November Velocity Magazine - Issue 23-11

Chuckwalla

Note from the Editor:

Well, this month we finally made our way back to Chuckwalla, and in grand fashion. There were a lot of cars competing on the track and certainly no lack of frivolity in the pits...check out Luis Vivar’s photos!

Then read all about the action in Darin Moore’s and Steve Eisler’s articles in this issue of Velocity. Also, Steve Town reports on another one of our esteemed sponsor’s, Prestige Air Group. And finally, see what’s new coming down the line from Porsche. Enjoy!

Don

Returning to 24h Le Mans

VELOCITY Staff

Editor / Art Director

Don Matz

Contributing Writers

Darin Moore

Steve Eisler

Steve Town

Contributing Photographers

Luis Vivar

Océane Monje

POC Board of Directors

John Momeyer President

Scott Craig Treasurer

Jim Salzer Secretary / PDS Director

Joe Wiederholt VP Motorsports

Dwain Dement Chief Driving Instructor

Eben Benabe Time Trial Director

Steve Town Sponsorship

CHUCKWALLA

RUNNING WITH THE LIZARD

The article’s title is of course a cheeky reference to a Van Halen mega hit. As you probably know, a chuckwalla is a lizard. Wikipedia describes a chuckwalla as “A stocky, wide bodied lizard with flattened midsection.” Sounds a lot like a race car, doesn’t it? Wide track, low center of gravity, combined with an aerodynamic body. Stocky isn’t a great attribute for a race car, but since our GT classes are weight and horsepower classes, we can always add HP to offset our “stockiness,” right? We can learn a lot about race car development from our reptilian friends. No wonder they named a race track after them!

Our annual race weekend at Chuckwalla has a different vibe than the other events on the calendar. It is unique in that it is the only track that offers cabins on the race track property, and doesn’t offer much of anything in the way of food and lodging within 50 miles, with Indio being the closest. As a result, the vast majority of racers never leave the track facility all weekend. Lots of RV’s, folks camping, bonfires at the cabins, potluck dinners, etc. The feeling of camaraderie is unique, and really special.

At POC we do a lot of desert racing, which at Chuckwalla in November means cool mornings, and potentially very warm and windy afternoons. This race weekend was no different. I found myself wearing my race suit to the Saturday driver’s meeting just to keep warm, then later in the day It hit 96 degrees in the pits just before the Red Group race. No surprises for anyone who has raced in the land of the lizard!

Saturday race recap

The Red Group didn’t take to the track Saturday until 3:45 pm, which is the hottest time of day at Chuckwalla. While the track was a little slippery, the racing was as close as it gets…..all four GT class races were won by less than 3 seconds! In GT1, Mike Monsalve battled hard with Loren Beggs all race, and managed to take the checkered flag by a mere 0.838 second margin. The GT2 battle featured Razvan Sporea besting Ana Predescu by 1.95 seconds. In the highly competitive GT3 class, Brett Gaviglio topped Eben Benade by 1.65 seconds, while GT4 saw Chet Kolley victorious over Jim Salzer by 2.32 seconds. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen such close racing in all four GT classes in the same race!

The Orange Group races twice on Saturday. Race 1 featured a familiar face in the BSR winner’s circle, Anders Hainer. Nick Khilnani and Chris Bason rounded out the podium. GT5 was won comfortably by Dwain Dement, while Paul Young took the honors in GT7 in a two car field. Orange Group race 2 was the young guys chance to shine, as James McLoughlin won the BSR race, Riley Giacomazzi placed 2nd, and Mark Smith took 3rd. GT5 was again won easily by Dwain Dement, and Paul Young doubled up by winning again in GT7.

Sunday race recap

Sunday’s weather brought a carbon copy of Saturday’s…….. hot, and of course dry. While the racing was not nearly as close as Saturday’s, the podiums featured many similarities to Saturday’s finishes. In GT1 Loren Beggs turned the tables, this time beating Mike Monsalve. Ravzan Sporea took his 2nd win of the weekend easily in GT2, Brett Gaviglio won again in GT3, followed onto the podium by Eben Benade and Duane Selby. Chet Kolley made it a double win weekend by beating points leader Jim Salzer.

