CART Pocono North Track Day, May 11, 2007

The Connecticut Autocross and Rally Team (CART) kicked off the 2007 track event with a barn burner at Pocono Raceway's North Course on May 11. The hard work at promotion and, the firm foundation of past events is paying off, with over 60 cars registered for the event. The word is getting out about the amount of track time you get at CART Pocono events, and the great value for the money.

The surprise of the event was the weather. It can be chilly in the Pocono Mountains on a May morning, but the temperatures on event day started in the mid 60's and rose from there. The garages were abuzz from 7:00 a.m. on, with a variety of vehicles, ranging from four cylinder grocery getters to full blown competition machines, including a former NASCAR stock car.

The initial sessions were run under a practice group format, with the cars grouped by speed potential. The novices, and their instructors, went out for the first 15 minute session, followed by the fastest cars, finally working down to the slowest, non novice cars. After everyone had run one session, the track was open for all participants. The crew at start finish kept the number of cars on the course under control, ensuring that all drivers got a fair shot at getting track time. An open track requires cooperation from all drivers. The slower cars have to stay aware of cars coming up to pass, the faster cars have to respect the slower cars right to the track. The club works very hard to enforce the safe use of passing zones.

The laps continued with only occasional breaks due to mechanical failures. With sixty cars being driven hard, some mechanical failure is to be expected. The only reported injury for the day was a minor burn from a gas grille. A safe event is a fun event: this one was a blast.

The track was closed for a brief period as the equipment was set up for the timed runs. Forty three cars lined up for two laps against the clock and bragging rights. Fastest time of the day was set by Robert Boucher in his Diasio 962. There were a few very close battles. Gabe Pettner won the Evo battle in AS beating Pete Day by five hundredths of a second. The Lariviere's lined up in EP as Travis beat Allen who beat Duane. The spread between the three of them was less than nine tenths of a second. Bob Doiron finally got to show his Fiero's taillights to Jay Bode taking a hard earned win in FP.

With the timed runs done, the calculations were started for the CART exclusive Team Relay event. Teams compete for the Bill Evans Team Relay trophy, awarded at year end to the team with the best three event overall score. The team relay takes five cars per team, driving five laps apiece. Drive less than five laps, and the team incurs a penalty, drive more that six laps, and the team gets no benefit. A handicap, based on the timed runs is applied to the start. The normal passing zones still apply. The theory is that if every driver can count to five, and drive as well as his best timed lap, the final cars from all the teams will cross the finish line at the same time. Great theory, reality is just a little different. It seems the stress of driving to the max, and counting to five is just too much for some of the competitors

Mechanical and driver fatigue had reduced the number of teams from eight to six, but the plotting and planning was going on full tilt. Do you send the slow guy out first to block? The fast guy to build a lead? Alternate slow and fast? Try to line up like driver against like driver. Like politics and beer, the opinions flew fast and furious. The teams lined up as follows: Corvair, Porsche, the 2007 Champion Mixed Nuts, Fiero, Honda, and Subaru.

Going out first was Jon Kendig (Corvair) in the number 19 . Second was Eric Valdaserra (Porsche) in the # 97, followed by Nick Fandacone (Mixed Nuts / 350Z), Al Derzie (Fiero / Z06), Travis Lariviere (Honda) and Dan Oricchio (Subaru / BMW). On the second lap, Valdaserra, Derzie, and Fandacone pass Kendig. On lap three, Lariviere puts Kendig another spot down.

Lap five sees the first group of driver dive for pit lane, and the second group take up the chase. Pete Day pushes his Evo into first for the Mixed Nuts team, Tom Casey is in second for Porsche, Tod Doiron has third for Fiero, Duane Lariviere in forth for Honda, Mike McInerney fifth for Subaru and Eric Mund (Camaro) in sixth for the Corvair team.

The positions remained static until the next driver change. Disaster struck team Subaru, as Mike McInerney came in one lap too soon, invoking a penalty. The Fiero team has finally passed the counting problem off to another team. The running order was now Bill Evans (Mixed Nuts / Z06), Phil Casey (Porsche), Jay Bode (Fiero), Chip Rutan (Acura / Honda), Dave Burnham (Maserati / Corvair), Steve Carley (Subaru). Jay Bode moves Fiero into second place, and Bill Evans laps Team Corvair.

The fourth shift goes out, and at the start of the stint, its Paul Omichinski (Porsche / Mixed Nuts), Bob Doiron (Fiero), Travis Lariviere (Honda), Bob Boucher (Diasio / Porsche), Brian O'Neil (Corvair) and Ben Miller (Subaru). On lap seventeen, Boucher passes Lariviere and Doiron for second. Lap eighteen, Lariviere passes Doiron to regain third.

The final dash starts off as Kevin FitzMaurice (Miata / Mixed Nuts) leads, Cecil Ramotar (Porsche) is second, Gary Frankel (Fiero) third, Kyle Germanton (Evo / Subaru) in fourth, and Bruce Carlton (Corvair) is now fifth. Team Honda? The math gods strike again, as Travis Lariviere runs six laps, and puts the team out of contention. On lap 23, Ramotar passes a furiously pedaling FitzMaurice for the final. The results: Porsche, Mixed Nuts, Fiero, Honda, Subaru and Corvair. We'll give it another try at our Pocono South Course event, July 23.