32 replies to this topic

[Jim Drago]

Our last day here at Elkhart. Our team had a great week, lots of fun, lots of laughs and another National Championship. We are fortunate to have so many great customers and drivers. This week we had Preston Pardus, Todd Buras, Jim Drago, Marcos Vento, John Somner, Stan Cosper and Kyle Webb. We also have so many other good friends and customers that use our cars or engines and all had great weeks and make all of this possible. Tom and Tyler Brown and the entire team at Sneaky Moose. David Henderson and Brian Heenderson, Matthew Reynolds, Nick Bruni, Rob Hines and many more. None of it is possible without the hard work of our crew who did a great job this week and all season providing us with the best cars in the class . Thanks to Mike Hern, Richard T Gordon and Jeff Linfert. Also the support of Mazda, specifically our main parts man James Painter. Hoosier Tires and Tim Gilvin. Probably the biggest advantage we have is the brakes, thanks to Danny Puskar for the G-loc brakes.

In closing, I want to congratulate the best driver in the class for winning his second championship! Preston is a class act on and off the track. I am very fortunate to have two National champions as teammates , even more importantly my teammates are also two of my best friends. Congratulations to Rob Hines on p3, Brian Henderson on p4 , Tyler Brown on P5 and Nick Bruni on P6 and Todd Buras on P8. Marcos also won the hard charger award. We had five of the 6 cars in tech, which goes without saying and impressive feat. That makes our seven Runoffs wins for us in the last nine years and 10 national championships

[Sphinx]

Anyone know when the race can be replayed/streamed?

[John Wilding]

Congrats to East Street and Preston on an incredible week and history at the Runoffs!

[tylerbrown]

I have posted my video from the race, and that can be viewed here:

 

http://youtu.be/WSvoVsWcd5c

 

Overall the race went well for me, and I put and kept my car in a car spot to contend for the win throughout the whole race, but the way the chips fell at the end it just wasn't my day. Huge Congratulations to Preston for a great drive and phenomenal last lap coming from 7th to 1st! 

[Jim Drago]

Very nice!

[Bench Racer]

Nice Tyler, O shit up the hill.

[tburas56]

Nice Tyler, thanks for sharing.

I have put my video up for all to see. Thank you Jim Drago and the East Street Guys. Simply the best in the business.

 

 

 

My misfortune gave Preston an opportunity in which he capitalized on! Congrats 2 time...

[Craig Berry]

Tyler, Great Race!   Just needed a push.   

[Steve Scheifler]

Nice Tyler, thanks for sharing.
I have put my video up for all to see. Thank you Jim Drago and the East Street Guys. Simply the best in the business.

...

My misfortune gave Preston an opportunity in which he capitalized on! Congrats 2 time...

Well that sucked! Sorry such a strong performance got erased in an instant. Would sure like to see KG video.

[sentercut]

Great week, perfect weather, awesome people. 

 

Congrats to Preston on the win, wow what a last lap, holy cheetah. Also Konrad and Rob what a great race you guys put on congratulations on the podium. That is a damn hard place to get in this class at this event. Bummer for those that got taken out through out the race. Seems like with such tight aggressive racing it is sometimes a by-product of driving on the edge. I know it could have been me a few times for sure. 

 

So proud of our Sneaky Moose Team. Great job Tyler, you were in a great spot and drove great, not sure what else you could have done. This class is so much fun, and full of talent. Big thanks to ESR for everything throughout the season and weekend, and to Todd Buras for the time, tips, and coaching. Seems like every race someone is helping me get better which is humbling and keeps me coming back for more. Thank you Tom and Tyler for working so hard this season and leading the team so well. 

 

My week was not what I hoped for in qualifying, but the racing made up for the poor performance in qualifying. Me and Devoto could never put anything together in qualifying and we stuck ourselves mid pack for the race. It was a bit of a bummer being so far off our goals, but the frustrations faded away quickly and we happied up seeing so many satisfied faces coming off track. Hard to be pissed at yourself at Road America in October in perfect conditions with so many like minded folk. 

 

The racing was a lot of fun minus the two FCY's, and I got to race around some new people and see some great driving from Leverone, Cefalo, Geraci, and others. Appreciate my brother from another mother Andy Devoto for picking me up when I made stupid mistakes along the way in the race. He has been doing that for me for about 40 years, thanks D. And a shout out to Nico Bratz who has had a tough run of luck this year in almost every race. Keep an eye out for this this young man in the future. 

 

On a side note, it was somewhat satisfying loading up my car into the trailer and realizing that it made it through the season without any major or minor bodywork, a personal best for me. However, I did manage to hit my annual quota on motors. Jim, you should have a "blow 2 get 1 free" deal for us Larries. Regardless, I can't help eyeing Sebring and COTA with visions of grandeur. 

 

See yall next year. 

[powerss]

Senter

 

Did you get the money for the harcharget pick? 

 

Well, if not you should have because I got the opportunity to go backwards before the green flag.    I have never had a tank slapper like that leading up to the green flag but happy to make it through it.

 

https://youtu.be/dV8nZJwjUxQ

[FTodaro]

That was a great effort, much to be proud of.

[sentercut]

Holy cow nice save to start the race. Great run too.

[Tim Wright]

Well that sucked! Sorry such a strong performance got erased in an instant. Would sure like to see KG video.

Good view from Tyler's video

[Steve Scheifler]

Seems like entirely too many punts from the rear and other hits for such an experienced lead pack. My comments about sloppy driving at the Sprints weren’t popular but the videos speak for themselves. Watching these I’m seeing some great driving but also some pretty bonehead moves that proved very costly to others at the biggest race of the year. Preston was fortunate to narrowly miss being collected twice, then recovered from a big punt by the same person, with the help of a FCY. Jim, Todd and someone near the front in a blue NB were not so lucky, and those are just the ones I’ve seen. Unfortunate.

[Jim Drago]

Seems like entirely too many punts from the rear and other hits for such an experienced lead pack. My comments about sloppy driving at the Sprints weren’t popular but the videos speak for themselves. Watching these I’m seeing some great driving but also some pretty bonehead moves that proved very costly to others at the biggest race of the year. Preston was fortunate to narrowly miss being collected twice, then recovered from a big punt by the same person, with the help of a FCY. Jim, Todd and someone near the front in a blue NB were not so lucky, and those are just the ones I’ve seen. Unfortunate.

That was Elivan,  Three previous champions who all felt they had a shot to win

 

When I was shuffled to the back and tried to get back through the field, its not like it used to be at all. I expected to just cut through the field and move forward easily. That was not the case.  My car is very good and dominate at the front, however it seemed average back there   Also down right scary back there at times 

[powerss]

That was Elivan,  Three previous champions who all felt they had a shot to win

 

When I was shuffled to the back and tried to get back through the field, its not like it used to be at all. I expected to just cut through the field and move forward easily. That was not the case.  My car is very good and dominate at the front, however it seemed average back there   Also down right scary back there at times 

 

 

Yeah, I know lol.....I expected Chris to go through at Canada but was totally surprised to see you too.    I knew there was little point in fighting you coming through at some point. Good clean pass but just wasn't expecting it there and might have turned in on you.

 

I knew I didn't get a good run down there since I had backed off from going through the kink side by side with Charlie.

 

You can see what I am talking about in my video above at 2:45 to 3:15 seconds

[Jim Drago]

Yeah, I know lol.....I expected Chris to go through at Canada but was totally surprised to see you too.    I knew there was little point in fighting you coming through at some point. Good clean pass but just wasn't expecting it there and might have turned in on you.

 

 

I had to.. It was Mike Honcho 

[DrDomm]

Probably the biggest advantage we have is the brakes, thanks to Danny Puskar for the G-loc brakes.

 

This is a very interesting comment to me, and it probably deserves its own thread.  I've seen so many cars running G-Loc pads over the last year or so, that I decided I would order a set and see what all the fuss was about.  I ordered R16/R12 pads and new rotors, front and rear.  I read the bedding process described on the website.  I used Sunday's 4th Test Session to do my best at this...3-4 hard (near)stops, and then finished off that lap and a 2nd...since its a big track, I figured that was enough.  The next day I ran 2 sessions with these, and felt like I had put all my weight into the brake pedal, and still barely got it to slow down.  I went back to my cheap Hawk Black 60/30 combo for the rest of the week.

 

Clearly I did something wrong with these things.  Any thoughts?  What do I do now (next year) with these rotors/pads?  

 

Jim, what's the biggest advantage with these?  That's a bold statement, when clearly your cars and motors are pretty stout.

[Jim Drago]

This is a very interesting comment to me, and it probably deserves its own thread. I've seen so many cars running G-Loc pads over the last year or so, that I decided I would order a set and see what all the fuss was about. I ordered R16/R12 pads and new rotors, front and rear. I read the bedding process described on the website. I used Sunday's 4th Test Session to do my best at this...3-4 hard (near)stops, and then finished off that lap and a 2nd...since its a big track, I figured that was enough. The next day I ran 2 sessions with these, and felt like I had put all my weight into the brake pedal, and still barely got it to slow down. I went back to my cheap Hawk Black 60/30 combo for the rest of the week.

Clearly I did something wrong with these things. Any thoughts? What do I do now (next year) with these rotors/pads?

Jim, what's the biggest advantage with these? That's a bold statement, when clearly your cars and motors are pretty stout.

Domm

First, I am a G-loc dealer. With that being said I buy my pads, I am not “ sponsored” with free pads. Personally, I would prefer G Loc didn’t even sell pads that are not pre bedded. I have voiced that concern but they offer them to people who want to save $20 a set and so they are price competitive with other brands. I refuse to sell them.

The issue you spoke above was likely a bedding issue. I run 18/12, that combo is supposedly over kill and the correct pad is what you chose or the 16/10. I ran the some of the less aggressive pads in the past and experienced what you mentioned as well which is why I was hesitant to try again early last year. I went right to the combo that Haldemsn and Steyn were running, 18/12. I instantly loved that combo I used PFC for 10 years prior. I liked them as well. But the 18/12 combo was better. Better initial bite and what I liked most was you had what I describe as another gear in braking. When you get to the end of braking and you feel you are about to lock up, you can push a little harder and get that last bit of bite without locking up. If I was on hawk or PFC, they lock up

As far as our cars, yes we have strong cars, but if you are getting beat under braking like we had been for years.. once you finally get on equal or better footing it is really confidence inspiring. That being said, brakes are personal . I have sold some 18/12 and they felt they were too aggressive. From what you are saying, I would try the 18/12 pre bedded version
Hope that helps
Jim