NER SCCA school/Opening Day Regional race report
New Hampshire Motor Speedway (formerly NHIS)
April 10 - 13, 2008
Winter in New England can be a cruel thing. Just when you think it's
over, Mother Nature slaps you again. That's how the Winter of 2007/08 seemed to be. While most of Southern New England was
snow free by early March, those of us more North weren't. My house, just a short 1 1/4 hrs from NHMS had snow falling only
a couple weeks before race weekend. My friend Vee's house, in Alton NH, had so much snow there should be snow you can see
until next Winter!!! The Tuesday before the race weekend I took a ride up to NHMS and could
see about an inch (I was looking from rte 106 through the gates) still covering the infield. The 'Bowl' was covered on the
entry, but the exit was dry. I was getting doubtful about the event, but a track employee told me that there would be racing
that weekend!
That meant all the prep work I had done (like loading the car and packing
the truck) wasn't going to waste. I was helping 2 students in the school, Denise and Dan. I 'consulted' Dan while he
was building his Escort GT last year. He already has a competition license, but is using the school for extra instruction
and to gain track/seat time. His Sister Denise bought Dave Ford's Escort GT (the one I co-drove at the Last Chance 3hr Enduro
at Watkins Glen in 06). She had never turned a wheel in cometition, but had a big willingness to learn. This would mark the
1st time that I know of that 3 2nd Generation Escort GTs would be at a racetrack together.
So I brought my truck and racecar to work that Thursday. No doubt the
boss will come up with a rule stating that employees can't bring trailer to work because I did. And a soon a I finished my
run, I was off to Loudon. Dan & Denise arrived at the track shortly after I did. As feared, there was
NO PARKING allowed on any grass for the weekend. Since the snow had literally just melted, they didn't want to risk anyone
sinking into the ground and making holes. That's understandable, but it was going to make for some tight quarters. Oh yeah,
we also couldn't use the South garages. Why? Because over the Winter the snow was so deep and heavy it crushed the west section
of garage, twisting the main beams. Since the new ownership doesn't like the current garages, it was a great excuse to tear
ALL of the South garages and biuld something they 'like'. I had heard that there were going to be an estimated 230 entries,
including those that get signed off of the school. Yeah, close and cozy we will be.
So we grabbed a spot right by turn 3. It was a great place
to watch the track and close enough to the classroom where Dan & Denise would get a little decompress time before
class. It was funny as hell to see the reaction of those that know me seeing the 3 EGTs lined up. Many times I
was asked if they 'were breeding' or if I was bucking for 'an Escort GT only class' (hmmmmmmm, breed them). We may not have
fancy motorhomes, or any campers, but we did have 5 EZ-Ups, and multile heaters. And yes, it was cold.
Now attending your first school is stressful enough. It's fast paced,
very little time for yourself, and much to be absorbed in little time. Now attend a school in mid-April in New England. Mother
Nature has a field day with us this time of year. You never know what you'll get. And we got a LOT! Now it was already on
the cold side, and the 1st few sessions were dry, but then they got a twist; RAIN. Anyone who's raced in the rain knows the
skill it takes to keep the car under you. Having rain in a driver's school is 'baptism by fire' (ok water, but it doesn't
sound as cool). There were spins, and no doubt extra stress, but there wasn't any hard contact during the wet time. Denise
had some spins in the early sessions. Mostly due to her 'bad street habits' that we started to un-teach her. Dan actually
bought himself a set of 'rains' (A set of full tread Toyo's) so I doubt as long as I race with him we will see any rain races.
The crew kept busy adjusting and checking the cars as well as the frequent tire changes (from dry to wets and back a few times).
So the rain stopped Friday afternoon, and the cold continued, but all students made it through. I had my EZ-Ups closed in
and had a big grill, small grill and heater all going inside. We had dinner inside and had a birthday celebration for
Denise's daughter Becca.
Saturday was an even stranger weather day. It started out damp and cold,
then it got warm and sunny. And I mean 60s warm. How'd that happen?? Well I wasn't complaining, and neither was anyone else. We
started to time Dan & Denise. Dan was down into the 1:30s (and improving) and Denise was running 1:32s!!!! In the
end, Denise didn't get signed off to race. But when the instructors heard that it was her 1st EVER race experience, they were
impressed at what she accomplished in the 2 days on track. She was disappointed, but she also understood. Still she had a
great time, and signed up to work corner station 3, a place she was having problems in during the school.
Sunday was race day. And what I wanted to know was; WHERE DID ALL THE
WARM GO????????? Overnight it got damn cold!! Don and Linda found us. Since I wasn't parked in the 'normal' spot, it took
them a little longer to find us. Dan and I lined up out at the back end of the practice/qualifying group. Dan qualified 19th
in class with a 1:25.316, I was 14th in class with a 1:21.547
While waiting for our turn to race,it felt like it got colder. We packed
up as much as we could, but while standing there we saw something that worried us; snow flakes. Fortunately it was only a
few flakes, but I was looking at my F-250's tires since I know they are great in snow just in case.
In the race I had a near spin coming into turn 3. The car didn't feel
exactly right after, so I took a couple easy laps just to make sure it wasn't just me. It was just me. I finished 16th in
class with a best lap 1:21.981, set AFTER my near spin. Dan finished 20th in class with a best lap 1:25.892. We left the track
at 6:20pm. I had to be in work at 4am, but I was only a little more than an hour from home.
Now I have 1 /12 weeks to prepare for my trip down to Savanna Georgia
and my 1st visit to Roebling Road.
June 30 - July 1, 2007
Nelson Ledges Road Course, Garrettville Ohio.
Holiday Double Regional
After I raced at Nelson Ledges, I felt that I raced on a track
that would known as a "LOST TRACK" in 10 years. The layout is awesome (like a flat Lime Rock), and it's fast even in it's
current state, but for a track that I was told they were 'improving', I felt it had a long way to go. I do hope I'm wrong
and that they fix the track up. The facility is at a point it could go in either direction. With tracks disappearing yearly,
it would be nice to see one of the old tracks brought back to prime condition instead of becoming a housing developement.
As in all other race weekends, this one started before the
actual race, but not for the usual reasons. This time I would be staying with friends; Bree, Brian and Bella. They live
about 45 minutes from the race track in Stow Ohio. For a change there would be no huge drama before the trip.
The only real work that needed to be done to the racecar was
an alignment and new numbers. With the week off before the race, I had time to bring the racecar over to Town Fair Tire
in Salem NH. Thier alignment tech Dan took my specs and got the car set in quick time. The whole crew there was great,
and I hope to see some of them at the race weekend at NHIS July 14 - 15. Andre from Signs Unlimited even
replaced the numbers on my car without me even noticing right away.
I doubt timing and scoring would have trouble
reading these.
I left on a Wednesday evening knowing that Friday would be
a heavy travel day because of the 4th of July. My goal was to be at Bree & Brian's some time in the morning of Thursday.
It did rain through Conneticut, but once I hit New York, it cleared out. I drove until 2AM where I stopped for 4 hours of
sleep at the 1st rest area I came across on rte 80. I'd rather tow at night or during rain only because you have less
traffic and it keeps the trailer tires cooler. The rest of the trip was nice and boring. No traffic, no bad weather. I did
miss my turn off of rte 43, but quickly found the road I needed. By lunch I had made it to my destination with no 'issues'.
I had almost a day and a half to just kick back and relax before I needed to go to the track.
Nelson Ledges track map:
1 lap = 2 miles
Friday afternoon I went up to the track. Bree came along so
she could guide along others Saturday, and know where they need to go for registration. Silly me decided to not completely
go by the directions I got off the computer, but some how managed to wind my way around the 'sticks' of Ohio, and still
find the track. Trust me when I say that this track is nestled in the country. The roads I drove on to get there weren't much
wider than the track itself. When I got there registration was open. The line was long, but it did move well. All the
roads in side the track are dirt, and it was quite dry, so the dust was heavy even when a car rolled through slowly. I
found a nice spot under some trees right by turn 1. It was at turn 1 and only one other person was camped in the area. There
wasn't much that needed to be done. We just simply took the racecar off the trailer, and unhooked the trailer and left back
for the house. It was unusual for me to NOT stay at the track. Usually I'm setting up a tent and canopy (even a TV and satilite
dish when I have electricity availble).
We got back to the house about 8pm. There were a total of
5 house guests (including me) at Bree & Brian's for the weekend. 3 from South Carolina, and 1 from Ohio. They were
here for a theme party Saturday night. So Friday night we got a nice fire going in the back yard. I didn't
last later than midnight, 1 am. By bed of choice was the back seat of the F 250. An extension cord to a small fan, and I was
happy.
I as usual, woke up before my alarm. I was at the track
a little after 7am. During the first 4 groups I set up my canopies and put the new small grill together (awesome deal for
$29.00 at Wal*Mart). While putting it together, race group 2, Spec Miata was out there. I just so happened to look up towards
turn 3 in time to see the wheels of a Spec Miata pointed the wrong way; UP! The driver was able to get out under his own power,
but the car was done. Not the kind of thing you want to see at a track you've never been on before you go out. Shortly after
after group 2 my crew arrived. First it was Bree (who was taking pictures for me), Brian and Bella. Bella would be working
as Crew Chief for the event. At 17 months old, she'd be able to make the smartest decisions in
the group.
She jumped right on making sure the lugs were
tight.
Tom, wife Theresa, and Brother Larry showed shortly after.
I had talked to Tom on many different Ford Escort groups and forums. Every race I go to I throw out to the groups the invite
to the race. They were the first ones outside the home region to take me up on it. It turns out they live only a few miles
from Bree & Brian. Thye'd only be here for Saturday. There was a big NHRA drag race on Sunday they were going to (drag
racing over road racing???????????)
Race group 6 classes: ITA, ITS, IT7, SRX7, T2, T3
Saturday, practice/qualifying, 20 minutes:
When it was my group's turn to go out, I as usual lined up
as far back as I could. This gave me a few extra laps alone to run the track without interuption. Turn 1 had some minor
bumps patched that you had to dance over in the turn. Turn 3 there was a nasty bump right where you'd still be braking just
before 'turn-in'. The bumps in turn 2 would throw the car and you had to be on top of your game going around there at
speed. Turns 4 - 9 I could 'hold my own' speed wise against the other cars in the group it seemed. I never did feel I
got too close to the limit there. Before you come out of turn 8 the throttle would be on the floor. Turn 10 was barely even a
kink, but the bumps threw you around at over 110 mph. Turn 11 (the 'kink') was fun. I'd lift off the throttle just before,
and then stood on it hard around the kink. It dipped too, so the car would suck right down. Quickly after T11 there was a
hump. It was right where you really wanted to start braking for turn 12. The hump would lighten the rear end and you
really needed to pay attention to keep the car from dancing around. Right after the hump would be the down shift to 3rd
gear, punch around T12, left foot brake, drop into 2nd gear half to 2/3 of the way around turn 13. Then it was hard on the
gas agin. Just before going under the bridge there was a bad set of bumps right where my upshift to 4th gear was. The bumps
weren't as bad to the right, but they were still nasty enough. The other thing I noticed was that the runoff room was short. It
dipped off and looked like it would 'pull' you away from the track faster than it should. The tire walls also resembled
a ramp in a lot of places. A very small amount of the tire walls were stacked and banded. I know Nelson has been around a
long time, and has a history in racing. I just imagined it different. Maybe I'm just spoiled by the places I've raced
at.
My first session on the track went well. I only
spun once going into turn 4. My best lap was a 1:27.405 @ 82.375 mph. Good enough for 16th in class, 38th over-all. NOT
DFL! I was still feeling my way around the track. Plus I had this need to 'survive' and not bang up the car like I did
at VIR. With NHIS 2 weeks later, I didn't want Patrick to have to do any work. I have video up on the web site and my Myspace.
If you're too lazy to look that way, here's a link to the practice/qualifying:
Bree & Brian had to bring my crew chief home to stay with
GrandMa & GrandPa. They would return in time for the race.
Saturday, race, 18 laps or 25 minutes:
The race was long even before they let us out on to the track.
We wound up sitting on false grid for an extra half hour. No one told us what was going on, but then we saw the reason: A BMW
from 'Big Bore' had an off and broken suspension. The track doesn't have a flatbed truck, so they put one axle on one tow
truck, and the other one the other tow truck which had to drive backwards, and carried the broken car back. It was sight to
see. Another strange goings on at Nelson.
So with the track cleared they sent us out. 49 cars in the
group, large by Nelson Ledges standards from what I gathered (after being in a rcae group of 80 at VIR, this felt like a lot
of room to me.). They had us do 2 pace laps so the field would have time to gather up, which was the right thing to do. We
at the back didn't get gathered until a little into the 2nd pace lap. I played 'follow the leader' through the first few turns.
In the 'carousel' one of the cars ahead of me went off to driver's left. He didn't hit anything. I kept in touch with the
cars ahead, but not close enough to challenge. An ITA RX7 got past me and was having a great battle with an ITS RX7 ahead
of me. As I came around turn 13 I looked towards the bridge after start/finish and I couldn't see light under it! There
were a bunch of cars and tires flying through the air in a huge wreck! I waved my arm to signal anyone right behind me as
I pulled to the left side to stop. As I was on the brakes, the RED FLAG came out. I stopped right before the start/finish,
and had a decent view of the aftermath. There were 4 cars involved **, 2 were laying on their roof, and a large number of
tires from the tire wall were scattered.
** Witness reports I heard were that 2 of the cars, a white
Miata & yellow RX7 (both ITA), leaning hard against each other going down the front straight. One of the cars hooked the
tire wall going under the bridge and the wreck was the result. It was 2 stubborn drivers racing for a 20-something place and
NOT giving any room.
The result: 4 wrecked racecars.
Fortunaltely no one was hurt. All drivers walked away. While
the track was being cleaned, they brought us into the pit lane and put us in run order. After a little
over a half hour RED FLAG they had us back out on track. We, ok I, got
6 more laps. The leader of the race group (running in T2) passed me coming around turn 13 and took the checker. It has
him finishing 11 laps, and me 9, but no doubt it was a scoring error, but I don't mind. I survived my 1st race there. I finished
14th in class, 31st over-all. Best lap 1:26.881 @ 82.872 MPH.
in-car race video link:
We were race group 6, and we didn't get off the track until
4:30ish. There were still 3 more race groups to go. Good thing we were on the West side of the time zone. About 5pm Bree &
Brian went home to get ready for a party they were hosting somewhere that night. I was invited, but the track was my choice
of places to hang out. Tom, Theresa, and Larry were still ahnging around, so I got the grill going again. I was half tempted
to walk the track and get pictures of the track, but my laziness took over. My at track 'nieghbors' came over too. We
had some food, talked about many different things. Theresa used to live a few miles away from the track when she was younger.
She thought the track was actually a tire junkyard. No doubt with the way the tire walls looked;
like a dump truck randomly left piles.
We stayed around the track until around 10PM. It was even
still light, a little. I got back to Bree & Brian's around 10:45 or so. No one was home. They were all at the party (I
guess it was about an hour away) still. I crawled in the back seat. The next thing I knew, it was about 3:30AM.
I cralwed my ass out of bed about 6:30am, grabbed a quick
shower and was on my way back to the track by 7am.
Race group 1 was out on the track when I arraived. I stopped
by turns 12 and 13 and took some pictures. Too bad I didn't know about that spot the day before so Bree could take pictures
from there. I rattled of a bunch from the area of race group 1 and then made my way to my paddock.
Sunday, practice/qualifying, 15 minutes:
As per usual, I started at the rear of the group. I like to
try to get as much 'alone time' as I can. Clean laps are faster laps. Unfortunately I found traffic fast. Though my lap times
weren't awful, they weren't where they should be, mostly in the 1:29s. I managed to get around the cars keeping me back
and managed a 1:27.7 @ 82.020mph on my 7th lap. It placed me 15th (last) in class, 34th over-all. There were still
4 cars behind me in the group though, all Spec RX7. So I wasn't DFL.
Sunday, race, 15 laps or 20minutes:
When I got to false grid I was surprised to be behind the
22 Mecury Capri of Dale Kennedy. I had run away from him in the Saturday race. This race would be boring in comparison to
the Saturday race, thankfully. As we did Saturday, they gave us 2 pace laps to set the field. Funny how fast 2 miles go by
when you are warming the tires. They let us go and the start was clean. On lap 3 I got around Dale on the front straight.
He made it easy by not pushing hard to turn 1 knowing that I was faster (I do that for the faster guys myself). On lap 7 the
race group leader, Guy Pierre Pavageau, lapped me. His slowest lap of the race was a 1:19.498! He was in a Touring
2 Chevy Camaro. He went by me like I was tied to a tree. He did lap up to 20th place in the group. So I finished a lap down
again. My best lap was a 1:26.245 @ 83.474mph (See I knew the best P/Q lap wasn't my best) for 10th in class and 29th over-all.
Much better.
It didn't take me long to finish packing and loading the car.
Before the last race group finished I was rolling out of the track. I was told that I couldn't go home by Bree, she wouldn't
let me. So I zipped back to her place. The company Brian works for does the big fireworks shows and they were putting one
not too far away, so I knew what I'd be doing that night. We got a nice close spot to 'ground zero' and I got to
practice taking pictures of fireworks. I only took a little over 300 pictures during the show. A few came out pretty neat.
Again on Monday Bree wouldn't let me leave. I think she was
holding me 'hostage'. Not that I was resisting much either. I was still on vacation. That afternoon we went over to Brian's
Parent's house (about 200 yards down the street) for a BBQ. I had to force her to 'let' me head for home Tuesday. I didn't
want to fight 4th of July day traffic on the way home. Monday night they had another fire out back. Bree 'warned me' not to
'sneak out' in the morning as she headed in for the night about midnight. I lasted until about 1am.
