SoCal Season Coming to an End
By Greg G.
Published: October 28, 2006

TTR-- Cody Martin and Terry Free have clinched the top two spots, with Cody leading by a sizable margin.  Cody needs points from one more event day to take the title, though.  Unless Steve Raeder shows up out of nowhere, it looks like there won't be a driver or team with enough event days to be eligible for the third podium spot.

TTU-- Russell Warr is the '06 TTU Champion (following his 2005 TTA Championship).  Keith Parker and Jon Stokes are fighting out a close battle to see who will get second and who will get third.  Keith is still leading Jon by five points, but Jon has beaten Keith in each of their head-to-head battles.  This one is coming down to the last day.

TTA-- Tom Silbaugh still holds a 44 point lead over Karen Salvagio.  This is a pretty large point spread to beat in two days if both drivers participate.  It would also require at least 5 driver TTA fields on both days.  If Tom can keep the car running both days, it will be very tough for Karen to make up the points she needs for the Championship win.  Marty Fabrick and Bud Harris still have a shot at 3rd place, although the illusive Team Track Graphic 2 has almost a 200 point lead over both of them.  A no-show by Team Track Graphic 2, and a minimum of two second place finishes will give Fabrick the podium spot.

TTB-- This one is in the books.  Dan Rose is the TTB Champion.  John Wheeler is the TTB runner-up.  Jay Hale is the second runner-up. 

TTC-- Greg Greenbaum is the SoCal '06 TTC Champion for the second year in a row, following a TTD Championship in 2004.  He adds this honor to his 2006 NASA National TTC and PTC Championships, and 2006 SoCal SU and PTC Championships.  Team Fronti and Arthur Weber are guaranteed the two other podium positions in TTC, but we'll have to wait for the last day of the season to see who finishes in the runner-up spot.

TTD-- Shawn Dolan has clinched his second SoCal TTD Championship.  Aaron Schwartzbart has the runner-up position sewed up.  There is still a slight chance for Ricky Gomez to take the final podium position away from Jerry Buza.

TTE-- Mark Rodrigues is the TTE Champion, and Shawn Meze has taken the runner-up spot.  Fulton Haight and Rob Symonds are both candidates for the third podium position, but need to make it to the final event to get their event eligibility numbers.

TTF-- Dan Gardner has won the basically uncontested SoCal TTF Championship, which was much easier to come by than his 2006 NASA National TTF Championship. 

We are currently in the process of revising the TT (and PT) rules for the 2007 season.  I hope that they are able to be published by the end of November.  There will be some big changes in the TTU class, since we are adding two new race classes above PTA and below Super Unlimited.  TT rules will follow the rules of these new classes to continue to provide an easy transition from TT to racing.  As well, there will be changes that effect everyone regarding points assessments on certain modifications (some will be free now, and some will cost more points).  So, basically, hold off making your final '07 plans until the rules come out. 

In the meantime, let's go break some track records and crown our TTR and TTA Champions in two weeks at Buttonwillow.  Also, for those of you that have always wanted to try out Phoenix International Raceway, and hate the three month Winter break from driving, there will be an Arizona Region event at PIR on Dec 9-10th.  It was a lot of fun last year, and there were more than a handful of SoCal drivers that went.  It's only a 5 1/2 to 7 hour drive from San Diego and L.A., and its a short but fun Roval track.  

Greg Greenbaum
NASA National and SoCal TT Director