63 replies to this topic

[Jim Drago]

What a fun weekend, it always is! First and most importantly this weekend was dedicated to Dave Wheeler. It was strange to be at Rain America, as Dave referred to it and not to have him around. Ben is doing a great job with Advanced, it was great to see them blowing and going.
Qualifying two was a dream scenario.. 4 ESR cars lined up at the front with no traffic, we all kind of blew it and turned in a pretty subpar performance, we worked on cars a little, shook it off and lined up for race one. The first lap really fell my way, I went from p6 to P1 and led every lap. Lots of pressure from lots of different drivers, but in the end, it worked out well. P1 for me, p2 for preston and p3 for Gags. Strong finish by Peter Ensor in a new ESR car in 5th in his first trip to Road America.
Race 2
I think we all knew that it was not going to be a fun first third of the race. I felt like I drove really well in those very tough conditions. While it pains me just a little to say I have to give props to Danny. In the most difficult conditions imo, he drove away. The confidence and pace he had from lap one, turn one was impressive. I spent a few laps behind Tyler before going past him, spen the third getting to grips with the conditions myself and Danny was flat out from the start. By the time I minimized the bleeding, we had spotted him about a seven second gap.  I did not think we could close that gap. As soon as we transitioned to the dry line we started closing at about 1.5 seconds or so a lap. Basically about what the draft is worth. We seemed to get the better of traffic in a few spots as well. Danny finally made a mistake went a little wide in 8 which allowed us to close the gap. From then on he was a sitting duck, a position I have been in here a lot the last few years and it’s not much fun. From there it was just Tyler that I had to worry about, he drove great all weekend. When it came to the end, he timed his exit at 14 well and got his best exit of the race and beat to the line by less than a tenth. If you have to lose, there is no better young man to lose to. Well deserved! Happy Father’s Day to all, especially Tom Brown, your kid got you the best give of all! Great kid and he can drive!

Two ESR 1-2 finishes
Two new ESR cars that were strong all weekend with Peter Ensor and Todd Buras. Unfortunately Todd’s car developed the VVT blues   We will figure it out.

Three of the top five both days were ESR powered cars 

[lillyweld]

Is it time to start betting on who will win the 2020 runoffs? Might also be the time to start betting on who will be the first 3-time SM champion . . .

[Tom Sager]

Congrats Jim on the 1-2 finishes.  Tyler, fantastic job especially Sunday in the changing track conditions.  Glad to hear your car wasn't hurt after the off in the kink Saturday.  A lot of good drivers and cars at the front of the field.  Look forward to more posts and videos from the weekend. 

[Craig Berry]

CONGRATS to Jim and Tyler! Road America is a special place..... I will never forget a text from a fellow racer in 2009 before I had ever been to the track. “Craig, this is a REAL race track!” I AGREE! To get a win there is really cool!

[Ben-AdvancedAutosports]

What a fun weekend, it always is! First and most importantly this weekend was dedicated to Dave Wheeler. It was strange to be at Rain America, as Dave referred to it and not to have him around. Ben is doing a great job with Advanced, it was great to see them blowing and going.
Qualifying two was a dream scenario.. 4 ESR cars lined up at the front with no traffic, we all kind of blew it and turned in a pretty subpar performance, we worked on cars a little, shook it off and lined up for race one. The first lap really fell my way, I went from p6 to P1 and led every lap. Lots of pressure from lots of different drivers, but in the end, it worked out well. P1 for me, p2 for preston and p3 for Gags. Strong finish by Peter Ensor in a new ESR car in 5th in his first trip to Road America.
Race 2
I think we all knew that it was not going to be a fun first third of the race. I felt like I drove really well in those very tough conditions. While it pains me just a little to say I have to give props to Danny. In the most difficult conditions imo, he drove away. The confidence and pace he had from lap one, turn one was impressive. I spent a few laps behind Tyler before going past him, spen the third getting to grips with the conditions myself and Danny was flat out from the start. By the time I minimized the bleeding, we had spotted him about a seven second gap.  I did not think we could close that gap. As soon as we transitioned to the dry line we started closing at about 1.5 seconds or so a lap. Basically about what the draft is worth. We seemed to get the better of traffic in a few spots as well. Danny finally made a mistake went a little wide in 8 which allowed us to close the gap. From then on he was a sitting duck, a position I have been in here a lot the last few years and it’s not much fun. From there it was just Tyler that I had to worry about, he drove great all weekend. When it came to the end, he timed his exit at 14 well and got his best exit of the race and beat to the line by less than a tenth. If you have to lose, there is no better young man to lose to. Well deserved! Happy Father’s Day to all, especially Tom Brown, your kid got you the best give of all! Great kid and he can drive!

