Results and Scheduled Races

Red Road Racing

Results and Scheduled Races

Here are our Scheduled Events and Latest Results.

"Take it one step at a time"

Next Scheduled Racing Events:

April 26-27, SCCA Double National at Buttonwillow Raceway.

Non-Driving Scheduled Event:

March 1, Mom's Birthday (Marilyn Lefevre)

March 7, Dehlia Feliz's Birthday

March 29-30, SCCA Double Regional at Buttonwillow Raceway, CA.

Sat. Result - 2nd

Sun. Result - 2nd, Fast Lap of the Race

Team Improvement has continued since the beginning of the year and this event was no exception. With a number of Garey's family coming out to the track and Tom becoming more familiar with the car, Red Road Racing stood on the second level of the podium for the first time. Although the Goodyear tires were running their third and fourth races, large reductions in lap time continue.

On Saturday, David Stillwell took pole and checked out from the rest of the FF runners, setting a fast lap of 1:54.96. A quick 5-minute board surprised many of the drivers, including Garey. After getting belted into the car, Garey started at the rear of the open wheel field and took several laps to get past several slower cars. But Garey ran a clean race to claim the 2nd spot, 1:37 back.

Sunday saw Garey get away from the grid in his "earned" position and his driving lesson began. Avoiding trouble, he came up to a SF being driven to the limits by Chris Minks. Though not in the same class, Garey followed and applied very strong pressure. The motor wasn't up to making a pass on the shorter straights of this track (despite the Swifts' aerodynamic advantage) and when they came up to lapped traffic, Chris passed more easily than Garey was able to. After finally getting by the SRF's, Garey put his head down to try to catch Chris and Gunnar Lindstrom (DB-6). The race ended with Garey a mere 1.48 seconds behind race winner Gunnar and only .74 seconds behind Chris. The big surprise came when fellow FF'ers Ken Glasser and Michael Edick brought the race results showing that Garey had set the fast lap on the final lap of the race! Needless to say, this is a strong boost to the team as they prepare for the Double National here in four weeks!

Feb. 23, SCCA National at Willow Spring Int'l Raceway, CA.

Result - 4th

We had high hopes for our first National race but a good result wasn't in the cards. After making several adjustments and changes to the engine, the power was still way off as it had been on Sunday at Fontana. Although we realized that we wouldn't be competitive with the two top guys we decided to do our best and at least get some information for the next race here in June. With some help from Hoosier runner Stan Townes and local hero Scott Rarick, we think we learned a lot about the track and the car's setup. This was chaulked up to a learning experience but we're looking forward to the next National in April at Buttonwillow. Garey is very familiar with that track and expects to do much better.

Feb. 1-2, SCCA Double Regional at California Speedway, CA.

Race Results:

Friday Test

5th on Saturday

8th on Sunday

The weekend started out well with Chris Smith coming to the track to coach Garey's driving. Chris's vast experience as a driver and a teacher proved to be invaluable. This weekend saw the huge gains in both Garey's performance and confidence. Much of the learning was basic but the results were obvious. On Saturday, a very powerful Crossle was caught mid way through the race and the battle for position lasted until the end. The battle was so intense, another Crossle running in 5th was passed by both coming out of the last turn!

Sunday didn't go as well. The engine cut out during qualifying and although it sounded better after cleaning the fuel filter, it continued to be problematic during the race. Later analysis showed that at least 2 seconds were lost through the main straight and banking. But due to more consistent driving through the infield, our best race lap was only .1 seconds slower than Saturday's. This event marked the first time Tom Irwin of T3 Composites joined the team. Tom, his wife Charlene (pictured above) and daughter Sarah helped make the event more relaxed and enjoyable. Gerry LaRue also came out on Sunday to help. Finally, our main sponsor, Heather Guzman of S.C. Appraisal Network joined us and took several great pictures. This weekend was a great start to the 2003 season!

2002 Results:

Nov. 23-24, SCCA 1 1/2 Hour Enduro at Buttonwillow Raceway, CA.

Race Result - 3rd

The weekend started out rough with Garey going solo at the track on Saturday to get the car through qualifying. Since the cars would be starting by race class anyway, Garey used the qualifying session to scrub some new tires in for the next event rather than go for a great qualifying time. The race itself started out poorly despite the additional help from Kevin and Kira Guzman. Mort Haaz' crew chief Gerry LaRue also helped out, showing the cooperation of people in the FF class! Several spins led to several pit stops in the first half hour. Due to Garey's inexperience, it wasn't until the 4th unscheduled pit stop that he decided to check tire pressures. After dropping them down to the proper levels, the race started to go smoothly. A last spin after taking on fuel (and not taking into account the different weight balance of the car from the previous lap) led to a quick black flag. The final half hour was trouble free with lap times continueing to drop as traffic allowed. This was a tough test and the first time the car was driven more than 30 minutes but everyone performed well.

Oct. 27-28, SCCA Double Regional at Buttonwillow Raceway, CA.

Sat. Result - 3rd

Sun. Result - 4th

"Continued Improvement" has been the goal for us this year. In testing Friday, Garey got most of the little problems ironed out with fellow FF racer Roger Kessinger. Gerry Salazar and Jim Olsen got to the track Friday evening and helped set the corner weights on the Red Road Racing DB-1. Except for old tires, the car seems to be at the top of its game. Continued devolpment is still very necessary for the driver! Sunday's race was going very well and it looked like back-to-back Podium finishes for the weekend until another sudden spin under staight line braking with only a few laps remaining. This was followed by three more spins on the next lap when trying to come in. Although this led to a session with the Chief Steward, Mr Snow was satisfied that a mechanical problem appeared to be the source of the spins while Garey tried to bring the car safely into the pits. Lesson learned - If something seems wrong, park it for everyones' safety! The source was indeed found to be a rear lower A-arm bolt that allowed the right rear hub to move unpredictably. BOLT CHECK!

