Contributed by COMSCC Driver Brandon Travassos
COM closed out its 2023 season at NHMS running the South oval configuration. Weather couldn’t have been better for some fun fast fall laps. Plenty of sun and nice crisp air, a race car’s favorite thing. As usual, there were plenty of friendly faces and people willing to help each other out. Of special note, Scott Rosnick who went above and beyond helping out Vince Collins who would have been sidelined with tire issues.
We had a few first time COM drivers join us at this event and they all left with great admiration and chomping at the bit to come back and compete for a full season in 2024. Rich Kirouac looks to be a force to be reckoned with in his full aero C7 Corvette Grand Sport. He will be fighting for FTD’s along with the best of our licensed drivers. Another COM first timer George Escobar was left saying, “COM is awesome and completely different from other clubs. My instructor Jon(Cowen) was great and super helpful, humble, and friendly. He was a really great instructor and I couldn’t believe the lap times he was running when I saw it on the live timing site. The knowledge shared here is so worth coming for and I will definitely be back next season.”
All photos credited to Robert Bader – Naked Feet Photography
With this being the last event of the season there’s always the added drama of the fight for the class championship. Sure enough we had a few classes that would be decided by this final points haul in Sunday’s time trial! There were a few drivers in the hunt for the Overall Drivers Championship but notably our classroom instructor David Wittmer was leading the campaign and wasn’t about to let go of that lead.
SA
Good guy corvette driver Steve Amanti put on an absolute clinic in his C6 and put the exclamation point on a class overall championship by setting the Fastest Time of the Day with a 1:06.8. FTD, 1st place, and a new track record…think we can call that a “clean sweep.” 2nd place went to first time COM driver Aaron Walker in his GT3 Cup car. I’m sure we will see many more podiums from Aaron in 2024.
SB
Preston Peabbles was able to score his maiden win in his new Ginetta GTA G56 race car with a 1:10.7 hot lap. Preston is sure to be a regular contender next season. Second place went to COM instructor Dan DiMatteo in his E46 M3 crossing the line at a 1:12.4. This would be enough to earn Dan a second place in the class overall championship. COM instructor and paddock staple Jake Wile is the overall class championship winner. Jake had an amazing year winning every event he competed in and setting many track records and FTD’s along the way. Congrats to Jake and his beloved “Honey Badger” e36 monster!
SC
Scott Rosnick took 1st place with a jaw dropping lap time of 1:09.6 in his orange BMW 318Ti. This obliterated the previous track record by 2 full seconds! These are video game type numbers, just wow. This also secured the class overall championship for Scott. Second place went to Tom Cannon in the same car he co drives with Scott with an also impressive 1:10.9. They sure have that orange rocket dialed in!
SE
Our very own chief instructor Will Martins brought home the win in SE with a blistering 1:14.9 in his Mazda Miata. This was not only a new track record lap, but the lap that secured him a class overall championship for 2023. Well done and well deserved Will! Finishing second less than 3 tenths behind was Chris Parsons in his Le Mans prototype roofless Mazda Miata. He crossed the line at a 1:15.2 making sure he put the pressure on in a valiant effort.
TU
Not only did Chris Horn earn his COM license this weekend but he did it in style with a first place win in his BMW M4. He set a new track record in the process, laying down a 1:16.3. Impressive driving from a driver new to COM in 2023. We look forward to seeing him win more events in 2024.
T100
COM legend Bob Cairns took home the first place trophy in T100 in his c5 corvette with a flying lap of 1:10.2. Bob narrowly missed the current track record which already belongs to him, go figure! Paul Kalinoski came into the event with the class overall championship secured but that didn’t stop him from hustling his Gt350R mustang to a 1:14.3 lap in the time trial. Congratulations to Paul on his well deserved class championship.
T90
Winning T90 with a decisive 1:10.0 hot lap was Si Chen in his 2023 GR Supra BMW( I mean Toyota). Si has gotten the most of this Supra and his efforts here backed that up. This also secured the T90 Class Championship for him as he and Brian Fisher ended up tied on points but Si earning the tiebreaker on number of 1st place finishes! These are the exciting battles we love to see.
T80
No surprise here folks but winning the last event of the season was Chris Taylor in his BMW 135i. Chris laid down a 1:11.6 missing the current track record by a good margin. But it was still enough to secure the class overall championship for 2023. Three-tenths behind was Greg Barber in his Red Camaro crossing the line at 1:11.9. These two fought hard all year and should be a great fight to watch in 2024.
T70
Eric Breckner took the win in T70 with a 1:13.4 in his BMW 330ZHP. This was an incredible feat considering he lost a motor at Watkins Glen just over a month ago and was still able to get the car back together. Amazing efforts from Eric and his friends at Wile Motorsports. This win also secured Eric the T70 class overall championship. Second place with a 1:15.6 goes to Eric Martin in his Audi TT.
T60
Classroom instructor and resident hot-shoe driver Dave Wittmer fired off a 1:12.4 winning lap in his BMW 128i. No stranger to setting class records Dave did it again beating the old track record by .7 seconds. This secures a class overall championship for Dave in 2023. But even more importantly, this crowns Dave as the COMSCC 2023 Overall Driver’s Champion! Impressive feat from an impressive driver and a huge congratulations to him. Brandon Ganem was the second spot on the podium with a 1:13.7 in his K24 powered Mazonda RX8. His car is looking more and more sorted every event and should be a force in 2024 with his talents behind the wheel.
T50
T50 always brings some of the closest battles and this event did not disappoint, having the top three drivers finish within .6 seconds of each other. Taking the top spot on the podium was Dave Lemoine in his NC MX5 with a 1:13.9. His three laps of 1:13.938, 1:13.966, and 1:14.045 earned him the “Most Consistent” award while begging the question, “Is he actually a robot?” Second place and earning enough points to clinch the T50 class overall championship for 2023 was Dan Baldwin in his Subaru BRZ. Dan was within a tenth of Lemoine with a 1:14.0 fastest lap. Baldwin and Lemoine entertained all year long with a close back and forth battle. Well done gentlemen.
T40
Even though he came into the weekend with the class overall championship securely in hand, it didn’t stop Dennis Herrick from charging hard to a first place T40 win with a 1:16.6 lap time. Dennis drove his Miata hard all year and the effort clearly paid off for him. Finishing in second place was Rodney Carriere also in a Mazda Miata. Rodney hustled his way to a 1:17.1 hot lap in the time trial. Solid effort and a fast pace for sure.
T30
T30 wizard Andrew Grigg once again got it done in his Mazda Miata. His fastest lap of TT was a 1:19.0 which is absolutely hauling in a T30 car. Andrew had the class overall championship in the bag entering this event, and his efforts here just put an exclamation point on his 2023 campaign. In second place also driving a Miata was Pj Aspesi. Pj and his blurple Miata gave a great effort and managed to cross the line with a 1:24.6 hot lap.