Again, my internal alarm clock woke me up about 7am. That
didn't mean I'd be leaving right away. Bree had a few picture CDs to burn for me to bring home to her Mother. As I was
about to roll, Bree told me to "make sure I call when I got home". WHAT? When did she get 'motherly' on me? Ok, she's a mommy,
but still. So 11am I hit the road for home. About an hour out I did a gas fill up at the Youngstown Flying J at
exit 234 on rte 80. I was planning on 1 more gas stop if possible. I'd have to make it to rte 84, just into New York. Traffic
was light for most of the trip. The heaviest traffic I found was on rte 81 as I neared Scranton PA. I didn't get
past Scranton without filling up though. Short of where I wanted to get to, but I had 4 gallons in the gas can in the car.
So I would be trying to stretch it. As I got on to the Mass Pike I needed a fluid release break. While there I did cheat a
little and dumped a couple of gallongs into the truck. I figured that should add to the 'margin of error'. During the drive
I talked to Dan on the Nextel. I told him about Bree wanting me to call when I got home. We got a good laugh out of it. Well
just after I got past the exit that would bring me to work, and under 20 miles to home, my phone rang. It was Bree. She was
'just wondering' where I was and hothe trip was going. I think she was more shocked that I was almost home already. It was
nice of her to call. It gave me a chance to pick on her a little more. I rolled into the house a tick after 10pm. According
to my odometer I went 669 miles between houses.
Pictures from the weekend can be found here:
Bree and Theresa both have sub-albums within that
album.
in-car video can be found here:
Sat P/Q
Sat race
May 12 - 13, 2007:
Al Farier SARRC/MARRS Dbl Reg
I went to VIRginia International Raceway in Danville VA (about
a half hour West of South Boston VA) this past weekend (May 11 - 13). The racing was only part of the adventure.
A couple of weeks before the race, I brought the racecar over to
Signs Unlimited (978.388.9685) to get some new graphics.
The car still needed some parts replaced from the 2006 season. Third
gear wasn't working, and there were a few other minor things to do. I had the new 3rd gear syncro for a few weeks, but I didn't
get the car to Patrick until a week and a half before I was to leave.
So less than a week before I have to leave I'm at work when Patrick
calls me to tell me that it isn't the syncros as much as it it a 'rounded' 3rd gear. So now I need to find parts or a transmission.
I have a spare car in the back yard, but it hadn't rolled in 2+ years, so I decided to find a replacement gear.
I went by Motortown NAPA (in Amesbury 978.388.3070) to ask my experts,
John & Scott, where to get a 3rd gear. It's a 'dealer only' part. DANG!! Ok, so I went over to my local Ford dealership,
Walls Ford in Salisbury MA. Eric, the parts Guru (I was told), looked up the parts numbers only to have bad news: there are
2 different part numbers, and both are in limited supply. He gave me a print out of the dealerships and I went to work. I
located 1 of the choices in PA and had the part overnight shipped. It wouldn't get here until Tuesday. The other gear choice
couldn't order until Monday. It also was to arrive Tuesday. I had both shipped to Patrick's Father's shop (P&M Auto
Repair, Pelham NH). Patrick got out of work a little early Tuesday. He called me about 5:30pm to give me the bad news, BOTH
parts were WRONG!! Neither gear went anywhere in the tranny. The last choice was to get the spare car out of the back yard
and pull the tranny out of it. I told him I'd be over ASAP to get my trailer so I could retrieve the spare car. While I was
off the grab the trailer my Brothers cleaned out the spare car. The car had run, but it had been 2 years sitting in the back
yard. I also grabbed the battery out of the racecar. It took a bit, but the spare car did start. The brakes needed a little
'assistance'. My Brother Tom used a piece of rebar and 5lb hammer to unlock the brakes. I drove the car out of the back yard
and on to the trailer!
By 9pm I was back at Patrick's. We rolled the spare car in, and quickly
determined that the car in whole wasn't worth saving. It was faster and easier to drop the motor and tranny together, which
Patrick did. Once the motor and tranny were out and split, Patrick used the internals from the old tranny except the carrier
(where the spider gears & Phantom Grip were) and put them in the racecar's tranny case. The motor is sitting
aside waiting for a rebuild.
Once the tranny was in, the oil changed, clutch bled, belts changed,
and what ever else needed to be done, then loaded the racecar on the trailer it was just after 4am. Patrick's alarm
was to go off at 6am for him to go to work. I got home and into bed about 5am Wednesday.
Now the car had a bunch of changes; Eibach springs (#500front #700 rear),
Phantom Grip limited slip, 4 puck racing clutch from South Bend Clutch. The new brake pads hadn't been 'bedded in'
nor the tires heat cycled, which should have been done before the race. The car was totally different than the last
time I raced it, I had no idea how the car would handle, and I'm racing it on a track that I haven't seen in 4 years. Yeah,
I'm adventurous.
The next day I went over to the dealership and told them what happened,
and wanted to know what they could do to help me. The person who gave me the wrong numbers worked mostly at the Methuen MA
dealership, so I didn't get to give him crap. The parts manager asked me if the places I ordered them from would take them
back. I told him that I wanted to start there before I called them. I went outside to use my phone to see if they places would
take the parts back. They would. I went back in and the parts manager took the parts and shipped them back for me. He also
reimbersed me for the shipping cost to get the parts out here. So Walls did me good.
I spent Wednesday and Thursday loading up and shopping. Thursday around
6pm I left for PA to meet up with Neal. I stopped by Market Basket in Westford Mass to get the required foods (hot dogs, Gatorade,
Pepsi, water, and CHIPS FOR DIPS). Along with 30lbs of ice I was ready. He was flying in via the 'red eye' from
California about 6:30am Friday. I got out to his place about 2am and grabbed a few hours of sleep. He arrived home a
little after 7am and we were rolling by 8:30. The trip was uneventful until after the gas and lunch stop in Baltimore. A little
below Washington DC I had a tractor trailer shred a trailer tire. It was on of those Michelin X1s. I saw the debris as the
tire exploded and was able to slow down enough to keep from getting hit with a lot of the rubber. One piece whacked the left
mirror and bent it back. Another small piece took the lense off the fender light of my trailer. I pushed the mirror
back out with out slowing down any more. Then we ran into a little traffic, about 40 miles of it. In total
it put us back about an hour and a half. I guess that's not too bad considering how long the traffic was. We did a quick stop
in South Boston (VA) for ice and beer then the last half hour to the track.
When we arrived we were told that there were already 300+ cars already
there! In 2003 when Neal and I last raced there, there were over 400 cars entered. We found a spot against the woods and set
camp. After getting the new shoulder belts mounted we ran the car through tech and settled down with dinner.
I pulled out the entry list and saw that I had 90 cars in my
group (group 1)!! 90 cars on a 3.27 mile course. No one would be lonely on the track this weekend, that's for sure. They even
assigned false grid positions for the practice/qualifying session because the group was so large.
The weather was great, though there looked like some threats of rain.
There was a thunderhead to the East of us,
but it never got close. We did get to watch a little lightning off in
the distance.
Track map:
*the red highlighting is track NOT used during this event.
Being in group 1 I had to be up early. We'd be on the track around
8am for a 20 minute session. The weather started off a little cloudy, but quickly became clear and temps were in the
upper 80s. On false grid my plan was to roll right into the pits to wait for an open area in the group. This would
give me space to 'bed in' the brakes a little. At the 5 minute warning Neal went towards the pits to grab a good spot.
The 1 minute warning came 10 minutes later (don't ask cause I don't know). As soon as I got to the track I changed my plans;
the lap would be 'slow' so I used it to set the brakes and scuff the tires. I came in on that 1st lap to look for room. Neal
told me that there was NO ROOM out there. How could there be with 90 cars? So I went back out to do my best. The car was faster.
I was getting close to 120mph on both of the long straights (which aren't straight), and 100+ on the "uphill esses". There
was too much traffic to get a decent lap. It seemed that every time I came up on a slower car, it was in a tight area where
there wasn't any room to safely pass. On my 3rd lap I was heading down the 'rollercoaster' when at turn 16 I hopped my left
rear tire on the curb under braking. It threw the rear of the car off to the right and backwards. I slid backwards until I
hit the tire wall. I rolled into the pits and had Neal take a look at the damage.
I was expecting the rear corner to be junk, but Neal told me that there was only a big dent in the panel.
So I went back out on the track. I got only 2 more laps, both had slower
traffic. My best was a 2:33.423 @ 76.725 MPH, good for 46th over-all.
Here's some in-car video:
Do you remember those cool new numbers that Signs Unlimited made for
me? Well a Steward pulled me aside in pit road. Timing and Scoring had trouble reading the new numbers. Neal used the
yellow racer's tape and black Gorilla Tape to come up with a 'better, more readable' number.
After pract/qual we wandered up to the they post results, at the North
Timing Tower (behind the start/finish line) to watch some of the other groups during their P/Q sessions. While we watched
turn 3, I zipped off some pictures of a couple of big bore and Spec Miata (SM & SSM).
Do you remember when Firestone Tire had that huge recall? Did you ever
wonder what happened to all those tires? I did, and I found out.
