Cris Hits the Crest at CNS
by Paul Bredenberg

A small but competitive group of seven CARC mod coupes hit the 3/8 mile oval pavement of Colorado National Speedway for the evening of September 10th. Under clear and warm conditions, Gary Land (#55) led the charge in practice with a blistering 16.133 second lap followed by new recruit Darren Robertson supplanting Ronnie Hults in the Waltmeyer's 09 coupe with a 13.289, followed by Chad Guilford (#24) with a 16.612, Jaime Bubak (#12) pulling a 16.629, her Dad Rich with a 16.655 and Eric "Blackie" Blackard (#46) coming in with a 16.919. I did not see a time for Cris Muhler's #95, but suffice it to say that he was fast enough. So less than one second covered the entire field. Practice times, of course, do not count for points at CNS, so these are just for information.

The perfect weather precluded what was to become quite an exercise in frustration for many of our dedicated drivers. The first heat rolled out shortly after 5:00pm, with Muhler on the pole next to Sammy Gallo III's GAM followed by two GAMs on the second row, Guilford and another GAM on the third and Land sharing the fourth and final row with Blackard. The white #3 GAM was again piloted by our friend and second-generation driver Kelly Balderston, who was starting outside of the second row. Kelly has informed me that he would genuinely LOVE to race with the CARC next year in a mod coupe but needs to sell the GAM first, so if you know anybody looking for a Grand American Modified, have them see Kelly, so we can absorb him into the Club. His mother, Jean, was a multiple Powder Puff champion at Lakeside in the 1950's and 1960's, and his father Larry raced during that era.

At the start, Muhler unsurprisingly shot into a big lead and Land and Guilford moved up quickly along the inside lane. Land moved into second place on lap two, but Guilford had a bit of a time getting around Gallo's GAM. Balderston had a visible "push" problem. Land was hurtling his car around the CNS oval as hard as he could and was making inroads on Muhler's lead but the ten laps ran out with Muhler holding down first followed by Land, Guilford, Blackard, Gallo and Balderston, who freely admits he doesn't have enough ponies for the larger track. He's used to racing at I-25 in Pueblo.

The second heat exited the pits around 6:30pm with the skies still perfectly clear and still warm. Jaime Bubak's main goal was to finish high enough to keep the points battle with Land as close as possible, as was her Dad's. Rich, however, was going to have a harder row to hoe since Jaime was starting on the front row and he was starting from the inside of row three, next to Robertson. The other four cars in the 10-lapper were GAM's. At the start, the field kept fairly closely bunched down the backstretch, and in turn three, a puff of smoke indicated that some contact had occurred. Sadly, it was Jaime Bubak's left rear tire, which made contact with a GAM who was making a desperate attempt to stay inside of her. The GAM's right front wing tore into Jaime's left rear sidewall and damaged the tire. Rich held back, attempting to inform Jaime of the car's infirmity. Jaime realized after a lap or so that there was terminal trouble and headed for the pits. This left only Rich and Darren as the only mod coupes left in the race. Coming from a large disadvantage due to time lost trying to communicate with Jaime, Rich then got the bit between his teeth and charged through the back half of the field, trying to make up for lost time on the two leading GAMs but ran out of time. On lap seven, he moved through up to third place overall (first place CARC) but that was as far as he would get. Final CARC order was Rich, Robertson and Jaime credited with third, so she only lost one point to Land through the heat races.

Between heats and the main, I had an opportunity to chat with Clarence Krieger, recently inducted into the CARC Hall of Fame. He's looking for a mod coupe to run and wants a full-bodied (not narrowed) car, so if you know of one that's reasonably priced, look me up for Clarence's number. He indicated to me that he wants to race it himself, and that would be something to see! I also chatted with Jerry Lee Maguire, who is a frequent submitter to AutoRacingMemories.com. Gary Land was adjusting a loose left rear wheel bearing and Jaime's crew had already installed a new left rear tire and wheel on the 12 machine, along with freeing up a sticking shift mechanism. With a forlorn "Maybe we'll have some luck sometime", she wasn't expecting a terrific result in the main. Prophetic words, indeed. Rich Bubak, meanwhile, had some smoke coming out of his ears as he was upset with some of the GAMs who were making contact with our cars. I was looking forward to seeing Rich run with some reckless abandon, as he usually drives with his head and keeps cool. I wanted to see him knot things up for the Sammy Gallo Memorial Trophy and he was to start from the pole position, so anything was possible. If you haven't met Jim Mitchell, one of the track MRO Chaplains, I would suggest you do, as he's a great guy and will pray with anybody! I also introduced myself to Darren Robertson, who told me how much fun the mod coupe was compared to the late models he usually runs. He explained that they aren't as heavy and react much quicker. You can also drive much deeper into the turns with a coupe than a late model. He was having a ball with it, and will be chauffeur in the black and pink machine for the rest of the 2011 season. Missing tonight were both Bredeson brothers. Theron is content with his 5th place in the point standings, which is pretty unassailable and the rookie of the year position, which is also pretty well nailed down for him. He's not sure if the car will run the rest of the year. Jim Bredeson was unable to procure a tow vehicle to get the car to the track at the last minute. Matt Devich was also absent as he has taken possession of his new chassis for next year and decided to spend the rest of this season building the new car to prep for the upcoming season. We didn't hear from Shon Flick, Don Hoselton, or Mike Wood.

The main lined up after an extremely exciting and close F8 finish (Jared "Wally" Wall won by a nostril), the cars came out at exactly 7:30pm. The sun was dipping behind the few clouds above the mountains and it was certain we'd finish under the lights. Rich Bubak and Guilford shared the front row with Land outside of a GAM on row two, Muhler right behind him outside of another GAM on row three, two GAMs on four, two more on five, Blackard and Robertson sharing row six, and Jaime sharing row seven putside of Sammy Gallo III. Balderston was alone in the last row.

At the start, Rich charged into the first lead with Guilford slotted in behind him. Chad, I'm sure, was pleased that he wouldn't have to work his way through some GAMs to get up front. Jaime, on the other hand, had a long way to go to protect the close points race, but with 25 laps, anything could happen. Muhler had lamented that Gary was faster tonight and he didn't think he'd win. I wasn't so sure. Nobody knows their way around the CNS oval better than Cris, and when his car is just close, he's amazing. Anyway, Rich started pulling away immediately and Land found himself boxed in behind Guilford and one of the GAMs who were neck and neck. Then it all came apart in turn three on lap two. Darren Robertson lifted his foot to enter the turn only to find to his shock that the accelerator had gotten stuck UNDER the throttle stop on the floor! While he decelerated, the car did not! He tried desperately to make the car stick through the turn since there wasn't time to do anything else. He made contact with the other #3 GAM (not Balderston) and somehow, Jaime Bubak was T-boned on the right side of the car. Damage looked bad. During the yellow caution period, however, Rich pulled Jim Thorne's #20 Vicky up against the wall right between turns one and two. I was looking for fluid or something; I couldn't figure out why he'd stopped. The tow truck came and lifted the front of the car and took it to the pits, along with Jaime's and Darren's cars. As I looked into the pits, I could see a front steering or suspension rod dragging on the ground under the 20 car. I suspected a tie rod. Jaime's crew flew into action, seeing what they could do for the 12 car. This could be a major blow to both Bubak's championship hopes. The rear end of the 09 car was damaged.

The end result of all this is that Guilford was installed in the lead with Land right behind him. Muhler was in fourth overall behind one GAM. After a terminal cleanup period, the race was finally restarted on lap two and Guilford tried hard to hold station at the front but Land moved up and past with Muhler in tow. From the stands it looked like a real tight formation of the three cars and I found out later that there had been some contact between Land and Guilford, and Chad fell back a little. Jaime Bubak re-entered the race on lap five and ran decent laps although far behind. Muhler pulled up outside of Land on lap six and I was anticipating a long hard battle for the lead. Not so much. They did run side by side for about two laps and it was fun to watch but it was obvious that Muhler ("We tried a few things on the car, but I don't expect too much tonight") got it right and stormed into his customary lead position. Looking at Jaime's car, the right side of the body was bashed in and the kickoff was removed. The exhaust pipe was hitting the ground at times but there was no danger of anything falling off. Incidentally, I enjoyed watching Gallo and Balderston battle for position for awhile as I had watched both of their forerunners race against each other about fifty years ago. Yeah, I'm THAT old. . . .

The excitement was about over now as Muhler used the remaining laps as an exhibition run although he had a bit of a pucker moment the first time he came up to lap Gallo, who didn't see him coming and moved in front of Muhler exiting turn four. Cris had to back off hard and move from the outside to the inside to get clear before Sammy knew what was happening. Once clear of traffic, it was all over but the crying! Land was now running a lonely second place and Guilford ran third, about a half lap back from Land. The final CARC placings were Muhler, Land, Guilford, Blackard, and Jaime with Rich and Robertson credited with sixth and seventh respectively. Not a stellar night for the Bubaks, by any means.

In the pits afterwards, I found that Rich's front panhard bar bracket had broken loose from the frame. This caused the front axle to roll, disconnecting the steering gear from the u-joint connecting it to the steering column! Rich told me that if it hadn't been on a yellow, "They would have still been scraping me off the turn one wall". He wanted to credit the full moon or whatever, but I'll tell ya, Rich, God wanted to keep you around for another night! Muhler was philosophical, saying that he really wasn't expecting to win, but the four victories now has him with a little breathing room for the Gallo trophy with only three nights of racing scheduled left to go. With questionable weather possible in October, it's time to make a run for it! Jaime was not too unhappy, as she still finished fifth and only lost a few points to Land, as did Rich for placing sixth. A little bit of luck, good or bad, is all that one will need to grab that championship as 2011 heads for a close. Guilford was understandably unhappy with his finish and we wonder what kind of "luck dance" we'll need to see at the 24 pits to get Chad another main event victory this year. He's certainly been in the running and looking smooth. Gary Land was just happy to emerge from the evening still in the points lead, and I didn't catch up with Blackie until he was already strapped in his SuperStock for the final main event of the night. He admitted that they just missed the setup, and that he still isn't used to watching the left front wheel lift off the ground as he exits the turns. That's because it's not supposed to, Blackie!

Our next race meet will be at CNS again on September 24th and things are really heating up! Plans for our annual banquet will be moving ahead soon and new members will be inducted into the CARC Hall of Fame. Keep in mind those you would like to nominate. We have some drivers currently running with us that will deserve HoF consideration in the future! That Gallo trophy sure would look good on anybody's mantlepiece! Looking forward to seeing you at CNS in two weeks' time!