29 replies to this topic

[MPR22]

Race reports later this week when time permits. Rained 4 inches on us over the weekend, mostly while we were qualifying or racing. H2O Hoosiers are the BOMB.

I have a couple of laps of Sunday video during the Super Tour event. I didn't video Saturday's race but there was some great videos from others that need to find their way onto the site, please if you have footage of Saturday's race post it.

[Danny Steyn]

Love it - three wide into T1 in the rain. Hang on boys, not sure if this is gonna stick!!!

PS Mr Ross - I want my gauge back!!!!

[Gary Norris]

Michael...GREAT DRIVE....nice save in 4....I wondered how Blake made up 3 positions..

thanks for posting...

Gary

[suck fumes]

You can't see anything out the windshield haha.

[MPR22]

Friday

It started raining Thursday night and the track was wet but no standing water when we arrived for our first official practice session. The Phillips Race Prep group decided to try the track on slicks. I personally still had the rear bar attached and it was a slip and slide fest for me. I kept it on the track and just tried to build up pace. Blake and Chris H went on by me and I stuck to my plan of staying clean. A few laps in and I drive by as Chris who has found a way to back his car back up the hill at turn 9. He found a ditch and a piece of culvert nobody knew existed and almost flipped his car. Kent Carter has a little footage of Chris standing the car on its side before it fell back down. This caused a black flag all along with several other cars that were off at other areas. As Chris came into our garage covered in mud and looking like a crab walking sideways I thought for sure his weekend had ended before it began. About an hour later he was up and running again, no real damage just managed to knock the rear camber bolts loose.

Second session, full on raining now and we switched to the Hoosier H₂O. We were really worried that we would run out of tire before the end of the weekend since none of us had any experience on the tire. I ran1 lap and and my window was fogging so bad I couldn't see except for a small area the size of a basketball. I ran three more laps until I decided to come into the hot pits to unbuckle and wipe down my windshield. As I headed back out to the track, an worker at pit out pointed me off track. I waved him over and he shook his head and pointed me off. Thinking the session was about to be black flagged I headed to the garage only to see everyone else circulate for another 10 minutes. WTF?? I went back to talk to the gentleman, worker"A" and he apologized for the misunderstanding and said he sent me in accidentally. I was ok with that and started to walk off when another worker "B" proceeds to tell me that, worker "A", wasn't wrong for sending me off. I was WTFagain. What did I do? Doesn't matter your number was called in. I said that's odd, since you were not even here nor do you have a radio so how do you know what happened. Dumb stare.... worker "A", again so sorry my fault, i should have let you back out. I'm ok with that still and head back to the garages. So far I have been out twice and managed to do exactly 7 laps and have no clue about what lines to take. Never been to TWS in the rain and this was getting frustrating. Tomorrow has to be better, forecast is for lots of rain and I have all qualifying to learn how to drive in the rain.

[Cnj]

Congratulations to Trevor for his win on Saturday. From 25th to first!

The first lap Saturday I was all excited cause I was able to move up multiple positions by the third corner but then like a lemming I followed all the leaders off the track at high speed at turn 12 to test the deep water capabilities of the H2O's. Turns out they are quite good. I came back on track behind the guy who qualified in 28th position. Was bummed. But then several people in front of me decided to also test the grass and mud capabilities of the H2O's and I felt better about life (and track position).

Congratulations to Blake on his win on Sunday - never got to congratulate you before I left the track. You were wicked fast all weekend and I simply can't imagine how you were setting those quali times.

Rossi - you have come a long way in a short time and did really well this weekend - way to go. Guess I will have to get used to looking at your new black and green backside.

This was a crazy weekend. On sunday running mid pack into one and two I was right up against Haldeman and could see absolutely nothing but barely his trunk lid. Not the side of the track, not the car in front of him, nothing. I assumed he could see where he was going and so I just followed him but he later told me he was just following Brett and hoping that he could see something. How the heck we all made it through the first two laps with no damage (that I know of) is beyond me. It was frightening but of course all of us being wise middle aged men kept our left foot down cause we are more scared of being called chicken.

The H2O's are pretty cool...

