THSCC Forums

Congrats to Simon Says, I picked Ya'll to win this one in a Chump thread last month. You are welcome..............


I'm exhausted and pretty sore actually. VIR-Grand is a workout. I especially enjoyed the AutoX section in the crossover.

We DBU'd at hour 23 while in seventh place. Our car was fast and I know I made a pass or two in the grass, so I hope I didn't offend any fellow THSCC'ers. I think Karma bit us in the ass as Randy made one of the Pit Stewards cry. Plus, I think there was some of that "Pink Sludge from Ghostbusters II" in the air as Cline and I had some heated moments. Sorry Bunkie.

We got hit at least three times best I can tell, but they were all during the daylight stints. I got nailed in the left rear by a black E30 that just turned into me after I passed him in the Stevie Wonders. It was like he was going to get back to his line no matter what was happening around him. I had several cars over the course of the race just about clip the nose off the car because they were going to have that spot no matter what was around them.

I also got into a shoving match with the BuckSnort E30 in T-6 when we tried to go five wide after a caution. I need to learn to back-off in those situations. Red-Mist prevailed at that moment.

Walter said he had an incident with the ConTurd that resulted in contact initiated by the other car.

Overall, best race so far for The Silver Bullets (that I have been involved in) IMO. We were certainly top 5 caliber for this one. Of course having driven VIR once or twice doesn't hurt either.

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BenchWarmer Motorsports

another one of those damn LeMons heads

just another Chump

we are an Autocross Club Dammit............

Congratulations to Simon Says. You guys were the class of the field and deserved to win. I'm glad you guys finally made it to the winners club!

I got hit three times after making passes on cars. Twice by the Contour. Once in the first session on the back straight after oak tree. I was getting squeezed by a faster BMW who was trying to block an even faster car. The Contour just turned and put a doughnut on the driver's door. That afternoon the same car hit my right rear quarter after a pass. I had raced him clean, but hard before the passes. He was just slower.

The Sweet Pigs pink car hit me in the right quarter after a pass, but it probably wasn't intentional. He moved over to let two cars pass before the crossover autocross section. I guess he just didn't see me third in line to pass right behind the second car. I could have avoided that one.

There were way too many incompetent drivers. I avoided several other crashes by backing off and waiting. It seemed like some were taking DE lines forgetting another car may have caught them and was passing.

Again, contrats to Simon. They were super organized and prepared. Organization, a fast car and great drivers means you "actually" can win. Mike is right about needing luck, but I've found the harder you work the luckier you get. Great job guys.

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Rubbin' is Racin'

Our Magnum, PU "luck" was unfortunate, but we have somehow avoided major contact in our previous 11 races, so either we have been lucky or good in the past?

Chris hit the wall hard, but had actually had enough forethought to take his hands off the wheel just before impact. As a result, the car's sheet metal was banged up, and the toe was off about 2", but Chris was OK, which is all that really mattered.

We were able to get the car back out there, but the oil leak was too much and we decided to park it so we'd be able to race another day.

Since Walter is old and has to get his sleep, he asked me to pinch hit on Randy's Silver Bullets 240SX team during the 2:30-4:30am stint. I caught up to Simon Says and passed you guys just to show you I could, but then pointed you back by to be sure I didn't inadvertely take out the race leader/winner just for some chest-thumping on my part. Besides, I was pretty sure you guys had backed it down a notch since you had a good lead. I would have done the same in that postiion so kudos to you guys for the smart driving and the eventual win.

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Vincent Keene
'06 Ford Mustang GT (track rat)
'15 Dodge Charger R/T (yeah, it's got a HEMI!)
'07 Ford Fusion SE (205,000 miles and counting)
'98 Chevy Z-24 (retired)
'93 Acura Integra (Team SWB 24HOL Car)

I asked this on the Chump forum too but someone here may know the answer.

Why did they do full course cautions for pulling cars off? I don't remember them doing that last year when we were on South course. I didn't start the day off so I'm not sure if the first few were under local caution only then someone did something stupid near an EV to change it to full yellow or if we just did full course yellow right from the start.

haha, mike's gonna have to answer for that one! we certainly didn't have an insurmountable lead in the middle of the night and may not have even been in p1 (we were neck and neck with the iron lemon e30, often bumper to bumper, for a good while). i'm sure we were racing reasonably hard right up until the last stint, the only reason we finished with a healthy lead is a couple of the top cars had issues late in the race.

Nice one Vincent. Honestly I don't remember seeing the 240 specifically but I can tell you how I was driving at night:

1. With clear track I was pushing to go as fast as I could.
2. When near cars, I could clearly identify 2 typical kinds of drivers:
-- a. people driving normally who I could pass/race with no incidents. Keep up the pace
-- b. zombies: I believe most of these drivers were "fast" guys who previously were or could be in contention. Once they realized they were near the race leader, they had the opportunity to prove something. Sounds like I am making fun of you, but you guys certainly weren't the only ones. Hong Norrth did the same thing but worse. Gave me a point by then shoved me off track and gave the finger.
3. When near zombies, back off, leave lots of room, and be careful. Eventually they back off, crash, or go off.

