5/22/2005 Avondale, AZ – The teams of the Hankook US Touring Car Championship met on the 1.54 mile Phoenix International Raceway Road Course this last weekend to contest the fourth round of the growing series. For most of the west coast teams, this was only the second time they would see action this season. What faced them was a very similar situation to that they had encountered at California Speedway weeks before: high speed ovals contrasted against a tight infield. The major difference, of course, was that they had traded the temperate weather of Southern California for the relentless heat of the desert, on a weekend with forecasted highs reaching 115 degrees F.

Brian Lock and GOTO:Racing spent the Friday open testing sessions discovering just how much heat could affect their efforts. While Brian adjusted fine to the heat, and quickly set the second fasted practice time, the intercooler hose burst on the final session after having been exposed to too much heat off the turbo. SubyDude.com quickly sourced an aftermarket hose that was more heat resistant, and sent it on the next plane to Phoenix, along with a Turbo donated by Gruppe-S, in case it had also sustained damage. Crew Chief Steve Lock installed the new parts in the early hours of Saturday morning, ready for the qualifying session of the day.

However, the race gods had other ideas. Brian had barely completed his warm up lap during morning practice, when the engine stopped running and would not re-fire. It was quickly determined that the fuel pump had seized suddenly. Unfortunately, the team missed that days qualifying session as a replacement was sought. A warm thanks to Avondale Subaru for helping the team contact virtually every parts warehouse and aftermarket shop in the Phoenix area. Finally, a contact of LIC Motorsport was found to have what was probably the ONLY WRX fuel pump in Arizona. After 5 hours of exhaustive searching, the pump was installed with seconds to spare before the practice race, which was considered crucial to getting setup information on the track in the heat of the day. The car ran well, with the minor exception of continued abnormal heat and wear in the tires.

During Sunday’s first practice, new camber adjustments were tried to battle the tire heat issue. While the results were positive, and resulted in Brian being only 1 tenth behind the best time of Dave Brown’s OPAK/Spoon RSX, the damage had been done. There were not enough good tires left to qualify AND race on. Doug Fournier, a USTCC rookie, had 2 extra tires, which he graciously sold to GOTO to make sure we had the best rubber possible. GOTO exercised discipline by keeping the car in for the second practice, only sending it out to again for qualifying. Brian would go to the starting grid in the 3rd position behind Dave Brown and Justin Elin’s P1 Honda.

Come the race, the temperature was cooler than expected, but the sun was still relentlessly pounded the drivers as they waited in the grid. Brian’s crew had gone to great length to keep him cool, including ice packs in his suit. Finally the cars rolled onto the track, and made the short recon lap before slotting into their grid positions.

The entire field got away cleanly from the standing start. But Brian’s race was already having problems. He later reported a loud noise from underneath the car as he jumped away from the start. “It was just a loud bang, and the wheel went about 30 degrees to the left. I was so focused on passing Dave that I passed the noise off as some debris on the track.” Brian went low on both Brown and Elin, making it three wide in the narrow opening to PIR’s first infield turn, touching doors with Brown as he went by him. Elin managed to pass both and take the lead, with Brian slotting in behind in 2nd, and Brown taking 3rd. But as Brian went through turn 2, a long right hander, he knew something was wrong”

“The car won’t turn right,” he radioed to spotters. At first it was not known whether this was a real problem or cold tires. Before any kind of judgment could be made, the race was red flagged for an incident between Neil Vanni and a USTCC newcomer in the Porsche 968 at the start. The start was ruled void due to the red flag, and the cars lined up again in the original starting order. No loud noise on this start, but as Brian moved past Elin into turn two, he reported the problem was getting worse.

Chris, Brian’s brother and spotter, went track side at turn two with Mike, another Lock brother. They watched as the WRX came through Turn 2 for the 3rd time. The right front tire was pointed nearly 10 degrees to the LEFT in the 70mph right turn. The call was made for Brian to immediately give up his position to Elin and slow the car down before returning it to the pits. Brian slowed, but in the next turn, the control arm failed, putting the WRX into the gravel trap were it remained for the balance of the race. The cause? The lower control arm had cracked from the force of the standing start, and held on by mere scraps of metal for the 3 laps that were completed. “I am just glad the crew caught the problem before we went up on that oval again,” said Crew Chief Steve Lock, “A failure at those speeds would have been catastrophic.”

Dave Brown went on to win the shortened race, with Justin Elin and John Hotchkis rounding out the podium. “Of course I am disappointed in the result,” said Brian when asked about the DNF, “but this was just one of those things that happens in racing, and it will happen again. I am just glad the team was able to get me to race day after all our rotten fortune. Buttonwillow is 3 weeks away, and I have a good feeling our demons are behind us for this season. I also thought it was great to see three entirely different teams on the podium this time. It really shows just how competitive the USTCC has become, and the quality of the teams that compete here.”

The next round of the Hankook US Touring Car Championship takes place at Buttonwillow Raceway on June 11-12, where Brian will continue his bid for the USTCC championship.