Willow Springs Rational - Feb 26-27

Brian, you have run with most of these guys on the same track in an HP car. I think you will do just fine in a FP car. :wink:

I am a bit concerned about the group HP is running with. I am not sure but I think HP are the only ones that will be on slicks unless it rains. This could be a problem at the start when the non slick tire cars pass the lower powered HP cars then we end up with too many cars merging at the first few corners. Once I see the times, I may ask for a split start for HP if everybody in HP is in agreement.
 
Gary Wittman":3ez85bix said:
Brian, you have run with most of these guys on the same track in an HP car. I think you will do just fine in a FP car. :wink:

I am a bit concerned about the group HP is running with. I am not sure but I think HP are the only ones that will be on slicks unless it rains. This could be a problem at the start when the non slick tire cars pass the lower powered HP cars then we end up with too many cars merging at the first few corners. Once I see the times, I may ask for a split start for HP if everybody in HP is in agreement.
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Yeah, the combination of fast DOT cars with slow slick cars could get ugly in Turn 1. I hate it when those T1 guys slow down so much. :lol:

With seven of us I would be all for a split start for HP, wet or dry.
 
With a low of 26 I might add some antifreeze to the car. :shock:

So is it wet or dry tires for racing in the snow? :ask:
 
Jason@SportsCar":fsynicgk said:
So is it wet or dry tires for racing in the snow? :ask:
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If you raced in Ohio, you'd know the answer to that question. :wink:

Have fun everyone, and know everyone back here is jealous of you.
 
Today's forecast - high's in mid-high 30's, 50% chance of snow with 15mph winds, tonight - high 20's.
Sunday - sunny high's in 50's.

I thought we started our season early because the weather is so nice out here.
 
BLinn":11vbebp3 said:
Today's forecast - high's in mid-high 30's, 50% chance of snow with 15mph winds, tonight - high 20's.
Sunday - sunny high's in 50's.
I thought we started our season early because the weather is so nice out here.
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The weathers been better than that at the Runoffs for the last two years, in September. :hand:
 
HP... I got the pole, with Gary 2nd. Cory "lost" some oil and parked it in qual - a new drain plug took care of it.

HP got its own start, and it looked to be a great race. Gary got by me, and I proceeded to burn up a new tire trying to keep up with him, Gary took the win and I hung on for 2nd. Neil came home 3rd.

The Yaris is quick on the 13"s, but the 430 seems to have an issue with the cars weight.
 
Damn, I sure hope that wasn't a 600. And you just might have a little too much camber in that tire. :wink:
 
kruck":3eannq8i said:
Damn, I sure hope that wasn't a 600. And you just might have a little too much camber in that tire. :wink:
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That was a 430... I guess they are a bit too soft for fwd, even if the temp was in the high 30s.

The 475 I ran today held up much better - and was faster. It does look like the 13s could use a little less camber than the 15s, but I did not have a chance to test it before this weekend.

HP... Another pole for me, Gary just .3 back. Neil made a gear change, but it did not seem to help much, him and Cory made up row two.

Gary and I had an awesome race, must have been eight lead changes, and even a little rubbin side by side in Turn 1 - I now have a yellow wall Goodyear, and Gary has a nice doughnut. At the stripe Gary took it by just
over a second. We both ran a 1:36 during the race, not to shabby.
 
Jason@SportsCar":2q2i3hu4 said:
Gary and I had an awesome race, must have been eight lead changes, and even a little rubbin side by side in Turn 1 - I now have a yellow wall Goodyear, and Gary has a nice doughnut. At the stripe Gary took it by just
over a second. We both ran a 1:36 during the race, not to shabby.
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It was a great race to watch. After hearing about Sat's race, I figured Jason would eventually have his tires go-off. Gary came around with a slight gap, but then the Yaris was back on Gary's rear bumper. It was really a great battle - one of the best prod races I've seen. Thanks for the entertainment.

I was at home on Sat doing the last minute set-up, packing the trailer and avoiding the 30°F windy weather (yes, I'm a wuss). Sun was sunny and pleasent 50°F.
Sat Qual-
1- GT1
2- GT3
3- SP - circle track V8
4- GT2
5- GT3
6- GT2 Reg
7- EP Josh Carroll - in a Wayne Graham Rx-7 1:30.242
8- GT2 Reg
9- GT3
10 - EP Roger Karlson Elva 1:31.665
11- SP - circle track V8
12- SP - circle track V8
13- FP Linn 1:33.947
14- AS
15- Gary Gist 1:34.14
16- SP
17- FP Noel Hayward 1:35.389
18- GTL John Bower 1:35.578
19- FP Chuck Horton 1:35.625
20- GT1
21- GTL Bill Gilcrease 1:37.239
22- ITE
23- FP Sean Powers 1:40.469 (with a stock temporary engine)
24- RS
25- RS

I was worried that the start would be chaotic with all of the high horsepower cars around me, but it wasn't too bad. One of the SP-Circle track V8's and Mike Henderson's GT3 got together in T-3 and stopped in the middle of the track. Everyone scattered on both sides. After that I tried to stay ahead of the two SP's that were around me and raced a bit with Gary Gist and the Elva. One of the SP's got around me and I was holding up the other one- so I let him go and tried not to interfere with their race and also get some clear track to try to do a fast lap. It was good weather for going fast, but I didn't seem to be able to do much. It was relatively uneventful for the second half of the race for me. I didn't get a results sheet.

