August Packwood Recap
As September approaches, we look back on yet another season of Packwood events coming to an end. This year was a bit different. Every event had rain or wetness of some kind play havoc with a few classes. Only four events remain, and many championships are still up for grabs. So let's look at our August events.
Saturday
S1 saw a new face show up and take the win. Gary Wilson in a Camaro SS 1LE took first, with George in second and his wife, Melanie, in third. S2, smaller than normal with only six entries, was a battle to the end with Doug Rhodes edging out Shawn Porter by a scant .58. Dave Gall rounded out the podium in his new Golf R in third.
In NS3-5, it was Ellensburg racer Lawrence Danton taking the top spot, with wife Dawn hot on his heels. Their Honda-powered Miata would set a best time of 50.964. Bob Croucher's beautiful Datsun 510 would be third. NS4 would be next up with 17 drivers taking times. The class competition is always hard, but adding the aforementioned weather to the mix would play havoc. In the end, it was Tyler Seeley nabbing the top step by a little over .600 over John Kabigting. Miatas would finish off the podium sweep with Connor Placer in third. Ian Haas and Adam Lazenby would round out the top five.
In CAM-XS, the AWD of Brian Ferdinand's WRX would prove too much for Dan Kuehn's NC, winning by only .006. Michael and Suzi Pinto would be third and fourth. TC would see a larger-than-normal Packwood class with 13 drivers in the mix. Josiah Hejmanowski would manage only one clean run, but it was enough to take the win over Nicholas Magdaleno and Wyatt Cox. Marie Van Oatten in her GR86 and Camron Rust would finish off the top five in class.
ProPAX Ladies would see Aurora Hill stand on her first run of 56.959, beating Natalie Ortiz, who has been coming on strong as of late. Megan Gall stayed clean enough to take third, with Danielle Paulson and A'ngelique Ortega rounding out the first five spots. ProPAX Open would come down to a rerun for the win. Garrett Cogburn would use that rerun to edge out Carson Orud by just .251. Alex Paraskevas, John Hunter, and Dallas Cutler would battle it out for the remaining spots in the top five.
Top raw time of the day was set by Jim Daniels at 54.430, with top PAX going to Mr. Cogburn.
Saturday afternoon, our normal Test n Tune took place, with a full field of racers taking more runs. Following the TNT was our annual Packwood Potluck. Thanks to A'ngelique for all her work behind the scenes organizing, Mr. Haas for his BBQ skills, Brian Duncan for his excellent stir-fry, and the ladies from the bakery division for the outstanding desserts. Every year, the Fry Guys are there to make sure we have the best fries in the PNW. This year, we were missing one. With the loss of Lowell Orud earlier this year, there was a hole left from his smiling face. Luckily, the youngest of the Orud clan stepped up to help his dad, Carson, out. Van Orud will keep the family duo of Fry Guys going, and did an amazing job making sure everyone who wanted fries got fries! Lowell will forever be missed in our hearts.
Sunday
The final Packwood event of the year would kick off with another great Paulson course. Quicker than Saturday's course, fast, flowing, and fun! ProPAX: Dan Bullis jumped out of the Vette and into a Tesla of Dan Hall to take the top spot. His win by .299 over the designer himself, James Paulson, coming home in second. Nick Bender, back in his S2000, would claim third, while Thomas Fahey and Garrett would round out the top five in the 29-driver class. ProPAX Ladies would finish close to Saturday's standings, with Aurora taking the win over Megan Gall and Danielle Paulson.
CAM-XS would be a redemption event for Dan, as he would jump Ferdinand by .014 to win. Two days of running, both days separated by less than .20, a great drive by both racers. In TC, Wyatt Cox jumped up to the top spot to claim victory over Josiah and Nicholas.
In NS4, 16 drivers would fight to the last runs, with most putting down their best time on their third and final runs. Tyler Seeley would go back-to-back and win over Connor Placer and Eric Takahashi. Jason Lentz and Ian Haas round out the top five in class. NS3-5 saw the Danton's duplicate the results from Saturday, with Lawrence winning over Dawn.
S2 would grow to 10 drivers with a few more showing up overnight. This time it would be the BRZ of Mr. Porter winning by .185 over Paul Chrt. Doug Rhodes faded to third, only .071 out of second. And S1 would be much of the same, as the Camaro of Gary Wilson would again take the win. This time, George would find a huge heap of time on his third run to edge out Melanie for second.
Top raw time would go to the NA Miata of Bob Bundy with a blistering 51.976, while Dan's Tesla time would hang on for top PAX.
We return to PIR in September with two events, before we close out the season in October. Nats is just a few weeks away, and we have a few drivers heading back to the Concrete Beach in Lincoln to go after a red jacket. We wish them all safe travels and clean runs! With the school year starting, we wish the best for Megan Gall as she heads back east to start her college career in Ohio.
So, signing off with a big wave, we will see you in Portland in September.