The Southern California CMC drivers converged on Cal-Speedway in
Fontana for the start of the first ever SoCal CMC season. Although it
was a small field of CMC cars, all the drivers had a great weekend of
racing.
CMC2 was represented by Nick Steel, Charles Weeks, Jim Griffith (Sr), Team Schotz Racing (Dave & his dad, Joel)
CMC1 was represented by SOCAL CMC Director Adam Ginsberg.
Jim Griffith brought down a new CMC2 Late Model 2006 Mustang, and was getting it sorted through the weekend.
Nick Steel, at his 2nd event of the year, was poised and ready for the competition this weekend.
Chuck Weeks... stepping up into CMC2 from CMC last year... had his car dialed in.
The boys from Schotz Racing... Dave and his Dad Joel... had recently done the conversion from CMC to CMC2 by dropping in a '91 TPI 350 into the car.
CMC2 was represented by Nick Steel, Charles Weeks, Jim Griffith (Sr), Team Schotz Racing (Dave & his dad, Joel)
CMC1 was represented by SOCAL CMC Director Adam Ginsberg.
Jim Griffith brought down a new CMC2 Late Model 2006 Mustang, and was getting it sorted through the weekend.
Nick Steel, at his 2nd event of the year, was poised and ready for the competition this weekend.
Chuck Weeks... stepping up into CMC2 from CMC last year... had his car dialed in.
The boys from Schotz Racing... Dave and his Dad Joel... had recently done the conversion from CMC to CMC2 by dropping in a '91 TPI 350 into the car.
The Southern California CMC drivers converged on Cal-Speedway in Fontana for the start of the first ever SoCal CMC season. Although it was a small field of CMC cars, all the drivers had a great weekend of racing.
CMC2 was represented by Nick Steel, Charles Weeks, Jim Griffith (Sr), Team Schotz Racing (Dave & his dad, Joel)
CMC1 was represented by SOCAL CMC Director Adam Ginsberg.
Jim Griffith brought down a new CMC2 Late Model 2006 Mustang, and was getting it sorted through the weekend.
Nick Steel, at his 2nd event of the year, was poised and ready for the competition this weekend.
Chuck Weeks... stepping up into CMC2 from CMC last year... had his car dialed in.
The boys from Schotz Racing... Dave and his Dad Joel... had recently done the conversion from CMC to CMC2 by dropping in a '91 TPI 350 into the car.
We did have some carnage over the weekend - Charles Weeks damaged a steering shaft during Friday's practice. While repairing it on Friday night, they inadvertently damaged the oil pan. This led to a longer Friday night while they repaired it. Fortunately, they were successful in their endeavors, and the car was ready to race on Saturday.
Over the weekend, the law of 2's came into play.....Team Schotz lost 2 plug wires, and went back to their pits to repair. Ginsberg lost a plug wire on lap 2, and came in to repair. Nick Steel had the driver side upright separate from the balljoint on lap 2, destroying his wheel and a new R888 in the process. With the help of his wife, other CMC'ers, and a FFR mechanic, Nick was able to repair the damage and have the car ready for the Saturday race.
Day 1 Saw a fierce battle for Pole Position in Qualifying with just .2 of a second separating the top 3 drivers! Dave Schotz would eek out Pole Position, with Chuck Weeks just .1 back... and Nick Steel .1 back from Chuck. (Nick was forced to come in after just one lap of qualifying due to some brake issues, and a damaged Front Wheel).
For Saturday's race... as the Green Flag Dropped... Schotz Racing quickly felt the pain of 227 RWHP in CMC2... and saw the field 'Race Past him'... (including Adam... and a devilishly tainted grin!)
Nick Steel & Chuck weeks had a great battle... Jim Griffith quickly learned that when he told the shop to 'gut everything' out of his newly modified Mustang... that meant... also gutting 'the Traction Control' ON/OFF Switch!!! This made the car 'quite the handful' for Jim... and really forced him to just try to improve on other areas throughout the weekend. (Traction Control + Sticky Tires + Big Oval = Unstable... Throttle on Off... etc...)
