25 replies to this topic

[Johnny D]

NAPA VALLEY, CA (August 16, 2016) Registration for the longest endurance road race in North America will open on Friday August 19 at 9am PST. Be part of 14th annual running of the NASA 25hrs of Thunderhill presented by Hawk Performance on December 3-4, 2016.

Will the Flying Lizard Audi sponsored by Toyo Tires be back to defend the title or will we have a new champion for 2016? If you missed the 2015 NASA 25hrs please check out a documentary entitled “Survive the 25” which originally premiered on the Mav TV network. It chronicles the experiences of 4 race teams competing in the longest endurance race in North America held each December at Thunderhill Raceway Park in Willows, California. You can watch the show in its entirety by going to .

Sign up for the hardest race you will ever run. Just finishing this race is a victory by itself. The 25hrs will challenge you, teach you, make you better, make your team better, and most of all give you some amazing memories of a unique accomplishment.

For more information on the 25 Hours of Thunderhill presented by Hawk Performance, please visit www.nasa25hour.com

The National Auto Sport Association (NASA) was formed in 1991 with the premise of delivering high-quality motorsports events to enthusiasts at major racing venues throughout the nation. NASA has created programs that allow owners of both racecars and high-performance street-driven vehicles to enjoy the full performance capabilities of their cars in a controlled professionally managed environment. NASA offers many different programs that will allow you to enjoy motorsports on a number of different levels, including our High Performance Driving Events (HPDE), Rally Sport, Time Trial, NASA-X and Competition Racing programs.

[Johnny D]

Toyo Tires® Continues On-Site Hospitality and Support of the 25-Hours of Thunderhill™

 

October 20, 2016

 

Toyo Tires® Continues On-Site Hospitality and Support of the 25-Hours of Thunderhill™

The Longest Endurance Road Race in North America

 

CYPRESS, CA – Toyo Tires® continues its support of amateur road racing with VIP track services and an on-site hospitality area at the 25-Hours of Thunderhillâ„¢, the longest endurance road race in North America.  This year’s race will take place December 3-4 at Thunderhill Raceway Park in the rolling Northern California foothills.  Competitors using Toyo® Proxes® tires will enjoy access to the Toyo Tires hospitality area including meals on Friday (lunch and dinner), Saturday (breakfast, lunch, dinner and a midnight snack), and Sunday (breakfast and lunch).

 

Registered participants will also receive free mounting and balancing services from Thunderhill AIM Tire on all preorders and via trackside service at Thunderhill Raceway Park from December 2-4.  The program applies to racers using the Toyo Proxes® RS1â„¢ full-slick, the Proxes® RR DOT competition, the Proxes® R888â„¢ and the new Proxes® R888Râ„¢ tires in dry conditions; while the Proxes® R1Râ„¢ and Proxes® RA1â„¢ are approved for wet use.

 

“Toyo Tires continues to demonstrate the importance they place on the road racing community", said Jeremy Croiset, NASA Director of Business Development. "This VIP program has quickly become a staple at the biggest pro-am endurance race in North America drawing interest from nearly every team in the paddock and we're thrilled Toyo Tires is hosting it again this year."

 

This is the 14th year Toyo Tires has been the Official Tire of NASA and the fifth year the company has provided VIP track services to support racers in the 25-Hours of Thunderhill.

 

“We continue to be ‘all in’ with our unrivaled support of the 25-Hours,” said Marc Sanzenbacher, senior manager, motorsports, Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp.  “Amateur road racing represents the heart and soul of our Proxes competition line of tires.  We are proud to support our loyal race teams in their quest to ‘Survive the 25’.”

Space for this special program is limited.  Racers must register for the VIP hospitality at toyotires.com/races-and-places/racer-direct-program and tire purchases must be made through one of the following dealers by November 21.

 

AIM Tire.
Ron Cortez
(707) 938-9193
aimtires@aol.com

Thunderhill AIM Tire
Jim Thompson
(530) 519-2201
jim@thunderhill.com

To learn more about the 25-Hours of Thunderhill, check out http://nasa25hour.com/.  For more information about the Toyo Tires contingency offered for NASA competitors, go to https://www.nasapror...m/contingencies.

[Johnny D]

NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill presented by Hawk Performance is Attracting Top Entries and Drivers

Herta, Unser Jr., Braun, van Overbeek, Law, von Moltke, McQuarrie will race

 

https://nasaproracin...ies_and_drivers

 

NAPA VALLEY, Calif., (Nov. 8, 2016) - The 14th edition of the NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill presented by Hawk Performance is getting top entries and drivers for the twice-around-the-clock plus one-hour race to run December 3-4.

