D3 2007 Worlds at Buena Park Raceway
Report by Mike Boemker

Far from being a pressure-filled true World Championship, the May 26-27, 2007, event was a fun race between friends. Next year with more lead time an actual World Championship will be given a real chance to happen. Heck, we have to figure out if those East Coast and Texas guys can actually drive.

Special thanks goes to Doug Matthes for providing excellent munchies for the racers and Chris and Lenore for extending their hospitality.

TSR

A small turnout saw only five racers line up for the 1/24 TSRF race. Philippe's absence was felt here because he would usually fill the rest of the field with loaners. It didn't stop Paul Sterrett from edging out a well-driven six lap lead over Keith Tanaka, our D3 photographer. Yoshi won his dice with Roger by three laps.

Paul Sterrett 200 laps
Keith Tanaka 194
Yoshi 171
Roger Uusitalo 168
John Javier 145

Short notice and PdL not being here was a factor because only five racers lined up for the 1/32 LMP TSRF race. Paul Sterrett eked out a win over Mike Chavez, with both averaging 32.9 laps per heat. Chavez and Sterrett put on a show!.

Paul Sterrett 32.9 lap average
Mike Chavez 32.9 average
Roger Uusitalo 29.6 average
Ray 25.9 average (sorry, no last name on the form)
Keith Tanaka 25.2 average

Mike had fast time with a 4.98 to Paul's 5.04 and Roger's 5.05. Look out for Roger next race.

D3 NASCAR

This class was one of those I had no enthusiasm for when it was proposed. While I was a big fan of Gurney and Riverside the current NASCAR racing holds little interest for me. I admit to noticing the D3 NASCAR races seemed to feature a lot of laughing from the racers. Now I know why. The cars are a hoot to drive. Way faster than they have any right to be and extremely forgiving.
Paul would take another win with a very well-prepared Purple People Eater Mercury. Paul took full advantage of lowering this car to the legal limit and it netted him a fast 4.12. The Easterly-built, Boemker Ballistic Banana Charger took second and managed to turn a 4.28 lap time. Terry, Easterly's protégé took 3rd and Jeff Easterly was just edged out by Keith for 4th; they were both on the same lap. Gibson was the caboose but he turned a fast 4.507 and managed a snap roll back into his own lane. I forgot my Olympic degree of difficulty scoring cards for that one, too bad.
Several racers were vowing to be there for the next NASCAR race. Look out for Foamy and Mike Brannian in the next race.

Paul Sterrett 314 laps 4.12 secs
Mike Boemker 305 4.28
Terry De Los Santos 298 4.39
Keith Tanaka 282 4.50
Jeff Easterly 282 4.60
Gibson 216 4.50

Can-Am

Can-Am on the Kingleman turned into a challenging day for me and the Foamster. Testing on the track Thursday and Friday looked promising and Saturday morning the cars looked highly competitive. OOPS, the power supply is dead. Hook up another one. This was quickly done and my car and Foamy's turned into slime buckets. Traction was at a premium. With Lenore starting qualifying we ran out of time to solve our problems. Other people seemed to have no problem at all and qualifying quickly sorted the racers out to A, B, and C mains.

Can-Am C Main

Mike Chavez driving the second chassis he ever made, with a very nicely self-painted body, drove to a two lap win over Ken Dylke. Ken likes his cars a little different and seems to have more fun at the track than most! Craig Williamson earned the last spot on the podium.

Mike Chavez 322 laps 4.16 secs
Ken Dylke 320 4.06
Craig Williamson 316 4.00
Roger Uusitalo 309 4.058
Albert Cruz 303 4.057
Ray Gonzales 254 4.39
Brian Kanamoto 192 4.49

Can-Am B Main

We can just forget this one, right? Just another boring B race. Terry and I were tied for the lead in the first heat and then I managed to lead until the 7th heat, just keeping ahead of Jeff Easterly who was driving one of his better races. When the race started on black my car had a four lap lead but acted like the motor was gone. It went to slightly above half speed. I dialed out brakes, adjusted out the sensitivity, and circulated slowly. After about a minute or less we had a track call and when the power went back on the horsepower was back and my car fell off. Note to self: stop to adjust your controller, don't try to do it while driving on the Kingleman. At the end of seven heats Jeff Easterly had pulled out a two lap lead. Foamy and I were tied 2two laps back with Allen Low three laps behind the leaders. Mike Steube informed me that I was going through his corner on two wheels and not lifting but in the end, after about five minutes of discussion, Jeff Easterly was given the win in a photo finish. Steube told me it was a fun race to watch. It certainly was a fun race for Jeff and I. Allen Low was hampered by a slightly-slow motor in a good-handling chassis while Steve Walker had a killer motor but had one of those days, as did Terry. Keith fell victim to mechanical woes in the first heat which spoiled his race as his car was competitive.

Jeff Easterly 331 laps 4.007 secs
Mike Boemker 331 3.949
Dennis "Foamy" Hill 329 4.0075
Allen Low 327 4.0077
Terry De Los Santos 320 3.948
Steve Walker 309 3.679???
Keith Tanaka 15 4.066

Can-Am A Main

This was an interesting race for a variety of reasons. Mike Kravitz and Bryan Warmack, the eventual winner, gave strong performances throughout the entire race resulting in a very tight win. Mike Brannian became a real factor in the race when he finally got a competitive car to drive. I figured it was time to hand him something that wouldn't end up in the C main. The Mike, Mike, and Mike show got underway with Steube leading Brannian by two laps at the end of the first heat. Steube was turning 3.7s while the rest of the field turned 3.8s and above. Yoshi, showing the driving we knew he was capable of, was in 3rd at the end of the first heat. The second heat saw Mike Kravitz join the other two Mikes for third. Yoshi began a series of problems caused by lead wire issues and fell to last place. The rest of the field was closely clustered behind.

