Race Report

WGGT, Round three, Sears Point Raceway

July 20 - 23, 2000

portrait of Terri Hundertmark The biggest thing that I learned this weekend was that in San Francisco, 10 minutes by car really means 1 hour and 10 minutes. You also have to be insane to deal with the traffic every day or you will go insane dealing with it. Don't get me wrong, San Francisco, California is beautiful but I am used to traffic jams in Indiana where the traffic still moves at 30 miles per hour not 30 minutes until you move.

Fortunately, we arrived in San Francisco with three hours until my Racing for Kids hospital visit at Children's Hospital Oakland. After standing in a rental car line for an hour, Tom Moore (my PR Dude, One Lap co-pilot and friend) and I were off to the hospital. With internet directions to the hospital in hand and two hours to spare we were off. Off to get lost that is, arriving at the hospital with only moments to spare.

really inspirational...

The Racing for Kids hospital visit was awesome. Mattel gave me "Hot Wheels" cars to give out along with our Racing for Kids hats. I also signed autographs and visited over fifty wonderful children. As usual the kids couldn't believe that a girl could race a car. They were really inspirational.

Promoters test day and practice was painful. It was hard to get back in the rhythm of driving after not being in a race car for three months. I had never been to Sears Point before and it was a hard track to quickly learn. The track is tricky. It has tight turns, elevation changes and blind corners all of which gave me trouble. Every lap I tried to push myself trying new lines to make the car feel better and handle better until I crashed in the Carousel. My car pushed on the track out of this turn with every lap. The more I accelerated at the apex, the more the car pushed until the last lap, when it pushed right into the dirt and the back end stepped out, slapped the tire wall. The damage wasn't bad, mostly just the body.

Saturday qualifying...

Qualifying on Saturday was frustrating too. I tried to go out of the pits spaced out but I quickly caught a few cars. I tried to get around them but it wasn't working so I decided to get a gap while pulling through the pits. Unfortunately my speed was excessive and I got the black flag and that brought me back in. I wasn't focused and had a horrible qualifying time. The car body was dragging on the ground when I entered the s-curves and the car compressed. I also had a horrible time shifting this car from 4th gear to 3rd gear.

I had to deal with the car for my second qualifying session because there wasn't enough time to fix it between sessions. I focused myself better and drove a very consistent session. By that time the track was hot and slick but I took 2 seconds plus off of my time. I had qualified 12th position for Sunday. It was going to be a difficult race!

Starting 12th Sunday, I knew that being consistent and just surviving was the key. I made it through the start and kept my position. Going through the carousel, a car spun and pushed itself up the hill. I missed it and pushed on. The pace car came out and we had to restart after the car was cleared. I had another safe restart and missed another spinning car at the uphill in turn 3. Staying consistent, I drove lap after lap. The car that spun on the first lap had gotten back underway and was pressing me. I let her by because she was two laps down and much faster than I.

she spun..

I followed her line trying to tag along and draft her. This worked until we had a slower car in front and I got stuck behind it for half a lap. Another competitor from behind was pressing on my bumper. This time it was for position. I checked my mirrors a few times and noticed that she was trying way too hard and was using up her tires smoking them in every turn. She dove under me in the hairpin and she was in way too hot for me to make a defensive move. I tried to repass her but it didn't work so I pressured her. By the time we got back to the hairpin turn onto the front straight, the pressure got to her. I set her up for a re-pass and she spun. By this point I kept consistent and finished the race in 10th place.

Another top 10, this was a good but I am a racer, I want more! My next Panoz race will be at Texas Motor Speedway on September 2. I am currently in 8th place, 2 points out of a tie for 6th.

With a "1/2 trip" to the airport and 1-1/2 to do it in, I thought I'd be safe. But with Sunday traffic, my white-knuckled co-pilot Tom had to drop me off on the curb and turn the rental car in because we made it with only three minutes until my plane took off. Wow, there is nothing like being a race car driver in San Francisco traffic! Tom may never ride with me again!

--Terri Hundertmark

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