2002 Season Race #4
Portland Rose Cup 6/8/2002

The 4 Flight S2 Cup traveled to Portland, Oregon for the 2002 Rose Cup Festival Races in June, marking the 4th race of the S2Cup's 2002 season. There were a record number of entries for this race (over 500) making paddock space a bit cramped but it was a fun event, as always. The S2 ranks were filled with a number of locals, proving that S2 (and SS2) are strong classes in Oregon. Their ranks were augmented by a number of 4 Flight regulars from California, including Greg Clark, David Ferguson, Jeff Littrell, Bob Lovenson, and Doug Ota.

Maintaining its reputation as a bit soggy, the Pacific Northwest threw the racers some curve balls with the weather. Friday's S2 practice began under cool, gray skies and many competitors were caught unaware when they encountered rain entering the back straight on the first lap. What timing! The end result was a number of off course excursions, bringing out the red flag while the offenders (mainly DSRs) were towed back to the paddock after finding some of the walls.

Many of the S2s came in to avoid unnecessary damage but others chose to get some practice in conditions that might repeat themselves for the race. Weather prediction all weekend was tough, with quickly changing conditions. Carl Correll was finally able to try out his 4-year-old-but-never-been-used tire grooving iron as Jeff Littrell and Doug Ota tried to anticipate all possible conditions by turning a couple old sets of Goodyear 250 compound slicks into intermediates. The locals were probably chuckling behind their backs, as none of the Oregon-based racers seemed to be concerned.

Perhaps they knew something that the others didn't because, despite intermittent rain all day, the skies cleared for Friday afternoon's S2 qualifying session and the track was dry on the racing line. Even with the track freshly washed and green, some impressive times were put down. Chris Tryon knocked on the door of the 1:18s with a 1:19.049, good enough for pole. Southern California native Littrell also made it into the 1:19s, sandwiched there by local John Brewer, who was tightly bunched up with Ferguson and local John Bachofner, all within one tenth of second of each other.

The sun was shining Saturday morning but some sprinkles appeared about an hour prior to the National Race, making all the S2 competitors look to the hills for prognostication. As it turned out, the S2 group won the weather lottery, with clear skies for the duration of their race. The stewards of the meet denied a petition by the S2 drivers for a split start and the Formula Atlantics on pole put the power down as soon as they hit the front straight, spreading out the field and preventing the green flag from falling. They held a more conservative pace for the second try and John Brewer anticipated it perfectly, getting a great run from the second row, down the outside of Tryon into the festival curves.

Brewer's momentum was apparently a little hard to whoa because he tapped the back of a Shelby Can-Am CSR and a festival turn fandango ensued. The CSR spun, stopping in the middle of the track. Brewer continued on, followed by Littrell. Tryon and others were held up momentarily. The order out of the curves was: Brewer, Littrell, Ferguson, and Tryon. Pole sitter Chris Tryon worked his way back from about 4th passing Ferguson, then Littrell, and after an extended battle he was able to get by John Brewer for the win. John Bachofner was running strong, challenging Littrell for 3rd position when he had a gearbox failure. Both Giroskis also experienced mechanical problems.

After the podium ceremony, and distribution of the coveted 4 Flight S2 Cup hats to the podium finishers, the Tryon family graciously invited all the S2 competitors and crew over for a delicious lunch of roast beef, salads, and other goodies. Some (who will remain nameless) could be seen going back for seconds. But everyone left room for the sponge cake with berry compote and whipped cream dessert. Thank you to the Tryons!

Race 2

The National race took its toll on the S2 ranks. Tryon found a main seal leak, Bachofner's spider gears were shot, and Ferguson packed up as well, claiming work on Monday. This thinned out the ranks up front but Eric Giroski was able to fix his gearbox problems and a few new SS2s appeared for the Regional race, looking forward to having their own class.

The weather was great for the first race but the skies really opened up later that afternoon. Heavy rain fell, making large puddles and miserable conditions for a couple hours. The ground was still pretty wet prior to qualifying, but it looked to be drying up. Littrell opted to try out those hand-grooved intermediates while his teammate Ota, and everyone else, correctly chose slicks.

The racing line was completely dry, if not a little green. John Brewer took pole with a 1:20.144, a slight improvement over his Friday time. Littrell managed 2nd spot on his intermediates with a 1:20.611, followed closely by Eric Giroski in his Tiga Wasp with a 1:20.766. Ota also improved, dropping his time to a 1:21.519.

By Sunday all the inclement weather was gone and the stands were filled with a surprisingly large number of spectators for this Rose Cup race day. The S2s were granted their requested split start for the Regional so Brewer was able to set the pace. He stepped on it early but Littrell was not caught out. They drag raced down the drag strip front straight and Littrell was able to brake late enough to get himself into the first turn on the outside of Brewer and hold the lead coming out of the festival curves.

Littrell held Brewer off for a few laps but it was a tight battle and Brewer made a clean pass at the end of the back straight to take the lead. Brewer's lead grew and shrank with traffic but was never more than about 10 car lengths. But Littrell had more to worry about than just catching Brewer. His mirrors were full of Eric Giroski's Wasp. They ran tight for the entire race until Littrell missed a downshift in turn one on the last lap. The short spin allowed Giroski to get past for 2nd spot.

It was great weekend and everyone was talking about the next two races coming up at centrally located and beautiful Sears Point and Laguna Seca. See you there!