East Coast Championships Stories and Videos

#1

Results http://timingscoring.drivenasa.com/NASA_National_Championships/Sunday/Group%20C%20-Spec%20E30%20Spec%203/Group%20C%20Sunday%20Championship%20Race%20by%20Class%20-%20Official.pdf

I had a terrific time. There were some warts in how the event was run but that paled in significance to how great it was to hang out with local and distance SpecE30 buddies for 3 days. It was a total blast. I slipped in something heading into 10a and slid off the track. I was lucky I didn’t take anyone out. It was early in the race so we were still pretty bunched up. It took about 2secs to lose 8? places. Then a later bungled pass attempt cost me 3? more places. In the latter half of the race people spread out and I struggle mightily to keep Fred at bay.

My biggest scare of the weekend was going off of the gator at 5 into the gravel. My hair stood straight up in terror as I flew up the hill with zero genuine control of the car. Then I hit the end of the gravel and the car leaped up into the air like a scared cat. When I came back down I somehow kept the car pointed in the right direction and zoomed on w/o having lost a position. That one aged me 10yrs.

Ok, here’s the hard part.
Gents, I know there’s some bitches about how the event was run. I would ask that we not make SpecE30 look bad by creating a bunch of posts full of vitriol and personal attacks. Constructive criticism is entirely good. Calling someone a shithead isn’t. With a little cleverness you can salt the earth someone stood on and they won’t even know for sure you said a cross word.

Praise in public. Criticize in private. Venom and personal attacks will get deleted. If you guys want, you can back-channel your specific gripes to me and I will consolidate them into a letter to Carter and NASA HQ.

So in summary. I had a blast, but there were some admin aspects of the event that were ah, not ideal. Hopefully NASA HQ will allow Cobetto’s crew to run East Coast Nats next year at VIR. That’s right, VIR baby!

#2

Very good set up Scott! Being this my first National event, I have to say that I learned a lot about the politics and procedures at this level. I will personally advise the rookies on what I’ve learned if I go to this event next year. I don’t believe in getting an advantage outside the track, I might be naive, but I won’t feel better about myself if I see someone making a mistake and not helping to prevent it. Overall mixed feelings about this weekend, from the officiating part, yes they made a few mistakes, but in hindsight I guess it’s hard to arrive at a new track and make everything work perfectly, I personally think they should let the local region run the event. From the rules of Spec E30, I guess this HP rule creates a lot of controversy. I personally wasted my whole test and tune day, tuning and not testing, lol, and for what? - I made no changes from how the car arrived at the track day one.
I guess you could say that I should be joyful in the fact that they tore down my engine and found no illegal parts, and that’s a slap on the face to the guys who were accusing me of having a cheater engine - but no! I don’t approach this sport that way, sorry! I’m not going to let this experience jade me. I absolutely HATE the fact that 1st and 2nd got DQ for whatever the reason, really!

I know who wishes me well and I love you, I get the same amount of joy when you perform well, as I get when I perform well.

I also know who doesn’t, and I love beating you :slight_smile:

#3

So it’s a little corny, but I thought I would show my part of the Sandro run through the pack to show the respect for someone who came from the back row to win a Championship.

The weekend was awesome and I learned a ton and had a blast with everyone, drama included. I am so looking forward to Daytona!

http://youtu.be/jSZWPLl-5Ic

I’ll post my little bit of complaining about my engine later as my excuse. hahaha… Let’s just say I wasn’t even shifting to 5th on the back straight for half the race. ugh…

#4

It was amazing to race all the sessions without a full course caution or red flag. The fact that we had 40 cars and virtually Zero crunched cars was proof that the SpecE30 racers are some of the best and we didn’t have to screw with out of class 944s and Meatttahs.

#5

Eagerly awaiting Sandro’s in car… That has to be one video to watch… :slight_smile:

I have posted a few clips form the Esses and 10a / 10b on Facebook…I folks want to see them, let me know…

#6

I uploaded my video of the 2nd qualifying race - http://youtu.be/sRSuNFOjRaI

Started 8th/40 for it, at the start I fall back to 15th due to a bad standing start. I then work my way back up to finish 5th. If you like this video, please subscribe to my channel to receive updates automatically.

The championship race is still being processed.

#7

Congrats to Sandro! an epic drive for the championship win overcoming the seemingly impossible starting position. Impressed that our group was able to keep it all together in a championship environment with 40+ cars.
Very disappointed in my DQ but I honor the officials decision however it turns out. To sum it up: the valves where deemed questionable and will be sent to NASA to compare with the OEM replacement valves that my head builder uses. He assured me after speaking with him that the dimensions, shape, weight are all within OEM standards.
Post race Dyno results: 158 hp all pulls, weighing in at 2771 lbs. The top three cars were all legal and within 2 hp according to the officials.
Really bummed the Dyno crew overheated the car (pegged in the red) and then had a small fire beneath the car(bring your own fire extinguisher). Time to rebuild for Daytona.
Ill get some video together soon, nice battle between Grace and Palacio in front of me for first half of race.

Special thanks to Scott Clements and Rich Bratton for tearing down the motor in Tech. I cant thank you two enough.

#8

What was the deal with Grace’s car?

