DiMinno Kicks but at LRP

Double Regional at Lime Rock Park, 18/19 May

With Jeff Lawton lickign his wounds from the Pocono event, and Greg not motivated enough to go, Joe DiMinno was left to carry the Kakashi banner for the LRP double regional weekend.

And carry it he did!

Race 1

Despite rain all over the region, Friday's two qualifying sessions for the Saturday double races were in the dry. Joe put in very respectable qualifying position and spent the evening doing his rain dance.

And it worked. The prior race group had run in a very heavy mist; not "rain", but a heavy enough mist to make the track wet and very slick, with no standing water. The subsequent ITA group started as the mist from the prior group was just letting up; but, everyone saw how much the prior was sliding around, and track was still wet, so all the ITA front runners started on wet tires. As the group pulled out of grid, the mist started letting up, but the track was still wet and slick, slick, slick.

The green came early and the race was on! Tim Klvana (Acura Integra) pulled an early lead, with Andy Bettencourt (Mazda Miata) chasing, Diminno  (Sentra SE-R) surging forward, and Richie Hunter (Integra) picking his way through the mixed-in SSM cars. That race was turning into a barnburner, as those four boys were nose-to-tail, hammer-and-tong for 20 laps. By 1/3 of the way it was "every man for himself" as positions were gained and lost, advantages won and given away.

Halfway through, the mist had let up and the track was developing a distinct dry line, but none of the leaders appeared interested in conserving tires. Tim stayed in front of the field and controlled the pace for the entire race, but DiMinno did manage to get by and lead a couple of corners at one point before Tim took back control. Bettencourt tried to pick his way through the crowd but always seemed to get balked by either an SSM or his competition. Hunter made a charge up to Klvana, but couldn't make it stick, and a couple of minor errors cost him the run.

By the start of the last lap, it was anybody's game. As the cars disappeared around No Name, everyone's attention turned to the Downhill, waiting for the fireworks. At the checker it was Klvana holding on for the win, with DiMinno/Bettencourt/Hunter coming down the hill behind him in close formation; you could have thrown the proverbial wet blanket and covered all four of them.

In impound, the four cars were smoking from the brakes, rain tires, and helmets, with big smiles and backslaps all around. It was a unanimous consensus from the crowd and the drivers that this was one of the best ITA races in a long time.

Race 2

Race Two was fun, but not nearly the fight that the morning race was. The skies were still overcast and the temperatures still cold, but this Joe's rain dance potion must have run out, as it was destined to e run in the dry. Richie Hunter pulled out an early lead at the green flag, stuffing an SSM between himself and second-place Andy Bettencourt. Unfortunately, after a few laps of this Richie found himself crossed up in the left-hander and off to the side of the track (he almost saved it); Bettencourt and Klvana slipped by. Andy soon dispatched the SSM to lead overall, and quickly opened up a significant gap (as large as nearly 25 seconds at the halfway point). Richie gathered up his motivation and tracked down and passed Tim; Andy finished 20 seconds in advance, with Hunter, and Klvana in arrears. Joe struggled mightily to catch the leaders, but had run himself out of tires and finished a respectable fifth place.

Next week is yet another back-to-back-to-back double, this time at NHIS, but none of the team cars are scheduled to appear. Greg is scheduled to manage the Phil's Tire Service GTi team efforts at the "12 Hours at the Point" the first weekend in June, and the next scheduled northeast race is June 15/16, again at LRP.

The team is also scheduled to attend NASA's HyperFest at Summit Point the weekend of June 22/23.

See you there!

Results

Video