RACE RECAP: GOODGUYS DEL MAR – 2016
APRIL 9, 2016 – DEL MAR, CALIFORNIA – There was no shortage of sunshine in Southern California as hot rod enthusiasts from around the globe gathered in Del Mar for the 16th Annual Goodguys Nationals. The event took place at the famous Del Mar Fairgrounds where over 2,600 hot rods of all years up to 1972 gathered for a 3-day event April 1st-3rd. The car show featured many events and exhibits, including a dragster exhibition, swap meet, live music, and most importantly, the Goodguys AutoCross.
Ultimate Performance was well represented last weekend with a stout lineup of fast vehicles including Brian Hobaugh and Jake Rozelle in their ’65 Corvettes, Mike Maier brought Old Blue to test some new suspension components and also drove the Wilwood Workhorse with Mike Hamrick and Chris “Smitty” Smith. Scott Fraser drove Bruce Cambern’s beautiful original ’66 Shelby Cobra, and Matt Alcala drove his ’65 Mustang. Ultimate Performance worked hard to keep these men and their machines well prepared for the slippery auto cross consisting of many tight corners. The key to getting around this famous Del Mar track is using your Wilwood Brakes to brake hard and accelerate through the turns, gaining momentum and speed through the short straightaways. The surface is well worn and the track condition changes throughout the day, a result of the direct Southern California sunlight and the hot, dry air. This was a big change from the previous event and meant the Ultimate Performance team had their work cut out for them.
Friday and Saturday’s events consisted of exciting in-class competition. Scott Fraser continued to make adjustments throughout the weekend to keep up with the changing track conditions, and then with some tweaks to his JRI Shocks he was able to fine tune Bruce’s Cobra to perfection. At the end of the day on Saturday, Scott Fraser piloted the Cobra to his 3rd Pro Class win of the year with a blistering lap of 54.725s, nearly one second faster than second place Greg Thurmond. Scott’s lap was the only one of the weekend to break into the 54 second range. Jake Rozelle also got off to a slow start as his C2 Corvette was still dialed-in for the high speed course at Camarillo. Jake vastly improved during the day and although he had times capable of 2nd place in the Pro class, a clipped-cone penalty dropped him down to 6th after Saturday’s session. Brian Hobaugh fought grip issues all day but some quick adjustments to his JRi’s by JJ brought him up the leaderboard to a 7th place finish in the highly competitive Pro Class . In the Street Machine class, Mike Maier brought home 5th place while he and JJ tested torque arms, JRi Shocks, and PAC Springs. Matt Alcala took home 8th.
The K&N Filters All American Sunday had with some of the fastest cars from Saturday taking part in a winner-take-all event to close out the weekend. Jake Rozelle was able to capitalize on some late-day speed from Saturday and carry that over into Sunday’s event. In the end, driving his C5 corvette, Jake avoided the cone penalties and took home the win with a lap of 57.116s, half second over second place Mike Cavanah. Congratulations to Jake on another exciting Goodguys win! Jake’s win is a testament to all the hard work and great products used by the Rozelle’s and the Ultimate Performance team.
For more photos of the event click here.