As you can see, VIR put them to good use, as tire walls. The
tires still have the numbers on the treads.
There were 80 cars that started in my race. Which wasn't the biggest
group. Spec Miata had 89 cars!! The race was pretty good considering all the traffic. At the start I split between 2 RX7s
before we got too far past the start finish line. As the race progressed my timimg on the 'uphill esses' improved. I was hitting
the bottom at 110mph and not even thinking of lifting going up it. I had some good racing with a few differnet cars throughout
the race. About half way through the race the car started to plow at the bottom of the 'rollercoaster'. I followed the
car and wound up off roading all the way around the final turn. It looked a bit like a WRC ride. The 2nd half of
the race the car 'pushed' a lot. To the point I started to question myself. Come to find out that a kart club raced there
previously and the kart race rubber was still on the track. On the 2nd to last lap a red RX7 was close behind coming
down the 'rollercoaster'. Where he wasn't in my class, I decided to let him by and I'd follow/chase him. So I let him
by on the front straight. My biggest problem seemed to be in the turn 3 - 5 area. I just wasn't smooth enough unless
I was chasing/following someone. Well I must have been too much for the RX7 because he caught the curb inside going around
turn 5 and spun to driver's right. The next time by it was the "1 lap to go" board. I managed to stay on the track mostly
for that last lap, and no one else really was near by as I took the checker. I spotted at least a dozen cars on the side of
the track at the end of the race.
I finished 37th over-all, best lap 2:30.392 @ 78.275 MPH. A 2.4
second improvement from 2003.
As race group 3 (SRF - Spec Racer Ford) was racing, Neal and I drove
out to "Oak Tree" to watch race group 4 'big bore', aka the Ground Pounders (A Sedan, GT1 - 3 & A, Improved
Touring E, SPO, BP, & Touring 1 - 3). We found a great spot to park, and I climbed up on to the roof of my truck. We got
there at the end of race group 3. I took out my camera, hopped up on the roof of my truck and took over 700 pictures of race
groups 3, 4 & 5. In all 830 pictures were taken.
After we ate at the 'social', we debated on walking the track. The sweeper
was out there, so we decided it was better to not be in the way, and we toured the paddock. We met and socialized with a number
of new people. Neal talked to one driver, Steve, with a 2gen RX7, and got some tips as to the way he should set up his racecar.
(Yup, my intent to drag Neal back into racing worked!). It took us 2 1/2 hours to walk less than a mile within the paddock
area.
My alarm went off at 7am Sunday. The day was mostly couldy, and cooler
than Saturday. It almost looked like rain. They set us on flase grid according to the way we qualified for Saturday's
race. This would put the cars in a position to get 'clean' runs. I rolled on to false grid, spot # 46, about 7:45. Today
would only be a 15 minute practice/qualifying session. There was a mandatory 'quiet hour' from 11am - noon so things
had to go quickly. As we rolled out on to the track, I found myself around a dense pack of cars. So on the 1st lap I backed
off to give some distance. It seemed though no matter what I did, I wound up getting slowed down by other cars. I
only got 4 laps. The result was a 55th place, 2:34.088 @ 76.398 MPH.
We loaded up the truck during lunch. This way all that would have
to be done is load and strap the car before leaving. This way we could be rolling home in less than an hour after my
race ends.
My race group, group 1, went off at noon. Again I split 2
cars coming up on the start/finish line. Traffic was a bit thick until we got past "Oak Tree". I had a tight battle with
a Honda in ITA and an ITB BMW. The Honda was using 'chopping' block maneuvers that showed bad form. On lap 2 I was to his
right coming into turn 6A. He came over on me (yeah, he knew I was there) so I just put my foot to the floor and gasses
across the lawn at about 70mph. I got past him and led him through the "uphill esses". Coming into turn 11 he had
the inside line and I gave him "Oak Tree". I gave chase. The BMW was still on my ass. We came to the braking point for turn
4 and all of a sudden my car went around. It slid backwards across the lawn to driver's left creating a huge dust cloud. The
car slid still backwards on to the tack where someone hit me in the left rear. The dust was so thick I couldn't
see who it was. I got the car started and got it behind the guardrail out of the way. I got out, signaled the worker station
across the track (turn 4) from me that I was OK. I looked over the car. The left rear suspension was bent bad. The trailing
arm had a 40 degree bend in it. It used to be straight. The tire was rubbing the strut and toed out about 30 degrees
with a good 15 degrees of negative camber, and the left rear window was broken. I can't say for sure, but I think
the BMW gave me a shot under braking which spun me around. With out the video camera in the car, I have no way of knowing. One
of the workers from the turn 5 station came over and walked me back to the station. I told them that I planned on driving
the car back. On the last lap the worker walked me back and helped me strap in so I could roll. The car 'crabbed' awfully,
and the tire rub made a lot of smoke. I got off the course at the entry to the Patriot Course, and there was a worker at the
agate to go to the infield there. One of the track fire/rescue pick up trucks followed me back to my paddock where Neal was
waiting already. Before we put it on to the trailer the trailing arm had to be straightened a bit. Neal used a torch and 5lb
hammer. 20 minutes later we had the car on the trailer.
This was the 1st DNF I have had since I had a drive belt break on me
at Watkins Glen in 2001
Damage pictures:
What was amazing is that there wasn't any body damage except for some
scuffing.
I called Partick once we were on the road to tell him of the newest damage.
He still has the spare car at his house where he is pulling off parts. I wanted to save the adjustable trailing arm from
the right side to put where the non-adjustable trailing arm is. Now I had an excuse. Once I told him what happened, he suggested
that I just drop the car off at his house on the way home Monday.
I let Neal drive back. We left the track at 2pm and did a quick
stop at Wendy's just before we got on to route 85. We stopped for gas just below Baltimore and were at his house by 10pm.
I grabbed a good night's sleep there before leaving at 7:30am. I got to Patrick's around 2pm, left the trailer and racecar, and
home by 3.
That night I returned to get a better assessment of the damage. He needed
the Gorilla wheel lug nut socket, which was in my gear bag. The control arm, trailing arm, trailing arm outer bolt, spindle,
and sway bar bolt were all bent, plus a mount on the rear spoiler broke from the Saturday spin.
Here are pics of the damaged parts:
Tuesday night the car was ready to race again, except for needing a rim
& tire. I picked it up Wednesday and brought it home.
Next race: Nelson Ledges, June 30 - July 1
To see the other 800+ pictures I took:
Buddy
Sept 23 - 24, 2006:
Glen Region SCCA's Last Chance 2006
This trip begins long before we even turn a wheel for what is the last road race of the season
for WRT. There were 2 weeks between the Cheap Date and Last Chance.
The oil was barely even cooled down from the Cheap Date when I called Patrick about doing
some work to the Scrat. The clutch was slipping awfully at NHIS so I figured this would be a good time to put in the new one.
I picked up a 4 puck race clutch from South Bend Clutch, a Phantom Grip Limited Slip (aka $300 aluminum block) and some 700 pound Eibach springs.
All these changes seem like a lot, but I wasn't racing the car at Watkins Glen, Dan was. I
was co-racing in Dave Ford's Escort GT in the 3 hour Enduro. A car that was mostly similar to my car. I was letting Dan be
the test pilot for the changes to my car. Plus it would be a good way to get a race on his Novice Permit.
The plan was to leave for Watkins Glen about 2am Friday, get out there for morning registration,
spend some time checking out stuff in town (there's a LOT of racing history in the town).
So the Tuesday after getting back from NHIS I left with the Scrat to bring it to Patrick
for some work. I was barely home that night when Pat hit me on the Nextel to give me the 1st item of 'bad news'. The old clutch
wasn't bad, the rear main seal was. It came off in pieces! Ok, not that bad of news. Rear main seal, $19 at a local parts
store. Even though the old clutch had a bunch of life left, I had him put the race clucth in. The next day Patrick
called me with the 2nd item of 'bad news'; 4 teeth on one of the spider gears had chunks missing out of them. Hmm, not
good. He had already called the Ford Dealer in Salem NH. $60 and they won't be in until Tuesday (Uh oh,
getting closer to leaving time). So the racecar and trailer spent the weekend at Patrick's. Tuesday afternoon
rolls around and before I head over to get the racecar I hit up Patrick on Nextel. The spider gears didn't come in. The
dealership had no real idea as to what day the parts would be in (beautiful!!!).
Maybe the next day. Pat decides to weld in some material where the chunks are missing and grind them down to shape. I head
home instead of getting the car. Wednesday I get a message that the spider gears came in and Patrick is going to install them,
but the car should be ready to go that afternoon. 36 hours before departure time I get over there and the car is starting
to be put back together. The tranny is assembled and just has to be put back in. I go hook up to the trailer and get the ramps
set. It doesn't take Pat long to get the car put back together. But there's a problem; reverse isn't working. Uh oh.
Pat figured he could get to what he needed to without pulling the tranny back out, but the engineers that designed the car
made sure that wouldn't happen. By this time it was 8PM, 30 hours before departure. Patrick sent me home. He was going to
pull the tranny out and get working on it. I had a 3am start at work. Thursday I'm on my way to work when I see sparks (like metal dragging, not electrical coming out from under the Bronco (now what???)