The Orange Group race on Sunday was another huge field of cars, as it always is. That said, Anders Hainer, who retired in race 2 on Saturday, held off the field and seemed to have the race under control from lap 1, with a a bit of a challenge coming from James McLoughlin, who finished 2nd. Chris Bason took the bronze. GT5 was won by the speedy Aspasia Zouras, who beat the guys for the win. Randy Bergum won GT7, as Paul Young was unable to finish the race.

As the sun set earlier on Sunday, due to the time change that weekend, we said goodbye to another fantastic weekend of racing at Chuckwalla. The flowing, technical track brought out the best in all of us, as it always does. Next up, the season finale at Big Willow.

ORANGE & RED

RACERS

Chuckwalla TT and PDS

STEVE EISLER

POC racers, time trial drivers, and PDS students gathered near aptly named Desert Center CA for a weekend of wearing out tires and burning gas while going nowhere on November 3, 4, and 5. Desert Center is on Interstate 10, halfway between Indio and Blythe and a few miles from the 17-turn, 2.68-mile-long Chuckwalla Valley Raceway. Since Chuckwalla can be driven clockwise or counter-clockwise, an open track day was offered on Friday, in addition to the regular POC schedule on Saturday and Sunday to help drivers learn the course. Running counter-clockwise all weekend, featured two uphill blind corners, turn 11 at the start of the back straight and turn 9 at the end of the back straight. Add the 10-degree, banked turn 13 (The Bowl) and you have a very interesting course.

I had an initial advantage over some of the 32 other Time Trial drivers because PCA San Diego Region races at Chuckwalla at least twice a year, and I have driven counter-clockwise at least 6 weekends, including 3 track days two weeks before the POC event. My advantage was short-lived as the other drivers learned the course quickly and were passing me by the second or third session. I shared Garmin video of my best lap on Friday’s test day with Dan Aspesi, and that produced an interesting discussion on driving the line versus driving the car.

In one of Bryan Van Noy’s Full Throttle Racing videos he discusses NOT driving the line at the exit of a corner but letting the exit speed of the car naturally carry you to the edge of the track at exit. Dan pointed out that I was not getting close to the rumble strips at the exit of turns 15 and 13 and suggested that I drive out to the edge of the track to learn what it looks like and feels like. Then start adding more speed earlier in the turn so that the car reaches the optimal line due to centripetal force, not due to driving there. I discussed this with Bryan, and he said that if you want to be safe and slow, you do not drive the line. Going to the edge of the track on each corner exit makes the track longer. Your time would be better just driving the shortest route on the inside of the track. Go faster and your car will move away from the inside of the track, closer to “the line”. The line is the fastest way around the track. To follow it, your exit speed must be high enough to push the car to the track edge where you can hear your tires going over the rumble strips. Any slower and you are not on the line, any faster and you will have tires in the dirt!

I drove the car to the line for a session, and then worked on accelerating sooner to let the speed of the car move it to the edge of the track. I had one lap when I heard the tires going over the rumble strips at turn 15, but I never reached the strips in turn 13. On my last run Sunday, I again reached the rumble strip at 15, but was going too fast and dropped 2 wheels into the dirt. I tried to continue straight and get back onto the track, but the rear end came around and I spun off-track. I realize that the racers and many of the Time Trialers have mastered the concept of using the whole track without ‘driving’ the car to the outer edge of the track, but I wanted to discuss the concepts for those who are still struggling with getting the most out of their cars as I am.

