Sprite Midget Challenge
2025 Race 2, Laguna Seca
By Brad Shinn with contributions from Loren Campbell
You feel something is different, something special when you turn on to Road B and climb the winding hill to Laguna Seca. A row of flags wave their welcome, several seductive curves hint at the flowing track. A campground with names like Can-Am clue you in to the joy of just being in one of North American racing’s hallowed grounds. You crest the hill just past the security hut and lay eyes on the dry lake bed, a “laguna seca”.
Racing at Laguna Seca has been on the “10 things I must do before I die” list since I decided to try racing. When Stephen Newby announced the 2025 race schedule for the Sprite Midget Challenge, I knew nothing would stop me from experiencing this race; it’s a whole other story of the many things that nearly did stop me and half of the NW traveling paddock. Let’s leave it at the car went into the trailer with a completely new suspension and not so much as a street test the night before we left.
It isn’t inaccurate to say the SMC critical mass hails from the Pacific Northwest, but draws drivers up and down the coast. The camaraderie, support, and sense of belonging is certainly attracting existing and new drivers from as far south as San Diego and all the way to British Columbia, but on this weekend it was the Northwest visitors joining our California brethren on their home turf.
Five Northwest rigs and four California-based crews cued in the dry lake staging area that overlooks turns 4-5 and the straight to turn 6 waiting to enter the paddock. I arrived a little after 1pm Thursday, the first of the NW crews. My adult son and racing inspiration Nolan and I relaxed in the truck and watched the super bike racing school do laps. Loren Campbell and his crew arrived soon after and we decided to walk the infield and see the track.
I’ve watched countless in-car videos, raced sim and did a Google maps tour. None of it remotely prepared me for the track. As we walked the course from T10 clockwise back to the bridge at the entrance to T5 and then across the dry lake to see T2-T4 we marveled at the complexity and nuance at every turn. There is hardly more than a few feet of pavement anywhere on the track that is flat, apart from T11. There just isn’t much of the track that you aren’t climbing or dropping. And at Laguna Seca you better be ready to crest with a blind curve served up next. As Ross Bentley says in one of his reviews, if you aren’t a little bit scared, you probably left something on the track.
Load-in to the paddock was a bit chaotic for us; what is peculiar to us visitors is familiar and well-worn to the home teams. We soon got in the groove, despite three trailer repositions and the Sprite-Midget Challenge paddock looked well organized and nicely kitted.
The paddock consisted of Loren Campbell, Brian Volkert, myself, Rich Newman, Stephen Newby and Pete Smith. Veronica O’Shea, Will Carson and Nick Stoffregen paddocked a short ways aways in favorite locations. Our SMC grid of nine cars was set.
Nine cars was a bit smaller than we had hoped, but a scrappy bunch this would turn out to be. Three Bugeyes, a Sebring tribute, and the rest square bodies. It would turn out to be a super-fast group up front and a…less super-fast group following.
We tidied things against a building and gusty breeze and went off to RVs, hotels and VRBOs for sleep.
Friday morning Test and Tune
The Monterey Coast looks warm and dry— shorts and tee-shirt weather. But long pants and sweatshirts were in order as pre-track prep made cars ready for the test & tune runs on Friday.
Brian, Loren, Rich, Veronica and I were running in group 1 and we wanted to get through tech early. Nick and Will typically run in the faster group 2 at CSRG events, why they do became obvious over the next two days. Brian, Loren, and I both had trouble—me a dead starter, Loren with no brake lights, and Brian had an unexplainable timing issue.
While Rich, with Loren shortly behind, left for session 1 of T&T, the rest of the paddock jumped in to find a new starter for me and retime Brian’s ignition system. Most of us do most of our own wrenching, but when your mind is focused on driving and it needs to shift to mechanical problem solving, you really need to have people around you that elbow their way to the car and take over. It’s moments like this when the SMC spirit shines.
Steve Poyorena, Rich’s crew chief, and Stephen Newby diagnosed and solved Brian’s misfire. Richard Goldsmith, Devon Newby and Nolan helped sort out what seemed like a dead battery in my car and what ended up being the starter. Both took longer to diagnose than fix, but we were both ready for session 2 and our first real look at the track.
One thing that is an immediate difference at Laguna are the “blind corners” aren’t just blind. Both Turn 2 and turn 8, the famed Corkscrew, are approached with a significant uphill, full throttle charge that ends with a blind crest that leads immediately to a little left or right jog and a braking to the corner. In effect the Corkscrew is double blind–your braking zone is blind and the turn is blind. That saying “don’t brake until you see god” was born here.
