Photo Credit: Mike Brausen

If there was such a thing as a "typical Packwood event", this could have been it. Overcast to start the morning, little to no wind, and a great scenic views from site. As the clouds moved along the mountains, competitors took their morning course walks through this visually tricky Roger Johnson course. What looked like a very tight course, would turn out to be horsepower friendly in some spots, and have big payoffs for "hold onto your seat" thread the needle maneuvers in others.

First heat started off with SSM pavement pounding action. This weekends class displayed some serious displacement in the 2 Corvettes and a Viper, but so far on day 1 proved to be a small cars game. David de Regt took no time in going out and putting in a 49.810 his first time out in cool conditions. He would continue to be the only car in SSM to see the 49’s clean on day 1. Bob Bundy in the 1990 949Racing Mazda Miata was able to drop into to a 50.424, which would leave him 6/10 off de Regt’s fast run of 49.8. Duke Langley had the raw time to be within .2 of de Regt, but would carry a cone leaving him in a respectable 3rd place with the penalty added.

Also in our first group was the AWD street tire action of STU. Being the odd car out is Nicolas Johnson and Matt Rizzo in the 2000 Chevy Corvette. Day 1 proved to be the day of the Evo’s with Doug Mikko going out on his first run and laying down a clean 53.747 that was 2 seconds faster than the next in class. That gap would narrow however as Brent Vitolins cleaned up on run two and moved 3/10 head of Mikko who carried an impressive 6 cones added to his time. As run number three came up, Vitolins was unable to drop any time. Doug Mikko however was able to find 8/10 to be the only STU car in the 52’s to end the day in first place.

Heat 2 brought on even more Street Mod action, with the heavyweights going at it. With first drivers Mike Brausen and Bill Zerr having cones right off the bat, it was up to the second drivers to provide the first clean runs of the day. Dallas Cutler would bring his 2006 Evo across the line first at 52.036. That time would last for about 20 second as finishing behind him was Jason Merritt with a quick 51.722. Merritt's time on top was also short lived as following right behind him was Eric Hyman who took a narrow lead of .010. With first drivers getting their second chances Bill Zerr once again carried cones on his run that would leave him in 8th place. Mike Brausen came through the light shortly after cleaning up and only .1 behind his scratch time with a 52.047, moving him up into 3rd place behind Jason Merritt. Hyman in the GTR always looking to prove the impossible, managed an impressive feat of knocking over a single cone in the middle of a cone wall thanks to a muffler baffle that decided mid-course it was time to leave. The only other person to improve was Cutler who nipped Hyman by a small .008 margin to take over the 1st spot. It was all down to 3rd runs for these driver. Codriver in the 240SX Bill Zerr was able to leap from 8th to 1st with a smoking fast 50.674. Shortly behind him Mike Brausen was able to find 1.1 seconds and drop to just .244 out of 1st. Merritt again had cones, and would finish the day in 5th. Eric Hyman took advantage of the hot tires of the Godzilla GTR and put in a 51.0 to lock in a firm 3rd place position just .350 out of first.

Afternoon runs continued to show that having a small car paid off, with Eric Stoltz in his STS Miata putting down a 53.3 that would give him a 1.2 second class leading going into day 2 over Nigel Koit. Also putting on an impressive display of competition were codrivers Charly Spyksma and Karl Coleman, who are known for choosing who's car (Spyksma's WRX or Coleman's BRZ) based on what the first days course looks like. Dueling for first place, the two ended the day just .016 apart, with codriver Spyksma holding narrowly onto the lead.

Day 2 looks to be a very different course, that will likely provide new challenges on these fantastic Roger Johnson courses.