March Velocity Magazine - Issue 24-03

Buttonwillow March 2024

Velocity

Note from the Editor:

This issue is jam-packed. Our pages are filled with coverage of the Buttonwillow event including PDS, TT and Cup Races, the Racers Clinic, an interview with Kevin Roush, a fun survey, the parallels between racing and business, and our sponsor, 11:59. Buckle up for a great read. Don’t forget, if you’d like to become one of our contributors and/or have any questions or comments about Velocity, please contact me at: POCVelocityEditor@gmail.com See ya at the track! Andrew

VELOCITY Staff

Editor

Andrew Weyman

Art Director

Don Matz

Contributing Writers

Andrew Weyman

Steve Eisler

Steve Town

Ana Predescu

Tom Kenna

Matt Hately

Reto Emil Eberle

Contributing Photographers

Luis Vivar

Reto Emil Eberle

Chris Kipp

Steve Eisler

POC Board of Directors

John Momeyer President

Karen Robinson Secretary

Jim Salzer Treasurer / PDS Director

Joe Wiederholt VP Motorsports

Dwain Dement Chief Driving Instructor

Eben Benade Time Trial Director

Steve Town Sponsorship

Cover image: Luis Vivar & Don Matz

BUTTONWILLOW

BUTTONWILLOW

March ‘24

Photo: Luis Vivar

Photos: Luis Vivar

Racing at Buttonwillow

ANA PREDESCU

Buttonwillow Raceway Park is a crowd favorite, a place where technical skill shines and tough battles are fought. Nestled amidst California’s Central Valley following a day’s worth of rain, a scenic green landscape and perfect weather made for the start of a great race weekend.

I love racing at Buttonwillow. I have many fond memories at this track from my time go karting, watching my dad drive his BMW e36 M3 in a NASA endurance race with Michael Essa, driving my Cayman in time attack, my first Racers Clinic, and doing a Lemons race with my dad, John Cahalin, Charlie Persico, and Joe Wiederholt. All very fond memories which always remind me how lucky I am, and how lucky we are as a club, to be able to experience such memorable moments time and time again.

The first Racers Clinic of the season was held this weekend, with four eager young students ready to start their Cup racing careers. What started as eleven students turned into a dozen as Gerrit Wesseling joined in. His street 991.1 GT3 ran into some issues early on in practice, so he was given a hand-me-down car; a 991.2 GT3 Cup… welcome to the dark side Gerrit. All of the students did exceptionally well working together on drills, even though the cars were wildly different ranging from Prototypes, Clubsports, Boxsters, and Cup cars.

In the first Orange Cup race, 48 cars (with a record number of 42 cars in the BSR class) took the start. Matthew Hollander qualified first, followed by Alex Filsinger in P2 and Riley Giacomazzi in P3. Turn 1 is always nerve-wracking as it is quite the squeeze. Alex and Riley got Hollander early on and set a very fast pace, gaining quite a gap in front of the rest of the field. Unfortunately, Alex had some car issues which prevented him from finishing and Riley took home the victory followed by Rob Walker in P2 and Chris Bason in P3. Although the front pack is always fun to watch, there were really close battles throughout

the entirety of the field. Alex Hainer jumped in her dad’s car, started in the back of the pack and passed 22 cars. Scott Craig also passed 15 cars in that race. In the second Orange race, Riley grabbed another win followed by Matt in P2 and Filsinger in P3…. but this time it was Paul not Alex (like son like father). Again, Scott passed 15 cars in this race. Aspasia Zouras won in the GT5 class in both races, picking off the Boxster field one by one.

In Saturday’s Red Cup race, Bob Mueller started P1 with a 1:54.38 lap followed by Duane Selby with a 1:54.81 and Eric Olberz with a 1:55.37. Mike Monsalve did not complete a qualifying lap so he started in the back of the 991.2 Spec class. In the GT2 class, Darrel Troester and Roland Schmidt were less than a second off each other’s times. In the GT3 class, Eben Benade started pole, followed by Darin Moore, David Fabi, Ana Predescu (I’ll spare you my excuses), Jim Salzar, and Andy Sloane. In the race, sources say it was quite the sight seeing Mike Monsalve start from the back, pass ten cars and take home P1. Mike was followed by Bob Mueller in P2 and Charlie Persico in P3! This was Charlie’s second race with the 991.2 Cup and his second race back after taking a year off. In GT2, Darrel and Roland remained as P1 and P2 respectively, with very close times. In GT3, I had a great start and managed to sneak passed David Fabi early on. I then chased Darin for a few laps as I saw Eben get further and further away from me. Darin is a great racer and friend. In the practice session before qualifying he was asking me for some advice since I drove behind him for a few turns. I gave him some pointers, he definitely used them in the race, and it was why it took me a few laps to get by. Eventually, I got by Darin and he and Fabi had a very close race. I went on to chase Eben. I had a lot of ground to catch up but eventually reeled him in. Once I caught up to him, we had a good battle, but he ended up taking the victory. I came in second followed by Darin and Fabi.

In Sunday’s Orange race, Riley swept another victory making it 3/3 wins for the entire weekend. Riley was followed by Alex Filsinger, Dallas Carroll, and Matt Hollander. Aspasia also took home another victory making it 3/3 wins for the GT5 class this weekend.

Photos: Luis Vivar

In Sunday’s Red race, Alex Hainer qualified 1st with a 1:53.45 followed by Mike Monsalve with a 1:53.48. and Bob Mueller in P3. In the race, Alex set a very fast pace and put quite a large gap from the rest of the field for the majority of the race. Mike Monsalve worked to close the gap by the end of the race, but it was too late, and Alex took home P1 followed by Mike in P2. Behind them, Duane Selby took home P3, passing Bob Mueller in P4. In GT3, my friend Brett joined the field for the big finale. He qualified 1st followed by me and Eben. At the start, Brett was too excited and forgot to downshift, I kept on the outside with a good exit and managed to remain next to him in T1. We went neck- and-neck into the esses but I had the advantage and he backed off (ladies first – right?). I held him off for a lap until I out-braked myself in T1 and he pulled a similar move on me, passing me in T1 and racing until the esses. This time he had the advantage and took back P1. It was a close race among Brett, me, and Eben. I always enjoy racing with those two. They are super tough competitors. We never go easy on each other, but I always feel safe going into a corner side by side with them. We are always encouraging towards each other and have fun regardless of the outcome.

Brett shared something with me a few days after the race that I was not aware of, he said, “Those first couple laps were thrilling. Buttonwillow had been the place I dreaded the most. Having basically ended my Club Racing for 3 years at that track in that configuration in that turn in the same month… To pull that pass in lap 2 was a vindication and emptying of the torrid history. I actually never thought I would race again after that 2018 wreck.”

In racing, everyone’s tough. You have to be tough to succeed in this sport. But, things happen, as we’ve seen this weekend and others. Not that any of you need to be given advice from a 25-year-old girl, but I do think it is important to highlight instances like these. We understand that things happen but it’s how we overcome them and react to them that shape us as drivers, as a club, and as people. Supporting each other and creating a safe environment both on and off the track is very important. I think this is what sets POC aside from most clubs.