 

With the race a month away the field for the NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill presented by Hawk Performance is filling with a variety of top entries in each class and a who's who of drivers from IndyCar to IMSA.

 

Flying Lizard Motorsports is returning to defend its overall win in 2015 with their Audi R8 LMS Ultra on Toyo tires with drivers Darren Law, Johannes van Overbeek, Dion von Moltke and Mike Hedlund.

 

"The 25 is just a really fun event," Darren Law said. "It's is low pressure, kind of old school racing. We are in one of the fastest cars so you are constantly just flying by other drivers. It takes a lot of patience and race craft to pick the right time to go or not go when passing the other cars, sometimes 20 a lap. It is really a blast out there, but you have to be extra careful because of the large difference in the closing speeds and skill levels of the drivers. It also has a huge range of changing conditions from warm to cold from wet to dry, light to dark, you never know what you are going to get and you will probably get all of those conditions and more."

 

The Lizard team uses the 25 as a testing ground for Toyo tires.

 

"The 25 hour is an important year-long wrap up for us after a season of development with Toyo," Law continued. "We have been working on different constructions, different compounds as well as testing through different temperature ranges and track conditions. This event will provide the critical data in a variety of race conditions over an extended period of time. Race conditions are always different than testing and we hope to prove that the work we have done all season has paid off and going in the right direction."

 

Ryno Racing is returning to the 25 with their Ginetta G57, the same LMP3 car the team ran last year, but with added Chevrolet horsepower, LMP2 aero and traction control. Team owner Ryan Carpenter will be driving with IndyCar team owner Bryan Herta and his son Colton Herta along with IMSA WeatherTech Series competitors Colin Braun and Parker Chase.

 

"Last year's race was a tough one," Braun said. "Ryno Racing did a fantastic job with all the preparation and we showed we had a fast car. Unfortunately Ryan had a little incident in the last corner and spun across the track into the inside wall and the car was fairly damaged. It was a bummer because there are many places you can get away with a little mistake at Thunderhill, but the one place you really cannot is that corner. It was just such a big consequence for a tiny mistake. But we showed we had a fast car. I really enjoy the race because it reminds you of what this sport is all about. Very passionate people all out racing to just race, very bare and raw, which is so cool. I feel it refreshes me on why racing and sports car racing is such an amazing sport! Looking around the paddock and pit lane at 2 a.m. is just amazing!"

 

Braun started his racing career in the NASA Formula Renault series and is looking forward to driving with Carpenter and the Herta's.

"Very excited about our driver line-up this year," he continued. "Having Ryan with us again is going to be great, we all learned a lot from 2015 to put towards this year so that experience will be great. And to have Bryan and Colton join us will be awesome.  Bryan's experience and knowledge will be invaluable. Colton looks to be on the path to stardom, so it will be neat to get to race alongside both of them. I have a huge respect and understanding of how cool it is to work with your father as well, since my dad has been engineering my IMSA car at CORE for the past year. I am glad those guys will be able to race as a father/son duo. Really excited!"

 

Fantasy Junction with Winding Road Racing is bringing the Riley built Daytona Prototype to Thunder Hill. Driving the DP car will be Spencer Trenery who has IMSA experience as well as multi-time Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona starter Rob Gewirtz, Mazda MX-5 Cup champion driver Mark Drennan and Darrell Anderson who was second overall at the 25 in 2015. 

"We have fielded teams in nearly every 12 and 25 hour NASA races since their inception," Trenery said. "Generally in E1 and E3 and ESR, and we have been on the podium many times. In 2014, I finished second overall and first in ES with the Award Racing Porsche. We are running a Daytona Prototype that we have converted from 5.0L to 6.2L, added a sixth gear, and some significant downforce. We are looking forward to a very competitive race next month."

 

Professional drivers listed on the entry include: Bryan Herta, Colton Herta, Ryan Eversley, Al Unser Jr., Kyle Marcelli, Randy Pobst, Burt Frisselle, Brian Frisselle, Dion von Moltke, Colin Braun, Johannes van Overbeek, Darren Law, Tommy Sadler, Sean Rayhall, Darren Law, Tyler McQuarrie, Kelly Collins, Taz Harvey, with more expected.

More information can be found on the NASA 25 Hours of Thunderhill web site http://nasa25hour.com/.

For additional information, please contact NASA Championships Media Director, Kyle Chura at kyle@kcapr.com or (248) 821-0468.  More detail can be found at nasaproracing.com or nasachampionships.com.

