DUFFUS 2014 Race #1 Entry is Open

Hi,

The entry for DUFFUS 2014 Race #1 at Mid Ohio on the Fourth of July weekend is now open on MotorsportReg.com. Just search for "DUFFUS" and you will be taken to the entry.

Two practice sessions on Friday, a qualifying session and race #1 on Saturday, races #2 & #3 on Sunday. Kill stickers for podium finishers in each class in each race. Trophies for podium finishers in each class and the lucky "dead last" finisher in race #3 of the weekend. Each driver will receive a packet with a DUFFUS series poster, DUFFUS suit patch and two DUFFUS series stickers to be placed on the car. Additional posters, patches and stickers will be available for sale to defray the cost of the ones we are giving away. Given the exquisite, dignified nature of our logo we expect all of these things to become collector items someday.............

All cars will be on track with one another in each on track session. You may enter as FF, CF, VCF or VFF. We will work with you to verify compliance so that everyone feels welcome and will know who they are racing against for the kill stickers and trophies.

Timing will be handled by the folks at FRP and as such AMB transponders will be required on all cars. You must bring your own with you.

I think that covers the basics and hopefully the race registration form reflects that (my fault if it does not). Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions joemffracer@verizon.net.

A couple of things to remember; this event and series is being organized by 4 drivers, please lower your expectations for thoroughness! We have no experience as registrars, but we are going to do everything we can to accommodate, but we need your help with a few things.

Please try to get registered early and remember that as an SCCA sanctioned event all the drivers/participants (people who need to get into the hot pits) will have to be SCCA members. We do not anticipate (at this time) being able to contact the club office from the track on the race weekend, so please get your membership (temporary memberships for the weekend are available or the regular annual membership) taken care of before you arrive at the track.

Please try to have your SCCA annual tech inspection taken care to reduce the burden on our Chief of Tech. He is a volunteer who has other duties that weekend so we would like to go easy on him. We will be verifying safety gear as required by the GCR including head restraint devices.

The entire entry fee goes to Formula Race Promotions so please get your check mailed to us so that we can have it about 10 days before the event. We have to present a single check to FRP on Thursday before the race weekend begins for all the entries. We do not have the ability to accept credit card payments, so please; checks only. There are fees associated with having MotorsportReg collect entry fees and we are trying to keep this as inexpensive for the drivers as is possible that is why payment is direct to us.

As a club race being conducted as part of a pro weekend, please bear in mind that everything is by schedule so please make sure you are ready to go at the published times. The scheduled track times on the entry are the "plan". There are sometimes adjustments to the schedule during the weekend and we will be keeping in close communication with the folks from FRP and letting you know about any changes during the weekend.

We have also had very generous offers of contingency awards from the kind folks at SpeedSeat and Quicksilver Race Engines. We will have the details and award criteria worked out and will share that with you in the driver packet given out at the track on the race weekend.

This is intended to be low key, low pressure, just for the love of it racing. We hope you all decide to come and have fun with us.

Thanks,

Joe Marcinski
Club Ford #04
1977 Royale RP24 (I hope the damn thing is ready by then!)

We have our first official DUFFUS entrant and as is fitting and appropriate it is Mike Rand! Thank you very much Michael!

Mike has also asked the first question and it regards the DUFFUS member number. We have been identified as an organization and the site is set up for gathering the membership numbers of the various organizations. We were hoping for cult status, but we will take organization for now................ Please skip over that box and we will take care of that later.

We are thinking that we will probably use each driver's car number, but that has yet to be decided. It is a good idea because it will mask any seniority issues; not that it will be all that difficult to tell who the seniors are!

Thanks,

Joe M.

I'm registered!

Joe-I just ran out of checks and had to order a new book, once I get those, a check will be in the mail as soon as possible.

Thanks to everyone who worked on making this a reality, can't wait to drive M-O for the first time!

