62 replies to this topic

[Bench Racer]

Dude, were all happy yer back and healthy. BUT, I now remember what was missing while you were gone, baiting.

[Johnny D]

[Bench Racer]

Great race guys.

 

1 SM 48 Justin Hille 1:28.638

2 SM 76 Jordan Smart 1:28.181

3 SM 44 Tyler Kicera 1:28.658

4 SM 72 Voytek Burdzy 1:28.929

5 SM 9 Michael Novak 1:29.042

6 SM 27 Max Nufer 1:28.852

7 SM 2 Jim Drago 1:28.980

8 SM 16 Jonathan Davis 1:29.355

9 SM 77 Alex Piku 1:29.904

10 SM 85 Daniel Setili 1:30.596
 

[Johnny D]

Congrats to Justin!!
Smart
Kicers
New track record ?? Jordon Smart 1:28.181 (unofficial results)

J~

[Bench Racer]

Congrats to Justin!!
Smart
Kicers Kicera 
New track record ?? Jordon Smart 1:28.181 (unofficial results)

J~

[Tom Scheifler]

Congrats to Justin, Jordan and Tyler.
That 1:28.18 is crazy fast. And he backed it up with a couple 1:28.2s and several others under the old track tecord.

[Johnny D]

Official, Congrats to Smart on a new track record.
http://cdn.growasset....pdf?1471128630

J~

[Jim Drago]

Congrats to justin, Jordan and Tyler.
Lots of talk about pulling people in for contact.. Once again nothing.

Track is tough, getting grips.. Feel like I'm pretty close now finally.. Tough place to be consistent. Hopefully we will be closer tomorrow... Thanks to Jordan for sharing a little video.. Typical deal.. When not running fast.. You over drive.

In other news .. Not so much fun in T 4.. Started dfl.. Car went into full rock pedal no brakes in the race today .. Straight off and right into guard rail. Not much damage to car.. Very scary.. I didn't put tow hooks on.. So the brilliant tow truck driver hooked up to my sway bar... Ripped it and all the brackets off the car What BS! Going to disconnect and snd run no bar and see if I can race it tomorrow

[Johnny D]

How you say it and why you should you know ?

[Tyler Kicera]

The track is a blast and a real challenge. I'm hanging on to the locals and not far off. It's very busy and a real workout.

The start was crazy with 4 wide action through turn 1. Jim nudged me off on the first lap which dropped me back to 8th or so. He did point me by when I caught back up to him which was a good move on his part but still ruined my race. I made it back to third but, after battling with Novak for a couple of laps, was just too far behind Jordan and Justin to be a threat.

Congrats to Justin on the win and Jordan on the lap record. The good news is that I've moved up on the grid with a qualifying session still to go in the AM.

[Bench Racer]

Sunday Q times.

 

Seems to be 3 first timers at Grattan are quick study.

 

1 SM 44 Tyler Kicera         1:27.978
2 SM 27 Max Nufer            1:27.995
3 SM 48 Justin Hille           1:28.202
4 SM 9 Michael Novak       1:28.601
5 SM 16 Jonathan Davis    1:28.645
6 SM 2 Jim Drago              1:28.672
7 SM 77 Alex Piku             1:28.819
8 SM 72 Voytek Burdzy     1:28.826
9 SM 55 Chris Williams     1:29.036
10 SM 97 Erik Stearns      1:29.366
 

[Tyler Kicera]

I'll be live streaming again from onboard.

 

http://youtu.be/p044folq0GU

[Bench Racer]

Congrats to all on the final Majors of the year.

 

1 SM 44 Tyler Kicera 1:28.103
2 SM 27 Max Nufer 1:27.921
3 SM 48 Justin Hille 1:28.029        

4 SM 76 Jordan Smart 1:27.913     Out did your own yesterdays 1:28.181 track record!!!
5 SM 2 Jim Drago 1:28.051
6 SM 16 Jonathan Davis 1:28.795
7 SM 9 Michael Novak 1:29.069
8 SM 55 Chris Williams 1:29.303
9 SM 97 Erik Stearns 1:29.738
10 SM 04 Spencer Rutherford 1:29.855

 

See ya'll at the Runoffs
 

[Johnny D]

From the announcer until we hear the guys story. (Thank you announcer)

Lap 19 Kicera pushes Hille past Nufer for the lead on the front straight. Hille goes wide in Turn 1 and falls back to 5th. It's now Kicer and then Nufer.

White flag - Nufer gets a run on Kicera. Kicera protects T1 and the two run side-by-side through T1. Smart gets a run on Nufer and gets along side in T2. Nufer holds P2 in T3.

Kicera pulling away on final lap. Smart goes deep into T8 for second but overcooks it. It's Kicera, Nufer, Hille!

[Steve Scheifler]

I cannot overstate how impressed I am with the young men who owned this weekend! I guess Tyler had the points championship wrapped up on Saturday but added a big exclamation point with his performances today, and did it at a very technical track that he had never before driven (as I understand it). It was also the first time at Grattan for Max and he backed up his impressive MidO debut with a very strong weekend, leading much of the race and finishing second, not to mention missing the new track record by just 0.008, more than a full second under the old one. Then there's Jordan Smart who finished 2nd yesterday and 4th today, and turned an amazing number of very fast laps all weekend. I've never met Jordan but from what I saw it looks like he is doing this old-school with a pickup truck, an open trailer, himself for crew, and a lot of determination and talent. Anyone who hasn't tried to compete at this level that way only thinks they know what it's like.

