Another Win!
The BHR and Fast Forward crew returned to the track at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on June 1-2.
Saturday was a day of ups and downs. Qualifying went well, with Courtney’s 1:35.089 lap putting her second behind Chuck Horn’s 1:34.243. The race did not go so well. Lap 2 would end up with Courtney punted off the track at turn 11 by an FC class car. The hit was hard enough launch the car in to the air. Luckily that car landed on all four, and Courtney was not injured. But the incident left a lot of work for Doug Learned Sr and Doug Learned Jr to repair the car in time fro Sunday.
Congrats to Chuck Horn for setting a new track record during the Saturday race with his fast lap of 1:33.948. He is the first FF driver to dip in to the 1:33 range in the era of the hard Hoosier spec tires.
By Sunday morning, the Fast Forward crew had Courtney’s car ready to go. But with Sunday’s grid set by lap times from Saturday’s race, Courtney would be starting from the back of the FF group. In a much appreciated move, the race stewards agreed to a split start for the Sunday race. So the FC cars would all be grouped together, and starting ahead of the FF group.
When the green flag dropped for the FF group, Courtney made an epic start, charging from the back of the pack to 3rd position behind Chuck Horn and Denny Renfrow by the time the field approached turn 3. Doug Learned Jr followed closely in fourth. The rest of the race would see multiple position changes among the top four. Chuck Horn dropped back at one point with a misfire, and then came back to battle for the lead at the end. But when the checkered dropped, Courtney took the win by three tenths of a second over Chuck. It was a great finish, coming back from the accident on Saturday, the poor starting position, and still fighting through to take the victory! The drive saw Courtney Crone selected as Driver of the Weekend by the SFR SCCA. And the top five consisted of four Piper DL7s, with Courtney first, Doug Learned Jr third, Denny Renfrow fourth, and Manuel Leonardo fifth. A great showing for the cars designed and built by Doug Learned Jr and Doug Learned Sr, at Piper’s home track.