Is it too much to ask for a simple recap or two?
I assume Mike won anyway, but who took 6th???
Did 6 cars even start? 
Seriously?? No BMP updates!!!!
mskeen
#2
From memory:
Sat:
Skeen
Moses
R Patton
Herrington
Sun:
Skeen
Moses
Herrington
Robert had car trouble again today. Pretty sure we had at least 7 cars in each race, but I donāt know. Robinson didnāt race because his brakes were locking up GRM-style. Geeger had engine/trans trouble. JPās POS was towed down by Dave for no reason (because it broke on Friday and again on Saturday). Rookie Thornton survived the weekend. BillZ wimped out and The Sled left early on Sunday because they didnāt want to fall victim to the RacerX mojo they were parked next to.
Did I miss anything?
Oh yesā¦Iām stuck in ATL because the tow rig sharted a trans.
IndyJim
#3
Pretty much as Skeen said.
Thursday went to get the car ready brakes seemed to be locked up.
Thought it was the parking brake, so Craig and I removed all of that stuff.
Car seemed to roll / drive okay so we thought we had it.
Friday start the enduro car is bogged down out of corners on the start. Come into the pits rear rotors are glowing orange.
Jason proceeds to change a master cylinder faster than I thought humanly possible. We bleed the brakes and Geegar is turning laps with 2 hours to go in the race.
We again figure that has to be it.
Craig comes in 4 laps later. Brendan with Randyās sister make a heroic run to the local junkyard for parts for all the enduro victims.
I watch as Jason replaces an ABS pump, and rear proportioning valve faster than I thought humanly possible. I bleed brakes for like 2 hours.
Sat. practice and we KNOW all of that had to fix it. Car still seems bogged out of corners, come in rotors hot.
Now weāre stumped. I pull out of the race and we start looking for new rear calipers. Check the hard lines for crimps and obstructions. Dave Herrington and Chuck are nice enough to play around while I take on instructor duties hoping to score a test session if the car gets sorted out.
Seems like it might be both calipers now, as the lines arenāt crimped and fluid flows freely through them. Thinking is that the extreme heat cooked the calipers. So they may not have been the initial problem but something is melted in them now.
Iāll replace the calipers this week and hopefully be back to the races at CMP.
It was a war of attrition this weekend at BMP with several cars wilting in the extreme heat.
In a strange piece of irony the Spec E30ās were parked on the Barber skid pad. Per their stormtroopers āThe most protected piece of pavement in the paddockā.
It was also a deep dark shade of black which was nice at around 3pm.
TheRedBaron
#5
mskeen wrote:
[quote]From memory:
Sat:
Skeen
Moses
R Patton
Herrington
Thorton
Laura P*
Chuck T
[/quote]
- 6th place winner
I didnāt stick around for Sundayās race, even though I really really wanted to hang out on the ultra black pavement in 100 degree heat without being able to drive.
As Skeen and Jim wrote above, my weekend (among others) sucked bad. I did about 4 parade laps in Jimās car with no brakes during the enduro after the mc was swapped.
Saturday I went out to practice and finally figured out where to turn left and where to turn right. I think I did a 1:58 and change. Qualifying I dropped 4 seconds down to 1:54 since I could start to get on the gas. I was anxious to race, knowing that Iād be peer pressured into doing things I wouldnāt be comfortable with and subsequently dropping another 4 seconds (or maybe 4 wheels, but thatās racing right), but when I came in, Eric Nissen noticed that my car sounded like crap and him, Jason, Brendan, Chuck, others all thought the bottom end. I was praying for an exhaust rattling, but since the car wouldnāt start, it would have to wait to be diagnosed. Later, after starting it (starter got heat soaked?), it definitely sounds like the bottom end is bad and I decided not to go out, risk Barber charging me $6 grand for oil dry should something bust, risk putting myself and or someone else into a wall that might also cost $6 grand to fix only to finish 7th out of 7. On top of not wanting to destroy my newly rebuilt head. And the transmission is missing 4th gear shifts.
So, overall, a fun time. Barber was freaking nice. Like golf course nice. Like, the auto flush urinals give you a courtesy flush when you walk up nice. Like they powerwash the track and paddock nice. Like closed circuit tv in the air conditioned grand-stand-tower-building-thing nice.
The track definitely seemed fun to drive. I still have no idea whether it is fun to race though.
The SE30 race wasnāt too interesting to watch (7 cars). Of all races to get stuck on the sidelines and have to watch, this wasnāt the one. However, the SpecMiata race was really pretty cool to watch. There were a bunch of those guys out there dicing it up.
DMoses
#6
HOT HOT HOT!
I really want to hear about Dave Whites tow home:laugh:
Sat. I qualified second and finished second. Sounds familiar huh?
Sun. was a little more intresting. I qualified second but would get past Skeen after we had a red flag situtation. I think I lead for about 3 laps or so but had a bobble in turn 1 that let him get a run on me. He got by and that was that. Traffic was tough to deal with on Sun.
jbtripp
#7
Wow, sorry I missed itā¦:S
Could have been worse, at least you guys who made it were racing (or attempting to) Isnāt this like the āā¦a bad day fishingā thing?:unsure:
I spent the weekend ushering my family, who are visiting from āback homeā (Montana) around shopping malls, nursing homes, butterfly farms, arboretums, and barbecue joints. At several points I would have gladly taken crawling around on black pavement in 100 degree temps over āOh My, would you look at all that Kudzuā¦ā for the 30th timeā¦ Ahhhhhh :ohmy:
Nevertheless, Iām staying home today to work on my carā¦hoping to get a track day or two in at CMP before the next big event! B) Still trying to figure out the black magic that is sway bar setup. :huh:
Did any of ya visit the museum?
