94 replies to this topic

[Mike Collins]

[Mike Collins]

[DrDomm]

I had a good weekend at the Glen after scrambling to get the car ready.  Friday didn't go too well, but made a setup change after qualifying, and it seemed to work for the races.  Got a great start on Saturday, and moved up 10 spots.  I turned a personal best 2:19.1 (nowhere near the top times, but good for me).  Two and a half laps from the end I clipped the edge of the curbing on the entry to the bus stop, and bent a rim.  I had a bad vibration, and didn't know what was damaged so I limped home and held off a trio of charging cars into the bus stop on the last lap.

 

I don't like racing at 8am, but somehow I was able to wake up early enough to get a good start Sunday as well.  The race was pretty uneventful for me, but had some decent racing.  At times I think I was a bit timid, when I possibly could have taken an advantage.  I never really had anyone to bump draft with, and seemed to struggle a bit on the back straight.  I did manage a new personal best of 2:18.1.  Anyway I had a great time after a rocky start to the weekend, and it was great to see all the big names come visit upstate NY.  

 

Here's Sunday's video.  Please feel free to offer advice.

 

http://youtu.be/gVcKIdglkW8

[Dan Tiley]

I had a good weekend at the Glen after scrambling to get the car ready.  Friday didn't go too well, but made a setup change after qualifying, and it seemed to work for the races.  Got a great start on Saturday, and moved up 10 spots.  I turned a personal best 2:19.1 (nowhere near the top times, but good for me).  Two and a half laps from the end I clipped the edge of the curbing on the entry to the bus stop, and bent a rim.  I had a bad vibration, and didn't know what was damaged so I limped home and held off a trio of charging cars into the bus stop on the last lap.

 

I don't like racing at 8am, but somehow I was able to wake up early enough to get a good start Sunday as well.  The race was pretty uneventful for me, but had some decent racing.  At times I think I was a bit timid, when I possibly could have taken an advantage.  I never really had anyone to bump draft with, and seemed to struggle a bit on the back straight.  I did manage a new personal best of 2:18.1.  Anyway I had a great time after a rocky start to the weekend, and it was great to see all the big names come visit upstate NY.  

 

Here's Sunday's video.  Please feel free to offer advice.

 

http://youtu.be/gVcKIdglkW8

 

What an awesome track, facility and overall event!  Enjoyed the racing we got to do on Sunday, Dr. Domm... I meant to come over and introduce myself afterwards, but got sidetracked after the race.  Thanks to all those who put this event together.  No question it was well worth the 13 hour pull for us.  We'll be back again soon!  Congrats to the podium finishers, and to all those who made it through the weekend unscathed!

[DrDomm]

What an awesome track, facility and overall event!  Enjoyed the racing we got to do on Sunday, Dr. Domm... I meant to come over and introduce myself afterwards, but got sidetracked after the race.  Thanks to all those who put this event together.  No question it was well worth the 13 hour pull for us.  We'll be back again soon!  Congrats to the podium finishers, and to all those who made it through the weekend unscathed!

 

Yes, I meant to say hi in impound, but then it get so busy with everyone else.  I thought we had some fun racing, and I definitely didn't want to rough up Bandit One, so I was a little careful even though I had my beat-up bumper cover on.  

[Tom Sager]

 

Most people don't know its my dad unless you've been around awhile.  I'm almost a foot taller than him and he has a baby face and no gray hair.  Over the door his name on the car says "Junior"....its not because his dad was a "Sr."...  Its because he tries to pass himself off as my little brother....  He likes to think he's "MEATHEAD Junior"...

Pretty cool Mike.  This is a bit self serving but as long as there is a discussion of Dad's and Watkins Glen, here is a picture of the entry list for an E-Production race from 1960.  Car #135 is my Dad (also named Tom) in a Triumph TR-3.  Pretty big field of EP cars.  Oh, and if you read the Formula Junior entry list at the top, you might recognize a couple of big names very early in their careers. 

Attached Files

•  watkins1960-2.jpg   73.67KB   2 downloads

[Speedycrw]

Really cool Tom!  Didn't know you were second generation racer

[Danny Steyn]

For anyone who might be interested, I have posted my full Watkins Glen Race 1 video. The lap record lap starts at around 5 mins. Had help at times from Elivan behind and Yiannis in front. My time of 2min 15.917 was 1/1000th faster than Yiannis on that lap. No sooner have I set the lap record than I throw it away all on my own in the very next corner!!!

 

Of course that record only lasted till the following morning when Andrew Carbonnel with help from Dillon Mchavern broke the record on two successive laps.

 

The last lap starts at around 30 mins and includes a great race with Tyler and a very close moment when he brushes the wall in T9 and bounces back into the track in front of me.

 

[Tyler Kicera]

Thanks to Danny, Jim, and everyone who came over to offer their help after tearing up the entire right side of the car and making sure I was ok.  Looking back on it, Sunday was a fun race after running third, getting punted by Yannis in turn 1 which dropped me back to 8th, and then driving back to 3rd.  At the time I was livid in the car...

 

By the way, has anyone ever been tested for CO levels after a race in tight pack versus out front?  When I went to the care center my levels were very high but don't have any exhaust leaks that I know of.  We were running so closely that my thought is I just sucked a lot of everyone else's fumes ahead of me.  

 

I'll share videos toward the end of the week/weekend.  

