AZ Regional Race at PIR

[Matt Conrad]

This weekend was the first regional race of the year for us here in AZ. The race followed a double school so many of the drivers were racing for the first time. I believe there were only 10 cars entered in the wings and things group. 2-FA, 2-FC, 2-FB, 1-FM, 3-FF.

So.....I'm going to do this for "marketing" purposes....but please know it is done tongue in cheek....

Phoenix F1K.07 sets new track record and dominates FB field at PIR!!!! Richard Dziak piloted his beautiful red Phoenix to victory in his first time at the 1.5 mile Phoenix International Raceway infield course, establishing a new track record along the way.

Alright....now, as Paul Harvey says....for the Rest of the Story....

Many of you know that I had a pretty bad crash in my DSR at PIR in early 2006. A brake failure going into T1 (at about 130 mph) caused me to hit another car and to be launched through the air and impact the T1-T2 SAFER barrier at 117 mph. I was pinned in the car for 30 minutes and suffered multiple fractures of my right leg. With that as my last memory of PIR, I began the weekend....with a flock of butterflies in my stomach as my co-pilot.

The weekend promised to be extremely hot and lived up to the promise. The school sessions (I was instructing some new open-wheel drivers) were brutal on Friday and Saturday as temperatures were hovering in the 107 degree range. Sunday (race day) dawned a few degrees cooler than the previous days, but early cloudcover burned off pretty rapidly and temeratures rose quickly above the century mark again. I saw 105 degrees on our tow vehicle dash readout.

The day started with an early morning 15 minute practice and my goal of merely having a positive session to rid some of my demons to begin the day. We began on the same tires we ran for both races at Sears Point a few weeks ago. I was tip-toeing through T1 and the oval as I began the session and slowly started to pick up the pace. I never did get to being flat-out through T1, but did start to roll the car through the oval much better. I managed to do a 1:02.6, which I thought was very good based on how timid I was out there. The car had a slight push in the slow stuff....which is what we expected.

The second session came quickly as the region combined two groups and caught us off guard. I managed to roll to the grid as the other cars were completing their first lap. We ran the same set of Goodyear 250's and made a small front ARB adjustment to try to dial out the slight push from earlier. My goal was to get flat through the oval and to work my way up to holding the throttle through the transition off the oval into T1. The car felt really good and I managed a 1:01.2 and still had left a bunch on the table for qualifying later. The car still had a slight push.

For the qualifying session we put on some stickers (Goodyear 250's) and again made a slight front bar adjustment. My goal was to get solidly into the 1:00 range and then pull off as we didn't want to fry the tires. I patiently made my way around for a few laps as I was trying to find a nice big open space on the track and let the tires come slowly up to temp. About halfway through the session I started to get on it and began to catch a slower Pro Mazda car. He had really good power, but I was eating him up in the corners (I'm sure it was his first time at PIR). I knew if I could get by him I would have a wide open track so I started to push....until something went boom on lap 8. Smoke trailing everywhere and I smelled burnt oil....not good. I managed to qualify 3rd overall with a 1:01.5 on lap 7, but our day was done. The top qualifyer was a Swift 014 at a 59.8.

After we did a buttload of oil dry in the hot pits for all the spewed Redline 40wt, we started to evaluate the damage to the GSX-R1000 motor and found a rod laying on the duffuser as we removed the engine cover. The odd thing was that the rod was complete (a bit bent, but complete) and had zero discoloration. The rod bolts were both broke off in the rod. We started digging some more and found the rod cap (again complete) and the bearing material....none of which showed any signs of excessive heat. We also found a very large hole in the case and dozens of pieces from the bottom of the piston and the complete wrist pin with nary a scratch on it. Pulling the data from the AIM dash showed good oil pressure all the way through the session, and all other temps, etc. in an acceptable range, though a bit high due to to the ambient temp. The logger showed a cockpit temp of 110 degrees. We're pretty certain this engine failure was caused by a part failure and not from the result of oiling issues.

I'm pretty bummed because the car was performing very well. The fastest I had ever run in my FC (after 3 years of driving it) was a 1:01.9 so I can't wait to get back out there. I guess this may be the opportunity to install the new 2007 engine...