Third heat action saw Brannian lose a couple laps on red and Steube ran a mere mortal 42 laps on black. Bryan Warmack unleashed a 47 lap heat which Steube would match in a later heat. Kravitz answered with a 46. Kyle had been going fast in the first two heats and then contact with the wall bent his chassis, slowing him. Kyle's Dad, Doug had a credible 44 lap heat and was holding down 6th.

Fourth Heat
Paul Sterrett had been holding down a mid-pack position and moved up one place to fifth, or was it? Actually Kravitz, Brannian, and Sterrett all had 174 laps chasing Steube's 178 and Warmack's 176.

Fifth Heat
Mike Steube had stretched his lead to five laps but the rest of the pack saw only minor shuffling

Sixth Heat
Mike Kravitz turned a strong 46 laps on red to claim the second spot. Nobody else turned more than 45 on red all day. He and Steube were next to each other and both turned 46 laps. Warmack, a lap down, held on to third with 43 laps on black. Sterrett continued his steady move up, inching ahead of Brannian. Yoshi was back, but had lost 40 laps to the leaders. Doug continued to move up, taking fourth. Oh yeah that Steube guy was leading by seven laps.

Seventh Heat
Warmack got serious and turned a 47 on yellow, moving him into second. Mike Kravitz might argue that because the counter said they were tied at 310 laps, six back of Mike Steube. Brannian struggled to a 38 on black, giving Doug some breathing room.

Eighth Heat
The counter says Warmack and Kravitz 45, Yoshi and Sterrett 41, Brannian and Matthes 40, and Mike Steube 38. Steube pulling off with about 30 seconds left enabled Bryan to earn his first win. If this was a horse race the Stewards inquiry sign might have gone up. Bryan had just edged Mike Kravitz but both had driven an excellent race. Since I'm writing this I'll title this one Steube and Team Checkpoint dominate. For seven heats it was a dominating performance. It gave proof that Mike is a true champion and that several racers are getting ready to challenge his supremacy. The match between Kravitz, Warmack, and Brannian might prove very interesting.

Bryan Warmack 355 laps 3.72 secs
Mike Kravitz 355 3.679
Mike Steube 354 3.678
Paul Sterrett 346 3.839
Doug Matthes 343 3.839
Mike Brannian 336 3.839
Yoshio Akiyama 289 3.839
Kyle Matthes 168 3.789

Retro-Pro (By Allen Low and Mike Boemker)

New to Retro-Pro was Keith Tanaka and Mike Kravitz. Tanaka drove my second chassis while Kravitz adapted an IMCA C1 chassis, domestic-made, I think Zap or Landry. Kravitz was unaware that we run 3-1/8" instead of 3-1/4" wide, and found himself trimming tires to make tech.

So strong was the field that I must confess to cracking under the pressure. Eventually, I began a run of stripped spur gears after hitting a car being marshalled in the dead man. I rejoined the fray after three extended stints in the pits. The race for some of us was make or break. I didn't mind personally having a bad day, because the Retro-Pro pace was furious, yet this crowd was a friendly bunch.

The story for Dennis Hill was frustration over a wrongly-connected hand controller. Dennis was fast early, dicing with Mike Steube for the lead. Steube for his part kept his head and raced steady and fast throughout - Mike's discipline won the race for him. Kravitz put on a stellar drive to second over a small but strong field. Maxwell was steady and fast himself, finishing third to complete the podium.

Doug Matthes finished fourth in the fast pace, just two laps out of the podium. Keith Tanaka was feeling his way around in his first Retro-Pro race, and finished fifth in a fine first effort. Mike Brannian raced a car borrowed from Mike Boemker, and survived to finish sixth. I followed Brannian, rejoining the fray after three stripped spurs. Jeff Easterly pulled off after deslotting just one time too many - and it wasn't so much that Easterly was handling that badly - it's more that everyone was so well dialed. Boemker pulled out after some bad luck, and Dennis Hill was totally freaked out after a wrongly connected controller took out his fuses.

It was ten entries, but ten FAST entries. Jeff Easterly definitely gets most improved racer award, having won the Can-Am B main just a day earlier, and enjoying a well-prepared Retro-Pro motor from Boemker. Meanwhile, Paul Sterrett elected to race direct, and Adam Kirchoffer must still be recovering from the World's wing racing.

Mike Steube built his chassis of course, Mike Kravitz raced the IMCA C1, Maxwell raced his build, with my builds going 4,5,6,7, (Doug Matthes, Keith Tanaka, Mike Brannian, and myself), Easterly with his build, with Boemker and Hill completed the set. Dennis Hill's chassis were great - only bad luck kept Hill's duo out of a podium finish.

Mike Steube 276 laps 4.891 secs
Mike Kravitz 273 4.827
Bob Maxwell 271 4.828
Doug Matthes 269 4.937
Keith Tanaka 262 4.988
Mike Brannian 258 5.04
Allen Low 196 5.05
Jeff Easterly 171 5.2697
Mike Boemker 149 5.2696
Dennis Hill 99 4.883

It was amazing that we had such a good race since motors and parts have been unobtanium for over a month. Buena Park does expect more supply to arrive soon. Big Dog arms have been showing up in the pipeline and I got one of those and two American replacement arms through PCH. I suspect we may have enough entries for a Big Dog race next month. Time will tell.

Check out Keith Tanaka's excellent pictures at this LINK.

When you look at Foamy's concours car, realize it was his second nicest car. The first body curled up from paint that was a little too old.

Return to the Race Reports Page