Photos: Luis Vivar

Photos: Luis Vivar

Reto Emil Eberle

Photo: Luis Vivar

Photos: Luis Vivar

Photo: Chris Kipp

Photos: Luis Vivar

Photos: Luis Vivar

TIME TRIALS IN

March 7, 8, and 9 found us at Buttonwillow Raceway not really driving in reverse but going counterclockwise, the opposite of the more frequently used direction. The previous week Kathy and I had been at the Streets of Willow track, shivering due to temperatures in the 50’s and 25 mph winds with gusts up to 45 mph. Three days later, as I packed for Buttonwillow, I included the same long sleeve shirts, sweaters, and heavy coats since the projected Bakersfield temperatures were in the mid-60’s. What I failed to consider was that the wind speeds were only 2-3 mph, which produced ideal weather conditions for racing. By Saturday afternoon, many of the racers were searching for ice for their Cool Shirts, and everyone was enjoying the break from the cold and rainy weather we had been experiencing at home.

Photo: Luis Vivar

REVERSE

STEVE EISLER

Driving counterclockwise was challenging for many of us. The Esses were the same but seemed easier to negotiate going this direction. Star Mazda is a completely different turn going CCW and entering the Bus Stop after Riverside was much faster than a CW lap. The biggest change was the use of the A-section instead of the traditional Off Ramp turn before the entry to Sunrise. I tried several different lines and never seemed to get it right. Other drivers were frustrated with this turn, and I suggested we rename the F-Section!

This was a Racers’ Clinic weekend so there was no PDS group. Drivers that would normally be in PDS were included in the Blue Point by Passing group giving us a total of 24 drivers on the track. The Green, Open Passing group had 18 drivers registered to compete for their best time of the day. It was nice to see three of my San Diego Time Trial friends, Kirk Fertitta, Sagar Dhawan, and John Owens, in the Racers Clinic. Two other San Diegans were making their first start in the Orange Cup Races - Murray Wunderly and Chad Carnevale.

The Blue group got off to a very slow start on Saturday with Thomas Kenna and Rumi Fraser leading the group. I was, surprisingly, in fourth place even though my time was 5 seconds slower than my best on Friday. Rumi was driving his second POC event with Steve Town in the instructor’s seat. Rumi purchased his 2020 911S as a 50th birthday gift to himself, and he drives it daily to his work as a vascular surgeon in the L.A. area. He has previous track experience in an Alfa Romeo Giulia at Brainerd International Raceway in Minnesota. He drove it four times at Brainerd, and his friends told him he needed an upgrade, so he bought the Porsche. He says that he spent $150,000 on the Porsche, drove it at Brainerd and improved his best

time by 15 seconds. “It only cost me $10K per second!” By the end of the weekend, he had dropped his time to 2:11.646 and is planning to be back on the track soon.

The Green group was led by professional racer Will Wattanawongkiri who was the only TT driver to go under two minutes with a best time of 1:59.714 in his 2015 Porsche GT3. Working hard to catch him was Mark Manda from Bakersfield driving a 2007 Cayman in class GT1. Mark took advantage of a clear track in the last run of the weekend to close within 2 seconds of the leader with a time of 2:01.167. Red Cup racer Brett Gaviglio did a 1:59.492 in the Sunday morning warm-up. On Saturday there were 6 other Open Passing drivers under 2:07, led by Danna Van Noy in her 2018 991.2 Cup car with a time of 2:04.420, and Mark Manda in a 2007 Cayman at 2:04.949. They were closely followed by Mike Avitt - 2:05.447, Paul Wren - 2:06.609, Joseph Miller - 2:06.741, and Bob Gartland - 2:06.794.

The Blue group got back on the track for their second Timed Run at 2:00 pm on Saturday and the Students nailed down four of the top five times in the session following leader Thomas Kenna in a 2015 GT3 who ran the eighth fastest time of the day-2:06.794. Rumi Frazier (S3) was second at 2:14.316, followed by Mike Dillehay (M2) - 2:14.872, Dennis Hubbard (S5) - 2:15.437, and Kristopher Marciniak (S4) - 2:19.591. Mike Dillehay was driving his 2017 911 Turbo in just his second track event. (The first one was at Big Willow in January.) Mike is new to racing, but not to the automotive business as he owns a truck parts fabrication business in Moorpark, CA called “No Limit.” He previously owned a 997.1 Turbo and bought the current car new in 2017. He just bought a GT2 RS which he plans to put on the track soon. He is enjoying his POC experience, and I think we will see him at many more racing events.

These students’ rapid improvement can be attributed to the excellent coaching of their instructors. Most of the instructors are Cup drivers who take time from the racing preparations to ride with their students and help them learn the track, Time Trial etiquette, and where to adjust their inputs to improve their times. Without these dedicated members we would not be able to continue to grow our TT and racing grids.

Cody Lissner was attending his first POC event, but not his first track experience. He is originally from Maryland where his uncle got him interested in cars by taking him to the

Edward

racing events that he attended. Cody lives in Oxnard and is a professional golfer and instructor. Orange Cup racer, Alan Watts, is one of Cody’s students. Cody only drove on Saturday, but dropped his time almost 5 seconds from the first timed run to the third timed run. He really enjoyed our event, and we hope to see him return for more improvement. On Sunday the number of TT drivers is always smaller than Saturday, which gives everyone more clear track time to improve their times. As noted, Mark Manda had TTOD on Sunday with his great run in the last session of the day. David Fabi in a 2019 718 Cayman Clubsport joined the under 2:07 group with a time of 2:05.534 for the third fastest time, just behind Mike Avitt in M2 who improved his time to 2:04.273. Following David were Paul Wren (GT3) - 2:05.597, and Bob Gartland (GT3) - 2:05.644.

In the Blue Group, Thomas Kenna again had the TTOD followed by Rumi Fraizer and Russell Murdock. Matt Clark was one of two Blue Group drivers getting their first taste of racetrack driving in his 2024 Cayman GT4RS. Although new to the track, Matt is a true Porsche aficionado with a nice collection of Porsches in his home garage in Bakersfield. He said that everyone at POC was very welcoming and helpful, particularly his instructor, Brett Gaviglio. He enjoyed the Zoom drivers meeting held the day before the event and offered a tip for other student drivers. Using a Chatterbox communicator was a game changer for improving communication between the instructor and student! After his last run, Matt had dropped his time by over 10 seconds to a best of 2:20.943.

Despite the large run groups on Saturday, the Buttonwillow Time Trials went very well. Most of the drivers stayed out of the silt, and the point by drivers were courteous. Bryan Van Noy’s tutorial certainly helped me, and I know it helped many other drivers who had not run in ‘reverse’ before. We really appreciate Danna and Bryan for making it available at no cost! Looking forward to seeing you at Willow Springs on May 25 and 26. Remember, you may have the slowest time in your group, but you only lose if you sit on the sofa and don’t try to improve!

Photos: Steve Eisler

Cody Lissner

Mike Dillehay

Rumi Frazier

Matt Clark

7

Seven Things Racing Will Teach You About Business

MATTHEW HATELY

In early 2023, I was chatting with Rene Villeneuve, who coached a few of us in Boxster Spec. We were talking about the mental game of racing, and as he wrapped his lesson, I realized I teach some of the same concepts in my business coaching. That, in turn, started the nerdiest back and forth in the paddock that weekend, going down the rabbit hole of comparing business and racing concepts. Later on, as I got to know more club members, I noticed that there are a lot of successful entrepreneurs and businesspeople in the club, which of course, makes sense – racing is not a cheap hobby. By my estimation, most of the paddock are able to race because they were successful in business. That got me wondering – does what you learn on the track apply in business, and visaversa? Is there a link between the appetite for risk that makes you predisposed to racing and entrepreneurship?

