138 replies to this topic

[Jim Drago]

Alex - I think this is something that was missed by most of the competitors. For most of last years majors we were ALL held in impound until after the podium ceremony. This year we jut drove to our pits and the podium finishers had no one to cheer them for the well deserved results. As much as I want to be let go so I can go and prep for the next race, I much preferred last years approach where we were all present to see out winners accept their accolades.

 

I miss it, but unfortunately what was happening is that many competitors complained about the time, towards the end of last year most waived off the the spraying of the champagne etc as they had a race Sunday and the podium ceremony became a little mundane. So the thought was one "feature" race with podium  and the works.  Not saying I agree, just stating the thought process

[RussMcB]

I hope everyone who is complaining about rules, officials, etc. (stated broadly on purpose), has or will reach out to officials in a constructive way, to discuss what happened, why, and if there can be improvements.

 

In other words, if there are 15 people publicly complaining and stating changes are needed, there had better be fifteen people actively taking steps to get satisfaction.

 

Along those lines, since the race weekend, has anyone talked to an SCCA, Sebring or CFR official to talk about what happened and ask how they (both parties) can come up with improvements?

[Blake Clements]

There has been quite a few mentions of the last lap incident and I've been busy getting caught up at work and haven't had a chance to post.

 

As Jim said, even Blake makes mistakes.....  

 

As soon as I saw the lights go out on the pace car, I radioed to my crew that the last lap was going to be an absolute cluster, I just didn't realize that I would cause it.  I ended up racing Jim side by side from turn 1 to turn 5 and we had a good scrap going on for the last spot on the podium.  Unfortunately, I got loose in the marbles at 5 and lost a few mph at the exit of the corner,  Charbs moved along side on the outside heading towards seven, and Lamb used the draft to come to the inside.  We were headed three wide into a one wide corner and I knew I needed to keep ahead to preserve my position and not lose even more from the group behind us.  When I looked down to brake and shift, I saw that Jim was atleast 3-4 car lengths ahead and assumed he would be well through the corner before I got there.  Our three wide trio ended up in a brake off  and long story short, I ended up spinning Drago and hitting him again when he was stopped.  Andrew got caught in Jim's spin and ended up with damage too.

 

As the recipent of a similar move in the past, I appreciated Jim's and Andrew's forgiveness for my lapse in judgement and apologize to anyone else who's last lap may have been compromised.

 

It was a sour end to a great weekend.  I enjoyed racing with Berry, Bolanos, Hille, Drago, Rollan, Steyn, and Lamb at the front of the pack.  Most importantly, I enjoyed driving a competitive car and give all the thanks to my dad, Jim Drago, and Tom Fowler for putting me in a hot rod.

 

Until the next episode on As the Miata Turns....

[Danny Steyn]

I hope everyone who is complaining about rules, officials, etc. (stated broadly on purpose), has or will reach out to officials in a constructive way, to discuss what happened, why, and if there can be improvements.

 

In other words, if there are 15 people publicly complaining and stating changes are needed, there had better be fifteen people actively taking steps to get satisfaction.

 

Along those lines, since the race weekend, has anyone talked to an SCCA, Sebring or CFR official to talk about what happened and ask how they (both parties) can come up with improvements?

 

Russ, good point. Fascinating thing is that while I was very vocal over the weekend about issues that I felt should have been handled better, the only SCCA people to contact me personally were from other regions asking how they could help. I spoke with about 9 SCCA officials about many issues, and most were receptive and most genuinely want to help. However I heard via the grapevine that several were very pissed off with me re my Facebook posts about the test day, yet none of those individuals spoke with me.

 

Which brings me to a segue into something that really bothers me within the SCCA. Several SCCA members said to me personally, and on Facebook, in response to my post about the 2 hour wait in test day registration  that ……..”the test day has nothing to do with CFR, so take it up with the track”…..

 

WOW – that’s the sort of thinking that KILLS a business.

