Dorifto Dogs are underway

WalterHouston · **Posted:** Mon Apr 06, 2009 1:05 pm

And after more thought...

There were several cars faster than we were. A smart guy like you should know that in a 14 1/2 hour race it isn't about being the fastest. It about being consistant and fast enough in a dependable, prepared car. Also, why would we race somebody that was so far behind? We knew who mattered and who didn't. You didn't matter and we didn't let our egos get in the way. We were much smarter than we were last year.

Your comment here and your comment in our garage of "I guess you guys think you are going to win" are pretty poor.

Maybe this experience will show you that while you have a ton of talent as a driver, your condescending attitude toward most of us in the club is unwarranted.

The bottom line is we did this better than you did. Searching for one positive grain of sand in a sea of failure is pitiful.

Enter the race in September and win. Then, we will be even. The grudge won't be, but you will have equal our accomplishment.

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Mon Apr 06, 2009 2:04 pm

People's Curse Video. Death to the Mustang!

Stacy King · **Posted:** Mon Apr 06, 2009 2:27 pm

WalterHouston wrote:

And after more thought...

There were several cars faster than we were. A smart guy like you should know that in a 14 1/2 hour race it isn't about being the fastest. It about being consistant and fast enough in a dependable, prepared car. Also, why would we race somebody that was so far behind? We knew who mattered and who didn't. You didn't matter and we didn't let our egos get in the way. We were much smarter than we were last year.

Your comment here and your comment in our garage of "I guess you guys think you are going to win" are pretty poor.

Maybe this experience will show you that while you have a ton of talent as a driver, your condescending attitude toward most of us in the club is unwarranted.

The bottom line is we did this better than you did. Searching for one positive grain of sand in a sea of failure is pitiful.

Enter the race in September and win. Then, we will be even. The grudge won't be, but you will have equal our accomplishment.

Damn Walter... where'd that come from? (dare I ask)

jimpastorius · **Posted:** Mon Apr 06, 2009 2:28 pm

Vincent Keene wrote:

People's Curse Video. Death to the Mustang!

I actually cringed at that. Them destroying the BMW last year was not a big deal to me :-)

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

WalterHouston wrote:

And after more thought...

There were several cars faster than we were. A smart guy like you should know that in a 14 1/2 hour race it isn't about being the fastest. It about being consistant and fast enough in a dependable, prepared car. Also, why would we race somebody that was so far behind? We knew who mattered and who didn't. You didn't matter and we didn't let our egos get in the way. We were much smarter than we were last year.

Your comment here and your comment in our garage of "I guess you guys think you are going to win" are pretty poor.

Maybe this experience will show you that while you have a ton of talent as a driver, your condescending attitude toward most of us in the club is unwarranted.

The bottom line is we did this better than you did. Searching for one positive grain of sand in a sea of failure is pitiful.

Enter the race in September and win. Then, we will be even. The grudge won't be, but you will have equal our accomplishment.

Whoa, Walter, I dunno if this was directed at me, but if it was, I'm truly sorry if any of my comments were misunderstood... I have nothing but total respect for you guys and what you did. I don't remember saying anything about winning in the garages...

It's all talk in fun. Including the "grudge". The only reason I was "racing" so hard was because we had already lost our shot at doing well. We knew that the first 2 things needed was (1) no penalties and (2) a car that doesn't break. Once we violated both #1 and #2 we were driving for fun, and for me that meant balls-out (safely).

Again I apologize if I came across in any way other than in jest and fun trash talking. You guys totally deserved the win and I'm proud of all of ya.

TomFreeman · **Posted:** Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:03 pm

Sitting in the Subway in Angier, on my way back up to MD catching up on the banter about the race...

I've already called HJC to see if they can custom fit a helmet for VK :lol:

I honestly had it super easy this time. VK joked about making it easier for my "arrive and drive" this weekend, but that really isn't far from the truth. I cannot thank Bernie, Walter, Kendt, VK, Steve, Chris and Gwen enough for making this a really memorable weekend for me. Sean was also a big help, running errands and just doing whatever we asked for the weekend.

We've been a goal-oriented bunch since the beginning. Year one was all about finishing and getting everyone seat time. After that weekend ended, I know we all had a lot of fun, but we learned a ton. We made lots of mistakes on the track and in the pits. VK commented this weekend that Donnie (Barnes) was right when he made a comment last year, something to the effect of "Sure, you can say that winning isn't that important, but that all changes when you get into the heat of the battle."

This year was different. Bernie was in charge, and his intense desire to succeed and win was evident. We knew we had a capable car, and we had a lot of time to think about strategy. We set our goal for a top 10 finish, but during the middle of day one, when we maintained 2nd place for much of the day, it was clear that we had a chance to win it all if the car held together and events during the race went out way. Long driver stints and a very defined pit strategy made a huge difference.

It was awesome, and thanks to all teammates and other Tarheelers that made it special.

steve remchak · **Posted:** Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:10 pm

there's a Subway in Angier?

Gwen Habenicht · **Posted:** Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:15 pm

We stayed in Camden last night. In the vane of name dropping, we had a very nice conversation with Jay Lamb during breakfast this morning. He again congratulated the Dorifto Dogs for the win, and for the clean driving they displayed. He said this was the cleanest Lemons race so far and that the guys who come to CMP, for the most part, really “get it”. A clean, honest racing series is his goal. (California still has to clean up their act.)We thanked him again for putting on the event, and Bernie mentioned how great it is to have a series that is affordable to the average car club driver. Jay said the whole reason he began the series was that even club racing has gotten so expensive that most can’t afford it. He wanted an event that guys could get into for a little $$$, have a lot of fun, and still be racing.

