frank Reed’s red #11 was close behind his brothers lap time with 2:12.019. Chris Donnelly qualified 5th in car #25 and Victor Beraja was in the 6th spot in his beautiful blue and white #007. Finishing up the pack is Kieran Gobey with his blue dream machine minus 40+hp, was quoted to say, “I love a good challenge” as he came off the track!

For the race, the guys would line up perfectly for the start. The flag dropped, the crowd cheered and the drivers roared off into turn one. Jeff Lepper span the tires of the Team Road Runners #5 which would allow the Vogel boys racing #59, who launched the car like a top fuel dragster, to jump into the lead. David Reed’s #343 stayed in the third spot while the field followed.

Still on the first lap and the leaders made it thru the bus stop without incident and maintained their positions. Frank Reed overcooked the corner slightly on the exit of the Bus-Stop which began a slide to the left where he fought to regain control which then shot him across the track sideways to the right and spin off the track across the front of the field. Chris Donnelly would get caught up in trying to avoid Frank Reed as he went off and both cars would be seen emerging from the dust cloud. Luckily, both were able to avoid contact and rejoin the race. Meanwhile, Lepper in the #5 would get around the Vogel boys racing #59 for the lead. Another back and forth battle was brewing with Kieran Gobey and Victor Beraja while Frank Reed and Chris Donnelly battle it out behind.

Mid-way thru the race going into turn one, Lepper who was still leading the race finds his braking zone, Vogel Boys #59 found his braking zone right behind Lepper and David Reed seemed to miss his braking zone and pull to the inside of Vogel. The crowd let out a gasp as he continued to not brake as he passes the #59 and continue up to the Team Road Runner #5 before he finally got on the brakes side by side with the leader. The crowd, myself, Staff, officials and the other drivers fully expected to see the gold #343 to go straight off the outside of turn 1. Instead, he somehow made it stick and went from 3rd to first in one corner! The crowd cheered!

Meanwhile, the battle between Kieran Gobey and Victor Beraja would end on lap 8 as Victor Beraja’s 007 would retire with a mechanical issue. Victor would make repairs and race again Sunday. Frank Reed and Chris Donnelly would continue to battle while they slowly reeled in and threatened Kieran Gobey’s 4th place position.

The fight up front would continue to play out in a 3 way nose to tail dogfight to the finish. Dave Reed claimed his first ever wheel to wheel race win! Team road Runner defended their 2nd place position followed closely by the Vogel Boys racing team. In an odd twist of timing and scoring, the overall race leader would pass Frank Reed and Chris Donnelly and they in turn would pass Kieran Gobey, but because of how and when the passes would happen, Kieran Gobey would retain the 4th place spot completing 12 laps and Chris Donnelly and Frank Reed would finish 5th and 6th respectively completing 11 laps. Victor Beraja would retain the 7th place points for the season. The crowd got to watch some great racing all over the track!

As the drivers were leaving pre-grid, I had one of the timing and scoring girls draw a number out of my sweaty hat. She drew, #7. That means that the7th place finisher would win a Shock Rebuild from WeekendRacer.com! (a $315.88 value!) The lucky winner this time was Victor Beraja! Congrats Victor!

The Midnight Oil $100 cash prize went to Mike Vogel for his 3rd place finish! Congrats Vogel Boys Racing!

Team Road Runner’s Kevin Nichols gave out a bottle of wine to the 5th place finisher, Chris Donnelly, who promptly didnt share with anyone. 

Post-race activities with a Mexican Fiesta provided by Midnight Oil and a late night BBQ was enjoyed by all at the track! I can’t wait for Sunday’s race!

Saturdays official results

1) 343 David Reed
2) 5 Team Road Runner (Jeff Lepper)
3) 59 Vogel Boys Racing (Mike Vogel)
4) 56 Kieran Gobey
5) 25 Chris Donnelly
6) 11 Frank Reed
7) 007 Victor Beraja

Sunday morning welcomed the Spec E30 drivers with warmer temps and a beautiful clear blue sky.

Rius Billing would rejoin us today for an 8 car field and let everyone know what he can do with his pole position lap time that was only 2 tenths off the track record and almost 2 seconds faster than the closest qualifying driver. Kevin Nichols would take over the driving duties in the #5 Team Road Runner who, was still suffering from some “new car” mechanical issues that wouldn’t allow them the performance that they needed, but still laid down a lap time good enough for the Outside-Pole spot. 3rd on the grid would be the Vogel boys racing #59 driven by Mike’s co-driver Patrick Vogel. Frank Reed would school his brother David Reed on how to qualify by 2 tenths for the 4th spot with Dave relegated to 5th. Frank was also overheard taunting his brother after the qualifying session saying, “Neener-neener” and was also reported to have also made several faces at his brother. Chris Donnelly claimed the 6th spot. Kieran Gobey hustled his underpowered blue steed to a 6th spot qualifier and Victor Beraja only took a few laps to post up on the board to finish out the 8 car field.

