408 replies to this topic

[FTodaro]

Congratulations too all the racers at the Runoffs this year. We all put on a great show. Congratulations to the podium, Goring, Carbonell and Balanos great drives all.

Agree 100%. Glad that Goring's appeal was a success. Bluntly, we did not need another black eye and lets face it, HP did not win this race. so Justice prevails.

[sentercut]

Being a bit of an outsider at this point just getting involved in SM (two races under my belt) I have been following this probably as close as most folks. I watched the race on speaker phone with the jackleg that got me into all of this and we were yelling and screaming throughout the race. I should have recorded it....I digress. And so with my small knowledge of this whole car racing thing I must comment to say that I was so impressed with the high level of driving among all competitors in SM. Just incredible.

I also have been so grateful for all of the drivers, coaches, support crews, that I have had the pleasure of being led by during the two weekends that I have raced SM. (Advanced Autosports, Old Dogs Racing, Atlanta Speedwerks, Rossini Racing Engines, and many more)

 

The drama in this class seems to be much higher than the others and I get that to an extent due to the size, drivers, parity, history, etc.. BUT, my concern is all of the drama will drive out competitors from the class. Maybe it is just part of racing in the most competitive class in club racing, or because it is SPEC. I don't know. But I hope we/yall can hold it together and progress it even further, and not let our best asset become our worst issue. Again, this coming from a total newbie greenhorn hack driver.

 

I do not know any of the top 5 finishers at all, their history, etc...but I am pretty comfortable assuming that ALL of them want nothing but the best for the class and had no intention of C-word...NONE. All of these guys are IN this business of racing to some extent, and it seems reputation is everything. When I put myself in the shoes of Goring and Carbonell, I hate it both ways for them. But I will always remember my first runoffs at Daytona grinding it out in front of my computer just like I was behind the wheel. Hell of a last lap Mr Goring.

[Dan Tiley]

Congratulations Jonathan!  What a race, and what a great event.  The race was unreal.  I sat all the way at the top of the grandstands and took a moment to take in what was really happening.  Here were 61 amateur drivers about to do battle under the Friday Night Lights of Daytona, no different than the Pros of the 24 hour, or the NASCAR summer race.   Nobody expected the fireworks as the cars took the checkered..... Mazda stepped up big time for this one.  Thank you!

 

Hats off to all 60+ drivers for putting on a great show, even in the worst of conditions.  I wish that was the big story line, instead of tech BS.   The tone immediately after the race was epic...  No bickering about you hit me, or he blocked me.  Lots of hugs, smiles and post event bench racing.  Not the same can be said for many other classes with less than half the cars, where there were multiple driver protests after the race.  

 

Congratulations also to Andrew Carbonell on his drive back from 7th place with just a few laps to go.  He's a rockstar behind the wheel, and BSI had him ready for just about anything.   Hate that we didn't get the win, but we partied last night like we did!!!  Awesome drives by both Alex and Cory as well.  Both are stand up guys and darn near stunk up the show in the first half.  

 

Enjoy the win Jonathan and all that comes along with it.  Represent SM well.  You certainly have on track.

[Mark]

It is really good to see the champion determined on the track and not in the tech shed. Thanks to all the drivers and crew who made the trek to Daytona and spent who knows how many thousands of dollars, not to mention the time, putting on a show that the rest of us got to enjoy. Not one FCY in what was probably the most difficult of all racing conditions. Amazing. Every SM driver at Daytona gets my thanks and respect. Kudos to the SCCA for the live timing and video feeds. Excellent stuff and much appreciated. THANK YOU ALL! I cannot wait until next year. 

[Danny Steyn]

Personally  had the most amazing 6 days out of my 7 day week at the Runoffs.

 

The three Test days were awesome and the four Qually sessions were great. And like the perennial geeky senior who just never has a date for the prom, I had to ask out several promising dates to the prom. I started out in test days with the amazing Matt Reynolds who I respect and admire, but when it became apparent that I was a bit faster than Matt, I went looking for a cuter date.

 

In the process I latched on to the newly slimmed out and oh so cute Mr Erik Stearns, who is always fast and was obviously the odd man out in the East Street Camp, and he and I dated like our life depended on it running a 2:19. flat on the test day with way faster predictive times.

 

However our romance was short lived and I eventually bailed on Erik and committed to taking Jonathan Goring to the dance. But Goring had committed to Charbonneau before the dance so there was always the possibility that my date would bail on me too.

