The NASA National Championships are over and, following races in the rain (Friday), bright sunshine (Saturday), and under threatening skies with 60+ mph winds (Sunday), I am now officially the 2008 National Champion for GTS2 (yea!).

The weekend was not without its share of drama, however.

Friday, the first of three days of racing for the Championship, was rainy. Really rainy. My friend Brad, who was running in both GTS2 and 944 SuperCup started on the pole for the SuperCup race only to have the wet track bite him.

During an aggressive 2-3 shift on the start, his car suddenly turned sideways and straight into the wall at 60+ mph. As you can see from the photo below it was, for all intents and purposes, totalled, hitting three of four corners and bending the tub before it came to rest.

A problem for a lesser soul.

But Brad, by mid-afternoon Saturday, had located, negotiated, rented, picked-up and begun to prepare a replacement car to use for the remainder of the weekend. He and the guys from Steinel's did Yeoman's duty getting it ready.

Normally raced in GTS3, a faster class, the car had to be de-tuned by more than 40 horsepower, the transaxle changed to get back to stock gearing, and the suspension completely changed over to Brad's preferred ride-height (much lower), spring rates (much stiffer), alignment settings (much more camber), etc., to get it ready to race.

The net result was Brad took a car in which he had less than an hour of seat time and finished second overall in SuperCup after threatening for the lead. All things considered, a remarkable result in the face of adversity.

Fortunately, things were going a little better at my end of the garage.

Friday's GTS qualifying was in wet-but-drying conditions. My time (1:51) was good enough to put me 12th overall (in a field of 48 cars spread across 5 classes) which was 9 places ahead of the next GTS2 driver, Carl Picelle (the 2004 and 2005 National Champion) who had a 1:56.

I thought that would make the race a breeze but in moderate rain and on 3-year-old rain tires my times were good but such that one of the other drivers, Teddy Worrell, was able to make a terrific run from 24th position to catch and pass me two turns from the end. Unfortunately for Teddy (and fortunately for me), he was later disqualified for hitting and putting out of the race another car on his run forward, handing the win back to me.

A little cheap, but I'll take it.

Saturday's race was in the dry. For one of the few times this weekend we even had sunshine. Teddy was fast again and pipped me in qualifying for the GTS2 pole. He and I started side-by-side in the 19th and 20th places overall. Jim Child, last year's Champion, started immediately behind me in 22nd.

Although I couldn't actually see the green flag, I made a guess at when it was going to be thrown and hit it just right, getting a jump on Teddy who then made matters worse for himself by missing a shift.

Jim and I both ducked past and then directly in front of Teddy on the run down to the first turn, effectively blocking him from making an aggressive move to get his spot back, and from then on it was the two of us playing tag.

I was ultimately able to keep Jim behind me, but we ran no more than a few car-lengths apart for most of the race. Great fun and it was great to see Jim back up chasing for the lead (it's been a tough year for him, compounded by both an upper-respitory infection and Pink-Eye this weekend).

As a result of my finishing positions in Friday's and Saturday's races, I started 11th overall on Sunday for the race that mattered. Carl Picelle was again the next GTS2 car, starting in the 18th spot. That sounds better than it was because the padding between us was mostly a bunch of much-faster cars who were stuck there as a result of my having been comparatively quick in the rain on Friday.

But it wasn't raining. These were dry conditions. Windy, but dry, where the fast cars are, well, fast.

On the start it was like I was the last guy to figure out the theatre was on fire as all the big horsepower cars bum-rushed around me, passing down both sides. Sooner than I would have believed, Carl was on my tail and the game was on.

We ran nose-to-tail for eight or ten laps with me pulling out a little space in the twistie bits and down the straights and Carl closing most of it right back up under braking. As the last race of the weekend, we were in the middle of Hurricane Ike's remnants, including wind gusts in the 60-70 mph range. It was windy enough that I realized Carl was catching me the most under braking in the one place we were running dead into the wind and that I, too, could go a lot deeper and use the wind to help slow the car.

That at least stopped the erosion of my lead. Then it was time to get some more breathing room.

After too many laps of watching Carl get ever-closer in the rear-view mirror, I finally settled down and said to myself, "OK, this is stupid. If you would just concentrate on the track instead of the mirror and string together a bunch of clean laps, he won't be able to keep up." I had been consistently fast all weekend in dry conditions and knew I could turn the quicker laps of the two of us. So, I put my head down, ignored the mirrors, and concentrated on going as fast and as cleanly around the track as I could.