Cnj

[MPR22]

Saturday,

Qualifying:
Weather guy has it right, it is raining and there is plenty of water on the track to make the decision to run the H₂O. Two laps into qualifying I got split off from team mate Chris when we catch slower traffic. I ran two more laps, that were conservative and based on the Friday's practice sessions would have me inside the top in the top 5. I decide to run into the hot pits and see where I am stacking up vs the rest of the field. Talk to PRP super helper Eric Yagel and he tells me I'm 13th, about a second from breaking the top 10. Head back out and start to test where I can start getting aggressive. Exiting the last turn I see the checker....NOOOOOOO. WTF again! So now I have a total of 11 laps in 110 mins of SCCA sanctioned practice and qualifying. It gets worse as I find out when I get back to the garage that I'm 14th. My team mates are 1, 7, 17, 24 and 27.

Race.
Still raining, good still no hard decisions on set up or tires.
The start was amazingly clean and orderly, as we approached turn one, it was painfully obvious that I could not see ANYTHING. The combination of big puddles, Hoosier H₂O and fast cars generate white out conditions. We all make it through turns 1, 2, 3....6, 7, 8, 9. Wow this is going well, no big offs, no contact. 10, 11....... and then the seas parted. Most of the cars P2 through 12 are off in turn 12. What had seemed like a turn with unlimited grip was a slip and slide. A few of the cars managed to keep it on the track and continue on. The order across start finish at the end of lap 1, was Ott, Berry, York, Ross, Clements Wisler. BFC decided to take the alternate route to redemption and head up to the banking instead of trying to come back on to the track against traffic. By turn 3 BFC is on Ross' bumper and on a mission to move forward. Ott is gone, not even sure if anyone in the top 5 can see him. Reynolds is pushing to get past Ross and gets by also. It looks like Ott will coast to victory lane and the next five will be duking it out for the podium. About 7 laps in Trevor McAllion (Started 24th) takes over 6th from Ross. Then the inevitable happens, double yellow comes out as Bill Collings is buried in the mud between turn 8 and 9. On the restart the order is Ott, Berry, Clements/Reynolds (could be reversed) York, McAllion, Ross, McSpadden, Verges..... The pace car pulls off on lap 11 and Ott gasses it, McAllion pulls around York, Ross and McSpadden follow NASCAR Super Speedway style and freight train York and Reynolds. Verges goes down low and comes out ahead of the outside train. Almost everyone thinks the race will be 1 to go and the gloves are off. Ross gets loose in 6 and defends against Reynolds into 7. Ross again gets loose in 9 and drops 2 off all the way down to 10. Reynolds takes the free pass and looks to keep moving forward. The starter points the furled flag at McSpadden as he goes by but no 1 to go. McAllion is flying and has moved to 3rd. BFC passes Ott on on the inside of 8 and leads by 1.5 car lengths into 10, Ott tries a late inside uber braking maneuver that goes awry and forces Clements off and out of the race. McAllion says thank you very much and steals the lead. Lap 13 begins with McAllion, Ott, Berry, McSpadden, Verges in the top 5. Verges gets McSpadden on the following lap as McAllion pins his ears back with each successive lap faster than the last. The rain has stopped and the lap times are coming down. Lap 16 ends with Trevor McAllion earning his first SCCA National win by passing 23 cars on his way to 1.5 second victory over a field of some of the best in the country. Incredible!!!!!
Points positions:
1. McAllion
2. Ott
3. Berry
4. Verges
5. McSpadden
6. Reynolds
7. Ross
8.Ferranti
9. Poland

[Blake Clements]

I will leave all of the long winded stuff to Mr. Ross. He seems to be a PR machine these days, I think he's trying to be Danny.

Other than the incident on Saturday race, I haven't had a weekend as good as this one since the same event two years prior. Its been a long road back to the top step of the podium after many disappointments over the last few races. The ones that hurt are the ones you know you could win and gave it away with a mechanical or driver error. We've had many of those recently at TMS, ARRC, and MSR-H.

Although I told my dad I wasn't sure if I wanted to come to TWS if it rained, as we were on the fence about even attending in the event, in the back of my mind I was secretly hoping it would. I've done my share of laps there in the rain and was hoping for the advantage. We spent plenty of time on Thursday and Friday testing different tires in different conditions to get a feel for changing conditions and the new Hoosier tires. Qualifying both days went well and resulted in pole position.