 

In the Qually sessions Goring and I never quite nailed the big lap, but we raced well together and we were always in contention, always rapidly closing in on the group ahead. Goring gridded 6^th and I was 8^th.

 

On Fridays Race Day, the typical Florida weather started to play havoc with our plans for the prom and we all anxiously watched the weather radar for the 30 minutes leading to our 7:30 prom date. Based on my recent experience at the June Sprints, I committed to intermediate rains with 10 minutes to the scheduled start time. However the grid process took way too long and as we were waiting it was apparent that the rain had stopped. What was a girl to do at the prom?

 

Since there was no wind and no sun, I had a hunch that the slippery flat infield would not dry out until late in the race, and I had a hunch that the banked oval would not be an issue in the rain, but at the last minute I was talked into, against my better judgement, changing to dries with less than 5 minutes to go.

 

Thanks to Tom and the great support from the OPM team they were able to get back to the OPM tent, retrieve the tires, and get Clements and I changed onto dries before the 1 minute whistle.

 

On the out lap I immediately regretted my decision.  Apart from Lamb, Goring and Carbonell and myself almost everyone at the front remained on wets.

 

At the drop of the green those on rains had an immediate advantage and I was just being shuffled back in the field hoping not to hit anything. I had several near misses that rocked my confidence, but later as a dry line started to form I was able to pick up the pace and start picking off some of the drivers that had come past me on the awesome Hoosier H2O rain tires that make everyone look like a rock star.

 

Because of my tire choice, despite the wet conditions that I wanted, I was never a factor in the race and drove around for the 45 minute Runoffs in absolute obscurity. I doubt that anyone even knew I was there, and it was a rain race.

 

I learned my lesson - never will I allow someone else to question my choices. For me personally the 7^th day of the week was nothing short of embarrassing. I finished in 10^th and drove a really appalling race.

In watching my video, especially my rear camera that caught all the action around me, I can say without any doubt that I have the UTMOST RESPECT FOR THE DRIVERS IN SPEC MIATA. We were all within mm of each other, three and four wide in the turns, and with very few exceptions there was minimal contact in the dark conditions, at Daytona, in the rain, at the highest speed track that we ever race at.

 

Seriously I congratulate my fellow drivers and say that I am SO PROUD TO BE PART OF THIS CLASS.

 

No other class came close to the show of wheel to wheel racing that we put on, and in the most trying conditions. I will post the video as soon as I return from my business trip

 

To all those drivers that finished ahead of me, around me and behind me, I salute you all for representing the class of Spec Miata so admirably.

 

As to the tech shed, I was not there personally, although I have heard a lot of 3^rd party stories. I feel for all of you that went through the EPIC teardown. My heart goes out to Cory who I consider one of the good guys in SM. We ALL knew that tech was going to be the WORST EVER, so I know that NONE of us arrived with anything that we even remotely thought would be anywhere close to non-compliant.

 

IMO the class of SM has never been better. There are so many EXCELLENT divers in our class. What Goring and Carbonell were able to do on slicks was nothing short of amazing, and while I started just behind Goring, he just drove away from me in the rain in treacherous conditions. This man is a serious talent and especially in the wet.

 

Thanks to all the team at OPM who worked so tirelessly all week on all the cars under our tent. Thanks to Mike Rossini for the great engine that has been torn down 4 times this year at Majors events. To The Puskars at Carbotech Brakes, thanks for the support. To Glenn and Andre at Traqmate, thanks for the great data system that we all use, and to Roger at Traqgear Innovations thanks for the great coolbox and fire retardant cool shirt

 

To Hoosier for their continued support and 3 free tires to all of the runoffs drivers, and to Mazda for working with SCCA to put on this EPIC night race that might never be repeated.

 

I consider myself, despite my dismal result, to be eternally grateful for the experience that I just had, and I recommend to all of you that read this, make sure you qualify for the 2016 runoffs, because if you are not there you will be missing out on some of the greatest time that we as motor racers will every enjoy.

 

Thanks to all the drivers around me that raced me clean all week, and to all of those who pushed me on the track. I have nothing but respect for all of you and look forward to renewing our on-track rivalry as soon as possible.

 

LONG LIVE SPEC MIATA

[SMP1]

Great race! Everyone who drove from all parts of the country and spent so much money and time to race at Daytona for the runoffs is a big deal. Thanks from the fans!

[Ron Alan]

Carbonell, Goulart, Berry, Bolanos, Lamb(unless he is coaching...then Clements)...all pre-tech!

