2016 IRDC at Pacific Raceways

Posted on May 15, 2016 by admin

15 May 2016 Kent, WA – Oh how the weather can change, last weekend was sunny and warm with record temps and this weekend it was back to the” northwet”. Such is spring in the northwest and really what makes this area such a beauty. Like planning for your vacation months in advance you never know what the weather will give you.

This weekend IRDC and their volunteers gathered at Pacific Raceways for a weekend of racing on the legendary 2.25 mile track. There were nearly 150 entries in the six main groups with a “Novice” race along with the NWMECS race.

Those grey skies covered all on Saturday and did not change, so it was a dry track and race tires on.

But it was a whole new game for Sunday as the drizzle would not stop and the “rain” tires graced the race cars.

This is true road racing; you deal with what “mother nature” gives you and be pre-paired for it. There is an art to racing in the rain and it’s on display with IRDC says general manager John Ramsey.

Great race cars and great drivers put on some very close side by side racing in all of the groups. IRDC is back in July for more great racing though the odds give “sunny” weather though you never know.

Two Albums break out both Saturday & Sunday’s action – click on the links below for the two albums.

Saturday – May 14th, 2016 Photo Album – Click Here

Sunday – May 15th, 2016 Photo Album – Click Here

2 Days of SOVREN Spring Sprints at Pacific Raceways

Posted on May 1, 2016 by admin

01 May 2016 Kent, WA – Spring is in the air when the fine and some pretty expensive rare autos converge on Pacific Raceways. The American and European race cars that take part in the SOVREN races are quite a sight, and the sounds were fantastic of what racing in the past was like.

Walking the pits to get a closer look at these vintage cars and the care that the owner’s give can only be appreciated by watching them. Their baby or pride and joy are as evident as the love that is given to their children. Yes, these machines are raced and driven as back in the day but with great care not to bring any harm to them or their competitors, as I mentioned these are rare and quite pricey.

Check out the SOVREN web site for racing in the northwest and the next event at Pacific Raceways over the 4th. Of July weekend.

The images are broken out into two albums, one for each day of activity.

For Images From April 30th, 2016 – Click Here

For Images From May 1st, 2016 – Click Here

SCCA – Conferences – SOVREN Race Licensing At Pacific Raceways

Posted on April 15, 2016 by admin

15 Apr 2016 Kent, WA – For some people it’s future plans and to some it’s just the aspiration of doing it and for others it’s a bucket list. No matter the thought process the class at ProFormance Racing School is a must.

The experience of Don Kitch and the instructors who teach you will pass along what together would I think total 150 years of combined and diverse experience. The wealth of knowledge that they have lets the students be themselves and learn in a very comfortable setting. Normal to all is a little nervousness when attempting something for the first time. This goes away quickly as Don has a way of putting you at ease so you can learn and soak up the knowledge he is passing along.

For two days of long class and track time you will gain the paper work for you to enter as a novice in many of the conferences around the U.S. And always the innovator ProFormance brought in four PRO3 drivers and their race cars to run with the students in the mock race at the end of the second day. To all those involved it turned out to be a great teaching tool for the students as the PRO3 drivers pushed just enough to encourage the students to take advantage of what was in front of them.

Way different than racing against your classmates only. For Don and the staff what they saw in this combination was how well it worked and is something that should be included with the class.

Keep an eye on the ProFormance website for the next class for your experience.

Images for the two days are now available – click here to go to the photo album. Thank you for your support and purchases!

SCCA Conferences – SOVREN Race Licensing at Pacific Raceways

Posted on March 27, 2016 by admin

27 March 2016 Kent, WA – For some people that come to Pacific Raceways it’s future plans and to some the aspiration of doing it and to others it’s a bucket list. No matter the thought process the class at ProFormance Racing School is a must.

This goes away quickly as Don has a way of putting you at ease so you can learn and soak up the knowledge he is passing along. For two-day long class and track time you will gain the paper work for you to enter as a novice in many of the conferences around the U.S.

And always the innovator ProFormance brought in three PRO3 drivers and their race cars to run with the students in the mock race at the end of the second day. To all those involved it turned out to be a great teaching tool for the students as the PRO3 drivers pushed just enough to encourage the students to take advantage of what was in front of them.

Way different than racing against your classmates only. For Don and the staff what they saw in this combination was how well it worked and is something that should be included with the class. Keep an eye on the ProFormance website for the next class for your experience.

Over 330 images from several vantage points are now online and available – thank you very much for your support and purchases! – Click here to go to the photo album.

Final Fall/Winter High Performance Sport Driving Day At Pacific Raceways

Posted on March 19, 2016 by admin

19 March 2016 Kent, WA – For the final time of the Fall/Winter Season, The final High Performance Sport Driving Day sported a packed paddock of lappers here to take advantage of Pacific Raceways 2.25 mile track.

A packed classroom for the ProFormance Racing School of students helped boost the total over 60 entries.

One here to test their completed Viper, was Momentary Racing, who put the Viper through its shakedown laps monitoring everything with some pretty cool technology. The one thing Igor and Monica cannot monitor is the looks of the car going around the track. Had a lot of fun chasing the car to as many different locations I could photograph it from in what we called “diagnostics by photography”.
Showing how the car is “balanced” is a big part of getting the best lap times and doing it on a consistent basis. Wish them good luck in their upcoming endurance race.

For all others who took advantage of the last lapping event a ton of smiling faces and a new class of students now all legal to lap the tracks with others, have a safe summer and see you in the fall.