IndyJim
#8
DMoses wrote:
Has anyone heard from Dave? Iām hoping that joke didnāt get him killedā¦
thornton
#9
As mentioned before the story of Barber was definitely the heat! I thought it was supposed to be August before it got that hot!
I had a great time getting to know more of the SE guys and it was probably better for me that it was a small group (although Iām looking forward to a larger field in the future).
After passing comp school on Friday, I had fun racing with Chuck and Laura on Saturday and then was pretty much on my own in the back on Sunday. I think my tires had finally had enough after 3 prior weekends, all comp school, and then all the sessions on Saturday and Sunday in the heat. It became a challenge just to keep the car on the track so I just tried to stay out of the way. I can tell you that a 50 minute race in that heat without a cool shirt = HOT AS BALLS!!!
Again, great meeting the few of you that were there. It doesnāt look like Iāll be at CMP, but I look forward to seeing everyone at Road Atlanta in August.
ctbimmer
#10
I was trying to decide which was worse: RA last August or BMP this weekend. Guess it doesnāt matter as they were both miserably hot!
I had only driven Barber once, 4 years ago. I left that time with the remnants of my once-pristine E30 in Pattonās trailer (the flashbacks didnāt abate until I started chasing Laura on Sunday) and still didnāt have a clue how to approach the track. Robert, Mike and Damion were pretty helpful in tossing out more than a few nuggets of advice.
Saturdayās race was notable mostly for being stuck behind a Miata that wanted to race me hard, and backed me up into Laura. An ill-advised passing try at the kink (trying to slay the demons?) cost me so much Mo-mentum that Laura got a killer run and nailed me heading into the tunnel turn.
Finished 7th out of 7. Impressive. Matt the rook was an opportunistic dude. I had so many poor corners he had his choices of where to take me down, but settled on the frontstraight and got me clean on the inside going into 1.
Sunday I picked up a few seconds in qualifying, which happily netted me a start inā¦5th again. Tried to get cute in 2nd gear at the start and blew my upshift just as the green flew. Laura whips past me on the right, and here comes Thornton trying to get me again on the inside. Not today fella!
Managed to get Laura in the corkscrew on the first lap, then we had a redflag drill on the backstraight. I heard later that something had broken down offtrack and set the grass on fire!
Anyway, with the FCY and bunched restart, we were instantly mixed in with the 944s, Miatas etc. Lost sight of the top 4 and after 15 minutes was bored, so decided to drop back and race Laura. Unfortunately I was being such a nice guy trying not to disrupt everybodyās momentum I backed off too much, and that shifty Laura wasnāt paying attention to what I wanted to do 'cause she blew by me going into the tunnel turn again! Argh, now I got to chase her from behind. We had a real fun battle; I was better in half the turns and she owned the other half.
Near the end I got a run and got inside heading down into the tunnel turn and got by her. Unfortunately in my glee I forgot to turn in at the right spot to head back up to the tunnel overpass, and ended up 4 wheels off near the wall. Kept my foot in it and got back on track without much drama but she got back by while I was trimming the lawn. Damn, the white flag flew next time by and I couldnāt get another shot. But, it was fun.
Was a tough weekend mechanically for the E30s as already mentioned. In addition to the breakdowns, Robertās car started acting up in Sundayās race, and mine developed a very impressive oil leak. The only thing better than broiling in the nasty-smelling, deeply black skidpad surface is kneeling down mopping up all the oil spots before the Barberians stopped by to issue a citation. Good fun!
Anyway, Matt Thornton had an impressive rookie debut and is looking to be a solid addition to the group once he gets some better tires!
Patton
#12
Sat: Started 3, finished 3- There are better golfers than I.
Sun: Started 3, finished 4- Car is messing up again.Thatās my excuse. Herrington had just gotten by me and it was going to be a good race.
Note to self: enjoy the golf game.
The cars that had mechanical trouble:Guess weāll have to bring a bigger selection of clubs to the next golf game to help out. Sorry Mike, but Iām not going so far as to have a spare Tahoe transmission.
Good to meet Matt Thornton at the race and I look forward to his participation at future races.
Regards, Robert Patton
mskeen
#13
Patton wrote:
[quote]Sorry Mike, but Iām not going so far as to have a spare Tahoe transmission.
[/quote]
Good news on that. Trans is still under warranty by two weeks. If I hadnāt gone to Barber, it wouldāve crapped out a couple months after losing coverage.
Patton
#14
[ Trans is still under warranty by two weeks. If I hadnāt gone to Barber, it wouldāve crapped out a couple months after losing coverage.[/quote]
Fantastic! Weāre glad you could attend. Borrow a car and join us for dinner.
Regards, Robert Patton
mskeen
#15
Sounds good. Looks like Iāll be here a couple days, so if anyone wants to relive Barber memories (or maybe some better weekend), Iām game.
919.971.2697
Patton
#19
Chi, that is an idea. The Fire of Brazil has their meat-fest lunch special for 1/2 the evening price. Itās a lot of food, but worth it if youāve never had their style of lunch.
Other good places?
Taylor is in the area.
Get Geiger and Robinson for the live entertainment and noone will want to go back to work.
Comments? Ideas?
Otherwise, Mike youāre on for Wednesday night in the Suwanee area? I found out that Iām busy tonite and Taylorās busy on Tuesday.
Back to the Barber updates.
Regards, Robert Patton
Patton
#20
JP, how fast were Dave and Randy in the #155 before it broke the transmission?
Regards, Robert Patton