Glad to see Goring's appeal was upheld...congratulations on an incredible last lap(although we all thought it was Haldeman as the announcers were calling it!)and an even more incredible first 13 to stay close enough!

 

 

That said...think i had the winner pick for awhile 

 

Maybe still? A lot had 2 out of 5 but my winner pick finished the highest! If Jim agrees, I will be donating his generous offer to the first Teen Mazda newbie in the West (2016) who sends me a note with a request for what they need! And I bet if Dean takes it for his perfect P2 pick I'm going to guilt him into following my idea!!

[Todd Lamb]

Runoffs 2015 recap....
As I reflect on the last 12 days, there were a lot of highs and lows from the Runoffs at Daytona. We had clients that won National Championships and those that had nothing but bad luck all week. First off a huge thank you to my guys Brian Zellner and Blake Hughes at Atlanta Speedwerks for prepping cars to the very top level.

Coaching clients Brian Linn (1st in HP) and Tray Ayres (2nd in SRF3) were at the top of their game. Great fun to be on the radio with them both talking them through strategy on the last lap run to the stripe.

Huge props to Mazda for allowing us to race under the lights. Having run the Daytona 24 Hours as a Mazda ladder driver, I can say that all the SM drivers that took the green got to be a part of something special that in my mind was equal to the experience of running the 24 Hours (at least the first 14 laps of it ). Congrats to everyone for putting on a great show!

It was fun to work with several drivers new to Daytona, such as Brian Linn, Spencer Rutherford, Spencer Patterson, Mike Collins, Steve Sturm, and Jeff VanBendegom. Watching these guys get up to speed was very rewarding as a coach.

Our shop did a bunch of setups at the track for various drivers, and even did a motor swap for Michael Cottrell before the race.

I personally made a bad call on the tires for the race which kept me from joining the fun up front, but as a consolation prize I was able to set the fastest lap of the SM race, and got a little shoutout at the start of the race broadcast. That will have to do for now

I had a great time hanging out with the Meathead camp at Wing House for just about every meal during qualifying week. I swear I will never eat wings again...unless Alexis is serving them.

Thanks to East Street for taking care of the horses, Todd Buras for the donuts and drafting help, Ken Mersereau and Glenn Murphey for the help in the paddock, Sturm and Collins for the hospitality, and Becky Mishtawy+1 for showing us all the cool local hangouts after hours.

Congrats to the SM podium finishers Jonathan Goring, Andrew Carbonell, and Alex Bolanos

[tferranti]

We were at a regional NASA event here in Texas and watched the race on the big screen with a large crowd...what a race....no FCY's....awesome stuff and hands down as we all know, the best class in amateur road racing once again!

 

Congrats to the entire field and especially Jonathan Goring, Andrew Carbonell, and Alex Bolanos! 

[Dan Tiley]

Who says you can't fit 2 engines in a Miata????

 

[Danny Steyn]

Dan Tiley - I guess you were in tech - would you mind letting us all know what was teched. From the pics I saw it appears to be the most invasive tech ever!

[MPR22]

Who says you can't fit 2 engines in a Miata????

 

You got a free dozen eggs with every tear down. 

[suck fumes]

Thats what my car looked like in 2006, 2009. The tech has been that good before but then slacked for a couple yrs cause a lot of the good tech people left due to appeals court overriding their decisions.

[Jim Drago]

Runoffs recap...

First congratulations to podium finishers Jonathan Goring, Andrew Carbonell and Alex Bolanos.  Also congrats to Rossini racing products, BSI, Ti-Speed and Autotecknik for all their work preparing the cars. 

 

Thanks to Mazda, SCCA and Hoosier.. What an awesome event.    Congratulations to the entire class.. 62 cars in those conditions with no serious crashes, no full course cautions is simply amazing. 

 

 

I would like to congratulate my guys as well. None of had the week we wanted, but in the end only one person does. Thanks and congratulations to Todd Buras, Todd Lamb, Craig Berry, Erik Stearns, Max Nufer and Justin Elder. We ended up with four of the top 12 cars and 6 of the top fifteen. Not what we wanted, but pretty impressive none the less. 

 

Our week started really well, I think we won test day(s)  When it came to qualifying.. Erik and Danny's pairing didn't work well for either.. Craig had an alternator issue and was hurting power and we missed it until Wednesday.  So we were much slower than we should have been. Then when we fixed Craigs car, my cars handling went off. We still managed fast time of the day on Wednesday, but it was the slow day.  We had our stuff together for a good time on Thursday and I lost my engine early in the session  So that hurt Craig as bad as it did me as most went faster that day. 

