VTEC Club Round 1: Chuckwalla Raceway
The weekend was sandwiched between two rainy days, forecast was cloudy with a high in the 70s, it seemed like it was going to be a beautiful day at the racetrack.
This would be my first time at a VTEC club event (and first time at an extreme speed event) and was very excited to see some new faces, make introductions and have a good time racing.
And then I went to the registration line.
This took over and hour to register and get my transponder, it was a mess, they had to make the advanced drivers cut to the front because our 9 AM session was about to start (registration started at 7 AM)
I was later told that there was a “glitch” in the system that made them sell an additional 40 spots that should have not allowed them to sell.
Anyway, back to the event. We posted up near the bathrooms under the Rockstar tent and 5 S2000’s.
Its tough to beat a day with your buds.
Photo by Micheal Guyette
Session one began, and we went to grid, traffic was a mess and we only got 13 minutes on track total. Even still Steven Kronemberger in his hooked up Civic Type R was able to put down an impressive 1:59.1, vs my 2:01.0, fellow S2K challenge mod driver Jacob Mitchell ran a 2:04.02.
In Group N2 we had Yukio Kishimoto who ran a 2:05.5 in his S2K Challenge street class car
My fellow Rockstar Garage teammate Chris Elders was able to lay down a 1:57.2, but the real surprise was Kam Urquhart who put down a 1:56.6 in session one, it should also be noted that Kam is running a turbo K swap noble that is an awesome kind of crazy.
| Place | Name | Laps | Last Time | Fastest Time | Slowest Time |
| 1 | Chris W | 1 | 01:44.212 | 01:44.212 | 01:44.212 |
| 2 | Kam Urquhart | 4 | 01:56.635 | 01:56.172 | 02:01.068 |
| 3 | Chris Elders | 1 | 01:57.247 | 01:57.247 | 01:57.247 |
| 4 | Steven Kronemberger | 5 | 01:59.104 | 01:59.104 | 02:23.579 |
| 5 | Jose Mejia | 7 | 02:28.636 | 01:59.173 | 02:34.618 |
| 6 | Sean Mulyanto | 3 | 02:00.717 | 02:00.437 | 02:00.776 |
| 7 | Robin Roces | 5 | 02:01.283 | 02:00.475 | 02:13.994 |
| 8 | Jason Kim | 4 | 02:00.624 | 02:00.486 | 02:01.265 |
| 9 | Kevin Burke | 6 | 02:01.522 | 02:01.051 | 02:46.181 |
| 10 | Joel Etrata | 4 | 02:01.659 | 02:01.659 | 04:20.032 |
| 11 | Randy Chen | 6 | 02:01.883 | 02:01.883 | 02:05.844 |
| 12 | Paul Parquette | 6 | 02:01.923 | 02:01.923 | 02:10.641 |
| 13 | John Cruz | 6 | 02:02.089 | 02:01.986 | 02:05.178 |
| 14 | Willem Drees | 5 | 02:02.548 | 02:02.039 | 02:10.256 |
| 15 | Williams Jang | 6 | 02:03.655 | 02:02.642 | 02:23.774 |
| 16 | Jacob Mitchell | 6 | 02:05.979 | 02:04.020 | 02:11.287 |
| 17 | Ricardo Hernandez | 6 | 02:04.240 | 02:04.240 | 02:34.885 |
| 18 | John Train | 5 | 02:05.484 | 02:04.791 | 02:10.321 |
| 19 | Robert Choo | 5 | 02:05.181 | 02:05.181 | 02:40.176 |
| 20 | Tony Jackson | 6 | 02:05.478 | 02:05.328 | 02:07.319 |
| 21 | Yukio Kishimoto | 2 | 02:06.107 | 02:05.517 | 02:06.107 |
| 22 | Mark Krumme | 2 | 02:06.035 | 02:06.035 | 02:07.795 |
| 23 | Z Smoooth | 2 | 08:26.945 | 02:19.716 | 08:26.945 |
Session 2 began, and after waiting on grid for 21 minutes, we finally went out, I was able to get a bit faster as I became more familiar with the track (this would be my 3rd time at Chuckwalla in 3 years) Steven slowed down a bit, to a 2:00.38 with me right behind him at 2:00.455 and Randy Chen just behind me with a 2:00.483. I spoke with Steven and we both agree that the new rule of a max 255 tire size for the civic type R was a lazy band aid fix, which will end up costing Type R owners lots in extra tires, as his 255’s only lasted the very first session. I feel they should have just banned tuning or aero from Type R’s in A2, but with no data VTEC club decided to limit tire sizes as a band aid to stop Steven from winning every round.