In either case, there are definitely things I learn on the racetrack that I apply in business. Here are seven that are top of mind and have served me well over the years:

1) Look where you want to go

One of the deadliest errors, often made by beginners on the racetrack but occasionally made by experts, is called “Target Fixation.” In a moment of high stress, your brain is so overloaded that it becomes fixated on exactly what you are trying to avoid – gravel in a corner, an obstacle, or another car. You end up hitting it square on (ask me how I know).

In business, it’s very easy to get fixated on what you don’t want – losing a key customer, a market downturn, your best performer leaving. More often than not, you run straight into what you were trying desperately to avoid. It almost happened to me in a previous business in the so-called Great Recession. Around 2009, our pipeline was drying up, and in a somber management meeting, we told ourselves, “I guess we’d better start planning to downsize.” Luckily, one of our mentors snapped us out of it. He wouldn’t let us even mention downsizing until we had exhausted every possible option for filling up our project pipeline and hitting our revenue targets. It was every man on deck. He refocused us on the positive outcome, and guess what, we turned it around and headed straight into our best year in history.

To be a great auto racer, you need to have “wide eyes” – you learn to look far ahead, use every corner of your peripheral vision, and look where you want to go. Being a leader is no different – your job is to look further than tomorrow, get a lot of advice and input, and keep your team focused on where your business is headed.

2) It’s a mental game

Time and time again, I hit a plateau at the racetrack. I think I’ve wrung every last bit of performance out of my car and I’m driving to my absolute abilities. Then I invite a very fast, very experienced driver to drive me around the track in my car. After a warm-up, they do a few blistering hot laps, a full 2.5 seconds faster than I. We returned to the pits, review the session, and he sent me on my way. The very next lap, I was 1.5 seconds faster, and the next 5 laps I was consistently 2 seconds faster than my previous laps (I’m still chasing that last few tenths, and that’s what makes racing so fun). It wasn’t the car, or even my abilities that was slowing me down – it was my mental model of what was possible.

Success in business has a lot to do with your mental attitude. Studies have found strong correlations between entrepreneurs with positive outlooks and business success. Most of

the time, it’s not your competition or the economy that’s holding you back, it’s your own attitude and beliefs. Those that have an attitude of abundance generally outperform those that believe the glass is half-empty.

3) Persevere

In racing, no matter how practiced and prepared you are, you can suffer dramatic setbacks. Parts break, someone bumps you, or for whatever reason, your perfect setup just isn’t working on a particular track like you thought it would. Even world-championship teams have bad weekends. The best drivers have persevered through dozens of bad weekends. They learn, they adjust, and they go try again.

The business press loves the “overnight success story.” What they fail to mention is that behind almost every business success is years of blood, sweat, and tears. Yes, one day they break through, but often these overnight success stories have been at it 10, 20, or even 30 years before they became a household name. Every business had failed starts, bad sales calls, unproductive employees – you name it. Things that are completely out of your control hit you from left field. The only thing you can do is dust yourself off and keep going. So much of success in business is just showing up and trying. If you’re self-aware and inquisitive, you’ll learn with every setback, and one day you’ll wake up amazed at the progress you’ve made.

4) Change one thing at a time

There’s a popular business mantra that says “you can’t manage what you can’t measure.” I also believe that to measure change, you can’t change everything at once. In a growing company, you will always be looking for things to improve. As you grow, you’ll find it increasingly difficult to measure progress when you’re changing so many things at the same time.

In racing, we only change one thing at a time, and test its effect. You change your sway bar settings on one end of the car, and you go test. You adjust your shock absorber rebound, and you go test. If you were to change all those things at once, and you spun in turn one, you’d have no idea what caused it, and lose hours going back to square one.

The same is true whether you are changing a business system or changing an attribute of your product or web site. If you change your customer acquisition strategy, launch a new web site, and restructure your sales team all at the same time, you’ll never know which one moved the needle.

5) Win together, lose together

Even at the amateur level, successful racers have coaches and mechanics. At the professional level, teams spend an enormous amount of time learning to work together in perfect harmony. They know that everything, from the pit crew who refuel the car in seconds, to the suspension engineer who knows exactly how to set up a shock absorber for a specific track, have to come together flawlessly to win a race. Lewis Hamilton gets most of the press for winning 6 championships, but what impresses me most is how Toto Wolff and his team coordinate and motivate the hundreds of people that work behind the scenes to build and maintain a winning race car.

New leaders often believe they need to have all the answers. It’s ok to tell your team “I don’t know. I’m not an expert in this area and I need your help figuring this out.” On top of that, there is probably someone, somewhere who has gone through exactly what you are going through who is willing to help. In my career I’ve been lucky to have a few people who were willing to sit down and talk through a business challenge for nothing more than a latte and the promise to pay it forward.

Successful management teams are staffed with people who compliment one another’s strengths, and who think differently from one another – some big picture thinkers, some detail-oriented; some who are engineers and some who have arts backgrounds. Believe me, it’s not easy – you’ll disagree constantly, but in the end, you’ll make better decisions because they’ve been dissected from every angle.

The really successful teams invest time and money learning how to communicate better and work better as teams. They set aside personal ambition and break down silos to achieve a shared vision. Like a championship race team, great teams are built with trust, shared respect, and communication.

6) If everything feels under control, you’re not going fast enough

World champions drive their cars at the very edge of control. A little more steering input, or a fraction more throttle, and they would go careening off into the weeds. It’s a strange sensation, to feel almost completely out of control, but at the same time, completely in control. Legendary driving coach Ross Bentley calls this “being comfortable with being uncomfortable.” The flip side of that coin is that once and a while, you will spin out (again, ask me how I know).

If you’re an auto racing fan, you’ve witnessed the two extremes – on one hand are the wildly aggressive drivers that lead one race by a half a lap but crash out in the next one. They burn their teams out and burn their bridges. On the other hand, the backmarkers are unwilling to be as aggressive as the winners. Champions find that perfect balance – they are blisteringly fast, take calculated risks, but are patient and persistent, tracking their opponents lap after lap, waiting for them to slip up so they can take the pass for the lead. In business, I’ve seen companies that are unwilling to take risks, and unwilling to live on that edge of controlled chaos, and they usually plateau. I’ve also worked with companies that are in constant chaos, where the leadership team leaves burning bridges, burned out employees, and fried customers in their wake. The perfect flow is right down the middle –taking calculated risks, moving quickly, and working right in that zone where things feel a little out of control. You’ll never have all the data and all the answers – a napkin-sketch plan passionately executed will beat a perfect plan poorly executed every single time.

7) Slow hands, fast car

The final, and most difficult lesson to learn for executives and CEOs is to lead with calm, patience, and perseverance. In a race car, it looks impressive to be attacking every corner beyond the limit, sliding the car, hands frantically correcting and sawing at the wheel. Typically, this racer runs out of tires, or talent, and loses their lead to someone smoother. The same goes for business. The model we see on TV reality shows is the frantic, yelling CEO, driving everyone to the brink and leaving a wake of destruction. In real life, it’s a marathon. The toughest lessons for me personally, both on the track and in the boardroom, has been to remember to breathe, to listen, to seek to understand, and to slow down time when everything’s feeling out of control. The best leaders lead with grace and build confidence in their team and are aware of the wake they leave.