Thanks for entering Will,

No problem. As long as we have collected all the entry fees by 6/25 or so we will be able to work things out pretty smoothly.

Joe M.:)

I'm fourth to register. All CF so far. I'm really looking forward to this!

If I can get the DB1 put back together I will be there.

I'm in!

whats the difference ?

CF VCF

Vintage rules applied to a CF typically. No resevoirs on the dampers, iron head, Dunlops.

I am sure the powers that be will check in if I've missed something.

Jonathan

Shame FC is not part of the mix... What if I took my wings off?????

Hi,

Jonathan did answer Marc's question correctly. We have been seeing large fields of Club Fords in many of the vintage events. Their rules package is the same as the SCCA Club Ford package except that the vintage groups require iron heads and the treaded tires.

As I think I have mentioned in some previous post, we would really like everyone to feel welcome to run in the DUFFUS events. For most of us, tire choice is also an investment choice. Those drivers who have been running in vintage will most likely not want to buy a set of Hoosier or American Racers just to do one or all three of the DUFFUS races. I can only speak for myself, but I would not be willing to buy a set of treaded Dunlop tires just to do one or two vintage events a season.

In like manner, my affinity for Ben & Jerry's makes an aluminum head kind of important for my Club Ford. And again, I am not willing to change cylinder heads to do a race or two with other groups.

So, in order to accomplish our goal of being open to all we are going to accommodate anyone who wants to come and run our "festival" type event.

Formula F - SCCA GCR rules, Ford with aluminum/iron heads or Honda engines, open tire choice.

Club Ford - SCCA WDRC Club Ford rules, Ford with aluminum/iron heads or Honda engines, hard tires (Hoosier R60, American Racer AR133, Dunlop 434 CR tread)

Vintage Club Ford - Ford engines with iron heads only, Dunlop 434 CR tread tires

Vintage Formula Ford - Monoposto rules

We will keep track of who is running which spec and will award kill stickers and trophies accordingly. I hope that helps.

Joe Marcinski

So if everyone who wants to run, Then a CFC is OK? Right??;);)

Hi Steve,

In a lot of ways I kind of like the way you are thinking! However, to prevent hijacking the thread on the race entry being open I have sent you a private e-mail so we could discuss this further off line.

I would ask that you consider attending the final DUFFUS event in October where we are racing with the Washington DC Region at the MARRS Formula Fest weekend. You can leave the wings on and get some "Wings & Things" racing AND some "Wings without things without wings" racing that weekend!

Best regards,

Joe Marcinski

Well, the entry has been open for 10 days now and we have 8 entrants. 1 Formula F and 7 Club Fords thus far. Our sincere thanks to those who have entered. If we keep this up and get about 8 entries every ten days or so we should have no problem getting to 35 or 40 cars on the grid for this race.

To those of you who have entered, the series patches have arrived and I will be picking them up in a couple of days. I will mail one back to each of you so that you can get them sewn on your driver suits (assuming that you will want to have a horse's hind quarters prominently displayed on your person!) in time for the first race.

The series posters are also due to arrive in a couple days so all the little stuff is falling into place nicely.

Thanks again,

Joe Marcinski
#04 Club Ford
1977 Royale RP24

I hate to ask, but is there a series approved PLACE to sew the DUFFUS patch onto ones suit? :D

Entered.

As for the patch, you may not see mine if I am already in the car...

Hmmm...............I suppose I should get out the ten foot pole and stay as far away from that question as possible...........

Dave, you know full well that we (the DUFFI) are pretty much opposed to anything that might make people think we are taking this too seriously. Given that, and in consideration that we have adopted a horse's behind as our logo................

I am pretty sure I know where Jonathan is planning on sewing his patch! And, I am guessing that the horse would not be disoriented...................

Joe M.

Hey Joe,

Will you be at the VIR pro race next weekend? If so I'll bring the entry fee check, if not I'll mail it out to you.

