119 replies to this topic

[Mike Collins]

This is all I am going to post is this. In my SM5 I was way faster than the SM cars. I did not out qualify them and I should have, I fooled around in qualifying learning the car and spent most of my time trying very hard not to upset the apple cart and not get accused of pushing someone down the straight.

I had two choices for the race. Start in third, or go to the back and get in the way of a lot of folks as I came around. I talked to ALL of the competitors around me at the start. We had a deal I would check out and not get in the way of the race. To do this we were going to get single file ASAP and then I would pass in 10. I pushed Blake into the lead on the start and then lifted and let Danny in. I followed them to turn 7 at the the back straight. Danny was drafting Blake and I made my move. At the same time Blake lost 5th gear and Danny made a move. Danny tried to drive me into the dirt down the left side of the track. I easily made it to turn ten before him but because of his "tactics" I was forced to turn from the left edge, thus carrying less speed into 10b. I cleared Danny fully! There are several videos and lots of witnesses for this. Danny did not lift! He ran into my rear corner so hard that I hit his car twice while spinning. I did EXACTLY what Danny, Blake, Ryan, Todd, Kevin and I discussed. Had Danny lifted I would have been gone, the SM5 is capable of going about 3 seconds a lap faster. Danny would have remained in the SM lead, Blake would have retired and Danny would have drafted me for a larger lead than he already had.

I am sorry for all of the collateral damage caused by the incident.

I did protest Danny before the race even ended. My car was retired with body and suspension damage. Many drivers without any solicitation submitted video and witness statements. In tech Danny approached me and we discussed the incident. MEATHEAD Racing and OPM have a long and fruitful relationship. Myself and Danny have a relationship outside of the racetrack. To me the conversation was what I needed and I retracted the protest. Yes some of my peers have ridiculed me for this, but to my defense not a single call was made from the corner station even though the PA announcers saw it clearly and called the punt.

I wanted to win the inaugural "real" SM5 ARRC race now that we have GCR rules. That did not happen. Now next year I will need to go back and try again.

Lee York won the SSM race keeping up with a great deal of the SM cars Congratulation.

Shortly after the race I interviewed Danny on GoRacingTV. You can see that interview and Lee's next week. We will also have the in-car video from the car behind the incident. It's pretty clear what happened.

[Blake Thompson]

some good pics here, mostly IT but some from the SM mess at 10b https://picasaweb.go...ata1stLapMayhem#

That is a bad-ass recovery for Mr Steyn. I enjoyed having my own little flip book of the incident.

[William Keeling]

talk was that others had protested DS for that and other issues -- any of that talk true and what happen?

[Steve D]

First off, I'd like to thank Butch and the rest of the Atlanta Region volunteers for putting on another great show this weekend. On Friday afternoon, one of my Spec E30 buddies decided to see if he could fit in my seat so we could share the enduro. He fit, so we headed to registration. I had low hopes of getting someone who was not then even an SCCA member signed up to share the race with me.

As it turns out, Diane let us in the trailer, gave Eric her laptop to register on scca.com, and voila - we're in business!! Great customer service (and a new SCCA member).

On the topic of the ARRC race: I qualified 40th and finished 25th, so many of you will dismiss what I write solely on that basis. For those who are still reading: I don't think it's right to start an out-of-class car in the thick of a race where any of 10-15 guys could win. I don't think it's right to not lift when you accidentally start turning the car ahead. Two wrongs definitely didn't make a right in this case.

I was so giddy to see the field get through Lap 1 Turns 1-3 without any major incidents. It was a bummer to come down the hill and see the carnage in 10b.

The ARRC is one of my favorite events of the year. We all gathered around under the OPM tent and ate Lamb. Wait, I mean lamb. And burgers. And salad. No PB&J. You could tell the ARRC was a big deal right there.

[Todd Lamb]

Two words: Jello shots!

Congrats to Danny - great recovery!

Buras - up on the wheel as always!

I was more nervous watching than I was in my first race ever....Spec Miata racers are crazy

[Jim Drago]

On the topic of the ARRC race: I qualified 40th and finished 25th, so many of you will dismiss what I write solely on that basis. For those who are still reading: I don't think it's right to start an out-of-class car in the thick of a race where any of 10-15 guys could win. I don't think it's right to not lift when you accidentally start turning the car ahead. Two wrongs definitely didn't make a right in this case.

If it makes you feel any better, I dismissed what you had to say long before I read anything about your qualifying position. However, I agree with your opinion.

[Weekend Warrior]

Steve said something?!?

