Stories of Epicentricity from the weekend at CMP?

#1

Epicentricity, made that word up.

Certainly someone has some stories from the weekend to entertain.

With three “Scotts” in attendance…something has to be funny.

Regards, RP

#2

The quote of the weekend, for me, came from Scott Gress after Saturday’s race. It went something like this:

“I didn’t fill out a body contact report because I couldn’t remember it all. All it would say was I got hit by a bunch of cars, the color and number of which I do not know”

Other than that, the weather was cold but clear all weekend, which made for some great racing all weekend, with what I considered to be only minor car damage to most cars. With 30 cars in the field and three races, I expected a lot more destruction.

I will say this. I have raced a lot of cars in a lot of different groups and have had to saw through a lot of packs full of cars. I started from last in 2 of my 4 national championship races. I have run LeMons. Chumpcar. PBOC enduros. PCA enduros. The 25 Hours of Thunderhill 5 times. I have seen the difference in talent from front to back of a pack a zillion times. When they inverted the field the first time in the IFU I was running third, which meant I was third from last when the flag fell again. As I sawed through that traffic as best I could (27 cars worth, packed tighter than a sardine can), I wasn’t once scared, and nobody hit me (I had to wait for Sunday’s race for Palacio to help with that chore). That is a real testiment to the quality of the drivers out there, all the way through the field.

It was a great time. Thanks to everyone for making it a great weekend.

-Scott McKay

#3

I can tell you from a spectator point of view that all 3 of the races were great to watch in the turn 1 - 3 area. This was my first time at CMP and my first time with the new set of Spec sway bars. That combined with the cold weather led to the least amount of grip / most oversteer I had ever felt. On corners where I normally felt like I should be able to go full throttle I was having to listen to the engine and feel the rear end while feathering the throttle. I also had my first 2 offs ever both between turn 4 and 5. The first time I was trying to figure out where to get my downshift in and I didn’t brake in time for turn 5 so I went off track in a controlled manner. The second time I didn’t brake enough and turned in too late for turn 4 which resulted in me going through the grass backwards track left and up the berm a little. Luckily no damage to the car, and after those incidents in the first 2 sessions on Saturday I had a great feel for the track and kept it on the pavement. It was great getting to meet some more guys this weekend and it was definitely great getting to be on track with Jon62 seeing each other’s lines.

I wanted to say a big thanks to Patton for the 2 front rotors and to Ranger for offering me one rotor. After the thread last week on cracks in rotors I developed one on the edge of my rotor that went through the top of it after the second session on Saturday. I had brought a fresh set of pads, but I had left my rotors at home. So I changed both rotors with new pads during lunch and only missed a little of the 3rd session. I plan to bring 4 with me to the track from now on in case anyone needs a set. I still really look forward to getting out on track with you guys in the future.

#4

that was easily the best weekend of racing i’ve ever had, it was fabulous to see everyone there having fun. finally got to meet scott mc, although a major bummer when his car was taken out. the debut of palaciomobile #2. billz giving in to peer pressure and pulling his car off the trailer to replace the slave cylinder. travis and his quick change shenanigans. the giant group photo. rookie evan taking pole both days, although one unfortunately ended before the first lap was over. a couple of new guys (jay m. and jay m.) running clean and making the scene. turnipseed’s car loose and smoking the whole time, as usual. the usual creativity from the ifu committee. and lots more that i’ve undoubtedly failed to mention.

ifu (three parts) http://vimeo.com/16609888

sun race (two parts) http://vimeo.com/16611091

still working on the sat race video

#5

Great weekend of racing. Thanks to the IFU committee putting on a fun event. Saturday and Sunday McKay and I had great battles with Walsh joining the mix on Sunday. Everything was clean until I gave McKay a slight nudge in the T5-7 complex, but all is well. Still need to find more time at CMP but overall a great event and can’t wait for RA in Dec.

Anyone else doing the 8hr enduro?

#6

Short Reply

I also have raced a lot of different places, NASA SE Spec e30 is the best, from the Pantis organization to the spec e30 honcho’s to the drivers, there is no better place to race.

Al

#7

first couple of laps from sat race http://vimeo.com/16623044

#8

jtower wrote:

[quote]ifu (three parts) http://vimeo.com/16609888
[/quote]
Sh!t, Tower. If I wanted video of Johan’s back bumper I would have just driven the race myself. :laugh: :laugh:

#9

Man that was a great weekend of racin’. I had good close racing all weekend with barely a nick on the car. That’s impressive considering the field size and comparable lap times.

