May Thunderhill and June Llihrednuht
written by Scott Neville
June 2009

The third and forth races of the season were both held at Thunderhill.  In April’s race, running the traditional Thunderhill counterclockwise direction, Norcal SpecE30 fielded its largest field with 18 cars on a standing start grid. The weekend weather would be picture perfect for racing with sunny skies and cool temps.  Saturday's first practice session had a very unfortunate incident involving Ron Harness and a Porsche. Exiting the S's Ron got clipped in the rear by the Porsche which sent him up the slope at the end of Turn 13. His car rolled several times before landing on all fours. Ron was able to get out of the car but was complaining on a sore neck/back and was taken to the hospital in Chico for examination. Ron was released the same day and is recovering. We hope to see Ron back in action with a new E30 this season. Saturday’s race saw Carl Chiu (Team PointSix Racing) take the top podium spot followed by season points leader Donny Edwards (Team Brimstone Dynasty) with third place to Ric McCormick piloting the Team 101 Main E30.  Lap records would be made in Sunday’s race, with the cool air temps helping the E30’s with horsepower.  Ric McCormick took the top podium spot and set a new Spec E30 lap record of 2:06.448.  In a close and hard fought battle, Donny Edwards and Carl Chiu took second and third podium positions.  The Evil Genius Hard Charger Award for the weekend went to Greg Peterson for his significant lap time improvement at this track. With two second place podiums, Donny Edwards held on to the season points lead.

May’s race would see racers running Thunderhill backwards (clockwise a.k.a. Llihrednuht).  Car counts would be down to 10 racers on Saturday and 11 on Sunday.  Norcal SpecE30 also welcomed their first ever woman racer in Sunday’s race, Glendine “Glen” Porter.  On Saturday, the 10 SpecE30’s had a twist thrown at them, an inverted standing start grid.  Pole sitter Donny Edwards, starting from the back of the pack finished in the top spot followed by Scott Neville in second position and Greg Peterson in third.   For Sunday’s race, Donny Edwards again took the pole during qualifying followed by Greg Peterson and Scott Neville.  At the race start, Donny missed a gear during the standing start and was immediately passed by Greg and Scott.   Donny regained the lead after some hard driving to pass Greg.  Greg pressured Donny numerous times but could not gain the lead back.  In the meantime, rookie Brad McClure worked his way into the third podium spot by passing Scott.  Scot t was left to battle Will Faules for 4th spot. The Evil Genius Hard Charger Award went to Brad McClure but he missed out on the $100 cash as his race car did not sport the required Evil Genius decals.  Second in line to the Brad for the Hard Charger award was Scott Neville based on his improved lap times and second place finish on Saturday.  Donny Edwards maintains the season points lead.  The next race will be held at Infineon in June.

Practice, qualifying and race times can be found here at MyLaps.com. More event photos can be found here at VM Werks Gallery.

Season Points Leader Donny Edwards leads Will Faules and Mike Lock during Sunday's Qualifying Session
HeadOnPhotos

Rookie Mike Sekhon in his beautifully prepared SpecE30
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Airtime with Greg Peterson
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Ron Harness' rollover in April's event.
Scott Neville Photo

Ron Harness' #18 after his rollover in April's event.
Walter Ford Photo

Newly minted rookie Glendine "Glen" Porter in the Valley Motorwerks #37 Rental
Walter Ford Photo

Saturday's Winners May Event (L to R) Donny Edwards, Carl Chiu and Ric McCormick
NASA Norcal Photo

Saturday's Winners May Event (L to R) Donny Edwards, Ric McCormick and Carl Chiu
NASA Norcal Photo

Scott Neville leads Will Faules in a hard fought and exciting battle for 4th place on Sunday
Walter Ford Photo

Donny Edwards has his hands full with Greg Peterson and Brad McClure in hot pursuit
Walter Ford Photo

Saturday's Winners (L to R) Scott Neville, Donny Edwards and Greg Peterson
NASA Norcal Photo

Saturday's Winners (L to R) Greg Peterson, Donny Edwards and Brad McClure
NASA Norcal Photo

Evil Genius Racing April Thunderhill Hard Charger Award Greg Peterson
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Evil Genius Racing May Llihrednuht Hard Charger Award (L to R) Scott Neville and John Pagel
Scott Neville Photo