 

In order to keep my qualifying time.  We had to do a full tear down with very limited time.  So my engine was torn to the ground and inspected as if on the podium..

all passed of course.

 

With two cars potentially Dq'ed, we( Tom and OPM and me watching : 0 )  had to do the full tear down on Buras car, again all passed.  

 

I would like to congratulate all the car/engine builders. With what looked to be one of if not the biggest tear downs, all cars passed with the exception of one relief cut on one valve.  Which I know rules are rules, but i would not have dq'ed someone for that at the Runoffs, especially one of 8. But thats just me. Sorry Cory, that was a really bad break IMO.

 

In short, we just didn't have a good week. You need to be spot on all week, we weren't.  I take a good bit of that directly on my shoulders and apologize to my guys as we should have done better, the cars could have been better and more consistent. We did way too much work at the track and everyone was wore out.  I don't think I was finishing in the top five in those conditions in most cases. Hats off top all those who were at the front in VERY tough conditions.  Lots of good times! the best race of the week was beating Novak back to the rental house. Epic race over 22 miles and it came down to two passes in the last several hundred yards and a pick of a Porsche Cayman who was EXTREMELY pissed at both of us. Nissan Rogue wins at the line

 

Lots will be said of the tech in/out/in deal on Gorings car. Mistakes happen in tech as they do everywhere else. I trust the system got it right. He is our champion, very well deserved. Despite where your allegiances lie, support our class and our champion. 

[Jim Drago]

Dan Tiley - I guess you were in tech - would you mind letting us all know what was teched. From the pics I saw it appears to be the most invasive tech ever!

from memory...

 

Engine

Head complete inspection

cams in cam doctor and in location and profile checked

valves

springs

relief cut

plunge cut

valve angles

everyones favorite STR

all four pistons and rods

flywheel weighed

crank inspected and weighed

compression checked by CC

 

transmission completely disassembled and inspected for coatings/ rem

rear end pulled and gear ratio and inspected for coatings/ rem 

shocks dynoed

bumpstops inspected

spindles 

wheel bearings opened and inspected for rem/ceramic bearings

drive shafts

 

I am sure there is a lot more, just from what I saw and memory

[Danny Steyn]

Thanks Jim

[NRE]

To the Mazda Spec Miata Community,

 

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone in the Mazda Spec Miata Community.  This was my first year racing cars.  I am am very grateful to race in such a great competitive class. 

 

I would like to thank the SCCA and MAZDA for putting on such a sensational Championship Runoffs.  It was awesome to race under the lights at Daytona International Speedway. Thank you to my fellow competitors for such an exciting and clean race. I was very happy to finish 14th in a field consisting of 62 cars. 

 

I wouldn't have been able to have performed so well in my rookie season without the help from so many people in the Mazda racing community.

 

I would like to thank the SCCA for allowing me to get my competition license even through I wasn't old enough to drive on the streets.  I really appreciate the SCCA for putting their faith in me.  Thank you also to all the SCCA Volunteers who give up their time to support racing at the grassroots level.  We couldn't go racing without them.

 

I would like to thank Mazda Motorsports for supporting this class.  Mazda goes above all other car brands to support racing. John Doonan has been super helpful by giving me advice on how to go about attaining sponsorship. Thanks to David Cook for helping me get an article on Mazda Motorsports' website.  Thanks also to Tom Long for coaching advice and teaching me how to utilize my data to improve my race craft.  I am proud to be part of the 144 Mazda drivers photographed on the Daytona banking.

 

I would like to thank Jim Drago and the East Street Racing Team.  Jim has been a great mentor and has been very generous with his time coaching me and giving me advice about setup. He and his crew were always willing to help make changes to the car and were always available over the phone to answer questions. Thanks to Erik Stearns and Craig Berry for their help and guidance throughout the year. 

 

I would like to thank Steve Scheifler for all his assistance. Steve was a great help getting my car prepped the week before the runoffs.  He has a wealth of knowledge about Spec Miata.  I truly appreciate him sharing that with me.  During a race in St. Louis, Steve left the track during the lunch break to run and get me a spare part so that I would be able to race that afternoon. Steve is always willing to help out and answer questions and is one of the most selfless people I know.   