We have some decent video from Bernie’s run. The camera only caught 90 minutes, some of which was the wait at noon and the full course cautions and red flag after the fire. Bernie was behind the car that caught fire so we see that in 11 and 12. Maybe the other camera in the car got more.

steve remchak · **Posted:** Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:24 pm

Gwen Baake wrote:

Jay said the whole reason he began the series was that even club racing has gotten so expensive that most can’t afford it. He wanted an event that guys could get into for a little $$$, have a lot of fun, and still be racing.

there's that..... and of course the serious coin he is pulling down. :twisted:

clinehall · **Posted:** Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:31 pm

steve remchak wrote:

Gwen Baake wrote:

Jay said the whole reason he began the series was that even club racing has gotten so expensive that most can’t afford it. He wanted an event that guys could get into for a little $$$, have a lot of fun, and still be racing.

there's that..... and of course the serious coin he is pulling down. :twisted:

Damn Free Market system :evil:

Ryan Holton · **Posted:** Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:33 pm

steve remchak wrote:

Gwen Baake wrote:

Jay said the whole reason he began the series was that even club racing has gotten so expensive that most can’t afford it. He wanted an event that guys could get into for a little $$$, have a lot of fun, and still be racing.

there's that..... and of course the serious coin he is pulling down. :twisted:

Yeah, the quick napkin math boggles the mind. Its a whole lot of nickles.

Gwen Habenicht · **Posted:** Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:42 pm

Yeah, but since none of us thought this up, we at least get to enjoy the game.

Aaron Buckley · **Posted:** Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:47 pm

At the Triad event yesterday we were doing some of that math. Rumor is that he rented CMP for $10k for the weekend. The soft estimate on the per team entry cost would be $1150 including non-driving workers.

Let's just say there were 100 cars there for round numbers: That's $115,000. Add in any bribes, spectator fees, % cut for concessions, etc. and you probably add another $5k. Insurance is likely expensive, but not more than $5k, so we will assume it's around that. So you have $15k in track expenses and another $10k in transportation/lodging costs for the team running the event.

After all of that you net $95k prior to employee salary, crusher rental, marketing materials (signage & logo merchandise), etc.. I bet there is $50k in profit per event, depending on the site rental cost. What a deal

- AB

Ryan Holton · **Posted:** Mon Apr 06, 2009 3:50 pm

Aaron Buckley wrote:

At the Triad event yesterday we were doing some of that math. Rumor is that he rented CMP for $10k for the weekend. The soft estimate on the per team entry cost would be $1150 including non-driving workers.

Let's just say there were 100 cars there for round numbers: That's $115,000. Add in any bribes, spectator fees, % cut for concessions, etc. and you probably add another $5k. Insurance is likely expensive, but not more than $5k, so we will assume it's around that. So you have $15k in track expenses and another $10k in transportation/lodging costs for the team running the event.

After all of that you net $95k prior to employee salary, crusher rental, marketing materials (signage & logo merchandise), etc.. I bet there is $50k in profit per event, depending on the site rental cost. What a deal

- AB

Your napkin math matches my napkin math. I am sure some of the other venues cost more than CMP but Jay is still raking it in.

Vincent Keene · **Posted:** Mon Apr 06, 2009 4:06 pm

Wow, what a weekend. First let me say that our win was a 100% TEAM EFFORT. Everyone did their part and did it well. Chris Brown did an excellent job as crew chief standing on his feet on the ‘pit box’ (electric transformer) for two whole days. We couldn’t have done it without him so thanks again Chris!

I have the upmost respect for most of the other teams especially the front runners. They raced us hard, but clean pretty much every lap. Again, the notion that this series is a demolition derby could not be further from the truth. I talked a bunch with Chris Long (fellow THSCC HPDE instructor) of the #95 Lightning McQueen team bunch and we had a good time racing those guys. Clearly their car was faster (never seen a Jetta that fast) than ours, but in the end you have to be on the track to win. We learned that lesson last year. It would have been easy for them to punt us or us them, but I didn’t want to win that way and neither did they. The old ‘if they had another 5 laps they would have caught us bit’ is just plain tired. If our car didn’t fuel starve at the one hour mark every time they would have never been that close. So if we are playing the ‘ifs and buts’ game then we can play along too. It’s not like we were in 10 place and just shot to the top because a few cars had problems. We were top 5 or better pretty much the entire first day so we were right there the whole race. I’ll admit I was ‘sitting pretty’ for the last 1-1/2 hour stint since Steve got us into 1st and Bernie kept us there. All I needed to do was maintain and not blow it with a penalty or do something stupid. I didn’t not drive as hard as I could, and even let the faster cars by with a point. Why race a car that is as fast or faster sitting 15 laps down with an hour to go? That isn’t smart and to win you need to think about the bigger picture. That is what we all did and it paid off in the end.

As an aside, some of the teams (like in many motorsports) have a great bunch of guys/gals willing to lend a hand even without being asked. The team sitting in 6th place Saturday night (Schumacher Taxi Service) offered us two tires for just some beer since we corded the LF. Another team offered us their helmet for our gas man since he needed a shield and didn’t bring one. Generally speaking the racing community has a great bunch of people and I’m glad to be a part of it.

Stay tuned for our return in the fall race.

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