[Alberto]

Are you racing it this year, John?

[Johnny D]

No my daughter's due with my 2nd granddaughter like Dec 8th and she's early, and wants me to take care my 1st one, so go have Thanksgiving and then hang out...

 

Would if I could otherwise, good times.

 

J~

[Johnny D]

Mazda Motorsports Thunderhill 25 Hour Preview

  

- Mazda Dealers Return To Annual Endurance Challenge -

 

IRVINE, Calif. (November 30, 2016) – While it would be easy to assume that anyone in the car business is a car enthusiast, it’s not necessarily true.  But at Mazda, even the company’s dealer partners live the “Driving Matters” lifestyle, with many of them participating in both amateur and professional racing activities in their spare time. For the fourth time in four years, Mazda Senior Vice President Robert Davis will be orchestrating Mazda’s multi-car Mazda MX-5 Cup effort in the longest endurance race in North America, at this weekend’s 25 Hours of Thunderhill, presented by Hawk Performance, in Willows, Calif. In true Mazda fashion, the company will participate with Mazda dealers at the wheel, and Mazda employees volunteering their weekend to crew the cars.

 

Robert Davis, Senior Vice-President, Mazda North American Operations (MNAO), said, “No one visits Thunderhill in December for the weather. This race separates the racers from the posers. It is 25 hours of decision making behind the wheel and behind pit wall. We started this four years ago as a fun factory guy versus dealer challenge, and now it has evolved into an amazing team effort with some of our greatest ambassadors, testing our latest production-based racecars, with Mazda employees behind the pit wall. We’re pleased to have Scott Clark, the COO from Michelin, joining us this year, further supporting the long and deep Mazda Michelin/BFG relationship. The goal this weekend is to go fast, have fun, and not freeze to death.”

Since this time last year, Mazda Motorsports and Long Road Racing have built and sold over 120 of the newest-generation 2016 Global MX-5 Cup cars. The Thunderhill team will consist of three Mazda MX-5 Cup racecars, the exact cars that debuted at Thunderhill last year.

 

The Mazda driver line-up is as follows:

 

Taz Harvey                 Dublin Mazda (Dublin, Calif.)

 

Richard Fisher           Autobarn Mazda (Chicago, Ill.)

 

Spencer Brockman    Mazda of Milford (Milford, Mass.)

 

Michael Brockman    Mazda of Milford (Milford, Mass.)

 

Mark Abouzeid          Chico Mazda (Chico, Calif.)

 

Ben Robertaccio       Morrie's Mazda (Minnetonka, Minn.)

 

CJ Wilson                   CJ Wilson Mazda (Chicago, Ill.)

 

Camden Jones          Velocity Mazda (Tyler, Texas)

 

Tom Bogar                 Autex Mazda (Keene, N.H.)

 

Scott Clark                Michelin/BFG

 

Liam Dwyer               Freedom Autosport

 

Stevan McAleer         Freedom Autosport

 

The race will be livestreamed at www.MazdaLive.com starting at 11:00 a.m. (Pacific) on Saturday, December 3.  The team will post updates to both Twitter and Facebook during the race. #Mazda #MazdaMotorsports #25HoursofThunderhill

[Johnny D]

A pretty good weekend for some...

 

Ron did it a again

Charlie finished pretty dawn good.

Matt did it

Todd T did very well

Al A and Dion J made it intesting for 2nd

Mark D (started in one car and finished in another? Not sure)

 

Quite a few stories here, fill me in.

 

J~

[Johnny D]

https://nasaspeed.ne...wk-performance/

 

J~

[Ron Alan]

Another fantastic, fun, stressful, exhilarated and frustrating weekend...that should about cover it!

 

Apparently I'm a slow learner because after last year with 2 cars I decided to take 3 this year! Same 2 E3 cars as last year and I built a 99 with a motor swap to compete in E1(PTC).

 

My 99 E3 car(Last years winner) had a solid lineup of local talent...Andrew Holifield, Tupper Hull, Tim Weaver and David Bigger...and from the beginning it looked like it was going to be a battle again between it and the Integra(P2 last year). Unfortunately the Acura lost a motor early and retired. At about the 8hr mark we were at the tail end of a 6-7 car pack going into turn 8(high speed no lift for us)when one of the factory cup cars(CJ Wilson) had a moment with a limping Porsche and another Mx5 car and spun mid track stopping perpendicular. All my driver could see was brake lights, cars diving left and right, and headlights. He stayed right following a Daytona Prototype which had much better brakes...locked up because he was going to rear end the DP which barely avoided the cup car. He wasn't so lucky as his skidding path caught the front right corner of the MX5 with our front left. With 1.5" of toe in and body parts falling off he made it back to the pits. 50 minutes later the car rolled back out with a lot of zip ties, screws and red duct tape! Made it back to P3 but started losing a cylinder about sunrise.  It started popping when the permanent cam sensor fix failed. We soldered in a new one and went back out on 3 cylinders...motor ventilated with about 3 hours to go