 

I would also like to thank Chris Haldeman and Matt Reynolds for all their encouragement and sharing their racing knowledge.  Despite my younger years they have always treated me like any other racer.  This list could just keep going on and on about all of those that helped make my first year in car racing a success. 

 

I would like to thank everyone for all your support and encouragement this season.  My goal is to become a pro racer and I think that we are on the right track to making that possible. I am very thankful to be racing against such a fantastic group of competitors who are always teaching me something new, both on and off the track. Racing with the MAZDA community has been a terrific experience.  Thank you for welcoming me into your family.

 

Sincerely,

 

Max Nufer

NRE Driver #27

Nufer Race Engineering

www.nreusa.com

[Michael Novak]

 

To the Mazda Spec Miata Community,

 

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone in the Mazda Spec Miata Community.  This was my first year racing cars.  I am am very grateful to race in such a great competitive class. 

 

I would like to thank the SCCA and MAZDA for putting on such a sensational Championship Runoffs.  It was awesome to race under the lights at Daytona International Speedway. Thank you to my fellow competitors for such an exciting and clean race. I was very happy to finish 14th in a field consisting of 62 cars. 

 

I wouldn't have been able to have performed so well in my rookie season without the help from so many people in the Mazda racing community.

 

I would like to thank the SCCA for allowing me to get my competition license even through I wasn't old enough to drive on the streets.  I really appreciate the SCCA for putting their faith in me.  Thank you also to all the SCCA Volunteers who give up their time to support racing at the grassroots level.  We couldn't go racing without them.

 

I would like to thank Mazda Motorsports for supporting this class.  Mazda goes above all other car brands to support racing. John Doonan has been super helpful by giving me advice on how to go about attaining sponsorship. Thanks to David Cook for helping me get an article on Mazda Motorsports' website.  Thanks also to Tom Long for coaching advice and teaching me how to utilize my data to improve my race craft.  I am proud to be part of the 144 Mazda drivers photographed on the Daytona banking.

 

I would like to thank Jim Drago and the East Street Racing Team.  Jim has been a great mentor and has been very generous with his time coaching me and giving me advice about setup. He and his crew were always willing to help make changes to the car and were always available over the phone to answer questions. Thanks to Erik Stearns and Craig Berry for their help and guidance throughout the year. 

 

I would like to thank Steve Scheifler for all his assistance. Steve was a great help getting my car prepped the week before the runoffs.  He has a wealth of knowledge about Spec Miata.  I truly appreciate him sharing that with me.  During a race in St. Louis, Steve left the track during the lunch break to run and get me a spare part so that I would be able to race that afternoon. Steve is always willing to help out and answer questions and is one of the most selfless people I know.   

 

I would also like to thank Chris Haldeman and Matt Reynolds for all their encouragement and sharing their racing knowledge.  Despite my younger years they have always treated me like any other racer.  This list could just keep going on and on about all of those that helped make my first year in car racing a success. 

 

I would like to thank everyone for all your support and encouragement this season.  My goal is to become a pro racer and I think that we are on the right track to making that possible. I am very thankful to be racing against such a fantastic group of competitors who are always teaching me something new, both on and off the track. Racing with the MAZDA community has been a terrific experience.  Thank you for welcoming me into your family.

 

Sincerely,

 

Max Nufer

NRE Driver #27

Nufer Race Engineering

www.nreusa.com

 

 

 

 

Max,

  Great Job throughout the whole week at the runoffs--finding speed and working on the car to make it the best it could be...  Congrats on the finish..

[Craig Berry]

The Runoffs kinda sums up my entire year.....strange, unexpected and ultimately disappointing.

I would like to Thank Mazda for a really cool event and all the support they give to motorsports. I also have to thank my team and team mates at East Street Racing Jim, Erik, Rob, York, Bob and Gerry. They work very hard and make this fun, even when it is not sometimes. Thanks to my sponsors AG&M, Berry Marble and Granite, and SafeRacer. I really want to thank my family and good friends (a few I named on the team). Lastly, I would like to thank the drivers for making this class a true challenge. My opinion is that if you can drive at the front at one of these premier SM races, you can do pretty well in just about anything.

Congrats to the Podium, all well deserved.

[Jim Drago]

One complaint. Start the dam race on time! We all had the same amount of time to make a tire choice.. if you show up after 7:25, you missed the 5 and must start from the rear. If that race was started on time.. it doesnt change much for me.. but Cory and Alex are winning by 8 seconds.