Round 5 USTCC at Miller Motorsports Park
We were at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah for Round 5 of Nitto tires USTCC race. The race track presented a challenge for most competitors, since this is the first time USTCC visits Miller Motorsports Park and a first for most competitors. Team Prima Racing/RedZone Performance consisting of Hartanto and Lepper are leading the championship points, followed closely by Andy Chittum of BTM Motorworks and Curt Simmons of Team Dodge in 3rd.
Because of the elevation and the fact that the track’s considered a high speed track, the forced induction vehicles are favored. Pete Bovenberg of Team MBO swapped cars for this purpose and piloted a turbo Chevy Cobalt. In fact, more than half had forced induction of some sort. But even with these odds Team Prima Racing/RedZone Performance had high hopes thanks to our own secret weapon. In anticipation of the power deficiency we installed a different, more powerful engine in our Acura TSX for this weekend.
Early in practice, half the field encountered problems of some sort. The first victim is our own. Hartanto radioed in mid-way through his first practice session, reporting what’s possibly a flat rear-left tire. Ten seconds later he radioed in again saying something’s broken…and it’s serious. He clould barely keep the car straight going only 10 miles per hour. The car’s brought back to the pits and we find out that we had a suspension failure: the sleeve on the upright has pulled out, and the camber arm is no longer connected. This put a tremendous force on the shock and broke the bottom mount. To make matters worse, we don’t have a spare. However, the team was quick to locate a part and have it shipped overnight. Our day, as hopeful as it was, ended prematurely.
Problem on first session
Other teams also encountered problems. Team BTM Motorwerks managed to break all their engine and transmission mounts. Vince Parker’s Mini broke a pulley, and McColligan’s Mazda RX8 is having overheating issues.
While we could not partake on the practice, we followed it closely. The new team of Cruise America Mini Cooper S has been topping the time sheet. They are posting impressive times, and a clear 1 second ahead of the closest guy. It might have been home field advantage since they are local to Utah and the other teams were still learning the track. It’s also an interesting note that the 2nd to 5th were very close. They are Curt Simmons, Andy Chittum, Pete Bovenberg and Rich Peterson.
Friday morning and the parts arrived. The crew of Jimmy Chilcott and Wayne Sausa quickly got to work and replacing the broken part, putting the car on the setup pads and doing the alignment. After a flurry of tools combined with blood, sweat, and cursing here and there, we were able to make the first qualifying. All the hardwork by the team paid off when Hartanto promptly put the Acura TSX on provisional pole in first qualifying with an impressive time of 2:11.735. Over a second from second place of Pete Bovenberg in the Chevy Cobalt. Owen Trinkle with the Cruise America Mini Cooper S is third with 2:14.154 and the Andy Chittum, who is running second in championship points in 4th with 2:14.937.
In second qualifying, Hartanto again topped the time chart with 2:12.198. Bovenberg is 2nd with 2:13.377 and Owen Trinkle is 3rd with 2:14.093. More importantly, Andy Chittum, our closest rival in championship hunt is 6th with 2:16.478. The grid is set. Hartanto will start on pole followed by Bovenberg, Trinkle, Chittum and Peterson.
Hartanto quickly pulled away from the start followed by Bovenberg, Trinkle and Simmons. There is, however an incident on the first lap, and the field bunched back up. At the restart Bovenberg was able to take the lead. This however was short lived as Hartanto quickly hunted him down and passed for the lead a lap later. Hartanto put on a clinic and pulled away from the field and took the checkered flag for a recorded 4th win for the season. Bovenberg is second followed by Trinkle rounding the podium spot. Hartanto is in commanding lead, given Chittum finished 4th.
Next round will be Buttonwillow Raceway. Unfortunately, neither Hartanto or the Acura TSX will compete there, as we will be competing in Speed World challenge at Laguna Seca. Tom Lepper will be competing on behalf of the team with his Chevy Cobalt.
Thanks to all our sponsors and partners. Please support us by supporting our sponsors. If there is any parts you would like to buy, you can contact us or contact all our sponsors directly.
