Any CMP Race/Snow reports?

#1

Any reports yet? Cant wait to see some pics too!
Good Luck Everybody

#2

We had ~4" of snow this morning. Was pretty wild. Jim had trucks drive on the track for a while to help chew on the snow while the bright sun warmed up the track and melted the slush away.

Sessions started around 1050. Qual was fun to watch because portions of the track that were still wet were apparently hard to see. That put some cars off in various places and once those cars went off into the snow they slid for quite a while. Qual went out under yellow and was only 15m long. That meant 4 hot laps.

I missed the driver’s meeting. Apparently there was new guidance re. penalties associated with contact and post race vehicle inspections. I figure Jim Pantas and Chuck Taylor will be telling us more about that.

The race was short. I think that there was 11 of us. The Miata’s had a mishap at lap 1 turn 1 and that sent someone off. We were the 2nd start group and got no green flag. A wrecker pulled the Miata out of the snow. The Miata got back on the track but then something must have happened on the back stretch because the wrecker had to go back out and get him again. This time the wrecker brought the Miata back into the paddock. All that consumed ~16min. Then groups got green and the checker flew at 30min.

The guys will have to tell their own stories. Devinney won with Palacio hot on his heels. Travis’s motor is weak and Johan said his car’s handling was messed up.

Fred and Brian had a fierce race that was fun to watch. Brian made a pass at the kink which had me holding my breath.

AlK was doing pretty well until he spun on 14 and spent the rest of the short race catching back up.

This was Turnipseed’s first SpecE30 race and he wasn’t too happy with this car. It looks pretty but it might have some development work in his future.

I was nervous as a school girl about the debut of engine 5 in the enduro. There was less cause for anxiety 4 laps later after my engine crapped out. Having reached my 12month quota for engines, I’m going to send it to Chuck Baader.

#3

Fun day.

Congrats to all my SE30 competitors for breaking the CMP Turn 1 Curse!!! No contact at any point in the race by any of our guys/gals!!

It started with a bunch of people going out in street cars to turn the snow into slush into water. The first couple laps were the most fun I’ve had on track. I finally had the courage to turn stability management off… I spent most of those laps sideways, then looped it in Turn 3 and decided to stop being a dumbass. :laugh:

The track was wet in qualifying and I managed not to throw it off the track. LPatton, Tower and I were separated by 0.09 second for P4-6. Colin also qualified well but the comp school guys had to start at the back so I started P4 behind RPatton, EPalacio, LPatton.

The Miata mess on Lap 1 meant we never got a green. Everyone lined back up for several caution laps. Robert left a gap from the tail end of the Miata/PT group ahead. This meant we got the green right as the top 5 were exiting Turn 14. This caught Robert out, holding up Laura behind him. Eric got a decent start, but I got the call at a great time and really accelerated well out of 14. I had P1 by Turn 1 and had pretty good luck working traffic to keep Palacio behind me. I was trying to get through the top Miatas without screwing up their battle so I waited for a straight to pass my buddy Skip Brock who was leading the SMs.

The checker flew and I was relieved.

Here’s a quick video (probably still processing).

http://vimeo.com/9441535

#4

Very nice restart, Steve.

I wish I was there, but I’d lose the race car in a divorce if I spent my first full weekend at home, off at the race track :S

Keep the reports coming.

#5

No incidents? Very impressive, now do the same today! Thanks for the reports, and Steve, what a great start! Go ahead and call me stupid if you need to but I have a question about the restart. As I understand it, you never got the green due to a Miata incident, so how was it that everyone was in single file for the “restart”?

#6

dpjr wrote:

There might be no right answer there. The Lightning race was restarted. Does that mean that our field was being “restarted” or “started”. I dunno.

If Eric had aggressively positioned himself beside Robert instead of behind him, that would have probably put the whole rest of the field side by side. But in Eric’s shoes, I’d have probably done the same thing. When a person doesn’t know the right answer, go conservative.

#7

Ah, I didn’t think about the Miata field being in front for the restart, that would explain a lot. I’ll watch the video again now to see. Lets assume there were no Miata’s (now open for lots of great comments I’m sure), wouldn’t we have bunched back up for the restart? I’ve only experienced a wave off maybe once before and it was with a different series where I’m absolutely sure we repositioned for the 2nd start.

Any news from today? Hopefully no bent metal again.

#8

dpjr wrote:

[quote]Ah, I didn’t think about the Miata field being in front for the restart, that would explain a lot. I’ll watch the video again now to see. Lets assume there were no Miata’s (now open for lots of great comments I’m sure), wouldn’t we have bunched back up for the restart? I’ve only experienced a wave off maybe once before and it was with a different series where I’m absolutely sure we repositioned for the 2nd start.
[/quote]
If there were no Miatas then there’d a been no green. It would have been a wave off and not a start. So the field would have gone around again, reformed side by side, and then come around for another try at starting.

Wave-offs are pretty rare, near as I’ve seen in my limited experience. “Control” would have to see something pretty significant that they didn’t like in the field for that to happen.

#9

dpjr wrote:

[quote]
Any news from today? Hopefully no bent metal again.[/quote]

Well… unfortunately there was some bent metal, but still a pretty good day all around. A rogue 350z racing against… well… no one, hit Laura Patton pretty hard. Luckily no human damage but some painful repairs will be needed.

I really enjoyed my rookie race. Johan and Travis got their issues worked out and took 1st and 2nd. Steve D took 3rd and I managed to pull off a 4th place finish after Patton taught me a thing or two about how to make a pass stick for 10 minutes straight. (Have great video of this!)

