10 replies to this topic

[Bad Rusty]

Just some Monday evening quarterbacking (49ers!) from a mid pack guy:

• That was my first SCCA runoffs, and as much as the schedule is a time suck, it was pretty cool
• If you under perform in qualifying, man does it suck…..
• It's monterey, and the house in Pebble Beach did not suck (A Legal counter balance)
• The Best of the Best where there, and there could not be a more gracious group of racers, examples:

1. Asked Drago on Friday morning what tires to use (Stickers or scrubbed in) "Rusty I wish I knew, I'm going on stickers and that car is going on one cycle, pretty sure I'm guessing wrong" that statement from "Two Time"
2. I said to Mark (Drennan), "I suck and cannot for the life of me figure out why I'm a second slower this weekend". Reply, "Do you have video? Let's  go over it.  And hey, if you have time in the morning, let me show you my video and see if you pick anything up"  Probably 6 people heard that, and a few had there mouths open.
3. I got to meet Mike Collins, super guy, maybe the coolest rig ever, and he had an incident with a really great guy, local driver who is normally as clean as they come on the track.  He brought up a good point.  I mentioned I wish they would have spoken before a protest was made and he said "Yeah, I wish he'd have just come over so we could talk about it". That's what we should all do whenever possible.
4. We got to qualify, drink, qualify, drink again, and race with some of the best drivers in the country.
5. I would have preferred to qualify better and finish top 10 on my own
6. I would have preferred that all passed the protest (Even though I offered to and will support Will on the protest, pretty sure it does not cost anything at this point, easy for me to say now)
7. It's not a black eye, it's a "Come to Jesus"moment.  Let's get it right, and everyone, including motor builders who have been deemed "illegal" can find out what the black area is that they thought was gray and get it right.
8. The SCCA team ( I just have to point out Jenny and Deanna) did an amazing job with a facility (And it's three owners/managers) that is not built for 550 entires.  Could it have been better, sure!  Could a handful of prema donnas not brought in 6 support vehicles, you bet.  But, we ended up having the P2 B Spec guy (Travis Washay) join our pits and he brought beer, wine, and a hot chick with him, all is forgiven!
9. #9 is for me.  I could not have this much fun (Like most) without the help of a lot of people.  From Mike Haag building me a strong, legal motor (I'm throwing in "I think" because we are all unsure until I see pictures and specs"), to TC Design building a great cage (That has been tested twice already, Hi Michael Niemann:)), to my step dad who enjoys working on the car and then says" Figure out how to drive faster, stop dropping tires off and quit making mistakes, and it pains me to say he's right.  I also want to thank Darin Polsley, who helped coach me on the practice day and convinced me to run a clean race.  I moved up 9 positions, and hard charger award or not, that was not easy at the runoffs.

 

I'm in for Florida (So by default, that means Barrett Tilley is in), see you at the runoffs next year!

 

 

[Kyle Keenan]

I had a great time at the Runoffs. Massive thanks to the SM drivers and teams (TFB) who loaned us some tools and equipment to help us get through post race tech after B-Spec. 

Now that I've already qualified the B-Spec for next year's runoffs, I guess it's time to dig the SM back out.......

[Ron Alan]

God...I almost forgot what I did for 8 days in Monterey after the last 2!

 

I grew up on the Peninsula and can say without a doubt the weather that week was anything but normal! Down right HOT for Monterey. Of course just when the runoffs weather seemed like a dream come true...the fog rolled in Sat and forced a 2hr delay!

 

I brought a new car(99) and a good driver to join the party without any expectations(for me anyways!). Larry struggled to get a feel for the car as it was different than my 95 he had driven before. By the time the race rolled around, we went out on scrubs with pressures we thought would last the race. Pretty clean race for the most part. Lost a few spots with a spin. Eric Jones left the only big donut on our door(apparently we weren't the only one!)to worry about post race. Larry's comment was "I don't think that black car liked me very much...good thing for him I was in your car and not mine(with a big grin)" Any of you local guys interested in a 99?

 

Ate a lot of good food and drank a lot of beer and good wine that week! Thanks Mike and Gigi! And thank you Rusty for the Ribeyes we had one night which we all determined were far better than any restaurant we could have gone to! 

Thanks to TFB for letting Larry and I hang out on occasion through out the week and the help you gave us in trying to find a set up Larry could drive!

[MPR22]

God...I almost forgot what I did for 8 days in Monterey after the last 2!

 

I grew up on the Peninsula and can say without a doubt the weather that week was anything but normal! Down right HOT for Monterey. Of course just when the runoffs weather seemed like a dream come true...the fog rolled in Sat and forced a 2hr delay!

