118 replies to this topic

[Jim Drago]

T4 was a fun race.. No dings or dents and I think I will be able to drive the car out of tech in the morning.  We were close.. P2.. just didnt have the juice on the straights to match the BRZ, but that is what happens in mixed car racing, we knew this going in.  Congrats to Oscar Jackson on the win, he drove a great race.

[B(Kuch)Kucera45]

^ congrats Jim great job !

[Johnny D]

Congrats to Jim and Matt in EP !! nice jobs guys.

J~

[Tom Scheifler]

Best wishes to everyone Saturday for a clean and safe race!

[Steve Scheifler]

Looking at the grid. Wow! Is this the deepest field ever? Even with some of the usual suspects at the Glen, I think it may be the deepest/closest field I've ever seen. It seems that in every race Friday multiple drivers have been under the track record, some by a lot. Conditions are going to be spectacular this morning and we just may see the seemingly impossible, 1:39s.

How many will turn a lap under Justin's 1:41.227 from last month? My guess is 16, with the fastest at 1:40.2

Good luck to all, I'm looking forward to watching an epic battle and the best show of the event!

[Jim Drago]

I'm going to stream my in car if anyone wants the link...

http://www.ustream.t...nel/4kyPyv8eqbC 

[Danny Steyn]

Good luck to all the Spec Miata drivers at Mid Ohio today in what promises to be an EPIC RACE. Hope you all get to race to your limits in a clean fair race with ZERO drama. 

[Johnny D]

SM up next, it's going to be good !!

J~

[TJKearney]

Jim's onboard not live?

[Steve Scheifler]

Well, I was wrong on almost everything. Still a great race but Justin put together a near perfect week and just didn't give anyone else's much of a chance. Well done!

I think I'll pick Justin as the favorite at the shootout. It's time that our champion took that again and he has the tools.

[Jim Drago]

Congratulations to Justin Hille on a perfect weekend and his first National championship. Congratulations also Michael Carter and Elivan Gouliart for their podium positions. Also to V2, Rossini, Mickey Carter, SAC, East Street Racing and all the others who put time and effort in getting these cars to the front .

My race was very good, I slotted in behind Justin and ran there comfortably for awhile. Micheal got a little racy and made a move for second and I was able to hold him off. Justin opened a little gap, to my surprise I was able to close it back up. Justin settled into a pace but that speed had me under attack from Michael. I felt like my car was a bit better than Justin's mid race and about 3/4 of the way through I decided I need to go to the lead. Terrible decision on my part. I passed Justin into the keyhole. Justin countered with a great over under with Carter in tow and I went from first to third just that quick. They opened a slight gap and then I started reeling them back in. I was in a good spot.. I am not one to usually complain, but the driving of the lappers especially the 72 Henson car was reprehensible.. As we were lapping him at the end of the back straight.. With no car within 500 yards of him, he decided to race me and held me up from the end of the back straight all the way to thunder valley.. I put a wheel off there trying to get around him and didn't pass him until I entered the keyhole. His response... I was holding my line.. Yes, on a single line race track. I hope he enjoyed racing with the leaders as it ended my shot at a win and I still had a VERY good shot at that point.. Terrible sportsmanship .. There was a race going on and you were not in it, be courteous and get the hell out of the way. Several of the lappers were not very courteous at all.

That put me in contact with Elivan and my car started getting looser and looser in rights.. Got a power slide in one and that allowed Elivan to pass.. I was able to get back passed on the back straight and we both sailed it in under braking.. Slight contact put me off and brought it home I fourth, not what I hoped for, but not bad either.

Very proud of Justin and the week and season he put in. The right guy won and he is a very deserving champion.

[EMatoy]

Congrats to Hille, Carter and Goulart. Very well done. Justin It was great to be there with you all week and see you go faster and faster and then get the win.

[Danny Steyn]

So proud to be a Spec Miata racer. The way that Justin, Michael, Jim and Elivan raced brought credit to our class. Congrats to all! Sorry I was not there to race with you all.

[FTodaro]

I also want to say Congrats to Hille, Carter and Goulart, but i have to add a little on Hille, he and I started racing at the same time and were friends from the start. Wish that i could have developed like he has but that is another story. Justin was heavy into NASA as his dad was involved in NASA also. I told him after he was winning regularly, you need to go race SCCA, there is no other stage like it IMO. Well you all know the story from there, he has done a fantastic job of representing us and the class.

