Laguna Seca - April 2014 (Round 9 and 10 West)
The Hoosier Tire US Formula 1000 Championship West held the final two rounds at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca this past weekend. Although Larry Vollum had already clinched the championship, the cash prizes for 2nd through 5th were still to be decided. At the beginning of the weekend John LaBrie was solidly in second ahead of Randy Cook, then Gary Hickman in fourth. However, the final standings are determined by each driver's best 8 finishes, so the standings would not be determined until the final checkered flag. Jose Gerardo made his series debut in convincing fashion by putting his Stohr on the pole for round 9. Duane Eitel blew an engine in qualifying, forcing him to miss the first race of the weekend.
Final Qualifying grid for Round 9
| 1 |
Jose Gerardo |
(1:27.209) |
| 2 |
Tyler Thielmann |
(1:27.702) |
| 3 |
Larry Vollum |
(1:28.936) |
| 4 |
Gary Hickman |
(1:29.465) |
| 5 |
Rod Rice |
(1:31.570) |
| 6 |
John LaBrie |
(1:31.621) |
| 7 |
Randy Cook |
(1:31.754) |
| 8 |
Ross Wolf |
(1:33.289) |
| 9 |
Remington Hudson |
(1:36.804) |
| 10 |
Duane Eitel |
(1:42.817) |
Sunny skies and 74 degree temperatures greeted the 56 cars gridded for the multi-class Group 2 field, among them ten drivers competing in the US Formula 1000 West Championship.
Intermixed among P1, P2 and FA card (the 19 FMs were having a split start behind the main group) was the Formula 1000 field, virtually guaranteeing exciting racing from the drop of the green flag as the competitors would have to not only battle each other but the other classes as well.
As expected, the start did not disappoint, with Jose Gerado leading Gary Hickman through Turn 2 followed by Larry Vollum and the rest of the field. Amazingly enough, all 59 cars made it through Turn 2 without incident. The pack was tightly bunched, however, and as they exited the corkscrew Gerado was forced to pull off track with bent suspension and Hickman assumed the lead with Vollum on his rear wing. Rod Rice was a few cars back in third followed by John LaBrie with Randy Cook right on his tail.
The race saw some attrition, with Tyler Thielmann dropping out in the early going with a timing chain failure in the first two laps followed by another engine failure, this time for LaBrie, who saw his race end on the sixth lap as his engine detonated just past the exit of Turn 5. This allowed Cook to assume 4th, which was the way the race would finish.
Hickman and Vollum put on an epic battle for the entire race, with Hickman using the traffic to his advantage and Vollum doing everything he could to stay on his wing and wait for a mistake to occur. They battled for all 15 laps but Gary never put a wheel wrong and at the checker it was Hickman with Vollum a few seconds behind followed by Rod Rice taking the final podium spot.
Full results for round 9 at Laguna Seca:
| 1 |
Gary Hickman |
| 2 |
Larry Vollum |
| 3 |
Rod Rice |
| 4 |
Randy Cook |
| 5 |
Ross Wolf |
| 6 |
Duane Eitel |
| DNF |
Tyler Thielmann |
| DNF |
John LaBrie |
| DNF |
Jose Gerardo |
| DNS |
Remington Hudson |
| Prize Fund for Round 9 |
| 1st Place |
Gary Hickman |
4 Hooser Tires,
1 Pair Hyperco Springs |
| 2nd Place |
Larry Vollum |
2 Hoosier Tires,
$50 Hyperco Certificate |
| 3rd Place |
Rod Rice |
1 Hoosier Tire,
$25 Hyperco Certificate,
$25 Sprocket Specialists Certificate
|
| 5th Place |
Alex Mayer |
$15 Sprocket Specialsts Certificate |
| Pole |
Jose Gerardo
(1:27.209) |
1 Hoosier Tire |
| Fastest Lap |
Jose Gerardo
(1:27.108) |
50% off Sprocket Specialists |
| Random Drawing #1 |
Jose Gerardo |
1 Hoosier Tire |
| Random Drawing #2 |
Randy Cook |
1 Hoosier Tire |
| Random Drawing #3 |
Ross Wolf |
1 Free Sprocket from Sprocket Specialists |
| Sunoco Hard Charger |
Duane Eitel |
$150 Cash payout (moved up 4 positions) |
Qualifying for round 10 was held just a few hours after the race so Thielmann and LaBrie were unable to participate. Gerardo’s crew were able to make repairs in time and he rewarded them by putting his car back on the front row. However, the pole went to Larry Vollum who broke into the 1:26s with a fast lap of 1:26.646.
