Our weekend sucked... how about everybody else?

Bernie Baake · **Posted:** Tue Aug 13, 2013 10:02 pm

RickyBeam wrote:

At least you still had your windshield :-)

At the 8pm driver change, when we put the lights on, we forgot to put the hood pins back. (tired + rushed is a bad cocktail) Kraig made two laps (based on laptimes) before air got under the hood. On approach to T1. At over 100mph. He kept his cool and got off to a corner worker who put the hood down. The hood came back with enough force to fold the roof around the cage. 2 and half hours of hammering and the roof was fixed, the hood was (mostly) flat, the rear lexan wass pulled, the really-damned-well-glued-in windshield was out, and the millions of sparkly bits vacuumed up. As long as your visor is down and locked, we're good to go back out. Speed was somewhat compromised after that -- you could get it up to 100mph, but you really didn't want to. Also, driving without a rearview mirror is, well, a challenge. On the plus side, the driver never got hot.

(Yes, we were all aware of how dangerous that was. There's nothing to stop debris from hitting you.)

Well this has been an interesting thread to read.....I was the corner worker at turn 1 for the first twelve hours of this race... and yes I put the hood back down for Kraig. As for the number 06 car...you were watched from the first lap for rough driving....I called that car in on the second lap for punting someone in the ass going into T1 and it kept going most of the day light hours, calls from other stations about the aggressive driving of the 06 car. Not what an endurance race is all about. If the 06 car hit that many cars in a Lemons race they would have had ten or twelve hours of penalties, or been sent home. Race control alerted all stations at about six PM to watch the 06 car because of driver complaints......Soo a word to the wise they'll be watching you next time too.

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

No sh!t Bernie, I didn't know you were flagging T1, I would have waved!

Thanks for manning the flag stand!

clinehall · **Posted:** Wed Aug 14, 2013 6:11 am

Richard Casto wrote:

As this is turning into the general thread for this past weekend, I also wanted to say it was good to meet some other people in person who I have only known via the forum. That included Rob, Jason, Andrew, James and Zach (think Zach and I may have meet in person previously). Was Cline on the Silver Bullet team? If so I am sorry I didn't get a chance to meet him. And it was good to talk to others that I haven't seen in awhile!

Richard

How does one miss me?

clinehall · **Posted:** Wed Aug 14, 2013 6:26 am

Richard Casto wrote:

Rob Keehner wrote:

Here is my second stint which caused much controversy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iscdKda ... ata_player

All I can say is they need to require some track time. Or before the race let people who have never been on track before take exploratory laps. I'm not doing that shit again. I would honestly recommend thscc members to not participate. Our track program is good, safe, friendly, this is not. I think it is negligent.

Forgive my ignorance. My experience in W2W consists of years of watching racing on TV. I have seen various purposeful taps and pushing in some professional racing series. It seems to be more common (even expected?) in NASCAR and Grand-Am, and less or not acceptable at all in other series. I have to admit, I haven't watched much incar in amateur series like SCCA, NASA, etc. Is that type of pushing along (bump drafting?), purposeful contact or whatever you call it that you did with that one car something that is considered acceptable in LeMons/Chumpcar? :whoknows:

Just curious. I am just trying to understand how this stuff works.

Richard

after watching Nascar at Watkins Glen this weekend, I can say the racing is cleaner and safer in Chumpcar!

Scott Lusted · **Joined:** Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:52 am **Posts:** 215

I've read about some of the things that happened during the race and witnessed a few but there were some bonehead / sleep deprivation moves going on.

From Booksmart's point of view, I thought the racing was way better than what we witnessed last year especially at night. We very clearly explain to our drivers that putting the car in a compromising move or dive bombing is not clean racing and not to do it. Honestly, this was our 5th race and I can say without a doubt that our team is getting wwwaaaayy better at navigating traffic and judging things that will get us in trouble.

We had one bump during the entire race as a result of a car spinning in front of us and being pinned in by both sides. Even then, it was slight impact that just pushed the hood up a bit. During both of my stints, I had a car spin directly in front of me but we try to leave a little on the table for avoidance which helps out.

Another thing, we radio in a list of cars to watch out for so our chief can relay that to our drivers. It changes with stints but usually by stint two you can pick out the rookie team and say clear of them when on track. On the other hand, I though I saw some really impressive driving talent as well.

I love chumpcar. The racing is great, people are great, they did one heck of a job at VIR with hot pulls. We didn't have a full course yellow until 5-6 hours in if I remember correctly.

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Wed Aug 14, 2013 8:40 am

Rob Keehner wrote:

I saw a bump in pit lane, pitt maneuver in the Stevie Wonders, and the front got totally bashed in when we were excluded.

Excluded? Is that code for "kicked out"? I doubt you were "excluded" for that one incident alone.

As has been said, you'd better stay away from Lemons. When they say no contact, they mean it. Their series started like Chump Car with lots of "beating and banging", even they had the same rules as they do now, they were just a little more relaxed back then. Once they decided to drop the hammer and enforce them, well people immediately started to "drive better".

The people who seem to have the most problems forget it's an ENDURANCE race. Scott's team finished 5th with that mindset, not because their car or drivers were the fastest (no offense to you or you team Scott), it was because they drove smart and played the long game.

Scott Lusted · **Joined:** Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:52 am **Posts:** 215

Vincent Keene wrote:

The people who seem to have the most problems forget it's an ENDURANCE race. Scott's team finished 5th with that mindset, not because their car or drivers were the fastest (no offense to you or you team Scott), it was because they drove smart and played the long game.