SATURDAY

1 Alberto Abreu Boxter Spec02:00.539

1 Roberto Spadaro GT101:53.582

1 Todd Trimble GT201:59.297

1 Gerrit Wesseling GT301:54.267

1 Bruce Guarino GT402:02.155

1 CR Dutch GT501:55.313

1 Mike Avitt Modified 201:52.063

1 Jack Apelbaum Modified 301:56.773

1 Vivek Hazari Modified 402:02.369

1 Rumi Faizer Stock 302:04.597

1 Christopher Chisholm Stock 402:05.036

SUNDAY

1 Kirk Fertitta Boxter Spec02:04.708

1 Roberto Spadaro GT101:50.512

1 Gerrit Wesseling GT301:52.388

1 Roberto Spadaro GT101:27.958

1 Bruce Guarino GT402:02.432

1 CR Dutch GT501:55.594

1 Mike Avitt Modified 201:51.187

1 Jack Apelbaum Modified 301:55.205

1 Vivek Hazari Modified 402:03.388

1 Christopher Chisholm Stock 402:07.126

On Saturday there were 12 cars that broke the 2:00 minute mark, led by Mike Avitt in class M2 driving a 2019 GT3RS to a TTOD of 1:52.063. He was followed by Roberto Spadaro, GT1, 2018 991.2 Cup Car, 1:53.582; Gerrit Wesseling, GT3, 2016 GT3, 1:54.267; and CR Dutch, GT5, 2016 Boxster, 1:55.313. They were followed closely by the top two drivers in the Point by Passing group: Kelly Tribolet, GT3, 2016 GT4 Clubsport, 1:56.082 and Angela Avitt, M2, 2015 GT3, 1:56.377. Alberto Abreu driving a Boxster Spec just missed the 2:00 minute mark with a 2:00.580.

Everyone seemed to improve their times on Sunday with Roberto Spadaro turning in the best time of the weekend, 1:50.512. Mike Avitt was second at 1:51.187, Gerrit Wesseling, third, 1:52.388, then Kelly Tribolet, 1:54.472. Others under 1:56.00 included Nathan Aplebaum, M2, 2021 911 Turbo S, 1:54.776; Jack Aplebaum, M3, 2022 Camero SS1 1LE, 1:55.205; Bob Gartland, GT3, 2020 718 GT4 Clubsport, 1:55.253; and Angela Avitt improving to a 1:55.790.

This weekend we were pleased to welcome 11 PDS drivers, some of whom were making their first trip to a real track, to the first phase of POC’s progression to club racing. Angela Avitt had an opportunity to meet several of them and report on their POC experience.

Steve Nguyen is currently the President of the PCA Los Angeles region and has been auto-crossing for 5 years. He just rejoined POC this year so that he could drive his 2018 991.2 GTS on the track and recorded an amazing 2:01.000.

Monte Greenspan is another PCA member who has done DE and auto crosses and just joined POC. His 2020 911S is his third Porsche, and he did a 2:09.8 in just his second big track event.

Eight months ago, Dennis Little bought his 2020 911 and joined POC. He had a 912 years ago and feels like this is his first real Porsche. For his first time on the track, he did a respectable 2:11.1 with the help of his instructor Behr Salehi.

Photos: Angela Avitt

I was pitted next to Collin Lee and his 1999 Boxster. Collin arrived from Redlands with his car packed with gear. He even had room for a pop-up that we all enjoyed as the temperature rose. He arrived on Friday to ride with and learn from his friend and instructor Mark Smith and did his best time of 2:16.5 on Saturday. It was his first time on any track, but he is already planning to build the Boxster to Boxster Spec specifications and racing with Mark. Across from us was another first timer, Ellanor Boehning who drove her 2016 Audi TT with instructor Darin Moore on Saturday. All the PDS students that Angela and I talked with had a wonderful experience in the PDS program, and many are planning to return to gain more experience and build speed and car control. Of course, none of this would have been possible without the work of our dedicated POC instructors and PDS Chairman Jim Salzer.

Here are the Instructor-Student Pairings for PDS at Chuckwalla:

INSTRUCTOR STUDENT CAR

Jim SalzerSteve Nguyen 2018 911GT

Vivek HazariRumi Faizer 2020 911S

Dallas CarrollDave Needham 2021 Audi RS5

Diane CafferataSean Taheri 2022 BMW M240i

Bruce GuarinoMonte Greenspan 2020 911

Mark SmithCollin Lee 1999 Boxster

Riley GiacomazziDaniel Barry 2008 BMW M3

Darin MooreEllanor Boehning 2016 Audi TT

Behr SalehiDennis Little 2020 911

Chet KolleyLukas Feles 2020 Corvette

When you receive this issue of Velocity, most of us will be on our way to Willow Springs Raceway for the final race weekend of the year. Several Class championships will be decided in this last event. There will be a great dinner on Saturday night with a DJ, a Racers Clinic, a Town Hall meeting, and a collection of toys for the Marine’s Toys for Tots drive. Also, don’t forget to register for the 2024 Annual Banquet at Porsche Irvine on January 20. The venue is beautiful. The food is great, and the entertainment and door prizes produce an enjoyable evening whether you win a trophy or not.