Aug 31-Sept 2, SCCA Triple Regional at Buttonwillow Raceway, CA.

Sat. Result - DNS

Sun. Result - 3rd

Mon. Result - 4th

This weekend showed the great potential of the Red Road Racing team. With Scott Guzman back as crew chief on Sunday, we had our best finish with 6 cars in Formula Ford. After discovering the source of instability under breaking (loose front rocker bearings), Garey made significant strides in getting closer to the limits of the car. The final four laps were spent chasing the second place car but ended a few yards short. His best race lap was only 3.2 seconds off the race winners best, compared to 9 seconds during the aborted May race. Monday's race wasn't quite as smooth since Scott had to return to his dreary day job. After a couple attempts at farming the BRP runoff areas, Garey finally brought the car to the checker flag in fourth.

May 25-26, SCCA Double Regional at Buttonwillow Raceway, CA.

Sat. Result - DNF (2 laps)

Sun. Result - DNS

This was a rough weekend for the Red Road Racing team. Although Scott Guzman and daughter Kira were there to help crew, only a few laps were able to be completed during practice, qualifying and the race. The problem was a low oil pressure reading and rather than risk an expensive engine failure, the crew packed it in early. Garey did stay through Sunday to help crew on Gunnar Lindstrom's car and work as a flagger on a couple of corners.

March 16-17, SCCA Double Regional at Buttonwillow Raceway, CA.

Sat. Result - 6th in FF

Sun. Result - 3rd in FF (Rain)

Requirements for Regional License completed.

In preparation for our first Competative run, we went to the track Friday to do some testing. Unfortunately, a winged car chopped my front wheel during my first lap and broke my suspension! I finally got everything fixed with some borrowed parts (thanks to David and Eric Briggs!) on Saturday. Although they gave me a "Hardship Lap" to make sure everything on the car was ok, I had to start at the back of the grid. I finished the race but got lapped!

On Sunday, I was able to run practice and qualifying and improved substantially. Then it started to rain! Although I qualified way down on the grid, I really took to the rain! I ended up third and could have finished second but I let off before the checker thinking we still had a few laps left. It turned out that they cut the race a few laps short due to communication problems with the workers on course. But I got on the podium on my first weekend! Grandma now has my first racing trophy on her mantle next to my College Diploma!

SCCA Double School

Unofficial SCCA Cal Club Formula Ford Regional Points
1. Garey Guzman 40
2. David Stillwell 24
3. Mort Haaz 22
4. Tom Coughlin 19
5. Gunnar Lindstrom 18
6. James Olson 18
7. Sam Simpson 10
8. Roger Kessinger 7

Official SCCA SoPac Formula Ford National Points
1. Stan Townes, CSCC,69
2. Scott Rarick, CSCC,47
3. Paul Wittrock, CSCC, 25
4. Garey Guzman, CSCC 12
5. Mort Haaz, CSCC, 12
6. Mike Milner, Ariz 12
7. Greg Dalmolin, Ariz, 11
8. Bud Morrison, Ariz, 6
9. Sam Simpson, SanD, 5
10.Barry Ebert, Ariz, 3
11. David Briggs, SanD, 0

"This was my best weekend as a driver! I can't thank Chris Smith enough for the coaching. Not only did I make substantial improvement as a driver, my confidence has soared! The help that Tom Irwin has done during the last couple of weeks and here at the track helped make this a much smoother event and allowed me to concentrate more on my driving. I also want to thank Gerry LaRue for coming out and helping us make the better decisions for qualifying and the race.

3. Garey Guzman 44

4. Roger Kessinger 34

5. Gerardo Salazar 31

7. David Stillwell 24

9. Gregory Stewart 12

I'm very greatful to Gerry LaRue for all his help in the pits today and for my brother and niece coming out and making the weekend more enjoyable for me. Although we could have easily won this event by starting out with proper air pressures, we are still low on the learning curve. Hopefully we'll take this mistake and reap great benifits from its' lesson during the coming season.

Nov. 24, 2002

A great racer once said, "To finish first, first you must finish!" Although I still have a long way to go as a driver, to finish third in the Regional Points is pretty cool! Preparing the car is the easy part for me, especially with the help I've had from Tom Christ (former owner of this car), Carroll Smith and Gunnar Lindstrom. Finding the several seconds I leave on the track is much harder. My improvement from Saturday to Sunday was due to the great advice and help I recieved from my school instructer Peter West and from fellow FF drivers Gerry Salazar, Mort Haaz, Jim Olsen and Roger Kessinger.

Oct. 28, 2002

Racing is always fun but I think it's even more enjoyable when I get to be around the people I love. With my brother coming out to the last two races at BRP, the weekend was even more enjoayable. I wish my wife could be at every race too but as her business grows, so does her work load. But I hope that I get to do this long enough for us to spend many, many fun-filled weekends at the racetrack. Who knows, she might get into the car too!

Sept. 2, 2002

I feel very proud that we were able to finish both races, especially in the rain on Sunday. Despite hearing so many negative opinions about driving in the rain, I actually enjoyed it. Of course, finishing on the Podium helped out a lot! I couldn't have done any of this without the help of David and Eric Briggs, Gunnar Lindstrom and Heather. I am very grateful to all of them!

March 17, 2002