 

In real life, in one of my companies, I produce a machine that drills holes in steel. I recommend another manufacturer's drill bits to be used with my drill. Over the years some of my customers have had issues with drill bits braking or not performing satisfactorily.

 

NEVER in my wildest dreams would I ever say to my customers ……. “That’s nothing to do with my machine, take it up with the drill bit manufacturer”.

 

Hell No. I tell them don’t worry, I will get to the bottom of this, I send them some drill bits to tide them over and then I personally visit the manufacturer to find out what is going wrong and what can be done about it. I know that I have way more pull with the manufacturer than any of my customers would ever have, and I also understand that this is reflecting badly on my product so I get fully involved to ensure that this sort of thing doesn't happen again.

 

Maybe I am expecting too much????

[DrDomm]

More drama on Facebook?  Awesome...I'm there.

 

Danny, you're not expecting too much...these are Majors!

[LarryKing]

 

Maybe I am expecting too much????

 

Could be. Mr. Obvious here saying the SCCA is a volunteer club not a for profit business. I'm wondering what power does the region have to control track-owned functions.

 

I could be wrong but my perception is that regions feel fortunate just to be allowed to rent "pro facilities" to hold club events.

 

I'll throw out one more commonly heard suggestion: If you don't like how the club is run, volunteer and change it.

[Johnny D]

I thought the COAs was being used to get the correct audience required.

J~

[Jim Drago]

I'm wondering what power does the region have to control track-owned functions.

A LOT!!!!
We staff the 24 hour of Daytona and the 12 hours of Sebring with workers. We(SCCA) are also paying customers, these tracks aren't cheap to rent.

[davew]

I sit here in the infield of Sebring listening to a Porsche run around the track and reading about all the man drama. Happy that I am not personally involved. Happy to be here in 45 degree Folrida and not -20 Wisconsin.

 

Wednesday registration was terrible. Danny had every right to be upset. Normally Sebring test day registration is the easiest around. Open early, in the hotel lobby, no hassels. This year it was completely different. Run by a corporate Sebring person (Nascar) as opposed to the previous SCCA volunteer. After waiting in line for over 2 hours, the single window did not open until 5pm. By that time we had a crowd of 200 people. Several people volonteered to help, but Miss Nascar refused any assistance. After almost 2 more hours we still had not gotten to the front of the line, and the line had steadily grown behind us. Miss Nascar finally allowed someone to help. he identified himself as an SCCA official for the weekend. He signed in all the crew and passed out gate passes as needed. A big Thank you to this gentleman. Poor planning by the track to only have single person in registration. Poorer judgement by Miss Nascar not to take advantage of the offered help.

 

Saturdays race was one of only 2 during the entire race to go green the entire race distance. Well kind of, since it appears the race was ended early. The other was Sundays STL race.

 

From my perspective in pit lane, the Sunday fiasco (cuz it really wasn't a race) started with a single car incident at turn 17. Resulting in a tire bundle being dislogged and blocking the racing surface. Full Course Caution was proper and should have been a couple laps long. During the FC yellow there was an incident at turn 5-6 area. This resulted in extending the FC yellow. While all this was going on, a car lost a wheel at the hairpin, T7, and blocked traffic. This is when the wheels really came off (pun intended). The wrecker returned to its staging area and race control started having communications problems. Noone ever sent the wrecker to T7 to retrieve the 3 wheeled Miata for a couple laps. At this point race control finally realised they had radio problems and changed frequencies. I regularly monitor race control, but had not programed their backup frequency into my scanner. At this point I lost my ability to hear what they where saying.

 

I do not claim to have all the facts, but from the rumors at the track and what I have read here: Any time a competitor feels the rules have not been followed he has the right to file a protest. There are specific ways to do this, including time constraints. This is why we all have to sit in impound for 30 minutes following a race. This is why results are not official until the protest time has expired.

 

IF, a final/official result sheet was handed out, as was stated earlier in this thread, some one made a mistake. Either the official results where handed out before the time had expired. Or, the time expired and the officials allowed a protest to be filed late. In either case, some one made an error.

