After a 2 year hiatus of broken optisparks and black flags, Spectator Racing is back on top!
Jon took old #271 to the NASA Great Lakes race at Beaverun June 26/27. There were 3 races, ending with 2 wins and a DNF. The DNF was by choice, for a change. No more watching the race go by parked in the infield.
After qualifying on pole (in class), Saturday's race was uneventful. After a good start it was just damage control as both competitors had problems with knocked them out off the race.
Sunday was a different story, however. We qualified second in class behind Rich WIlson's orange Corvette and had a fantastic battle for most of the race. Check out the video below. We had a great start, followed by two boneheaded moves (hey, it's been 2 years!), and finished with some awesome racing between me and Rich. I actually raced up a class as there was nobody in PTA where I normally run, but it turned out to be a pretty even fight.
It was my frist time at the Beaver, so my line is far from perfect. I swear, I don't think I got the last turn (with the water tower) correct more than 3 times the entire 35 minute race. I cut out several uneventful laps in the middle and end, and threw some footage near the end of the race when the ST1 Vipers caught up to me to show what 600 RWHP can do...
Sunday Aug 15, Spectator Racing goes to the beach!
The Spectator Racing team (with the unfortunate omission of Jeremy, who's away on business) headed down to Mid-Ohio last weekend for a NASA event. It was a HOT, HOT weekend with temps in the 90's and humidity in the 100's. At least it felt like it. I actually got a sunburn through my suit, and my shoe melted on the floor of the car...keep in mind this is a fireproof shoe. Rob's car is still not running, so he was there to keep everything running smoothly. I raced ST2 on Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday I qualified in the middle of the pack. I made up for it by taking two spots at the start. I had a fantastic battle for a few laps with David Fazzino in his Silver Mitsubishi EVO; Seeing a ricer driven so damn fast gives me hope for today's youth...
Unfortunately I didn't have video running. So for the results, I hate to use the tire excuse, but I will anyway. My worn out 275's couldn't keep me in it so eventually Dave got the better of me and I ended up 4th. Actually, I ended up DQ'd, apparently there was a pass under a caution flag and three of us were guilty. I don't remember where it could have been, but we never do. Regardless, the race was a blast and it was great to meet some new competition.
Sunday was another poor qualifying effort, looks like an area for improvement. This time I started 7th out of 8, not a great way to begin. I was gridded behind a rookie racer but a veteran time trialer (hence his superior qualiying time) in his orange EVO. Just before the start another car had mechanical issues and was limping around the keyhole. This crossed up the Evo and the Lotus ahead of me, and they fell waaaay back. When the green flag flew we were about 100 yards behind the pack! Very frustrating.
http://vimeo.com/14183893
After watching everyone else in class go by (and a handful of others, too) I jumped back on track and had to make a run. The tire was toast, and the flat spot caught just about every time I tried to brake for the rest of the race. Pretty soon I had almost no ability to stop or turn left, which made the car a real handful. Of course, the smart thing would have been to pull in, but everyone knows that wasn't going to happen.
Sand and gravel flying everywhere, I floored it down the back straight and caught up to the EVO and quickly dispatched it to go back up to 6th (5:42). On the fast left hander (6:32) you can hear the tire starting to shake the whole
car apart. I then passed couple of AI cars who had gone by, but when trying to take the red Mustang I found out how messy the flat spot was going to make things (7:10) as the brakes locked in the same spot and I about went off into the beach again!
I finally caugt up to Rich in the familiar orange C4, and when he got a little squirrelly in the carousel (7:51) I got a run on him and took 5th. Down the back stretch I passed my new pal the red Lotus (8:41). We had quite a fight, I'd pass him then lock up the brakes and he'd pass me right back; I couldn't make it stick. Yeah, it was propagating the Corvette stereotype that they're only fast in a straight line, but I had a good excuse.
I thought I might have a shot at getting back near the front, the damaged tire kept getting worse and I worried that it might not last the rest of the race if I didn't back off. The rest of the race was basically nursing the car around corners, making it as wide as possible, and trying to put some space between me and the Lotus on the straights. I've never been so happy to see a white flag in my life.
It was good to have the team back together, and a big thanks to Rob for covering the car during the Sunday thunderstorm while I was out with a student!
Regardless, we caught up quickly and I worked through the pack into 5th place behind the yellow C5Z of John Brownlow. For only having a handful of races under his belt he's really tearing it up. He passed the Lotus along the front straight, and I was able to take him two turns later (2:01 in the video) slotting back in behind John's yellow Z. We fought hard for a lap or two, then a full course caution gave us a break...and brought the field back together.
I was able to take advantage of traffic and sqeeze by JB after the restart. Running nicely in 3rd, I decided to try and put some traffic between me and Mr. Brownlow. It didn't work as planned, and I took a wicked ride through the beach. It turns out trying to late brake the representative for Hawk brake pads isn't a wise decision. (5:03) I removed most of the rubber from my right front tire, giving it a wicked flatspot.
Spectator Racing is BACK!