Race 1 was eventful from the start as we all went off at turn 12 due to some sort of phenomenon that had not been present all weekend. I looked up while flying through the grass to see Aaron and the rest of the field following me for some mud bogging. Good thing is I've been watching Swamp People lately and knew to keep my foot in it over the marsh. I came back on behind Ross and another car and he had York and Berry aways ahead of him. I was able to get Ross on the straight after my off and set sails on Berry and York. Both Craig and James didn't give me too much headache and let me set off into the sunset to try to cut a straight away deficit to Steve Ott. Knowing that a yellow flag was likely, I kept up at maximum pace to find the limits of the car in case it came down to a dog fight at the end. That happened, and I took my opportunity on the restart. I made the pass between 8 and 9 on the restart, as he went outside and caught some of the mud that had seeped onto the track and lost traction. Coming down into the carousel, Steve made a move inside and just wasn't able to make it stick. It ended my day with severe tire rub and some bent body panels.

The goal for Race 2 was not to put myself in the situation that I did in Race 1 by flying off the track. I was admittedly timid on the start and let Craig Berry, Aaron McSpadden, and Bill Collings by at the start. Visibility was poor, and my six session Hoosier rain tires were starting to beg for retirement. I was having issues getting through the big puddles at turn 1 and turn 13/14/15 without totally loosing front end grip. The lines necessary for maximum speed were also quite different from the morning session. Once I made it past Bill, I knew I needed to pick up the pace to run Aaron and Craig down as they had pulled out a gap on us. Fortunately, the track was beginning to dry and that helped me to be able to pick up the lines that I used to set up such good qualifying laps. As soon as I hit my rhythm, the yellow comes out to tow back York from nearly to Navasota where he stopped. At this point, I knew the race was probably over as they were having issues finding James out in the muck. A little bit of life came back to me when I saw the lights go out on the pace car. I made sure to keep an eye on the start and saw that we did not get a one to go on the restart, so I had two laps to make some moves. Aaron and Craig got a good gap on me of 5-6 cars through turn one and I spent the rest of the lap trying to make up the gap. As we came onto the straight away and I jumped inside Aaron, I saw the 1-to-go sign from the starter and knew it was go time. Still have issues through one, Aaron got me back and I was able to get along side him going into turn 3. I had been running the outside line there, and knew the grip level was there if I could get a proper angle on the apex. Aaron and I went through side by side with inches to spare, and I pulled ahead into turn 4 and he fell in line behind me. My strongest corners in the race were turns 7, 8, and 9 and I knew that is where I needed to make my move. Craig had probably 5 cars on me going into turns 5 and 6. By the time we exited turn 7, I was right on his bumper and tried to go outside of him at turn 8. He took the normal line into turn 9 and we touched gently on entry. As he exited and got onto the power, he spun the tires and almost spun himself out. I shot to the inside to try and make the pass and he recovered to keep me behind, and I had to readjust to try an outside move. He lead from the exit of the carousel through turn 12 and I moved to the inside and he defended the position leaving the dry rain line open for the taking. I was able to use my Carbotech brakes to get the lead under braking and hold the position with the defensive line though turns 13 and 14.

It was my first opportunity to ever take a victory lap, and that was really enjoyable. I owe a lot to my dad (SP Induction Systems), John Phillips (PhillipsRacePrep), and Ed Gilfus (GRE Engines) for their tireless effort in helping to improve our program. We've had some "bad beats" lately and they put out the effort to make sure we brought the best piece possible. The Hoosier tires and Carbotech Brakes were an awesome combo and both held up very well throughout the weekend. Third weekend on these new Carbotech pads, great for the budget minded racer. Thanks to Sean at MiataCage for all of his support and also Glenn/Ron at Traqmate.

As I said on the podium, it is no small feat to beat the guys in the SWDiv and I enjoy the challenges that it brings. Congrats to the Saturday winner Trevor McCallion, awesome drive! Great runs by Aaron, Craig, Steve and the rest of the field.

[Cnj]

Oh and let me make a public apology to Kent. He told me after the race on Sunday that I passed him under yellow. I never saw the yellow but have no reason to doubt him (I could barely see his car in the spray and probably would have missed a troop of baboons waving yellow flags). In retrospect I should have marched over to the officials with Kent and taken my medicine - but I did not. Kent I owe you a position.