 

He had it covered all week, and handled it well. No real man Drama, we just did what we do at any other race, That is Race, have a bond fire, drink a few beers and enjoy the time we spend doing this stuff.

 

First class all the way Justin, proud you are the New National Champion..

 

As for the Old Farts club, after a difficult season and a half, I had a great race. Started 23rd driving my wagon as fast as I could, made it to 12th at one point, good racing with Caveman and Davis for most of the race, ended up in 16th after Novak and Voytek passed me on the last lap.

 

The best Part, I took the car home without a mark on it. Took it home the way I unloaded it off the trailer.

 

I am proud of the SM community at this runoffs. We saw some pretty disgusting examples of club racing in other classes on Friday. I am glad that all week and at the big race we put on a show of good racing and for the most part clean racing.

 

As I understand everyone passed Tech. so we did it all legit. Congrats to our class.

[SaulSpeedwell]

T4 was a fun race.. No dings or dents and I think I will be able to drive the car out of tech in the morning.  We were close.. P2.. just didnt have the juiceon the straights to match the BRZ.  Congrats to Oscar Jackson on the win, he drove a great race.

 

I am certain the only reason you lost is because of the superior lower CG of the Subaru boxer engine!  I'm headed out to buy a BRZ as soon as I finish this  message!  Seriously, great drive, it was clear you had a knife at a gunfight!

 

I didn't see the SM race live, but congratulations to Justin and all the rest for making SM look like the crown jewel of SCCA.  If you look at the former and current SM guys running other classes (and vise-versa), it is pretty clear that a large portion of the SM field can consider themselves accomplished drivers.

[Johnny D]

LEXINGTON, Ohio (September 24, 2016) – Justin Hille, of Ypsilanti, Michigan, took the lead at the start from the Tire Rack pole and led every lap to win Saturday’s Spec Miata race at the SCCA National Champion Runoffs presented by Garmin VIRB at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

 

Driving his No. 48 Hilltrux/Roush/V2/East Street Mazda Miata, Hille earned his first National Championship in his second Runoffs appearance after a 10th place Spec Miata finish last year in his Daytona debut.

 

Michael Carter, of Savannah, Georgia, finished second in the No. 08 Rossini Racing Products Mazda Miata while Elivan Goulart, of Shelton, Connecticut, finished third in the No. 70 S.A.C. Racing/SCDA1.com/Hoosier Mazda Miata.

 

Hille led a four-car breakaway throughout the race that included Carter, Goulart and Jim Drago in the No. 2 East Street Racing/Mazdaracers.com Mazda Miata.

 

Carter and Drago each took a shot at passing for the lead in the race’s closing laps, but in the end Hille held on to lead Carter across the finish line by .379 of a second.

 

“My car was falling off in the last five or six laps and I was doing everything I could to hang on to it,” Hille said. “I knew Michael was going to try and make a move somewhere. He got a perfect run near the end, set it up perfectly and I think we were side-by-side for a second on the straight. We made a little contact but it was still good, clean racing.”

 

Making his Runoffs debut, Carter ran third in the lead group of four for the majority of the race. He slipped through for second when Drago pulled alongside Hille on the back straight to challenge for the lead on lap 15.

 

“When Drago pulled to the inside to try for the lead I thought that I had a chance because I knew I wasn’t going to be able to clear Justin,” Carter said. “I was able to run in under braking, got behind Justin’s bumper and pushed him by, and I cleared Drago under braking. That was about it and I knew it was going to be a good race from there between me and Justin.”

 

Carter made his own back-straight move on Hille on the last lap of the race.

 

“I had been planning that move for the last seven laps,” Carter said. “I was just trying to get the best run I could possibly get out of the Keyhole. It was pretty much a perfect run, I was on Justin’s bumper and went to the outside in the esses. We were about even going into turn four, but I guess I got in the marbles outside the groove, and that was about it. That was my only chance.”

 

Elivan came out on top of a tussle with Drago with two laps to go when the two came together in the Mid-Ohio esses.

 

“My car was phenomenal under braking but unfortunately we were a little down on power,” Goulart said. “I was able to make that up under braking but Drago was a bit stouter down the straight. Once I got by him for third my goal was to keep him behind me. At the end, we both turned in for the corner, made slight contact, but we were able to keep it going, keep it on the track and we made it through for a podium finish.”

 

Drago finished fourth while Alex Bolanos charged from 13th on the grid to finish fifth in his No. 57 Autotechnik/G-Loc/Apex Alignment Mazda Miata.

