Another New Track Record!
We’re waiting for the next race to bring out the AUDI in ST3, so it would only be the #38 E46 M3 in NASA's ST4 class. Concentrating on one car was almost a luxury, and although we were supporting two EDGE Trackside customer cars, it felt like there was much less to do.
The previous race at Thunderhill was great, but the ST4 field was small and not all of the fast cars were there. This weekend, the ST4 field was much larger, and with most of the NASA ST4 racers in Northern California being at this event, we would be able to see where we stood.
Saturday ST4 Qualifying - Shaun
On Saturday, Shaun was in the car for qualifying. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find enough breathing room to set a fast lap but qualified 2nd. We were trying to preserve the Hoosier Magic so we used tires from our previous race at Thunderhill. No complaining here, we’re just being practical, and with new tires for the race, we were confident in our pace.
Congratulations to Justin Sprugasci for grabbing Pole in the #424 E46 M3.
Saturday ST4 Race - Shaun
Starting in 2nd but on the inside of turn 1 isn’t a bad thing. In fact, we kind of like it and there’s not a big difference compared to pole by the time you get up the hill and into turn 2. At the green flag, Shaun and Justin seemed to hit the throttle at the exact same time, and with Shaun’s shorter run through turn 1 and up to 2, their mirrors were practically connected.
Turning into T2 side by side, Shaun ran around the outside which kept Justin from getting on the throttle until later in the corner since he couldn’t track out normally. This put us on the inside into turn 3 and with 3rd place right behind us, Justin had to tuck in before entering turn 3 to ensure that he kept at least 2nd place. From there we slowly built a small gap to Justin. The 3rd place car was far enough in the distance that it seemed to be a race between Shaun and Justin.
With a reasonable gap and mostly clear track, Shaun was able to concentrate on consistency. He had great pace throughout the race and was so consistent that on the 13th lap, he was able to get within ½ a second of his fastest lap of 1:45.343.
There was a little more excitement just before the end when a Mustang high-sided in turn 8. They left a bumper on one side of the track and the car was on the other. The waving yellow flag at turns 7 and 8 concerned Shaun as there was a good amount of very slow traffic to get through and that might allow Justin to close the gap.
The Mustang's crash ended up being of almost no consequence. With only 3 cars on the lead lap, Shaun won with a 10.970 gap.
Sunday ST4 Qualifying - Anthony
Qualifying really started on Saturday night with a track walk that helped much more than expected with Anthony finding track characteristics that would help him gain an advantage on Sunday. He also studied Shaun’s video from Saturdays’ race and somehow put it all together and actually gained more speed.
Sunday’s qualifying went better than expected for Anthony and he set a new course record with a 1:43.9 to grab the pole. Saturday’s race tires were on for this qualy but it didn’t seem to matter. The car was perfect and evidently, Anthony was more perfect than ever although he would say it was just good conditions and luck.
BTW, that’s the second track record in a row. Shaun set the record for NASA ST4 at Thunderhill on the previous weekend.
Sunday ST4 Race - Anthony
Once again, we started on the inside for the run up to turn 2, although this time we chose the position. At the start, Justin in the #424 E46 got a good jump on us but the shorter inside line allowed us to stay in front and lead out of turn 2. We’re happy to say that besides a double yellow flag the rest of the race went perfectly but not without some drama - make sure to watch the video below.
That aforementioned double yellow did create some drama though. Justin, still in 2nd, was able to come back to us under the yellow, and on the restart, we had a lot of lapped traffic in front of us. With 13 much slower cars directly in front of Tony the potential of Justin getting by was real. Thankfully, Tony was able to get through the backmarkers quickly and without incident and remain in 1st place.
The car was hooked up and with a healthy lead and clear track, Anthony set a fast lap of 1:44.9 and won the race with a 7.993 gap to second place.
Wrapping Up
We are still amazed that our drivers and cars are performing at such high levels. It’s not that we haven’t worked hard and earned our successes, we just don’t expect it to continue at this rate. Maybe that disbelief is what pushes us to continue to develop our skills and cars. We don't want it to end!
We love racing and cars, care about building great relationships, and are always driven to create and deliver quality work and experiences. Obsessing over any of it isn't really a thing because all of it happens in the most organic ways.
#challenges #camaraderie #edgefamily
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