I’d love to hear from other club members how racing has informed your business life and how your outlook in business has shaped your racing. And remember, the next time you’re in a business meeting, and someone pulls out a baseball or football analogy, there are seven from the racing world you can counter with. And if you can’t remember any of these, you can always use the classic – as Hemingway (or Ken Purdy, or Barnaby Conrad, depending on who you ask) once said, “There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.”

An Appreciation

TOM KENNA

Hi, my name is Tom, and I like to go fast. Everyone replies, Hi Tom! Okay, maybe it’s not the best analogy but I always feel welcome at track events with the POC.

My first event was Chuckwalla where I met fellow Time Trialers, Robert Chang, Russell Murdock and Calvin Park. We all have disparate cars but share the common desire to drive fast in a great environment, with like-minded people. They’re superhelpful to me regarding tire pressures, how to register with Joe, ensuring that I listen intently to Eben’s instructions and cool down lap pit entry protocol.

Moving on to Big Willow, my next step was meeting and learning from Angela and Mike Avitt.  OMG – Mike’s going into Turn 1 in his GT3 RS was at least 10-20 mph more than my speed and late braking at the 2nd cone!  I feel super fortunate to learn from Angela about other drivers, the Omega, and especially her video of me losing it on the exit of Turn 9 during my out lap and going for a dust bath in the infield!  As I sat there for a full minute until the dust literally settled in every nook and cranny of my car like a Thomas’ English Muffin, I finally crossed over to the hot pit lane, had the stewards check my Pigpen car and give me the ‘go’ sign.  Then, back on the track quickly assessing my mistake and remembering the adage to get back on the bike and ride, I proceeded to run my second fastest overall lap time for the day!

On to Buttonwillow and this CCW 1A configuration which is new to me. I’d only run 13 CW and had a lack of confidence. I met Karen Robinson and we chatted about patience and putting down times in the timed sessions since the early morning track conditions can be a bit slippery and/or dusty. More veteran advice came from Gerrit Wesseling, sans his TT car unfortunately. His urging me, “No, don’t lift there, no lift there either, flat there” guided me to push in the afternoon to a respectable 2:06 in a stock GT3 on 200 treadwear tires. His last beer was awesome as well, thanks, Gerrit! More advice was appreciated from Matt Hately, Spec Boxster driver, about patience and trail braking into Star Mazda. Scott Craig helped me learn about Service Points and registration.

Lastly, what hasn’t been said about the Van Noys?  Watching Bryan’s detailed training video from Full Throttle and gleaning more track tips from his track map notes was immeasurably helpful.  His wife was kind enough to chat with Angela and me at the taco fest on Saturday about just pushing and grabbing for that brass ring regardless of age and the inherent anxiety of new challenges.

Ultimately, I am very fortunate to have my wife Jennifer’s support to do this as well as my teen twin daughters. I’m gearing up to their driving lessons as they turn fifteenand-a-half soon. It’s great to see others share POC events with their families. Always with his daughter, Brad Keegan is super-helpful at Pro Motorsports with teching my car and offering his decades of experience about tracks and car maintenance. I actually look forward to teching my car before each event!

Camaraderie, shared knowledge, determination, and community really are what POC is all about. Thank you all! See you at Big Willow and the Streets this spring!

P.S. - Nathan Apelbaum - someday I’ll get close to your times and that monster Turbo S of yours - gotta keep pushing man!

The Porsche Owners Club

R ecognizes 11:59

as a Valued Sponsor

STEVE TOWN Sponsorship Director

“Hello from Stuttgart.” Wouldn’t all of our collective rear engine (ok, ok, mid engine too) hearts rejoice in saying just that while starting a call or message? Well, my fellow rear engine (ok, ok mid engine too) fanatics, our newest sponsor, 11:59, has a gentleman who is CEO, who happens to race with the club now, and who happens to have grown up in Stuttgart. As you’ll read later, 11:59 CEO Thomas Beyer, had a much closer view of the Porsche world than just growing up in Stuttgart. First though, let me introduce Thomas and 11:59 to many of you, as I continue our series featuring POC’s wonderful sponsors.

Late in 2023, Thomas reached out to the club and inquired about being a sponsor for the POC. It was not an idle inquiry, as 11:59, along with PCNA, are our lead sponsors for 2024. Before anything else is written, on behalf of the POC let me say thank you to you Thomas, your staff, and all of 11:59 for your generous support. Our sponsors are an important part of the club being able to host certain events, and provide club members with a unique experience throughout the year, and 11:59 is one of the major components of that.

In our conversation, Thomas gave me a description of what 11:59 does, since with it’s unusual name, it begs some explanation. He said, “11:59 specializes on GenAI and the services, resources, and technology that enables the delivery and ongoing support of custom GenAI solutions. We focus on solving real-world problems rapidly, while driving positive business outcomes, leveraging GenAI to build custom solutions in considerably less time and at a lower cost than traditional consulting engagements.”

The company was started over 20 years ago and served California State Government clients, with the original office in Sacramento. Thomas said,

“19 months ago I joined to lead a transformation to become a more innovative digital transformation company. I previously served as KPMG’s Global Head of Digital Transformation for Government & Healthcare where I consulted clients around the world on the impact on Applied AI, cognitive computing, web3 and the metaverse.” I asked Thomas more about his background that led to 11:59 and he said, “Prior to that role I was a Partner at Deloitte where I served as the AI Strategic Growth Leader and managed Deloitte’s Analytics & Cognitive practice, leading over 1,000+ practitioners across the U.S. and India.”

The client base for 11:59 stretches across the US, and Thomas said they have recently opened their first international office, in Doha, Quatar. He goes on to say, “the company now has over 300 employees and will do about $50m in revenue. We are a private company targeting building this to $100m over the next 2-3 years.” We certainly wish Thomas, and everyone at 11:59 the best in navigating, for themselves and their clients, the new AI paradigm sweeping the tech industry.

Now, going backwards in time versus the very forward looking tech industry, I asked Thomas about growing up in Stuttgart. He mentioned it early in our conversation and of course I asked jokingly, “ok, so that means you could walk to Zuffenhausen and hang out at Porsche?” Much to my surprise, Thomas’ reply was, “I grew up 2 blocks away from Dr, Ferry Porsche’s house in Stuttgart

and watched Dr. Porsche drive to work every morning while waiting for my bus. Actually, while I didn’t know it then, one of the best brick walls to kick my soccer ball against was a wall of one of the original garages that Porsche built their first cars in Stuttgart.” Ok, now I’m standing up with maybe a goose bump or two. Now that’s the way to grow up! Thomas continues, “I always wanted a 911 but with my 6’6” height I was too tall until the 997 model finally appeared, and I have been driving a 911 ever since. My curiosity as an engineer drove me to find out what these cars were really built to do and so I did started going to the track after moving to the US.” Thomas moved to the US 27 years ago, and found tracks to run in the DC area, Virginia with PCA weekends, and that led to doing Porsche at Barber Motorsports Park a 4 or 5 times as well. When I asked him what kind of car he was interested in and had passion for, his response isn’t surprising. “Growing up in Stuttgart there are only two choices: Porsche or Mercedes Benz. Obviously an easy choice to make. I drove my first 911, a C4S, until my kids couldn’t fit in the back seat and that was my trigger to buy a GT3, a 2014, and I started doing more track events in it.”

