The song “This is it” by Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald was blasting from the portable speaker in the garage as the sun was rising over the Utah Motorsports Complex.
The song couldn’t be more appropriate as the 2024 NASA National Championships is the culmination of a long, hard season for the 250-plus drivers and teams across the United States that made the trek to the bucket-list track about 30 minutes outside of Salt Lake City. Sunday is the day it all comes together. This is it.
Earning a National Championship takes perseverance, some luck and waking up before dawn to make sure the racecar is ready. The racers have run practice sessions, a qualifier and qualifying race culminating Sunday in the Championships. Along the way they had to overcome heat and altitude to finish on the podium and enjoy a champagne shower.
Eighteen racing drivers were crowned as 2024 NASA National Championships. In reality, every team that competed at the Utah Motorsports Complex should take a victory lap.
For most of the teams, this isn’t it. They’ll be back at the 2025 NASA National Championships at Ozarks International Raceway in Gravois Mills, Mo., to try again. But we are probably getting ahead of ourselves again. Let’s talk about the 2024 NASA Championships first.
944 Spec
In the old “Kung Fu” television show, the student’s goal was to surpass or at least match the prowess of the teacher. The 944 Spec race at the 2024 NASA Championships was a bit like that.
Josh Cleye and three-time 944 Spec National Champion Charlie Buzzetti race together in the NASA SoCal Region and Cleye must have learned a thing or two from Buzzetti along the way because Cleye snatched the pebble from Buzzetti’s hand, put his head down and never looked back.
When Buzzetti overcooked it slightly going into the first turn early in the race, Cleye pounced and took the lead he would never give back.
“I capitalized on Charlie’s mistake. He went a little deep into Turn 1, I think lap two,” Cleye said. “So I was able to kind of pull ahead and then he got mixed up battling the rest. So I just put my foot down and tried to get as far ahead as I could.”
Toward the end of the race, Buzzetti was getting closer, but it wasn’t enough to challenge Cley for the lead.
“Oh yeah, he was there. I was making sure I didn’t make a mistake,” Cleye added. “I didn’t want to blow the transmission or do anything like that, so I’m happy I was able to keep it ahead.”
Buzzetti finished first and NASA SoCal’s Gian Bowles finished third.
American-Iron Extreme
Winning a National Championship is never easy, as Derric Carter can attest.
“Forty-five minutes is definitely different,” Carter said. “I was dealing with everything from time and slippery tires to brake fade toward the end.”
What helped seal the Championship for Carter was when second-place finisher Cal Lemp spun on lap 14, giving Carter an opening. Lemp’s Ford Mustang GT500 went into limp mode every time he turned left on the last two laps.
“It was just driver error,” Lemp said. “Hot tires losing their grip coming out of Wind Up and they just didn’t stick and turn I and went into the gravel, did a 360 got back on track, and was running Derric down. I was confident I would have passed him for the win even with the spin out.”
Third-place finisher Dallas Brown’s game plan was to press hard early and then back off to prevent the Ford Mustang GT from overheating.
“I had one eye on the temp gage and one eye on the road,” Brown said. “It was pretty hot and I don’t think the car was ready for the altitude.”
Camaro-Mustang Challenge
In addition to racing in Camaro-Mustang Challenge, Matthew Kasuda plays a little hockey in the offseason, so he was fully aware he had scored a hat trick in CMC at the 2024 NASA Championships. Kasuda set the fastest time in Friday qualifying, won the qualifying race on Saturday and then the CMC Championship race on Sunday.
Kasuda dropped back to second early on but was able to get by Lucas Wallace who was leading at the time.
“I made some mistakes in the first couple laps and was kind of able to recover after that and get myself settled down and kind of get into a groove,” Kasuda said. “And then just took my opportunity when a driver in front of me made a small mistake, and I took the lead.”
Wallace and Peter Standiford had a race for the ages on Saturday, but Standiford suffered suspension damage and pulled off track early. Wallace finished second and Standiford finished third in the three-car class.
GT
Despite his success at NASA National Championships in recent years, Brian Faessler has had a mixed record at the Utah Motorsports Complex. When Faessler’s lone competitor Tage Evanson had to drop out after 11 laps, Faessler could vanquish the demons of 2013 when a broken ball joint cost him a championship.
“My first few years of NASA Nationals, I had a lot of bad luck, and I think at least the law of averages is finally paying me back,” said Faessler, who won the 2023 National Championship in American Iron Extreme. “Thankfully, this year was pretty uneventful.”
Whether it’s luck or having a perfectly prepped Ford Mustang, Faessler was dominant from the qualifier to the championship race, setting a track lap record with a 1:54.714 lap. After Evanson left the race because of overheating, Faessler ran a few more laps before retiring to the paddock to preserve the car.
