Round 2 of the 2011 Texas 944Spec season is in the record books having indeed set several records. Typical early spring weather in Cresson involved fairly cool evenings and dry, windy days. Gusts and dust were blowing Friday as a record seven 944Spec pilots parked and prepared their gear in what is known as "the skidpad" area of the paddock. Of course points leader Kevin Webb, BJ Meyer, Todd Covini, and Al Fernandez were there but the group eagerly welcomed Todd Imwold, Phil Fromme, and Chris Blazer to their first NASA Texas 944Spec race weekend.
Saturday's first race involved a standing start on the main straight after the other cars in the run group had taken their own green. The fast and furious racing finished with Kevin taking his third win and Chris just behind and catching. For the second race we inverted the field: everyone in front of you is slower than you, but everyone behind you is faster! Chris made a heroic start, going from 6th to pushing for the lead through the first set of turns...until he realized his move set him for for no alternative other than a Dukes of Hazzard launch over a birm. Unfortunately the landing cracked the radiator and Chris was sidelined. Interestingly, both Covini's and Fromme's cars also started showing signs of unfixable overheating problems. The group diced furiously with BJ taking top honors followed by Al.
Saturday night the AI/CMC crew hosted a huge dinner fest with ribs, tri-tip, brisket, and sausages all well lubricated by two kegs for some 200 NASA participants. Yes, some of the smarter guys went to bed at a decent hour...who said any of us are smart?
For Sunday Covini raced with an overheating car due to a bad headgasket, Fromme was completely sidelined due to the same, and Imwold parked it due to a bad timing belt. The reduced car count didnt reduce the fun though! On sunday's standing start Todd noticed Al's right rear going flat and he was determined to stay out long enough to beat him. As the race progressed, the fast guys battled up front while in the back it was the battle of the wounded with Al's car progressively getting more and more loose and Todd's car progressively losing power. Eventually Al's tire let go in the middle of Big Bend (a 4th gear sweeping left hander) that made for an exciting moment but no damage other than to pride. Not surprisingly Kevin took the win. Can anyone stop this guy? Our fourth race, again an invert of the previous race results didnt see the high flying action of the previous invert, but the racing was as tight as it could be. BJ and Al traded the lead a couple of times until Kevin eventually took over for the third win of the weekend by a scant 0.055 seconds, setting a track record of 1:27.724 in the process.
Congratulations to all of you 944Spec pilots for an outstanding weekend of fun racing and camaraderie in the pits. For those of you following along while you build a car...get after it and join us! Our next event is April 30th at TWS in College Station.
). Looking forward to TWS! 
