2004 Season Race #12
Laguna Seca 7/31/2004

The 4 Flight S2 Cup enjoyed an embarrassment of riches for round #12, the San Francisco Region's National/Regional at Laguna Seca. Twenty S2 drivers signed up for the double weekend, causing the Regional group to be dramatically oversubscribed. Many competitors were therefore denied entry, making what was supposed to be a double 4 Flight race weekend into a single. Still, hats off to David Ferguson, Rob Conrad, Fred Michael and DSR racer Nate Chesmore for giving up their spots in the regional race so that some out of town competitors could. It wasn't a perfect solution but it sure was appreciated.

The weather was cool and misty in the morning, with a marine layer that burnt off as the days progressed. Competitors practiced and qualified for the National race on Friday, including a number of new, and fast, drivers. Dennis Pavlina took a break from SuperCup racing to try his hand in the Earthbound Flying Machines prototype Van Diemen. ACRL front-runner John Ostlund made his long awaited return to Pinto power after yanking the Cosworth out of his Carbir. Tim Moore made his debut in yet another ugly Fresno-green S2, his a Swift. Returning drivers Jeff Read and John Page made their first showings of 2004. Read's ex-Allison Lola was looking particularly pretty, and quick. Proving their commitment to the series, the Nelsons made yet another long tow from Portland. Tom says that the 4 Flight Tow Fund makes the difference between racing and not.

The first practice was a bit of a mess, with a number of cars spinning or going off, including Fred Michael, who dug the nose of his Reynard into the dirt in turn 9. He'd end up missing qualifying but got the car repaired for Saturday. A number of drivers received advisories or warnings about the 103db sound levels after Friday practice. Some chose to ignore them, blaming the thick, moist morning air, while others clamped elbows to their tailpipes to divert the sound away from the microphones.

In National qualifying Jeff Littrell in the Lola piped David Ferguson in the Van Diemen for pole with a 1:33.71 to a 1:33.8x but in the end Ferg's time was disallowed due to sound violation (he'd received a warning in practice too). New-comers to the series, Dennis Pavlina and John Ostund were 3rd and 4th quick with 1:35.02 and 1:35.27. They were followed by a huge bunch of S2 drivers in the 1:36-1:37 range. It looked like it was going to be a good one -- Pavlina and Ostlund hounding Littrell, 15 drivers fighting it out behind them, and Ferguson slicing and dicing his way through from the back.

The smack talk between Moore and Jason Choulochas (old Enduro competitors and friends) started months, if not years before the race weekend so there was particular interest in how they performed against each other. Qualifying for the national went well for Moore, as he was 5th and Choulochas was 9th.

Regional qualifying was Saturday before the National race and Pavlina experienced a stuck throttle on the EFM Van Diemen at the corkscrew. The ensuing crash into the wall took out a corner of the prototype's wide suspension, eliminating him from the National race, and the rest of the weekend. Regional qualifying was in misty conditions with a semi-damp track but Littrell ripped a couple low 1:33s for pole. Pavlina had 2nd best time again, with a 1:35.168, but of course he was out of contention. Scuderia Correll driver Scott Brink was therefore 2nd on the S2 grid with a 1:36.112, followed by Ostlund's 1:37 flat. However, Ostlund had made his travel arrangements before he knew that he'd be allowed into the Regional so he would not be racing on Sunday. This left third spot on the grid to a dramatically rejuvenated Jeff Read. Also interesting was that Choulochas out qualified Moore this time. The smack was flying.

The 4 Flight S2 drivers petitioned for a split start for S2 and got it (special thanks to chief steward Dick Templeton). Ostlund got a good jump on Littrell but Littrell's Lola was trimmed out and had his new killer Ivey so he was able to beat Ostlund to the first (real) turn. From there he checked out and never looked back, despite 3 full course cautions. There were always a few back-marker CSRs or DSRs between Littrell and Ostlund and Littrell ran 1:34.377 in the race while no one else got below 1:36 so there wasn't much to watch up front. There was lots of action further back however.

Moore had a decent start and was able to get by Rob Conrad for 4th and held onto that while the boss-man Joe Moran filled his mirrors. Ferguson soon joined the battle (from last!). He and Moran both got by Moore, but didn't pull away. They were fighting pretty hard and Moore made a move coming out of 11 to take Moran and challenge Ferguson into turn 2 but it didn't stick. Scott Brink, who was ahead of this whole fight, spun at the exit of turn 6, blocking the track. Ferguson and Moore both went into the dirt to avoid hitting him, and Choulochas made the move of his career (according to Moore) by taking the inside line (on the track surface) while Ferguson and Moore were dirt tracking. He passed both of them and focused on pushing it as hard as he could from there on out because he knew there was a wolfpack chasing him and none of them would be particularly pleased to lose position to the red and yellow Swift.

When the first pace car came out Choulochas was hoping there were enough other cars between him and the wolfpack to hold them at bay until the end of the race. When he got the wave by from the pace car and looked back to see a bunch of DSR's he realized that he had caught a lucky break. Everyone except Littrell, Ostlund, and Choulochas ended up a lap down behind the pace car.