My car felt a bit loose, as you may see in the video below and in this photo:
Kam laid down his fastest lap of the day and sealing his win for class A with a 1:55.848 before he suffered a mechanical failure that sent him home, Chris had a boost leak causing him to come in early and “only” able clock a 1:59.
| Place | Name | Laps | Last Time | Fastest Time | Slowest Time |
| 1 | Kam Urquhart | 1 | 01:55.848 | 01:55.848 | 01:55.848 |
| 2 | Samuel Jih | 5 | 01:59.572 | 01:59.572 | 02:01.746 |
| 3 | Jose Mejia | 6 | 02:29.793 | 01:59.707 | 02:29.793 |
| 4 | Chris Elders | 1 | 01:59.852 | 01:59.852 | 01:59.852 |
| 5 | Jason Kim | 6 | 02:00.954 | 02:00.362 | 02:23.856 |
| 6 | Steven Kronemberger | 6 | 02:09.522 | 02:00.380 | 02:24.695 |
| 7 | Kevin Burke | 6 | 02:09.849 | 02:00.455 | 02:18.390 |
| 8 | Randy Chen | 6 | 02:02.283 | 02:00.483 | 02:04.225 |
| 9 | Robin Roces | 5 | 02:01.301 | 02:00.888 | 02:12.257 |
| 10 | Joel Etrata | 6 | 02:01.060 | 02:01.060 | 03:02.688 |
| 11 | John Cruz | 5 | 02:03.059 | 02:01.407 | 02:03.936 |
| 12 | Sean Mulyanto | 3 | 02:02.270 | 02:01.699 | 02:02.270 |
| 13 | Willem Drees | 4 | 02:34.542 | 02:01.980 | 02:34.542 |
| 14 | Paul Parquette | 6 | 02:02.159 | 02:02.159 | 02:05.596 |
| 15 | Robert Choo | 4 | 02:02.328 | 02:02.328 | 02:03.974 |
| 16 | Williams Jang | 5 | 02:28.922 | 02:03.215 | 02:28.922 |
| 17 | Andrew Horn | 3 | 02:04.351 | 02:03.653 | 02:07.820 |
| 18 | Ricardo Hernandez | 5 | 02:04.995 | 02:04.077 | 02:07.465 |
| 19 | Jacob Mitchell | 5 | 02:04.322 | 02:04.322 | 02:27.244 |
| 20 | Tony Jackson | 5 | 02:06.930 | 02:05.265 | 02:09.409 |
| 21 | John Train | 4 | 02:08.137 | 02:06.382 | 02:08.137 |
| 22 | Yukio Kishimoto | 4 | 02:08.375 | 02:06.603 | 02:08.483 |
| 23 | Mark Krumme | 4 | 02:53.094 | 02:07.246 | 03:00.706 |
| 24 | Jason Gamble | 2 | 02:14.037 | 02:14.037 | 02:21.878 |
| 25 | AJ | 1 | 02:15.941 | 02:15.941 | 02:15.941 |
And now we had a very special event the Narita Dog Fight Challenge.
Photo by: Sean from Narito Dogfight
This was 2 groups and the top 7 and bottom 8 drivers of the day thus far. I made it (barely) as number 7 on the top.
I did have an oops moment while out on track, on my first hotlap with a low 59 on predictive… I offed in the last turn! See below for the fun footage
Even though I offed and couldn’t carry 50 mph out of turn 10 I still managed a new PB of 2:00.4
See below for the results:
| Place | Name | Laps | Last Time | Fastest Time | Slowest Time |
| 1 | Kam Urquhart | 2 | 01:10.515 | 01:10.515 | 05:34.541 |
| 2 | Abraham Sandoval | 2 | 01:18.325 | 01:18.325 | 02:51.002 |
| 3 | Chris Elders | 3 | 01:56.204 | 01:56.204 | 06:28.233 |
| 4 | Randy Chen | 2 | 01:58.696 | 01:58.696 | 01:59.488 |
| 5 | James Snell2K | 3 | 02:28.805 | 01:59.333 | 02:28.805 |
| 6 | Joel Etrata | 4 | 02:41.203 | 01:59.973 | 13:42.667 |
| 7 | Kevin Burke | 2 | 02:00.414 | 02:00.414 | 02:11.074 |
| 8 | Steven Kronemberger | 2 | 02:01.191 | 02:00.464 | 02:01.191 |
| 9 | Sean Mulyanto | 1 | 02:01.045 | 02:01.045 | 02:01.045 |
| 10 | Jason Kim | 2 | 02:01.536 | 02:01.536 | 02:01.744 |
| 11 | Andrew Horn | 2 | 02:01.540 | 02:01.540 | 02:04.271 |
| 12 | Robin Roces | 2 | 02:01.542 | 02:01.542 | 02:02.314 |
| 13 | John Cruz | 3 | 02:03.578 | 02:01.796 | 13:51.968 |
| 14 | Robert Choo | 2 | 02:02.306 | 02:02.306 | 02:03.003 |
| 15 | Willem Drees | 4 | 02:28.561 | 02:02.754 | 14:03.986 |
At this point I was trying all that I could to catch Steven in his CTR, I even went as far as rotating my tires because the bowl was destroying them.
