2002 Season Race #5
Infineon Raceway 7/20/2002

New by name and much renovated, Sears Point Raceway was the site for the 5th round of the 2002 4 Flight S2 Cup. It's going to take a while for us to get used to the new Infineon Raceway name and the new grandstands and garages are impressive but the layout is largely the same and it didn't take long for the competitors to adapt to the track.

The weekend was a compressed National/Regional schedule, with qualifying for both races on Friday, and racing on Saturday.

National Race

David Ferguson dominated qualifying for the National Race, with a new qualifying record (well, all records were new due to the slight configuration changes) of 1:39.985. Jeff Littrell and Chris Tryon were next in line, separated by less than 5/100ths of a second. Doug Ota was a half second behind that pair, followed by Rob Conrad, Joe Moran, Paul Schroeder, Bob Lovenson, and Gary Holcomb. John Page, Fred Michael, Lisa Devlin, and Frank Arnold were also in attendance but without their cars.

The race was interesting, since most of the S2's were grouped together in the back half of the FA/FC/FM/DSR/CS/S2 group. Pregrid didn't come together very quickly and everyone scrambled into their cars when the 5 minute signal was unexpectedly given. Unfortunately, Carl Correll was fighting a last minute loose oil pump on Doug Ota's car and he didn't make it to the grid, forcing him to start last, from the pits.

The start was fast and smooth, with two-wide racing up through turn 4. Ferguson went side-by-side with Max Toy in a FM the whole way. A big coming together in T4, however would shuffle things as everyone tried to find a way through the carnage (one DSR has pieces of bodywork/floor hanging about 2 feet on either side of him -- made that car especially wide.

Littrell was able to pull along side Ferguson as they entered T6, and stayed beside him as they approached the braking zone for Turn 7. Ferguson left plenty of room for Littrell on the inside, but the gap just looked too wide, and another car went inside of Littrell. Littrell and Ferguson tried to transfer paint all the way around the corner, until Ferguson got dropped in the dirt on the exit. Tryon Tryon used the opportunity to cleanly pass for the lead.

Watching him get away was not Ferguson's plan, so he held his foot flat through turn 8, and went side-by-side with Littrell in T9. He was barely able to make T10 and still leave room for Littrell on the outside, but he held on and tried to catch back up to Tryon. Ferguson was so intent, he clipped the tires at the inside of T11, and Littrell moved alongside again, passing him on the main straight. As they approached T2, there were yellow flags displayed, but no car. Littrell didn't catch these signs, and rocketed past Tryon and an FC before he knew it.

The drivers spent the next several laps behind the pace car while they cleaned up the FA/FC/DSR puzzle pieces at T4. Ferguson noticed low oil pressure exiting T7 on the last pace lap, switched the engine off, and coasted down the hill, just as the race was about to restart. The fitting leading to the pressure stage of the pump had come loose and he had oiled about 1/2 the track, and for the most part, right on the line.

Littrell, who was feeling ill, charged a little too hard, and had two spins, that would drop him back. Doug Ota moved up (from last) to chase Tryon, and in the process set the fastest lap (and a new Infineon Raceway S2 Track Record). Littrell took the checkered in third, but was later assessed a time penalty for passing under the yellow, and Rob Conrad would take the final podium spot and earn the coveted 4/Flight S2 Cup hat!

Joe Moran was running 3rd/4th for most of the race, but eventually had an "off" in T6 that would take his car out with front end damage for the weekend. Looks like the crush box did it's job as he was OK.

Bob Lovenson, Paul Schroeder and Gary Holcomb would bring their cars home completing the entire race. We missed the Red Lola and Green, Blue and White Swifts -- you guys better make it to Laguna Seca in two weeks. It's gonna be a great race and we're planning a fantastic paddock party for Saturday night!

Regional Race

The run into the hill at turn 6 tested Joe Moran's HANS device (successfully) and proved the value of the crushbox but the Carbir suffered just enough damage to the tub to prevent it from racing any more that weekend. No amount of prodding would make him pull his Swift out of the trailer. That, combined with the fact that Ferguson was saving his motor for the run-offs, meant that the field was somewhat reduced for the Regional.

Qualifying had been set Friday, with Tryon taking pole, followed by Littrell and Ota.

The race was less eventful than the National. Littrell got a good start and diced back and forth with Tryon for a couple laps before spinning (again) in turn 11, allowing Tryon and Ota by. Then insult was added to injury when Littrell lost a plug wire. He came back out two laps down and dogged Tryon just for fun until (can you believe this luck?) his left front tire started going down.

Tryon took yet another win, followed by hard-charging Ota and Rob Conrad, making for a twin podium, without the hats.