Joey Races in the SCCA Double National Races
at Thunderhill, CA on March 13 – 15, 2009

Joey and four other cars from the Oregon Region of the SCCA ventured down to race in the Double National Races being held at the beautiful Thunderhill, CA Racetrack located about 125 miles north of San Francisco. This track is 3 miles long and a very exciting track to drive with its 15 turns and several elevation changes including the famous ‘Cyclone’ hill at turn 5.

For the first time driving on this track in competition, Joey did a great job. During the five 20 min practice sessions on Thursday, Joey took a considerable amount of time off his lap times and then qualified 6th in class for the first race on Saturday. Unfortunately during the race, Joey had to avoid a collision with a driver who cut him off going into a turn, and as a result Joey went off track and ‘kissed’ the wall which bent the front suspension enough so that he could not safely continue racing or finish the race. With the help of Will Schrader, Pat McFall and Gary Bockman, Joey’s car was back up running by the end of the day!

Here Joey accelerates onto the front straight out of turn 15 during his qualifying run for Sunday’s race. He qualified 5th in class by shaving yet another second off his lap time. Joey comes out of turn 12 accelerating toward turn 13 and onto the back straight.

We invite you to take a ride along with Joey as he races the entire 6th lap of the race on Sunday. At the time of this video, Joey was in 3rd place in class with just Ken Sutherland and Will Schrader in front of him.

Joey got a great start for the race on Sunday and moved up to 3rd in class in the first lap. Will, Joey and Bruce race down the back straight into turn 14. Unfortunately at the end of lap 6, as Joey came out of turn 15, a couple of cars got tangled up right beside him and one of them clipped the right rear panel of Joey’s car and caused him to spin out as he came onto the front straight (see video). Joey was able to recover from the spinout without being tagged by anyone else, but he had lost 8 positions – he spent the rest of the race working his way all the way back up from 11th to take the checkered flag with a 6th place finish in class.

Will, Gary & Joey accelerate down the front straight during a practice lap. Check out the cows (those black spots behind the cars) grazing out beside turn 7!!! Joey accelerates onto the front straight while other cars come over the Cyclone Hill in the background. What a great weekend of racing on such a challenging and exciting track!

Joey Wins First SCCA
Oregon Regional Race of the Season

The 2009 Racing Season began here in the Pacific Northwest with some nasty weather: Cold & Windy with Snow & Rain Showers. Joey Atterbury, who had worked on his car all winter, arrived at the track with a new paint scheme and an intense determination to win. During the practice session on Saturday, Joey topped the field with a fastest time of 1:31:436. But that was just a practice. For the Sunday morning qualifier, the rain and snow showers shortened the qualifying run a few minutes and Joey missed the capturing the pole position by a mere 0.05 seconds.

As they lined up for the race on Sunday afternoon, the sun came out just in time – promising great weather for the race. Gary Bockman started first, then Joey, Will Schrader and Ken Sutherland and the remainder of [ the Spec Miatas. Ken, in the silver #94 car got a great jump on the start and moved up on the outside from the #4 spot to take the lead as they entered into turns #1 and #2 of the chicane. Joey held on to his #2 spot through the chicane and the race was on between Ken & Joey. At the end of the second lap, Joey took the inside coming down the end of the front straight and edged out Ken into turn #1 of the chicane. Joey then drove a good smart race, with strong consistent times that ran in the low to mid 1:31s. By the mid-point of the race, Joey was well out in front of Ken and all the other Spec Miatas. Joey ran all but the first two laps of the race in 1st place, steadily increasing his lead with every lap, and winning the race with a lead of well over 6 seconds at the finish.

Joey’s smile says what this victory meant to him and he and his crew chief Shaun Bailey take a well earned victory lap.

Stayed tuned for more racing news as Joey races both the Spec Miata & the VW Jetta TDI this season! It should be an exciting adventure! Pictures by Camden Thrasher Photography.