Two ESR 1-2 finishes
Two new ESR cars that were strong all weekend with Peter Ensor and Todd Buras. Unfortunately Todd’s car developed the VVT blues   We will figure it out.

Three of the top five both days were ESR powered cars 

 

Thanks Jim for the compliments.  This weekend was very emotional for all of us.  Happy, sad, frustrated, excited, mournful, exhausting; are only a few that come to mind.  It would have been nice to have cars at least up front in SM during the last lap, but a broken gearbox, and a broken diff kept that from happening.  We will certainly be ready for Runoffs 2020.

 

The entire spec miata community has been very supportive of us as we transition and I look forward to many more June Sprints flying the Advanced banner.

[tylerbrown]

The weekend for us started out with showing up to the track and it started raining after we got the trailers in their spots, and it seemed like the rain was around for every day after till Sunday afternoon.

 

Thursdays test day went well for Dad and I, it was dry all day but cloudy. We were both driving well together and I felt that we were in a good spot for the weekend. When I was on my way to bed Thursday night I started to feel a cold coming on, and come Friday morning I felt like garbage. Once in the car though, it was amazing how easy it is to just drive and you forget about how you are feeling....until you slow down again.. Friday mornings session Dad and I were right on pace to be P1/2, until I put all four wheels off on our flyer exiting turn 14, and then it started to rain so we came in. Friday's qualifying was a drying track conditions and it made for a very interesting session as every time you crossed the line you would jump to the top 5, and by the time you made it to 5 you were back to 15th or 20th again. I believe we ended up P8/16 or something after that session.

 

Saturday mornings qualifying was dry so the times from the previous session pretty much meant nothing, and Dad and I went out together again, we had good times going but just couldn't put everything together perfectly to get THE lap, but we were able to get P10/P11 as our starting spots, which I thought was just fine. For the race, the outside line seemed to get a little better run through turns 1-3, and coming out of 3 I picked up a spot or two down into 5. From there, I fell in behind Gags in 6th, until Voytek pulled off with a mechanical. Now it was Drago, Buras, Pardus, Gags, and then me, until Buras also had a mechanical I believe. Gags and I were running well and were able to mix it up a little with Preston and Jim. Around lap 6 I believe Preston and Gags went two wide up to six, and Gags dropped wheels on his right going into 6 which messed up his corner, so I was able to move around him. At this point it was Jim, Preston, and I, then a small gap to the next pack of cars, and I was quite worried that I would not be able to stick with Jim and Preston hooked up in a line, but I was able to keep close. A couple more laps later on lap 9 Preston dropped wheels going into 6 on his right and also ran the corner wide which allowed me to get a run past him. I then was able to get to Jim's bumper and started pushing him, trying to keep Preston behind. Things were going well and I was pretty much in a guaranteed podium spot, UNTIL I ran a little too close to Jim through the kink, which caused my car to understeer, and then the back end just came around. For a split second, I thought that I could save it as I was flying sideways, but I didn't. Huge props to Preston for avoiding me, it was very close, and it was impressive to say the least. I was quite upset at first, but as I managed to not hit anything, and the race was very fun, I had a good time. Best part, I set the fastest time of the weekend during the race, which meant that I would be starting on pole for the Sunday race. I still felt pretty bad so I ended up going to bed at 7:30 that night, and was displeased when we woke up to the sound of rain in the morning again, and a forecast of rain just about up until the race start time.