Nick would go on to annihilate the field... running a 1:55.709 (Resetting the track record for CMC/2) and put over 12 Seconds on weeks. Who had about 20 Seconds on Schotz Racing. Weeks best time for the day was a 1:58.1 to Schotz' 1:57.8. Weeks mentioned that had his 'Shifter' not came dislodged... it may not have been as much of a distraction! None the less he was able to hold onto 2nd Place for CMC2!
Adam Ginsberg in CMC finished just 7 seconds behind Schotz in CMC2... and Jim Griffith was a bit further back plagued with T/C issues.
On the 2nd Day Nick was still trying to sort out some braking issues with his monstrous Wilwood 4 Piston Aluminum Calipers... but it wasn't going to stop him from Taking Pole Position.. Running another blistering 1:55.8, however... Chuck Weeks... was hot on his tail running his personal best for the weekend of a 1:56.1 ! (Great Job!) Adam Ginsberg in the CMC 1 car would qualify 3rd Overall... also running a best of 1:59 FLAT! Jim Griffith Somehow forged ahead with the T/C issues... to run a 2:00 flat... and Joel Schotz would get in today to Qualify for the race at 2:01.
For the Sunday Race... Weather was gorgeous, and the competition was great... Dave jumped back into the drivers seat for Schotz Racing... and had some work to do... starting at the back of the pack. The race in CMC & CMC2 got off cleanly... with Nick followed closely by Chuck, followed by Jim, Adam & Dave... until Turn 3.. where one of the SU cars got tangled up... and brought the course to full course caution.
The field would stay this way for the next 3 laps while they cleaned everything up, and restart in single file fashion on the Green again... This allowed all the fields (ST/SU/FFR/AI/CMC/CMC2) to all be bunched up... and traffic would play a much bigger part this day!
Nick Steel did a great job keeping a couple cars always between he & Chuck the first few laps... Schotz & Adam changed positions... and Griffith dealt w/ his Traction Control and kept the car clean and straight! After a couple of laps, Schotz was able to catch Chuck in Traffic, and Chuck got pinched behind a couple of Factory Fives coming out of turn 3, to give the momentum to Schotz. The positions stayed this way, with Nick Steel Setting fast time again, even with his Brake issues that plagued him throughout the weekend, running a 1:56.6, Schotz would be roughly 11 seconds back... running his best for the weekend of 1:56.7, and Weeks just less than 5 seconds back... running a 1:57.4.
Looking forward to seeing more of the faces at Buttonwillow for the 2nd Round of the SOCAL NASA CMC Challenge!
Adam Ginsberg
SoCal CMC/CMC2 Director
Written by Dave Schotz
Images by Chuck Weeks
Assembly by Adam Ginsberg
CMC2 was represented by Nick Steel, Charles Weeks, Jim Griffith (Sr), Team Schotz Racing (Dave & his dad, Joel)
CMC1 was represented by SOCAL CMC Director Adam Ginsberg.
Jim Griffith brought down a new CMC2 Late Model 2006 Mustang, and was getting it sorted through the weekend.
Nick Steel, at his 2nd event of the year, was poised and ready for the competition this weekend.
Chuck Weeks... stepping up into CMC2 from CMC last year... had his car dialed in.
The boys from Schotz Racing... Dave and his Dad Joel... had recently done the conversion from CMC to CMC2 by dropping in a '91 TPI 350 into the car.
We did have some carnage over the weekend - Charles Weeks damaged a steering shaft during Friday's practice. While repairing it on Friday night, they inadvertently damaged the oil pan. This led to a longer Friday night while they repaired it. Fortunately, they were successful in their endeavors, and the car was ready to race on Saturday.
