60th Cumberland National & Bonus Natonal & Restricted Region

eprod bmw

eprod bmw

Well-known member
Registration opens on 5/21/12 at 7:00am .

Please join us for the 60th Cumberland National Sportscar Races with bonus nationals and 200.00 restricted regional.

This is a perfect venue to fulfill your need for speed as well as a chance to improve your national point standings. An event sure to please!

Held under SCCA General Competition Rules, Fastrack, and Supplemental Regulations for this event.

Volunteer workers may also register online for this event .

National Entry Fee $ 335.00
Bonus National (must be registered for the national to qualify for bonus races - race groups 1 and 3 only) $135.00
Restricted Regional $200.00
Late Entry Fee-After July 14th $25.00

Registration Hours at Track:

Friday July 27-6:00 pm-9:00 pm
Saturday -7:00 am-11:00 am
Sunday 8:00 am to 10:00 am

http://www.motorsportreg.com/index.cfm/ ... E3E4B19557

entry form: http://steelcities-scca.org/RoadRacing/ ... y_2012.doc
Supps: http://steelcities-scca.org/RoadRacing/ ... s_2012.doc
 
so that all are aware the Bonus groups are:
Group1: EP,FP,HP,GTL,STU
Group3: SM,SSB,SSC,T2,T3,STL
Group7: Restricted Regional (all closed wheel cars NO SRF, Sports Racers and Open Wheel up to track Max 40 cars)
 
Three Weeks to the Cumberland National, this is a great chance to run one of the longest running amateur race in the country, Sebring is only 4 months older than this event, there is a bonus national for EP, FP, HP, GTL, STU. For those that have heard that sound was going to be 95 db, have gotten that sorted out we will be using normal 103db at 50' from track surface 95db is at track property limit.
 
Thanks for promoting the event. We're in.

Mr and Mrs. Brannon's first shared event.

She'll be running the red car in the Regional and I'll have the blue car in National.

-M
 
I'm registered, but may bail at the last minute. All depends on if I get the top end of my motor put back together in time... Looks like we have a good H crowd coming!
 
Things started strange with a damp track on Saturday AM for 1st qualifying, and the medical crew being an hour late. We were scheduled to roll off at 8:00 AM, but sat in our cars till nearly 8:40 waiting for the ambulance to arrive. Qualifying sessions went OK, and everyone made it through with slicks on a damp but drying track.

Personally our schedule was hectic as Marnie was racing the red car in Group 7, us in Group 1, and we were sharing data system and HANS, so we were running stuff from pit road to the false grid between sessions.

Sat afternoon a huge thunderstorm ran everyone off track for over an hour. Power to timing and scoring was lost for a while, and because the schedule was already off from the morning, SRF agreed to push their qualify till Sunday, so the next group on-track after the downpour was the Prod Bonus national race. Two pace laps so we could all see the running streams and puddles on-track. At the "almost start" Larry Funk's hood blew off a microsecond before the flag waved, but the starter's arm apparently moved something with green in it because the rear of the field started blowing by the front of the field before the double yellows could pop up later down the course. The next lap was another waived off start because of: 1. a ragged field, 2. fiberglass hanging from Larry's car. Green flew on the next lap even with half of Larry’s car hanging off, but the rest of the race completed with no major issues

EP
Kavitski
Kasprzyk
Smith
Walsh

FP
Campbell
Strittmatter
Lunder
Funk
Futcher DNS – Broke during qualify
Barlow DNF

HP
Bartell
Brydebell
Brannon
Krauss
Gerundo
Stein

GTL
Montague
Disque
Downey
Lentz DNS

Didn’t see much of the EP action. Strittmatter finished 2nd with blown head gasket in F (Go Fiat/Lancia). Bartell and Brydebell rode the herd of fast cars past me at the re-re start. Ron set sail and Kevin and I had one of the best races around. He drove a great, defensive line race and no matter what I tried, could not get past him and make it stick for more than a few car lengths before he'd stroke me with straight line speed and take it back.