The DUFFUS patches are 3.5", cotton without backing, they are flexible enough to be sewn onto any location on a suit or other garment. Here is a picture of what they look like…

Hi Will,

I will be at VIR for the pro race next weekend so we can catch up there. I should be able to get together with Angela & Dave before then so I will probably have some of the DUFFUS patches with me as well.

I believe that we have 11 entries at this moment. We are hoping that entry activity will pick up a bit in the next couple of weeks.

Joe Marcinski
#04 Royale RP24 Club Ford

Just registered. I hope everyone is just too busy getting the car ready to have popped onto the web to register. Joe and his team will supply the fun, all we have to do is sign up and get ourselves there.

Steve

Joe, can you PM me your mailing address for the entry cheque?

EDIT - located it on Motorsportsreg.


Thanks

Jonathan

Hi All. I registered this week as well! I can't wait it should be fun! I know Rands Pro cars will be there. Will we be sharing the track with anybody else?
Thanks Wes

Nope, DUFFUS has its own run group. Just us. Pro F1600 will be a separate group.

Here's the complete schedule for Mid-Ohio

http://www.f1600championshipseries.c...ohioprelim.pdf

Hi,

The schedule from the Formula Race Promotions folks is correct so far as the DUFFUS on track times. On Sunday morning we will be racing in Race #2 of the weekend and on Sunday afternoon we will be racing in Race #3 of the weekend. I will work with the fine folks at FRP to get that correction made.

In addition to the FRP pro F1600, F2000 & FAtlantic races; the Formula Vee association and the F600 association are going to be there as well. As Will had correctly pointed out, we DUFFUS drivers/entrants will only be on track with each other, no "Wings & Things" class mix.

We will be adding a new post in the next couple of days to confirm the schedule, qualifying procedure, etc. I have never been to Mid Ohio. Chip Robinson, the FRP Race Director and I had a brief discussion this past weekend and it is my understanding that the are some paddock parking space considerations. If anyone is planning on bringing a mega-rig or needing a large paddock parking space please let me know so that Chip and I can work that out.

Thanks,

Joe Marcinski

A little less than a month away...can we crack 25 entries? Who else is coming but hasn't registered yet?

Joe,

It looks like a great weekend. My wife gave me a special dispensation - only go if you think you can win!

I'm in. If Maisy and his dad don't come I have a chance at a podium. Pity the other South African (not Jody Schecter) and Rand showed up. Where's JDK and Nicolette? Mike Scanlan is going to be in the house for the Pro Series. He can try and beat us between chasing Futrelle and Bagget.

Looking forward to showing you all what a DUFFUS I am.

GG
DB6 Honda.

Hi,

The schedule that gfastr linked to is correct for track times for DUFFUS, but the Sunday times are for the second and third races of the weekend. If you remember back in November when we were soliciting feedback on the weekend schedule; we had agreed that for Mid Ohio that Saturday morning qualifying set the grid the weekend's first race on Saturday afternoon. The grid for Sunday morning's race will be set by fastest lap from the Saturday afternoon race. The grid for the Sunday afternoon race will be set by fastest lap from Sunday morning's race.

In effect, after Saturday morning's qualifying session; the fastest lap from each subsequent on track session (which are races) sets the grid for the following session/race. If after the weekend we would like to do something different for DUFFUS #2 at Pittsburgh International Raceway in August; we can do that.

Larry Oliver is our Chief Steward and he will be conducting a driver's meeting for us on Friday morning. The primary thing or item that will be different for us will be the flagging procedure. There are some slight differences in the use of the flags during pro weekends and Larry will go over this with us. The flagging procedure will also be part of the supplemental reg's that will be in the driver packet we will hand out.

Thanks,

Joe Marcinski
One of the DUFFI
#04 Club Ford Royale RP24

Joe,

an in person drivers meeting is a must.

Can I suggest that a one sheet drivers meeting summary be handed out at that meeting?

