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Ugh! I just spent 20-30 minutes writing up a nice race report only to get an error in posting (because of the time out, I believe) and lost it all. No time to write again this morning, maybe tonight.
Sat, couple laps: http://www.vimeo.com/1554750
Sun, whole race: http://www.vimeo.com/1554386
edit: uploaded to Vimeo instead (better video quality than google)
Jeremy that race on Sunday was about as much fun as I have ever had in a race car. Here’s my vid
Short verion of the lost AM write up:
Saturday: Osborne got the better of me on the start and battling with him the first few laps allowed Simon to get away.
Sunday: lots of lead changes with Simon, very close racing. What is not easy to see on the video is that at ~6:30 in the video the accel pedal detached from the floor (leading to the wicked slide going in the Carousel). Also not easy to see is that Simon and I were side by side on the last lap from T7 to T13. Good stuff. Can’t wait to do it again.
Unfortunately that small bump with Simon broke my middle grille and lodged it in the rad fan which led to an electrical meltdown once we got back to the paddock. Currently the car is completely dead; nothing happens when you turn the key so something got fried. Hope we can find what’s burned out the end of next week or I’ll be in trouble for Nationals.
edit: uploading to Vimeo now since the quality is so much better than Google (done!)
This was probably the worst weekend I’ve had at the track where the car still drove onto the trailer under its own power. Do not read this if you are in a good mood.
First the good: Thanks to all GL region drivers for the hospitality and my mom for crewing (dad had work at home).
Now the bad: I’m 4 hrs. on the road from Richmond when a middle aged guy in a cowboy hat driving a green Honda element signals frantically to me to pull off the road. My first thought that he wanted to “hang out”
was erased when I braked for the next exit ramp and caught a glimpse of a huge smoke cloud coming out of the right side trailer wheels.
Ugh… 6 hrs. later we are still in Nowhereville, VA (or WVA?) trying to fix an exploded wheel bearing and drum brake in the parking lot of the local Uhaul place with the locals (who happened to have the parts).
It’s 2AM and we roll into the Quality Inn. We decide to sleep through the morning sessions tomarrow so I will be fresh for the weekend. That was a mistake. Two 17 minute sessions in traffic with yellow flags everywhere is not enough to learn a track like mid-ohio.
Speaking of mid-o, for those who have not been there are some rules you should know about:
-No buying a hot dog without buying a combo (side of fries and a drink with it for $6)
-No pets
-No bicycles (but dirt bikes, golf karts, and mopeds are allowed)
-No walking the track at night (but walking the track during the day is allowed and apparently safer- bigfoot is in fact more dangerous than 30+ race cars at speed.)
On Sat. managed to qualify 3rd for the race but with only a 1.45.9 
Skipping ahead to the race… I decided to hook up the cool shirt for the race mostly for ballast since the races are longer than the mid atl (more fuel burn). Unfortunately, I realized on grid that I had forgotten to strap down the cooler (in passenger footwell). I had just pulled a Turnipseed:ohmy: . The cooler tipped over on lap 1 and spilled water everywhere inside the car. The water then leaked onto the rear tires which caused me to spin (luckily in the slowest corner on the track.) I decided to park it since I didn’t want to spin again and since the water (which had dripped out of the car) was my ballast. Wow. All because of one little stap:blush: 
.
I got the feeling on Saturday night that I would have similar luck on Sunday.
I qualified the same with a 45.4. When I was waiting on grid, I was so focused on the cooler (which I had now strapped, zip tied, and duct taped to the bracket) that I completely forgot my driving gloves #%@#^&$&%^!. Luckily my crew (mom) had time to run and get them.
Understand- I am not usually a forgetful person. It must be the 50 deg. Ohio weather or the 4 hrs. of sleep on Friday. Or maybe it was the traditional Amish breakfeast we ate at the restaurant in town. Either way, I was off my game this weekend:blush: .
In the race, Michael O. and I had contact at the start. Simon and Jeremy checked out at this point. I never saw another SE30 in front or behind for the rest of the race. I just tried to do laps and continue to learn the track before September. Finished 3rd.
Luckily, we did not end up dying on the way home, but I have been wondering which is more dangerous- tractor trailers going 25 mph in a 70 mph highway or horse and buggies going 5mph on a 45 mph road. If you stare at them long enough they start to look like 944s:P
Looking forward to an uneventful weekend at summit. Thanks to Simon, Jeremy, Michael (and family) and Tom for the only highlights of an otherwise low weekend.