Images of all the action are now available – click here to go to the photo album.

2016 Chump Car World Series

Posted on March 13, 2016 by admin

12 & 13 March 2016 Kent, WA – You gotta love this Chump Car race series. All kinds of choices with all kinds of minds working to be unique and yet be reliable enough to last for this once a year endurance race.

Working within the rules that apply to the “common” racer and his wallet vs. the mega bucks is the theme. Transform a $500 beater with all the required “safety” gear into a race ready themed team of drivers and hit many famous race venues for some hard core competition.

Many a gear head has watched road racing on the tube and thought “I can do that” if I only had the money.

This is your series, check into it, not “a lot” of dollars needed here. The diversity here is as wide as the themes the teams choose. If this has your attention go to the “Chump Car” web site for all the info you need to get started in a fast growing sport.

Two albums worth of images from all over Pacific Raceways road course are now available. The images are organized into two albums, make sure and look over both of them for the best shots. As always thank you for your support and purchases!

Chump Car World Series Images from Saturday March 12 –

Chump Car World Series Images from Sunday March 13 –

High Performance Sport Driving Day – Feb 27th, 2016

Posted on February 27, 2016 by admin

27 Feb 2016 Kent, WA – As the start of the 2016 road course racing season at Pacific Raceways is about to begin race teams need information. Thus serious testing has begun on Pacific’s 2.2 mile road course.

55 cars turned out today to run lapping and of those a number of them were race teams out for a shakedown. On the track was Lamborghini, Audi, BMW, Subaru, Toyota, Dodge, Corvette, Jeep, Honda, VW and the Porsche team.

I’m sure I missed some but you get the picture, when the driving days come to the track you can see all kinds of car makes and models. Add to this the 13 students going through the ProFormance Class so they too may join the others in lapping Pacific’s 2.25 mile track.

Go to Pacific’s web site for more information on the next date.

Images of all these amazing cars are are now available – click here to go to the photo album. Thank you very much for your support and purchases!

1st High Performance Sport Driving Day of 2016

Posted on January 9, 2016 by admin

09 Jan 2016 Kent, WA – As anyone in the northwest knows the weather can be deceiving and five minutes in any direction conditions can be polar opposite. This day showed how one end of the track can be brightly lit by the sun and less than a quarter mile away completely socked in by fog.

That fog as it rolled in and out created a number of black ice spots on the track surface that had the Pacific crew salting and brushing away the ice.

As in any motor event at the track the 9:00am start had to be pushed back slightly to be sure the safety factor was in place.

Six students and forty lappers on the grounds hatched a little help for the Pacific crew. After a rain the dragstrip will engage the help of the racers to drive over the wet and help rid the surface of the moisture. The plan worked like a charm and the lappers were soon out doing what they loved and what they brought to lap with you can only imagine.

A pair of Caterham G7 cars out to give them a test. A Lotus, a Lamborghini, Corvettes, Mustangs, Audi, BMW, and a number of Porsche models taking advantage of this day. One of those Porsche models, a yellow convertible in the student lanes stood out over the rest including the dark “Hellcat”.

Driving that Porsche, 21-year old Nina Chepovska celebrating both Christmas/Birthday gifts for something she has longed to do for some time, go thru ProFormance Racing School. What she learns about her car and herself is a testament to the schools teaching and instructors.

Go to the ProFormance web site and see what they can do for you and your ride. Next date is January 23rd 2016.

Images of all the action are now online and available for purchase – click here to go to the album.

Toy For Tots – NW Toy Drive at Pacific Raceways

Posted on December 6, 2015 by admin

06 Dec 2015 Kent, WA – Each December the Pacific Raceways property plays host to some very generous people. The annual NW Toy Drive benefiting Toys for Tots. Sponsored by Lexus of Bellevue and the O’Brian Auto Group thousands of folks brought their un-wrapped gifts or cash donation for the Marine Corps Reserve program.
Combine this with holiday music covering the many cars out for the car show gathering. Out on the 2.25 mile track a “lead/follow” was done, overseen by ProFormance Racing School giving those who take part an idea of what it feels like to drive a road course.
Of course Santa and his helpers were on hand accepting gifts and posing for pictures, also on hand passing out candy canes was Ed Troyer from the Pierce County Toys for Tots program.
Every year that I have covered this event it has gotten bigger and bigger thus proving the generosity of the NW to those in need. Great job by all those involved as it takes many to help bring it together each year. Till next year Happy Holidays to all.

Images of all the excitement and holiday cheer are now available click here to go to the album, & Happy Holidays!

ProFormance High Performance Sport Driving Day – Nov 21st, 2015

Posted on November 21, 2015 by admin

21 Nov 2015 Kent, WA – Crisp and cold weather with plenty of sun for warmth but still bundled up for the chill, conditions for the race cars and street driven alike it spells “horsepower”. Close to 50 if not just over that took advantage to just drive their expensive street car on the track or those race teams preparing for the upcoming “25 hour” race at Thunderhill the conditions could not have been better for this time of year.

The reasons for drivers to lap the track are still the same – “seat time”. The more seat time you can get the more you learn about driving and your skills to control safely something that out of control can end badly.

ProFormance Racing School is located on the grounds at Pacific Raceways and is a fantastic starting point to learn what it takes to “safely” take a couple thousand pounds of metal and rubber and push those “forces” that on the street you barely notice. To test these for yourself go to Pacific’s web site and click on the ProFormance tab for info.