June 2-3, 2007 - SCCA National "Rose Cup" - Portland, OR

The 2007 Rose Cup Race took place at Portland International Raceway on Saturday June 2nd. The weekend was nothing short of a disaster for the TCR Motorsports team. Everything started off fine, with practice on Friday morning producing a best lap time of 1:31.9, fourth quickest for the session. From there, it was all down hill. Qualifying was marred by braking problems, as well as being black flagged for leaking oil. After working all night and half the morning to fix the problem, we started the race from the 14th position on the grid (out of 16 cars). We were forced to retire on the first lap as we still had braking issues.

The following day, we had an early morning qualifying session for the Formula Car Magazine FV Challenge cup. After working many hours the night before, we were confident the braking issues were fixed. This, however, proved not to be the case in qualifying. While significantly better, we were still hampered by poor braking. We managed to qualify 10th at a 1:34.681.

After finally fixing the braking issue, we were very anxious to start the race. The green flag dropped at 5:05pm and we made a charge down the inside of the track. Advancing from 10th to 6th on the start and charging forward to catch the leaders. The race was going very well, running laps in the 1:32's. We were running in 5th position with three laps remaining. Coming out of the chicane, another car came along side of us exiting the chicane. As the car naturally drifted out exiting the turn, we had no where to go, and he was running out of room fast. We inter-locked wheels and went airborne. Needless to say, our day was done. Although credited with a 9th place finish, we were naturally disappointed.

We have the next 6 weeks off to get the car back together before Thunderhill for round 3 of the Formula Car Magazine Pacific FV Challenge.

May 27-28, 2007 - SCCA National - Seattle, WA

A fifth place finish at our first SCCA National race left us with high expectations and hopes for a strong finish in our second and third National races held this weekend at Pacific Raceways, just outside of Seattle Washington. The weekend was very trying as we struggled for grip all weekend. Race number one was held on Sunday. We qualified poorly and started from the second to last row. We only completed a handful of laps, before our race was cut short due to a broken throttle cable.

Race number two went much better. We took a gamble on the setup and made some significant improvements during qualifying. Starting from the 6th position, we made a great drive and managed to stay with the leaders for a few laps. Slowly, they proved to fast for us and we got into a battle with Mike Smith for 5th place. Back and forth the battle went, until we edged him out at the line for a 5th place finish. Two top 5's in as many finishes was a great accomplishment with one more national to go in Portland next weekend.

May 20, 2007 - ICSCC - Seattle, WA

With the weather changing on an hour by hour basis for the second round of the 2007 ICSCC championship, the sessions were a mix of sunny, rainy, dry and everything in between. Qualifying on the pole position for the race gave us a nice advantage due to the uncertain weather conditions. The race turned out to be dry and we headed out on slicks. Running nose to tail with Cheryl Gilbert (Caracal D) for ten laps gave us a lot of confidence that we had the victory in hand. We were able to hold our lead for all but two laps, and the SR Racing engine had a serious power advantage.

On Lap 11, Cheryl had motor problems forcing her to retire. Holding a gap of several seconds on the rest of the field, we drove the car to a 1st place overall finish, cementing our position atop the championship standings after two races. Next up, the SCCA Seattle Double National.

May 13, 2007 - SCCA National - Portland, OR

Our first SCCA National was the biggest challenge we've ever faced as a team, driver and crew. Luckily, we had long time Formula Vee racer, and several time divisional champion, Brian McCarthy up to help us. As crew chief for the weekend, we relied heavily on Brian's expertise for setup and driver coaching throughout the event.

When we unloaded for testing the day before the event, we had no idea what to expect. We strapped on a new set of Hoosiers to get a baseline setup for the car and went to work. The SR Racing engine was fantastic, and the new Hoosier slicks had incredible grip. Running continuous sessions throughout the day, we eventually worked our way down into the 1 minute 30 second range. We expected the pole position to be in the 1:29 range, so we knew we were in the hunt.

The qualifying session on Saturday proved to go very well for the TCR Motorsports team, despite the track being oiled down and covered with oil absorbent powder on several corners. We managed to qualify 4th, which was an incredible accomplishment, as the we were actually in front of the man many consider to be a legitimate contender for the national championship - Dennis Andrade.

Dennis however did turn out to have the last laugh when he showed why he is considered the best in the division driving from a 5th place start to victory. After a poor reaction time to the start, we were passed by another driver and took several laps to get back in front of him. Try as we might, we could not hunt down the lead pack, and eventually came under attack from behind as Bob Posner started to challenge for the 5th place position. Back and forth went the battle until passing him for good with 3 laps remaining. The top 5 were: 1 - Dennis Andrade  2- Quinn Posner  3- Leroy Coppedge  4- Alan Harrington  5- Stephen Saslow

A 5th place finish was a HUGE success for the team, and we are looking forward to the Double National weekend in Seattle over Memorial Day weekend. First, however, we will run the ICSCC Seattle race on May 20th to brush up our skills on the Pacific Raceway track.

May 6, 2007 - ICSCC - Portland, OR

The opening round of the ICSCC championship this year took place in Portland Oregon, at the famed Portland International Raceway. Home to both Champ Car and ALMS races, this track is always a fun one to visit.

The weekend went fairly well with the car performing tremendously. Qualifying second was a big boost to the team as starting on the front row is always a great way to start the season. The race was fairly uneventful however. After initially battling for the lead with Mike Smith, we eventually fell a bit off the pace of the leader and had to settle for second. All in all it was a good way to open the season, cashing in 22 championship points. Next week is off to the SCCA National Race - also in Portland Oregon.