If you’ve been on the track very long, you’ll surely have some special memories that stand out. For Thomas, he said, “Laguna Seca with my GT3. Hands down the best track I’ve driven, and it was so special to be there.”

Thomas moved to San Diego in 2016, and about 2 years ago joined the POC. He said, “I felt I need to venture outside of PCA and expose myself to a more competitive racing culture, and I joined the POC and began doing TT’s and worked my way into a racing license in 2023. I met some friends who did PCA and also POC, and they further inspired me to pursue a Boxster Spec race car. I’m now in a new Boxster with a cage to my 6’6” needs.”

One of the most exciting moments you can have on the track is participating in your first race. I don’t think I’ve talked to anyone who doesn’t mention their first race as one of their most memorable on track. I asked Thomas about this. “My first wheel-to-wheel race was with POC in the fall of 2023 at WSIR. What I also found was that I just love the post-race parc ferme atmosphere when everybody gets out of their cars, shakes hands and chats about the race.” Which makes sense in that our BSR post race scene, with over 40 cars recently, is it’s own big impound race community social! It’s an impressive sight indeed. As are the race starts!

I asked Thomas about what keep’s the on track motivation high for him. “It’s where my friends are. It’s where I completely disconnect from work. It’s such a great mixture of engi-

neering, fun, fear and speed. There’s no other sport and no other place than the track where you feel that way.

It was interesting to hear about Thomas’ life before moving to the US. He said, “After growing up in Stuttgart. I got a Master Degree in Chemical Engineering from the Technical University of Berlin, where I studied three years before and the three years after the Wall fell. Pretty good timing for a historic perspective. But, I never raced the East German Trabant though.” Thomas’ living there through that period, which changed the world in meaningful ways, along with his childhood memories of Porsche, was truly fascinating to hear about.

Thomas lives in San Diego, and has three children, Max 24, Megan 22 and Ben 18. The boys love to ride their motocross bikes and have been accompanying me to some track events.”

It’s been a pleasure getting to know more about both Thomas and 11:59. Thank you Thomas for your time and enlightening the club about your life and world outside of the track.

See you at the track!

Steve Town Sponsorship Director

Thanks to all ourfriendsat POC foraterrific year of club racing, friendship,andmemories We look forward toa fun, fastfuture together.

Buttonwillow Racers

Clinic March 2024

What to Expect at the Racers Clinic

RETO EMIL EBERLE

Many children have dreams of becoming a race car driver, whether it be NASCAR, Formula 1 or drifting on a local dirt track. Growing up in Switzerland, watching every F1 race was mandatory in our family. Seeing Niki Lauda, Prost and all the other incredible drivers battling on the track was an amazing experience. I was one of those children who dreamt of being like my heroes behind the wheel. Unfortunately, it was only a dream. It seemed like only the chosen few that started go karting at an early age and had parents that supported their dream were able to get into the sport.

So, 57 years later, my driving coach, Michael Johnson, and my team at Trophy Performance, told me to sign up for the POC Racers Clinic and be on my path to get my Race license. How cool is this! It’s way cool to have the opportunity to earn a license to participate in the Porsche Spec Boxster races. So, it looks like my dream became a reality!

Stop. Not so fast. Before you can get into your Spec Boxster and hit the track you need to spend your weekend in a classroom for some serious training. Your Chief Instructor, Dwain Dement, is a no-bull guy who has lots of knowledge and real race experience that he shares along with helpful examples. The clinic is a combination of classroom and behind-the-wheel driving sessions. The on-track sessions are super fun.

The Clinic covers rules and regulations, flags, and starts, etc. which are very important to know. I had hoped that the Clinic would also teach about the technique of driving. So, don’t confuse it with a driving school. It is a place to get your Race license after successfully completing two weekends that are six months apart.

During the two days you will have several track sessions to learn side-by-side driving, rolling starts and some wheel-to-wheel racing. These races are somewhat competitive and some of the students take it more seriously than others. After each track session you gather back in the classroom, and you can see who the doers are and who are the complainers. Sometimes things don’t go as smooth on the track as we

wish. Everyone is still learning, and since when is car racing always smooth?

Now, the best is still to come - the final Race on Sunday afternoon. This is a simulation of how a real race should feel but there are no winners or losers. It’s just a part of getting the first half-dot for your Race license. Drive as safe and as well as you can. Apply what you learned during the weekend and don’t forget to have fun.

I am happy that I participated at the POC Racers Clinic and for sure I learned new things. Thanks to the POC, my dream to become a car racer driver is closer to being realized and I can’t wait to be on the grid at one of the POC Spec Boxster races.

Rapid Fire ROUSH

ANDREW WEYMAN

I talked with Kevin Roush for more than an hour and peppered him with questions. He answered me with rapid fire responses and excitement in his voice. Smiling, intense, focused, and enthusiastic, Kevin is the real deal. He’s a superfast driver, skilled mechanic, outstanding coach, and an allaround great guy. This is Part One of my interview. Part Two will appear in our next issue.

AW: I know a little about your racing history. Can you fill me in?

KR: I was a Motocross kid as far back as I can remember. I got my first motorcycle when I was in 5th grade. I’m sure I begged for one at least two years prior. Going fast and scaring myself with the roar of an engine, having to work on my motorcycle myself, it was no wonder I ended up somewhat of a gearhead. My first 911 was a ‘74 Carrera. I was restoring it and fixing it up to sell while in college when I took it to Riverside Raceway with the POC in the mid 80’s. I thought, to be able to bring a helmet, secure loose stuff in the car and boot, and go haul ass as fast as you dare on a world class track, with free instruction? I was hooked. After college it was decided, after a couple slalom events with street cars in parking lots, to build a real racecar like a couple of buddies owned. They were POC members Scott Sanford and Randy Beck. I did about a dozen big track POC events in the ‘90s and was active with POC when we first did our original “Gridded practice.” Insurance would not allow racing at Phoenix Raceway under the stewardship of then POC President, Dave Bouzaglou. PCA Club Racing started around that time also and I raced a buddy’s 930 Turbo racecar in the 2nd event they ever had. I believe it was in

Las Vegas. Thereafter, I mainly ran POC races in the west and often supported customers whose cars we built and/or took care of. This meant helping set the cars up, so I’d get a fair bit of seat time in quite a range of different cars. In the early-mid 2000’s, there was great competition in the V3 class in POC. We built a dedicated car for the class. I have great memories of racing with all those guys, and it really improved my skills racing in that group. I got started in the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge when the series came to the U.S. in 2005, with a new 996 Cup driving for Wheel Enhancement. I did three of the five races and finished second in the championship which gave us an invite to The Annual Porsche Motorsport Banquet shindig at Wiessach, “The Night of Champions.” I was on the pole all three events. I had only driven a 996 Cup once up to that point. I was lucky in that we went to Portland for a day or two of testing in the Cup with AASCO and Dennis Aase as team leader. We Joined Gary Bender, Joe Kunz, Warren Chang and others, mostly long-time POC members, who had experience racing Cup cars. That’s where I met my first coach. The group hired Pat Long, for the first time. I ended up being on the pole for the first race. Unfortunately, someone in front of me mis-shifted, shoved it into second instead of fourth entering the back straight and I hit him destroying my front radiator, so I was done in lap two. That obviously was really disappointing but also encouraging. We repaired and prepped the car at my shop, and went to Road America for the next event solo, against many four and five car teams. After that, we went to Laguna Seca for the final event of that year and I won both

races from pole. The next year, 2006, I partnered up with Wheel Enhancement again in the new 997 GT3 Cup. What a huge leap in performance! We raced in all seven events. It was great getting to hit iconic tracks I’d always wanted to visit; Sebring, Mid-Ohio, Miller, Mosport… I think I finished second or third in the championship. I won more races than any other driver or team.