No offense taken! That is our strategy. If you review the laps from the 1st place team, they clicked off 11 perfect pitstops and had zero issues while maintaining a pretty competitive pace. Now, speed will help you get to the front, not asshattery...

-Scott

Bernie Baake · **Posted:** Wed Aug 14, 2013 8:50 am

Scott, the Chumpcar staff stated they did not want to slow or stop the race for minor incidents.....the hot pulls were the VIR EV crews who work in conjunction with the flaggers who cover them and race control...hot pulls are extremely dangerous. One of VIR's wreckers was totaled in an incident of red mist last year during a NASA race. The two full course cautions that occurred during my twelve hours were for the Chump car staff to distribute food to the corner workers...There were no track incidents that I recall that required full course caution. Maybe the wreck around sta 8,28 area did cause a full course caution but as I said I can't remember, I had over 100 run offs between the front straight, turn1 and turn3. The most noticeable difficulty with the Chump racers is the fact that the vast majority ignore or don't watch the flags. Every session Friday at least three cars ignored the full course black flags and kept running the track. During the race black flagged cars usually took two to three laps of being black flagged before they responded and pitted in. Other than that they are fun races from both sides of the track (Racing or flagging)..

Andrew Jonell · **Joined:** Mon Mar 23, 2009 6:43 pm **Posts:** 1350

I was kind of interested to overhear the black flag chatter over the radio this weekend. I think somebody in an E30 did 4 laps before he came in.

JamesMilko · **Posted:** Wed Aug 14, 2013 9:48 am

Bernie Baake wrote:

There were no track incidents that I recall that required full course caution..

EVs called for a FCY to restack the tires on north course. Can't say I blame them.

Ryan Holton · **Posted:** Wed Aug 14, 2013 10:22 am

RickyBeam wrote:

Rob Keehner wrote:

Watch the video and look ahead at the car as I approach it. This person is causing a train. Off line and dangerous. ...

I assume you're talking about the bit around 27min? (it's a 41min f'ing video, a time reference would be nice) One car is not a "train". If you had waited 2s you'd be clear of the esses with a short straight to get around him. This is textbook Red Misted Driving(tm). You are a good driver in a fast car; we have no idea what's going on with that car or it's driver. (or even if it was the same driver) John laughed because it's funny; everyone at the podium laughed as well, again, because it was a comical comment. That doesn't make it acceptable. That was the exact behavior last year that saw a lot of cars punted into walls. You appear to have forgotten there are fast cars and slow cars, experienced drivers and inexperienced drivers, and most of all dog-f'ing tired drivers out there. If you want to race with similarly spec'd cars and drivers, chump is not where you should be looking.

Don't blame the corner workers. They radio in what they see. It's the guys and gals upstairs in race control that say when and if you get flagged for any actions. (I'm surprised it took 7min to flag you. At Lemons, you'd've been flagged before the lap was over, and you would not be sitting for 5mins.)

WOW, what a dick move. You better be glad you didn't tote an asswhoopin' home too.

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Wed Aug 14, 2013 10:46 am

Richard Casto wrote:

Forgive my ignorance.

So... I fess up. I am not dumb. I watched the video. I knew it was wrong. I was just curious as to how Rob would answer.

Related question. When a group gets together to build a team, is there some type of Briggs Myers test they perform to figure out compatability? I mean I wouldn't be happy if someone on my team was driving like that for two reasons. First, it can ruin my race (exclusion, lost positions due to penalties, etc.) Second, I would hate to be on track and be on the receiving end of some type of retaliation from another driver (chop me off, etc.), or be under the microscope by the course workers and race control because I am in "that car".

Richard

Scott Lusted · **Joined:** Tue Oct 27, 2009 9:52 am **Posts:** 215

It took almost 2 years to finally get our team sorted out. We had 2-3 full time drivers and we cycled through a few until we solidified our current lineup. Now we are basically locked down and focusing on building out what we have.

-Scott

MikeWhitney · **Joined:** Wed Aug 20, 2003 9:15 pm **Posts:** 4724

Scott Lusted wrote:

It took almost 2 years to finally get our team sorted out. We had 2-3 full time drivers and we cycled through a few until we solidified our current lineup. Now we are basically locked down and focusing on building out what we have.

-Scott

+1 We went through the same thing. Eventually Jason and I "hand picked" Rob and Dustin, and offered them the Kool-Aid. They liked it. 3 years strong now, it's been a great team.

Even then, it took a year or so for Jason to tone down his driving style from "sprint race" to "endurance race"

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Wed Aug 14, 2013 1:04 pm

Scott Lusted wrote:

It took almost 2 years to finally get our team sorted out. We had 2-3 full time drivers and we cycled through a few until we solidified our current lineup. Now we are basically locked down and focusing on building out what we have.

Many teams invite "guest drivers", and as long as they can pay, they are on the team for that particular race. Kind of like an "arrive and drive" concept with no pre-qualifications necessary. Scary thoughts of the experience level out there.

Our team has four owner/drivers, all with lots of HPDE experience before we ever entered our first race. For one reason or another, if one of the owners cannot attend the event, we also have had guest drivers. The difference is we KNOW the people driving our car, and their qualifications. Several entered their first race in our car, and drove very well, but everyone of them had at a minimum HPDE experience. IOW, we don't trust just any Joe Schmo to drive our car, which helps make sure we don't have any people driving like "a$$hats" in our car.

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