2006 Great Lakes FC/CFC series finale`

[Westroc #19]

The Great Lakes FC/CFC Championship powered by eformulacarnews.com is heading to Mid Ohio this weekend to wrap up it's inagural season. Thirteen cars are entered to contest this final round.

Throughout the season, the FC class has had poor participation numbers. But that won't prevent the four FC GLC competitors from putting on a good show this weekend.

Keith Carter(56) leads Bryan Blair(35) in the points battle by 21 points.Blair, in his first full FC season, is up to speed and will challenge Carter all weekend. Paul Knight(16), sits 19 points back of second place, and Carlos Franca(15) will race for the final paying position.

The CFC class will once again have a large contingent of competitors. Nine GLC drivers will be on hand to race for the top spots. We are also expecting three more CFC's for the weekend who will be competing in next years series. A twelve car CFC class, this is why I put this series together.

Jim Roberts(58) holds a commanding lead over Corey Collins(36) by a 22 point margin.Steve Myers(30) and rookie Corey Guedes(27) sit third and forth respectively.

This series has alot of potential going into next season. We need to find more FC competitors so we can balance out the classes. It will also help with attracting more sponsorship for the 07 season. So anyone who is interested, please contact me so we can involve you in the schedule debate for next year.

[Keith Carter]

Just got a call from the registrar of the event (someone has my number ). Asked her what the turnout was looking like for the preregistered FC and CFCs. There are 5 FCs and 9 CFCs so far.

[bblair77]

Who was the 5th FC?

See you guys Friday....

[Steve Demeter]

Corey,
It is better than a great day EH?

What you have done for Fc / CFC in this division is nothing short of spectacular and visionary.

You are to be commended for taking the time, effort, stress and having the vision to put the series together.

The FC / CFC competitors in GLC owe you a huge thank you.

Those of you in other divisions should take note of the effect on participation this series has had and consider doing one in your division.

Steve Demeter

[Keith Carter]

Scratch that, make it 6 (I guess she wasn't including me when I asked)

Carter
Knight
Blair
Franca
Bueltel
Watson

[Westroc #19]

So, I have some recruiting to do this weekend aswell. I managed to sign up another FC driver for next season on our last trip to M.O. So I'm confident I can get Buetel and Watson to come out and play in our series next season.

Keith, did you happen to get the names of the CFC competitors registered for this weekend?

Hey Steve, nothing to it. Just don't ask my wife about the amount of time I spend looking after this series.

[GR]

I'm thinking Mr. Roberts "rocket" is my first ride A nice car that has been in our ApexSpeed community for quite some time.

Doug Kniffin, Tim Fogerson, GR............. and now Mr. Roberts

It's great to see it still rocks!!!

See........ you guys that waited a bit to long missed out on one great opportunity!

[Westroc #19]

That's the car. We did a complete rebuild over the winter. New Ivey power, and recored rads. Jim didn't like that I schooled him in my first full season in a car. We now have three Reynards and we are preping a DB-4 for some real speed for next season. We will be running the FA when it doesn't interfer with the GLC schedule.

[Keith Carter]

Keith, did you happen to get the names of the CFC competitors registered for this weekend?

I'm afraid I didn't. I only got the names of the FC guys as a last request from the registrar. I figured I saw a post by David Keep with most of the entry list anyway for the CFC count. I can't remember what thread that was in though.

[Westroc]

I'm thinking Mr. Roberts "rocket" is my first ride A nice car that has been in our ApexSpeed community for quite some time.

Doug Kniffin, Tim Fogerson, GR............. and now Mr. Roberts

It's great to see it still rocks!!!

See........ you guys that waited a bit to long missed out on one great opportunity!

Schooling my Asxx. If I hadn't had an axle break that WAS crack tested on the left rear I would have won the championship last year too. By the way whereever Ten Tenths bought that piece don't buy another it was porous inside! It took us an hour to find the wheel. It was in the ditch at the edge of the highway at Gingerman. Man I thought you dropped off the face of the earth. So.... why aren't you running with us?? Are you running anything since the big accident? Are you OK? Your / my car has had alot of deveopment since then. Corey my son stole my computer to develop the championship so I am just back on the web recently so keep in touch will ya.