Justin may not be the old guy, yet, but as always he was very impressive with the win on Saturday and a 3rd today, in contention to the last lap.

And I'm told it was intense and clean up front today. Kudos to all four!!

Jim Drago IS the old dog of the pack but showed that he can still learn a new track in a weekend as well. He may not have finished where he wanted but running 0.8 under the old track record and within .1 or so of the new one must be satisfying.

[Johnny D]

Congrats to Tyler Kicera, on his second-consecutive Nationwide Points Championship and Northeast Conference Championship!!
J~

http://www.scca.com/videos/2029060

[NRE]

Grattan is one heck of a track! It's almost like a roller coaster ride. We were so close to pole and Kicera got us on the last lap. I started second and tried to push Kicera as much as I could up until  I got around him. We worked together and created a pretty decent gap and then towards the end of the race, the battle for the lead began. It was some very close, but clean racing. It was awesome. That track is a workout and requires every bit of physical and mental ability you have. Congrats to Tyler, Justin Hille and Jordan Smart for driving such a good race. A HUGE thanks to Steve and Tom Scheifler for letting us use their wheels and tires for Sunday's qualifying and race. Another big thanks to Jim Drago and the East Street team for all of the set up help and driving advice. I cannot wait to get to battle all of these talented guys again at Mid Ohio during the Runoffs for the Spec Miata national championship! It's been a great season running the SCCA majors tour in both the Mid-States and Northern conferences. 

 

-Max

[JRHille]

This year's Major at Grattan turned out to be an awesome event for SM.  Despite there only being 23 cars on the grid, it was one of the most intense races I have had all year, and I think a few others would agree.  A good chunk of drivers were under the track record and just kept getting faster all weekend.  I will let Jim, Tyler, etc, speak for themselves, but if you want to race one of the most interesting tracks in the country, come to Grattan. 

 

Congrats to Tyler for the well deserved win on Sunday.  He did not have the fastest car on the track but he made the fewest mistakes and drove a smart race. Max Nufer also drove exceptionally well.  He, along with a few other young SM drivers are way beyond their years on and off track.  It is awesome to see Novak giving a 16 year old shit, and the 16 year old dishing it right back

 

Competitive ego aside, I am so happy for my buddy Jordan for running as well as he did this weekend.  He really got in my head during Saturdays race as he chipped away at a pretty large gap, running consistently a half second a lap better than anyone else on track, and probably would have won the race had he not run out of fuel.  I think it's safe to say he was the trail blazer for the increase in competition on Sunday, when everyone matched his times.  He was also able to hold onto his track record set on Saturday, besting it by a couple tenths on Sunday. He is always thanking me for helping him to go faster, but this weekend I need to thank him!!

 

My race today was looking pretty good despite a few missed 2-3 shifts.  Tyler was pushing me to the lead into turn 1, and I just over-cooked it.  As soon as I released the brake to turn in the car got loose, almost perpendicular to the track.  I was able to save it and stay on track, but I hit the marbles on the outside and pushed off into the grass to return in 5th.   I ran the last 4 laps very close to the new record to catch back up to the group.  On the last lap  Nufer and Jordan were fighting, and Tyler just doing his thing, there was no chance at getting back to the lead.

 

I think we were all pretty tired at the end of this race.  There is 1 corner on the track where we are pulling over 1.8G, and the steering effort is very high on the sealer. I think the norm in these cars is like 1.5?

 

I hope Grattan is on the schedule for next year, and I hope more of you show up!  fudge the bucket list tracks!

[Bench Racer]

  It is awesome to see Novak giving a 16 year old shit, and the 16 year old dishing it right back

 

I can visualize the race, but this ^ would have been worth the trip.

[davew]

The ups and downs of Grattans race course, mirrored the ups and downs of our weekend.

 

Paul Kwiecinski entered the race as the only T3 Global cup car running the event. Unfortunately he spun early in the first race and got hit by another car and broke a suspension upright. Would have been an easy fix if I had the part We need to get some more of these cars out in club racing. Paul had already clinched the Northern Conference Championship with wins at Blackhawk and Road America.

 

Scott Mooney drove my T4 MX5 to a second place finish on Saturday. This was his first podium finish at the Majors level.

 

Voytek could not keep up with the kids in SM. But no one could. A strong 4th on Saturday was all he could do. After a short delay to the start of the race on Sunday, we started his motor and the dash light up with no alternator output. I quickly checked connections, but the grid was moving. The voltage kept dropping and after 17 minutes the engine died from lack of moving electrons. Now we know how long you can race without an alternator.

 

We all thought we had lost the Northern Conference Championship to a bad alternator. Thanks to the guys out front who bested Justin on Sunday, when the points and drops where calculated, Voytek won the Conference Championship by 3 points.

 

And, we had 8 cars at Road America for the Midwestern Council event. Where we won 6 more races.

 

It was great to finally meet Tyler and his family/crew. Great people.

 

Since Voytek doesn't post here, I will thank the crew for him, Ann, Ben, Jason, Bob, Jacob (the new guy), Kyle, Adam and Bentley. Also Thanks to Chris Haldeman of X-Factor racing for the great motors. First time in 8 years that Voytek said he was equal on power to everyone else.

 

Off to Road America on Thursday for the Double Regional (or whatever they call them).

 

See you all at Mid Ohio next month.

Dave