February race weekend welcomed many familiar faces and some amazing performances from our members. The weekend also marked the second appearance of the Wolf GB08SMs at Club Spring Mountain. Once again we were pleased to have the Wolf Racing factory support team present to assist owners with their new racecars. The 3.5 mile Mansell “B” course was the track configuration chosen for the weekend race events which proved to be technical and fast.
Club Spring Mountain was also honored to have the Nevada Army National Guard, 1864th Transportation Company training on our facility on Saturday and of course to view the races. Our very own Chief of Security, Joel Oscarson, came dressed to impress in his very own Army fatigues as he assisted his fellow servicemen and women.
Miata
We had 12 participants out in our Miata division competing on Saturday. Obtaining pole with a fastest lap time of 2:46.460 was Lee Mixon. Mixon led the pack going into the first corners of the race until he was overtaken by Ron Fletcher going through the S’s. During the same lap Ryan Pond spun off in 5B and successfully got back on in 6th position.
Going into the 3rd lap Fletcher, Mixon and Jim Ballestrieri were grouped up tight in the front of the pack. Mixon was successful in passing Fletcher through Kenny’s Corner putting him in the lead followed by Fletcher and Ballestrieri.
A noticeable battle emerged in 5th-8th positions between Dennis Russell, Lee Alexander, Mark Saroyan and Teddy Landau. Behind them, in what was perhaps one of the best battles of the race are yellow #9 Randale Sechrest and red #81 Dennis Kane. They battled it out in the back of the pack throughout the duration of the race, drafting each other from time to time until Kane got the upper hand holding his position.
With 10 minutes left in the race, Pond took the outside turn and managed to pass Fletcher for the lead. Mixon, who remained in the forefront the entire race, spun off on the 2nd to last lap going into Ego Check allowing Ballestrieri to take 1st closely followed by Pond. Fletcher then went off under the white flag, allowing Ballestrieri to attain 3rd. Pond and Ballestrieri battled it out in the last lap, but Ballestrieri managed to win by .005 seconds!
For Sunday’s race, 10 Miata drivers came out to race. Shortly after the green flag, all the Miata’s were grouped tightly coming out of turn 2 causing Mark Saroyan to go off. Racing under the Michelin bridge, Ron Fletcher had a 4 car lead in front of Lee Mixon, Jim Ballestrieri and Ryan Pond. Most of the cars were spaced out with the exception of Fletcher, Mixon and Pond battling out in front. Mixon pulled ahead and held a 20 car lead with Pond and Fletcher competing for 2nd. Fletcher ended up exiting the course and Ballestrieri took 2nd. By the end of the race, Lee Mixon came in 1st, Jim Ballestrieri in 2nd, Ryan Pond in 3rd and Teddy Landau in 4th.
Saturday Bracket Race
On Saturday, 13 drivers entered the bracket race. There was a lot of variety in cars including Miatas, SR3’s, SR8’s, a GB08SM and 4 Rookie competitors. Two of the members received a DNF and another two broke out, allowing Indy Al to come in 1st with a total time of 23:32.979 and the fastest lap time of 2:22.942. He was followed by rookie drivers David McConnell in 2nd and Gregg Gorski in 3rd place.
CSM Light Sport Race
Saturday’s Light Sport Race welcomed a combination of two vehicles in LSR1, three vehicles in LSR2, eight vehicles in LSR3 and five vehicles in the rookie division. All the cars were nicely gridded when the green flag was given and made it around the first corner with no issues.
Ron Eckhardt in 1st pulled away from the others, leaving Ron Fletcher and Shahin Mobine to battle for 2nd with Prince Oliver beginning to close the gap from 4th to 3rd. Shortly after, SR3 drivers John Thompson and Mark Rohrwasser who were toward the back of the pack went off in Kenny’s Corner. While Thompson was able to jump back into the race, Rohrwasser got back on after some assistance and made his way off track due to possible damage. Mobine had a close call in exit 28 when attempting to pass Fletcher for 3rd place while Jeffrey Cheng made a clean pass on the back straight past Oliver to secure 4th. Pole position driver, Ron Eckhardt, drove wire-to-wire placing 1st, followed by Jeffrey Cheng in 2nd, Ron Fletcher in 3rd and Shahin Mobine coming in 4th overall.
Saturday's Podium
On Sunday, there was one vehicle in LSR1, three vehicles in LSR2, six vehicles in LSR3 and three vehicles in the Rookie division competing in the CSM Light Sport Race. At the beginning of the race, the tower waved off the green flag as the starting grid was not property aligned. On the second time by, the race was underway. Ron Eckhardt, Ron Fletcher, Indy Al, Brandon Rambo and Mitch Bishop led the pack with the rest of the field spread out. Lee Alexander attempted to pass Bishop before Ego Check and was initially unsuccessful, but carried out the pass in his 2nd attempt now coming in 5th behind Rambo. Bruce Jones then tried to move past Keith Gostlin going into 5B but maintained his line.
Three laps in, Eckhardt created an impressible lead in his Wolf, while in the beginning of lap 5, Gostlin went off the track, but was able to quickly recover and get back on track. Soon after, Indy Al spun off track and managed to regain his 5th position. A white flag was then called when Alexander went off track. Ron Eckhardt in his GB08SM #93 magnificently led the race gaining more and more distance with every lap, but on his last lap he was forced to finish the race at a slow pace due to mechanical issues. Ron Fletcher finished in 1st overall followed by Brandon Rambo in 2nd and Indy Al in 3rd.
Enduro Race
During Sunday’s Enduro Race, we had 10 participants including a mix of Miatas, GB08SM’s and three Lotuses. Elise Mark Saroyan came out victorious finishing 1st with a total time of 54:17.084 and fastest lap time of 2:34.443.
Next Race Weekend
March’s race weekend will be held on the Fittipaldi (C) 3.6-mile track configuration. We are looking forward to great weather and even better company!! We love having everyone at the track enjoying all that Spring Mountain has to offer. Thank you for your continuous support and we will see you at the track!