Happened ever single time I was near a zombie. Was certainly worth the 5 or so seconds a lap I lost dealing with each one

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

Anybody know what position we finished in? I can't find the results.

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BenchWarmer Motorsports

another one of those damn LeMons heads

just another Chump

we are an Autocross Club Dammit............

I don't get why people even tried to race the race leaders unless they were one themselves. I knew which cars were in contention and would just move offline or give a offline lift before a brake zone so they would be well past me before the turn. I certainly didn't want to be the guy who punted a race leader while sitting in 50-60th position..

Steve: http://www.mylaps.com/results/showrun.j ... perclass=0

Mike, actually IIRC you were being held up by a slower car at Oak Tree so I used it to my advantage to get by you. I wasn't even close in regards to pushing you off the track. It was a simple pick-n-roll that I'm sure you guys have too mastered by now. After a lap or two I pointed you back by and rode behind you for a 5 laps or so until the short red flag where we both stopped near the start/finish line. After the restart you used the same pick-n-roll tatic and left me stuck in traffic.

I think we (The Silver Bullets) were in 10th place at that time, but there is no way I'd ever intentionally shove another car off the track, especially the car I knew was in contention for the win. It was more of a friendly inner club type rivalry. Tower drives like an absolute maniac most of the time, but I don't think even he would do something like that to us, nor would we to you. Like Milko said, I'd sure hate to be the guy who was known as the guy who took out the race leader just to be an ass.

Congrats again to you guys for the THSCC win!

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Vincent Keene
'06 Ford Mustang GT (track rat)
'15 Dodge Charger R/T (yeah, it's got a HEMI!)
'07 Ford Fusion SE (205,000 miles and counting)
'98 Chevy Z-24 (retired)
'93 Acura Integra (Team SWB 24HOL Car)

I was about to say the same... There was zero contact during my hours on track; 'tho there were far too many oh-shit near misses, and one 4 wheels in the dirt at T4 (if I didn't point you by, don't try to apex 4 next to me. I'm surprised Duffy isn't 40% truck tire now.) My 1am night stint was met with great luck... 20min full track yellow where I became a pace car :-) Sorry guys, there's no way I'm even attempting full speed (which is slow anyway) in the dark.

As for night full-yellows... I think they adopted that since there weren't enough lights to cover the entire track. Case in point, coming up the back straight, you cannot see the light until you're over the hill at the bitch. I came over that hill 80+ and it was RED. With a line of stopped cars ahead of me.

"Aggressive Driving"... Check. Coming from LeMons, I've never seen such dangerous driving allowed on track. Passing under yellow and all they do is point a finger at you??? Passing in the north esses (snake), 'nuff said. There's a good reason all THSCC events make that a no passing zone. (it can be done, but it's horrifying.) After the morning bitch-fest, 90% of that went away -- my last session (830-checker) was completely without incident.

Mike, I'd add a type 4... slow drivers just trying to stay out of the way (aka: me.) Most of the leaders were very accommodating... didn't come flying up behind me, cut in front of me, or apex next to me (without a point), and waited for a point-by where there's no clear area to pass.

i'm never 100% sure if that's meant as a compliment or a criticism. probably a little from column a and a little from column b

btw at one point when i was behind the silver bullet i think i saw the inside rear tire come off the ground, i believe in turn 14a. that's common for fwd cars with lots of rear roll stiffness but unusual for a rwd car, could be that some suspension tweaks are in order.

and you know, for my part i didn't see very much poor driving at all, certainly no more than i'm accustomed to at such events. nor did i have any car to car contact, or four wheel offs (and just a couple two offs, both intentional while passing). i did witness three cars lose control directly in front of me, all of which are in the "highlight reel" video that i'll be posting just as soon as i can figure out how to upload a 1gb file without destroying my home office connection for the next 12 hours.

btw ricky - the passing in chump/lemons is nothing compared to what you see in most other orgs. in endurance racing there's no major pressure to make a pass work, you have many hours to try again later. in a sprint race you seize upon every single possible opportunity, and quite a few that aren't possible. i see more tricky pass attempts in a 30 min spec e30 race than i saw in 24hr of chump.

Its very common in the 240 world for them to do that, alot.

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02 Focus SVT
STF 9

This is what happens when a company slaps on an IRS just to say that they have an IRS. The rear suspension binds if the car is hit with a side wind of 5mph or greater. It's easy to fix. Just replace the springs with something sufficiently stiff so that the suspension doesn't have to move much.

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In need of car.

so just being passed by simon is enough to trigger it?

Wish I knew it was you driving, I probably would have tried to have a little more fun/racing because I know I can trust you!

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1