Over the weekend, the law of 2's came into play.....Team Schotz lost 2 plug wires, and went back to their pits to repair. Ginsberg lost a plug wire on lap 2, and came in to repair. Nick Steel had the driver side upright separate from the balljoint on lap 2, destroying his wheel and a new R888 in the process. With the help of his wife, other CMC'ers, and a FFR mechanic, Nick was able to repair the damage and have the car ready for the Saturday race.
Day 1 Saw a fierce battle for Pole Position in Qualifying with just .2 of a second separating the top 3 drivers! Dave Schotz would eek out Pole Position, with Chuck Weeks just .1 back... and Nick Steel .1 back from Chuck. (Nick was forced to come in after just one lap of qualifying due to some brake issues, and a damaged Front Wheel).
For Saturday's race... as the Green Flag Dropped... Schotz Racing quickly felt the pain of 227 RWHP in CMC2... and saw the field 'Race Past him'... (including Adam... and a devilishly tainted grin!)
Nick Steel & Chuck weeks had a great battle... Jim Griffith quickly learned that when he told the shop to 'gut everything' out of his newly modified Mustang... that meant... also gutting 'the Traction Control' ON/OFF Switch!!! This made the car 'quite the handful' for Jim... and really forced him to just try to improve on other areas throughout the weekend. (Traction Control + Sticky Tires + Big Oval = Unstable... Throttle on Off... etc...)
Nick would go on to annihilate the field... running a 1:55.709 (Resetting the track record for CMC/2) and put over 12 Seconds on weeks. Who had about 20 Seconds on Schotz Racing. Weeks best time for the day was a 1:58.1 to Schotz' 1:57.8. Weeks mentioned that had his 'Shifter' not came dislodged... it may not have been as much of a distraction! None the less he was able to hold onto 2nd Place for CMC2!
Adam Ginsberg in CMC finished just 7 seconds behind Schotz in CMC2... and Jim Griffith was a bit further back plagued with T/C issues.
On the 2nd Day Nick was still trying to sort out some braking issues with his monstrous Wilwood 4 Piston Aluminum Calipers... but it wasn't going to stop him from Taking Pole Position.. Running another blistering 1:55.8, however... Chuck Weeks... was hot on his tail running his personal best for the weekend of a 1:56.1 ! (Great Job!) Adam Ginsberg in the CMC 1 car would qualify 3rd Overall... also running a best of 1:59 FLAT! Jim Griffith Somehow forged ahead with the T/C issues... to run a 2:00 flat... and Joel Schotz would get in today to Qualify for the race at 2:01.
For the Sunday Race... Weather was gorgeous, and the competition was great... Dave jumped back into the drivers seat for Schotz Racing... and had some work to do... starting at the back of the pack. The race in CMC & CMC2 got off cleanly... with Nick followed closely by Chuck, followed by Jim, Adam & Dave... until Turn 3.. where one of the SU cars got tangled up... and brought the course to full course caution.
The field would stay this way for the next 3 laps while they cleaned everything up, and restart in single file fashion on the Green again... This allowed all the fields (ST/SU/FFR/AI/CMC/CMC2) to all be bunched up... and traffic would play a much bigger part this day!
Nick Steel did a great job keeping a couple cars always between he & Chuck the first few laps... Schotz & Adam changed positions... and Griffith dealt w/ his Traction Control and kept the car clean and straight! After a couple of laps, Schotz was able to catch Chuck in Traffic, and Chuck got pinched behind a couple of Factory Fives coming out of turn 3, to give the momentum to Schotz. The positions stayed this way, with Nick Steel Setting fast time again, even with his Brake issues that plagued him throughout the weekend, running a 1:56.6, Schotz would be roughly 11 seconds back... running his best for the weekend of 1:56.7, and Weeks just less than 5 seconds back... running a 1:57.4.
Looking forward to seeing more of the faces at Buttonwillow for the 2nd Round of the SOCAL NASA CMC Challenge!
Adam Ginsberg
SoCal CMC/CMC2 Director
Written by Dave Schotz
Images by Chuck Weeks
Assembly by Adam Ginsberg
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