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.

Veloce Raptor

AWESOME!!!!!

aeshultz

Great story, Joe. I also drive my 944 Spec to and (usually) from the track, although, unlike Norm, I usually finish at the back.

early_grayce

Very cool

DJF1

On my very first race I drove my race car to the track with my wife in the car on my race tires ( MPSC's)

993inNC

Hell, I don't drive my car to a DE, let alone a race! There's no way I'd drive to a race. Not meant as a flame, if you can drive to and from with racing in the middle, you can't be going that fast or competing that hard (just my opinion). There's just way to any things that can go wrong to take the risk of driving what you race.

SeaCay

Hmmmmm.

trackjunky

This is what racing is supposed to be. What a fantastic story.

I'm sure everyone else that raced against Norm realizes that they got schooled! Dude shows that it's not the size of the budget nor the fancy set up, but pure talent.

AWESOME!!!

Mark in Baltimore

Sorry, Chris, but if a driver is good enough, he or she can kick *** in a car that can be driven to the track. Gregg Wilson regularly drives his 911SC to the track and wins . . . on Kumhos. Yes, the field in F is pretty deep.

race911

Ah yes, life before trucks and tow rigs.......

One time I went up to Portland and Seattle with 4 mounted tires, pretty much all my tools/jack/stands, two weeks worth of clothes and golf clubs in my '79 SC. No roof rack, all inside or in the front. To top it off, I also took an engine case with me for the first couple hundred miles up to my uncle's shop so I could timesert it and true the spigots and bores.

DJF1

My biggest challenge was to fit everything in the car needed for the weekend. Can it be done? absolutely. As everyone says its the nut behind the wheel mostly... With a small tire/tool trailer you can do it, but my biggest fear ( which led me to get a trailer and it came true by the way) was in case of an accident what do you do? If I did not have my trailer at Sebring it would have cost me an arm and a leg to ship the car back to Houston, not to mention the frustration etc... For me that is the biggest reason to get a trailer.

M758

Clearly you have not been racing against Norman.

This guy is very fast in anything he drives. His is also a bit crazy so that helps too.


Yeah the biggest fear was some sort of mechanical on the way to the track, at the track or going home. He had plenty of support at the track and I had is back on the way home.

Ok not really as he left the track sunday evening after 3 days and drove home straight through the night. Got home at 2am or something. I was towing back from Miller and stopped over night and finished the drive Monday. I did tell him to call me if he ran into any issues and I would come to help.

So he did have a safety net consisting of alot o friends.

993inNC

Sure hadn't. And I certainly wouldn't base a practice on one guy's .......luck, sucess, ability, whatever you want to call it. Danny brings my point up, what happens when there's a mechanical failure, forget the racing aspect, and you are 500 miles from home? IMO, you're just asking for "IT" by driving what you race to and from the track. Like I said, I'm not flaming anyone here.....to each their own, I just think its absolutely nuts

arrivederci

Same can be said for trailer and tow rig. Many a story have been told of people having the racecar run perfectly and the rig/trailer causing issues. Trailer maintenance is usually the first thing to slip when you're scrambling to get the car ready for the weekend.

993inNC

You're absolutely right, but proper maintenance and being well prepared with spare tires etc, will keep the hassle down to a minimum. You blow a motor at the track in the car you came in/raced............you're screwed!
I'll take my chances with my tow and rig any day