[Danny Steyn]

Tyler

 

I was tested for CO after I got punted off in Turn 8. This was after several laps of close racing. My CO levels were within normal levels.

 

But this brings up something that I want to discuss

 

After I got punted off I was FURIOUS. I wanted to file paper immediately. However the EMS were insisting that I went to medical center for evaluation. It made no difference that there was minimal contact to my car, they were insistent. I told them that I would go to the medical center after I had filed paper as I had to do it withing the 30 minutes allowed, but they said NO in no uncertain terms.

 

I told them that they had no right to force me to go, and that I was well within my rights to refuse their service, and I fully understood that they could prevent me from racing any further that weekend for refusing attention. They would NOT accept this and it got really nasty. Eventually I capitulated and drove with them in the ambulance after getting reassurance from my wife that an SCCA official would meet me at the medical care facility. So I was able to "stop the clock" well within the 30 minutes.

 

I chatted to the doctor on duty about what I had experienced. I FULLY understand that the EMS personnel were doing their job, but the way they were going about it was pretty much like a cop arresting a criminal.

 

The WG trackside service staff definitely need to learn some white glove handling in situations like this. The Doctor on duty was nothing but courteous and helpful and had a personal interest in racing. 

 

In the end the offending driver came to apologize and I withdrew my protest.

[Tyler Kicera]

Tyler

 

I was tested for CO after I got punted off in Turn 8. This was after several laps of close racing. My CO levels were within normal levels.

 

But this brings up something that I want to discuss

 

After I got punted off I was FURIOUS. I wanted to file paper immediately. However the EMS were insisting that I went to medical center for evaluation. It made no difference that there was minimal contact to my car, they were insistent. I told them that I would go to the medical center after I had filed paper as I had to do it withing the 30 minutes allowed, but they said NO in no uncertain terms.

 

I told them that they had no right to force me to go, and that I was well within my rights to refuse their service, and I fully understood that they could prevent me from racing any further that weekend for refusing attention. They would NOT accept this and it got really nasty. Eventually I capitulated and drove with them in the ambulance after getting reassurance from my wife that an SCCA official would meet me at the medical care facility. So I was able to "stop the clock" well within the 30 minutes.

 

I chatted to the doctor on duty about what I had experienced. I FULLY understand that the EMS personnel were doing their job, but the way they were going about it was pretty much like a cop arresting a criminal.

 

The WG trackside service staff definitely need to learn some white glove handling in situations like this. The Doctor on duty was nothing but courteous and helpful and had a personal interest in racing. 

 

In the end the offending driver came to apologize and I withdrew my protest.

 

The doc told me I probably wouldn't see elevated levels for exposure less than 30 minutes.  According to the doc a normal number for a non-smoker is between 1 and 2....I was at 13.  I assume that was PPM.

 

It seems crazy that they made you take the ride as you clearly could have continued had it not been for the gravel trap that you found yourself in...

 

Hell, I drove the car all the way from turn 9 past turn 1 and parked it...could have gotten it back to the trailer but had no idea how badly damaged the car was.  They said I had no choice but to visit the care center since I made contact with the tire wall / famous blue armco.  In some sense I was glad they did because I had no idea about my elevated CO level.  Not sure how, but I am going to pay more attention to it...

[Todd Lamb]

Tyler were you staying in an RV?

[Tyler Kicera]

Tyler were you staying in an RV?

 

I was and while I was sitting on the table in there I thought of that.  I had my wife come by so they could check her levels but they were normal.

[Brandon]

I think you may have an exhaust leak somewhere you don't know about...that's a pretty significant rise from an acceptable baseline.

 

Being in the pack may have exacerbated containment of the fumes within the cockpit vs. freer-flowing air through washing it out.

Might be worth removing & inspecting the manifold and downtube for any pinholes and replacing gaskets upon reinstallation.

[DrDomm]

A few years ago I had a leak in the downpipe...but you could hear it.

[Bench Racer]

CO, interesting, thanks guys.

[suck fumes]

I love it how Danny waves after the 44 hits the wall hahaha.

[Tyler Kicera]

Elivan and I think there might have been some fluid at track out.  He slid into the grass but managed not to hit the wall and I saw Goriarrian get loose before I was not so lucky and the car abruptly snapped.  We had such a huge lead on the next group I limped around at about 50mph and still finished 7th.    

[Danny Steyn]

Yup there was fluid on the track for sure

 

I was already in a drift as Tyler was hitting the wall and to avoid him I had to add more steering input rather than countersteer, and that put me in the tankslapper that you see!

 

And yes Aaron I was waving, not to thank him for letting me pass, but to tell him I was happy to see him going again. Tyler and I had a really fun battle that race.

 

Like most of the drivers in this class, we want to race heads up with even cars, not asking for an inch and not giving an inch, but when the guy has the pass, back out of it and give it up, and live to race the next corner. And thats how Tyler and I raced that whole race. When I had the pass, he eased out of it, and when he had it I eased out of it. All I want to do is race him again, side by side in every corner. Nothing more satisfying than racing side by side through several turns and not hitting one another, those are the races you remember. Was really bummed to see Tyler lose a spot that way. He had solidly kicked my ass, and I deserved to be behind him. And in Race 2 , he was on a mission to WHUP my sorry ass, long before I got beached!

[ChrisA]

For those that got to ride in the ambulance, be aware of what took place at a recent PCA event.  http://rennlist.com/...nce-charge.html  Hopefully, this won't happen for you guys.