The last time Sea to Sky local Paul Bunbury raced at the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Runoffs in 2014, it ended up being a disappointment.
He had barely started when his vehicle broke down.
So when he returned for this year鈥檚 event at Sonoma Raceway, competing on Oct. 19, Bunbury was thrilled not only to finish, but to take ninth place in the GT Lite division as well.
In 2014, at Monterey鈥檚 Laguna Seca Raceway, Bunbury鈥檚 1995 Honda Civic failed him and left him seeking redemption for a quadrennial.
鈥淚 unfortunately had a mechanical issue on the first lap and didn鈥檛 get to complete even one lap,鈥� he said. 鈥淲ith the same car, with four years of continual upgrades and modifications, with expectations on the low side to do more than maybe just complete the race, we were more successful than I鈥檇 hoped.鈥�
The 20-car final saw racers come mostly from the western half of the continent, with California, Oregon, Colorado, Missouri, Washington and Texas all represented, though Ontario, Connecticut and Florida also saw individual racers vying for the crown.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 get a lot of cars from the East Coast, but there were a few that had travelled across the country. Kudos to them for doing so, because it鈥檚 a long haul,鈥� Bunbury said. 鈥淚 feel pretty good to finish in the top half of that group. It鈥檚 the cream of the crop for the country and, obviously, Canada in terms of car racing.鈥�
At the runoffs, the races are quick, lasting just 40 minutes or 25 laps, whichever comes first, due to potential delays because of crashes and the strict schedule to which organizers must adhere. Bunbury explained that the quick nature of the races affects his strategy fairly significantly.
鈥淵ou can build and tune a car to be much more competitive over a longer race, as opposed to these sprint races for us. It鈥檚 110 per cent for 40 minutes whereas, for instance, the Champ Car race is 16 hours and you鈥檙e building a car to last that long. You鈥檙e not driving it nearly as aggressively for that period of time as you are for these short sprint races,鈥� he said.
The road to Sonoma was a long one, Bunbury explained, as he needed to hit a benchmark in at least three qualifiers to make the runoffs. He attended races in Seattle, Portland and at the host track in Sonoma to get there.
The lead-up was a confusing time, Bunbury said, as the runoff was supposed to have been held on the West Coast in 2017. However, the SCCA got a rare chance to host the runoffs at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2017, delaying the Pacific return for a year. As well, when this year鈥檚 runoffs were announced, there wasn鈥檛 a qualifier announced for Sonoma that season, which Bunbury found strange. Bunbury and some friends entered an event at the raceway put on by a different organizer in February to get a sense of the track, but also entered the SCCA race when it was announced at a later date.
The nearest track with SCCA events is in Seattle, though Bunbury will sometimes race at Mission Speedway to get in track time. He noted, however, with its concrete walls, racers can鈥檛 afford to make mistakes at Mission without sustaining major damage to their vehicles.
鈥淚t is what it is. It鈥檚 ours, it鈥檚 home, it鈥檚 Canada. But it鈥檚 not the place you need to go if you want to step up your game,鈥� he said.
鈥淚 went to Mission for 20 years and won dozens of championships, but it really didn鈥檛 mean much. You鈥檝e got to go further afield to really be able to measure yourself against the best of the best.鈥�
Bunbury thanked his wife Colleen, engine-and-transmission builder Curt Storms, suspension tuner Joe Harlan and friend and rival Chris Doodson of Surrey. Harlan also raced and finished second in the division while Doodson struggled and placed 15th.
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