 

I brought a new car(99) and a good driver to join the party without any expectations(for me anyways!). Larry struggled to get a feel for the car as it was different than my 95 he had driven before. By the time the race rolled around, we went out on scrubs with pressures we thought would last the race. Pretty clean race for the most part. Lost a few spots with a spin. Eric Jones left the only big donut on our door(apparently we weren't the only one!)to worry about post race. Larry's comment was "I don't think that black car liked me very much...good thing for him I was in your car and not mine(with a big grin)" Any of you local guys interested in a 99?

 

Ate a lot of good food and drank a lot of beer and good wine that week! Thanks Mike and Gigi! And thank you Rusty for the Ribeyes we had one night which we all determined were far better than any restaurant we could have gone to! 

Thanks to TFB for letting Larry and I hang out on occasion through out the week and the help you gave us in trying to find a set up Larry could drive!

Not interested in buying but would be happy to rent it when i head out that way.  Is it roomy? 

[Ron Alan]

Not interested in buying but would be happy to rent it when i head out that way.  Is it roomy? 

Haha...in other words does it have a big boy seat? Im 5'10"(used to be!) 200lbs. The seat is not "tight" on me...maybe 36" waste would fit? And maybe 6'2" leg room? I do have the ability to move the seat but cant widen it  NASA Nationals???

[MPR22]

Haha...in other words does it have a big boy seat? Im 5'10"(used to be!) 200lbs. The seat is not "tight" on me...maybe 36" waste would fit? And maybe 6'2" leg room? I do have the ability to move the seat but cant widen it  NASA Nationals??

I wish for the NASA West Nationals but little league football is in full bloom and I am not allowed to miss games.  

 

My wife has hinted to me about 6 times in the last week she is ready to go back to Cali for a wine trip.  I thought I might be able to find a track day at one of the SFR area tracks and do some laps.  If anything, it will prove i am still slightly better than midpack with a "legal" car.  

 

Im getting skinnier by the day so I should fit as long as its not tight in the shoulders, i'm a little broad there regardless of my waist size. 

[Elliott Skeer]

I had a great time watching it on tv! The racing through the top 10 was pretty intense and great fun to watch.
The weather did seem perfect for a Monterey weekend, racing gods were looking down at SCCA's radar!
It did seem like scca turned a blind eye to a lot of would-be caution periods, seemed like a car in every beach.

No matter how the post race stuff ends, this was a showcase of the best amateur racers in the country, and they put on quite the show, we know who the best are and they proved it through consistency and some great dogfights!

Am I glad I didn't race? Yes, that much drama is not worth it to me, and it always seems to be THE drama weekend.
...but I am so damn happy to see a solid race and some classic SM action.

[Mike Collins]

Even though I only raced for 4 laps, I would go back again.  there were some things I liked and some others I did not.

 

I did not like the lack of testing prior to the event.  It was not in the cards for me to send everything 3,000 miles away a month out and race a regional race.  Unlike some I did not mind the overpriced test days under the old format.  I would even sneak out a few days early for the very low car count days and get unlimited track time.

 

My car had an eccentric that was slipping, ruined my first two days of testing...finally got the car dialed in and it felt great.  two more days of that and I probably would have finished where I wanted too...

 

The track was super cool.

 

The surrounding community while very nice was not as fun as Road America or even Topeka...  I like at the end of the day knowing you are going to run into all of your friends at the local restaurants and bars.  That's why I go....Its certainly not for the affordable track time or the amount of laps you get...

 

All the locals really helped out, super host.  Drennan and Hayes both came over at separate times to check in on me, ask me if I had any questions about the track and if they could help.  The CA (west coast) mentality is way different....most of the east coast guys are a$$holes who keep secrets.... (yes I'm one of them)...

 

The CRB meeting was really well attended.  We appreciate everyone's input, Thank You!

 

Now to decide what to do next year....

[Jim Drago]

All the locals really helped out, super host.  Drennan and Hayes both came over at separate times to check in on me, ask me if I had any questions about the track and if they could help.  The CA (west coast) mentality is way different...

Hmm.. Those two were like Schultz from Hogans heroes with us.. "I know nothing! NOTHING!"

Both as solid of gguys you would ever want to meet. Same goes for Tim Barner, all those guys were great!

Jim

[Tyler Kicera]

Let me first say, I was cautiously optimistic that I would get up to speed and be somewhere toward the front.  I say "cautious" because I had never raced at MRLS and prior to the runoffs it had been over 2 months since I had been in the car.  Heck, the runoffs was only my 5th weekend in 14 months.  Never the less, I went into the weekend with my usual intentions of winning and I felt as mentally prepared as I could be.  I had probably done 300+ laps on iRacing, watched countless videos, analyzed as much data as I could find, etc.      

