My teammate Rick Kulach started out his 2010 race season down near his home in Texas. While we're still battling snow and cold here in Colorado, there were three Z cars entered in the Touring 2 (T2) class last weekend. As see can see below, they appeared pretty well-matched in practice and qualifying.



But the first race was more eventful. The silver Z of Richard Baldwin qualified on the T2 pole. Richard is an experienced racer who has competed in Spec Racer for several years and is also married to Rick's lovely daughter Jenny. Rick was next up, with his NISMO-bodied 350Z and Wade McBride just behind him in the yellow Z. Their race was like a lot of others in SCCA, with several classes mixed together.

Richard held his advantage at the start, while Rick and Wade battled for second through the first half of the race. Then it happened. Wade got slightly off-line in a fast section of the track (I've never raced there, but TWS is known for being a fast track) and two GT1 cars coming up to lap him got caught up. In an instant, the yellow Z was spinning out of control. A heavy impact with a barrier mangled both the front corners, while the VQ was literally torn from its motor mounts!

Wade was OK, as both the SCCA safety equipment and the Nissan crush zones did their jobs. But the yellow Z looks as though it's done. That particular car has a lot of racing history, as I recall seeing TC Kline first brought it out at the Mid-Ohio Runoffs. It was then sold to Bob Schader for a year, before Bob sold it to somebody else and Wade ended up with it. Now, it's simply history...

The rest of the race was run under caution as there was a lot of debris to clean up. Richard won that day and the next, when a rainstorm just before the race made tire selection tricky. Rick chose rains, while Richard ran the semi-slick Hoosier R6. Both battled slick spots on the track, but Richard ultimately won out. So two Z's made the finish, and now the SW Div points lead for T2 is headed by Richard's Z and his brother John, who races a Subaru STi! Ooo...I smell a sibling rivalry brewing in the great state of Texas.