I only saw a few, so mabey I hit something on the road? So I keep driving (well the truck is still running
an d not on fire), but I keep one eye on the left mirror. A few more miles down I see many more sparks, and it's coming
from under the truck! Oh great!!! So I get pulled over in a spot that has minimal light (so I can see
the place the sparks are coming from easier). I look under the truck and see the header glowing. Yup, the cat is clogged
like I thought, but that isn't causing sparks. I see smoke coming out from under the hood (uh oh)
and pop it open (I had an extinguisher handy). The AC clutch is glowing like the headers. That's
where the sparks were coming from. The clutch had fallen apart (well it is the original) and was
bouncing around. I got to work, but I knew that there was a new problem. The good news was that there was no fire. It's amazing
how fast you can get work done when you have a shitload of things to do after in less time than you have. I skipped all
my breaks and was out of work by 3pm. Pat had the racecar done by 6:30, but the truck needed some TLC. The AC clutch
heating up had also killed the bearing on the AC pump. It was missing about a dozen ball bearings out of it (those
falling out were the sparks I saw). None of the few open parts stores had one. All the NAPAs were closed already.
Pat took out the pully and put some high temp grease in the bearing to get me home. The departure time was not going
to happen when I wanted. I called Dan and Ganoe to tell them to sleep in Friday. I would have to get to NAPA at 8am when
they opened to see if they even had the part. Hopefully we'd get rolling by noon.
As I figured, Scott at Motortown NAPA in Amesbury (978-388-3070)
didn't have the part, but his Seabrook store did. Scott always has the parts I need, or at least knows where to find it. While
I finished up laundry, Ganoe worked on the truck. We had to make a quick trip back to Scott to have him press in the bearing
to the AC pully. Dan made it down to the house at 11, and we were out of town by 11:30. Damn, I've had all this fun and we
haven't barely left the house!!!
The amazing part is that is that the trip to the track went great. We stopped at the service
plaza on the Mass Pike between 290 and 84 to check the car, hit the bathroom, and grab lunch to go. The next stop was at exit
15 on Rte 88 in New York for gas. That tankful we got 11.2mpg. Not bad for a clogged cat and tired motor. We arrived at the
track at 7pm.
At registration we looked at the entry lists. The Enduro was 3/4 Spec Miatas!! A possible
"wreck fest"!! There were 90 something cars listed on the computer entries before we left. The Enduro would be kept at 72
team/entries.
The wind wasn't too bad, but I knew that they'd pick up in time. It was getting dark
as we arrived so getting camp up was number one. Dave Ford and crew had already arrived and left. We found a grassy area near
where Dave's car was and unloaded. Knowing the winds of the Glen I picked a spot next to a fence. I used at least 10 ratchet
tie downs to hold the EZ-up and 3 walls to the fence. The opening faced North. The winds usually run out of the
West, usually. Ganoe and Dan got their tents up and staked down while I organized the EZ-up. I brought the big grill.
It would also be used to give us some heat. We took a run down to town to the P&C (grocery store) to get food
and the most important racing supply: BEER!! then we stopped by Pizza Hut for some dinner. I took Dan on a quick night
tour of the town of Watkins Glen (Ganoe had been here before) and we headed back up for our
race fuel (yup, beer).
As predicted, the winds picked up out of the south west after we went to bed. I was sleeping
in the Bronco. I woke up a few times. I got up once to fix one of the sides on the EZ-up, but the funniest time was around
5am. The wind again woke me up. I peeked out to see Ganoes tent pushed over on to it's door. Ganoe was still in it! As I got
half way to his tent he woke up. I heard "What the fuck??" as I was pulling the backside down from being a roof. We put more
stakes in the loops and I went back to bed.
As the morning light came over the track, the tempature was in the 40's. For breakfast there
was pizza and assorted junk food. Of course we had the grill on for the pizza (ok, some heat too).
We did a little 'tweaking' on stapping down things and some relaxing. I called Dave Ford to let him know that
I had made it to the track. We only missed him the night before by about a half hour.
I went up to tech and registered for the Endro after breakfast. Starting spots were done by
a lottery (pick a number out of a hat) and at the same time pit assignments were given. That I
would leave up to Dave F (it's his car, we'll make the staring spot his 'fault'). After that Dan,
Ganoe and I went over to the gift shop to spend money and then I gave Dan a tour of the track via the infield.
When Dave arrived, he had Frank with him and the 3rd driver of our team, Dave Brooks. Dave
B has been racing a few seasons, but this was his 1st trip to the Glen. He was also a lot taller than Dave F and
myself. When we got back from the little tour, Dave, Dave, and Frank were already setting up the pit area. I got changed
and went over to help (not that I know what to do to set up a pit). They were done quickly.
There was a driver's meeting at noon for the Enduro. ome 'non' Mitat drivers asked the
Miata drivers to PLEASE be calm and not wreck everyone. I guess there was a problem at the last Enduro (like
a huge wreck that took out 11 cars early in a 6hr race). Driver's were asked to give space and try not to hit
one another.
At 12:30 the one hour practice started. Dave F wanted a few laps in the car to 'test'
a new alignment set up, then I jumped in for a few laps to get a 'feel' of the car, and we gave the bulk of the session to
Dave B. The car was set up to turn a little quicker than I was used to, but the car felt solid.
There wasn't any real time in between the practice session and the race. There were 70+
cars to grid. Dave drew the 58th starting position. Well back, so maybe we'll dodge any stupididity on the 1st lap.
We decided to have Dave B drive the 1st hour, me the 2nd, and Dave F (the boss) for the last
hour. Rules dictate that there has to be a minimum of 2 five minute pit stops. So we would do those during
our driver changes.
HOUR 1: Now you figure that the driver's
meeting speech would have sunk in; give each other room, it's a 3 hour race. Yeah, riiiiiight. So the field takes the green,
we watch Dave B race by and disappear into turn 1. I see station 1 start waving a yellow. Uh oh!!! What happened??? Was our
car involved??? Then the 'full course yellow' comes out. Uh oh, not good. That means there's a mess on the track. The field
starts to come by to complete lap one, under yellow. It seemed like forever, but finally Dave B comes around turn 11. Whewwww!!
Dave B later told us that he saw the T2 Mustang flying up on him, so he went wide left to let him go by. As they went around
turn 1 some cars had already wrecked (about early-mid pack cars) The Mustang had committed
to his line and slammed into the wreck. Dave B drove around the mess. He rolled around 4 laps under yellow. His
best lap was a 2:37.12. He ran mostly :38s and :39s. On lap his lap 19 he came in for gas and a driver change.
The driver has to be out of the car and over the wall before gas can be put in.
I stood at the wall waiting for my signal to jump in. My Nextel was on, the headset in
my ear, helmet on. The big question for me was; can I race for an hour? I've never raced more than
a half hour at a time. Would I be struggleing 30 minutes into the stint? Can I maintain decent lap times? (my
best to this point is a 2:30 set in 2004). I worried about wrecking or spinning the car.
Frank and Dave F finished fueling and I jumped over the wall. Frank adjusted the seat. Dave
B came around and helped me get strapped in. Dan had the stop watch timing the stop. He counted down the final 10 seconds
and waved me off.
Hour 2: I hit the end of the pit road
exit with a clear track. My first ever competetive laps in a car that was NOT mine. My out lap would be a 2:45.09, and
my first flying lap a :32 flat. I guess I settled in nicely and quickly. My best lap on the long course was set in 2004 at
a 2:30. I got into a nice groove. When faster cars would approach I could time them passing me going into the corners
and I wouldn't lose more than a 10th or 2 of a second. The car was smoothe and pulled well. The only thing was that there
was slight tire rub from the left rear coming out of the 'toe of the boot'. With in 10 laps I got my time down to a 2:29!
I was racing well. I ran mostly in the :30s and rolled off another :29 on my 16th lap. About this time I found myself
REALLY comfortable. I was thinking to myself that the car needed a radio in it. I was feeling great, and could go all
day. Then, over the Nextel, that call I feared would come too soon came: "Next lap, PIT!! Next lap, pit." DAMN IT!!!!
I don't want to!!! Next lap I brought the car into the pits to hand it off to the 'boss', Dave Ford.
HOUR 3: This stop took a little more
than the 5 minute minimum, but not much, and Dave F took off down pit road for the 3rd and final hour at lap 40 (for
us). His first three laps were under 'full course yellow'. On lap 46 Dave had an "off" and broke a hanger on the exhaust.
We spent 5 minutes wiring it back on and sent him back out losing 2 laps to the leader in the pits. Dave had a spin on lap
53 and kept it going. Dave's laps stayed in the 2:38 - 2:39s for the most part, rolling off 2 best laps of 2:38.35
on laps 54 and 56. With just a couple of laps to go Dave was heading down the back straight into the 'inner loop' when
the ONLY Showroom Stock C tried a suicide pass on his right. The SSC Nissan hit Dave's car at the forward part of the right
door. There was no reason for this pass attempt since the Nissan was in no danger of being passed. Dave didn't even bother
coming in after the contact. Our first sight of the damage was as Dave flew by us completing the lap. He wasn't going to stop!