 

I would have liked to have gotten one more session on the test day.  My fifth lap on the track was a 47.1 and I was feeling pretty confident we'd pick up as the week went on.  The final test session saw a track that was hot and had been oiled two sessions earlier.  Man was that humbling...I was off a second from my first session and the car was junk.  

 

I liked the car so much in the first test session that I convinced myself a cooler track and stickers would help me get to where I needed to be in Q1.  We were 12th in Q1 and the car felt completely detached from the track...front and rear.  We spent the rest of the afternoon throwing everything but the kitchen sink at it.  Q2 was a 4pm session which proved to be the quickest of the week for most.  I picked up about 7/10ths with the changes we made and I was feeling good, but still only in p10.  At that point my motor was sealed.  We made more changes and in Q3, while I only picked up about 1/10th, I was P7.  At that point my ECU and ECU plug was sealed since the VVT cars can't do a simple swap.  

 

The start of the race was really loose and fast.  I got a decent start, had Erik pushing me, and I was pushing Craig upto 1.  We all fanned out and I was on the outside of 2.  Lots of door contact and was two wide up to turn 4.  Passed Joey on the next lap as his car seemed to lose power on the front straight.  We made more changes after Q3 and the car was working well.  I was gaining on Jim and Craig each lap.  I passed Craig in 11 and Drago gapped me on the front straight.  I made up most of that gap on the run to 6 and got through there much cleaner than him which allowed me to be aggressive in the corkscrew and make a pass.  Two laps later I misjudged the turn in for 6 a millisecond and got launched by the big red pillow at the apex.  I spent the next several laps trying to figure out if the car was OK.  It felt different but not undrivable so I kept after it.  Jim and Joey got together at the second apex of 2 and Jim got launched while Joey went to the beach.  By this point Craig had gapped me pretty well.  I drove as hard as I could to catch him and when he encountered some lap traffic I got right to him.  I was trying my absolute best to run him clean which forced me to wait until he bobbled to attempt a pass.  On the last lap he got out of shape exiting 6 (a bobble or dipped wheel is easily worth 3/10ths here).  I had a great run up the hill and he defended to the inside.  In a classic crossover move reminiscent of Herta/Zenardi in 96', I took him in deep on my Carbotech's and he locked up and slid through the corner.  I did the crossover and got him coming down the hill.  One last ditch effort through 11 on his part to make up ground had him sideways.  I came across the line in 5th...then the real fun began... 

 

Very fun race battling with Jim and Craig.  I didn't have anything for the front 4.  Lap cars did a good job, with the exception of one or two, of letting us race.  Qualifying in this class is SO EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.  I hate that I screwed up in 6 because I had my sights set on staying in touch with the front 4.  The car was working so well up to that point.  Drennen and all of the west coast guys I met were extremely nice / welcoming.  This track is a serious challenge and the front 4 were dialed in.  Thanks to Collins for the hospitality and the ride out / back.  

 

See you all next year! 

[Ron Alan]

Mike,

 

Totally agree with what you said about track time...Future events need to have every portion flow back to back day by day. One trip for all those who traveled a long way is a must! Those who came twice really paid through the nose for that...just to feel they could be competitive.

 

Also thanks for recognizing what really is true in the SM community here...with very few exceptions we get along, help each other, share info and when that occasional "oh shit" or "red mist" moment happens, we resolve it in the beer summit with discussions and apologies. I got the same reaction from Jim their first visit during the regional...I think it was something to the affect of "man, no one usually comes and talks to us"!

 

Sorry shiit happened the way it did for you. 

 

 

As for the race itself....I mentioned this in another thread...does anyone else think the start was horrible? Am I alone on this? My reaction was confirmed when I saw Steve Powers video. I think he was in the 8th row and was full speed through 11 and never lifted off the gas going threw the gears. Watching the race on Speedcast you can see all the gaps...and Kaiser gets one heck of a jump!

 

Its obvious SCCA made a conscience decision to not get cars out of the gravel assuming the driver could get out to a safe location. But man...those cars were all in an impact zone! When Jim and Joey got together at the exit of 2 it was Identical to the earlier incident that left Mikes car stuck just on the edge of the gravel. If Joey exited the track 30 feet earlier he finds Mikes car hard!!! Though I understand the decision made by SCCA to not have a whole lot of double yellow racing( )...it could have really backfired for them!