I think I won three of seven, with two podiums out of the seven races. I never finished off the podium, with 40 cars and more in the races.

AW: And then you moved on to Grand Am, correct?

KR: Yes. The last compliment I ever wanted to hear from the ALMS President at the time was “Your skills are a good fit for the next level.” The problem is that next level costs five to ten times that of a GT3 Cup program. As luck would have it, in 2007, Kevin O’Connell wanted to get into endurance racing in a Porsche GT3 Cup. He was also from SoCal and bought a well-developed 996 GT3 Cup from Flying Lizard. It was a solid car, and I was invited to join for The Rolex 24.

Their team was mostly stock car experienced. Lonnie Pechnik was slated to be a co-driver. With encouragement from Flying Lizard drivers, John at Wheel Enhancement and I offered to bring a couple of our team guys, Kerri Caldwell and Steve Parker, to help support the car. We didn’t really know what team and situation we were walking in to. With everyone literally thrown together, each performed and worked well. Amazingly, our pick-up team worked like clockwork, and we finished top ten out of 40 something GT cars in the previous Gen 996. I recall we did the Sunchaser 1000Km at Miller Motorsports Park later that year in a 997 Cup that O’Connell Racing had obtained from Tafel Racing, one of the larger Porsche teams racing in The Series. The next season, in 2008, we prepared that car at our shop, GAS Motorsport, for The Rolex 24. We did The Roar testing, came back and rebuilt the car for the race.

I’ve done Daytona about seven times so some details are kind of a blur, but I remember in 2008 we had Matt Plumb join us along

with Chris Wilson (another POC’r), and Kevin O’Connell. I qualified the car about 16-17th-ish out of 45 GT cars, right behind a few factory Porsche guys and we had the older gen engine, lacking the latest generation intake manifold and cams that came on the World Challenge cars. Daytona is all about power and even more so, top speed. We were a little down on topend speed, but the car handled like a dream on the infield twisty-bits. The tow is so great on the straights, if you could stay close to the car in front of you, the draft could almost lift the wiper off your windshield when you’re going 170 mph. That’s how big the vacuum is. We ended up having some issues, but it was a mostly dry race. There were some large potholes entering and exiting the Bus Stop and a Prototype had gone off in front of me covering the entire surface with grass and mud, no yellow, about ten o’clock at night. I cocked the wheel at 90 degrees and went straight across the grass. Boom! I hit one of the holes and popped the radiator, ripped the splitter off

and I went straight into the pits. We changed the radiator and the front splitter in about 45 minutes, went back out, and battled on. Then somebody had a muffler come off their car and it nearly went through our windshield. Ahh, I remember now, that at the start of the race, it goes green, and we take off, I get to Turn 1, someone lost it at the start and comes spinning across the infield tearing through the Dayona giant stencil carefully made into the grass. He spun through the exit of the hot pit and drilled me in the door at about 50 mph! After the hit, I think, hey man, the car feels okay, the steering wheel’s straight, no bad vibrations, no suspension damage… We just carry on. The whole door, quarter, and rocker is smashed in, but we’re like, well, let’s just keep going. There’s planning and strategizing and looking at the car from the infield. Trying to get pictures to determine how bad it is and, in the meantime, we just keep going along. Probably didn’t even lose more than a lap. We do the first three driver changes through the passenger door over that tall sequential shifter because we can’t open the driver’s door. We got our lap back and we were almost back to the top 10-15. It was time for another driver change. Kevin O’Connell is a big guy. Not all spindly like the rest of us. Luckily, the Farnbacher/Loles guys had a brand-new Cup car in their trailer. Porsche Motorsport had a new door, without a window or the hardware. We took the hardware off the one door and put it on the other. I don’t recall why we just didn’t take the whole door. We changed the door & kept going, catching back up until about six in the morning when the tower told us if we returned to the garages for anything (Chris had

just damaged another radiator in the Bus Stop) we had to change the windshield out since it was damaged after the muffler had tried to come through it on the back straight. At this point, disappointed and beat, the team retired the car. I had been asleep. If I had been awake, I would have tried to find a windshield, glued in or not, and kept going. All that work, months of preparation, all the resources we put into the car… Just finishing is an accomplishment many don’t get to experience. Plus, when the sun comes up it is amazingly uplifting. It’s the only Rolex 24 race I didn’t finish except when Bernhiem’s car had the engine go kaput in 2005.

AW: So, you started with one car and practically built another during the race.

KR: Yeah. It was the year there were stacks of radiators and splitters in the paddock. This was before they had changed the curbs in the Bus Stop and if you went two-wide, or dropped a wheel, you’d tear off something.

AW: You also did the Rolex 24 other times?

KR: Yes, the first time in 2005. With Steve Bernheim, another POC member. VISION ran his car in POC and I’d been coaching him for a while. Dwain Dement did some Grand AM Cup racing with Steve also, and their team developed well through this. It was the first time I got to do the Rolex 24, and the engine expired, which was a bummer. We didn’t get to finish the thing. It was the three of us, Dwain, Steve, and me. We needed another guy. I was buddies with Anders Hainer (another well-known POC member) and had helped him run a 911 and a 996 Cup. I also assisted him with bringing the Cup over from

Germany. I knew he was a good shoe, and fun guy to hang with, thought he could come in and bring a few of his partners from his business. I was also friends with Jack Lewis from back east. He had done a bit of pro racing back in the day. He probably did Daytona six or seven times at that point. We all thought he’d be good to have onboard. He knows the program, the cars, the event… Jack became our fifth driver. He started the race. It was a fun experience. Unfortunately, we had issues with new wheels not fitting straight away and breaking wheel studs. We were pretty far back from the outset. It took a good hour-or-so in the pits to figure out the issue. I got to drive for a while, still stoked to even be part of this awesome event. Ultimately the engine went kaput mid-race after having been back-holed huge in the practice when Steve went 5th to 3rd on the banking, at roughly 11,000 RPM. There was a group of V8 Supercar drivers there in the next pit. I had watched them race a bunch of times on TV. They were in the pit right next to us. Not to mention that at every Rolex 24, there are many Indycar drivers, most top sportscar regulars, Paul Newman… I was like, wow, epic. This is the big time.

year was Watkins Glen in the Sahleen’s 6-hour. We had one of our best results finishing 5th. We were the top Porsche. I recall it was 91 degrees (which broke a 50-year-old record) and 90 percent humidity. I almost passed out in the first stint with the pre-grid festivities, flyovers, National Anthem… I was out of water before the race even started, baking in the heat.

AW: And the next year?

