(Willows, CA) — Homogeneity and heterogeneity are not normally terms associated with racing. Milk and cheese, and other bland, beaten down dairy products, yes. Racing, no. Unfortunately, homogeneity all too often creeps into auto racing the globe over.

For the record, homogeneity and heterogeneity are terms relating to the concept of uniformity, or lack thereof, in a substance.

Now, keep in mind NASA’s U.S. Air Force 25 Hours of Thunderhill is not your normal, run-of-the-mill auto race. No blandness here. For that matter, it is not even your standard elite endurance race. What The 25 lacks in uniformity, is intentional and by design, and it yields a surplus of racing joy over and over again in substance.

Truth be told, NASA’s U.S. Air Force 25 Hours of Thunderhill stands alone.

You’ve no doubt at least heard of the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and also the 24 Hours of LeMans? Unless, of course, you’re that goofy guy in the Geico TV commercial who crawls out from under the rock he’s been living under, you certainly have. In case you are the Geico dude, those are the so-called big name, pinnacle endurance races, the ones that dot every calendar of the more elite racers in the world. But while Daytona and LeMans have nothing – absolutely nothing – on the 25, the 25 Hours of Thunderhill does have at least a few things the other fellas are missing.

For one, and it is more than a nuance, “the ES class cars will be passing 10 to 20 cars each lap of racing,” explained Scott Mercer.

Mercer knows. From experience, he knows.

He owns Mercer Motorsports, overall champions of the past two 25s in a row and the odds on favorite to take home an unprecedented third title in a row in their Porsche GT3.

Mercer points out that The 25 presents thrills and challenges that other races simply do not.

“A tired Miata driver making the wrong move at 4 AM can ruin your entire effort,” Mercer said.

“Also, patience is very, very important. Over the course of 25 hours, equipment and pit execution can give you a tremendous edge. For example, all else being equal, our Michelin’s should give us a one-half to one-second advantage per lap over cars equipped with other tires. Take that over 650 to 700 laps and it adds up to several minutes. The same with pit stops. With approximately 20 pit stops over the course of the race, if our experienced crew can give us a five to 10 second edge per stop that equates to a one-to-two lap advantage,” Mercer said.

When you put a pencil to the numbers, Mercer’s right. They all begin to add up. All, that is, except for one.

Why the extra hour?

Why The 25 adds another hour over the other endurance giants only begin the litany of differences between this and other races on the face of the planet. In fact, the true reason for the extra hour is just because. Just because. It is only one of the many ways NASA and the 25 Hours of Thunderhill avoid homogeneity in light of the heterogeneity the sport itself apparently craves.

“It’s all about the preparation, not only the car but all the personnel involved in the team,” said Robbie Montinola of Road Shagger Racing.

Road Shagger Racing finished third overall last year at Thundershill after leading the overall race for a stint in its BMW M3. The moments of glory faded soon enough, after losing 20 precious minutes in the pits changing a failed alternator, Road Shagger ended up finishing third overall. Not bad. But what left a bitter thirst in their collective mouths all year, what drove them back to Willows more than anything else in 2010 was missing out on a class championship.

“It’s hard to beat the Porsches,” Montinola said. “But it can be done. We really focus on winning our class, though.

“Everyone is equally important because if you lose five seconds on each pit stop you would have lost a lap throughout the race. This could be the difference.”

Call it another dimension, a dynamic unfolding in time and space. Multiple classes fighting

Creativity and doing things differently is inherent in the both the origins of NASA and in the bloodstream that runs through it.

It is one of the reasons The 25 is almost cultic in reputation among racing teams of all types. NASA’s chronic bend toward heterogeneity is a major reason for its growing popularity and for the enormous attractiveness of this grueling test of will and capacity, both mental and physical.

Racers and racing teams look forward to The 25 every year now with unmatched anticipation.

“For most drivers and the crew, motorsports is their business and career,” Mercer said. “(It’s) all intense competition and hard work under a great deal of pressure. The 25 is a unique opportunity for the guys to compete but have fun at the same time.

“That is very special.”

In fact, there is no other race like The 25 in the world.

All the racers seem to know it. A hodgepodge of racing teams from every corner of the competing spectrum sneak into Willow every year with their mettle on their shoulder like a chip to compete like the dickens for 25 grueling hours mainly for two reasons:

1.) because they can, and

2.) because it’s fun.

This year 86 teams across six classes are in the fray.

You’ll have Porsches, Miatas Civics, Factory Five Cobras, Camaros and even a Chevrolet Silverado all chasing the same prize.

One overall champion will emerge, and Mercer said he feels confident his team can repeat and pull off the hat trick.

“We have a great lineup of drivers with Johannes (Vanoverbeek), Jon (Fogarty), Rich (Walton) and Tommy (Sadler) returning from the last two years and Wolf Henzler doing his first race for Mercer Motorsports,” Mercer said.

Henzler, 36, is not just your average last-minute addition. He is a German driver known for success driving Porsches, one of 11 factory Porsche race drivers, and he won a major championship in the GT2 class of the 12 hours of Sebring. He currently drives the No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR along with fellow German Jorg Bergmeister in the American Le Mans Series, as well as the No. 86 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in Rolex Sports Car Series for Farnbacher-Loles Motorsport. In 2011, driving a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR for Team Falken Tire in ALMS, Henzler has won two races, one at Mid-Ohio and he also won the inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix.

Mercer also said that Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Thomas Blam will once again call and manage the race for his team with a crew of “very experienced ALMS and/or Grand-Am veterans.”

Mercer is in this to win it. Again.

“Everyone on the team has to be at the top of their game,” he said.

As far as the other teams in the field go, Mercer said he is aware of Truespeed’s Porsche GT3 Cup team and the SNT team with their Ford GT40. He said he expects stiff competition from both.

“I believe this is Truspeed’s first effort at the 25, but they are bringing a greater driver lineup and an experienced crew. SNT led last year’s race while we were out with mechanical issues until an accident caused them to put the on the trailer.”

Mercer said the key to the race is “staying clean while going fast, great strategy (and) flawless pit work. And, luck.”

But there will also be five other class winners and a 6-Hour champion, too. And they will all be out on the track at the same time, navigating through 15 turns side-by-side. Homogeneity this is not. But do not be confused; this is substance – racing substance at its very best.

In 2010, after losing an axle three times and sitting in a penalty box for 15 minutes early in the race, Mercer Motorsports rallied by overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds. It took the team almost the entire remainder of the race last year to push back into the lead after falling behind early, proving that speed, combined with persistence and patience all matter. Mercer posted the fastest lap time in the field and also completed more laps than any other team to take home the spoils again, but the penalty mishap early on and the repeated broken axles cost them an hour overall and 133 total laps compared to 2009’s first championship tally of 761 completed laps.

In fact, the 2010 victory was a stark contrast to Mercer’s 2009 dominating performance when the team endured frigid cold and harsh weather to win its first 25 overall title.

Listening to Mercer talk about it, you get the distinct impression – and you would be right – this race presents conditions and variables that not only try your soul, but also make predicting outcomes almost impossible. Virtually anything can happen, and usually does.

Under conditions of extreme pressure, sheer, turbulence, acceleration and impact, homogenization processes make the their subjects more stable and give them a better texture. You can bet that today at Thunderhill the conditions will be ripe, but there will be virtually no homogeneity at all. Look for plenty of chaos, a lot of hard work, and fun. 25 Hours of it, in fact.