It was a great weekend with a new racing group this year, South West Motor Sports a non-SCCA group. Overall there was about 90 entries and 9 Formula cars registered. Thru attrition by the time of the final Sunday race the group was down to 5 formula entries. I was the only F1000. The track was a 1.65 mile road course with 15 turns. A tough technical course, but fun. Made the arms tired after 2 days.
I would highly suggest for those car owners (perhaps regional racers) who might want to enjoy the fun and the sport of motorsports, you may want to consider other groups other than the SCCA. The SCCA is not the only venue around for race car owners. I am a loyal SCCA member, but we must acknowledge other racing and sanctioning bodies that are out there for the fun and experience of motorsports racing. I have learned this quickly this year. Yes, we had corner workers, ambulance on track, and wrecker for the crashes. Race stewards, and grid starters. The same as the SCCA
.
It was a relaxed atmosphere with plenty of track time. 2 races on Saturday, with a practice and qualifying run. On Sunday another practice session, qualifying and 2 more race events so I got plenty of track time and was quite exhausted by the end of the weekend.
Had pole positon in all 4 race events, Won 3 of 4 races, until the final event when the F1000 spun and with no reverse, had to slowly work the car back on the track. By then, I was passed and did my best to play catch up.
One of the highlights was meeting Jim Guthrie former IRL driver and owner of Jim Guthrie Racing. He spent some time discussing the F1000 chassis and was impressed with the Phoenix brand. He provided a few driving tips and I was really thrilled to speak with him. He was just a regular guy, who really wanted to talk racing. The discussion was all about the F1000 class, and he even provided a few suggestions for modifications to the Phoenix brand. Of course I did invite him to drive the car.
Overall it was a great weekend and it was nice to have the Pro Auto Sports racers come over from the Phoenix area. It made for a great weekend, lots of fun, and competitive racing.
Richard Dziak
Pan Am SCCA
Rocky Mountain Division SCCA
Arizona Region Member
Phoenix F1K-07 Formula F1000
Las Cruces, New Mexico USA
sonewmexico@yahoo.com
personal website:
www.formularacingltd.com