KR: It was 2009. I joined Farnbacher/Loles. That was with a brand-new car (997 Cup S) and a top team. That was bitchin’. We finished in the top five. We led 19-ish of the 24 hours. Dominick Farnbacher was one of my teammates and he

We raced much of the next season (2008) with Grand Am. We prepared the car on the west coast. It was an endeavor because all the races were on the other side of the Mississippi. We raced in Mexico City, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal (a killer setting on the St. Lawrence Seaway). Another iconic track we raced that

was super-fast. I think he qualified top five or six which was disappointing to him because we were the fastest car in Roar testing. Back then, The Series ran on really hard Pirelli tires, the hardest tires they made. The cars had a pretty unique set-ups on them using soft springs and really stiff swaybars. We tuned using the bump

stops… That race, I led 106 laps in the GT field, Dominick led 107. We led the most laps of any drivers in GP or GT. About 19 hours in, I broke an axle transitioning back onto the banking while leading. That was heartbreaking. I stopped on the track, it became full-course yellow. We got drug in on the strap. We changed the axel, went back out, and managed to get back into the top five. My buddy Pat Long, Bergmiester, Marks, Lally and The Racer’s Group won the race. When we broke there were only two or three GT cars on the lead lap. I think that was Pat’s only win there. Think about how many shots a factory Porsche guy has in the best equipment, team, programs, everything… 18-20 races and only one win. That’s how very difficult it is. We did pretty well considering we took half-an-hour to 45 minutes changing an axel. But no watch for Kevin!

AW: Any other Daytona races?

KR: Paul Miller invited me to join them, teaming me with Bryce Miller. We had raced each other in GT3 Cup Challenge for several races in 2009 and 2010 as they had just started their own team. We led a little on our debut at The

Glen short course in the Crown Royal 250, sharing the event with the NASCAR Nationwide Series. That was a packed event, and we were surprisingly competitive. We showed great pace. That is until a DP with Max the Ax ended up punting Bryce into the wall really damaging the car, stealing a respectable debut. The team was still encouraged and later we raced The Miller 1000Km event. We finished 5th or 6th. At the Homestead GP we were 5th with a few laps to go on a restart, and someone spun a DP right in front of Bryce who was the only GT car on new tires looking great. We T-boned that DP and that ended a great finish. Heck, there may have been other events. Hmmm. Oh yeah, then, in 2010, The Rolex 24 again. We had a really stout effort at Paul Miller Racing, drivers, crew, engineering staff… all with top guys. I met great techs I worked with later (Tim Olsen) and an engineer, Allessandro Ferrari (from Italy appropriately enough). Alessandro really helped me learn more about how to use the Motec data. At this point I didn’t have formal Motec Dealer training under my belt but this gave me the desire to really learn more. Noteworthy recollections are snow at The Roar test. Yes, snow in Florida. It was brutal cold weather during the race. A solid team effort with loads of work and absolutely nothing paying off. Rain at the start, a blown gearbox in the middle of the night, car getting hit a few times… Bryce got knocked out of the race about 8 AM after soldiering on all night through the many issues. He was hit by a DP coming through the pit exit wall on cold tires and hit him at the apex of Turn 1. I was thinking when are the locust coming? Another year 2011, Steve Parker, Kerry and I worked

with some NASCAR focused guys at Rick Ware Racing. They were running the O’Connell car they’d purchased. We went out to Buttonwillow to test the car we prepared for a couple of December days. With five drivers, only one had ever raced a Porsche. But they were all very solid. Noteworthy were Jeffrey Earnhart who had done a lot of stock car racing, and Doug Harrington who had run Trans AM. Experienced guys. My role for The Fuel Doctor car was driver coach, crew chief, test driver, and to prepare the car at the shop. I think I swept floors too!

The car was without a paddle shift. The manual sequential meant you had to have a mind to preserve the gearbox. That thing was a bit frail. We ended up breaking 5th gear and main shaft during practice at The Rolex 24. In the race, it broke 2nd gear about three or four hours in. Instead of braking, then pausing letting the brakes do their job, then downshifting, they’d brake and instantly down shift at 170 mph plus into T1. They twisted the end of the main shaft nearly off. We had a spare gearbox for the race ready to go but did the math and figured we’d never get the roughly two hours back even if we were two to three seconds faster per lap. To their credit, the drivers just kept their heads down The NASCAR guys did the tire changes like clockwork, Kerry and Parker kept the rig humming. The drivers did not mix it up with every GT car that came near them since we now had to do the second gear infield turns in 3rd versus 2nd. This was a blessing since they stayed out of trouble for the next 20 hours. I’d have to coach them on the radio to skip 2nd gear both up and down for pit stops and exits using the clutch to avoid 2nd gear

entirely. This year had a crazy three-to-four-hour yellow flag episode at sunrise in the fog, since we couldn’t see the flag stations one to the other. Crews were asleep all over in the hot pits. All the drivers could have fallen asleep with twohour stints at full course yellow pace! Ultimately, we finished 11th out of 45 GT cars. We nearly had a top ten had the alternator not seized up with two hours to go (losing 25-30 minutes). The RWR Team was very happy. One driver made us a cool trophy as a thank you and we actually got a tip! Not to bore you too much with that crazy event, but I also competed in The Rolex 24 in 2011 and 2012 with Bullet Racing, the Canadian Team, and Muehlner Motorsport from Belgium. I met loads of great drivers and team members. Both cars finished respectably in 20th and 19th forward of the middle of the GT fields. Mathew Marsh, my 2009 teammate said it best. “After a 24-Hour race event, life feels like slow motion.”

Tru Dat!

End of Part One

Part Two will be published in the April issue of Velocity

MSF Instructor Certification Program

The POC is partnering with the Motorsports Safety Foundation to provide standardized instructor training and certification for POC driving instructors. This course is becoming the standard with many performance driving clubs. For more information about the course, click on the following link:

https://www.motorsport-safety.org/about

The course is currently delivered in two levels. The format for Level 1 certification is a self-paced online course that includes video and text content. Ross Bentley is very involved in the MSF training and delivers the content for the course’s videos. There is a quiz at the end of every module and a test at the end of the course that must be passed for successfully completing the course. The Level 1 course only takes about four hours to complete.

Level 2 training, which is done at the track, includes candidates performing in-car instruction of MSF instructors acting as students. We are planning for a Level 2 training on June 15th at Streets of Willow. Upon completion of Level 2 you will be a certified MSF instructor.

The cost for registering for Level 1 is $50. POC will give 50 service points and $50 in POC Bucks for completing Level 1, so there is no cost to participate.

If you have any questions or are interested in participating in the launch of this new POC instructor certification program, please contact Jim Salzer at:

PDS@PorscheClub.com

Jim Salzer

Survey Says...

I had a thought. I would conduct the most unscientifically designed, seemingly useless, and silly POC survey of all time. Who knows? It might inadvertently reveal some useful data, demographic trends, and personality characteristics of our drivers. The response rate was, uh, how do I say this? A bit disappointing but overall, okay. 75 survey questionnaires were distributed at Buttonwillow. Of those 75 possible participants, 21 returned their survey. Responses are not listed in any particular order. Some respondents answered all the questions. Some answered only a few. Some answered the same question more than once. That’s not stopping me. I’ll do my best to extrapolate some meaningful data. Wish me luck.