Cnj

[KentCarter]

Oh and let me make a public apology to Kent. He told me after the race on Sunday that I passed him under yellow. I never saw the yellow but have no reason to doubt him (I could barely see his car in the spray and probably would have missed a troop of baboons waving yellow flags). In retrospect I should have marched over to the officials with Kent and taken my medicine - but I did not. Kent I owe you a position.

Cnj

The visibility was absolutely horrible. It was a simple error and totally moot since I planted my car on the hill of Turn 4 after the restart. Up to that point, it was a good, hard fought battle. I look forward to the next one!

I'm sure you'll eventually get dinged for an infraction you didn't really do (if it hasn't happened already) and Karma will be whole. Don't let it trouble you further!

[suck fumes]

http://youtu.be/w2oATclb8HI

Here it is my friends.... THE RESTART action!

[suck fumes]

Camera started fogging up though toward the end.

[Danny Steyn]

Michael, Blake Craig, thanks for the race reports - you know we all race with you when reading your posts and watching your videos!!!

Blake Congrats on the win, good to see you at the front again, know how frustrating the last few seasons have been for you. And Aaron, way to go on that last lap last corner pass. In my book, anyone beating Berry in the rain can wheel a car!

But the real question, who is this rainmeister Trevor McCallion? 24th to 1st! Wow. Did Trevor get lucky or did he just show us that he has some real fast wet weather hands and drive the wheels off the car in the rain? Either way, one hell of a win in that field - congrats Trevor. Wish you many more.

One more question - apart from the amazing Hoosier H20 grip, how are they lasting in the conditions? Anyone care to give us some feedback.

[Jim Drago]

apart from the amazing Hoosier H20 grip, how are they lasting in the conditions? Anyone care to give us some feedback.

Everyone I have spoken to has told me that the rain tires are wore out after that weekend, or nearly worn out. That is not a good sign for a class that is used to rains lasting a season or two. These are real rain tires, the grip is amazing.. To get that grip you have to sacrifice something, it looks like the rubber must be very soft as it does not last.

Like to hear from some as well, but I heard that all weekend

Jim

[MPR22]

Blake should I call you Pot since I must be the Kettle.

[James York]

Everyone I have spoken to has told me that the rain tires are wore out after that weekend, or nearly worn out. That is not a good sign for a class that is used to rains lasting a season or two. These are real rain tires, the grip is amazing.. To get that grip you have to sacrifice something, it looks like the rubber must be very soft as it does not last.

Like to hear from some as well, but I heard that all weekend

Jim

I think most driver's wets would now be called "intermediates" at best. They saw a lot of use this weekend and they have very soft rubber.

Congrats to the winners, Trevor and Blake, this weekend and the rest of the podium. Good job in tough conditions on and off the track. Slogging around in 3 days of continious rain gets old.

[KentCarter]

The Whosyer guy came around and told us to expect (I think he said) 2 years of life from the rains....

[Doug007]

That's two years without being driven on right? (stored properly, kept out of the sun, etc.)

If they are only lasting a weekend in monsoon driving, how long will they last on a damp track that dries out halfway through the race? (too damp for SM6s but not standing water to cool the H20s?)... Sounds like that could make for some interesting racing/tire strategy when that situation comes up

[KentCarter]

That's two years without being driven on right? (stored properly, kept out of the sun, etc.)

If they are only lasting a weekend in monsoon driving, how long will they last on a damp track that dries out halfway through the race? (too damp for SM6s but not standing water to cool the H20s?)... Sounds like that could make for some interesting racing/tire strategy when that situation comes up

He implied they would hold up fine on a drying track. I'm not sure about that.

Unfortunately, we don't have the flexibility the RA1 gave us: slick shave, durability shave, intermediate rain/dry shave, wet

... and the rules prohibit us from grooving the SM6 slicks.

[Danny Steyn]

Old Hoosier rains would be DONE in one race if it dried out. Phenomenal grip but you sacrifice durability! Were used by many over the years in the ECR and ProIT series with open tire rules

But Hoosier Rains make anyone look like Jensen Button in the rain, (or like Barry Sheene for anyone with old two wheel memories)