If you consider the Supps as the summary, then perhaps break out a "drivers meeting summary' paragraph. Hunting through the supps for the on track flag rules is a bit of a chore, and I am lazy.

Steve

Hi Steve,

Thanks for chiming in on that. There will be a mandatory in-person driver's meeting with Larry on Friday. Larry and I discussed this at VIR this past weekend. I am ashamed to admit it, but I do not always read through the supps in their entirety and I am pretty sure I am not the only driver that would say that. So, the supps are the backup for us just in case their are any questions during the weekend.

I am literally in the middle of preparing the Supps hand out sheet so that Angela and Dave can add the DUFFUS logo and some other magic digital stuff later this week. Since it is increasing likely that my car will not be ready in time for this race (and Kris has a customer for the F1600 Mygale so I won't be able to highjack that) I will most likely be taking the role of Race Chair/Director for DUFFUS #1.

I have been carefully watching the excellent job that Chip Robinson has been doing with FRP and will try my best to keep everyone informed, content (happy is really freaking difficult!) and on time. I even hesitated to use "mandatory" for the driver's meeting, but safety is as important to us as is having fun hence the requirement for Larry to have an opportunity to address all of our drivers.

I will be coming through the paddock on Thursday & Friday morning (early, before our first session) and checking for current SCCA helmet stickers and gathering log books so that Angelo can stamp/sign them. After that I will bring back the log book and tech sticker to each driver's paddock area. All of this will be included in the Supps hand out sheet in the drivers packets.

We are going to have some tee shirts (of questionable appropriateness) to hand out during the weekend so please give a little thought to how we might award them. Best pass of the race, most places gained, most places lost (?), best prepared car, paint job most likely to trigger a flashback/epileptic episode, etc.

Thanks,

Joe M.

Does anyone have gearing information that they'd be willing to share? I've never run Mid-Ohio so I could use some help.

Thanks!

Will

In a CF with 9:31 ring and pinion I run:

20:32
22:29
24:27
24:24

Guys,

I'm REALLY looking forward to a large, FF-only field. No wings, no SR's--just FFs and their sub-sets. You'll get what we've all been clamoring for; lots of track time and no fear of getting sucked into an FA vortex!

We'll go over the differences on Friday, but one objective is a hassle-free, fun weekend with excellent racing.

Larry Oliver

Is there a plan in place yet for DUFFI looking to practice on Thursday? Would that be something we register for with FRP online beforehand, or at the track, or through the track directly?

Thank,
Jonathan

Hi Jonathan,

Bob Wright and I are working on trying to find out if there is time available on Thursday. I have never been to Mid Ohio, but it is my understanding that their "test" days are somewhat unique and might be compared in some ways to a driver school environment (no offense intended and the comment is the result of my unfamiliarity with the track procedures and hearsay from fellow racers who have been there).

Bob has told me that there are some test sessions available for the FRP entrants on Thursday afternoon only and that the schedule is pretty tight. He has told me that he will look into it and get back to me. I am not optimistic based upon the preliminary schedule that he told me about.

Please stay tuned here and as soon as I have some firm information I will pass it along. We had somewhat anticipated something like this and that is why both of our sessions on Friday are practice rather than qualifying sessions.

Joe Marcinski
#04 Club Ford Royale RP24

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by PK

In a CF with 9:31 ring and pinion I run:

20:32
22:29
24:27
24:24

---

Thank you, I am a bit surprised about the 1:1 4th gear though, I wouldn't have expected that.

Mid Ohio is a simple track! You guys don't need to practice;)

I tend to run gears a little bit taller than some others I've talked to, but it works for me. The back straight runs down hill, so you do get going pretty fast.

Joe that just helps me make my decision, I was considering the value of coming down Wed night, adding a hotel night, to be ready for a Thursday practice day.

Based on your post, I will stick with plan A and roll in for noon Thursday to set set up.

Only a couple more weeks now!

jonathan