Pro Drive is now talking smack. After 11 days, 2000 miles and 5 races, they have earned the right.

(too many potential captions for this picture)
Some might blame it on SFR not having enough representation, or the NW guys claiming Lee Douglas for both weekends, or making us take Action Jackson . But they won it fair and square before we left Laguna (even if you drop Todd Harris as a "ringer").

We had a great time at Rose Cup. Todd and Pro Drive sponsored SRF for the Festival event and we really got a lot of attention. Professional announcers, the works. They must have said "Spec Racer Ford" on the PA system 1000 times. (Also "Pro Drive", and deservedly so).

One big gap in the weekend was not having Johnny and Jan Humpries there. But they were all in our hearts and minds!

More later....

Enterprises was well-represented....

http://www.facebook.com/v/4188252542626

I got this in my Inbox...

Bringing the 1st place trophy home!

The Pro Drive Racing Team rolled into Monterey, California last week looking to prove that they could go toe-to-toe with the best drivers San Francisco Region had to offer. A giant grid of 40 cars was ready to do battle on the twists and turns of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

The weekend featured a triple-header of races for the Spec Racer Fords. Todd Harris and Steve Fogg led the team in qualifying with bests of 2nd and 4th respectively. Halloran was next with a 7th place qualifying time. The 'Flyin' Hawaiian", Jim Murray cruised to 17th place on the grid while Paul Goudy recorded 19th in his first trip to Laguna Seca. Steve Pulliam found himself 36th in his first qualifying session away from the comforts of Portland International Raceway.

The racing throughout the weekend saw plenty of action in all three races. Harris took the victory in two of the races while Fogg grabbed a 2nd and a 3rd. Halloran had a best finish of 5th at one of his favorite tracks. Goudy quickly learned the track while finishing with a 16th as Murray recorded an 18th place finish. Pulliam had two 37th place finishes.

By the end of the weekend, the Pro Drive Racing Team had made a statement to the local racers. "What a great weekend!" exclaimed Harris. "We showed them that Pro Drive is here to compete. Kickin' their butt on one of their home tracks just never gets old!"

Additionally, the first two races at Laguna Seca were part of the West Coast Braggin' Rights Championship, a series created to see which region has the best drivers. The final two rounds of the series will be held this weekend at the Rose Cup Races at Portland International Raceway. Currently, Oregon Region is looking good with Harris leading the points and Fogg in 2nd.

My account of the Rose Cup…I haven’t seen such a friendly bunch of SRF racers as a whole group in a very long time. My 2 hour Tech session Saturday didn’t raise one harsh comment, I appreciate everyone’s patience and professionalism.
I agree with Dave, Sunday’s SRF race was like the feature event on a pro weekend with all the trimmings. Plus good clean racing throughout as well.

I was pretty shocked to be ambushed by the group with Happy Birthday song and a very tasty cake. Thank you for all your hospitality!
Mike D

First, a thank you to the 49 SRF drivers who took part in the 1st West Coast Braggin' Rights Championship.
The final two races of the West Coast Braggin' Rights Championship were run at the Rose Cup Races in Portland over the weekend. And, as expected, Oregon Region drivers took the top 5 spots:
Todd Harris
Steve Fogg
Lee Douglas
Dan Halloran
Johnny Tipton

Oregon Region took the Championship 230 points to 95 for San Francisco Region.

The most interesting race of the weekend was the 40 minute event on Sunday sponsored by Pro Drive. The first 8 qualifying positions were inverted so even though Harris qualified first he was relegated to the 8th starting position. Halloran, qualifying 8th, got to be on pole. He was reminded of the old racing maxim "sometimes its better to be lucky than talented."

The race started with a little SRF love tapping going on in the 1st turn. Halloran got through clean but Volum got bumped around a bit and ended up with some body work rubbing a tire causing him to stop to get that fixed. He later rejoined the field just behind Harris -Fogg-Tipton and although he finished down a lap or two he got to play with that group for the remainder of the race.

Manchester grabbed the lead on lap 2 but with Harris "encouraging" Halloran down the staights Halloran regained the lead for several laps until Harris pulled away leading Fogg and Tipton through. They proceeded to battle for the rest of the race with Fogg and Harris swapping the lead and Harris finally getting the win.

Halloran fell into the clutches of some faster cars after Harris went by and spent the race swapping places with Draneas, Jackson and Goudy. Goudy tried to pass Halloran entering T1 on lap 11 forgetting that braking hard, turning and threading his car between two others doesn't often work. He tagged Halloran who lost about 10 seconds. Halloran caught up to Draneas, Jackson and Mosier and spent the rest of the race swapping position. Mosier got by with 2 laps to go and almost got Draneas at the end.

SFR's Mike Boyle was got 11th with Court Cardinal in 17th, Bob Gardner (who had serious engine work to do over the weekend) next at 18th and Jerry Aplass in 19th. Action Jackson, whose home region is SRF finished 14th after having fuel problems late in the race.
Overall it was a great weekend. We hope next year to expand the series to include an early season event in SoCal, a weekend in SFR , and then another finale at the Rose Cup. Pro Drive has already indicated they are ready to sponsor a special final race at next year's Rose Cup.

I have the complete final results in a spreadsheet I would be happy to share with anyone who wants it. Just let me know and I'll email you a copy.

Three wide in the chicane -