Factory Five Racing National Championship

After the car got loaded, we met it at Sears Point for the running of the first Factory Five Racing National Championship. The expectation was that the west coast series leader Dave Borden would have an advantage (knowing the track and being pretty darn talented). But those of us on the coast could probably hold our on. In racing, some things are a little hard to predict, but we set ourselves a goal of a top 5 finish with hopes of cracking the top 3. On Saturday we had a couple of practices and an exhibition race. The practices were ok with me running in the top 3 or 4 without really pushing it. Unfortunately, the car was not handling very well. (We later found out that some tire pressures were way off and solved some of the problems.)

The exhibition race featured two of the greatest driving legends of all time: Bob Bondurant and Dick Smith. Bondurant won the World Championship in 1965 driving the Daytona Coupe and won in everything from Formula One to Trans-Am. Dick Smith is the most successful vintage Conbra racer of all time and set the record of 198 MPH by driving his own car in a race at Daytona. Fun stuff! I started near the back of the field behind Bondurant and he and I swapped spots back and forth as we picked our way up through the traffic. I think I moved from 17th to 6th before they used a yellow flag to bunch us all together. Bondurant got a good restart and made an aggressive move on the first turn. As we came into Turn 7 I made a late braking move to retake the spot. Unfortunately, he didn't see me on the inside and turned into me.

It's a long ride back to the pits when you know you are going to have to get into a discussion with a living legend. You second guess yourself a lot - especially when it has been an exhibition race. Bondurant fussed at me and claimed I hit him, but I had already checked the tire marks on both cars (and later the in-car video) to ensure that I was right. I bit my tongue. Later I was going to say something, but Brian Cates rightly pointed out that it wouldn't do any good. So while other guys were getting him to sign their cars, I was trading paint.

For Sunday, it was time to pick it up. I qualified fourth, but the guy in third was Victor Seaber, a driver from NC still learning the car. Apparently he was learning quick because he made a dramatic jump from practice to qualifying. The front runner all weekend had been Gary Krichbaum and he took the pole with Dave Borden just behind him. The ever-talented Brian Cates would start a little behind me, but we had a strong group of people to make a charge. It seemed unlikely that I could get the car (or the driver) to be able to close the gap with Gary and Dave, but our goal of a top 5 was looking ok.

The race started off with a blistering pace. At one point (that fun Turn 7), I got passed Seaber and was running a strong third, but Seaber repaid the favor in Turn 11 with a late brake move of his own. (All weekend I gave up track position in Turn 11: big nasty wall that can ruin your weekend.) At that point the front runners began to pull away and Cates caught me. Cates and I had a fun run with good runs at each other. Finally he got me and I came right back into Turn 7 to pass again. Only this time I carried too much speed and spun. By the time I recovered, four cars had passed me.

Krichbaum was running away from everyone when his car died in the middle of turn and caused him to spin. He and Seaber were out of the race and in a dangerous spot on the track. I had quickly caught those who had passed me and was in good shape to pick them off when the full course yellow came out. It stayed that way until the end of the race and left me with a 6th place finish. A record six guys (including me) had driven faster than the old track record. On that lap with me, Seaber smashed the record with the fastest lap of the day. After all was said and done, Borden took the win with Cates and Chris Cobetto rounding out the podium. The talented field of drivers meant I felt good about my performance, but frustrated that the car didn't do better and that I wasn't smart enough to make adjustments early enough to help.

Seeing all of the Spec Cobra racers from across the country was really fun. Everyone was really nice and we had a great time. I am looking forward to getting my act and car together. The 2003 season will be interesting since Seaber and Cates are just learning their cars and are both incredibly fast so next year promises to be a real test to see if Team Elam can keep up!

Special thanks to Bobbie, Mary Borden, and others for taking the pictures! Some video from Brian Cates.

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