#9

I left for NASA Nationals at Road Atlanta around 5AM Wednesday morning and after driving through the night I am finally home at 5AM Monday morning. I try really hard to do things the right way, in racing and in life - so it is incredibly hard to swallow the fact that I was DQ’d for a technical infraction after finishing on the podium. Long story short, the fuel pressure regulator that my engine builder installed was not the stock FPR. It looked the same and had a Bosch stamp on it so I had no reason to believe it was anything other than the correct FPR. The part didn’t provide any performance advantage as the average of my 12 dyno runs over the weekend was a 156, with my post race dyno being a 158 (carrying 2800lbs) - but the rule is the rule and it is black and white.
I was devastated when I heard the news in impound, especially given the blood sweat and tears that went into preparing for this event - and the literal blood sweat and tears that were shared between my dad and I as we (aka he) pulled the hot intake and exhaust manifolds for valve inspection post race - but as a wise man and racing mentor I like to call “Cobetto” once told me as I loaded a broken down car onto the trailer in the Utah desert at NASA Nationals in 2010 "the great ones learn from these things, put it in its box, put it on the shelf, and move forward"
A truly disappointing end to an otherwise fun weekend. A massive thanks to Seth and Julie Grace for all of the support, wouldn’t be possible without them, to DriveGear Racing, Bimmerparts, KNS Brakes, and BimmerWorld for all of the technical support over the course of the season, wish I could have had a better showing for you.

Hate to see the result for Lako, you drove a smart, clean race unlike a few of us that were battling up front - and it paid off. You might not get the $4k and the spot in the record books but you beat 40 other drivers, including a handful of past champions - and you should be proud of that effort.

Also wanted to give a shout out to Pete. Coming into this event I thought he was going to be the strongest competition - and if not for his mechanical issues I’d bet the farm he would have been standing on the podium.

As for Sandro, congrats! That was a hell of a run from the back of the pack. Truly impressive given the quality and depth of the field. Do us proud in the Mazda champions race!

#10

Robert ,is there a difference in the pressure’s between your “illegal” regulator and the stock "legal " one ? or is just different part #'s ?

#11

There is a 944 FPR that is 0.5bar higher pressure. We played with it years ago on a dyno. We found that the DME’s ability to adjust long term fuel trim defeated the expected richening of the mixture pretty darn quick unless we pulled the O2 sensor prior to installing the 944 FPR.

I still have that FPR up in my attic somewhere if you Chumpers want it.

#12

As Paul said, no FCC’s…and we were joking about 6 totaled cars for the weekend. Anyone who watched Sunday’s race and does not want to race in Spec e30 does not have a pulse, or gonads, or something.

Seriously, running 40 cars that close at Road Atlanta for 3 days… congrats to everyone yall did a fantastic job.

Al

#13

Started 28th, was 39th by turn 5 after I missed not one but two shifts on the start. Battled up about 17 spots only to spin out in 10a on the last lap battling with Craig Guthrie and Rich Bratton. 205 temps and a busted exhaust made it seem like I was driving the Smart Car out there but it was still a blast.

#14

The start from Spectator hill…
https://vimeo.com/104920470

https://vimeo.com/104920475
https://vimeo.com/104920477
https://vimeo.com/104920473

and the finish…
https://vimeo.com/104920479

Put these on FB also

#15

That was some really intense racing ! cant believe that for the most part cars were left intact . some crazy , crazy stuff going on .

Robinson and I were watching from the bottom of the esses when Palacio made a move on Grace for the lead , , the two were side by side going in to 5, Palacio on the inside and Grace in the middle , Grace took the normal race line all 4 off on to the rumble strips giving Palacio "no racing room " and ran Palacio clear into the gravel , looking at going into the wall , sideways , kicking gravel etc, etc scary stuff . If memory serves that’s when lako took the lead ?

#16

https://vimeo.com/104974803
A look from #81:sick:

#17

Hard to watch man.

#18

“Motorsport, she’s a cruel mistress. “ Pretty much sums up my weekend at nationals. After arriving from a 12 hour tow with crew chief Matt Russell, and a great practice day on Thursday, I was ready for action. Car felt really good and I felt even better. The competition at the event was insane, Friday’s qualifying, top15 within ½ second! My plan was to play it smart and get a competitive starting position for Sunday’s race. After some setup changes after Friday’s race, the car felt much better in a long run. Starting P3 for Sundays race found myself in the lead after the first lap and had a good gap after 3 laps when my trans locked in neutral heading into 10a. As I coasted down pit lane I saw my competition fly by and my race over.

Despite the lack or organization and inability to maintain proper rule set, the weekend was great hanging out with the best group of racers in NASA. Very unhappy with the money I threw away running on the dyno that was inconsistent. I had a 10hp difference from one day to the other. The rules really need to be addressed before 2015, but I’m not going to start ranting about that in this forum. Everyone’s ability to adapt to the changes really speaks highly on the character of the Spec E30 races. The weekend ups and downs really tested me mentally but overall felt really happy with my performance running at the front with a legal race car. Looking forward to the 2015 VIR event, with the best event coordinator. Hopefully the racing will be a close and clean as it was this year.

Thanks again for the help of Matt Russell, Justin Styles, Mike Gaskill, Redline Speed Worx, and Axis of Oversteer.

#19

Great job out there to all the SE30 racers out there this weekend, I kept up with it as much as I could, and there is really no better series to run in right now. I hope to one day be a decent enough driver to be able to race with your group.
Congratulations to Mr Espinosa, I watched the youtube video, that was an amazing drive.
I’ll be at VIR next year to watch you guys in person.

#20

[quote=“Rnz520” post=78236]Great job out there to all the SE30 racers out there this weekend, I kept up with it as much as I could, and there is really no better series to run in right now. I hope to one day be a decent enough driver to be able to race with your group.
Congratulations to Mr Espinosa, I watched the youtube video, that was an amazing drive.
I’ll be at VIR next year to watch you guys in person.[/quote]

Ray, once you get your car up to snuff, you’ll be pretty fast indeed!