Sunday AM qualify was dry and everyone’s times greatly improved. The Sunday race was relatively clean:

EP
Kavitski
Smith
Kasprzyk
Walsh
Schmidt DNS

FP
Campbell
Strittmatter
Lunder
Norris
Patrick DNF
Feineigle DNF
Futcher DNS
Funk DNS

HP
Bartell
Brannon
Brydebell
Krauss
Gerundo
Stein DNF

Nothing dramatic happened until the trip off the track. Poor Jason Stein, chasing issues all weekend, got a few good laps but pitted due to mechanicals on lap 9. At the end of the race, he was being rope towed off pit lane, and inexplicably got flipped onto his top by the tow truck right in front of me. It’s just out of frame my main camera but was caught by the smaller driver cam. Damn!! Fortunately Jason was OK and his car was amazingly unscathed except for spilled fluids and a few cracked panels.

http://youtu.be/KRAbDgGJ6QE

Later in the day, a T2 Mitsubishi EVO was ruined (driver OK) with over 1 hour black flag with cars in the pit to repair Armco at T8. We fled the scene shortly afterward before a meteor could get a chance to hit our tow rig.
 
Thanks to all the drivers, workers,and other people that came out to Pittsburgh International Race Complex this weekend to Make Our 60th Cumberland National a great success!!!
 
How on earth does a small, low, prod car get pulled on its lid during a flat tow? Folks, this is why they want us to wear lap belts and a helmet during flat tows. Thank goodness Jason's OK and the car is only superficially damaged (according to Matt's post). I bet Joel felt a twinge in his back when it happened....but he didn't know why.

I sure hope the region offered to pay for the damages. Racers have been tabbed to pay for Armco they've hit so it only seems fair.

Dayle
 
Here's some footage from the Saturday bonus race. As you can see, it was still a very close race in H at the mid-way point with Bartell, Brydebell in front of me. The video clears up a bit as the track starts to dry out. Kevin and I had a heck of a race. My memory card filled up and conked out at the point where the video stops. 5 more laps of similar racing, culminating with me looping on the last turn / last lap at the hairpin trying to make something happen. C'est la vie..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIl05EVtVy4&feature=youtu.be

-M
 
Dayle Frame":zzj51h6n said:
How on earth does a small, low, prod car get pulled on its lid during a flat tow? Folks, this is why they want us to wear lap belts and a helmet during flat tows. Thank goodness Jason's OK and the car is only superficially damaged (according to Matt's post). I bet Joel felt a twinge in his back when it happened....but he didn't know why.

I sure hope the region offered to pay for the damages. Racers have been tabbed to pay for Armco they've hit so it only seems fair.

Dayle
Click to expand...

I can't really tell from the video but Jason was most likely being towed from the upper roll hoop on the drivers and the flat tow made a really tight turn, tighter then what Jason could do, and started pulling sideways on the roll hoop and over the car went.
 
I am sure that Jason will weigh in but I happened to be standing very near the accident.

Correct that the strap was on the upper bar of the cage. It was also not held by Jason, but instead utilized and intermediate strap around the bar and a hook coming from the tow vehicle. In essence, he could not "let go" when the car began to tip.

The real issue was the flat tow truck. As you exit the pit lane you climb a small hill and make a 90 degree left turn. There is fencing running the length of this small hill. The truck drive came up the hill and immediately made the hard left. In making such a sharp corner he began to pull the strap into the end of the fence. Jason continued to go straight for a few more feet to clear the fence. The driver of the tow truck just kept going and never looked back. The result was the tow truck pulling the car at a near 90 degree angle. Jason's tires showed evidence of sliding completely sideways before they touched a pavement change and the car flipped.

To Dayle's point it served as a reminder to keep your safety equipment on while being towed and to look for an area low on the car to affix a tow loop. I really feel bad for Jason because the tow driver simply using his rearview mirror and some common sense would have prevented this. Again, Jason can add detail but I understand the car was pulled a few more feet after it was upside down.
 
Hi everyone... Wish I was writing this post on a more positive note. Mason's synopsis pretty much sums up the incident. There were two people in the truck, and neither was looking back to make sure the car was ok. Had they been, they would have seen me waving my arms frantically as the car started sliding sideways and would have had plenty of time to stop before the car rolled. Also, the style of tow strap did not allow me to "let go" as the car spun around and skidded, again preventing the rollover.

I was extremely lucky to escape unscathed. I put my helmet on and latched the lap belt before being towed and that maybe saved me from being hurt. As the car began to tip, I was still waving at the driver and I thought I pulled my arms in, but in Matt's video it looks like my arms were still up in the air as the car rolled. Without the arm restraints attached, I was very fortunate that my arms didn't get pinched between the roll bar and ground. The lap belt prevented me from dropping out of the seat and hitting my head on the ground as it went over. Again.... it could have been really nasty.