[GR]

Whoa...... Bad axle.... Jim,..... have to admit that I controlled all purchases for all parts for the car. The boys at 10/Tenths simply installed things. I never did then, nor do I now, buy anything from anyone whom I felt and thought, and still do, were/are reliable resources, everyone of them "well known"....

Anyway.......way cool seeing you doing so well. Great job continuing the development w/that chassis.

Nice shot of you in last issue of Formula Car too

Enjoy your championship year!!

As far as what I'm doing..... everything is great, except I've been sidelined for a year and half now because of work. Got to pay the racing blls somehow. Just wish I had time to race! Decided to move to an '03 Zetec this year, after pondering the sense of upgrading my '00 Pinto. Now.... just waiting for a chance to see the blacktop from 24".

Being in the insurance industry in FL and LA has had us very busy the last two years.. Now we are looking at explosive growth with new clients....... "when will it ever end" well, hopefully never. My retirement is counting on it

[Westroc_87]

ugh finally on are way to mid-ohio. See everyone there and what not.

Take care,

-corey

[Keith Carter]

Well, we're back at the Holiday Inn after day 1 of the WOR Regional Great Lakes Championship shootout. Our day was sour from the start and proceeded to get worse after being punted off the track on the first lap, but we'll be in ok shape for tomorrow. I guess it pays to qualify at the front of the grid and avoid the carnage....

CFC
==============
Rex Gunning 1:30.5
Jim Roberts + 1:32.7
Steve Meyers + 1:32.1
Corey Guedes + 1:33.2
Dan Kehrer 1:37.1
David Keep + 1:42.3
David Rock + 1:41.8

FC
=============
Ron Thomas 1:31.4
Bryan Blair + 1:34.3
Paul Knight + 1:32.2
Carlos Franca + 1:34.6
Chris Watson 1:37.2
Mark Bueltel 1:31.4
Keith Carter + DNF

+ = Racing for GLC Points

[SWMyers]

Sunday Results

CFC
====
1. Gunning 1:31.0
2. Guedes 1:31.4
3. Myers 1:30.8
4. Roberts 1:32.0
5. Collins 1.33.6
6. Demeter 1:34.1
7. Kehrer 1:36.1
8. Rock 1:35.0
9. Keep 1:39.9
10. Pace 1:40.1 (DNF)

FC
===
1. Thomas 1:30.0
2. Bueltel 1:29.9
3. Blair 1:31.1
4. Carter 1:31.2
5. Knight 1:31.9
6. Franca 1:31.9
7. Watson 1.38.3

I've got F1 waiting on the VCR so I'll let other provide the color commentary.

[Westroc_87]

I suppose ill make this real breif but i wanted to thank everybody for a great season and to all the great people I met this year...

First all of the Westroc Crew:
Jim, Corey, Lynn, Jason, Joel, Scott, Nate, Jason, Laurie, Jim M, and of course my dad. Without any of them none of this would have ever happened.

And everyone I met this year racing:
Lee, David Keep, Steve Myers, Rex Gunning, David Rock, Keith Carte, Bryan Blair, Carlos Franca, and everyone else that i might have forgotten.

Lastly, id like to thank Keith Averill for all the support this year and giving me the best damn job an 18 year old could get.


Once again thanks for a great season, and hopefully all see you all next year.

-Corey Guedes

[FC63F]

To Corey and Westroc - thank you for puttiing the series together and bringing together a fun bunch of racers! It has been great to bring energy back to the continental class here in CENDIV. I enjoyed three of the race week ends in two different cars, my old and missed Crossle 63F as well as my new and mysterious Reynard 90SF.

As for Mid Ohio, we had sunny if cool weather, good track conditions and a great bunch of people to hang out with and race. At a personal level I want to thank the Westroc crew for helping in any way you could imagine. In my own case at the first Mid Ohio race, to get me on the track when a susepnsion bushing decided to move from its assinged position. I would also note that they probably delviered an act of kindness to nearly every entrant in the series and kept people racing who might have gone home otherwise

As for next year - I will definitely be back and look forward to year II and even more participation

Kindest Regards

David Keep

Reynard 90SF #63

[Westroc #19]

Thanks for the kind words. But I want to thank all of you competitors for taking part in a new and exciting series. Thanks for believing that we could get this series off the ground and make it work within the short time we spent on putting it together. Next year will bring more competitors, a different track or two, and more sponsorship.

As for helping fellow drivers complete a weekend, it is just part of the racing experience. We have the man power and always have plenty of spares in the trailer. And it's a good thing we have the spares.

After Sat. qual. we had to replace a left rear hub and wheel bearing on Jim's car. Thank's to Mid Ohio matinance for letting us use their hydralic press, or Jim's weekend would have been over.

Then came my brain fart which resulted in replacing a toe link and lower control arm. Thanks to Mike Binghman for lending a nose assembly or I would have had to sit out on Sun.

I also want to thank our entire Westroc crew for putting up with us drivers all year long. Here, I broke this, can you fix it in ten minutes, because I need it in five.

And lastly, I want to thank my DAD, The 2006 Great Lakes CFC Champion, Jim Roberts. He really wanted this championship. He put his head down and drove a clean season. Way to go Dad.

[kea]

Thank you Corey,
When I complained last year about the way the regional race series had resulted in the CFC champion and 2nd place having never raced against each other, you took that idea and brought this seasons races together. You did a good job while at the races, also got Rob Howden to give it some press, and put my support (and others) to good use.
If anyone wants their business involved, or wants to race (F/C or CFC) in it next year, you should be as happy with your decision as we are.
Keith
Averill Racing Stuff,Inc.

[Westroc]

First I need to publically thank Mr Bingham for loaning us his front nose/wing assembly. Usually when amounts of money enter the amounts needed to replace an expensive ass'y like that loaning isn't even in most competitors vocabulary. You are thanked by me and certainly my son for your gracious act. Very impressed.

Just some notes personally. It's true I wanted to win it the "first" year and started that process as soon as we came back from the last race in 2005 in Sept. I never stopped from then to the last lap on Sun. @ WOR. The best feeling I have had since begining racing "big cars" starting in /84 @ Waterford was waking up Sunday morning at Mid-Ohio and knowing that I was champion. I hope that each of you can someday have such a feeling. I had decided that even though I was ahead I would race like the champion I intended to be and it worked out fine on Sat. especially. Many people to thank. My crew and son first. I am a very focused guy which can be hard on others. Frankly I would have made a great wife I'm such a neat freak. I'm also the "TOOL NATZI". My crew I am very proud of. People need to share your vision and I have tried to teach foremost that your attitude equals your altitude.

Had a very good time racing clean with everybody but especially Steve Myers on the last race. Needed to take points for our Corey Guedes. Don't think we were ever more than 20 feet apart.

Signing off for now, more to follow.

I am definately looking for a driver for my car. As you all know I bought an Atlantic and would like to take someone out of karting and give them an opportunity to do an arrive and drive. If you know anyone let me know. (Must keep this car in Central Division so we can bug you guys in the series all next year.)

[Rob Howden]

Jim,

Big congrats on your CFC championship...you definitely deserved it. Same goes to Keith Carter in FC. You guys are awesome and I'm so pumped that you were all able to work together to develop this new series which has given FC and CFC racing such a boost in this region.

You can count on the support of eformulacarnews.com and FormulaCar Magazine again in 2007.

Rob Howden
Howden Media Group

[Keith Carter]

Thanks Rob! Your support in this series is not only appreciated, but needed too. Thanks to all of the others who have supported this great new regional series for FC/CFC competition. We came into this weekend thinking we could coast to the GLC win by just needing to finish a race and we almost couldn't even do that. It was getting pretty interesting towards the end. My points lead had quickly disappeared thanks to a few incidents and Bryan was right there ready to pounce. It would've been a good race on Sunday if I hadn't screwed up qualifying playing in the gravel. I hope the success of this series draws more entries for next season.

[SWMyers]

Great job Jim! I thought Sunday was a blast too. Thanks to Corey for putting it all together, to Keith for facilitating our early discussions and to Rob for stepping up as title sponsor. This series was the most fun I've had in racing. I can't wait for next year!

Steve

[bblair77]

I too want to thank Corey and the westroc guys for putting together a great series!! And congrats to Jim and Keith for the well deserved championships!! Also want to thank Rob for the coverage in formula car mag/eformulacarnews.com and all associated sponsors!! Let's do it again next year!!

BTW- thanks to Lee Jordon for the advise/help on Saturday!!

[Mike Bingham]

[SIZE=2]Thank you for the opportunity to compete with some of the best OPEN WHEEL competitors this side of the Atlantic ( non compensated, that is..I think this series is as close to a PRO Series as I will ever be able to participate)

Corey did one excellent job, starting from scratch and putting together one fine Series. Jim and Steve and the entire field were tough...Congratulations to you all along with Keith and the FC drivers....

Regarding kinds words about loaned out parts..Thank you..Jim....we all show up at the track to race..ifin a part or tool will help a fellow racer, why hold back?? Afraid it will disappear?? After all, you are trusting your LIFE with the guy running beside you...what's a wing or a wrench worth???

looking forward to 2007 season...

mjb
[/SIZE]

[FC63F]

All,

Congratulations to Jim and Keith for their fine performance - Also thanks to all the rest for showing up and making it a fun race fore those of us who were not quite up front.

Corey - you did a great job at making this deal happen and I really look froward to 2007 and even more cars.

Lee - thanks for all of your help and getting me the correct tire pressures for Avons - not the same as Goodyears - what a difference and thanks for helping out in the first Mid Ohio race week end with the Reynards wheels were first turned.

Keith Averill - thank you for your good offices and support in setting up the conditions where some drivers could meet and make a plan


I will be back in 2007 - it doesnt get any better

David Keep

Reynard 90SF

[Westroc #19]

Lee Jordan will be racing with us next year in an 89 Talon CFC. Keep the cars coming guys.

Formula Car Magazine and eformulacarnews.com have already commited their support for next season. Thanks Rob Howden and Al Craighead for your continued support to our series and all junior formula car ranks.

[Westroc_87]

Anyone know when it will be posted????

[Al Craighead]

Hey guys,

I have the report from the final races that Corey sent me. Been swamped with magazine stuff and the Runoffs. I'll have it up on the website shortly. Sorry about the delay.

Cheers,

[Keith Carter]

No worries Al! We know we're small Regional fish when the Runoffs are going on at the same time.

[FC63F]

Ok Lee - what is a Talon and can someone show us a picture of one and maybe a bit of history. I confess that I've never seen une except for a 1990's Mitsubishi turbo car that was a hoot.

David Keep

[Westroc #19]

Dave, check your email. I sent you a pic of Lee's Talon.

[FC63F]

Corey,

Thanks for the pic and explanation - never seen one of those before. Lets see, in 2007 we will have

6-8 Reynard 87-90 SF
1 Crossle 63F
1 1984 Van Diemen
1 1985/89 Talon
2 EuroSwift's
1-2 Citation


The more the merrier

David

[bblair77]

Anyone know if the results will be posted on mylaps? It's been over two weeks and still nothing??

[Westroc #19]

Bryan, I think that is left up to the host region. Contact them and see what's up.

[LAJ]

David ,Who is running the 84 VanDiemen ??

[FC63F]

Lee,

Jim Dopirak who is a regular at Waterford purchased my 86 Crossle for Melissa Fergus (who is very quick with it) and is building up an 84 VD (could be an 86 VD?)that he previously ran as a 1600 car in past years. I spoke to him a few weeks ago and he indicated that he wanted to run with the CFC group both at Waterford and GLC. Jim "test drove" the Crossle for three week ends at Waterford before he turned it over to his daughter and seemed to be having a very good time.

David

[LAJ]

I had an 84 Van Diemen that had been converted to FF2000 from FF1600.
John Green had put Reynard sidepods and radiators on it and called it Van Nard!!
I would lose the center radiator ,there is the bellhousing and 1 bracket that bolts to the front of the engine,Rear wing should be easy! and the nose bracket stays the same you just need a hole in the nose to put the wing pipe through!!
Lee
419-302-5997

[FC63F]

Thanks Lee, I will pass on your advice.

David

[LAJ]

Here is what the car looks like with the Reynard radiators .

[FC63F]

Thanks for the pictires - I am sure Jim will appreciate the help

David