38 replies to this topic

[john mueller]

I picked a good year to be busy with family stuff...  FREAKIN COLD !!!

10-to-20mph North West wind is gonna make the windchill temp hover around 5 degrees.

 

 

http://www.wundergro...CA/Willows.html

[Todd Tagget]

Those tires are gonna take a few laps to warm up!!!

[Mitch Reading]

Regarding the number of SM (E3) cars versus the faster classes... anyone have further thoughts?  We saw this at the 13 hour.  First time I can remember that ITE outnumbered SM. 

 

We'd like to run the 25 hour next year, but have a tough time deciding on a class... and a 997 cup is out of the question.

[Joe (dad) Jordan]

I wonder if the Lemons race at sears point has any influence.  They have 190 cars entered....

 

http://hooniverse.co...a-2013-preview/

[Todd Tagget]

I know a few guys who normally run the 25 who are at Lemons this weekend

[Mitch Reading]

...and that is another notable trend as well. 

[Johnny D]

Live Timing

 

http://www.nasa25hou...iming-feed.html

 

Live Streaming

 

http://new.livestrea...sa 25&cat=event

 

J~

[Michael Colangelo]

No Team Miatacage this year?

[Brian Ghidinelli]

No, they are saving pennies for the Runoffs next year.

[Ron Alan]

Another great event with top competition up and down the speed spectrum! Al Unser Jr set fast lap with a 1:37.7 in a Wolf...this car was incredible to watch! Lightening fast with crazy grip. I imagine this car startled a few if they found it going buy on the front or back straight or even crazier 20+mph faster on the outside of turn 2...seeing or hearing it coming was generally to late

The Audi TT RS returned from Germany to take top honors it failed to achieve last year after a failed transmission. This car was fast and consistent and out lasted all to finish 29 laps ahead of P2. A 2.5 liter, 5 cylinder turbo motor pushed this front wheel drive 2550lb car around the track with ease.

My personal favorite car was a beautiful Audi R8. The acceleration this car displayed was incredible...pure power as it crashed thru the sequential gear box. At one point I stood on the back straight bridge and watched this car for about 15 laps...listening to it come out of 11/12/13...scream under me at maybe 130-140 mph...then bang down thru the gears under threshold brakeing and disappear around 14/15. This car was like listening to a race symphony of heart pounding music! Crazy thing was we almost didn't get to enjoy this as this car found a wall very hard on Friday morning practice...did not look good! But 24 hours later it came out from the enclosed tent in 1 piece and made its way to the back of the grid! With 30 min to go it was P2 and was going to enjoy an Audi/Audi finish when smoke started pouring out the rear end. As it rolled thru the pits that not so enjoyable smell of burnt diff oil filled the air...the end! P4 finish

A close 2nd in the incredible concert sound was of all things a Lexus...if you closed your eyes this is not the car you would imagine was going by...

Congrats to Dave Wheeler and his winning E0 Mustang! I hope he will come on here with his own recap!

As usual, E3 was a battle of the Miata's. RJ Racing came out on top with its 2nd win in 3 years...nice job guys!

It was fun to be able to just hang out and watch this year...first time in 3 years! With the 3 day temperatures in the 20's and 30's I picked a good year to not have to be in the pits! Big thanks to Todd,Kathy and the doodles for making sure I didn't freeze!

[davew]

WOW, what an event. I am not a big NASA guy, but this race was run as well as any event I have attended. Club or pro. Pre-event info was constant, almost too much. Registration was smooth, tech was easy. The race ran smoothly with friendly pit marshals. Even post race impound was easy (at least for us). My only suggestion would be to put the corner net on a scanner frequency. The FM broadcast was never working properly.

 

Tom Martin (the dad) has 2 SM's that he keeps here at Advanced Autosports for himself and his son Tom Martin III. He also has the White Ford Mustang Boss 302s that we ran at Thunderhill. Co-drivers included Brian Zander, a Cali guy who has also driven Advanced Miatas and our own Tom Brown. For those of you who attended the COTA Major, you saw the white Mustang there.

 

The draw backs of running "The big engine that could" is that she is thirsty and is big and heavy. Making her hard on tires. Running in the E0 class allows only 2 5 gallon fuel jugs and a funnel for refueling. No fuel rig allowed. And only a single tire can be changed during pit each pit stop. So we had to stop for fuel and a tire every 45 minutes.

 

Our crew consisted of myself, Ann, Megan and Brian from our shop. Plus Tyler and Kevin who help out on the Miatas. Evan and Natalie from Cincinati and Mike from Cali. So we had a pretty eclectic group of crew members, some of whom had never meet before this weekend. Mary and Katie Martin provided pre-race logistics and kept us feed and happy throughout this adventure.

 

For the crew, our biggest battle was the weather, SNOW flurries on Friday!!!!! We saw a lot of cars with snow on roofs in the parking lot. Bitter cold and high winds made life miserable. Low 20s on Saturday night with 20mph winds left wind chills in the single digits. I COULD HAVE STAYED HOME IN WISCONSIN!!!!! But, at least it did not rain.