Q: My favorite track is:

A: Podium Club 1

Laguna Seca 3

Sonoma 6 Charleston Peak 1

Willow Springs 1

Buttonwillow 3

Chuckwalla 3

Spring Mountain Mansell C 3.4 Mile 1

Buttonwillow (CW only) 1

Utah Motorsports Campus 1

All configurations at Spring Mountain 1

Q: My archrival is:

A: Myself 2

None (yet) 1

Don Kravig 1

Whoever is behind me 1

Max Verstappen 1

Mike Avitt (more of an inspiration) 1

Andy Weyman 1

My ex-wife 1

Gerrit Wesserling 1

My husband (Mike Avitt) 1

Nigel Maidment 1

Nathan Apelbaum 1

Anyone in GT3 1

Q: My favorite type of turn is:

A:

a) Increasing radius 3

b) Decreasing radius 0

c) Sweeper 4

d) Hairpin 2

e) Esses 5

f) Other – Night Hawk at Charleston Peak 1

Corkscrew at Laguna 1

Anything I can get around safely 1

Q: One of the most exciting experiences

A:

I’ve had on track was:

• I finished in fifth place.

• Sonoma Masters Historics.

• Driving Nurburgring.

• Driving my first Tribute to Le Mans endurance race with Jim Steedman and Erin Vogel. We took 3rd in Unlimited. It was awesome!

• Improving lap times and endurance racing.

• Learning Chuckwalla CCW. It was my first time at a POC event and a new up/down track in the desert was a challenge. It was great fun meeting new people, especially Angela Avitt.

• First time on fresh, new, sticker Hoosiers.

• Going through various levels of adversity, mostly self-induced, and finishing the weekend race cleanly.

• 2010 Club Speedway Tribute to Le Mans.

• Left rear tire blowout at Spring Mountain going into T3. I did two 360s and stopped on track with cars coming at me.

• Utah Motorsports Campus – great track.

• Blowing a tire in T2 at Willow.

• My first race.

• Starting on pole at Auto Club Speedway.

• Racing with Don Kravig within millimeters of each other. What a rush!

Q: The track with the best food:

A: Sonoma 3

I always bring my own. Spring Mountain dinner is okay. 1

Spring Mountain 3

Willow Springs 4

N/A 2

Chuckwalla 1

N/A. I bring my own. 4

Willow Springs or Spring Mountain 1

Q: My daily driver is a:

A: Dodge Ram 1500

992 Cayenne

Jeep Grand Cherokee 4x4 Trailhawk

997 GT3

Ford Bronco Raptor BMW X5

Ford Raptor Macan S

Tesla Model Y

996 GT3

2019 Mercedes Benz E63 AMG Mercedes Benz

Ford F250

2019 GT3RS

Tesla Model 3 Performance Boxster S

2014 Cayenne Diesel Mercedes GLE450

Q: I exaggerate how well I drove at an event:

A:

a) Always 1

b) Sometimes 8

c) Never 10

d) Write-in: Always better than Anders 1

Q: Did your name your car? If so, what’s its name?

A: Bob. Everyone knows that! 1 Bruno. 1

N/A 16

Q: How often do you launder your driving suit?

A: After ever y event. 8

Ever y event. My wife demands it. 1

Ever y other event. 2

What suit? I drive naked. 1

Launder? I thought your sponsor gives you a new one ever y event. 1

When it looks dirty 1

Dr y clean only. 2

After every track event! Yuck!!! Eww!!! Gross!!! 1

Q: The track with the best restrooms:

A: Spring Mountain 9

Spring Mountain. Hands down. 1

N/A – I bring my own motorhome. 1

Willow Springs 1

Spring Mountain, I always bring my motorhome. 1

Chuckwalla 1

Q: The stupidest thing I’ve ever done on the track was:

A:

• In Time Trial, I followed a car too closely. He spun and hit me.

• Not securing my cool suit box. It rolled around on my out lap.

• At Spring Mountain, three cars went off. I thought the session was over. It was not. I slowed and an overtaking car skillfully avoided hitting me.

• I spun out of T9 at Willow.

• I was involved in pinball incidents.

• I got stuck in the tunnel at Spring Mountain.

• I drove in the snow at Willow.

• I went on-track with the wrong run group.

• Getting to the grid without enough gas for the race.

• Going through the wall outside of T9 at Willow.

• Arriving at Buttonwillow from San Diego and realizing I left my trailer keys at home.

• Too many things to recount.

• Having to get off the track mid-race so that I could pee.

• So many things… How about any time I made contact with another car

Q: Negative camber or positive camber?

A: Negative 9

Positive 4

What does that mean again? 1

Analysis of the survey results: I know nothing about conducting surveys and therefore cannot conclude anything meaningful from this exercise except that it was fun. Thanks to all who participated!

New Taycan... Porsche News

March 13, 2024

The covers came off the new Porsche Taycan simultaneously in Leipzig, Atlanta and Shanghai, celebrated by record-breaking laps of the Taycan Turbo GT at the Nürburgring and Laguna Seca.

The New Porsche Taycan

Taking on the curves of California’s legendary Laguna Seca Raceway, the Taycan Turbo GT with the Weissach package just made history. With a blistering lap time of 1 min 27.87 seconds, Porsche development driver Lars Kern set the record for the quickest lap ever by a road-approved electric car.

unveiled on three continents

In an echo of the original unveiling of the Porsche Taycan back in 2019, Porsche showed the Porsche Taycan Turbo GT for the first time with simultaneous events at the Porsche Experience Centers in Leipzig, Germany, Atlanta, in the US, and in Shanghai, China.

The most powerful production Porsche ever was shown to audiences of media and other VIPs on three continents at exactly 14:00 CET on Monday.

The Porsche Taycan Turbo GT followed up its lap record on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife with another record-breaking run on the Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca in California.

Now you can order your favorite POC garments and other specialty items “Online” simply by clicking on any one of the above photos!

“Master Tech Tyson Schmidt with Over 25 Years of Porsche Experience”

SIMRACING 2024 Results

Jan 8 Willow Springs

Jan 22 Daytona

Feb 5 Silverstone

Feb 19 Mt Panorama

Mar 4 Motegi

Mar 18 Sebring

April 1 Suzuka

April 15 Canadian Tire

April 29 Long Beach

May 13 Philip Island

June 3 Montreal

June 17 Watkins Glen

July 1 RedBull Ring

1st Andrew Chinnici 4th AJ Roper

2nd Sagar Dhawan 5th Michael Oest

3rd Tom Layton 6th Mark Rondeau

1st Chris Walsh 4th BJ Fulton

2nd Sagar Dhawan 5th Alex Filsinger

3rd Travis Brown 6th Michael Bolten

1st Sagar Dhawan 4th BJ Fulton

2nd AJ Roper 5th Travis S Brown

3rd Jad Duncan 6th Mark Rondeau

1st Sagar Dhawan 4th Michael Bolten

2nd Chris Walsh 5th AJ Roper

3rd Jad Duncan 6th Travis S Brown

1st AJ Roper 4th Mark Rondeau

2nd Dylan Scott 5th Ian Roche2

3rd Michael Bolten 6th Dustin Heindl

1st Chris Walsh 4th Ezra Kelderman

2nd AJ Roper 5th BJ Fulton

3rd Dylan Scott 6th Jacob Abrams

Motegi

Sebring

April 2024

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April 12-14

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If you missed it, don’t miss it again! A hop, skip and a jump over to Arizona!

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TRIBUTE

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May 25-26

Our 30th Tribute this year should be a hoot. Start getting your teams together to participate in this time-honored tradition. Hope to see all of you there!e!

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