Nor Cal, short for Northern California, is a regional club of the national Shelby American Automobile Club. NorCal is a huge region with over 500 members.
“We are buddies with Rick Kopec and all the guys from SAAC,” said NorCal’s Kevin Sittner. “In 2010, they came out and ran with us at the same track, Infineon, for their national convention.”
This year, the NorCal club held their 27th annual Mini-Nats at Infineon. However, NorCal’s annual Mini Nats is liable to be in the Los Angeles area at California Speedway, or Thunderhill Raceway near San Francisco. One year they even drove inland to Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City, Utah.
A track setting is central to the event’s theme of driving on a big-time road course. Formerly Sears Point, Infineon Raceway stretches more than two miles over the rolling hills of wine country north of San Francisco. The road course features several long straights, tight corners, and elevation changes. Lapping Sears Point—er, Infineon (I can’t get used to the new name)—is both a racer’s challenge and big league dream. The big boy racers race here.
John Keller, Northeast Team...
John Keller, Northeast Team Shelby Regional Director, flew to the Mini-Nats to drive his new G.T. 350 on the track and barbecue for everybody on his portable propane grille.
I recall high 90-degree days in hot racing suits in 1987 when I attended Bob Bondurant’s competition driving school at Sears Point. The weather this year was low 60s in the morning, warming up to around 80 in the late afternoon. The cool ocean breezes were like free air conditioning for the mid-summer weekend of August 5-7.
The event kicked off on Friday morning with a car show in the paddock area behind the main grandstands. Friday wasn’t a track day, but participants could run two to three hours for “open testing.”
Open track, the main driving time, took place on Saturday and Sunday from about 9:00 in the morning until 5:00 in the afternoon each day. Anyone could run, from novice to advanced in four different skill groups starting with yellow and moving up to red, green, and finally blue for the most experienced. Two o’clock Saturday afternoon was the vintage race, obviously for advanced drivers.
Vintage racing can get very serious. The mood at NorCal is more of friendly competition and camaraderie. They even allowed a late-model NASCAR Thunderbird into the pretty much pre-’74 field for the vintage race. One might call this event more of a vintage exhibition race.
After 27 years, NorCal’s Mini-Nats has become a staple of the hobby. This event has the earmarks of a national SAAC convention with the ambience of a smaller regional event brought to you by one of the largest regional Shelby clubs in the country. MM
Every car on track has to...
Every car on track has to pass NorCal’s Tech Inspection to qualify for the track. Here, Joe Silva (left) and Dave Murray (right) check out a ’65 Mustang coupe. They suspected a possible bad lower control arm. The ball joint simply had a little play and was OK to run. On another car, they may have averted disaster when they discovered a loose nut securing the steering wheel.
DenBeste displayed their new...
DenBeste displayed their new small-block 427 with Hemi heads. Producing 757 hp, the Shelby/DenBeste engine utilizes aluminum hemispherical heads on a Shelby aluminum 351 block.
In the middle of the day on...
In the middle of the day on Friday, the car show entrants stood by their cars and I climbed 80 steps into the grandstands for this group photo.
Ron Bramlett from Mustangs...
Ron Bramlett from Mustangs Plus showed up with a bevy of race cars.
Mark Swanson ran the car show...
Mark Swanson ran the car show on Friday. He counted 41 cars. Judging was not exactly rigorous; the judges handed out identical awards to the “Top 25” cars.
Joe Praxel, current president...
Joe Praxel, current president of the NorCal club, brought out this ’68 California Special. After participating in the car show on Friday, Praxel drove it in the races on Saturday and Sunday.
Shelby American showed up...
Shelby American showed up with their trailer and cars. Participants kept VP of Operations Gary Patterson busy answering questions. Of course, he also drove on-track, giving enthusiasts rides all weekend.
Kevin Sittner, who was so...
Kevin Sittner, who was so skillful piloting his Mustang to first place in the vintage race on Saturday afternoon, found it difficult to ride a simple tricycle in front of his fellow racers at the Saturday night banquet. This is what he got for winning the coveted “Big Wheel” award.
Boys having fun with their...
Boys having fun with their toys, from front to rear: John O’Boyle in a ’96 Mustang, Michael Boyle in an SCCA Enterprises Spec Racer Ford, Fran Lewis in a ’99 Panoz, Mark Bussey in a ’65 Mustang fastback, and Steven McCarley in one of Shelby American’s ’11 Shelby G.T. 350s.