 

The rain ended up stopping in time to give us a clear sense that dry tires were the way to go for Sunday's race. The track was still quite slippery in spots during the warm up lap, and coming into turn 1, Buras ran a little wide coming on the inside, which allowed me to get back past him on the inside down into 3. Coming out of 3 I had enough of a gap to not be contested into 5, but I soon saw I was being too cautious, as Danny Steyn, Jim, and Buras all were moving faster than I was. Buras and Steyn got ahead and started pulling ahead at an alarming rate, and Jim was on my bumper trying to keep us with them. Buras then had a mechanical, and Jim moved around me, which helped show me some faster lines through 3 and 12, but even still Danny was driving away from us big time. For quite a few laps, it was Danny wayyy ahead, then me pushing Jim, but still overslowing a couple corners even though I could see Jim taking them a little quicker, but for whatever reason I wasn't pushing it, until I saw Danny Bender pushing Preston and coming up to us quickly. I then started to pick things up, but they caught us anyway. We mixed it up with them a little bit, and Steyn was still wayyy ahead. Once Bender got in front of our group we really started to pick up the pace and the track was really starting to get fast with a dry line in every corner. Bender ended up going off in Turn 8 on lap 11, which put me back into 3rd. At this point we started to catch some traffic, but Jim and I were really moving and catching Danny at about 1.5 seconds a lap. Danny then caught some traffic bad between 5-8, and made a mistake in turn 8, which put us right on his bumper. I then pushed Jim past Danny into turn 1 with one to go, and stayed glued to his bumper to try to keep Danny out of the fight. Coming to the last corner I got a great run out of 14 and was able to pop out to pass coming up the hill. At first I wasn't sure I was going to get it, but at the top of the hill the side draft appeared to start working and I had it!

 

Dad was able to take the victory lap with me, which was a fantastic thing to be able to do. Somewhere there is a picture with Dad's head out the window holding the flag in the most badass looking way. Another special things that we were able to do yesterday was the missing man lap for Dave Wheeler. Dave was my mechanic mentor for years when I was just starting working for Advanced Autosports in the summers of high school, and I learned a lot from him. The track has been different since he has been gone, but I have been inspired by how well Ben, Michelle, Bob, Tim, and all the Advanced group have been running everything.

 

A short story to add to this already long post: Back in 2013, I had purchased with the help of my Dad a 1999 10th Anniversary edition Mazda Miata (my first car), and was using that to drive back and forth to my summer job at Advanced Autosports. Three weeks before the beginning of the Runoffs, my Dad was running in his '99 Miata at a regional race at Road America as a practice for the Runoffs. At some point in the race that car, a very well sorted, runoffs winning potential car met its end just past the kink. With very little time before the runoffs, we were not sure what to do, and Dave Wheeler and my Dad suggested that we turn my street car into a race car. The next day, it was down at Advanced Autosports getting the interior, and engine pulled out. 10 Days later, it was a Runoffs ready Spec Miata. The guys worked very hard to get that car finished, and from out of the gate, it was fast during practice and qualifying. During the race, my Dad was running in the lead pack, and got bump drafted right at turn in to the kink, which caused the car to spin. Miraculously the car came did not hit wall and he was able to continue to finish the race. Almost five and a half years later, I did the same thing two days ago, and the car did not hit the wall. We call the car the Blue Beast, and now she has had two close calls in the kink. There must be a lucky charm somewhere in the car. Now, the car has had a lot of things done to it since it was built, and my Dad and I may not be running under their tent, but it was still a car built by Advanced Autosports, and we still believe that the Advanced team are family. To be able to win the Dave Wheeler memorial race in car that was built by Advanced Autosports was special. We miss you Dave.

 

I am working on uploading videos, and will post them as soon as they are done.

 

Overall a fun weekend, but the weather was pretty bad, and I did not feel very well. But, IF you are feeling sick, drive a racecar, it makes all that go away and you don't feel it for hours until the adrenaline comes down

[tylerbrown]

Saturday's Race video can be seen here. This was a fun race!

 

Fast forward to 27:00 if you just came to see the spin in the kink!