As plans go, that proved to be a good one.

When the checkered flag finally fell, I had pulled out a 13-second lead with Jim Child biting hard at Carl's tail for a very-close-to-second-place third.

It was a very satisfying victory after what has been a great racing year for me with a win for every race I've finished...except the one I won and then had to give back because of a yellow-flag-pass DQ (Teddy...I understand your pain). So, that's 9 wins for 11 starts, with another couple still on the schedule.

A special thanks to my Dad. He and my Mom drove all the way up from Fort Myers, FL to be here and he in particular--just a week shy of 80 years young--was my pit crew all weekend. Back and forth between half-a-dozen spring and suspension changes as we chased the weather, checking tire pressures, recording setup notes, and helping with the other hundred things you have to do, Dad was both my my helper and my let's-go-watch-somebody-else-race-for-a-while buddy for the whole weekend.

It was cool because even though this pit crew stuff is relatively new to him, we've worked together on enough other projects over the years that we very quickly fell into a rhythm where we each knew what the other guy was going to do without having to spend a lot of time discussing it.

Having him with me made it all the more special as it's been a long time since we've had a chance to do things like this together (I continue to think he moved to Florida 11 years ago just so he could stop having to work on renovating my damned house). Having him and my Mom here, well, it couldn't have been better. Thanks for everything, Dad.

Also, many thanks to my sponsors, Wheel Medic, IFC Racing, and A Part Above, whose continuing support is greatly appreciated.

Next race: October 11-12 at Putnam Park in Indiana.

1. Jerry Carter09/16/2008 10:52:03 PM

Yeah! Congratulations! Great write up. Great tenacity from Brad and Carl, too.

2. Vitor Pereira09/17/2008 03:35:50 AM
Homepage: http://www.vitor-pereira.com

Congratulations! What a great weekend and what a great way to end the season.

3. David Leedy09/17/2008 07:57:26 AM
Homepage: http://www.lotusnotebook.com

Conrgratulations! What an awesome season!

4. Scott Good09/17/2008 08:41:32 AM
Homepage: http://www.scottgood.com

Thanks guys!

5. Charlie Burke09/17/2008 10:51:01 PM
Homepage: http://www.lotus.com

Congratulations on the win and championship!!! The boys (Grant & Russ) and I watched the whole race from the grandstands at the end of the back straight. You looked to be turning 100.40's for a while but it was hard to see on the scoreboard. About half way through the race you really started to pull away. It looked like a 8-10 second lead in the final laps. It was amazing how consistent you were on the hairpin at the end of the back straight. I should also compliment you on the paint job on the car. It stands out nicely when trying to pick you out of the crowd. I should also mention the grandstands at the back straight are the best place to see a race in my opinion. Other areas are nice as well, but you can see more of the track from that location than any other I have found.

The only thing you forgot to mention was the fun fact that all of the porta potties were blown over with the 60+ mph winds. The boys (12 and 8) got a huge kick out of it.

Anybody considering a trip to the track to watch Scott should definitely do it. You have full access to the track, pits, grandstands, heck you can even drive your car out to the middle of the track and grill out if you like. And the crowd is very well behaved. I went to the Indy / ALMS race earlier this year and it was great but this was better.

Anyway, congratulations again!!! You are the man!!!

6. Julia Heslop09/24/2008 04:27:22 PM

Congratulations!!! I thought about you as I drove south, then north, on 71 Saturday and Sunday between Cleveland and Columbus. Apparently I "got out of town" just in time with those winds.

Again, congratulations on a great season!

7. Byland Corbin10/05/2008 11:35:21 PM

There is something oddly sinister about your 'method'. You are angry with someone - or something - and are attempting to persuade 'us' to follow your lead. Some folks have great pipes, just don't own the opera house, and that is okay! Your talent is bubbling over - but who is the recipient of your anger - somebody close I'd bet. Anyway, where I come from we like to let the pasture decide when the day is over! Yea, I was in a fraternity - most of the guys in the fraternity with me were too! But, as science tells us every seven years we are an entirely new human being (on a cellular level) the past dies with time, and we never escape time - Oh, sorry to rain on the raceday - wasn't my idea of a joke!

8. Scott Good10/07/2008 08:41:23 AM
Homepage: http://www.scottgood.com

Um...have no idea what that means....