M758

With the growth of 944 spec around the country you may as what does it take to win? Do you need some amazing car towed by a 40 ft motorhome and 5 man pit crew. Well while a 40 ft motorhome certainly makes the experience nice, driver skill not the size of the tow rig is what work in 944 spec.

Case in point Mr Norman Hamden. Norm hails from Sedona Arizona and is known as one of the fastest 944 spec drivers in the country. The biggest race of the 2008 season for many west coast racers was held at Miler Motorsport Park just outside Salt Lake City Utah this June. So in an era of $4 a gallon regulay unleaded and $5 a gallon diesel how does a grassroots racer make the biggest race of the year on a budget?

Well simply DRIVE THE RACE CAR! The 20 mpg tow vehicle.




Norm drove his race car some 600+ miles each way to Miller from his Sedona home. As for how this impacts on track performance. Norm had 1 win, 1 track record and 1 second place finish vs 25 of the best 944 spec racers in the country. Not too bad I guess.

Drewsifer

Oh, my, god. That so wild! Maybe I don't need a tow vehicle after all! But what I want to know is how comfortable was he making that drive? Obviously it wasn't to terrible.

chilix

Like club racing should be...back in the early/mid 90's i saw 944 guys just drive the car with the tires and tools already in the car, no trailer...

My 944 spec car is about ready to hit the track after a year of planning and work and weighing at 2300 empty, it should be a great car...it will be refreshing to have a new car to learn though my PCA B (former I) 944 is still a blast to drive...

Jay Gratton

That is the best thing about Porsches, you can drive them to the track, pound the hell out of them and then drive them home. I would like to see a Italian do that!

Darwantae951

To me, that's what a Porsche is (and what my great uncle always said), it's a car you can drive to the track, be competitive in, and drive home in.

Jay Gratton

Beat you to it! Great minds think a like.

Darwantae951

Potomac-Greg

Grassroots Motorsports should do a story on this. It's inspirational and a great story.

UncleMaz

Thank you for posting Joe. Very inspirational.

V2Rocket

20mpg? maybe if he floored it the whole way

hell a stocker at ~3000lbs will get 30+ mpg, something that weighs 600lbs less should be enormous gains

joonas

If you do not spin #2. It has happened to me, twice.

Sterling Doc

The rod bearings are a known issue with known, reliable fixes - how long have you been running the same motor, Joe? Your performance with this "old" motor was none to shabby yourself - at least one pole, and running in the top 3 all weekend.

Back to Norm - he is an "ironman" and a gentleman - very much a class act - nice to see such a great guy and racer represent us so well. One of the great things is the room 944's have to put stuff in, and their good fuel economy on and off the track. With the 21 gallon tank, Norm could make it the 600 miles on just one tank of gas, even towing.

Now that NASA is doing more endurance racing, that range is useful on the track as well. I just completed a 3 hour enduro with just one 5 gallon splash - a significant advantage over other cars that had to make on more fuel, or make more than one stop (NASA pit stops are not a set time).

Here's norm getting a victory "bath"

dmalo810

This is a great story. It shows that bigger isn't always better. It's all about being smooth and skill.
One time I was racing at Road Atlanta and a big Transporter pulls up next to me in the paddock. Expecting some fantastic car and gear to come rolling out (oops, mean lifted out), instead came a p.o.s. Honda, beat to hell. Thinking, okay this must be their paddock car and grocery getter. I waited and waited to see something like a GT3 Cup car or open wheel car to come rolling out, but nothing. Curiosity got the better of me so I walked over and peeked in the trailer and to my surprise, the trailer, it was empty.

shiners780

I like the victory splash picture above. Nothing like clobbering the guy with full bottles of water.

M758

Yeah he said he got 19mpg on the way there. 90 mph and trailer on backroads iwith multple mtn passes eats up mileage.