177 replies to this topic

[Jesse Prather]

Really an excellent weekend.  Even though there weren't a lot of cars the talent was good in SM.  I have really been impressed with the talent in this class, few other classes can boast this throughout SCCA in my opinion.

Figured out how to make this car handle finally and now have the bug to get this car up to speed power wise.  The engine in the car is good but is a bit of an unknown.  I was supposed to be running just for fun this year!  The only thing that kept my times even close to the front guys  was the draft.  I couldn't pull up on anyone but the draft would help me .4 through the oval, which is why I ran 4th the whole time.  Really good driving by Tom and Steve in the other 1.6 cars.  Max drove a really good race with an oversteering car, hope I can post some video of it soon as we got really close a few times, lots of fun.  Mr Drago was the class of the field.  Perfect car and driver combo, that's what it takes!  Managed the race once he got to the front.  Congrats!

 

Not being from Spec Miata I'll give an outsiders opinion on this class.  It's not about 1.6 vs 1.8.  Hey maybe the 99 and up cars are easier to drive but it takes a good driver to run up front either way so who cares.  This class takes a good setup, good driver, really good driver actually! and a well built engine.  The cars are plenty close to run equally in my opinion.  A forum like this can turn anyone into a keyboard asshole and that's normal.  It's the same way over on the production car forum.  Enjoy this class, get the cars out there.  The main reason there isn't parity in anyone's mind is probably staring at you in the mirror.  

Now where to find that 30k to buy that beautiful car Jim was driving last weekend!

[NRE]

Thanks everyone for coming out and supporting the STL region SCCA and for all of the kind words. Racing with everyone this weekend was a lot of fun and the competition was fierce as usual in the Spec Miata class. Congrats to Jim Drago on his two wins again and to Tom Scheiffler on his podium finishes. Overall, it was a fun weekend and I think I learned a lot about the car and setup, as well as giving feedback. Again, I appreciate Mr. Drago's, York's and both Scheiffler brother's help all weekend long working on the car and with some driver coaching. It was awesome to have Jesse Prather in the mix too, hope you got some footage of the drifting exhibition I was putting on   ! It was cool to get my first Major's pole and track record this weekend thanks to the East Street engine and good car setup. Only bad part about the weekend was getting involved in an incident in Sunday's T4 race. We were running second when Eric Prill decided to make a pass in turn 1 running into Steve Burkett in the Mazda RX-7. The collision caused Steve's car to spin and I assumed he would get the car stopped and that I could follow Eric Prill around the accident but his car rolled right in front of me giving me no where to go but into his quarter panel (sorry steve!).  Here's the video of what happened 

 

 

Hopefully next year we can get more SM's out to Gateway. Hope to see everyone at Pueblo or Mid-Ohio in the coming weeks! 

 

-Max

[Tom Scheifler]

Major Tom to ground control ... Here is my Sunday video.

https://youtu.be/o_Xa70w1S5w

[Jesse Prather]

Nice video!  Looks like ol smokey is getting worse on those decels.  Need engine rebuild soon, hope I can find someone to do it. 

[Tom Scheifler]

Nice video! Looks like ol smokey is getting worse on those decels. Need engine rebuild soon, hope I can find someone to do it.

PM me if you want a recommendation for an engine builder

[Caveman-kwebb99]

Nice driving Tom!

[Bench Racer]

Thanks for the ride Tom. Bet it was a feel good with the nose to the quarter panel.   Good stuff Jim.

 

Looked like a great weekend for all.

[Jim Drago]

Major Tom to ground control ... Here is my Sunday video. Just noticed the data overlay is a bit out of sync with the video. I may fix and reload later.

Tom

Nice drive! Congrats on a very good weekend.  

Nice to see my car from the rear, it looked like I felt in car... Notice the front wheel in every corner 

[Michael Novak]

Excellent Drive Tom........  Your car looked quite smooth...

[Jesse Prather]

PM me if you want a recommendation for an engine builder

I think I can handle it.  Thanks!

[Tom Scheifler]

Tom
Nice drive! Congrats on a very good weekend.
Nice to see my car from the rear, it looked like I felt in car... Notice the front wheel in every corner

Thanks Jim. Yeah, watching that front wheel during the race kept me hopeful.