The rest are just corners, some flat, some cambered, some faster, some slower. Sounds easy but the trick is assessing the corner’s potential and trusting your car’s grip. For me that was a complete WAG with a completely new suspension and a switch to bias-ply Hoosiers from familiar Toyo radials. Veronica, Rich and Brian held their usual good form and I was by far the slowest car on the track in our session–sorry to the poor Formula Vee I passed going to the checker. The rest of the grid was sorting itself into the fast group of Nick, Will, Stephen, and Loren. Peter was faster than the second group but not quite as fast as the front runners as a group B (948 and 1098) car. Brian, Rich, Veronica and I were shaping up to be their support race.
Saturday Qualifying and Race 1
Group 1 was an interesting if inexplicable mix of cars–everything from big pre-war V-8 powered beauties nearly concourse in preparation, to a selection of open-wheels from Formula Vee to Formula Fords….and a bunch in between a gaggle of Spridgets vying for podiums. Qualifying for the Northwest gang was still mostly about getting comfortable with the track rather, and actual qualifying times have little to do with grid placement; as Stephen Newby says, “this is about the show”.
I had advice and coaching from longtime Laguna driver (and brother-in-law) Richard Goldsmith; we used the white board in the trailer to debrief from the qualifying and relate what I was experiencing and where I could focus to improve. I was over-slowing everywhere, but I watched the fast crowd carrying much more speed through 4,5 and 10: For Race 1 I would work on those.
Newby gridded race 1 with our hosts Nick and Will on row 1 and Veronica in row 2, but it was essentially the fastest to the slowest. CSRG allowed us to have a split start behind the rest of Group 1, and we were determined to have a great start for spectators. Our grid made quite a lovely sight as we came down the corkscrew led by Will’s immaculate black and white Midget #73, and Nicks jet black #77. We held a tight formation and headed down to T11 and then up to a clean start on green.
Nick, Will, Stephen and Loren went out fast, going four wide under the starter and into turn 1, but sorted quickly into pairs at turn 2. The next group also started quickly and had a similar multi-car attack of turn 1 and a cautious single-line sorting into 2. I jumped up to 4th at the start, but ceded a place to Peter going into 2 with Rich, Veronica, and Brian close on.
The leaders quickly left Brian, Rich, Veronica and I to play through the first turns. I could not find a rhythm through the first laps. Lap after lap, Nick, Will, Stephen, and Loren traded positions in the front group. Rich, Veronica and Brian found some speed and warmer tires found better grip in the corners; I recall some close racing through the turns, but I had better top speed in the straights. Loren led going into the Corkscrew on the last lap, with Nick pressing hard. A big off there let Nick, Pete, and Stephen sneak past. Loren reportedly saw god, had lunch with him, then tried to brake. I managed to hold Rich off through the checkered flag, while Brian and Veronica dueled in the back, ultimately Veronica held on to finish ahead of Brian for Round 2 of the Sprite Midget Challenge.
While all the fun was undoubtedly at the back, the faster cars did manage to finish. Seriously, the front runners put down some blindingly fast times. I didn’t find official lap times for any of us, but did learn that Nick Stoffregen put down a lap of 1:47 during a Group 2 race…in a Midget. For perspective, Randy Pobst, who owns a number of lap records at Laguna, put down a 1:46 IN A BENTLEY CONTINENTAL GT!!! Let that sink in. Much respect to pilot Nick and his crew chief and race engineer Matt Stoffregen.
As for podiums, Pete held his own in Group B for the win, and in Group A. Loren, who found surprising speed at a new and unfamiliar track (and on a brand new motor) ended up third after leading with just three turns to go, with hotshoe Nick Stoffregen leading him in for 2nd. Stephen Newby took no prisoners and gave no quarter to end up on the top step.
Sunday Qualifying and Race
CSRG does a qualifying and a race each day, so Sunday was a fresh start and I hoped to shake off my lethargy. Again we treated qualifying as a practice session because…well Newby. I found better speed in the troubling corners…except for 10.
For the race, Newby gridded me in pole and Brian in P2 on the theory we need brighter colors up front. Hard to argue with his choice of a sunburst yellow and sunkist orange for the start. As an aside I will soon make a proposal to rename this the Skittles Cup. Another tight pack greeted the starter as we cleared turn 11 and rolled up the hill to the start where they threw the green a little early. I managed to lead the pack through turn 3 and then fast leaders found a weak defense and we settled into a more familiar order. I was determined to find more speed in the corners and did, but in the end it was all for fun.
The SMC is growing; we will welcome at least two new SMC cars at Round 3 at the Pacific Northwest Historics at Pacific Raceway on July 4th. People asked in the paddock, “where can I get a car and how can I join you?”
And why wouldn’t you? Fierce competition on the track and deep friendship in the paddock. Good-natured banter one moment and an offer to raid the spares bin to get you on track the next. Between races there is a community, camaraderie, and generosity that exists well beyond the weekend.
As the weekend came to a close and the sun gave us a last California kiss in the golden Monterey hills, we all put cars in the trailers with visions of a better line and a tasty burger on Friday with friends.
Standings after two events:
In-car video from #12, Campbell: