29 Aug Gibbs Carries VW Banner into NMCA Pomona
Hi Mike,
Hot is all I can say; Hot! With temps hovering around 100, high humidity (constantly sweating) and track temps above 140, it was really miserable. However, it was worth the opportunity to race on the Pomona strip again. I was entered in the Nostalgia Street Car (NSC) Indexes and elected to turn the boost down to fit in the 10.50 ET target.
During qualifying on Saturday there was a fiery crash that ruined the track surface near the 1/4-mile finish line. NMCA and track staff agreed to revise the racing to 1/8-mile instead of postponing the event. This threw the index classes (NSC & OC) into big bracket dial-in classes.
Saturday evening they ran round 1 of the NSC cars and I won my pass with good reaction time and a 6.86 ET on a 6.80 dail-in. By the way I was the only VW in the NSC class amongst a sea of about 80 classic Detroit irons.
On Sunday in round 2 eliminations I lost focus staging when my competitor jumped in first lighting both bulbs. I assumed the starter would step forward and disqualify him but nothing happened. As I resumed staging using my 2-step to load the engine, I slipped the clutch and drove through my brakes breaking the beams before the ambers lit = red light!!! Checking the fine print of the rules later I learned they only encourage courtesy staging. Another lesson learned = worry about yourself when staging.
On the brighter side Moto-IQ magazine did a photo shoot and interview on my car which should appear somewhere in their website or magazine soon. And, did I mention it was hot?
Regards,
Craig Gibbs