Richard Dziak ran a good safe race and got the finish he needed. His lap times are not near where we are with the prototype, but his goals and aspirations for racing are different than ours. This was the first outing for him in his car and he said the car performed flawlessly and he was very surprised at the performance of the engine. Congrats to him on the win...I'm sure he'll post some of his thoughts once he gets a chance.

Matt Conrad
Phoenix Race Works, LLC

[Matt Conrad]

A few have already e-mailed or called about some comparative lap times. PIR gets run usually two times a year and those two races are usually in early fall (HOT!) and the Double National in January (COOL!). The fastest times I've seen all come from the cooler event in the winter (plus it is a National), and times in the fall seem to be at least a second slower (comparing similar driver's times).

I don't know all the track records, but here's some times from other formula cars at events at PIR over the past few years.....

FA....55.5 seconds...January. I think that is real close to the track record.....and is flying by the way! The next fastest was a 56.7. The fastest time last fall was a 58.8. The fastest time this weekend was a 59.8 (qual). Jim may have gotten quicker in the race....but we left before anything got posted.

FC....1:00.8....January. The second place car was the same time. The last race in the fall was over a second slower. The fastest FC (Zetec) this weekend was in the 1:01's.

FM....1:00.7....January. The second place car was a 1:01.8. The fastest FM this weekend was in the 1:02's.

I'm very confident I could have gotten the car into the high 59's based on the areas of the track where I knew I was not yet up to my potential. I'm positive that a top notch driver could have the car well below that.....

Matt Conrad
Phoenix Race Works, LLC

[RussMcB]

Disappointing news about the engine problem, but I can detect some real enthusiasm with your impressions of the car. Sounds like you are going to have many fun weekends in the future.

[Richard Dziak]

For the record........Matt Conrad was very fast with his Phoenix F1K.07 F1000 at Phoenix International Raceway on Sunday. In fact he blew by me several times at a very fast pace. I felt very bad for Matt when his engine blew up. There is no doubt that if Matt could have raced, he would have given the Pros Series Formula Mazda a run for his money, and was headed for a podium finish in all classes and would have shattered my own times. While Matt is a very competitive racer, at my age I am certainly out for the fun and excitement of the sport. There is no doubt that Phoenix Race Works has developed a quality car, design and overall build. While there are many more Stohr cars out in the field currently, when the chance really surfaces for a runoff between Stohr and Phoenix or any other car, my bet goes to the Phoenix produced car. I can only think with a Championship driver, the Phoenix is a Championship car.

Thanks Matt and hopefully you can be back on the track very soon.

[RussMcB]

While there are many more Stohr cars out in the field currently, when the chance really surfaces for a runoff between Stohr and Phoenix or any other car, my bet goes to the Phoenix produced car. I can only think with a Championship driver, the Phoenix is a Championship car.

We'll find out November 10! :-).

[Richard Dziak]

Russ.........maybe we will find out on November 10th, maybe not. Not sure what car or who will represent Phoenix Race Works in light of this past weekend and the engine failure that Matt had. It will take time to replace the engine and at a major cost. It takes deep pockets to replace quality motors.
It is my hope that Phoenix can be represented, but if they are not, I can understand it's only 7 weeks away. Time goes by fast.

If not this year, hopefully next year, As for myself, I will not make the ARRC race due to logistics. I will continue to race out here in the southwest and will continue to support both the Arizona Region SCCA and the RMD Division events. Arizona is very will organized and I certainly liked what I saw this weekend with their extremely organized group of SCCA chiefs and workers. They were awesome.

[P. Howarth]

Richard, you seem like a very possitive person and it would be nice to meet you someday.. Congratulations on bringing home the
It is really cool having one of those hanging on the garage wall.

My first go-kart race I came in dead last and I was excited that I had a good dual with second to last. I can only imagine driving one of these cars (any brand) on a big banked oval track. Cheers and I hope many more in your future.

[PMPerformance]

What was the new lap record time??

[Richard Dziak]

Paul:

The record lap time was considered slow.......recorded by a car that finished towards the end of the pack and nothing to write home about....1:11:657. If Matt Conrad would have raced the potential time would have probably been 1:01 or less. He was smoking up the track prior to blowing the engine. But that's racing.

Although the time was considered slow...and I am not a competitive racer, but am an F1000 owner who is out to have fun and a person who feels very good being able to afford and drive a new Phoenix F1000. It's an awesome Formula race car.

I am sure the record will be broken, but for now, my name will be in fame and listed in the record books at a quality track. Certainly in the future will my name will fade real fast. All records are made to be broken. But it sure is fun.

P.S. Nice posters all around the track on your new facility.

[PMPerformance]

We didn't get a chance to see any times from the race before we left for the afternoon.We were in a hurry to get out before it started getting hot..LOL We are very excited about the new shop.It will not be our final home, just a place to work out of until our new 30,000 sq. ft. place is done sometime in early 2009.The city has been moving along rather slowly.Have fun maybe we can chat at the next race when I don't have three "first timers" running..

[martyb]

(snip)

I am sure the record will be broken, but for now, my name will be in fame and listed in the record books at a quality track. Certainly in the future will my name will fade real fast. All records are made to be broken. But it sure is fun.

I know exactly how you feel. Our Stohr F1000 is listed as the initial qualifying track record holder and first race winner for the Saturday race at the recent doubleheader at Sears Point. The very next day our "record" was annihilated by four seconds by another Stohr, and we dropped out of the race with an engine failure.

But no one can take away the fact that we were there first!

BTW, congrats on a successful outing!

Marty

[Matt Conrad]

Richard,

And don't forget that you also have $100 contingency money coming from us for setting the track record....just send me a copy of the certificate for our records.

FYI....I really feel that a 1:00 flat lap was in the car.....maybe even a 59. It was very stable and I was just starting to get ready to put some fast laps in on the new sticker tires during the qualifying. That's what is the most frustrating....and the fact that we have found absolutely ZERO evidence of why this motor let go. No over-revs, no discloration of any internal parts, oil pressures fine, temps in operating range....nothing. Only a huge hole in the front of the block....disappointing.

Matt Conrad
Phoenix Race Works, LLC

[Richard Dziak]

Matt:

That's great news......seems like Phoenix Race Works is the only constructor to make cash awards like this under a contingency program. Every little bit helps and I have forwarded the certificate today to you on the PIR track record. Thanks again Matt and Phoenix Race Works LLC.

[Matt Conrad]

We've had the chance to completely disassemble the entire engine we blew up out at PIR last weekend and we're still baffled as to why it failed.

We did have some concerns about how well our dry sump system design was working (it was puking alot of oil at Sears Point) but inspection of all the bearings, etc. inside the engine shows no issues whatsoever.....everything looks new. System is working well!

This one seems to be a simple part failure.....most likely the bottom of the piston broke where the wrist pin attaches. Haven't ever heard of this happening before and there's not really anything we can do about it anyway as all the internals must remain stock. We'll have another motor back in it and out on track soon.

Matt Conrad
Phoenix Race Works, LLC

[rickjohnson356]

look on the bright side...

I guess this is an example of where the 2500 bike motors are a plus for this class.
plus you get a new (different) transmission to boot.

a replacement fresh FC would be what, around 5000? there are some used 2L motors being advertised for 2500-3000, but they need a rebuild- some have 8-10 races on them, so you would be back to the 5000 range.

[Matt Conrad]

That's a great point....If this would have been a Pinto block (and I "ventilated" a few of those too) I would be looking at $6K minimum.

As a bonus, the head still looks OK as well....just two bent valves...the piston barely "kissed" the valves....I know George can make it all better.

I'll probably only have to spend $2,500 to get running again....that's 3 sets of tires! The billet clutch basket can be re-used, I now have a spare head, spare throttle bodies, spare tranny internals, spare starter and a few more spare pieces we'll take from the new car kit.

On the negative side....this could have been really bad. A ton of oil poured onto a brutally hot header and it could have easily caught fire. Check out the size of the hole in the block.....



If you're gonna do it.....do it right!

Matt Conrad
Phoenix Race Works, LLC