Even with the impact he ran a 2:39.38. The next lap was the last lap.
Our team ran 59 laps to the leader's 68 laps. The best lap run by the team was a 2:29.479.
We finished 5th of 11 in class, and 41st of 72 over-all.
More to come
Sept 9 - 10, 2006: NER's Cheap Date Double
Ganoe would be the only 'faithful' WRT crew to make the trip. Bob
& Sue still couldn't make it and Don & Linda were off to see the newest grandchild of theirs. Congrads to the family!
You know when you want to get home early because you have something important, and the day
goes really crappy? Well I didn't have one of those days. Somehow the day at work went great. I was out by 1pm and home shorlty
after that. Ganoe didn't get home until 4. That gave me time to get the last minute items in the truck (ok, I was bored).
With a quick stop at Market Basket in Lee NH we made it to the track by 6. Registration was already opened meaning that the
infield was no doubt busy. Again Myers had demos clogging up some prime camping spots in the infield (one reason I won't go
shop there) so I decided to tuck in between one of the demos and Rob Zats. Rob had a new GT Light Ford Fiesta instead
of the Spec Racer Ford. He'd be in the group with me. Ed Saywer was next door to us with his SRF.
The camp was quickly set up along with the TV and Direct TV (yeah, we're spoiled).
I woke up to the sound of the sweeper going around the track. It was about 7am. I was group
8, the LAST group of the day *groan*. I didn't really need to be awake early!! By 7:30 I was watching the track 'wake up'.
Ganoe was falling out of his tent shortly after. Dan arrived at 8. The practice/qualifying sessions started at 8:30
as they normally do at NHIS, so I guess I wouldn't have been able to sleep too late. We were using both chicanes so racecars
would be screaming by about 50 feet away from the tents.
For P/Q I lined up last, as I usually try to do. My neighbor Rob was next ahead of me. As we
were heading out the car in front of Rob died right at false-grid exit. Rob and I had to get to the track through the pits.
This cost us a lap, but I came out and had some laps to myself. I only mustered a 1:27.902. Two seconds off my best still.
In the race not much interesting happened. I finished 30th over-all,
and 23rd in class.
As lunch came and went, the clouds started to roll in. I had checked
the Weather Channel earlier in the AM and saw a batch of rain in western NY. So I doubted
that we'd get any rain until after the races were over.
During race group 3 one of the Formula Vees hit the pit wall end at T12 and had to be cut
out, then transported by ambulance to Concord. Racing was haulted for about 45 minutes while another ambulance was sent to
the track. During the next race group Dan and Ganoe went up to the 'bowl' (T6) to watch.
Dan hits me up on the Nextel and asks me when we were supposed to get that rain. I ask why,
he says "look over turn 3". I figure maybe the clouds are just getting thicker, so I don't rush out from under the EZ-up.
When I finally do I see the darkest cloud front I had seen in a long time coming over the track. Immediately I start to 'batten
down the hatches'. Dan and Ganoe get back shortly after and Ed, who was in group 7, headed off to grid. I could see the lightning
in the storm front (insert link to pic here) and knew that racing would be stopped shortly. Group 6 finished and the corner workers
were taken off the track. Ed returned to his paddock and Mother Nature unleashed!!! The storm didn't last long, but by
the time it was over the stewarts had decided to cancel the last 2 groups of the day and race them first thing Sunday morning.
So at 8:05am group 7 would race, group 8 right after, then the track would be reconfigured for Sunday's races (using
NASCAR 1 & 2 instead of S chicane).
Once the races were cancelled, Dan and Ganoe went for a track walk. Dan wanted to get
more pictures of the track. We may put together a pictoral walk around NHIS. Using editing software we'll add notes and lines
to show tips & tricks of the track. I cooked dinner on the grill while they walked (steak & chicken!!).
The NASCAR race at Richmond was a night race. Dan left half way through it to head home. We had a few neighbors stop by to
watch with us. I can't remember who won. I just know that I had 3 session on the track the next day.
Again the sweeper acted as my alarm clock Sunday. This time I had to be
up early. Dan arrived around 8ish again. Group 8 got on to the track about 8:45 for their race. We went the whole race without
a full course yellow..I finished 20th in class and 26th over-all, one lap down. I got closer
to my best lap on this configuration grabbing a 1:26.857 on my last lap.
Fifteen minutes later group 1 was out on the track for Sunday's P/Q session. Group 8 got out
by 11:30. I qualified 29th over-all and 20th in class. The best lap was a 1:22.477. It was looking
doubtful that I would be breaking into the 1:19s any time soon.
In the race I got up to as far as 17th in the group, but fell back as the people I got a jump
on got back by. I finished 21st over-all, 17th in class.
Being the last group does suck in ways, but the tow home was short (about 1 1/4 hours). The
good thing is that the paddock is emptier and getting around with the trailer is easier.
Pictures taken will be loaded on to Photobucket soon, link to follow.
To see all results and my lap times, go to the 'schedule and results' page. Link to follow.
July 8 - 9, 2006: NER's Pig Roast '06
When the calender turns to July, most race nuts in the North East start to
drool with thoughts of NASCAR filling their brains. Not me. July means that the New England Region SCCA's Pig
Roast is near. Granted I just came back from Mid Ohio, but I feel the 'need', the NEED FOR SPEED!! That and this
would be a better test for the new Toyos.
You'd think that since I just got back from Ohio that very little needed to be done as far
as packing. Just some laundry and re-fill the cooler, right? Well at NHIS we at WRT live a little better. Direct TV is a big
part of the weekend. I bring my extra dish, my receiver. Bob & Sue usually bring the TV, but since they couldn't
be there, I brought my TV also. Yes, we have Speed TV on all weekend!!
Don and Linda got to the track around 5pm. They said no one was around yet, and they would
grab the best spot possible for our camp. I left home about 5:30. With a quick shopping stop at Market Basket to restock on
steak, hotdogs and BEER (as well as Pepsi and Gatorade), I made it to the track around 7pm. Don and Linda got a great spot
in the corner of the infield behind turn 1. They were already set up. I dove my Bronco and trailer into the open spot
and unpacked.
Our first priority, as usual, was to get the TV going. Then I unpacked the car and Bronco.
We decided to leave the car on the trailer. I wouldn't be going out until group 3, and I still wanted to do an oil change.
After a full day of work, and setting up camp, it didn't take much for me to fall asleep.
My best time on this configuration is a 1:25. The best I could muster was a 1:27.620, 36th
(out of 39) over-all and 24th in class. Not good. I was a good 8 or so spots from the cars I normally qualify around.
There was a driver's meeting at lunch with the Chief Steward. Minutes after I left for the
meeting Dan from NY, along with his son Chris and his friend Tim, showed up. Dan is building an Escort GT for ITA
and came up to see the car up close and to get ideas. It's also a great way to 'suck' people into the sport. Once you see
it, you want to get involved.
The field was short a car at the start, so I got to line up on the left side. That would
give me good position for the chicane turn. As we, the rear of the field were on NASCAR 3 & 4 the front of the group got
the green. I just so happen to be looking at the flag stand when it came out and got a great jump. I passed a bunch of
cars before I even got the start/finish line. I got a few more going into the chicane and stayed in a bunch for the next
few laps. It was great racing. Door handle to door handle!! Dick Patullo & I had some great laps racing! We were inches
apart and having fun! Eventually Dick got by me and pulled away. I had a few other cars around me, but the racing wasn't as
intense. Towards the end I was reeling Dick back in from a 10 second difference, but the race ended. I did better than I thought.
I finished 25th in group, improving 11 spots, over-all, and 18th in class, improving 6 spots, in class. I usually don't improve
that much when I'm running good! So that made me happier. Still my best lap was only a 1:27.992. My laps were consistent,
just not fast enough for me. The only change to the car was to rotate the tires front to rear. Turn 10 is extemely abusive
to the front left sidewall. I scuff half way up it on the turn because it's a sharp downhill to flat transition turn.
Beer o'clock rolled around and we went over to the 'social' for a bite to eat. After some
pulled BBQ pork, baked beans, and corn bread we took a walk around the track. Even Ringo and Fred joined the group for a walk
(FYI - Ringo & Fred are dogs). Dan (work) wanted to get a lot of pics from on the track. Different angles of each corner.
Why I don't know. Dan (NY) was shown where the racing 'lines' were. You learn a lot about a track when you can just walk
at it and take your time studying the corners. Plus it's a nice way to exercise off dinner. When we got back, Chris and
Tim decided they needed something to do, so they changed my front struts (my front right was blown out). Cool. I stayed
up long enough to catch the end of the truck race on Speed.