 

Our race was actually pretty boring. Lots of pit stops, but no drama. Our only incedent was very minor contact at about 2am between our Mustang and a Lexus. We where due for a brake pad change, so we reset the front toe at the same time and off we went. Our fastest lap of the week was after the contact while Tom Brown was "saving the tires"

 

It was amazing to see the sports racers running 20 seconds a lap faster than us. Plus the B-Specs running 20 seconds a lap slower! This could have been a crash fest, but all the drivers stayed within themselves, for the most part. It was nice to meet some of our west coast customers in person.

 

The extra wrinkle we had was; a full fledged film crew following us around all weekend. Multiple cameras in/on the car. Pro video and audio. They even had a drone that they flew over the track to get ariel footage. They figured they have 1000 hours of film/audio to edit into a 30-45 minute documentary film. Hopefully we will see the finished product in February. Now I know how the reality TV show people feel. Hopefully they got my good side (do I have a good side????)

 

I would do this event again. Jerry and the NASA crew did a great job. I really enjoy the different aspects of endurance racing.

 

Congrats to Tom, Tom, Tom and Brian for great drives. And for saving tires for 25 hours.

 

Thanks to Filip from Cortex racing for putting together a great suspension system. And Brembo for awesome pads and engineering advice. 

 

I can not stress how hard our crew worked through out the event. Thanks Tyler, Mike, Kevin, Natalie (the tire chick) Brian, Ann, Megan, Mary and Katie. You guys made my job easy.

 

Hey Drago, do I get a 25 hour icon????

 

Dave

[Charlie Hayes]

Hey Dave,

 

Hope that mustang was fun to drive. I did the last minute set up on it before it was loaded up. Kind of guessed for camber and that big ol beast. Hope it didnt eat the RFs too fast....

 

Wish I knew you were around would have been nice to meet you...

 

Charlie

[davew]

We changed the right front every other pit stop, with this order: RF, LF, RF, RR. RF. LR, RF, repeat, repeat repeat. We only double stinted the other tires, never the RF. Something like 29 tire changes.

 

But the set-up worked great. Other than a slight bump in the middle of the night we never touched the suspension. Thanks for your help

 

Dave

[Jim Drago]

Our race was actually pretty boring.
Hey Drago, do I get a 25 hour icon????
 
Dave

My favorite races are always BORING! What is wrong with Boring? I love boring

I'll see what I can do on icon

[Todd Tagget]

Here's a video of Weinard Racing ( I think an RX-7) getting clobbered in turn 8 by (I think Darin Posley in the #2 TFB car ) 

 

http://youtu.be/Y1LbFYN2ZYU

[fotostars]

Here's a video of Weinard Racing ( I think an RX-7) getting clobbered in turn 8 by (I think Darin Posley in the #2 TFB car ) 

 

http://youtu.be/Y1LbFYN2ZYU

 

I passed him when he was sideways just before he got hit (Our spotter said something like: "Car stalled in turn 8") and a split second later (I'm in T9) I hear our spotter again saying "Holly s**t, BIG HIT Turn 8, Holly cr*p..."

 

Moral of the story:...Spotters are priceless (in particular at night).

 

It took a good 30min to clear.

 

Dan Riley (NASA SE30 driver) was driving the RX-7. I had a chat with him in the paddock afterwards. A few ribs and the neck hurting but in one piece! He was living some space to the 911 cup on the inside and ended-up in a bad spot with marble and got clipped on track out...

[Todd Tagget]

Had to be hit at at least 80-90 mph being that it was in turn 8

[dp35]

Yes I was the driver of the other car. This was a perfect storm. It was the 1st lap after a FCY, which caused everyone to be bunched up. I was navigating through a pack of slower cars, which blocked my vision through the corner. I was going around a slower car on the outside of T8, following another pair of 2 wide cars. Because of the traffic, I checked up my speed somewhat, but was still going fast (4th gear). My focus was on the car next to me & the others around me. I was planning to use the whole track at the exit of T8 to give the others max space. Just past the apex the car in front of me swerved & revealed the stopped car at a 90 degree angle to the track, on the racing line, directly in my path. The car looked like it was 50' long and 20' away. All I could do was turn slightly, brake hard, and prepare for impact.

The crash was short & sweet, one big impact. I was afraid I'd get hit again & was glad I didn't. I had the wind knocked out of me & a lot of pain from the belts. Once I regained composure & knew there was no fire, I said a quick prayer for the other guy & then felt relief when I heard his voice. We were both lucky.

I have to thank Tim, Charlie, Jim & the others at TFB Performance for building a safe car.

BTW, the Porsche driver that caused this was driving like an a-hole. The drivers of this & most of the other Porsche cup cars were often making bad decisions, dive bombing & putting too much trust in the slower cars. The drivers of the #00 Porsche, the Lexus IS-F, & some of the other faster cars were good though. It's amazing how good drivers can execute passes so much smoother & safer. This was my 5th 25 hr, and I've been passed hundreds of times by faster cars. I've never seen the really good drivers have or cause these sorts of incidents.

[Ron Alan]

Man that was hard! These are the type of hits that always play in the back of your mind...thank god you both walked away!