Final grid for Round 10
| 1 |
Larry Vollum |
(1:26.646) |
| 2 |
Jose Gerardo |
(1:27.292) |
| 3 |
Gary Hickman |
(1:28.596) |
| 4 |
Randy Cook |
(1:28.671) |
| 5 |
Ross Wolf |
(1:29.527) |
| 6 |
Rod Rice |
(1:29.809) |
| 7 |
Remington Hudson |
(1:37.027) |
| 8 |
John LaBrie |
no time |
| 9 |
Duane Eitel |
no time |
| 10 |
Tyler Thielmann |
no time |
Right from the start of the 10th and final race of the regular season, Jose Gerardo was determined to make up for yesterday’s DNF. On the opening lap he made his move on Larry Vollum to take the lead. Vollum stuck with him and was never less than a second behind. Gary Hickman held 3rd but was also being hounded by Randy Cook and Ross Wolf. On lap 3, Cook made his move and got around Hickman. The top five ran in that same order for the next several laps until a full course caution came out on lap 9. This allowed the field to bunch up and when the race restarted on lap 12, Hickman attacked Cook and reclaimed the third spot. However, in the restart traffic, Vollum had contact with a P1 car, damaging his wing and spinning out of second, promoting Hickman to second, Cook to third, and Rod Rice to fourth. Vollum was able to rejoin the race in fifth but wasn’t able to challenge for fourth. For the remaining four laps Hickman was chasing down Gerardo for his second win of the weekend but ran out of time. Gerardo took his first series win of the season and Hickman had to settle for second. Rod Rice once again took the third step on the podium. After the race, Vollum was penalized for improving his position on the pace lap and dropped to 7th place, elevating LaBrie to 5th.
Round 10 Race results:
1. Jose Gerardo
2. Gary Hickman
3. Rod Rice
4. Randy Cook
5. John LaBrie
7. Larry Vollum
DNF-Remington Hudson
DNF-Tyler Thielmann
DNF-Ross Wolf
DNS-Duane Eitel
Prize payout- round 10
| Prize Fund for Round 10 |
| 1st Place |
Jose Gerardo |
4 Hooser Tires,
1 Pair Hyperco Springs |
| 2nd Place |
Gary Hickman |
2 Hoosier Tire,
$50 Hyperco Certificate |
| 3rd Place |
Rod Rice |
1 Hoosier Tire,
$25 Hyperco Certificate,
$25 Sprocket Specialists Certificate |
| 5th Place |
John LaBrie |
$15 Sprocket Specialsts Certificate |
| Pole |
Larry Vollum
(1:26.646) |
1 Hoosier Tire |
| Fastest Lap |
Alex Mayer
(1:26.320) |
50% off Sprocket Specialists |
| Random Drawing #1 |
Larry Vollum |
1 Hoosier Tire |
| Random Drawing #2 |
Duane Eitel |
1 Hoosier Tire |
| Random Drawing #3 |
Duane Eitel |
1 Free Sprocket from Sprocket Specialists |
| Sunoco Hard Charger |
Rod Rice |
$150 Cash payout (moved up 3 positions) |
Championship Final
By virtue of completely sweeping the prior six races, Larry Vollum clinched the West Championship at The Ridge in August. After today, finished the season with a total of 210 points. Behind him, the standings weren’t decided until the checkered flag at Laguna Seca. Randy Cook had two solid finishes while LaBrie DNFed on Saturday, which gave second place to Cook. Hickman did all he could at Laguna but had to settle for fourth in the Championship while Ross Wolf had a consistent season to finish 5th.
| Final West points |
| 1 |
Larry Vollum |
210 |
| 2 |
Randy Cook |
154 |
| 3 |
John LaBrie |
145 |
| 4 |
Gary Hickman |
140 |
| 5 |
Ross Wolf |
101 |
| 6 |
JR Osborne |
70 |
| 7 |
Duane Eitel |
60 |
| 8 |
Nicholas Ortiz |
49 |
| 9 |
Rod Rice |
37 |
| 10 |
Jose Gerardo |
29 |
| Prize Fund |
| Larry Vollum |
$3,000 |
| Randy Cook |
$2,000 |
| John LaBrie |
$1,000 |
| Gary Hickman |
$750 |
| Ross Wolf |
$500 |
Next Up
Another $3,000 is up for grabs to the nationwide Hoosier Tire US Formula 1000 Champion when all the drivers convene at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the SCCA National Championship Runoffs. Points are double for the big finale so there are several drivers that have the opportunity to take home the big prize!
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