SCION WINS 2009 PERFORMANCE TOURING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Dramatic last-to-first charge earns Jackson-Dawson tC back-to-back NASA titles
"Hard fought" is a familiar expression for Scion Racing's Dan Gardner, as evidenced by his exploits in the 4th annual NASA National Championships at Miller Motorsports Park September 10-13. There was plenty of drama for Gardner and the JD Scion road racing team in Tooele, Utah, but the ability to overcome adversity has always been the sign of a true champion.
A wobbly supercharger pulley discovered prior to roll-out for Thursday's qualifying session was the first ripple of what would become a wave of unpleasant circumstances. Gardner qualified the Scion in P2 and was in a good position for the first qualifying race. The green flag dropped, the spotter gave the word on the radio, and Gardner was on the march, taking over first place as the cars went into Turn 1.
Through Turns 2, 3, and 4, Gardner was fending off a Mini. After exiting out of Turn 4, Gardner ran his Scion down the inside of the track to protect his line. With zero room on the inside, the Mini driver made a poor decision, stuffed it into the gravel on the inside, and crashed hard into the Scion, punting Gardner across the track.
Gardner held the position and drove toward the turn called "Right Hook," but something was clearly wrong. The steering wheel was pointed hard right while the car was tracking straight.
In the pits the JD crew found the left front fender rubbing on the tire, both left wheels damaged, and mangled body panels. All fixable, but a look under the car revealed that the inner tie rod had been bent severely into a harsh "V" shape. Game over.
Unfortunately, NASA's point system dictates that if you do not finish, or DNF, you only earn half the points of last place, making it mathematically impossible to start the championship race from anywhere other than dead last.
"Even though the other competitor was disqualified, there's no way to get that race or the points back," said crew chief Brad Allen. "It certainly put a kink in our plans, but there was no way we were going to get discouraged."
The team stayed up the better part of the night replacing nearly the entire left front corner on the car and then realigning it. Friday's practice went well, and the Scion was back at full strength.
Friday qualifying saw Gardner again take P2, less than two-tenths of a second behind the pole sitter, a Mazda. The start of the second qualifying race went well, as Gardner and the torque-y Scion got out to another early lead and stretched it to five seconds late in the race.
On the last lap, Gardner was in traffic and went to the inside of a PTF car running at the same time. He went to the brakes and was met with more drama as the car just kept going, shooting off the track. The Scion came back on track, but Gardner didn't know what kind of brake issue had occurred. He went off again at the next braking zone but managed to hold onto second place.
Back in their pits, the team found the brake line was split open. They replaced it in short order and turned their attention to tactics.
Gardner and the crew came up with a start strategy that heavily relied on flawless spotting on the radio. The Scion was great off the line and the plan called for harnessing that advantage. But being at the back could mean that the green flag could drop before Gardner was even on the front straight, so the spotter would be critical.
Indeed, not long after Gardner pulled around the last turn, his spotter yelled "green, green, green." The Scion went to work and with each car passed, the spotter would yell "clear!" and Gardner would tuck the Scion in line.
He was picking off foes in rapid succession on the front straight and even into Turn 1 where he zoomed by two more cars under braking. Soon the Scion was amid higher-class PTB cars. But his rearview mirror was full of an in-class Camaro Z28 and one of the many Minis in the field.
Within a few laps, the Scion had opened up a comfortable two-second lead. Unfortunately a yellow flag on Lap 9 negated the lead and on the ensuing single-file restart Gardner was a tad off and the second place Mini applied pressure in earnest. The fight was on.
Gardner enjoyed a slight edge on the straight sections, but the MINI was getting through the turns faster, and the Scion's front tires were going away.
On the last lap something finally went Gardner's way, as an in-class RX-8 engaged the Mini and the Mini driver went into defensive mode, allowing the Scion to open up a gap. The Mazda got past the Mini and closed on Gardner, but he hit his marks in the final segment and held off the RX-8 by less than a second.
"This event truly tested what we're made of," said team manager and driver Dan Gardner. "We knew it was going to be a fight no matter what. But when you have to come from the back of the bus to win a national championship you've accomplished something. It's just so rare to pull off a win that way, but the whole team just stayed focused, came up with a game plan, and then executed."
With the national title now in hand, the team now gets ready for the next round of the WERC endurance racing series at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California on October 24-25.