Runoffs 2005

[John LaRue]

I too should take a moment to say thank you! If it were not for the likes of Kelly at Hyperco, Sandy at Quicksilver; Richard and Steve at ICP; Greg and Scott at Motorsports Spares; the entire gang at Goodyear and Comp Tire; Tom and the guys at Pi Research; Dave and Sherry W.; Chuck at Enigma/Design13 and Kevin at Hitco and those great c/c brakes we could not put together the successful season like we had; 5 wins, 5 poles and our 2nd place start and finish at Runoffs. I also want to extend thanks and the warmest of greetings to all of my fellow SCCA members this Holiday Season, especially those who gave us a hand when it was needed.

Primarily I need to thank Sharon, my beautiful wife. As many of you may be aware, Jack my long time friend and crew chief had some issues with his health and "retired" from competition after '04. (btw he is doing great and enjoying his grandchildren!) This season Sharon was my only crew and she did a remarkable job of keeping us ahead of the curve. Unfortunately, I was too busy to nominate her for Crew Chief of the year, but given what she was asked to do and the way in which she preformed she should have been in the running for it! In addition to Jack I normally have Steve and/or Richard at Runoffs; this year I did not. Steve was scheduled to work with me on a test day and we promptly lost a throw out bearing and clutch leaving us with only 6 laps of track time. The absence of Jack, Steve and Richard certainly made things much more difficult. It is probable that we did not run as well as we could have if we had engineering support and a larger crew, but all in all it was a helluva effort and a good season.

Thanks guys (and girls)!

John

[DaveW]

I just watched the FF Runoffs race. The speed-channel guys sure showed their lack of knowledge on this one!

1. John Larue never "blocked" Clark. He usually took the inside line into the keyhole(where, BTW, I watched the race from) and the end of the back straight, forcing Clark to go around the outside, which he was never quite able to do.

2. John's "new" Citation is almost as old as mine, ~11 (edit - I originally said 10) years old. It's certainly older than Clark's VD. They raved over Clark's bodywork modification, but never mentioned (again, not doing their homework) the extensive bodywork and other mods done to John's car.

3. There were other obvious F-ups, but these were the worst.

[Jtovo]

Dave,
Which race did you watch? I saw 2 double blocks, including one that almost put the black car, running third, into the grass.

John is a great driver, but that was some pretty blatant and overly defensive driving.

[DaveW]

John cut the corner on the main straight - that's the one that put Clark close to or slightly into the grass. The other one I saw that you called a double move was that after Clark gave up on the inside going down to the end of the straight, John moved back to a more normal line so he didn't give up so much speed exiting the corner. Clark went to the outside at the same time, so it did look like blocking, but I don't think that one was intentional. I didn't see him weaving on the straights, though, and that's what I've called a block when its been done to me. Clark had several opportunities at the end of the main straight to go around the outside if he could, he just couldn't or didn't. That move is doable (I've done it) if the passer is fast enough. Yeah, John drove defensively, and gave up some lap time (which hurt them both in relation to 1st place) but what he did I wouldn't necessarily call blocking. Your opinion obviously differs.

I might have left Clark a little more room if I were the driver, but that's supposition and hindsight.

[M.L.Sauce]

I watched the entire race from turn 8.I believe John was defensive but remember there are only 2 real passing points at Mid Ohio.Turn 7 under braking inside or outside and the keyhole inside only.I did not see any blatant blocking from my vantage point but there are always many different points of view.Mid Ohio is a tough place to make those textbook passes.

[R. Pare]

2. John's "new" Citation is almost as old as mine, ~10 years old.

Actually, Dave, it was the first frame made, so that lets it beat yours in old age by about 2 months! Yours was the first to get fully assembled.

[cliff]

FWIW...Johns winning car is the oldest in at least the top 6 if we are being specific here.

[race95]

Get in there and go Cliffster!!!

[Lee Racing 8]

I missed the race but again I would like to say Great job to John Robinson, the guy works to no end when he needs to and also has one of the best senses of humor you will ever see. He is a great guy and is funny as hell, GREAT JOB JOHN, I'm proub to be your teamate

[Jim Garry]

<snip> 5 wins, 5 poles and our 2nd place start and finish at Runoffs. I also want to extend thanks and the warmest of greetings to all of my fellow SCCA members this Holiday Season, especially those who gave us a hand when it was needed.

John

Congratulations on a great season John. Have a happy new year.


- Jim Garry

[swifttiga]

Congrats to John Robinson, Drove only as hard as he needed to. Put the car on pole keep it there and watch the rest fight for scraps. Great work Robinson the driver, sponsor and car prep guy with the aid of the great James Lee.

[Domiteaux]

Maybe it was to early in the morning for my eyes to be up to snuff, but I feel pretty certain that what I saw was some really defensive moves by John, especially the squeeze to put Cambern in the grass. You have to give Cambern the credit for not leaning on John to make the pass. He showed alot of class..

[Dave SanF 50]

I agree with Domiteaux. In my eye, LaRue lost track of one of the most basic tenets in sports: "nobody cares who finishes 2nd". By LaRue's defensive driving style, Robinson was able to motor to an easy and well deserved victory basically unchallenged. Maybe if LaRue had worked with Cambern, the two of them might have been able to stay on Robinson's gearbox?

I do not consider the grass to be part of the racing surface when we talk about leaving an opponent "racing room". I do not fault Cambern for his driving or level of aggression in not forcing a pass. That may have resulted in both drivers being taken out. The move that squeezed Cambern onto the grass was based on intimidation, in my opinion. I do not race side by side with a driver I don't respect or trust. If I could keep with with Cambern, I would race him side by side, but I would avoid LaRue.

NOTE: Was not there. Just MHO from watching replay on Speed. Not even worth 2 cents.
dave

[Paul LeCain]

I saw the FF race on TV, too. Some of John LaRue's moves were obviously defensive. And, it probably would have been smart for him and Cambern to hook up for a few laps to try to catch Robinson.

However, as I watched, my main fear (I didn't know the final result when I saw the show) was that some one was going to get black-flagged and ruin a pretty good race. I'm more from the 'let the boys play' school, I guess. I didn't see anything I thought was dangerous, just two drivers duking it out, yes, aggressively.

I'd much (MUCH) rather see the SCCA start to black flag people who are multiple tens-of-seconds off the pace.

[Allen_W]

I am having trouble understanding this thread. What exactly was LaRue supposed to do? Stomp on the brakes and usher the following car by? I saw the race on TV. Yes, it sucks. LaRue made it difficult for Cambern to get by. Very snarky and competitive. Well, that is what it is supposed to be. He is not supposed to "give him room" to let him through. The following car has to get a nose in front or get by or something. Not just be on LaRue's tail. I didn't see LaRue making two or three moves, weaving, blocking--despite what the announcers said I was supposed to see--just a driver who held a tight line and wouldn't cede his spot. If this racing we do gets so "gentlemanly" that we don't compete, it will lose something. I personally thought the FF race was great. Almost an entire race with two cars nose to tail. The trailing driver very fast but just not fast(er) enough. I congratulate the winner and the other podium finishers. I have raced with LaRue and, in contrast to Dave from SF, would do so any time: my only complaint is that he goes almost as fast as a Continental . . .

[marshall9]

I thought it was great, TV only here too. I would like to thank the entire field for a GREAT SHOW! Next to the FC race, it was the best race of the year, I thought. Special mention to the sedan race, I don't remember which class, where the guy barrel rolled, and then sat straight up on the front end, I counted to five, before finally tipping upside down, and resting that way. He seemed okay, btw, or I wouldn't comment on the accident in this manner.