11/6/08-Willows, CA- Thunderhill has just confirmed that Google will be coming out to the track to add the facilities to Google Maps and Street View. They will be here for the NASA 25hour-test day on Thursday December 4th. Google and Thunderhill want 5 cars to be in the shots for the Street View. The car will need to run about 2 laps during the lunch break at about 40 M.P.H. Eligible cars will be limited to all racecars registered for the 25hour.
Currently Google Maps only shows a big white block where Thunderhill exists. Once completed there will be a track map in the Maps view on Google. Also, the track and paddock will be available in Street View. This will allow one to do a virtual trackwalk, seeing the track at eye level as if one was standing on it all from a computer!
You could be one of the cars in this once in a lifetime experience that will be hosted by Google for many years to come.
Interested parties please email pictures of your car, in the shape it will be in at the 25hour to: will@thunderhill.com
11/3/08-Willows, Ca- This last weekend Thunderhill hosted The Classics Sports Racing Group for a weekend of great racing with some very beautiful historic, very expensive toys. It became very interesting when the black rain clouds were coming in on Thursday night. As you may know Thunderhill re-paved the entire 3-mile track a few months ago and along with that came all new runoff dirt. The Thunderhill team then had to rework all the drainage for the tracks new surface. Between Thursday night and Saturday night we had about 2.5 inches of rain. It was amazing how the first time out the drainage worked perfect, with the entire track draining flawlessly. There were no areas that flooded or had “streams” of mud flowing across. The two canopies provided excellent cover for the participants to stay dry. The new canopy outside of the clubhouse seemed to be the ideal place to pit in the bad weather. Participants could come from the nice heated Clubhouse, get into a dry car, and go out onto a perfectly draining track. “We do our best to make this the perfect place for our guests to come get on track regardless of the weather conditions, and have them be comfortable, safe, and well situated” said David Vodden, President and CEO of Thunderhill.
We heard unfortunate news that BMW GGC had to shut down on track activities this last weekend at a nearby track because the racing surface was not draining. It became unsafe to drive on-track so the event switched to a day on the skid pad instead. These are the catastrophes Thunderhill works hard to avoid.
Thunderhill still has open dates in 2008 for your off-season testing/practice. Go to: http://thunderhill.com/html/get_your_fill_at_the.HTM, or contact Shannon Ell at (530) 934-5588 ext.103 to book a date this for this year.
For years the Mazda RX7’s reigned as the most popular car among grassroots racing enthusiasts. They were affordable, handled better than a slot car and could go like hell and the best part of all.. they were plentifully. As many years of racing them as I was involved with, I am still amazed how any one car could ever be so popular. The National Auto Sports Association (NASA) created the RX7 programs and it wasn’t long after that the SCCA copied the exact same format. It wasn’t uncommon at all to see drivers from both affiliations running in each others series not to mention many of which ran in NASA’s popular endurance series. And why not, the Mazdas simply had to be the most affordable car known to racing.
But it seems every good thing must come to pass and now there is a new kid on the block. I am talking about a European car taking it’s turn with the grassroots crowd. Now BMW is taking it’s turn in the Spec E30 class. In the same way that the very successful Pro7 and PS2 Pro Sedan Series, the intent for the Spec E30 Series is to create high levels of competition between similarly prepared E30’s at a affordable expense. Once again it is NASA who has stepped up to the plate as the sanctioning body for this amazing new program. Click here for more information http://www.spece30.com/
Man, that Father and Son duo from the west coast never cease to amaze me! Gary Faules had a perfectly wonderful Father’s Day post yesterday and in it, I learned that young mister Will has added another arrow to his quiver. The Fusion FRC-14.
The Fusion is a Canadian built sports racer, powered primarily by hi-po bike engines and large enough to seat two. Built as a lapping day weapon, the FRC-14 can also be configured for endurance racing. The younger Faules, whose day job is manning the marketing office at Thunderhill Raceway, has just become the newest dealer for Fusion.
Does this mean that The Garage could be heading to Sebring or Daytona in 2009 with Will at the wheel of a Fusion? Time will tell!
To get more info, visit the Fusion web site or e-mail Will at will@thunderhill.com
Several weeks ago I was asked to run a car in this years 24 Hours of LeMons being held at Thunderhill Raceway in Willows California but since it was so close to the holidays I decided to take a rain check. As luck would have it my wife, our grandson and I just so happen to be driving by Thunderhill at lunch time on my way to Oregon to spend the holiday with my mother. I told my wife that since it was about time to stop and get a bite to eat it might be fun to stop and check out the race.
Since we had a long 8 more hours of driving ahead of us and not wanting spend too much time at the track my wife went to get some chow at the track cafe while I walked around and got some action photos. But instead of seeing cars doing battle on the track what I found was everyone in the paddock working on their cars. Now I had already been warned that the 24 Hours of LeMons was considerably much more laid back than the demanding rigors that I was used to and had even been told at some point they even take a lunch break. Continue reading →
