Autumn Autocross Returns to Auto Club Speedway for Event #11
Following five consecutive events at the old El Toro Marine Base in Irvine, Cal Club Autocross returned to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana on Sunday, October 22 for its 11th event of the 2017 season.
A few street classes and the local Historic classes led off the morning runs for the competitors. Both B Street and H Street had three drivers each, with Tom Tanquary and Scott McHugh winning their respective classes by 1.4 seconds each.
Brian Howlett won Historic 1 by nearly 2.7 seconds over Cal Woolsey, while George White earned a one-second win over Cathy Strovers in SSR. Jonathan Lugod showed just how Fontana is a great equalizer of 200tw versus r-comps with a win in the six-person class. He dropped times in each of his four runs to win PAX, besting Anthony Porta by four-tenths.
Jason Swindle, your new GRA club rep, saved his best run for last, taking the .800 win over co-driver Casey Quinn in C Mod. However, Mark Mervich, who placed third, had the fastest raw time on his fourth lap, but was dirty. Neelu Yeoh returned to the top podium spot in PAX Ladies, driving the newly-fixed CRX to victory by .759 over Lisa Berry.
Scott Mullens came from behind to win CAM-C, pulling out a fast and clean fourth run for the three-tenths win over Greg Nelson. Jumping into another car, Chad Ryker dominated the seven-driver CAM-T class, winning by 1.2 seconds over Michael Cuthbertson.
After the lunch break, three juniors took to the course with Robert Ekstrand running unopposed in JA, and Shelby Baltazar winning JB over Samuel Barrish.
Another come-from-behind victory happened in STS, as Pete Loney found over two-tenths on his last run to leap frog past Stephen Yeoh for the win. A new face was atop the podium in STX, as Adam Tarnoff stood on his first run to win the class by .250 over Matthew Gonzalez. Steve “don’t lift” O’Blenes had the raw times to win the class, but was dirty on each of his four runs.
Reed Gibson had the early lead in STR, but Michael Yanase jumped into the top spot following a fast third run, ultimately besting course-designer Gibson by .248. Matt Ales came in third place with Bob Endicott in fourth in the nine-person class.
Brandon Porambo stood on his second run to win the ever-competitive CST class, besting Jonathan Hartendorp by .352. The closest class win of the event came in Street Mod Combined, as Marco Cruz claimed a .032 victory over dad Ira.
E Street proved to be a real battle as all but one driver saved their best run for last. Dennis Hubbard held on to his early lead and cruised to the eight-tenths win over Leonard Cachola, who was co-driving with Edward Tsui for the first time all season.
There were six competitors in Novice who ran throughout the day, and ultimately Dan Duran took the win by 1.5 seconds over John McCreary.
Cal Club Autocross returns to Fontana on November 12 for the penultimate event of the season.