The car has a bit of damage, but again, it could have been much worse. The bonnet (Linn carbon fiber bonnet) has several sections that were crushed, both headlights, fenders, etc. and quite a few gouges in the surface. It'll have to be patched professionally, and then repainted. Rear fiberglass fenders were scratched up a bit, but didn't crack off from the steel, so I may leave these for now and not force myself into re-painting the whole car. The roll bar will need new foam, tape and paint, but again minor. I have to take a closer look now that I'm calmer about the situation, but it doesn't look like the steel rear deck or doors were damaged in any way. So, the bulk of the repairs, both the extent of them and the cost, will be on the carbon bonnet. Anybody have any referrals for a good carbon layer in the Mid-Atlantic or Midwest?

There was no definitive direction on how to handle things at the end of the weekend, but I'm working with SCCA HQ and the region to see about getting compensated for the repairs. Whether this comes from HQ's insurance or the Region itself, I'm not sure, but I would like to think that they would assume the responsibility and do the right thing here.

As shitty as the situation was, I hope we can all learn from my misfortune. I'd really hate to see this happen to someone else, who might not be as lucky as I was, and would end up significantly injured. I'm going to write a letter to SCCA HQ about this, detailing the encounter and suggesting a few things be added to the safety guidelines for the club. Or perhaps, recommend a mandate that each rope tow vehicle has two strap options on board, the wrap around "let go" style for roll bar towing, and the "clip on" strap for cars with a tow hook.

Thank you to the entire prod community for your support and concern, and to all those at the track who helped get me safely out of the car and prevent further damage to the car as it was righted. Special thanks to Mason who was one of the first people on the scene and helped me keep my wits about me during the efforts to turn the car right side up, and to my Dad who kept me calm when my blood pressure was through the roof.

Before coming into the pits before the halfway, the car overheated and I dropped a cylinder or two. So... between the motor misfortune and the towing incident, I am done for the 2012 year. But, I'll be back and ready to go in '13. I hope to see some of you at the track during the rest of the year, and good luck to all at the Runoffs.

Jason
 
Jason
I am glad to hear that you are ok. I am also glad to hear that the car is not too bad off.

I have faith that the hosting region will step up and take care of business regarding the damage done to your car. Please keep us informed as to how that all plays out.

One of the best carbon layer's that I have seen is a guy named Jeremy Grennier, whose shop is in Gasoline Alley at Summit Point. He is very good. If you would like his number PM me and I will give it to you.

cheers
dave parker
 
This is a constructive comment. :think:

This is another incident that could be mostly eliminated if open cars were required to have tow hooks attached to the chassis. Several years ago at the Runoffs I viewed an H car plowing it own grave in China Sea at Mid Ohio because the tow people/officals/?? used the upper part of the roll cage as the pull point & before the driver realized the extent of what was going on it was to late. Needless to say the front of the car/spoiler went down into the pea gravel. :(
 
Jason,

Very sorry this happened.

You still have a fantastic car. Many of us would love to have our cars look nearly as nice as yours.

I've enjoyed being around you and your family at the track and look forward to the next time.
 
Sterling":mtc3d02f said:
Jason,

Very sorry this happened.

You still have a fantastic car. Many of us would love to have our cars look nearly as nice as yours.

I've enjoyed being around you and your family at the track and look forward to the next time.
Click to expand...

Thanks Dave. We've enjoyed your company at the track as well. Looking forward to next year! Like I said above, the most important thing is that I wasn't hurt. The car can be repaired and will be in the off-season. Thanks to everyone again for all of the support
 
Jason,
If you don't do it yourself or find someone closer, I can do the repair and the paint & bodywork. Located 12 miles west of Gettysburg, Pa. Shop is Classic Auto 717three372193. Good luck and see you next season..

Don Walsh #47 EP
 
Well... repairs started today as I picked up the mended bonnet. Special thanks to Dave Craddock at Preform Resources for a great repair job. If any of you need composite work done and are in the Midwest or Central regions, I would highly recommend Dave. Next up is getting a new cage installed (the main hoop buckled slightly during the incident). Hope to be back towards the second half of the 2013 season!

Jason

P.S... For those of you following this thread still, Steel Cities Region elected to do absolutely nothing about the accident. Not even an apology for what happened. In fact, the RE, Assistant RE, and Chief Steward ignored all of my communication and didn't so much as give me 5 minutes of their time to talk about the unfortunate incident. I guess they lived up (or lived down?) to the reputation that the STC region's Club Racing program has... But, it's time to let it go and move forward. See you all next year!
 
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