2003 Season Race #1 and #2
California Speedway 2/2/2003

"Playing softball in Dodger Stadium." That's how one racer described running a club event in a massive first-class oval facility like California Speedway. "Big" just doesn't do the place justice. Neither does "fast" -- but it is. The place is 568 acres! The track is so large that there are over 130 acres inside the oval! There's seating for over 92,000 spectators but it's safe to say that the event wasn't quite a sellout.

Thanks to the hard work of many Cal Club volunteers over the last few years, the International Speedway Corporation finally agreed allow the SCCA to host a race on the track's 2.8 mile, 21 turn "Auto Competition Course." Despite the "roval's" busy infield section, the use of over half the oval had the S2's hitting in excess of 135 MPH on the 14 degree banking and average lap speeds of more than 96 MPH. Best of all, there were numerous corners with overtaking possibilities. All in all, despite the fact that many of the infield apexs were ominously marked by stacks of tires, the course was well liked by all the competitors.

Speaking of competitors, a number of the S2 faithful were still in the "winter rebuilding" stage and were unable to make this 2003 4 Flight S2 Cup season opener. However, that was somewhat made up for by the fact that a couple new S2 drivers were there to check in and let everyone know that they'd be joining the fray soon. Jason Choulochas was there (he just bought Chris Helt's car) and George Dellinger (the proud new owner of Ferg's mean green machine) also showed up Saturday. Nice to meet you guys. Bruce (my Lola needs a new tub) Allison couldn't race so he graciously flagged. The competitors for the weekend were: Jeff Anderson, Greg Clark, Gary Holcomb, Chris Keating, Jeff Littrell, Bob Lovenson, Joe Moran, and John Page. No one travelled far enough to get money from the 4 Flight Tow Fund but all the drivers who started a race earned one weekend's credit (and $50) towards the 4 Flight Show Fund. Next race pays $100 to them, and so on.

Most of the drivers tested Friday but Anderson, Clark, and Littrell showed up Saturday morning fresh and ready to learn the track. The weather was clear and the session went well. Rumor had it that a low 1:45 would be the time required to take pole.

As it turned out, no 1:45s were possible that morning. Littrell took pole with a 1:46.390. Moran ran a 1:47.205 and Holcomb rounded out the top three with a 1:49.988. John Page had been chasing a running problem all weekend and still didn't have his car running right. He was only able to complete one lap. Even worse, Chris Keating made his triumphant return to S2 with a newly rebuilt tub on his Swift, only to have a Formula car spin right in front of him on his first lap of qualifying. The solid T-bone smack did a lot of damage to Keatings's car and he was out for the weekend. A real shame, as Chris is always fast. But he held his head high and promised to be back soon.

Littrell knew more was possible but his car was cutting out in the banking. Moran complained of a similar problem but his progress had been more significantly halted by a spin right in front of Jeff Anderson, resulting in contact. Funny, the glass nose on Anderson's car isn't nearly as stout as Moran's composite Carbir bodywork. In the paddock, crews patched fiberglass, topped off fuel, changed fuel pumps, and generally scratched their heads but there wasn't much time before the race.

The start of Saturday's race was filled with Formula cars left, right and center. The S2s had out-qualified many of the supposedly faster cars but lost positions around the oval to their horsepower. This meant that the first few turns were full of a variety of different types and speeds of cars. Fortunately, everyone came out OK but Moran was able to close in on Littrell in the traffic.

What followed was a dice of a lifetime. Almost every lap saw at least two lead changes and lots of side-by-side racing. Littrell's engine problem was still there and Moran was able to walk him through the oval but then Moran's car would slow slightly, allowing Littrell to close up. Then Littrell would find an opportunity to pass in the infield somewhere (at least four different spots were used at various times) and Moran would dutifully reclaim the lead on the banking again. You could tell that these two drivers really trust each other because there were fractions of inch separating them on many occasions but they never touched.

In the end, Littrell held Moran off coming out of the banking by taking a low inside line and they came into what's called "turn 3" side by side. Littrell had to brake late to keep Moran from having the inside spot for the right hander immediately following but he braked just a little too hard and spun. Moran went past and took the win, and fast lap with a 1:45.630. Bob Lovenson rounded out the podium and won himself one of the highly coveted, new 2003 4 Flight S2 Cup hats.

Saturday's Race

Car No	Driver		Make	Qual Time	Qual Pos	Finish
71	Joe	Moran	Carbir	1:47.205	2	1
1	Jeff	Littrell	Swift	1:46.390	1	2
11	Bob	Lovenson	Swift	1:51.974	4	3
84	Gary	Holcomb	Swift	1:49.988	3	4
41	Greg	Clark	Swift	1:52.351	6	5
24	Jeff	Anderson	Swift	1:52.121	5	6
7	John	Page	Swift	2:39.110	8	7
8	Chris	Keating	Swift	1:55.290	7

In addition to the hats, 4 Flight Industries graciously provided "S2 Cup" private label champagne for the podium ceremony, which was dutifully sprayed all over the audience.

Overnight the crews were working hard. Moran lost a flywheel bolt coming into the pits after Saturday's race (what timing -- lucky bastard) so a clutch change was required on his car. Carl Correll searched Littrell's car for that high speed stumble on the banking and found the float broken in his carb. John Page tried mightily to get his car going again but in the end was unsuccessful.

Sunday morning was windy. The strong head wind indicated that times would not match Saturday's pace. Wrong. Littrell's car was running good now and he was quite happy with his 1:44.473, certain that a few formula cars would be between him and Moran. Wrong. Moran also stepped up the pace with a 1:44.650, slotting him directly behind Littrell for the race. It looked to be another barn-burner.

But alas... despite passing Littrell into T3 at the start, Moran was unable to mount a challenge. Littrell got back the lead in T5 and Moran spun in T14 trying to catch him. Littrell would eventually take the win, and a new track race record of 1:44.941. Greg Clark made a great start and inherited 2nd place before Moran was able to gather it up. Moran made a charge back, hoping to catch Littrell, but he spun again, putting Clark into 2nd again. The big battle in this race was between Clark, Holcomb, Lovenson, and Anderson. Moran was able to scrape his way back into 2nd spot but the other four drivers were nose to tail for most of the race.

Eventually, Lovenson tapped Holcomb coming out of T5. Anderson was past in a flash, chasing down Clark. The other two were able to get going again but damage to Holcomb's tail caused rear tire damage and he had to retire. Anderson had been fighting a vibration and had been thinking about pulling into the pits when he realized Clark was the only thing between him and a 4 Flight hat. That's when he put the hammer down. The two were pretty evenly matched but Anderson had a killer line through the tough decreasing radius turn 9 and put a clean pass on Clark. Clark pulled alongside a couple times but was never able to get that podium spot back. Hat to Anderson.

Sunday's Race

So, in the end Littrell and Moran each took a 1st and a 2nd and are tied in the standings but Littrell got to take home the S2 Cup for a few weeks until Willow Springs. Hope to see you there.