Wow. I didn’t hear about your trailer troubles.
Glad to have you up here with us (and for the CDOC tip). You coming up for the National?
jlucas wrote:
Actually I just watched the last lap and we are side by side after the exit of 1, we did almost a whole lap. I wonder what lap time we did on that last lap :).
Robert, we really enjoyed having you here and you were getting faster every session and should definitely be in the mix at Nationals. See you in about 4 weeks!
Car ran tonight. :woohoo: There’s a fusable link in the trunk back by the battery.
Just need to require the fan and get that link.
Simon, my LSD breaks away at 35ft-lbs so if I can find time to get that fixed before Nationals, you might be in trouble! :evil:
So time for my race weekend report.
First, if anyone ever need to know how to get a skunk out from under a race car and Al Taylor is not around give me a call.
The weather was great. My car is down on power and needs a rebuild. I could not get down to close to the other guys and had Simon drive the car. He liked the handling but confirmed it was down on power. We did some tinkering and adjusted the throttle cable as it was not going to WOT. Had two different racers tell me of smoke coming from the rear. After some tests I would guess rings.
The racing was fun and I got good starts on both. On Saturday I got third as Robert dropped out due to his cool shirt cooler coming loose. Simon checked out on Saturday as Jeremy was busy getting around me. It did not take him long but Simon was gone. On Sunday I got around Robert on the start and was third again. Robert and I both tried to fit in the same hole at the same time and we touched. I ended up spinning but was able to continue although in last place. As my lap times were not good I just ended up lapping and staying out of the way. Tom made it through the weekend and did not blow another engine. I am sure he is happy with that. Everyone seems to get quicker and quicker and I am sure Nationals well be full of tough competition.
I am hoping to get some rings in the car before nationals and maybe get back to the 1:44’s like I was at last year’s Nationals. We all had a great time and look forward to seeing everyone at Nationals.
Michael
#36
Great Lakes Region
jlucas wrote:
[quote]
Simon, my LSD breaks away at 35ft-lbs so if I can find time to get that fixed before Nationals[/quote]
Thats overrated I wouldn’t worry about it 
Pics are up, you can thank Shannon for these. If any of you want the actual large files, just let me know.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10955496@N07/sets/72157606843172199/
maybe somebody put magnetic shims on the back of your gas pedal like “somebody” did to the Toyota NASCAR cars (to lower their dyno numbers) B)
bruce
ilateapex wrote:
[quote]So time for my race weekend report.
First, if anyone ever need to know how to get a skunk out from under a race car and Al Taylor is not around give me a call.
The weather was great. My car is down on power and needs a rebuild. I could not get down to close to the other guys and had Simon drive the car. He liked the handling but confirmed it was down on power. We did some tinkering and adjusted the throttle cable as it was not going to WOT.
Michael
#36
Great Lakes Region[/quote]
Elephant4 wrote:
[quote]jlucas wrote:
[quote]
Simon, my LSD breaks away at 35ft-lbs so if I can find time to get that fixed before Nationals[/quote]
Thats overrated I wouldn’t worry about it ;)[/quote]
Parts ordered. Your in trouble next time…
jlucas wrote:
[quote]
Parts ordered. Your in trouble next time…[/quote]
Sounds like a lot of work to me, I wouldn’t worry about it ;). I’m getting tired just thinking about it. Now I’m going to have to go out and check my diff.
wow, what offset are you running on those wheels Simon?
cheers,
bruce
Elephant4 wrote:
[quote]Pics are up, you can thank Shannon for these. If any of you want the actual large files, just let me know.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10955496@N07/sets/72157606843172199/
[/quote]leggwork wrote:
[quote]wow, what offset are you running on those wheels Simon?
cheers,
bruce[/quote]
Lol, thats John Van Houten’s car he was running GTS2 so he was experimenting with some slicks.
Simon:
You know that I’ll be watching your video every night, from now until the National Weekend…
I need to learn the fast way around Mid Ohio.
Carter
MyLaps.com from the race:
116 Simon Hunter 1:44.370
53 Jeremy Lucas 1:44.366
What we really need to get him to do is load up video from the 1:43.771 he ran in Saturday qualifying!!