[Rob Burgoon]

Thanks everyone for coming out and supporting the STL region SCCA and for all of the kind words. Racing with everyone this weekend was a lot of fun and the competition was fierce as usual in the Spec Miata class. Congrats to Jim Drago on his two wins again and to Tom Scheiffler on his podium finishes. Overall, it was a fun weekend and I think I learned a lot about the car and setup, as well as giving feedback. Again, I appreciate Mr. Drago's, York's and both Scheiffler brother's help all weekend long working on the car and with some driver coaching. It was awesome to have Jesse Prather in the mix too, hope you got some footage of the drifting exhibition I was putting on   ! It was cool to get my first Major's pole and track record this weekend thanks to the East Street engine and good car setup. Only bad part about the weekend was getting involved in an incident in Sunday's T4 race. We were running second when Eric Prill decided to make a pass in turn 1 running into Steve Burkett in the Mazda RX-7. The collision caused Steve's car to spin and I assumed he would get the car stopped and that I could follow Eric Prill around the accident but his car rolled right in front of me giving me no where to go but into his quarter panel (sorry steve!).  Here's the video of what happened 

 

 

Hopefully next year we can get more SM's out to Gateway. Hope to see everyone at Pueblo or Mid-Ohio in the coming weeks! 

 

-Max

 

Bleh.  The classic lack of lockup by the spinning car.

[MPR22]

Thanks everyone for coming out and supporting the STL region SCCA and for all of the kind words. Racing with everyone this weekend was a lot of fun and the competition was fierce as usual in the Spec Miata class. Congrats to Jim Drago on his two wins again and to Tom Scheiffler on his podium finishes. Overall, it was a fun weekend and I think I learned a lot about the car and setup, as well as giving feedback. Again, I appreciate Mr. Drago's, York's and both Scheiffler brother's help all weekend long working on the car and with some driver coaching. It was awesome to have Jesse Prather in the mix too, hope you got some footage of the drifting exhibition I was putting on   ! It was cool to get my first Major's pole and track record this weekend thanks to the East Street engine and good car setup. Only bad part about the weekend was getting involved in an incident in Sunday's T4 race. We were running second when Eric Prill decided to make a pass in turn 1 running into Steve Burkett in the Mazda RX-7. The collision caused Steve's car to spin and I assumed he would get the car stopped and that I could follow Eric Prill around the accident but his car rolled right in front of me giving me no where to go but into his quarter panel (sorry steve!).  Here's the video of what happened 

 

 

Hopefully next year we can get more SM's out to Gateway. Hope to see everyone at Pueblo or Mid-Ohio in the coming weeks! 

 

-Max

Well that just sucked.  Not sure where the red production car thought he was going to stuff that car but he did a fine job of ruining your race. 

[EPrill]

My sincere apologies to Max for getting collected in what was an avoidable incident. He was an innocent bystander. I believed Steve was giving me the lane and when it became apparent that he was not, there was no place to go and no way to stop--too much closing speed. I talked to Steve before leaving the track and he confirmed that he never knew I was there and that it wasn't until later that he found out that it was my car that was at the apex and not Max's as he initially believed. Certainly, if I could have read Steve's mind, I would have tucked in behind. I accept my share of fault there and am sorry to both Steve and Max that it happened. Not at all my style.

Steve noted that he ended up in the tire wall on Saturday because he thought another driver saw him coming and that person moved over on him. This weekend's grouping had a huge speed disparity. I passed (lapped) 42 cars in Saturday's 25-minute race. That's a lot in 21 laps on a 1.6-mile course.

Max - I wish we had met under better circumstances. I hope the repairs come together for Pueblo.

[Ron Alan]

^^^How all incidents should be handled...own up. Shit happens...hopefully only once

 

"Sh+t my father said"....If you were a robot, we would just turn you off, but you are only human and humans make mistakes!

[Jim Drago]

Figured out how to edit my video.. This is from Sunday. Didn't have video from Saturday. A few have asked if I was "managing a gap" or if I was driving hard..  You be the judge

 

[Bench Racer]

Before I watch the video, your a great driver but not that great than under said conditions you could manage the gap. On Sat. and Sun. I documented each lap time for you and for Tom. Started out Sun. with you and Steve, but that didn't last long. Sorry Steve.  Now on to the video.

[Bench Racer]

Thanks for the ride.  Early on possible, when red showed up, nope. Hands told what hands tell, rpm would have been great.  

[Jesse Prather]

Nice drive Jim!

[Danny Steyn]

Major Tom to ground control ... Here is my Sunday video.

https://youtu.be/o_Xa70w1S5w

Really nice drive Tom - very smooth. No hint of overdriving.

 

Based on what you experienced, what are your feelings regarding parity, at least at this one track?