Here's my weekend recap.
In summary:
-Wow! Very fast group of racers turned out for this event, made for a lot of great racing all around.
-$15k build ran decent.
-Qualified 16 for Saturday race, finished 12th.
-Cylinder head tech inspection on Saturday
-Sunday I was qualified 14th, finished 9th, but with a bit of a disappointing ending.
Details below if you feel like reading a novel.
I chose not to run the practice day due to cost and vacation time, spent the first session Friday feeling out the track and the car again, didn't go very fast. I tried a new setup this weekend, and while it seemed quick, it was very difficult for me to drive: I couldn't trail brake corners without the rear stepping out. Made some changes over the course of the weekend to try and improve it, but couldn't completely resolve the issue. It was drivable, I just had to get off the brakes early, and ended up with a 'toss the car in' driving style. This worked, just not my preferred method to get around the track. Friday qualifying session I ran a 1:42.0 and was very happy when I saw this on the lap timer. But it turns out everyone brought their A-game this weekend -> my time was only good for 16th position. 16 cars within 0.8 seconds of Justin’s pole lap time! Never driven in a field of cars this tight before!! SM is awesome.
I and everyone else were hoping to attempt to better their positions on the Saturday morning qualifier in cool ambient temperatures. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a damp track and was a second or two off-pace. Saturday race went smoothly for me, though not everyone unfortunately. 
I did lose quite a few positions at the start, but there was some attrition and also a few spun cars that I was able to pass. Ended up 12th. There were 23 cars with best laps within 1 second of Bolanos's fast lap!
12th...Lucky number 12. That was the number for the lucky competitor who got to pull their cylinder head for tech inspection. After first performing a stall test and checking the plate size, they gave me the option of sealing the head and pulling it after Sunday's race. However, I wanted to get it out of the way so I went ahead and pulled it Saturday afternoon. Took about 4.5 hours to get it off, inspected, reassembled, and back on the car. Track people are awesome - thanks so much to all those who lent me tools or your time to assist with this task! 6 valves were removed from the engine to allow for compliance inspection. Diameters and concentricity of the plunge and relief cuts were inspected, as were the short side radii, and valve stem installed heights, and whatever else they checked when I wasn't looking. All was in spec! Put it back together, and it started right up, and ran great for the Sunday race. 
Sunday it rained in the morning. SRF was out before us, and turning very slow times due to the track conditions, thus making the tire decision difficult. In the end, the sun began breaking through the clouds shortly before heading to grid, so dry tires were the way to go. The track was perhaps ~5 or 6 seconds off pace for the first few laps, and eventually dried enough to bring lap times to within 1 or 1.5 seconds of normal. The race start was rather chaotic. From poor memory, a few cars went off track left, and the field had to check up. I think there was another hiccup nearer the top of madness, that created a traffic jam, and there were several cars that had to come to a complete stop, although, I and about a dozen other cars made it through before this. This traffic jam separated the top ~15 from the back half of the field. I think anyway, I just remember looking in my mirror and wondering where everyone went!! Hille and Michael pulled away from the main pack, with Max not too far behind. The next ~9 of us for the most part remained as a train for much of the race.
I should be feeling great after this weekend with solid finishes in a tough field with a brand new $15k car, but I'm not. Sadly, I made a lapse of judgement towards the end of the race Sunday, and it's put a damper on my mood. I bumped Kyle Webb trying to push us past another car, but I wasn't square enough behind him, and didn't realize he had a tire in the grass, and I ended up spinning him, and he hit a wall, and also caused a bit of damage to Jordan's car. I feel terrible about the whole thing. I have always tried to be as clean a driver as possible, and this irks me. Certainly not how I wanted to start my first SM season, but will definitely learn from this mistake going forward. Once again Kyle (and Jordan), I'm very sorry for my error and the time and money it will cost you. Thank you both for being reasonable with me at the track.
Congrats to Justin Hille for a dominant weekend with pole position and wins for both races! Same to Max and Michael, great runs! You too Jim.
Make sure to ask Hille for photos of his V2 Motorsports haircut that he got Saturday night! hehe
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