Sunday I rolled out of my tent a little after 7am. This would be the day that would be a better
test for the Toyos. My best lap on the NASCAR 1-2 configuration is a 1:20. Again the car never got the speed it had. Again
my laps were consistent, but the best I could do was a 1:23.288. Good for 32nd over-all, 22nd in class. The decision was made
to tighten the rear sway bar to try to get better bite out of the front end. The car had been tight all weekend.
Race time: As the group came around for the green I didn't get the jump I got the day
before. I did manage to pass a couple of cars in the oval which shocked me. It was a good battle to keep the guys I got
by behind me. As we came into the 'bowl' (turn 6) http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h220/Speedtrap4/SCCA%20Pig%20Roast%2006/Picture076s.jpg the flag station had a white flag (careful, slow moving vehicle on track) showing. As we came out of the bowl there
was an ambulance on driver's left, 2 emergency response vehicles on driver's right and Victor Gangi's car against a tree off
track on driver's right. As we got up to 'tree stand' (turn 7) the full course yellow came out. We are still questioning why
there was no yellow, at leats a local yellow, out at station 6. The rest of the session was under yellow while they extraxcted
Victor from his car via a backboard. I finished 25th over-all and 18th in class. My best lap was a 1:23.275.
The tree that Victor hit did have a barrier in front of it. Two rows of tires and a jersey
barrier were in front of the tree, so it wasn't sitting out by it's self to be hit. The surface just over the curb to
driver's right is extremely rough. It's enough to 'grab' a car and possibly break something. You can read about it here: http://itforum.improvedtouring.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8465 Victor cracked a couple of vertebare (T12, L1) but is in good shape otherwise. There is also a picture
of the car at tech after the crash on page 2.
The next race is Sept 9 - 10 at NHIS again. Hopefully some of my mods get done to the car
before then.
July 1 - 2, 2006: Cincy Region's Freedom Double Regional '06
It's half way through the 2006 race season and I finally got myself
out to a race. Actually this was my first 'planned' race for the year. I replaced the front air dam and got myself another
set of wheels. I'm also trying a set of Toyo Proxes after the last few years on Kumhos.
They say half the fun is getting there, but what if it's 800 miles to get there? How much
of that is fun? Ganoe was the only one making the trip to Ohio. Dan, Neal and Lee got slammed with work just a few days before
the race and had to cancel. Since Ganoe is right down the street it was easy to change plans on a whim. We packed up early
Thursday and hit the road by 10PM. We only needed 2 fuel stops (the Pilot on Rte 81, exit 172 in PA and the Flying J on exit
234, rte 80 in Ohio) to make the trip. We only stopped once for 2 hours to grab a nap. Registration didn't open
until 5PM Fri, there was no rush to get there, but I like to be early. We drove by the track at 2:30PM and
went into Lexington to get food/beer/stuff we needed.
At registration was a notice that groups 4 & 5 would be combined. So ITA, ITS, GT-L (light)
would be joined by the "ground pounders": ITE (IT cars that don't fit anywhere else), T3, GT1 (non-pro Trans AM), GT2, AS
(pony cars), T1, T2 & SP. Great!! That would make the group 35 cars large. On-line registration showed 32 entries
for just group 4, and 7 of the cars that ran were from group 5, so we had some bow out before the weekend.
Shortly before gates opened Jeremy showed up with the new Toyos for my car. I had Kumhos on
wheels already, but they are from last year. I also had a new set of Rota wheels for the Toyos to go on. Jeremy was told that
the Toyos needed a good heat cycle and put away for the day. So the plan was run them in P/Q Sat & run the Kumhos in the
race Sat, then Toyos all Sunday.
We camped at the same spot as 2 years ago, next to the driver's training area. A place
where kids get 'extra ordered training' *coughCOURT!!cough* or can get perfomance training. It has a few trees around
and is central to the different areas I'd be going to. Plus it's fun to watch the skid car!! Since I was in group
4 this year we left the car on the trailer overnight.
One professional looking tractor trailer came into the paddock, and it unloaded some insane
cars. One being a Speed World Cup GT Pontiac GTO. And it was running in ITE! Oh shit, with me!!! Oh well maybe I won't
finish down more than a few laps.
As the morning came, so did the noises of the racetrack. A crappy running generator served
as my alarm clock at 6:30am. 20 min later I heard a race engine (*no race engines before 8am - track rule). FINE!! I'll get
up!! I had to be over at the Hoosier tire trailer by 7 anyways to get the Toyos mounted on the Rotas.
The big experiment, other than the new tire brand, was using Nextels as for track
communications. I brought a headset and gave Ganoe the other Nextel. I knew that 2 way communication might not be possible,
but as long as I could hear Ganoe over the exhaust I would be happy.
Ganoe got the Rotas/Toyos on the car for practice/qualifying. I started on the same pressures
I run in the Kumhos, 27psi all around. The track had new pavement all around, so the concrete pads in the corners were
covered. The track even added curbing or removed curbing around the track. So that huge pothole coming out of the 180 from
the 'keyhole' wasn't there for me to hit again like I did 2 years ago.
The day was mostly sunny, temps in the low 80s and a light breeze. As per usual, I got as
far back in line as I could so I wouldn't have any traffic around me. The damn video camera didn't want to work, so in-car
for that session. I've been on the track before, so I know the layout. The new pavement and new tires would keep me slow
for the first few laps. As I got into the warm-up lap I could feel the slickness of the tires. I got my times down into the
1:58's. Ok, but not near where I was last time there (1:55s). I did some drifting a few times, but the car was easy to gather
back up. I qualified 12th in class, 28th overall. Being in the 1:55s would have only brought me up one spot.
We decided to go off track to get some lunch, and headed out towards Wendys next to Rte 71.
The lunch crowd had started to gather there. I decided on a side salad instead of fries since I still had to race
later (why am I telling you this? Trust me, it's worth it.). So the cute young girl is placing my salad on the tray when Ganoe
says a little 'extra' loud "Hey, Bud. Want me to toss your salad?". I start laughing and the poor girl behind the counter
looks horrified!! Ganoe, GREAT JOB!!! You have 'line of the year' as far as I'm concerned. Good thing we won't be back that
way for a couple of years.
Because the Toyos have to sit at rest for a day, Ganoe put the Kumhos back on the car
for the race. I set the pressures and went to grid. While sitting on grid waiting to be let on the track, I hear the Nextel
beep and a voice say "Hey, whatcha doin??". It was Gimpy!!
"Sitting here on grid waiting to go on to the track." I replied.
"Really? Oh, then give me a call after you're done. Let me know how you did."
A few minutes later the 5 minute warning went up. This time the video camera decided to work.
YAHOO!! On the warm-up lap I could already feel the difference with the Kumhos. Oh yeah!! I had grip! I was towards the rear
of the field and we had to hoof it pretty good to catch the group. I figured it would be a repeat of last time I was there.
They let the race go without the field being formed up, but I was wrong. They sent us around a second pace lap. As I got around
turn 1 I saw the GTO behind me. How'd that happen??? Anyway, I knew he'd be fast through the group, so I would be watching
for him. We got the green the next time around. By the time I got up to the keyhole, the GTO was past me. Must be nice to
have gobbs of horsepower. I setteld into chasing those in front of me. I had a good race with Steve Linn and his Nissan Sentra
SE-R. After Steve got by I caught up to Phil Alsach's RX7 for the 2nd half. It was a close battle. The GTO lapped us
about 2/3s of the way through the race. Steve pulled away a bit and Phil missed a couple of shifts which allowed
me to get really close at the end. So close that on the last lap I got a good run on him going through 'Thunder Valley' that
I almost ran into the back of him. As we came out of 'Thunder Valley' I had to back out of the power so I didn't
punt Phil. By doing that I got my right rear tire to step off the edge and I spun the car. When I was done, I was facing the
wrong way. Oops! Fortunately I didn't hit anything and I was able to get under way with out loosing a spot. I finished 9th
in class and 21st over-all. My best lap was a 1:54.1. Over a second improvement from my best lap 2 years before. So I was
happy.
The social party was at the Honda Pavillion and Dominos delivered again (they have a place
in the infield). Of course there was beer too. After dinner we took a walk around the track. Ganoe had never been on the track,
so it was a new look for him. Walking the track gives you a greater understanding of a track. You can study the track and
get a better idea as to the shape of the curves and elevation changes. That and it's cool to be standing on a world famous
racetrack. We also got to stand in the divots made by Joey Hand in the BMW M3 the weekend before during the Grand Am
race. After seeing the crash on TV I figured that there would be more grass missing than there was. So after our 2.4 mile
walk around the track we sat around the camping area talking to the ITB Pinto crew. (I don't have names at the moment) They
live closer to Beaver Run near Pittsburg PA. Yeah, IT Pintos!! Whodathunkit? It was too windy for a fire, but the Daytona
race was on the radio. In the middle we went over to watch some fireworks display about 15 miles North of the track. After
the show we made it to the end of the race then turned in.
During the night the wind was strong enough to almost flatten my tent. There were some claps
of thunder, a couple of showers, but nothing harsh. Just over a week before an almost twister came through the area. It tossed
a 5th wheel trailer over. So that was in the back of my mind. Still I managed to get some sleep.
