Cook leads laps at SCCA regionals

Fallbrook’s Geoffrey Cook only ran seven laps at the Sports Car Club of America regionals, but he led two of them. The Formula V driver led the second and third laps of the February 5 race at Fontana’s California Speedway before pulling off in the seventh lap.

“I was happy about the fact that I got to lead those two laps,” Cook remarked.

Cook crashed during the qualifying session and started third on the grid. Brake problems kept him from taking the lead in the first lap. “I got into the guy who was leading at that point,” he explained. “I couldn’t get much in the way of the brakes working.”

The car worked well in terms of handling and power, enabling Cook to take the lead until he fell back to second. He pulled off after throttle problems augmented his brake problems. “I was running second and got hit from behind,” he noted. “At that point the throttle started sticking.”

Cook withdrew from the February 6 race. “I just didn’t have a car to work with,” he said.

Since Cook is a qualified national driver, he will be able to participate in the nationals February 26-27 at Willow Springs despite the lack of a strong finish in the regionals. For Cook, the regionals were a tune-up for the nationals.

“I pretty much proved to myself that this is a really fast car,” he remarked.

Cook also learned the car’s weaknesses. “I know now that I’ve got some issues to work on before I get to the nationals,” he said.

Fallbrook’s Larry Payton, who was also able to run the nationals regardless of his performance in the regionals, overheated February 5 and did not race the following day. Dennis Allen was unable to make the February 5 race and crashed into the tire wall February 6, breaking the right front of his frame.