Faessler won the 2023 National Championship in American Iron Extreme
For Evanson, it was a tough week as he was chasing overheating problems with his Honda Civic. The Regional Director for Arizona, Evanson removed the thermostat and block guard, everything short of replacing the radiator.
“On lap one it was overheating, so I just put it in top gear, pointed people by and see if I could stay out there,” Evanson said. “It was just going to destroy the car, though.”
GTSU
No other way to put it. Dmitri Novikov had a perfect weekend in GTSU at the 2024 NASA Championships. He nailed the fastest lap in Friday qualifying, won Saturday’s qualifying race and took the win on Sunday to nab the GTSU Championship. He credits his win to three factors.
“I would say A) home track; B) fast car and; C) air conditioning,” Novikov said. “I guess it’s probably, I don’t know, one of the five or six fastest cars here. So that helped as well. But I mean, if I would have done it in an old beat up car, then you could be surprised. Otherwise the car is good, so it helps as well. That’s it. So three things, home, track, fast car, AC.”
Al Tiley finished in second after battling with Team Riot’s Michael Shumway, who finished third.
Legends
Bobby Christensen’s reward for winning back-to-back National Championships is that he had to buy dinner that night for his fellow competitors and good friends in the class.
The winner that day buys dinner, so on Friday and Saturday night it was Bobby Pugh’s turn after he won the qualifier and qualifying race. Pugh had led most of the race but thinks a fuel line came off the tank.
“When I turned right, it would kind of stumble and cough, so I was shaking it back and forth,” Pugh said. “It was a good car until then.”
Christensen was confident he was going to win the race, even if Pugh’s car didn’t have a mechanical gremlin.
“I was faster than him the whole race,” Christensen said. “Everything was working well, the setup was good. (Bobby) was pushing some, so I was just playing with him out there.”
Bryan Poage finished second, the same position he finished in the 2023 National Championships at Pittsburgh International Race Complex.
“I’ll get him next year,” Poage said. “The third time is the charm.”
NP01 EVO
Chris Castelli’s performance had been good enough all weekend to put him over the top in Friday’s qualifying and Saturday’s qualifying race. Come Sunday, he found himself looking at an unfamiliar sight: the back of Team Tony B Racing’s car.
Credit the temporary second-place position to a bad start. Castelli said his car did not seem to have the same oomph as the others that got by him in the early goings, but he kept driving like he had been all weekend, and stayed within sight of Team Tony B Racing until misfortune reared its ugly head. There was contact between Tony B and an out-of-class ST1 car and Tony B spun into the gravel, with suspension damage on the right front of the car.
“Everything ended up going my way. From what it looked like, Tony was out front for a little bit and I think he got bumped into it by a Corvette,” Castelli said. “Tony was in front next to a green Corvette and went into Wind Up and when I came around Wind Up, they were sideways and had somehow hit each other.”
At that point, Castelli put his head down and started clicking off laps as quickly as possible and went on to take the NP01-EVO Championship.
It was another heartbreaker for Tony B Racing, who suffered a similar fate in the NP01 race at Daytona in 2021. NASA SoCal’s Francis Hu finished second, with Steven Seiler in third.
Spec E30
Team Mick Blue Racing driver Mick Blue was quick to admit he bungled the start in the Championship race, but he knew it was going to be a long race so he played the long game.
He picked off a couple of spots on his way to the front and set his sights on NASA SoCal’s Sean Aron, who was leading at the time.
“Yeah, I would say that was definitely one of my hardest races. The heat and kind of the tricky tires. It’s like once they get hot it’s like no grip,” Blue said. “I just tucked in behind Sean. I passed him yesterday, so I knew the time will come that I’m going to pass him today. And I tried to get by him as soon as possible because I knew that Matthew is probably faster today than me and he’ll going to be coming from behind. And I wanted to create a gap before he can catch me.”
Matthew Ibrahim did post a quicker fast lap, so Blue’s concerns were not unwarranted. But his strategy worked because he was able to hold the lead till the end.
Ibrahim finished second with Aron in third.
Spec E46
Though Wyatt Couch had been out front all weekend, winning Friday qualifying and the qualifying race on Saturday, the lap times were close. Couch was not able to duplicate the 2:11-second lap he nailed in previous sessions and Team Jared Zakem was putting up lap times in the 2:12’s right there with Couch.
In fact, at the beginning of the race, as Zakem and Couch took the green flag, it was Zakem who got through Turn 1 first and led the first few laps. But Couch wasn’t going to wait around till the end to make a move.
He initiated a pass in Turn 1, which took an additional two corners to make stick. At that point, Couch was freed up to drive his own race and keep Zakem behind him.
“On the start we had bumped mirrors and so my mirror went down and I couldn’t see where he was because in my rear view it was kind of a blind spot behind the seat,” Couch said. “So it was pretty interesting. I was just trying to hit my marks the best I could and he’d get right up to me and then I’d stretch it out a little bit and we just kept yo-yoing. It was a great race.”
Zakem held on to finish second with Logan Toke in third.
Spec Miata
Sunday’s Spec Miata Championships race looked a lot like Saturday’s qualifying race — until it didn’t.
Logan Stretch had pole position thanks to his win on Saturday and put it to good use to take the early lead. Starting from second, Dan Williams trailed Stretch for a few laps but then used the draft to start a pass in Turn 1 that he didn’t complete till Turn 3.
At that point, Stretch hung behind Williams all race long and pushed him so the two could get away from the rest of the field. Just like Saturday. The two carried on that way till the white flag — just like Saturday — when Stretch put the pass on Williams in Turn 1, but on the outside this time.
But Williams wasn’t looking for a repeat. He stayed with Stretch and got a good drive out of the Turn 6 and was able to get inside Stretch in Turn 7 and by the time the two exited the Attitudes, Williams had retaken the lead, which he would hold till the end.
“I’ll tell you what, it was a lot of side-by-side action in that last lap. But I was definitely going to make sure he wasn’t going to take me on the inside and to turn one this time,” Williams said. “He went around the outside and we were side-by-side all the way to (Turn) 3. And then I was able to make an outside move, I think it was in (Turn) 5 that made him have to stay on the inside of six. And I over-undered him, coming into the Attitudes and it was super fun. But it was amazing because Logan is so good.”
Stretch finished in second with Josh Fine advancing 10 spots from grid to take third.
In Teen Mazda Challenge Will D’Elia took the win, followed by Max Stallone in second and Logan’s brother Matt Stretch in third.
Spec Z
Sometimes it’s better to be the hunter than the hunted.
Chad Aalders after laying down a monster lap in Saturday’s qualifying race was disqualified after Nissan 350Z came in underweight, so he had to start at the back of the pack. Despite starting in the rear, Aalders climbed through the pack to win the Spec Z National Championship.
“I was just trying to be as patient as I could, take the opportunities where they came and one after another it kind of came to me,” Aalders said. “The car was running really good.”
Ayrton Littel driving the Team Towne Storage Racing car was the fastest qualifier on Saturday, said he had never driven the car as hard as Sunday, finishing 5.6 seconds behind Aalders.
“Chad drove a great race. We both put everything on the table that we could, and he came out a little bit ahead,” Littel said. “We kept each other honest, so I really can’t complain. It was an ideal race.”
Richard Fitzgerald joined them on the podium, finishing third on his home track.
“(Chad) earned this, he’s worked hard all year,” Fitzgerald said. “I’ve been pretty absent this year, so this feels good for me to be on the podium.”
Super Touring 1
Joe Kellerman has won back-to-back Super Touring 1 National Championships, but this year’s victory might be the sweetest.
“For me, it’s exciting to come back and do it again. With the temperatures, there’s a lot out there to deal with on the track,” Kellerman said. “Man, it was fun, though.”
Kellerman earned the pole after Saturday’s qualifying race and never gave it up on Sunday, even when pressed by Jason Perry, who also races a Chevrolet Corvette. Perry was hit in the rear on lap three and spun out, creating a 10-second gap on Kellerman.
“We were slowly reeling them in. I think we got within 5 or 6 seconds, and we were keeping the same pace,” Perry said. “I think if we got a good, clean race, we it would have been a good finish, but that’s racing.”
Chad Knight of the Rocky Mountain Region, driving a Porsche GT3, placed third in the four-car class.
“I’m fairly new to racing and this is just my second full season, and first time to go to the Championships,” Knight said. “To finish on the podium is amazing. I’m excited about it.”
Super Touring 2
It was a bittersweet National Championship for Greg Laube, who saw his teammate Timothy Carel leave the race after 10 laps because of a shock failure on the left front wheel.
“I feel bad for my teammate Timmy. It was his race to lose,” Laube said. “It feels good, but I didn’t expect this.”
Running an Audi RS3 LMS, Laube and Carel were setting the pace until Carel, who won Saturday’s qualifying race, dropped out. Laube built up a 9.1-second lead over second-place finisher Ben Grambau, but Laube was dealing with his own mechanical problems. The Audi went into limp mode three times. Laube reset it with the ignition, but it cost him 3 to 4 seconds each time.
“It was in the same spot every time, so I knew it was coming,” Laube said. “I would have my hand on the switch, I’d go through that corner, I’d reset it, but it cost me a few seconds every time.”
Grambau said he got swamped at the start and felt it might have cost him the championship.
“If I could have come out at Turn 1 in P2, I think it could have been a very different race because my fast lap was 3 seconds faster than what I was doing when I was stuck in P3 and P4 for a while, so it cost me some time. As soon as I got in clear air, I set my own pace.”
NASA SoCal racer Vic Pizzino finished third, having rebuilt the front end of his BMW E46 after a crash in August while racing at UMC.
“I’m super happy coming out here with all these talented drivers and be able to take this back to my office and something else to look at,” Pizzino said.
Super Touring 3
Tom Rogers was the model of consistency at the NASA National Championships, sweeping both qualifying races and the Super Touring 3 championship race.
Rogers spent 15 years climbing the racing ranks and this was the first National Championship for the Bozeman, Mont., resident. It wasn’t easy for Rogers, who was in third place by the first turn on lap one and had to chase down David Lecko and Matthew Singler. Lecko and Singler finished second and third, respectively.
“I’m proud of myself. It’s a lot of work,” Rogers said. “I’ve tried it before, and I’ve been doing it for 15 years. It’s really nice to be in this position. I’m excited.”
Lecko called Rogers a great and clean competitor and was happy with his showing.
“I spent most of the race out in front and I had a clear windshield, so I was just hitting my marks most of the time,” said Lecko, who competed in his first National Championships. “He did get around me in the esses, so that’s a tricky spot, but other than that, we both had such a great race.”
Singler had run the championship race on used tires because his new 315 tires didn’t arrive in time.
“My whole strategy was literally just to manage tires and keep up with those guys and hope that they would make a mistake, and I could get around them,” Singler said.
Super Touring 4
Shaun Webster had successfully defended his Super Touring 4 National Championship, but a post-race adjudication determined he had punted another competitor and he was DQ’d.
John Friesen, who races with Webster in another Edge Motorworks car in the NASA NorCal Region was moved from second to first and the Championship as a result of the punt.
“I think the competition, at least in the ST4 is really stiff in NorCal, and we’ve got some complicated tracks there, Thunderhill, Sonoma, Laguna, and I think it just breeds a different driver,” Friesen said “If you’re not on pace in NorCal, you just go to the back, and it’s challenging.”
Driver Kevin Moore with Team Magic Developed No. 37 finished second with Team Codrus Racing in third.
Super Touring 5
To say that Team Moorewood Racing had a good weekend is putting it mildly. Driver Larry Moore had been laying down scorching lap times and won Friday qualifying, Saturday’s qualifying race and Sunday’s Championships race even though the competition had begun posting lap times in the same 2:12 bracket at Team Moorewood.
Moore took the win followed by Nathan Ulrich in second and Nic Gerardi in third.
“I just want to thank Maxxis Tires for all their support, Magic Developed for putting a great car together, Apex Wheels, Clearwater Lights and Moorewood Creative,” Moore said. “We just tried to manage the pace, keep the tires cool, and keep myself cool out there because it’s warm.”
Super Touring 6
Competing in Time Trial and racing at a NASA Championships event has its benefits and drawbacks. Benefits include lots of track time, compounding knowledge and experience and one pursuit fortifying the next. The drawbacks are that it’s a lot of work, it can be hard on the car and it requires a lot of tires.
The drawbacks didn’t seem to faze NASA Utah’s Todd Green and he certainly made the most of the experience in his win in Super Touring 6. However his dominant performance on Friday and Saturday didn’t translate automatically to Sunday. He got freight-trained by a couple of cars in the first turn and lost another spot in Turn 3 on the first lap. Green bided his time, capitalized on his strengths and started clawing his way back to the front.
“It’s a 45-minute race. Just take my time,” Green said. “I know I have the speed, I know I have the race craft, and so I would just wait for them to make a small little bobble, set it up and then get a good run on them and then take them in braking. I think I got both of them in Turn 5 and then once I was able to get ahead out of 6, it was smooth sailing from there.”
Bill Agha finished second in ST6, with Chris Miller in third.
Super Unlimited
Jonathan Finstrom has won back-to-back NASA National Championships using the same strategy each year. Finstrom cuts the Saturday qualifying race short to preserve the Staudacher S12 for the championship.
While it requires him to start at the back, Finstrom quickly made his way through the five-car class to take the lead. “It was a little difficult with the fast cars in the beginning,” he said. “They were racing pretty hard, and especially with my little car, you’ve got to watch yourself.”
Jimmy Ford had earned the pole in Saturday’s qualifying but dropped out on lap six, which created openings for the other drivers in the class. Andrew Lang, who finished second, said that catching Finstrom required a perfect race. The tires on the Norma M20 FC fell off faster than they anticipated.
“We’ve got very different cars. I’ve got an endurance car and we’re just trying to get the pace down here,” Lang said. “Even with a perfect day, I’m not sure I could have been in P1 but we were hoping (Jonathan) would have some issue, and we wanted to be right there.”
John LaBrie was third in his Superlite Aero R with the best lap time (2:02.865) coming on lap 16, three laps before the race ended.