We had a red flag in the qualifying race this morning when a Miata hit a disabled thunder roadster being towed out of Turn 8. Not sure exactly what happened there but the Miata ended up rolling over and very luckily no one was seriously injured.

Oh… and Jones put some black paint on my rear fender, but it’s all good. :ohmy:

#10

Saturday’s race restart after the no-start:
We were smart (lucky) and did it correct by going single file based on qualifing positions.

I tied to stay unbunched from the group ahead of us and was caught asleep at the wheel at the race restart.

Good driving by everyone in that race and congratulations to Devinney and Eric for thier 1-2 close race finish. Travis and I had a good race for 3rd.

Johan had to start from the back as his transponder was in his race suit pocket for qualifing.

Laura would have done better were it not for an errant/spinning 944 on the last lap.

Sunday can be discussed later.I enjoyed a good race with Evan Levine for 4th. He worked hard for the position and drove an unrattled rookie race…Evan, race experience from some where else? Again, great job.

Regards, RP

#11

Ranger wrote:

As explained in the drivers meeting, if the first group in a split start takes the green, any subsequent start is a “restart” that - according to CCR 20.13 - is “…single file unless otherwise stated by the series rules, directors, etc.”

If the first group never takes the green, the whole field should remain 2 by 2 and/or re-line-up at the usual place.

#12

evanlevine3233 wrote:

[quote]dpjr wrote:

[quote]
Any news from today? Hopefully no bent metal again.[/quote]

Well… unfortunately there was some bent metal, but still a pretty good day all around. A rogue 350z racing against… well… no one, hit Laura Patton pretty hard.[/quote]
I hated to see that. I believe the 350 driver is Jose Escobar. I think I met him at my 2nd DE weekend 5 years ago and he does a bunch on NASA races. I haven’t known him to be reckless and I am sure he feels bad about what sounds like an at-fault incident. I know Laura was having a fun competitive weekend until then.

RPatton - I have a big bumper shell ('84 e chassis) sitting in my garage that I was going to take a Sawzall to. Let me know if you want me to cut off the back end for you.

Good clean racing overall. Fun times on Sunday. We got about 10 of us together to terrorize each other in the rental karts. After Travis threw his kart waaaaaaay off track he figured out that decreasing radius turn and I couldn’t catch him. That was foreshadowing for the afternoon race. Congrats to Johan and Travis for good, clean racing (not that we were near each other for very long :wink: :S ).

Did anyone else find the exit to turn 3 really slippery? It almost felt like oil had been dropped there. Maybe just the green track. Travis and I had a couple good dirt trackin’ times on the wrong side of those gators. Ahhh good times.

Good job rookies! Us grizzled veterans are definitely gonna have to step up our game.

Signed,

Season Points Leader (b!tchez!!!)

PS - In congratulating me on the win Saturday, IndyJim let me know that I would have still been on the podium even if he and Geegar had been there. It’s good to have friends. :laugh:

#13

DeVinney said, "In congratulating me on the win Saturday, IndyJim let me know that I would have still been on the podium even if he and Geegar had been there. It’s good to have friends. :laugh:[/quote]

But they weren’t there…and no, they would not have joined you, Travis was/is faster,and Johan does not always leave his transponder in his pocket, ha ha.

RP

#14

Patton wrote:

Just a 24 hours of lemons, which really doesn’t compare.

You were clearly the better racer in our fight, the video makes that apparent. I think I just had better brakes and enough time on the clock to keep trying over and over again until I got lucky. Learned a lot though, that was my first exchanging of places with someone who knows how to make it difficult. After the first two times you re-passed me I fell back a bit and I was just driving around behind you pondering how the heck anyone ever passes anyone.

And here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4Rmo6j9mzY

#15

evanlevine3233 wrote:

Nice driving and a good battle.

#16

Evan, that was fun to watch…great job! Patton will always race you clean.

#17

Thanks, Evan. Great rookie race…no mistakes!

As the old “postpone the inevitable” goes, I give you great marks for the point-by to the thunder roadster racer. I did the same as we went into t11.

Throughout the race you were reeling me in, so the postpone the inevitable turned into a nice clean race for position. Cars looked and drove equal on the straightaways.Your pace matches that of Travis, DeVinney and Eric. We’ve still some racecraft to learn to catch the “Crazy Dane” Schwartz. You schooled me in the braking zones. The old dog needs to learn how to push the brake pedal harder and later.

Thanks again,RP

#18

Had a great weekend. Dad drove hard for the first 1 1/2 hrs of the enduro and then Travis and I had a fun battle the beginning of our stint until his corded and sparking tires finally let go. It was awesome to win the enduro with Dad. Woke up Saturday morning and was almost certain we would not race in the afternoon. It wasn’t until 20 min before qualifying that we realized it was actually going to happen. So a quick change of tires with more tread was all we had time for to prepare for the wet track and just hope our brakes from the enduro would last. Qualified second but as seen on Steve’s video he had a great start for the race and the whole race was a great chase through the whole miata field with Patton hot on my tail. When we were finally clear it was the white flag and by the time I got to Steve’s bumper we were crossing the finish line. For Sunday started the Q race 2nd but finished 2nd to Johan. I then made a last minute decision for Dad to drive the Sunday race to get more seat time and I still think it was the right call. Can’t wait for the RA event in March!

#19

I know it’s late but here is Sats video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0rxrKS72K0

#20

posted notes about the weekend and video on my blog http://racing.cerient.net/?p=133