43 replies to this topic

[Charlie Hayes]

Regular Saturday with another 50 minute race on Sunday and a 4 hour enduro on Sunday morning as well.

Who's in?

[Duncan]

I'm in. Never been to Thunderhill so hopefully someone can show me the way around when I get there.

Duncan

[Charlie Hayes]

There is a test day the day before with trackmasters-racing.

[dtfastbear]

If Laura's 99 is ready, the Thomas' will BOTH be racing SM...

[gkmccready]

I'm in. PTE & E3. And the TMR test day Friday. Looks like warmup Saturday & Sunday combines Group A & C so I can watch some SMs fly by my PTE car. :-)

[Macgiver]

If my new motor is ready I will certainly be there!!

[Sacslider]

I'm out. And will be for most of the rest of the year.

I will refrain from voicing my grievance here. Good luck to those in the championship hunt.

[ToddW]

I'm in....I like the 50Min Sunday race format.

[ToddW]

Make sure your headlights are working. There will be an annular (partial) eclipse of the sun on Sunday afternoon in Northern Ca....

"In the United States, the afternoon sun will become a luminous ring in places such as Medford, Oregon; Chico, California; Reno, Nevada; St. George, Utah; Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Lubbock, Texas," according to NASA. (The other NASA)

[dtfastbear]

Pretty freaking cool. From the looks of the map, Willows is RIGHT on the edge of the strip from where the eclipse will be visible.

[dtfastbear]

19 spec miatas signed up so far for the event this weekend. We usually have one or two that register at the track, so I'm hoping to get in to the bigger Toyo contingency awards! If you haven't checked out the schedule, this will be an action packed weekend with more driving than you or your car can probably take - 30 minute race Saturday, 4 hour enduro (separate entry) Sunday morning and a 50 minute SM race Sunday afternoon!

It looks like we're going to finish Laura's 99 tonite and shakedown will be Friday. So.... we'll be there with TWO spec miatas this weekend! I think that means that we have 20 entries now, I guess!

Cheers,

Dean

[Charlie Hayes]

I backed out but will still be there in the group A race. See ya guys up there.

[dtfastbear]

Up to 23 entrants in SM, even without some of the regulars... We're in the big Toyo Bucks category, now!

Anyone testing with TrackMasters tomorrow? Laura is debuting her brand new (not even quite done yet) 99.

Cheers,

Dean

[plane]

I'm in - my first race.

Testing on Friday .

If anyone is looking for a slow enduro driver, let me know.

[Johnny D]

Alright , so what up with this...
All body panels needs to be perfect?
Also I need to see the video of the E30's stacked on top of each other.
The fire in turn 8, well if you got it.
J~

[KyleLoustaunau]

BMW sandwich

[Sacslider]

Ok, i'll bite, WTF happened there?

[Johnny D]

Oh man, there's a reason they charge $10 at the gate, LOL.
J~

[dtfastbear]

*sigh*

I haven't seen the video, yet, but what I've heard from the E30 guys was that on the first lap in turn 2, one driver nudged another (front bumper to inside of rear fender) and got the car sideways. The rest is just domino effect and physics. I saw it unfold from the tower (my 1.6 is dead, but that's another story) and it looked like one car's tire rode up another and that's how the cars got "vertical".




Big congrats to Jaime Florence on his win on Saturday. The race was very short thanks to a grass fire which burned an E30 to the ground after a mechanical took him off track at T8 on the second lap, but Jaime got pole, got the start and held on!

Huge props to Kyle Loustaunau for a commanding win on Sunday! What started as a 50 minute race ended up as a sprint race after the pileup above, but Kyle had to fight for the lead and then drive hard and clean to maintain it in some serious Summer heat. The miata races were super clean, and the only flag violation was a mistake under full-course yellow.

I saw some excellent dicing throughout the field. The wine-colored #8 and the yellow 88 had an epic battle almost the entire race. There was some great give and take - all clean, but REALLY close - down into T1, much to the spectators' delight up in the tower.

My own weekend was a bit of a disaster. On Friday, the car only did a lap and a half and something broke in the drivetrain. Thinking it was a blown-up clutch disc based on the symptoms, I dropped the tranny and removed the clutch. That looked fine, so I kept looking. I then realized the left rear axle was snapped. After "fixing" that, we still had a problem and I was *sure* it was the diff. So I swapped that - still no dice. Finally, it was clear the tranny was also a problem, so I swapped that. Viola! We finished that with only minutes to spare before quali. I went out and qualified just off pole (congrats, Jaime) and was super psyched with that result. I was looking forward to battling with Jaime and Dan and Kyle in the race. A friend drove the car in the PT quali and didn't notice the temp gauge rising (bad thermostat? I'll never run one in a race car again) and unfortunately, the engine is now a boat anchor.

[Charlie Hayes]

Man, oh man.

Tough luck this weekend Dean.

I think I can say I made the right decision to go home on Saturday. We will all get it right soon...