 

Meanwhile my little 1.6 car that could just kept spinning laps and was running P2. Before sunrise the P1 car at the time lost a diff which allowed us a 6 lap lead. My drivers never looked back, stayed out of trouble, and brought the car home to Win their first ever 25Hr class championship! I couldn't be more excited for them! Drivers were Todd Tagget, Ray Meister, Duke Zander and Ward Rose! Congratulations guys!! 

To clarify, my name is listed as a driver but I did not drive. NASA paper work issue!

 

The E1 Miata actually ran the most flawless race of all 3 cars and was a podium car had I understood a little more about brakes!

I think we ended up 6th in the most subscribed and competitive class but only 10 laps out of 3rd after changing front pads twice unexpectedly

Matt Cresci joined Darin Polsley, Dan Cooper, and Phillip Holifield(last years 3 of 4 winning drivers in E3) to bring the car home with ZERO body contact! There may be a part of the front splitter missing after some deep in the grass rabbit chasing but these guys are real pros in staying out of trouble while maintaining pace. In a 12/1 class(HP/WT)NASA would only allow me 13.6/1. We got walked in a straight line but everything else we were close. The junkyard 2.4 liter Chevy motor(sorry Mazda!)never blinked and really surprised us all.

We will come back next year with some improvements for sure!!

 

Since I've been involved in doing this race it has always been a family affair! It would never be possible if drivers, friends,family and volunteers didnt jump in with help prior to and during the race! I cant thank everyone enough who stepped up and contributed to the teams success...and though my name may be out front it has never been about me nor will it. Everyone involved shares a piece of that success and I couldn't be more proud of the group of people who made this all possible.

[Bench Racer]

Classy Dude, that Ron fellow.

[Ron Alan]

Thanks David!

 

Congrats as well to Mark Drennan and Mason Fillipi who were drivers in the winning E1 car as well as Charlie Hayes who was behind the wheel of the P3 overall Porsche with Flying Lizards!

[Alberto]

Congrats Ron and team!

[Danny Steyn]

Thanks for a great report Ron, and congrats on another fine showing. Pray tell, what was the unexpected brake issue that you experienced in your E1 car?

[Ron Alan]

Thanks Danny!

 

Early on in my 25hr participation days I was told many(in Miatas)run the Raybestos ST43..."they will last the whole race and then the next sprint season!" This proved to be true last year as both cars made it no problem. So, I ran the same pads on all 3 cars again! The E1 Miata was basically a SM(set up)with a little heavier springs...otherwise stock Miata everything(except motor and ecu) and about 40lbs less weight. 

 

For the test day I actually put on the complete set of USED pads and rotors form last years winning E3 car(99). We put about 2-3 more hours on those pads...took them off and installed all new pads and rotors for the race...on all 3 cars! The 99 and 90 E3 cars finished the race no problem!

 

About the 10-11 hr mark as we were getting ready to change tires my driver radioed in to say the brakes may be done...I looked at my crew chief and said "no way". Sure enough we were down to the backing plate...WTF!!! Basically caught off guard and not ready to do this the used pads and rotors(20%) were laying there from the test day so we threw those back on to just get back out. 2 hours later during a yellow we changed those brakes to a set of new rotors and G-Loc sprint pads(63610?). BTW...this was all fronts...the rears still looked new! After 7 hours those pads were to the backing plate and we changed AGAIN! Thank god I had the sprint stuff in my trailer.

All and all I think these 3 changes cost us about 15-20 laps on track We finished 10 laps behind P3!

 

So here are the things that may have contributed to our problem...would love any expert feedback because I'm certainly not one!

 

1. Difference between the 99 E3 car and the 99 E1 car was about 4 seconds per lap average. The increased speed and longer brake zones make that big of a difference?

2. I had a set of Brembo slotted/drilled rotors on the E1 car vs just stock rotors...this is what i suspect the most may have been the problem? Zero experience with anything other than stock but I thought they may run cooler so why not?

