CART Autox 2008 #1 Return of the Sock Puppet.

 

            The Connecticut Autocross and Rally Team held the first autocross of the 2008 season April 13 at Rowley Spring in Bristol Connecticut.  It was the first live fire test of our new computer, timing software and timing equipment.   One hundred sixteen drivers registered, with over sixty percent of them non members or novices to the sport.

            The first event of the year is always the most challenging.  Registration has the biggest work load of the year, new people are working in new positions, and the club has to get back into the running mode.

            Registration went very smoothly for the first event of the year.  Thanks to Bob Nogiec, Nick Fandacone, Erica Bonomi and Joe Skibisky for volunteering to get the event going.  Dana Robbins and Warren Elliot did their usual stellar job running tech inspection.  Paul Omichinski did his long time position as “novice herder”, getting the novices thru orientation.  Thanks also to Jay Bode, whose car is still in the shop, for stopping by and helping with the course setup.

            Bill Evans used the same course that we had run the week before during our non-points equipment try out.  Jim Reinle named the course “Sock Puppet 2”, because his drawing of the layout resembled a sock puppet.

The two lap course featured a short left jog just after the start.  The one eighty left that followed tightened down on exit, and caught several aggressive drivers off course as they under steered away from the gate.  A quick acceleration section was next, followed by a decreasing two seventy degree right turn and a snap left ninety degree turn.  A quick squirt on the gas, and you took a pivot cone for the one eighty degree left back up the lot.  A quick left, right, left squiggle brought you to the decision point.  If you were on lap two, it was a quick, short right to the finish box, otherwise, you took a wide left one eighty.  This turn fed into a tight right left combination that fed you back in towards the start.  Because of the cooler temperatures, and some sand on the course, this area was very slippery, and the scene of several spins.

In AS Joe Solury jumped out to an early lead, and held it for most of the day, winning in his 1990 Corvette over Pat Solerno’s Boxter.  DS was a first win for Erica Bonomi in a Mazdaspeed 3, as she held off Agner and Chalin Santiago in a Subaru WRX.  ES was an all Miata class, with Rob Carter getting the win over Jim Duphiney by 8 hundredths of a second.  Brad Snow got a good jump on the year in GS, beating Roger Booth by nearly two seconds.  The HS winner was Mike Demaio driving a rare Legacy Turbo, beating Pat Huxley’s Honda Civic.

ASP was won by Matt Baker in a Boxter over Tom Covuoto in a Z06.  Both Matt and Tom were bumped up from SS.  Leo Ficks in an Evo won BSP over James Velgot’s STI by just over eight tenths of a second.  CSP is a class that has expanded wildly, but it was 2007 Driver of the Year, Paul Omichinski over Mike Lodsin by six tenths.  DSP was won by last year’s GS class champion, Todd Kean, beating Will Rabelo by over a second.  ESP was the Ford parade, as it was an all Mustang show.  Marc Boerma beat co-driver Yaro Teager by one point one second.  Matt Cummings cruised to an easy win in his FSP Jetta, beating Travis Lariviere’s “Toaster” by nearly two and one half seconds.

Jim Jaffe won XP in his Miata Turbo, beating Ryan Menard’s Civic by one point two seconds.  BP, or the run what you brung class, was won by Dennis Polio’s 64 Vette, beating Ray Covino’s Merkur by over a second.  AM was a combination of bumped classes, won by Dean Cusano’s Jag XJS over Shawn Mitola’s Subaru by just under two tenths of a second.  ST was won by Tim Kong’s Subaru, beating James Reinle’s Honda by one point three seconds.  SM, one of the largest non-novice classes was won by Noah Perkins’ STI over Phil Mackaronis’s Camaro.  SM2 was won by over five seconds by CART timing guru Nick Fandacone over Joe Visciglia. 

Y Novice / X Novice combined class was won by Colin MacInnes in a Neon.  Mathew Teicholz won Z Novice in a Merkur.

The FTD fight went back and forth between two competitors, but a cone on the second run proved costly as Nick Fandacone came up short on the battle against Leo Ficks by just over two tenths of a second.  The FTD fight has started early, and it looks to be a good one.

We’ll be running again in Bristol on April 27, stop on by, and strap on a helmet and join the fun.