 

Kyle Webb won the Sunoco Hard Charger award for improving a race-high 12 positions to finish 12th in his No. 99 Nova Brown Notforgotten/ESR Mazda Miata.

 

The 53rd SCCA National Championship Runoffs presented by Garmin VIRB, the Pinnacle of American Motorsports, crowns Sports Car Club of America’s Club Racing National Champions this year at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, from Friday, September 23 through Sunday, September 25.

 

While the live broadcast of all 28 National Championships is available live at SCCA.com, each race will be on demand in the coming weeks.

[Johnny D]

Race Time Card

http://cdn.growasset....pdf?1474736237

 

Race Results

http://cdn.growasset....pdf?1474736238

 

Race Lap Chart

http://cdn.growasset....pdf?1474736238

J~

[Caveman-kwebb99]

Big congrats to Justin Hille Heil!  great week and go win us a shootout!  Wow and congrats to all the young guys in this class, great clean racing and all showed maturity beyond their years!!!!

 

Congrats to Carter and E.G.  on the podium!  So glad we showed the world that Spec Miata is where the real racing is, with 20+ cars within 1 second on grid, and super hard clean racing!  

 

We sure made a case against the sealed engine BS we have been hearing for years! NO other class has even close to the number of cars within 1 second we did!!!!  Congrats to the SMAC, SCCA, MAZDA, and this class for that achievment!

 

Jim was p1 in the over 40 division!!! and a hell of a weekend for and old timer!  The kids might be here to stay unless they go pro quickly, fingers crossed lol!

 

I feel pretty good about my efforts with a brand new unproven car, took Hard Charger Award, as well as fastest Trap Speed in the race of 115.5something,  It was a very fun race and never have I had to race that hard for p12!!!!  

[Tom Sager]

Congratulations Justin on a well earned and deserved championship.  Running up front for the entire race like that with everyone gunning for you is added pressure and you showed a champion's command all week.  Very well done.  MIchael Carter, you are every bit as talented as the competitors that were around you and you no doubt have a fantastic racing career ahead of you in whatever you choose to do.  Elivan and Jim are always prepared and fast in whatever they drive.  The consistency and pace of that top group was really impressive. 

 

I watched the race at work with 3 of our employees that were in the facility for some cleanup, none of which you would call "car guys".   For the 1st half of the race I gave them some orientation to our type of racing and in the 2nd half of the race they were beginning to make comments, observations and were developing "favorites".  One of the guys who works in shipping said "Jim Drago?, We ship to him!"  The coverage of the race was outstanding I felt.  Network quality.  Great camera work and commentary by the lead announcer (can't recall his name) and color by Randy Pobst.  Randy knows our cars, the track and this type of racing so well.  He even got a few laughs from our guys with  comments like  "let's see if Michael Carter's car has the beans to draft by Hille". Beans? 

 

Jim D I don't think you should beat yourself up on the pass of Justin.  It was a good shot in the part of the track where the VVT is strong and IIRC, moving Justin to the outside of the keyhole puts him at a disadvantage given the camber of the track there and Michael Carter could have picked your bumper to tag down the back straight.  Justin played it extremely well, got a maybe better than expected corner exit and got help.  You probably weren't going to have too many better opportunities.  Had you made it stick you would have been tough to pass. Have to look at it again but you had to take a shot at some point. 

 

Some great racing in that 2nd pack also and that was covered pretty well on camera.  Many talented drivers in that group and even behind it.  An impressive field and race for  sure.

[DrDomm]

My week was good.  I met some new people who post here, and that's always cool!  I wish I was a little faster, but I need to work on my driving a bit and get the car quicker, as well.  Longer qualifying sessions would've helped me get some more speed.  Oh well.

 

The race didn't start out so good.  After picking up a few spots from T4 thru Thunder Valley just by being cautious, a friend of mine spun in T11 and I had nowhere to go but the gravel trap.  Got out, and then ran pretty consistent laps, which I was happy with.  Ran some with "EMatoy", but wasn't quite as quick.  

 

For me, the 2 best laps were the out-lap and the cool down lap.  It was really awesome to see the crowd of people that came out to watch races this weekend.  Likewise, I was happy to stay on the lead lap after my first lap excursion.  

 

I think it was a great event, and the weather didn't hurt either.  Thanks SCCA, Mazda, Hoosier, and Mid-Ohio!