EP 1- Josh Carrol
2- Roger Karlson
3- Gary Gist

FP 1- Linn
2- Hayward
3- Horton
4- Powers

GTL 1- Boyer
2- Gilcrease
 
That sure was an awesome race Jason. That is the most exciting racing I have done in years and was comparable to the Runoffs. I am still not sure what happened in turn one when we touched. I think it was good clean racing but we were both just pushing at the limit. I am sorry that you got bumped into the dirt but at least it did not effect the outcome of the race. It didn't seem to effect you very much, you just kept going. If you get a few more pounds off of that car, I will be in trouble.

My tach decided to read 2000 rpm high at the start of the race. After the Green Flag; I looked at the tach, in 2nd gear, and read 9000 rpm (red-line is 8000). I grabbed 3rd and knew something was wrong. I revved up to 9000 again and hit 4th. By that time we were three cars wide going into turn 1. After that I tried to ignore the tach and just shifted at the normal shift points on the track but some of that was guessing.

The weather ended up fairly nice with no snow or rain but it was cooold. I am not used to taping off the grill to get coolant temperatures up. During my first practice session, I could not get the temperature over 145F and that was with one strip of tape across the bottom of the grill opening. Two strips of tape got it to 175F. I sure am glad they invented thermal underware. They made it bareable even at high speeds. Two guys (Craig and Leroy) did not show up in HP because of the predicted weather. They missed out on some fine racing.

I thought Brian was mixing it up with some GT-1 cars but it seems they were SP cars. None-the-less he was doing well to keep up with those guys and was doing some nice lap times.
 
Seems like I missed the best HP battle in years between Jason and Gary..... I only saw the first 2-3 laps then they were gone. Was the talk of the paddock at impound. At least the HP only split start allowed the rest of us HP guys (5) to pack it 4 wide into turn one... Lines got better with the weekend (lots of coaching and advise...thanks everyone)..but still way short of the front runners. Best lap was a 1:39.2 (3 seconds back of Jason and Gary in the 1:36's). Now need to fix my clutch (again!) which went south on the last 2 laps.... Congrats again to the HP guys for putting on a great show! Can't wait until we do this again @ ButtonWillow!

Neil
#83 HP MGB
 
Gary Wittman":2y1ki8z5 said:
That sure was an awesome race Jason. That is the most exciting racing I have done in years and was comparable to the Runoffs. I am still not sure what happened in turn one when we touched. I think it was good clean racing but we were both just pushing at the limit. I am sorry that you got bumped into the dirt but at least it did not effect the outcome of the race.
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I blame my .5" wider track. With the skinny setup I would have cleared you. :lol: My video does not get a great angle of it... We seemed to have taken two different lines that were bound to intersect at some point. No harm no foul, and I think both of us just have a little waxing to do. 8)

5485900837_7d3a6cee4e_b.jpg
 
Cool vid was the car shaking as much as the cam was. I could hear when you would lift a bit and get back on it.Looked like a great race from inside!Sprman 8)
 
sprman":3q3wbs2b said:
Cool vid was the car shaking as much as the cam was. I could hear when you would lift a bit and get back on it.Looked like a great race from inside!Sprman 8)
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The camera exaggerates it a bit, but the car does vibrate a lot. We don't balance the wheels, because the calipers will hit the weights, and after a few offs I had picked up so much junk on the rear tires it was shaking a lot. :lol: You learn to ignore it.
 
a little late getting the video off the camera, but here are the first two laps of the our race. Seems like I need to step up to the HD version of the GoPro, because this seems almost unwatchable. I'm going to try a different editing program to see if it is QuickTime Pro (with my chosen export options).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeMBqQRaiNc

Here is a video attempt using Windows Movie Maker. It looks good before uploading to YouTube- bbut end result is about the same. This was from qualifying, with a close call from a GT-2 Porsche. It looked closer from the driver's seat, normally shifting to 4th at this section.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D0figoZBLY
 
BLinn great vids .Was col to see the lines you took around the track.That was a close call with GT-2 Noticed the car does not shake that much and you keeps your momentum up very well around the track.Vid with the sun was great that a new special effects?Car sounded great Sprman 8)
 
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