For months the Moose group has anticipated and anxiously awaiting the USAC/CRA trip to Northern California, especially the Louie Vermeil Classic at Calistoga Speedway! And at least it was time to load up and GO!! With Tom & Laurie till waiting and wondering when they will ever get their new trailer, Ray & Kevin Hocking were gracious enough once again to make arrangements for the team to use their stacker trailer. Tom, Laurie & Jim piled into the rig... Rich & Nicole prepped their 5th wheel, PeeWee, Brandi & Dave packed their RV to the gills, Chris, Kurt, Jake, Cody, Jessica & Ray all loaded their gear for the week into Kurt's toy hauler, George from Ram-Bull & Luk were ready to travel from Vegas, Phil & Eileen were heading up Thursday, JC and his brother Jim would meet everyone up there Saturday. Team Moose was ready!!
Race Teams and fans were graciously greeted by large Welcome Race Fan banners that stretched the width of Calistoga's Main Road --- Cal Market, the only grocery store in town also made sure the all the towns visitors were welcome, as they too had Sprint Car graphics and promo in front of the quaint grocery store.
Not being able to make the trip last year, Tom & Laurie were so amazed at seeing alL of the improvements and upgrades that had been to this amazing facility The efforts of Staddlehoffer Construction and Abreu were absolutely amazing. New catch fences, scoreboards, lighting 0- even the way the track surface was being prepped. Hats off to these companies and people for all the time, effort and money that has gone into making this track stellar!!!!
The atmosphere that surrounds the Vermeil Classic is the beauty of Napa Valley, the prestigious homes, the massive acres of grape vines and of coarse, the wineries!!! Friday Phil, Eileen & Laurie headed off to their favorite winery, V Santuii to stock up, but opted to make a detour to the other Santuii Winery, the Castle. Good thing Phil had driven the SUI, as a standard trunk surely wouldn't of had room for the "several cases" that would make the trip back to Huntington Beach.
Racing action scheduled for Saturday and Sunday night, leaving Friday evening the perfect time for a Team Moose sit down tri tip dinner with all the fixins'. A little vino, great friends and a lot of race chatter made for an enjoyable relaxing time before the work and action started on Saturday morning.
The parkway in front of the grandstands yearly hosts a Saturday wine tasting and a Sunday beer fest. Several vendors are also on hand to offer sprint car fans some top notch collectables.
25 cars - Saturday night, Jake would be 3rd out to qualify -- 24 cars later, the 92 Moosemobile was 4th quick, Heat race action brought Jake across the line in 3rd, securing his 3rd place starting position for the Main Event. Green flag drops, Jake drops back to about 7th ---- yikes ---- several laps into the 30 lapper, he got her dialed in and proceeded the march forward, picking off the likes of Damion, Spencer, Abreu - and was running 3rd -- yellow flag... wow, that would tighten up the front of pack, Jake could have a great shot at a 2nd, or maybe even the win!!! Yeap, well, unless the yellow flag was for the Moosemobile!!! Smacking the curb in turn 1 & 2 had pushed right rear wheel cover in, which popped the valve stem right out of the wheel - DAMN!!! Oh, well, Jake had made his presence known!!
Rise and shine bright and early to get the servicing done before the heat of the day -- enjoy bbq'ed teriyaki chicken sandwiches, partake in the beer tasting event promoted by the Hunts, and head to the pits.
Car count of 24 .... this time, the pill pulled for qualifying was 3rd from last. Hot lap sessions - Tom had Jake turning 19.0's --- impressive!!! Now, for those of you have been around forever, if you are good,good,good in hot laps, that means you'd better change something for qualifying, cuz things are gonna change. Whelp, that statement held true, as there weren't many changes made --- and qualifying wasn't very kind ... 14th overall. That did however put the Moosemobile on the front row of the heat... and Jake held on for a 3rd. Starting deep in the field for the Mina, the plan was to hang back for the first 1/2, which was starting to unfold. A red flag mid way thru - when the car was retired, went about a lap and then apparently went to Idle. Bringing the car to the pit lane -- hood lifted and engine checked, the only thing the crew could determine, was possible vapor lock. Letting the car cool - another red flag was displayed and the team requested to see if they could try to refire. No problem..
The end of the day results sure do not show the progress the team made over the weekend. But the experience gained will make Team Moose stronger and better.
HUGE THANK YOU'S to George from Ram-Bull Racing, Phil & EIleen King and JC - sponsors that made this Nor Cal trip. Dave, Jim, Chris, PeeWee, Chad, Rich, Nicole, Brandi, Jessica....