Instinct Racing

February 22, 2004- Willow Springs Raceway, Rosemond, Ca
Despite Last Lap Gremlins, Instinct Racing On The Podium Again..

Instinct Racing's Colin Cross, Marge Lundberg and Jim Petrek all attended round 4 of the 2004 So.Pac National @ Willow Springs Raceway this past weekend. The team showed up on Friday to find rain had heavily soaked the track, which sidelined any much needed testing that they wanted to do, as this was Marge and Jim first trip to Willow Spring, and Colin has not raced there since 1994.

A 25 min practice was all the team had to learn the track and take note of changes that needed to be made before the first qualifying. A green and cold track made it difficult to find grip throughout the session. The team decided not to make any changes as there was still uncertainly about the weather.

The first qualifying was quite interesting as heavy rain clouds were approaching the track as the session started. By lap 5 the rain started dropping on the track and creating a slick and slow track. All of the fast times were posted by lap 5, which saw Local Skip Streets taking the pole. Colin was second quick, Marge 4th and Jim 6th.

The second qualifying was Sunday morning at 8am. The rain that started during the first qualifying. Continued through the night and was getting heavier. The team decide to go out and run the session knowing that the times were going to be slower than the 1rst qualifier. "We need to work on a rain setup. "I haven't raced in the rain since 94, so I wanted to get some "wet" laps in before the race, as it looks like it is going to be a wet race today" Said Colin. Marge was the quickest of the session posting a time 1 second faster than next quick Colin. Jim 6th quick, continued to set up his car as this was the first outing for Jim and the freshly rebuilt car.

The rain poured as the cars sat on the grid. The group, a mix of 3 different classes. Formula Continentals (FC), Formula 500's (F500) and the Formula Vees. As the cars came down the straight to the green, the spray made it difficult to see the green. Colin broke into the lead followed by pole sitter Skip Streets, Mark Edwards and Marge Colin mixed it up for the next several laps with the FC's and F500's as he tried to put traffic between him and Skip. As the faster cars found their limits, they were able to break away from the Vees leaving a clear view. Colin out to a 2 second lead, quickly lost it as a spinning FC forced him to slow and avoid contact, giving up the lead to Skip. Skip, Colin and Marge broke away from the rest of the group. Jim fighting his ill handling car, stayed in contact with Stan Townes and Charlie Turner until he spun trying to advance his position. Meanwhile in the front Colin regained the lead, and led the next several laps, until another spinning FC forced Colin and Skip both to slow. Marge was able to capitalize on the situation and took the lead and led her first National race. Marge led the trio around for the next couple of laps. Colin worked his way past skip and then by Marge to regain the lead. The trio then started to duke it out as the checkered neared. The draft was in full effect as the rain had stopped and the track started to dry. An intermittent miss, that seemed to happen after the long sweeping corners 2 & 9, ruined any chances Colin had of making a break. With 2 laps to go, the pack of Skip, Colin and Marge crossed the line nose to tail. Colin got the pop and passed skip in turn 1 and took the lead. Marge closed on Skip, but started to lose ground as her car started to push as the track dried. With a several car lead, Colin came around toward the flag. As he exited turn 9 his car cut out for several seconds allowing skip to catch and pass Colin at the flag. Marge on a charge, closed up on Colin but was not able to pass him in time. Jim came home in 8th. A successful outing for the team. It was a challenge for them racing on a unfamiliar track, and racing in the rain, as there are very few rain races on the west coast.

The team will now have 3 weeks off before their next race at Thunderhill. It is the first out of division race. You count your best six races, and only 2 can come from outside your division.

Photo Credits-Ricardo Garcia