Round 3 and 4 of the NASA Midwest 944 Spec season took place June 20-22 at Gingerman Raceway and July 12-13 at Blackhawk Farms. The weather was exceptional both weekends, as were the camaraderie and racing.
Gingerman – June
A 10 driver lineup contested the Gingerman weekend after most participated in a full day test and tune on Friday. As expected, the racing was close. Neal Agran prevailed in the first two races of the weekend, while Dan Pina held off a charging Gary Barton and Agran in the third. The best battles of the weekend were Tara Brewster and Ken Frey’s fight for 7th in race #1, Barton nipping Pina for 2nd in race #2, and a three way battle for the lead in race #3 following a fantastic inverted start (see video below).
At the conclusion of the weekend, Tara Brewster and Michael Cooper shed their orange “rookie plates” and earned non-provisional licenses. Both were rewarded with a customary ice water shower.
Blackhawk Farms, a beloved track for many drivers, made a return to the series schedule for the first time in four years July 12-13. For most it was a new course, which made for exciting racing and good use of data based and video coaching. Agran ultimately prevailed in both races, but only barely over Barton, who had the fastest race lap of the weekend and was largely in control of the pace. Sam Grant cinched 3rd in both races, fighting off Pina and Cooper, who consistently ran at the front and qualified in the top 3 twice. The best battles of the weekend were a fight for second between Pina and Barton (diced side by side through an amazing 7 consecutive corners) and an intense 12 lap battle for the lead between Agran and Barton in the Sunday qualifying race. The only losers were a couple of CV joints, which did not take kindly to the curb hoping required to eke out the last tenths at Blackhawk.
Epilogue
Midwest 944 Spec drivers took home over $2700 in TOYO and HAWK contingency dollars in June and July. A special thanks is due to Jim and Kelby Hartman of Pine Tree Motorsports, who again offered technical support to all competitors during both events.
The battle for the Midwest season championship podium remains wide open. Agran leads with 965 points, followed by Pina at 878 and Barton at 855. Sudhir Chhikara has been on the podium twice in the last two weekends, and several of the 18 drivers contesting the series are now mixing in the lead pack – so any combination of results in possible in the final three weekends, which are crossover events with Great Lakes.
If you’ve read this far and you’re not racing with us… why not? We’d love to have you out to an event and give you a ride, let you take a test drive, and get you involved. We believe 944 Spec is the best way to get racing fast and to get faster. Take us up on the offer to try it and find out!!
Neal Agran NASA 944 Spec Midwest Region Series Director