3. Huge brake bias problem in the stock system? Rear pads are still more than 1/2 life.

4. My drivers talked about a weird feeling in the car under braking...almost like the car was still pushing...they would release the brake and the car would lurch forward in certain situations?? They found going to the clutch and brake helped this a little. I sent off a note to the gentleman who helped me with the motor swap about this and this was his reply(again, i'm clueless so does this make sense?)

 

"That is likely a result of what GM calls the Throttle Follower. They do this to make lift throttle situations smooth for daily driven cars. No sudden engine braking. This can be adjusted in the tune. This ties into your elevated brake pad wear. 

 

One more thing that must be considered is the brake booster check valve. It is located in the piece of rubber hose that used to go from the brake booster to the metal tube across the firewall. If that check valve is missing you are essentially turning the entire brake booster into part of the intake manifold. As the brake pedal is released it creates a momentary huge vacuum leak until the brake pedal reaches the upper stop. If the exhaust is quiet enough, you might even hear weird air wooshing noises coming from the brake pedal area."

 

Love any feedback!

[Rob Burgoon]

Thanks Danny!

 

Early on in my 25hr participation days I was told many(in Miatas)run the Raybestos ST43..."they will last the whole race and then the next sprint season!" This proved to be true last year as both cars made it no problem. So, I ran the same pads on all 3 cars again! The E1 Miata was basically a SM(set up)with a little heavier springs...otherwise stock Miata everything(except motor and ecu) and about 40lbs less weight. 

 

For the test day I actually put on the complete set of USED pads and rotors form last years winning E3 car(99). We put about 2-3 more hours on those pads...took them off and installed all new pads and rotors for the race...on all 3 cars! The 99 and 90 E3 cars finished the race no problem!

 

About the 10-11 hr mark as we were getting ready to change tires my driver radioed in to say the brakes may be done...I looked at my crew chief and said "no way". Sure enough we were down to the backing plate...WTF!!! Basically caught off guard and not ready to do this the used pads and rotors(20%) were laying there from the test day so we threw those back on to just get back out. 2 hours later during a yellow we changed those brakes to a set of new rotors and G-Loc sprint pads(63610?). BTW...this was all fronts...the rears still looked new! After 7 hours those pads were to the backing plate and we changed AGAIN! Thank god I had the sprint stuff in my trailer.

All and all I think these 3 changes cost us about 15-20 laps on track We finished 10 laps behind P3!

 

So here are the things that may have contributed to our problem...would love any expert feedback because I'm certainly not one!

 

1. Difference between the 99 E3 car and the 99 E1 car was about 4 seconds per lap average. The increased speed and longer brake zones make that big of a difference?

2. I had a set of Brembo slotted/drilled rotors on the E1 car vs just stock rotors...this is what i suspect the most may have been the problem? Zero experience with anything other than stock but I thought they may run cooler so why not?

3. Huge brake bias problem in the stock system? Rear pads are still more than 1/2 life.

4. My drivers talked about a weird feeling in the car under braking...almost like the car was still pushing...they would release the brake and the car would lurch forward in certain situations?? They found going to the clutch and brake helped this a little. I sent off a note to the gentleman who helped me with the motor swap about this and this was his reply(again, i'm clueless so does this make sense?)

 

"That is likely a result of what GM calls the Throttle Follower. They do this to make lift throttle situations smooth for daily driven cars. No sudden engine braking. This can be adjusted in the tune. This ties into your elevated brake pad wear. 

 

One more thing that must be considered is the brake booster check valve. It is located in the piece of rubber hose that used to go from the brake booster to the metal tube across the firewall. If that check valve is missing you are essentially turning the entire brake booster into part of the intake manifold. As the brake pedal is released it creates a momentary huge vacuum leak until the brake pedal reaches the upper stop. If the exhaust is quiet enough, you might even hear weird air wooshing noises coming from the brake pedal area."

 

Love any feedback!

 

I've heard of cars hanging onto revs for emissions reasons.  I think my s2000 might be doing that.

[Duane Polsley]

[attachment=237186:IMG957664 (1).jpg]

[Johnny D]

IMG957664 (1).jpg

 

Did they use ducts to the rotors and would that of helped ?

J~

[Duane Polsley]

Did they use ducts to the rotors and would that of helped ?

J~

Don't think so.  Ron did a write up on his cars above. Didn't mention ducting the brakes.  May have helped but probably not enough to get 15 hours more out of them.

[Ron Alan]

Duane...any idea of a time stamp on that picture? Because that could be the original pads or the G-Loc pads early in the morning?

[Duane Polsley]

Duane...any idea of a time stamp on that picture? Because that could be the original pads or the G-Loc pads early in the morning?

pm sent