AI/X WEST 2nd Round, Thunderhill
By: Bruce Griggs
The Griggs Racing Team arrived at T/Hill and set up camp on Friday with a newcomer to the ranks, Keith Videtto.
Keith is driving a third hand GR40 car that was built 8 years ago as a street open track car. Keith brought his car to us and joined the team about 10 days prior to the event, so many things didn't get done in preparation for the season, such as building a reliable and competitive engine, and unfortunately his existing engine split the block during Saturday's race. He should have a new GR40 331 to do battle with come the next event. Also, during the course of this season we will be updating and improving the car to full GR40 AI specifications, so watch for Keith to be improving as the season continues.
The venerable #40 AIX car did not avail itself to it normal success this weekend. This past February, it was brought out of the barn to let AIX East Champion, Dan Schlickenmeyer drive it in and HPDE event here at Infineon. Unfortunately during preparation for that event a needle and seat failed resulting in a hydro-lock of the engine. Unaware of this problem, it hit pretty hard when we tried to start it. Pulling the plugs, the fuel ran out of every cylinder in great volume. A leak down check indicated everything was ok, we fired it and ran it and it ran well both that day and at Fontana, until the early part of Sunday's race when it spit some water out the overflow. After the race we again leaked it down, and ran a high-pressure leakage test, as well as a litmus test for CO in the coolant. Everything was negative. But during qualifying on Saturday, we blew a head gasket. This put us out of Saturday's race.
 Ernesto Roco with John Griggs |
The CMC field runs the same group as AI/X. With standing starts the logic was to put grid the CMC cars behind the AI/X field for the start. But on Sunday the fields were reversed; standing start with the more powerful AI/X field starting about 100 yards behind simultaneously. This made for an incredible show.
I started third overall in the #40 GR40 AIX Mustang, having repaired the head gasket, but I also had blown qualifying. I don't have a lot of race experience at T/Hill, so I decided to follow Guy around and learn a few things from him. By the time I decided to go for it, I didn't have a clear track. But the start of the race was exciting both to do, and apparently to watch. I started behind Tim Nichols who set a commendable pace to earn the pole, and Vageli was to his right, Guy to my right. I managed to get by Tim entering turn one, and found myself already closing on the CMC cars which were for the most part still double filing into turn two. The last two cars left me just enough room to get in-between, and Vageli stuck his nose to my rear bumper and we parted the cars like water against the prow of a speed boat. Down the center we went, winding through the highly competitive CMC field like a video game. It is a credit to the caliber of the CMC drivers that no problems resulted during the three-wide foray around the track.
By the second lap we had passed the entire CMC field, and I proceeded to do my usual "win at the slowest possible speed" when I started to pickup a push, later to discovered I had failed to raise the Watts Link to the correct hole for Thunder hill. Tim slowly caught up and I thought the three of us would cruise to the end and then have a race, but…
Tim ran out of gas on the fifth lap. Embarrassing for him, with my serious push he may have gotten me had he remembered to gas it.
Then Vageli started pushing me hard in the turns, but I would get away from him on the straights. Being in a different class I wouldn't have raced him, I might even have let him go, except for the fact that he really was making every attempt to get past me in the corners, trying to race me, and, well I just couldn't let that happen.
Meanwhile, Kevin Chambers and Guy were tangled up in traffic, and after finally getting through, battled for a while until Guy got past in turn three. He then had a clear track for some time and he pedaled his GR42 car quite well, averaging the fastest laps of the event, and caught us on the next to the last lap. Kevin eventually finished third fighting a push similar to mine. Kevin is serous about winning, his time will come, he has the talent, and the fortitude. He just needs to learn the details.
Now, Vageli and Guy race each other hard, and I just had to see this, so I went wide into Turn 14 and waved them by so I could watch them race for the AI win from behind. Guy ran Vageli really hard, and I backed off a little so I wouldn't run into them should they get too carried away. It was something to watch. It is too bad T/Hill doesn't have spectator availability to the entire track. This was as good a show as any I have ever seen. Lots of tire smoke, and guy finally got Vageli on the inside of Turn 9, but Vageli made a daring attempt to retake the lead on the inside of Turn 10, hitting the berms hard, which put his nose into the left rear wheel of Guy's car taking him out. I arrived in the corner as Guy went spinning in the dirt, and Vageli went on to win.
#42 recovered, and finished second in AI. Guy called it a racing accident so there will be no consequence to the contact, (other than losing) and I managed to win AIX, with Bill Dafron finishing second. Bill managed to get the carburetor woes that have plagued him in the corners figured out. He turned a respectable low 2:01 in qualifying, managing to get through all the traffic without any problems, and hung in there. Considering this is his first full season of road racing and his first time at Thunderhill, the former sailboat regatta champion performed astoundingly well.
A special and very big thanks to the Southern California contingent that did come up to support the series, Tim Nichols, Ernesto Roco, Bill Dafron and Christine Knight (whose presence is always enjoyable). Christine arrived solo as her husband and crew was off at OTC. This shows Christine is a real dedicated racer, and maybe we should take her seriously. She gets all she can out of her mostly stock GEN 4 Camaro. Maybe I should try her out in the #42 car? Watch out Guy…
The crowd's comments after the race were quite incredible. One made the comment "You guys should get paid big bucks for that show!" I can't wait to see a National AI race. With a large field of the best in the country, it will be something to see.