 

http://youtu.be/KAX4v62O7mM

 

[Bench Racer]

Congrats Tyler!!! Fantastic drive, great writeup, can you post the phone video from Pardus?

[Steve Scheifler]

Great weekend Tyler, congratulations!!

[tylerbrown]

Sunday's video is here:

 

http://youtu.be/jO0NKIZnrBc

 

 

A big thank you to everyone who helped this weekend, from Advanced Autosports, to East Street Racing, our crew Evan Pecore, and all the friends and family that came out to support this weekend. 

 

Congratulations to Jim, Preston, and Gags on their podium finishes Saturday, and congrats again to Jim for Saturday, and props to Danny Steyn for such a dominating drive in the drying conditions, one less lap he would have been the clear winner. Can't wait to race with all of you again!

[Bench Racer]

Love the fist pump.    

[Ben-AdvancedAutosports]

Well said Tyler.  We all couldn't be more excited for you and look forward to seeing more wins in the future.

[gerglmuff2]

anyone notice any less hub and bearing damage after this weekend? i gotta think the pensekes are helping over all those curbs. 

[tylerbrown]

anyone notice any less hub and bearing damage after this weekend? i gotta think the pensekes are helping over all those curbs. 

 

I did not notice anything there, but there was still a number of rear upper brake caliper pin failures that I heard were almost huge incidents. SOMETHING has to be able to be done about those shearing off. Anybody?

[Jim Drago]

I did not notice anything there, but there was still a number of rear upper brake caliper pin failures that I heard were almost huge incidents. SOMETHING has to be able to be done about those shearing off. Anybody?

I have been talking to Chris Windsor on these, He is making some. He should have something to test in a few weeks

[Michael Colangelo]

How common are the rear upper brake caliper pin shear failures?  Is this a new thing?  This is the first I've heard of it. 

[Steve Scheifler]

They have long had an issue with loosening, so they tend to get over tightened which may contribute to the sheering issue. A lot of people use loctite but probably still torque them pretty high and doing that repeatedly may weaken them. And/or the typical reman stuff is just not up to the abuse.

[powerss]

I think this is purely a natural frequency failure.  Maybe causing the modes you mention below but I can tell you I have failed these at RA everytime I have gone there and sometimes to catastrophic effects.  Myself and also following Justin Elder.  I can't find the video where I was following him through the carousel with his brake caliper bouncing around and feeling helpless as he drove down to Canada Corner.

 

 

I have never failed a pin ant any other track other than Indy and RA.  Indy does not have the negative consequences that RA does though.

 

 

 

They have long had an issue with loosening, so they tend to get over tightened which may contribute to the sheering issue. A lot of people use loctite but probably still torque them pretty high and doing that repeatedly may weaken them. And/or the typical reman stuff is just not up to the abuse.

[Jim Drago]

I think this is purely a natural frequency failure.  Maybe causing the modes you mention below but I can tell you I have failed these at RA everytime I have gone there and sometimes to catastrophic effects.  Myself and also following Justin Elder.  I can't find the video where I was following him through the carousel with his brake caliper bouncing around and feeling helpless as he drove down to Canada Corner.

 

 

I have never failed a pin ant any other track other than Indy and RA.  Indy does not have the negative consequences that RA does though.

I think the pins fail at Road America far more than anywhere else and It is my opinion they fail due to the progressive rumbles.  It violently vibrates the rear tires. 

 

Steve, you have luck like me.. you just missed the dam tires  

Jim 

[Steve Scheifler]

Steve, always sheered or sometimes just back out? I know people do sheer them but we never have. Perhaps much more common on NB than NA?

Jim, I’m trying to visualize the loads over rumbles to cause sheered pins. Shaking loose I get, but not sheering. It seems more likely that they sheer at the moment the brakes are applied and the calipers/pads are trying to stop the rotation of the rotor. So do they come a bit loose over rumbles, making them more susceptible to sheer loads under braking? I think that’s more likely. I think there are other tracks with threshold braking zones from high speeds but don’t have a reputation for causing this problem so I’m less inclined to think it is from very hard braking alone.