Laguna Seca Recap
May 31 - June 3, 2018
This past weekend saw the Fast Forward crew supporting a total of four Piper DL7s at the SFR Double Regional races at Laguna Seca. The two BHR cars were also joined by the cars of Doug Learned Jr and Manuel Leonardo. Thursday started off with three test sessions. All went to plan in Thursday testing, with Courtney Crone getting acclimated to the FF class cars for the first time. And Brad picked up where he left off at the previous Laguna Seca event posting his personal best lap times.
Friday practice did not start off as well as we had hoped, as Scott Waracka and Courtney Crone would touch wheels in Turn 11. Courtney would end up with minimal damage. Unfortunately Scott's car would suffer significant damage, sidelining him for the rest of the weekend. We were glad to see that Scott walked away uninjured, and we hope to see him back at the track soon.
Friday's final session would be the first qualifying for Race 1. Courtney would end up P2 with a fast lap of 1:35.4, just a few tenths off of pole sitter Chuck Horn's lap of 1:35.1. Denny Renfrow would put his Piper in P3, and Brad Hayes would follow in P4 with a lap of 1:36.6.
RACE 1
Saturday morning would bring Race 1 for the weekend. Chuck Horn and Denny Renfrow would hook up and pull a gap from the rest of the field. BHR team cars would settle in running in the third and fourth positions. At the checkered flag, it was Chuck Horn in his Spectrum taking the win, followed by Denny Renfrow second, Courtney Crone third, and Brad Hayes fourth.
RACE 2
For Sunday's race, Race 1 winner Chuck Horn would be starting from the back of the pack after a sound limit violation in qualifying for Race 2. That would shuffle the grid, with Denny Renfrow on the pole. Courtney would start again in second position. Brad Hayes would move up to start third, followed by Doug Learned Jr in fourth. Four Piper DL7s locking out the front two rows.
At the green flag, Denny would take advantage of the inside line in to turn 2 and take the lead. Courtney slotted in to second while Brad held third position at the start. As Chuck Horn would make his charge from the back of the pack, Courtney was pressuring Denny for the lead. With a strong run through turn 4, Courtney made a move to the inside of Denny entering turn 5 to take the lead. Denny tried to get back to the inside of Courtney on the corner exit, but couldn't hold the line and would spin. Brad would take slow to avoid hitting the spinning car, allowing David Jalen to sneak by. Brad would get back past Jalen, and then end up locked in a battle with Steve Meyer for most of the race. As the race settled in, things got messy as several cars would be black flagged for sound violations. The cars of Courtney Crone, Denny Renfrow, Doug Learned Jr, and David Jalen were all penalized for sound, effectively ending their races. As the penalties took several players out of the game, Brad Hayes and Steve Meyer managed to avoid any sound penalties and continued to battle for the remainder of the race. Steve was faster through turn 10, and he took advantage to make a pass on Brad in to turn 11. But on the same lap, Brad was able to retake the position in turn 2. Steve pressured Brad for several laps, before a small mistake by Brad exiting turn 2 would allow Steve to take the position in to turn 3. The two would continue to run nose to tail for the remainder of the race. On the final lap, Brad made a move to the inside of Steve in turn 5 (trying to copy Courtney's pass for the lead from earlier in the race). But Steve was able to carry momentum around the outside and up to turn 6 to hold his position. At the finish, Chuck Horn would take his second checkered flag of the weekend. Steve Meyer was second with Brad Hayes in third just 0.3 seconds behind.
It was a great weekend of FF racing at Laguna Seca with a total of eleven FF cars on the entry list. Now the BHR team turns it's focus to Sonoma. The upcoming Sonoma Major race will be a crucial test leading up to the Runoffs at Sonoma in October. We are expecting a big entry of Runoffs contenders. Nicky Hays will be back in the #4 car for his first run at Sonoma.