May 11, 2025

🏁 Nissan Challenge Round 4 – Trackside Support, Ernie’s R32, and Some Familiar Faces

By Sean Morris May 11, 2025 brian jannusch, Featured, nissan challenge

Greg's R35, and Brian's R32 GT-R at Streets of Willow Springs

Event: Nissan Challenge Round 4 – HTAC vs. Nissan Challenge
Location: Streets of Willow (Clockwise)
Date: May 2025

Round 4 brought out a great field of Nissans to Streets of Willow, with a friendly but fast-paced competition against HTAC and Nissan Challenge. The weather was surprisingly cooperative — cool and clear, a nice change from the typical Willow oven.

I was out supporting Ernie and Brian J. with their R32 GT-Rs, along with checking in on a few other friends like Greg Messinger in his R35. The Bulldog Racing guys, Ernie and Greg both Marines, with Shawn and his son doing support.

🔧 Trackside Notes from the Pits

Putting the 275/35/18 Hoosier R7's on Ernie's Saurus R32 GT-R

🏎️ Ernie’s Saurus R32 GT-R

We’re chasing an issue where the catch can is pushing oil — possibly a combination of blow-by and breather routing. We did try rerouting it. It popped an intercooler pipe a couple times. The OS88 can be hard to shift at times. Something that Ernie has been learning and working on. We’ll keep refining the setup and may look at venting solutions or modifying crankcase evacuation. His best lap later in the day running with Greg was around a 1:22.

🏎️ Brian Jannusch’s R32 GT-R

We worked on dialing in tire pressures and added a little boost. The result was a more confident car through the mid-corners, but there's still a lot of time left on the table. The diff in the car is bad. Its really hard to give it any throttle on corner exit. The trans is showing its age. Its occasionally hard to get into gear.

🏎️ Greg Messinger’s R35 GT-R

Greg had a solid day. He found some loose bolts in his suspension, added some stiffer springs and picked up a ton of time vs the last few times he was out.

📊 Class Results

Greg Messinger – R35 – 1:21.406

Class 1

🥇 Charles Park – R35 – 1:20.820
🥈 Greg Messinger – R35 – 1:21.406
🥉 Michael DiGuilmi – G37 – 1:23.929

Brian Jannusch – R32 GT-R – 1:25.529
Class 2

🥇 Luke Lederman – 1:21.900
🥈 Brian Hap Hendricks – Z33 – 1:23.361
🥉 Brian Jannusch – R32 GT-R – 1:25.529

Full results across all classes are available at nissanchallenge.com.

📸 Event Media

Yearly tradition

Alvin was out capturing pictures all day, Other than his nap. Big shoutout to SoCal Motorsports West and Brianna for capturing action shots all day long. d podiums online later.

Always bring your helmet

🧰 What’s Next

We’ll take some time over the summer to regroup. Brian’s R32 will get the differential, transmission, and a few other things it needs. Ernie’s oil issues will get more attention on the lift. And we’ll be back with more cars, more tuning, and more laps at Buttonwillow The Classic- Round 5 - September 13.

See you at the next one — or find me trackside with tools in hand.

– Sean Morris