Once we went green again Choulochas set a mission to get Ostlund but it wasn't meant to be. Ferguson and Moore were having a great battle, but Moore finally got by on the restart. He had a nice run into turn 2 and was able to hold Ferguson off. For the next several laps Moore watched the purple Van Diemen in his mirrors moving side to side trying to force the green Swift into making a mistake. Finally, Ferguson was able to get a great run through turn 6 and passed Moore going into the corkscrew. Moore stayed on him, but a few laps later the pace car came out and that was it. The race finished under yellow but Moore made quite a dramatic debut by following and leading a driver of Ferguson’s caliber for so long.

However, despite his battle for 4th spot, Moore was beaten by Choulochas, who set the second fastest S2 lap of the race with a 1:36.003 (Littrell had fast lap with a 1:34.377). The end result was another 4 Flight hat for Littrell, a quick hat for Ostlund in his first 4 Flight race, and a long-coveted hat for Choulochas. The 4 Flight trouble makers raised a ruckus with the SFR impound Nazis by spraying Champagne, something we've been doing for 3 years now without incident. They could have just asked us to pour the remnants in the dirt but instead took the "we'll make damn sure you have no fun" approach. One senior SFR staffer liked our spirit though.

The impound drama was not over for a long time. The hardest part of the race for Choulochas was just starting. He failed to make weight after multiple attempts, deemed light by 5 lbs. Usually he is 20+ over and because of all the pace car laps he knew he had more fuel on board that normal. Nonetheless, after weighing the car every which way he was DQ'd by the stewards. He observed some calibration issues with the scales during all this so he decided that he wasn't going down without a fight (and NO WAY was he going to give up the coveted 4 Flight S2 Cup hat!!).

While Choulochas tried to look heavy, the rest of the 4 Flight drivers, crew, family, and guests were at the Fajita party under the EFM tent. Thanks again to the Fergusons and Conrads for the great food, drinks, and fun. Many hours later, the court met and there was a reasonable doubt about the scales because Choulochas's result was allowed to stand. Way to go O.J.! His $50 protest fee was returned and he jogged back to the Fajita Fest to celebrate with his crew and fellow competitors. He celebrated, perhaps inappropriately, by drinking Coors LIGHT.

Despite the graciousness of those drivers who gave up their spot in the Regional to allow other S2 drivers to compete, or maybe because of it, the field for the Regional was significantly smaller than the National. Brink had thrown a rod in the National, John Page had an inexplicable imbalance in his car, Pavlina was out, Ostlund, Moran, and Holcomb had gone home, etc. In the end, only 11 S2s started the Regional, getting a Sports Racer split start from the open wheeled cars.

The pole sitting DSR of Richard Steranka was still undergoing body fitment when the cars left the grid and the 2nd spot DSR of Jim Warn took a wrong turn out of the paddock into the hot pits instead of the track (go figure). This made Littrell the pace setter for the second time of the weekend. He had a good start and despite being out-dragged by Roger Nuttall's Cosworth-powered Carbir CSR, he led out of T2 and immediately opened a large gap.

Moore had a nice run on Choulochas and passed him under braking in turn 2 at the start. Jeff Read was in front of Moore and they went at it for several laps until Moore got by after a nice run out of turn 11. Jeff Anderson eventually got by Moore after hounding him for several laps. Anderson was driving very well and once he was out front Moore couldn't catch him.

No surprise that a safety car was dispatched a few laps later but it didn't matter. Littrell was the only S2 on the lead lap. In the meantime, there were great battles throughout the rest of the S2 field, with Jeff Anderson, Jeff Read, Tim Moore and Choulochas all duking it out. Even Wayne Smith and Bob Lovenson shared some paint.

When the pace car came out and gathered up the field, Moore thought that he had proved that he could run with the big boys during the National and decided to show his DRIFTING skills! Unfortunately for him, he decided to do it on the restart on cold tires. Knowing that the DSRs up front would take off exiting turn 11, he got on the gas just a split second too quick, looped the car and watched the field go by. Choulochas - 2, Moore - 0.

It's a shame that Sunday's race had to be dropped from the 4 Flight Championship calendar because Jeff Read put in a fine performance to take third behind Littrell and Anderson. Normally that would be a hat-worthy finish. Then again, if Ferguson hadn't given up his spot, or Ostlund hadn't gone home, or Pavlina hadn't crashed, or Brink hadn't blown up.... Who knows? Still, a great effort by Read in his beautiful little Lola.

Littrell's win on Saturday launched him into the Championship lead. See the Standings page for all the details. More photos are available on the Gallery Page. The 4 Flight competitors get a long summer break before the next race weekend, the season finale October Double Regional at Buttonwillow Raceway Park. This is the 4 Flight home-coming race where we race for the Championship, party on Saturday night, and try to vote on the next year's schedule. The weather is always nice, the track is always challenging, and the field is never small. Don't miss it.