VCOA Davis Meet
and Track Day

I Rollers return to Thunderhill

By Dave Barton

On Saturday, April 27th, fellow Volvo club member Dave Shannon and I began our early morning journey north to attend the annual Davis Volvo Meet, which would take place on Sunday. After the meet, about 60 of us would then drive to Willows, about 80 miles north of Sacramento, for the track day at Thunderhill Racing Park.

   Once we arrived in Davis, we met up with fellow SoCal Volvonuts, Bob Skoog, Jay Chee, Paul Jones, and Doug Wilson. The Davis Meet started a few years ago as a small get together, but has now grown up. There were in excess of 120 Volvos there on Sunday. I think the largest showing was from the 1800 crowd. I was amazed, there must have been 40 Volvo 1800's in attendance.

   Next in quantity were the 122 entries. There were almost as many of those as there were 1800's. There were more than 20 Volvo 240's in attendance, the vast majority of which were very modified. Lots of great things to see, that's for sure. VCOA President Lee Cordner officiated the festivities.

   Track Day on Monday was breathtaking, partly because we were all holding our breath on that damp morning as we headed for Thunderhill Park, for a 60% percent chance of showers had been forecast. As the day progressed things were a little on the wet side, and we did experience an occasional drizzle, but it wasn't enough to take away from all the fun we were having. There is one thing about running on a racetrack.... it stays pretty dry during damp conditions from all those hot tires driving on it. You never noticed the dampness. Also, the cool weather was a blessing to those cars sensitive to a warmer climate when racing.

   I guess I said "racing," didn't I... more correctly, I should say that "fast driving" commenced about 9:00 A.M. and continued past 3:00 P.M. Officially, it wasn't a race since no-passing rules were in affect in the curves, but that didn't stop the serious competition from taking place.

   More than 65 drivers participated in this event. Most were Volvos; I'd say at least 55 of them. There were also a few invited non-Volvo friends too, who brought some Saabs, Audis, Volkswagens, Porches, and Mustangs. It was a great mix. The drivers were grouped into three separate run groups of about 20 each to keep the crowd down on the track. The groups (A, B, and C... with C being the fastest) were divided by a combination of track experience and car ability. There were several off-road adventures taken by some drivers exceeding the limits, but no serious mishaps occurred. 

  After all is said and done, Track Day was definitely a worthwhile experience.