The Porsche Owners Club Recognizes Prestige Air Group

as a Valued Sponsor

Steve Town / Sponsorship Director

The Prestige Air Group and its owner Nick Khilnani have been a POC sponsor and Boxster spec (BSR) driver just a few short years, but both have moved upward quickly. Thank you for your sponsorship Nick. I’d like to take this opportunity to help the POC get to know Nick and Prestige Air a little better. Recently Nick and I had a conversation about both Prestige and his racing.

POC BSR is known nationwide as one of the best, if not the best, Porsche spec racing fields. From the evidence I’ve seen, aside from some debate from the highly competitive Spec Miata world, one could argue that the POC BSR field is some of the best spec racing, pound for pound, in the country. That is, no matter the car or the series. The fields have grown, the competitiveness has increased, and we see more and more interest from many left coast racers every year.

The word regarding POC BSR clearly reached numerous motorsport’s enthusiasts in the Las Vegas area in the last few years, especially via Todd Trimble’s Trophy Performance motorsports shop. One of those drivers was Nick, a life long Las Vegas area resident, and long time motorsports enthusiast. While the interest has always been there, getting on the track is relatively new to him, and as Nick said, “I have had an interest in getting on a race track for many years, but just in the last few years I’ve been able to really put the time into it. Like many racers, I started doing some track days around Vegas and did lots of SIM work too, and found that I liked it and felt I could progress.”

A knack for it indeed, and in just these last few years Nick went from track days to the POC Racers Clinic, to his first race in 2021, at Chuckwalla. Nick described his 2021 and 2022 racing, “working with my coach Michael Johnson has helped me a lot, and we kind of put a plan together to work toward getting into the top 10 as soon as I could. I kept working with Michael to aim toward a podium and hopefully eventually a win.” And in 2023, podium achieved, and then some. At Podium Club, Spring Mountain and Chuckwalla, in 9 races, Nick took 8 top fives (5 podiums), and his first race win, at Spring Mountain. Nick said, “after putting in the work with Michael, in the SIM and on track, I was able to achieve the podiums and also the trifecta at Spring Mountain, where I got pole, lead every lap, and won the race. It was an amazing experience that I got to share with the team and my family.” And further saying, “from my first race at Chuckwalla in 2021, I was happy to go back there at the POC race this month, and see how much I’ve progressed. From mid pack, seconds off the pace in 2021 to on the front row with Anders.” By any measure, that’s really good progress in 2 years!

Also making quick progress is Prestige Air Group, which Nick purchased in 2019, from a pilot who was running 1 plane and trying to carve out a business in private air charters. Nick describes the process of getting into the air charter business like this. “I had been in the corporate world for a while but was driven to own my own business.

When I saw this business for sale I quickly realized there were a lot of flaws in their business model. Being born in Las Vegas and seeing the

direction the town was going with hockey and other potential sports and influx of Californians, I thought this was a business I could grow.” My logical next question was, so you’ve got a background in aviation? Nick’s answer, “no, but I think I bought the business at the right price, and I was convinced I could grow it. I quickly was able to acquire a 2nd jet and was in the process of a 3rd when COVID happened. All flying was halted and I had to come up with a way to keep all my employees on payroll. I was able to pivot to medivac flights where we were flying hearts, lungs, livers, and doctors. This kept us very busy when no one else was flying. As private flying began to pick up and people again realized how convenient it was, we were able to adjust our business model back to more private flying. We continued to grow the fleet to the 6 airplanes we have today.” Given this growth I asked Nick what his plan was for the next 3-5 years. “I am working on expanding the fleet to include larger aircraft. There is a big demand from my retail clients for coast to coast flights and I am also working on direct flights to Hawaii.” Good luck Nick on all the above efforts, and it’s great to hear about your business and it’s trajectory.

Nick lives in Henderson, near Las Vegas, with his wife, Jasmin, and 2 children. Max is 9 years old, and Milo, 6 years old. Nick mentions, “Max just got into karting and it’s been fun sharing a common interest. I enjoy watching him learn new tracks and pushing harder lap after lap.” It might just be that another generation of quick drivers is underway in Henderson, and we’ll see Max and/or Milo push the front of the field all over tracks in the west and beyond.

If you’re in Vegas, or anywhere in the US for that matter, and need a non-commercial flight, call Nick, or just head over to Trophy’s paddock area and see Nick at the track to book your trip! Thanks again to Nick for taking the time to give our Velocity readers a chance to know more about both you and Prestige.

Steve Town Sponsorship Director

work: 855-822-6359 cell: 702-496-2196

www.prestigeairgroup.com

911 Design is a full-service repair and restoration facility located east of Los Angeles in the city of Montclair.

In addition to offering standard service, repair and restoration for all Porsche® models, we are known for and specialize in custom fabrication, design and performance upgrades.

All of our services are vertically integrated which means we keep all repair, fabrication and auto-body in-house.

In 2024 Porsche will be at Le Mans

Next Year We’ll Return Stronger

According to URS KURATLE, Porsche Hypercar Project Director :

“Next year we’ll return stronger.” Given Porsche’s track record, it is not unrealistic to think the Porsche 963 will indeed prove to be a major contender in 2024 at Le Mans and the seven other FIA WEC rounds which would benefit customer teams as well.

Porsche will also have a quantitative advantage against the competition as Hertz Team JOTA and Proton Competition will remain customer teams in 2024. More cars fielded means more chances to win Le Mans. So the question is...Will Porsche clinch its 20th victory at the 24 Hours next year?

The 24 Hours of Le Mans will begin a new chapter in its storied history on 12-16 June 2024. Tickets to the 92nd running, fourth round of the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship, will go on sale to the general public on 15 November.

Now you can order your favorite POC garments and other specialty items “Online” simply by clicking on any one of the above photos!

2023

June

Season 2 Results

SIMRACING

(90 Minutes)

(90 Minutes / 2X Points) (90 Minutes)

1st Andrew Chinnici 4th AJ Roper

2nd Sagar Dhawan 5th Michael Oest

3rd Tom Layton 6th Mark Rondeau

1st Tom Layton 4th Jad Duncan

2nd AJ Roper 5th Mark Rondeau

3rd Andrew Chinnici 6th Matt Hollander

1st Tom Layton 4th Michael Johnson

2nd Sagar Dhawan 5th Andrew Chinnici

3rd AJ Roper 6th Gabe Zamora

1st Chris Walsh 4th BJ Fulton

2nd Sagar Dhawan 5th Jad Duncan

3rd Tom Layton 6th Michael Johnson

1st Chris Walsh 4th Jad Dunca

2nd BJ Fulton 5th Matt Hollander

3rd Andrew Chinnici 6th Michael Bolten

1st Sagar Dhawan 4th Chris Walsh

2nd Tom Layton 5th Mark Rondeau

3rd Andrew Chinnici 6th Michael Bolten

1st Chris Walsh 4th Mark Rondeau

2nd Sagar Dhawan 5th Gabe Zamora

3rd Michael Bolten 6th AJ Roper

1st Chris Walsh 4th Michael Johnson

2nd Sagar Dhawan 5th Jad Duncan

3rd Gabe Zamora 6th AJ Roper

1st Chris Walsh 4th Jad Duncan

2nd Andrew Chinnici 5th AJ Roper

3rd BJ Fulton 6th Gabe Zamora

1st Gabe Zamora 4th BJ Fulton

2nd AJ Roper 5th Michael Bolten

3rd Sagar Dhawan 6th Mark Rondeau

1st AJ Roper 4th Dylan Scott

2nd Gabe Zamora 5th Jacob Abrams

3rd Mark Rondeau 6th Jeff Shulem

1st 4th 2nd 5th 3rd 6th

1st 4th 2nd 5th 3rd 6th

CLICK HERE for YouTube SIM RACES

All club members with track experience or online sim racing experience are invited to participate – however, you will need an iRacing Membership and a simulator.

Interlagos

Virginia

SIMRACING

UPCOMING EVENTS

Willow Springs

December 2-3

Our season finale. Your final chance of the year to get your “Speed On.” Don’t miss out on this chance to hit the track one more time before the year ends Register Today!

Willow Springs

January 6-3

Our ‘24 Season Opener. Calling all Racers, Time Trialers and PDS drivers. A new racing season is upon us. You don’t want to miss this! Register Opens Soon!

And, don’t miss the Official POC Facebook Page with photos, videos and comments from our members.

E-Velocity designed by Don Matz Graphics

Be sure to check out the POC website for our 2023 schedule of events and to stay current on PDS, Time Trial and Cup Racing standings.

Registration opens December 1st !