When NASA Texas kicked off its March Madness event at Motorsport Ranch Cresson on Feb. 28 and March 1, it looked as though there would be seven cars to take the first green flag on Saturday. That was until heretofore Spec E30 drivers Clay and Cliff Pearce opened their trailer to reveal two more Spec E46 cars.
The two brothers registered to race in Spec E30, showed up to the dinner on Thursday in Spec E30 shirts, but they never opened their trailer until Friday morning. At that point, the brothers had donned Spec E46 shirts and sprang their surprise on the rest of the field. They changed their registration on site and gridded up for their first race as Spec E46 drivers.
“We’ve been scheming for a while,” Clay Pearce said. “We really were appreciating the car count in E46. That was one of the big drivers to change.”
With nine cars separated by a mere second in qualifying, the field delivered a masterclass in Spec E46 competition.
Finkelstein and Rikke Trade Blows
The opening sprint races of the weekend set a physical and mental pace that didn’t let up. Dave Finkelstein took the win in race one, but he was under constant pressure from Jason Rikke and Clay Pearce. Despite the win, Finkelstein noted that staying ahead was a chore due to Rikke’s explosive starts.
“Jason got me on every start,” Finkelstein said. “I tried the inside a lot of times going into Big Bend and he makes that work. I tried the outside and that didn’t work. Jason just had the starts dialed.”
In race two, Rikke managed to leapfrog Finkelstein at the green flag and never looked back, winning by a razor-thin margin of 0.549 seconds. The victory was even more impressive considering Rikke survived a heart-stopping moment in the “Rattlesnake” section of the track.
“The car wouldn’t go in third gear and I was just into the turn trying to come up on Dave,” Rikke said. “The car just didn’t respond and I just went over the curb and just Tony Hawk-ed it … did a 180 pirouette and got back on the track.”
Saturday’s race one ended with Finkelstein taking the win, Rikke in second and Clay Pearce in third. Daniel Parmelee finished fourth with John Major in fifth.
For Saturday’s race two, Spec E46 delivered some of the tightest racing of the weekend during Saturday’s second sprint. Jason Rikke secured the victory by a slim margin of 0.549 seconds over Dave Finkelstein. Rikke’s win was defined by a superior start that allowed him to control the pace, though it was nearly derailed by a mechanical scare in the “Rattlesnake” section.
He reported that his clutch failed to engage in third gear, sending his BMW over the curbing in a 180-degree pirouette before he recovered and retook the lead. Behind him, Daniel Parmelee and Clay Pearce remained locked in a nose-to-tail battle, finishing third and fourth respectively.
VIDEO
Notably, Clay Pearce clocked the fastest lap of the race with a 1:22.008 despite finishing off the podium. Further back in the pack, the competition remained just as fierce. Pat Welch took fifth place, followed by John Major and Cliff Pearce. Audrey Wiseman finished eighth with a best time of 1:22.592, while Greg Hartman rounded out the field in ninth.
Hartman’s lower finishing position was the result of an aggressive move at “Big Bend” while chasing John Major. He carried too much speed into the corner and spun out. Despite the spin, he was able to recover the car and finish the race, contributing to a session where the entire nine-car field was separated by narrow margins in lap consistency. Every driver’s fast lap was in the 1:22’s.
Endurance and Mirror Driving
Sunday’s 40-minute feature race tested tire management and the drivers’ ability to navigate heavy traffic from the Honda Challenge and Super Touring classes. Rikke secured his second win of the weekend, but described the experience as a grueling exercise in defensive driving.
“Race three was my biggest race where I actually drove more looking in the mirror than I did forward, ever,” Rikke said. “You had to be aware of what was behind you and who was doing what. I knew if I got pitted by lap traffic, those guys were going to freight train right by me.”
Behind him, Finkelstein and Daniel Parmelee engaged in a race-long duel for second place. Parmelee held the position for much of the event before a lapped car disrupted his rhythm. “Dan and I had a good battle going,” Finkelstein said. “Dan was holding down second for quite a while and got caught with a lap car and that’s how I was able to squeak by.”
Audrey Wiseman also showed significant improvement throughout the weekend, moving up to fifth place in the final race and holding off a charging Clay Pearce by 0.222 seconds at the finish line. Wiseman credited her speed to line adjustments in the “Wagon Wheel” and “Boot Hill” sections.
VIDEO
Ride along with Audrey Wiseman for the start of the Spec E46 race three on Sunday at Motorsport Ranch Cresson.
“I made some adjustments line-wise to carry more speed through there,” Wiseman said. However, the track’s dusty conditions and high winds remained a constant variable. “I’ve dropped two wheels there [Tombstone] many times. I don’t know if over the day people had dug out the dirt at the end of the curbing or what, but I went for a little ride.”
Sunday’s race three ended with Rikke in first and Finkelstein in second. Parmelee finished third with Welch in fourth and Wiseman in fifth.
Technical Insights and Driver Perspectives
Success at the 1.7-mile MSR Cresson circuit requires more than just raw power. Parmelee noted that the “secret” lies in the braking zones. “Long trail brakes is the secret and opening up a lot of those corners,” Parmelee said. “They’re deceptively large radiuses and I think a lot of people pinch stuff off.”
Greg Hartman, who traveled 10 hours from Colorado to compete, highlighted the difficulty of starting on the left side of the grid. “I lost a position every time I was on the left side and didn’t lose one when I was on the right,” Hartman said. “Turn one is a left-hander, but it’s a fast one. And then Rattlesnake is that real tight right-hander.”
While the racing was close, the weekend wasn’t without mechanical drama. Cliff Pearce’s debut weekend ended early when his engine quit during a Sunday warm-up session. “It just quit on track,” Pearce said. “TBD whether I screwed it up or if there’s something else.”
Conclusion
The NASA Texas Spec E46 field left Motorsport Ranch Cresson with Jason Rikke and Dave Finkelstein established as the primary title contenders, but the arrival of the Pearce brothers and the rising pace of Audrey Wiseman suggest the podium will be a moving target this season. With the field often separated by less than 10 car lengths for the duration of a 40-minute race, the next event promises even more tactical fireworks.
I love this so much!