[Steve D]

You're just lucky I lifted when you turned down on me in the paddock. I shoulda turned your soccer-mom-mobile into Cottrell's rig.

[wrinkled cage]

Will there be video?

[Jim Drago]

Will there be video?

I don't think Devinney was running anything in his street car and my rear camera in my soccer mom mobile only works when backing up, but doesn't record. Oh, you mean the race?

[zoomzoom22]

Will there be video?

Where is Danny with his report and video?

On another note, and surprised nobody mentioned, enduro winner (SM) was penalized (down to 7th) for technical infractions (multiple) at post race inspection/fairly intrusive apparently, and new winner subsequently DQ for behavior issues post race.

No runoffs needed for SM runoffs like drama apparently LOL

Link to my laps results: http://www.mylaps.co....jsp?id=2132016

[Muda]

So, who won?
Roger?

[Ben Rooke]

HD Video of of 10b "incident" taken by Brad Fleming, one of the Racing Analytics guys.

http://youtu.be/0zoFxGsHtU4

As a new SM driver, I don't know why we have SM2 at the ARRC either, but I did enjoy winning it! Huge thanks to Shea Hughes and Clay Dillashaw at Racing Analytics for great car prep and track support!! Maybe I'll be good enough to "graduate" to SM next year... What a fun event either way. Kudos to the Atlanta Region.

[Keith Andrews]

Nice video.

[Mike Collins]

HD Video of of 10b "incident" taken by Brad Fleming, one of the Racing Analytics guys.

http://youtu.be/0zoFxGsHtU4

As a new SM driver, I don't know why we have SM2 at the ARRC either, but I did enjoy winning it! Huge thanks to Shea Hughes and Clay Dillashaw at Racing Analytics for great car prep and track support!! Maybe I'll be good enough to "graduate" to SM next year... What a fun event either way. Kudos to the Atlanta Region.

Yep that's about it.

[Glenn]

Where is Danny with his report and video?

On another note, and surprised nobody mentioned, enduro winner (SM) was penalized (down to 7th) for technical infractions (multiple) at post race inspection/fairly intrusive apparently, and new winner subsequently DQ for behavior issues post race.

No runoffs needed for SM runoffs like drama apparently LOL

Link to my laps results: http://www.mylaps.co....jsp?id=2132016

Word is he was 9# light!

[suck fumes]

The car that won the enduro was 4pds light and they were going to give him a "pass" to. Not sure what the outcome was after an outrage broke out when the competitors behind him heard the tech guy say that. I guess if your a "good ol boy" you get access to the secret handshake wink wink!

[suck fumes]

O yah and after that happened one of our Texas guys got penalized 2 laps for being 2 seconds too quick on a pit stop. NO JOKE!

[DBender]

Here is what happened post race after the enduro. Chris Topping did indeed come across the scales light. When they weighed his car the first time he was 9 pounds light. At this point people started to find out and Ryan Pila who came in second started to celebrate. The officials then weighed Toppings car again and it was only 4 pounds light. The officials then said that they were going to call Topping the winner due to the miniscule amount of weight he was under. (To be honest that did not make a difference in the final result. Topping would have won regardless of 9 pounds.) When they said this it sent Pila into a, I'll call it a very loud disagreement, and started to insult all of the officials as well as pretty much everyone standing there. An official was recording the whole thing which didn't help him. I left to catch a flight so I didn't see what happened after all the loud disagreeing. My dad got a phone call about 30 minutes later from Dave Wheeler and he told us that they did penalize Topping since his car was under weight, then they DQ'ed Pila due to his behavior. In the end Voytek Burdzy and I were the official winners of the enduro. I am indeed happy about that, however Chris Topping did win the enduro. The weight of his car would not of made a difference in the outcome and I give him full credit for running a great race. It's unfortunate that there had to be such drama after the race. I guess to self proclaimed PRO drivers this race was a big deal. Congrats to everyone who ran this race successfully, and congrats to Chris Topping he deserved the win.

[Steve D]

Yep that's about it.

I guess I'm the only one stupid enough not to hold my tongue. Like I said before, I think Danny should have lifted going into 10b (given the gap he and Blake had on P3, he could have given the position to Blake and tucked in to fight it out later) rather than turn Mike.

But way before that... As the cars come into view in that video, Collins is behind both SMs with plenty of room to tuck in line in front of the 3rd place SM and try another pass on the back straight on Lap 2. Why press the issue there and interfere with the lead cars? I know Mike to be a damn good racer and that move just doesn't seem to jive with the racecraft I've seen him display before.