7 replies to this topic

[tylerbrown]

Had a fun weekend up at Road America over the weekend. The attendance was probably the worst in years, but it was still a relatively relaxed and fun weekend.

 

Spec Miata was group last, which was weird because there was a lot of sitting around going on waiting for our sessions, and not our normal 8 AM sessions. This weekend my Dad and I had the pleasure of having Andy Devoto, and Senter Smith paddocked with us. Their families came too, and after a typical two 35 min session test day on Friday with no issues, we had dinner at Lake Street Cafe and  rented a boat on Elkhart Lake and had a great evening.

 

Saturday, Dad and I went out and qualified 3rd/4th, and for the race, it was mostly a battle for myself to keep Kyle Greenhill and Voytek Burdzy from working together against me, but ultimately they got it done and Kyle was able to give Voytek a bump for the win at the line, and he nearly got me as well (0.002 seconds). 

 

Saturday's Race can be seen here:

 

 

Saturday night we had a home cooked meal at the track with our Sneaky Moose gang, and then later went with the Advanced Autosports gang to Siebkins where they put Dave Wheeler's sticker up on the wall next to the Advanced Autosports sticker, and Ann's sticker. It was again a nice night, and was a great example of how this CAT weekend has always seemed to be a more laid back weekend.

 

Sunday, my Dad and I went out for qualifying with Senter and Andy and had a great time having a four car train around Road America. Senter and Andy improved their best times by almost two seconds, and it helped move them up into 4rd and 6th for the race start. 

 

The race got off to a rough start IMO, I had contact with Kyle Greenhill exiting turn 3. Going into the corner he was on my outside, but going through the corner I thought I had the better run, and when checking my mirror I believed he was slightly behind me, and that we would both make the corner, but then our wheels touched and caused us to almost lock into each other. Thankfully, we both continued, and Kyle was able to nicely recover. The race from there had a lot of passes and action, with multiple lead changes. At some point I ended up in front and had a gap over Voytek, but he was able to catch me back up, and we fought it out for the last four laps-ish back and forth. Ultimately, the race came to an unexpected end and Voytek took the checkered, with me second, Dad third. Senter and Andy took 5th and 6th with nice drives from both of them as well. Disappointed in the end result for myself, but I learned some more and will use it in the future.

 

Sunday's Video can be seen here:

 

 

Hopefully, next year with the Runoffs being at Road America, the attendance will be much better... I'm looking forward to it already.

[Bench Racer]

Thanks for the ride Tyler.

 

This info posted for 1.6er's including OrangeCrush86. Not saying the 1.6 is a world beater and an error cost greatly. Congrats to Andy on his 1st outing this year. 09  Devoto, Andrew Spec Miata  1990 Mazda Miata Sneaky Moose Motorsports/Rosa's Pizza Wilsall, MT.

[gerglmuff2]

Thanks for the ride Tyler.

 

This info posted for 1.6er's including OrangeCrush86. Not saying the 1.6 is a world beater and an error cost greatly. Congrats to Andy on his 1st outing this year. 09  Devoto, Andrew Spec Miata  1990 Mazda Miata Sneaky Moose Motorsports/Rosa's Pizza Wilsall, MT.

 

while he raced decently to 4th on sunday, he qualified mid pack both days, nearly 4 seconds back. 

not sure thats the "silver bullet" to the whole 1.6 can't seem to get it done at road america point you think it might be. 

don't want to de-rail the thread into a parity discussion, just not really sure why you'd think this is an important datapoint. it really doesn't show anything at all vis a vis if the 1.6 can compete at RA. 

[OrangeCrush86]

Thanks for the ride Tyler.

 

This info posted for 1.6er's including OrangeCrush86. Not saying the 1.6 is a world beater and an error cost greatly. Congrats to Andy on his 1st outing this year. 09  Devoto, Andrew Spec Miata  1990 Mazda Miata Sneaky Moose Motorsports/Rosa's Pizza Wilsall, MT.

 

I looked at the times and he did a great job. I'm guessing his 2:47 lap is without a draft, which is really good. The 2:45.9 must have been with a partner, but that is very fast.

 

This year will be my second visit to RA and I will set my goal around 2:47. Hopefully I can make it to the PCA event on Thurday to get actual practices, since the SCCA weekend is not friendly to newcomers at all.

[tylerbrown]

while he raced decently to 4th on sunday, he qualified mid pack both days, nearly 4 seconds back. 

not sure thats the "silver bullet" to the whole 1.6 can't seem to get it done at road america point you think it might be. 

don't want to de-rail the thread into a parity discussion, just not really sure why you'd think this is an important datapoint. it really doesn't show anything at all vis a vis if the 1.6 can compete at RA. 