 

A margin of victory in Spec miata of 3 seconds is huge. The rules state the race ends when it is supposed to end. Not when the officials (starter, steward or timing) wants it to end. If the facts show the race was extended in error the results have to be corrected. After all it is the Daytona 24 hour race, not the Daytona 24 hour and 1 minute.

 

Maybe the rule needs to be clarified. But that is a seperate discussion.

 

Majors events are supposed to be the best races, at the best tracks, with the best drivers, driving the best cars, for the best competition and the most prestige. Officiated by the best officials. Unfortunately it appears that the officials have once again failed to hold up their end of the bargain. Go back and read the posts following the Chicago Region June Sprints (my home region) from a couple years ago. I agree that the officials need to be held accountable for their actions and lack of actions, just as drivers are.

 

I feel bad for Jim and anyone else who had damage due to a poor decision by the officials. I hope it did not damage the tie rod!!!! I feel bad for Craig who drove a great but wasted last lap. I think Craig's posts have been excellent on this thread.

 

The Porsche just spun!!!!

 

Hope it gets warmer before I get home.

 

Dave

[Butch Kummer]

I hope everyone who is complaining about rules, officials, etc. (stated broadly on purpose), has or will reach out to officials in a constructive way, to discuss what happened, why, and if there can be improvements.

 

In other words, if there are 15 people publicly complaining and stating changes are needed, there had better be fifteen people actively taking steps to get satisfaction.

 

Along those lines, since the race weekend, has anyone talked to an SCCA, Sebring or CFR official to talk about what happened and ask how they (both parties) can come up with improvements?

 

I've been observing so far on this thread, but folks have certainly been reaching out to me with suggestions on how we might be able to improve things. Of the items that I have some influence over we're currently looking at two things:

 

1. I started thinking about this on Friday, but Hoosier has the ability to barcode tires to uniquely identify them. We need to figure out procedures and then go through the fifteen levels of the approval process to implement the mechanics, but this gives us a very real way to control the number of tires a SM competitor can use in a weekend. Something along the lines of, "Each SM competitor must designate 8 tires for use over a Majors weekend."

 

2. As demonstrated yet again on Sunday at Sebring, we REALLY don't need to have one-lap races. Obviously we need to figure things out procedurally and educate the Operating Stewards, but the objective is "If there's not enough time/laps to reasonably expect to get two green-flag laps before the checker then we need to end the race under caution." This would apply to all run groups, not just SM.

 

More later as we work out the details of both topics...

[Bruce Wilson]

You girls are having way too much fun!

 

Rule sucks!! 

 

Those fuel numbers don't add up

[Danny Steyn]

Here is my video from Sebring that shows the racing from the start to FCY and then at 12:40 we have the restart for the 2nd installment of the Best Race Lap that Never Happened. Also posted in SMTV

 

[Jim Drago]

That lap was really cool, whether it counted or not, still really cool!

4 cars through 17 is crazy!

[Qik Nip]

Agreed. Best (vicarious) race lap I've ever run at Seebring! 

Rick

[Keith Andrews]

Danny thanks for posting, great job by all!  That last run through 17 was fantastic.  

[dstevens]

was it meathead or OPM that made up shirts that said "Spec Miata...I'm here for the man drama" or something to that effect?

 

 

I'll take one of those shirts.

 

"Spec Miata, little chick car, big man drama..."

 

 

 

 

 

[Bench Racer]

There was a cute picture posted a couple years ago by Drago's computer guy or Danny S relative to ManDrama, thought I saved it, but can't find. CRS syndrome may be setting in.

[Ron Jeremy]

SCCA really doesn't have a lot of pull with the tracks by supplying workers. Most workers will go to a pro race (IMSA, IRL, etc) regardless of SCCAs wishes.

[Jim Drago]

For all those that attended this race, you should have received an email survey about this race. Please fill it out, I think it is important the club here what we think about this event, positive or negative. It was headed "2014 SCCA Sebring Majors Race Survey" from majors@scca.com via survey monkey. Check spam
Jim