Session 3 started just 20 minutes after the NDF challenge. And unfortunately, no one went faster in that session that were in the dog fight (surely because the cars were still hot and tired) But Jacob Mitchell was able to get a bit faster, with a 2:03.2
| Place | Name | Laps | Last Time | Fastest Time | Slowest Time |
| 1 | Robin Roces | 7 | 02:01.837 | 02:00.845 | 02:30.743 |
| 2 | Kevin Burke | 4 | 02:01.001 | 02:01.001 | 02:13.457 |
| 3 | Jason Kim | 2 | 02:31.229 | 02:02.761 | 02:31.229 |
| 4 | Paul Parquette | 2 | 02:03.591 | 02:03.059 | 02:03.591 |
| 5 | Williams Jang | 5 | 02:03.548 | 02:03.075 | 02:29.844 |
| 6 | Jacob Mitchell | 7 | 02:24.153 | 02:03.232 | 02:24.153 |
| 7 | AJ | 3 | 02:12.743 | 02:03.339 | 02:12.743 |
| 8 | Ricardo Hernandez | 4 | 02:37.489 | 02:04.329 | 02:37.489 |
| 9 | Thomas Van | 2 | 02:07.291 | 02:07.291 | 02:07.712 |
| 10 | Tony Jackson | 5 | 02:08.074 | 02:07.426 | 02:09.699 |
| 11 | Yukio Kishimoto | 1 | 02:07.543 | 02:07.543 | 02:07.543 |
| 12 | Jonathan Posadas | 2 | 02:14.273 | 02:14.273 | 02:17.587 |
| 13 | Viet Do | 1 | 02:17.021 | 02:17.021 | 02:17.021 |
| 14 | Jose Mejia | 2 | 02:25.515 | 02:25.515 | 03:00.120 |
As it turns out, the final session was the money session for the official VTEC club standings.
Photo By: Miller Spec media
| Place | Name | Laps | Last Time | Fastest Time | Slowest Time |
| 1 | Randy Chen | 4 | 02:05.918 | 01:58.850 | 02:05.918 |
| 2 | Kevin Burke | 5 | 02:04.656 | 02:00.097 | 02:41.503 |
| 3 | Jacob Mitchell | 4 | 02:03.951 | 02:02.607 | 02:26.046 |
| 4 | Ricardo Hernandez | 5 | 02:19.547 | 02:04.690 | 02:20.789 |
| 5 | Arik Crowe | 5 | 02:06.957 | 02:05.212 | 02:07.027 |
| 6 | Michael Evans | 2 | 02:05.866 | 02:05.866 | 02:06.063 |
| 7 | John Cruz | 4 | 02:08.537 | 02:07.495 | 02:08.537 |
| 8 | Cheng Lin | 2 | 02:08.794 | 02:08.279 | 02:08.794 |
| 9 | Steve Sherrod | 4 | 02:09.924 | 02:09.841 | 02:18.259 |
| 10 | Alexis Sanchez | 3 | 02:12.061 | 02:12.061 | 02:15.159 |
| 11 | Tim Gilliam | 1 | 02:13.904 | 02:13.904 | 02:13.904 |
| 12 | Jason Martinez | 3 | 05:45.748 | 02:14.954 | 05:45.748 |
| 13 | Jonathan Posadas | 2 | 02:16.388 | 02:16.388 | 02:22.530 |
| 14 | Oscar Gonzalez | 4 | 02:18.720 | 02:18.720 | 02:26.733 |
Randy Chen was able to put out an incredibly respectable 1:58.8, closely followed by yours truly with a 2:00.097 and then right behind me is Jacob Mitchell with a new PB of 2:02.607.
here is the video of my official VTEC club Third place lap:
Final standings for VTEC Club round one for A2 is:
1st Randy Chen-S2000
2nd Steven Kronemberger- Civic Type R
3rd Kevin Burke – S2000
Group A:
1st Kam Urquhart
2nd Chris Elders
VTEC club didn’t publish the rest of the standings. So this is what I remember. Sorry!
But here is a group shot of all of the winners:
The event was fun, but I did hope that ExtremeSpeed would be a bit more professional, I don’t think I had one 20 minute session. And see below for a youtube video of a full session that they checkered flag after 10 min…
I’m very much looking forward to this weekend for Chuckwalla once again running the other direction with Speed Ventures / S2K Challenge
Huge thanks to Rockstar Garage and my newest sponsor, Racebred Components for being there to support throughout the day, you guys rock!
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