 

6th place finish on Sunday, was in P2 at a point early, but his qual time was a 2:45:9 in a draft, which was 1.3 seconds off pole time. He drove well, and only drives once a year, car is good, but his car would most likely not be able to hang with the NBs without help.

[Bench Racer]

My whole point in the first post was/is to point out, if set up and with a driver a 1.6 can hang with the NB (similar to the 2012 June Sprints). Also please not it was said the 1.6 is not a world beater.  

[sentercut]

I love SM racing, and the drama that comes with it is part of the fun, most of the time. This weekend was no different. While definitely a more laid back weekend, the racing had its share of drama. Kinda rough those first few laps for sure on Sunday and Kyle got the short end, but  wow he has made some great strides the past year or so and has gotten really fast. Great disposition and a pleasure to be with and drive next to as well. 

 

Andy and I get to race about once a year and our annual pilgrimage to Road America, be it June Sprints or Cat Majors, is one of our highlights of our year for sure. The Browns always take great care of us and this year was no exception. Great food, lots of laughing, some frosty beverages, and the healing waters of Elkhart Lake are marks on our weekend every year. The racing is awesome, but it takes us a while to get up to speed. With Tom and Tyler leading the way we were able to really make some quicker improvements. There were a lot of highlights over the weekend for me but the Sunday qualifying was so much fun, and it help progress us Larrys exponentially.  The Brown clan is the best. Kind, thoughtful, and selfless people that have become great friends. 

 

Devoto (D) drives a loose car pretty well, especially for a guy that is in it once a year, and he was fighting for every inch on Sunday trying to hang onto that 2nd position. I had a good view of him in T6 where he got stuck outside and slid shuffling him back to Larry world. The second half of the race was fun too as he and I, Bruce, and Ryan battled turning what felt like 3 minute laps. He certainly would fare better in an NB I believe but he handles that rabid squirrel pretty dang well. 

 

A big shout out to Evan Pecore for all of his help as well. It is fun being around such quality folks and I find that I love this annual weekend not so much because of the racing as I do the relationships. We missed having more drivers for sure, but time in the car, and off the track were awesome as always. Caveman, we missed you, just a little. 

 

Tom and Tyler, thank you both for all of the advice, coaching, car work, set up, and everything else. Great race both days Tyler, you will be my pick for the Runoffs next year for sure. Well, you and Jim....and me. 

[1.6 Montana]

Couldn’t agree more with Senter, the trek to RA is always special! For those racers who have never made the trip the atmosphere the competitors and the experience is well worth it.
Thanks for what I consider to be, words of encouragement!!
Your perspectives are correct-! I live in Montana have only raced twice in 24 months and was encouraged that
with the incredible help from Senter the Browns and Sneaky Moose Motorsports, that we could at least be in the hunt for a top five.
We had to be mistake free (which I was definitely not) and had to have a great team behind us to be in the hunt at all!!
We (me and my drafting partner Senter Smith who was in a VVT and only races once a year as well, tried our best but could not get that last little bit figured out during the weekend without the coaching/drafting help of Tom and Tyler. You are correct my 2:47 lap was by myself on one of my best laps.
The Browns then came up huge and helped us out in Sunday’s qualifying- we went out in a four car train with Tom in front Senter then me and then Tyler as anchor! We had an amazing time, really a cool experience for us, we were glued together for 5 laps and it was a blast!! We didn’t make any huge mistakes and went almost two seconds a lap faster. I wasn’t sure how four cars would work, but it took me from P7 to P4 for Sunday’s race. Holding it together for those 5 laps was both glorious and totally stressful!! The combination of seeing the line and the draft was obviously invaluable. I made some mistakes in the race lost the draft and went down to 8th and with Senter’s help fought
my way back. The 1.6 is a handful but an absolute blast!!!

Huge shout out to the Brown’s (Mrs. Brown runs the show!) for making it an amazing weekend. Also to Evan, you are an will always be the man!! Kevin thanks as well for all the help!! Tom thanks for the help and guidance and for the amazing hospitality and friendship, truly have grown to love this trip. Tyler, you have put a great race team together. Your applied knowledge and encouragement are priceless - don’t change a thing!! (and your stupid fast as well!!)Thanks to Ben at Advanced for the radios and time spent hanging out, you should be proud.

Overall an amazing weekend, both humbling and one of my favorites for sure.

Andy