Another fantastic standing start by the group and we would find Rius Billing’s #22 in the lead for lap one, #5 Team Road Runner pulled into 2nd, closely followed by the Vogel Boys #59 and David Reed got past his brother (and was reported to have made several faces back at his brother on the way by but I cannot confirm the reports) to take the 4th spot. These 4 cars would pull away and race closely nose to tail. The 5th position was taken over by Chris Donnelly who also got by Frank Reed’s #11 who held onto the 6th spot. Kieran Gobey remained in 7th and Victor Beraja followed the field in the 8th place position.

Rius Billing took a large lead in the first laps but it didn’t last long. The 3 cars behind him reeled him back in within a few laps of the start. David Reed began to slowly work his way past the 3rd place car and eventually claimed 2nd place as he used his newly found favorite passing zone going into turn one where he was able to out-brake anyone he came across.

The other battles on the track were once again Frank Reed and Chris Donnelly battling back and forth until lap 8. On lap 8 while exiting Cotton Corners, Chris got a little loose and tried to correct, which got away from him and he spun in the middle of the track. Frank Reed slowed to avoid Donnelly but calculated wrong and committed to passing Donnelly on the left, where Donnelly wound up and collected Frank Reed. Damage to Frank Reeds car was not bad enough to retire even though he was dragging a front bumper. Donnelly’s car was bad enough that he was forced to retire with a severe rear tire rub that left him trailing smoke around the track. Fortunately damage was minor to both cars and will both be fixed for their next races. Kieran Gobey and Victor Beraja once again had a great back and forth battle on their own.

With about 3 laps to go David Reed finally got a late-braking pass on Rius Billings #22 going into Turn 1 to take the lead for a second time this weekend! It was yet another great nose to tail, 4 car train battle for the first 4 spots. If anyone had made a mistake it would have cost them, but instead another well driven race complete! There was some minor damage to a couple of cars, but overall a great race weekend was in the books. David Reed claimed his 2nd career race win in a row, Rius Billings #22 took 2nd, 3rd went to #5 Team Road Runner with Kevin Nichols behind the wheel. Patrick Vogel completed his first race with NASA with a clean 4th place finish in his Vogel Boys Racing #59. Making a good show with a damaged car was Frank Reed working his way back up after his on track incident on lap 8. Victor Beraja stayed in front of Kieran Gobey at the checkered flag and with his early retirement was Chris Donnelly’s #25.

Team Road Runner’s Kevin Nichols gave out a bottle of wine to the 5th place finisher, Frank Reed, who took his cue from Chris Donnelly and promptly didnt share it with anyone.

Another great racing weekend and the driver’s camaraderie in the Spec E30 Village made for a spectacular weekend for all. Next up on the NASA SoCal Spec E30 Series calendar is going to be at Willow Springs May 21-22. This will be our one and only visit there this season where the boys might learn how to bump draft!

Shawn Meze
SoCal Spec E30 Director

Saturdays qualifying brought Allan Hauser to the pole with a very good time of 2:04.954! Only 2 tenths off the lap record set late last season. Winning the pole is not always a guarantee of victory as the race showed that Rius Billing battled hard and was able to take the top spot and in the process, laid down a 2:04.760 which is pretty close to the lap record by a few thousands! Allan Hauser suffered some on track damage and retired to make sure the damage wasn’t more serious, which it wasn’t and he would return Sunday to battle again. Kieran Gobey experienced some new race jitters and missed torquing the lug nuts on his front wheel and had to pit to make repairs. He was able to rejoin the race and finished 3rd in his blue dream machine behind Frank Reed in his red #11.

Sunday’s race would be different from Saturday. Gone are the days of rolling starts. Spec E30 has historically done standing starts but with a small turnout in SoCal, were not always able to have them. Now that the group is growing, we will continue to do standing starts!

Once again, Allan Hauser qualified on pole with a time 2:04.596 that was faster than the track record! Rius Billing qualified close behind with a 2:04.707 that would have also broke the track record! Fran Reed and Kieran Gobey would fill in the last 2 spots for Sundays event.

The standing start played out well and the pack ran into turn 3 together for the hard braking zone. Frank Reed took the lead on the start and a great back and forth battle between Frank Reed, Allan Hauser and Rius Billing would take place the entire race and once again repeating Saturdays results, Rius Billing would end up again at the top spot! Allan Hauser finished 2nd, Frank Reed in 3rd and Kieran Gobey takes the final spot. While battling it out, a new lap record was set by Allan Hauser with a break thru time of 2:03.961! Ruiz Billing bested it with a 2:03.216 for the new official Spec E30 Track Record for AAA Speedway. Frank Reed also bested his own personal time which means, everyone is getting faster!

Season Opener drivers:
320 Allan Hauser
22 Rius Billing
11 Frank Reed
56 Kieran Gobey