Sunday the plan was the same as Sat. Start P/Q out back and try to get some clean laps. As
well as try to get the feel of the tires. As I went out I felt the difference from the day before. The heat cycle really helped.
I improved yesterday's Toyo time with a 1:57.034. That was only good 30th place over-all (2 places behind yesterday)
and 12th in class (same as yesterday). The GTO again sat again on the pole, but the team packed up during lunch and headed
for home.
The race got off with only one pace lap. On lap 4 an ITS 240Z and an ITA CRX got together
on the back straight. They stopped just after where the pro BMW landed the week before. A lot of gravel was thrown on the
track, and both cars were done. This brought out a full course yellow with pace car. We got to follow Mr pace car for 5 laps.
Once the green came out it was just a race around until the end. There were no real challenges on the track for me. Ganoe
had me in the 1:56s. At this point I don't have the final results. I guess there were "issues" and final results weren't ready.
Ganoe had to be home to go to work at 7am Monday, so we hauled ass home. I had to stop just
into Conn to grab a quick 45 min nap about 2:15am. Some how we managed to get get home in one piece at 6:15am. A couple of
neighbors looked at us funny when we were unloading a few items. Ganoe's boss never showed up nor called so he never got to
work. So much for the effort.
The trip was great, even though the Toyos were 'slower'.
April 20 - 22, 2006: NER's Spring Training '06
Since Dan's racecar didn't get done (see the story on
the WRT drivers page) for the school, I let him borrow my racecar. This would be the 1st time I've ever watched
my car on a track and not been in it. The week of the school I made all the preperations and modifications it would need to
run the school; the oil got changed. I loaded 6 extra race tires (2 on rims) not knowing how last year's race tires would
react after being on the car outside all Winter.
Thursday:
We got up to the track around 5pm to find registration open early. This gave us extra time
to get camp set up and Dan time to drive the racecar around the paddock so he could get used to the shifting (*up
until this point he had only a couple of hours of actually driving a standard shift car). Race motors had to be off
by 7pm, and his class was at 7:30pm. Class is where the students are shown what each flag means, what is expected of them,
do's and don't, etc.
Friday:
Someone forgot to tell Mother Nature that it was Spring, because the night was damn cold!!
Dan was in group 1 for the school. It was mostly a bunch of Spec Miatas, an ITC Rabbit, SSC Neon & Protege,
plus a few I can't remember at this time. All students had to be at classroom at 8am. There they would meet their personal
instructors. Dan wound up with Drew (*who was the head instructor of my group the year I was in the school,
1999).
Session 1 of the day would be the students riding
in vans driven by the an instructor around the track. This would be a direct way to show the students where the 'proper'
race lines and apex of each corner were.
Session 2 had
the students in their cars, but they followed the instructors around the track at pace speeds. Again, this was to show the
students the proper lines & apexes. There were cones keeping the students on the 'race' line too.
Session 3 would be the first 'hot' session (*up until this point Dan had NEVER been in a race situation, or perfomance driving class). This is where
the 'nervous parent' in me would start. The cones were still on the track from session 2, so little passing would get done
in the corners. Dan went out and made consistant lap times. His best would be a 1:32.02 (*they
do not want students to be timed because they feel it puts extra 'pressure' on them, but Dan wanted to see his progress and
so did I).
Session 4 all of the cones were gone, so the track
would be clear. Passing in the corners could happen. By this time Dan's girlfriend, Steph, had made it to the track.
Dan kinda gave her bad directions that cost her a couple of extra hours of travel time. Towards the end of the session 2 Spec
Miatas tried to sandwhich Dan going into turn 11 (*there's just enough room for 1 car at turn 11, NOT
a good place to pass). One of the Miatas hit Dan adding a new dent to my car & spun him. He wound up with
a best time of 1:29.94 in the session.
During lunch the front Kumhos were replaced by an old pair (5 years
old???) of BFGoodrich G-Force R1s. The Kumhos were to be saved for Saturday's track time.
Session 5 Dan started in the back of the group to
'feel out' the tires and to stay as clear from the Spec Miatas as possible. The guess was that the car would be tight having
older, harder tires up front, but that would be WRONG!! The car was awful loose. Lap times suffered and the best of the session
was a 1:35.84.
Session 6 Tire pressures were adjusted to 30psi
front and 25psi rear. In this session there were 3 practice starts (*they would wave the green at the
start/finish, then bring them under full course yellow going up past turn 5). After the 3rd start they ran 3 laps.
Drew was watching T3 and had noticed that Dan was slower. He was told about the
tire change and that the car went loose on him. Dan had a best 1:30.66 but the car was still loose.
Session 7 had the scariest moment in it. Pressures
were dropped to 20psi in the rear. The group was lined up for a race start. They got the green and a tight group came through
T3. As the leaders came down to T10 the red flag came out (*from the SCCA GCR "RED FLAG
-Displayed at each station and on the Starter's stand - EXTREME DANGER - THE SESSION HAS BEEN STOPPED. Come
to an immediate, controlled stop at the side of the track. When released by an Official, proceed cautiously to the pits.").
The ITC Rabbit was near the front of the group and when he saw the red flag did a total 4 wheel lock up coming down the hill
almost collecting the group behind him. Somehow NO ONE hit anyone!!! The group of instructors watching the fiasco all
crindged as it happened, but got to laugh after since no cars were collected. The cars were brought in under the 'black flag
all' and the session was over. No full race laps were made. (*this was a 'mock' red flag
exercise thrown for training purposes)
At the end of it all there were more cars damaged in group 1 than any had ever seen before. It
was a big concern. It was a big topic at the beer party.
We had a fire, alcohol & steak at the camp. Dan lasted until 9pm before he fell asleep.
Saturday:
My alarm chirped me awake at 7am. Again Mother Nature thought it was Winter. There was a mild
frost scattered about. Dan, exhausted from the day before, dragged ass outta bed after a nice 10 hour nap.
The Kumhos were put back up front, and the tire pressures adjusted to 27psi all around. Again
Dan had to be in the classroom at 8am. In the classroom they were all told "Any contact between cars and you WILL
be pull off the track and your school WILL be over."
Session 1 Dan started in the back to check the handle
of the car. It must have been much better. His best lap - 1:28.76
Session 2 Dan continued his improvements on the
clock. Running a 1:25.77 half way through the session. At the end of the session, the ITC Rabbit got ugly in front of Dan
as he was coming around T11 and Dan had to do a bit of off-roading to miss the Rabbit.
Session 3 Dan qualified 23rd (with 2 instructors
placed ahead of him) of 34. He did finish a lap down with a best lap of 1:25.08.
Lunch time the students did another walk around. I joined them to give Dan my experience. We
walk the track in reverse starting in the pits. As we approached T11 there was a car part laying on the ground. I took a closer
look at it and sure enough, it was from MY car! So I picked it up and carried it back.
Session 4 it was clear that the students took the
instructors seriously because still there was no contact in the group. Dan starter the session up front to get used to having
the faster cars around him since the filed would be inverted for the session 6 race. He seemed to be comfortable and
consistant running a 1:25.36.
Session 5 again starting in the the front of the
group, a 'mock' red flag was thrown 6 laps into the session. It was much
better than Friday's red flag. The field was brought back to the pits and sent back out for a couple of more laps. Dan's best
- 1:25.80
Session 6 Dan was to start 12th, but a few cars
didn't show up, so he started 7th. My advice to him was to try to get a couple of cars passed ASAP to use to hold up the rest
of the field. To give the field time to spread out. The big concern was T3 on the first lap. A huge crowd gathered to watch
the possible carnage. The pace car came off of T10 too fast and the field counldn't get formed up to get a start. They
were waived off and made another pace lap. The 2nd try they got the green. As the group came around T2 they were 4 - 5 wide!
My eyes were glued to Dan. Once he made it around T3 I started to breathe again. He held his ground and made cars work
for position. No 'point bys' in a race. He finished on the lead lap with a NEW personal best lap of 1:24.72!!!
During the day Dick Patullo, an instuctor and fellow ITA racer, asked
me what Dan 'was expecting' out of the school (signed off, another school). I told him that Dan wouldn't be upset if
he didn't get signed off, but knew there could be a shot that he might. Dick said that the thing working against Dan
was his lack of experience. I told Dick Dan's lap times and that in itself impressed Dick.
We got back to the camp and started packing things away. Neither of us would be at the track
for Sunday's race. We got about half way done and headed to the beer/after party where the students would get back their books.
This is where the students would find out IF they got signed off or not. After food and conversation
the instructors were done with the books. I watched them hand out the books from behind. Any student that got signed off had
a diploma and entry form for Sunday with their books. Out of the 1st 10 only 1 didn't get signed off. They came to Dan's
book and there was the diploma & entry form!! He got signed off in his 1st school! Damn that must mean I'm a great coach!
(just kidding!) After a quick round of hand shaking with the instuctors we went back and finished loading up.
Next up for Dan will be # 1 - getting his car finished, # 2 - because he's going to do the
Lime Rock school in June to get used to his car, and maybe the race there.
Pictures from the weekend:
