Going for 7

This past Valentine’s Day Norman Nelson pulled off something many promoters of HPDE organizers could only hope for, perfect weather! Stormin’ Norman’s MINI Thunder VII ran under sunny skies and in mid-seventies temperatures for the seventh year in a row. “I guess somebody up there likes me and what we

are doing for the MINIacs”, said Nelson who admitted to being more than a little worried about the weather two weeks prior to the event. This year the organizing duo decided on making a change in the Casino Night program that is normally held in the Thunderhill Raceway clubhouse on the Saturday night. Nelson explained, “This was not about an issue with Thunderhill but more about not stepping on David Ray of Hooked on Driving’s toes. David runs a HPDE event on the Saturday that gives our attendees a good discount, MINI Thunder has also grown and we felt bad about hovering over him trying to move into the clubhouse. By moving to the Willows Roadhouse we were able to move all our Registration paraphernalia in earlier and when Registration opened it was in a more relaxed atmosphere. The guys at the Roadhouse closed down their facility and handed it over entirely to the MINI Thunder crew giving us a bunch of extra space to set up eating areas, casino and registration areas and of course the bar had all sorts of choices. From all the feedback we got, everyone enjoyed the evening, especially those walking away with prizes donated by people like Neillo MINI, Mini Mania, Cravenspeed” 2016 would see regular supporter Neillo MINI of Sacramento step it up and take on the presenting sponsor role. This entitled them to some prime real estate right in front of the Clubhouse where they had three MINI models and a booth showcasing MINI

parts. Also on hand with a booth

was the BMW Performance School based out of Thermal, CA who had brought along an M3 and MINI JCW to give rides. A miscommunication between the corner workers and organizers outlawed the normal drifting style of the M3 drivers but those who got one of the drifting rides came out of the car with wide grins. There were quite a few new attendees who had never been on track before. I don’t think any of them were as excited before or after than Nina Papadopoulis. She almost set the Internet alight with all her posts prior to and after the event.