Heaven, Hell, & 944’s
The Midwest gang of 944 Spec finished the season with two races in rapid succession after a successful Nationals adventure. First up was Autobahn, and day 1 gave the class a brief reprieve from the rain purgatory of Nationals, before another wet race the second day of the weekend.
That brief dry spell gave up some of the best racing the class has seen, ever. Neal Agran qualified first, followed by Eric Kuhns, Ray Freundt, Joel Karns, and Sudhir Chhikara, Ken Frey, and Dan Pina. Kuhns jumped into an early lead, and an opening lap melee erupted behind him, with attempts to go 3 wide aborted, and multiple doors closed in the first few corners. All came out of the dust-up unscathed, with Agran in the lead of that group and on the hunt for Kuhns, who held out for a few laps before Agran pushed by in a multi corner pass. By then Kuhns seemed to have smoked his tires and concentration in equal measure. Freundt & Pina took advantage of the situation in quick succession and the hapless Kuhns soon found himself back to fourth. Karns nearly joined in the party, but was could not make good on his run due to an out of class BMW. More brass knuckles came out in the close fight among Freundt, Pina, and Kuhns, as Agran drove off into the sunset, smoking the track record in the process. Feeling the point battle slipping away to Agran after several laps behind the hard charging Pina in 4th place, Kuhns made a quick, decisive pass in a slow right/left combination corner when Pina opened the door with a momentary bobble. Pina kept the pressure on, while Kuhns then engaged Freundt. Despite bumper-to-bumper, mirror-to-mirror racing, Kuhns could not find a way around Freundt, nor could Pina around Kuhns. The three were each gifted a position when Agran’s motor expired, but finished in that respective order, exhausted, but unscathed.
Sunday was back to rain purgatory. Pina vaulted himself to the pole position, followed by a newly re-motored Agran, and Saturday’s winner Freundt. Having gambled and lost by burning up his rain tires in Friday’s enduro, Kuhns tiptoed his way into the 4th qualifying position, followed closely by Karns, then Frey, then Chhikara. Picking up right back where they left off, Kuhns & Pina went 3 wide in the wet into turn one (with an out of class car), leading to contact so light that the phrase “that’ll buff right out” actually applied for once. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Freundt and Karns. The two were closely engaged on lap 1, when Freundt went off, splashing Karns with mud, and then spinning thereafter. Karns, now blind, collected Freundt hard. Fortunately, both drivers were uninjured, but their cars were badly damaged. Back to the race, laps under qualifying time ensued Between Pina and Kuhns, until Kuhns slid off track right, and it was Pina’s turn to drive off into the sunset, only with better results. He notched up his first win of the year in decisive fashion, posting lap times 3 seconds clear of the field in the wet conditions. Meanwhile Agran moved up, and spent most of the race looking for a way around Kuhns in the slippery stuff off the wet line. He needn’t have bothered, as Kuhns dropped a rear wheel off in turn 1 late in the race, performing a lightening quick pirouette that would have made Tonya Harding dizzy. And so it ended – Pina, Agran, Kuhns, followed by Chhikara – posting one of his stronger finishes, then Frey, Freundt, and Karns.
Moving on to Road America, the drivers found themselves in racing Nirvana, but car hell. Weather was unexpectedly perfect in the 70’s, and the long straights at this national park of raceways left enough time to take in the beautiful fall colors at their peak. Stunning. Unfortunately, so was the attrition. Points for all the podium spots were up for grabs, but decided by blown motors instead of racing. Pina did have an outside shot at over taking Agran in the points, but was hobbled by a tall 5th gear in what must be the only track in the country that puts a 944 in top gear 3 times each lap. Kuhns’ experiment with a “ghetto-tastic” (in the words of Agran) ram air setup paid out in 4 more MPH, and a new track record. In the end, the points battle settled out as it started the weekend, with Kuhns, then Agran, then Pina claiming the podium spots. This marked the end of the most competitive season 944 Spec Midwest has ever had. This is a credit to the driver development program the Midwest region of 944 Spec has put in place to mentor drivers, and make everyone a bit faster. One final bright spot for the weekend was Kuhns & Agran teaming up in a season ending enduro, and claiming a blissfully uneventful first in class, and 4th overall.
Now, “suck-up-to –the –wife season” begins! See you guys all next year!