#10

Steve D wrote:

[quote]jtower wrote:

[quote]ifu (three parts) http://vimeo.com/16609888
[/quote]
Sh!t, Tower. If I wanted video of Johan’s back bumper I would have just driven the race myself. :laugh: :laugh:[/quote]

actually i was listening to piano music before the start so that i could be more like you. but then i remembered that i can count to ten and my parents aren’t cousins so that kind of ruined the illusion.

i was disappointed that we didn’t start with an inverted field, seems like that would have been more fun. thankfully the second and third stints made up for it.

#11

t.wilson wrote:

hear hear! in the final race you were right there with evan and johan, very impressive considering the motor issues you experienced on fri.

#12

I had a great weekend…! I was very happy with a 7th place finish on Saturday after not being on track for so long. I cracked my front bumper when Robert decided not to shift from 3rd to 4th after the carousel. Made his car several inches shorter. Nonetheless, had great battles with Travis, Robert and Al in the race.

Then Al returned the favor in the IFU when he shortened my rear bumper a few inches!

Thanks to everyone who came and talked me down from the ledge on Sunday when I had the car on the trailer with a big puddle of brake fluid underneath it…and an even bigger thanks to Julio Palacio for the new clutch slave cylinder and Scott (what’s his last name??) for replacing it for me. What a great group of racers we have!

Starting 28th was a new and fun experience for me. I think I made it up to 17th.

Big thanks to everyone for another great event!

#13

jtower wrote:

[quote]t.wilson wrote:

hear hear! in the final race you were right there with evan and johan, very impressive considering the motor issues you experienced on fri.[/quote]

I was doing some of the best driving I have ever done on Sunday. Hope you and Evan took notes!

I wonder if mylaps has something that could show how many position changes there were in the IFU…

#14

Great weekend! I pretty much ran just as I expected after being away for over a year, slow!! I had a ton of fun racing with everyone, and my car survived the weekend with just a little wheel rash.

I’ll have video posted soon.

#15

Had allot of fun too watching the e30 crowd tearing up the track…The racing looked great all though the pack…

As KT mentioned, the last session we ran in the DE’s had 3 e30’s in convoy…Good experience…

http://vimeo.com/16637215

Special thanks to Mike Skeen for taking my Nephew on a session of hotlaps, highlight of his trip from England so far…
Glad my lil ol car could hablde the speed its not used to seeing…:woohoo:

#16

t.wilson wrote:

[quote]jtower wrote:

[quote]t.wilson wrote:

hear hear! in the final race you were right there with evan and johan, very impressive considering the motor issues you experienced on fri.[/quote]

I was doing some of the best driving I have ever done on Sunday. Hope you and Evan took notes!

I wonder if mylaps has something that could show how many position changes there were in the IFU…[/quote]Good question. Could probably be done by downloading the lapcharts and using Excel to count the differences between the columns (excluding the 2 laps where the field was flipped)

I didn’t have a chance to ask NASA about the starting order; I also thought it was supposed to have started inverted, and agree that would have been more fun…But, since I saw 4 separate grid sheets !!! it’s a wonder we got lined up and running at all. The midrace passes were all great fun so no complaints here.

Big shout-out to Greg Moberg for hooking me up with a tie rod assembly and door mirror (gotta love those LeMons emergency kits!) – Greg, I’ve got the replacement parts already in hand so will settle up with you at RA in December.

#17

I won’t lie… talk about a weekend of highs and lows for me. Taking P1 in qualifying was a real thrill Saturday morning. Getting punted off the track and damaging the newly repainted car in the first lap of the race was pretty heartbreaking.

The good news was it didn’t do anything too bad, she took P1 again Sunday morning and finished 3rd in the race. The ole time trial skills still work but my race craft is NOT on part with Johan and Skeen. I mean Travis. Or was it…

#18

Its funny, on Sunday, I was running behind “Travis” thinking “this guy reallys sucks. How is he in front of me?”. I was actually getting mad. Was starting to think that a career in completing rubix cubes would be more my speed, until I learned the truth…

Can’t say enough about the weekend. A really great time. I wish it were a little warmer so I could have justified drinking more beer and getting in the drunken fray where I belong.

#19

Great weekend, we had a good time. Was awesome to drive on Saturday AND Sunday :cheer:

#20

tpr jules wrote:

2 cars = 2 X the fun!
:lol: