The Coop Chronicles 2009 ARRC

[glenn cooper]

This close at the finish, JRO takes 3rd

[DanW]

The Coop Chronicles
The American Road Race of Champions (ARRC)
Road Atlanta
November 7, 2009
I had a birthday a few weeks back, October 14th. Pretty standard stuff, went out to dinner, a few nice cards and 48 candles to blow out. It wasn’t until a few weeks later however that I got my wish…

The last time that happened I was 12 and scored a Viceroy 3 speed Stingray, all tricked out in chrome and resplendent in Pimp Purple paint.

My wish this year was not for a material thing, but rather to quote Moto GP Superstar Valentino Rossi “I wish for good fight with the other drivers”. Couldn’t have said it better myself, Vale.

As luck would have it, the weather at this years ARRC was perfect: Low 40’s in the morning, heating up to a lap record inducing 72 degrees F for the daytime high. It seems that every year I have attended this event, the weather leading up to the weekend is crappy, and the weather immediately following is crappier.

Evidently God/The Great Spirit/Heavenly Father/Alien Being that First Interbred with
Peruvians/Big Guy In The Sky is a HUGE road racing fan – How else could you explain it?
Thursday’s test day got off to a rousing disappointment with the realization that I had suffered a puncture, or as they like to say here in the South “It looks like the 43 car has cut a left rear tire”. Bummer as this thing was fresh out of the mould last week and had only lived for 3 laps of a scuffing session.

I dutifully took the wheel to the Hoosier Tire crew and had them mount up a freshie. Now I would have to waste most of another session later in the day to scuff this tire.
Upon retrieving the wheel a half hour later, I’m informed that a 3” long, 3mm ball end allen wrench was found inside the tire.
Apparently some newb mechanic musta laid out the day the lecture that dealt with the do’s and don’ts of wrenchin’ was held, namely the part that makes mention of the fact that you never, ever, under any circumstances place tools on or in the car, or else the tool might just come flying out/off and wreak havoc.
Uh-huh…
My first thought on seeing the wrench was “Damn, what if that happened during the race”?

Session 2 a few hours later came to a rather abrupt end on the entrance to T7, at something like 60 mph. It was as if someone had thrown the main switch to the off position. I couldn’t help but use the momentum to execute a perfect slideways exit off of the track and onto the T7 track access road.

As I climbed from the car and removed my helmet, I asked the Safety Crew Captain if the slide was “righteous or what?” His reply? “Hell man I thought you were just gonna keep goin’ straight by us and into the paved infield!”

What can I say, I just really dig throwin’ stuff sideways…

I got flat towed in, dropped at my paddock spot, lift the engine cover, and went straight for the main fuse in the harness. Sure enough it was blown, and upon fitting a spare 30 amp’er, all systems were go.
Evidently the vibration of the previous year and a half of raging all over the East coast was too much for the fragile filament.

Note to self – replace main fuse every 3 or 4 races.
My first thought upon seeing the blown fuse was “Damn, what if that happened during the race”?

The next 2 sessions were spent scuffing in another set of tires, and getting up to speed. Happily no other “surprises” were encountered.

Qualifier 1
Friday morning’s Q1 got off to a not-so-hot start as one of the cars in our group oiled the track from the entrance to T1 all the way to T10a, almost the whole track, oiled up, on the racing line.
Debris flags were displayed, but no stopping of the session. We all had to deal with it, and it took a few laps to figure out where we could still rail, and where we had to tip toe. I wasted more than a few laps trying to run on the inside of the oil into the high speed T1. With a few laps remaining, I finally figured out that the outside or “rimshot” line was faster through 1, but by then the checker was out. I end up 5th, way off of what I should have been able to put up.

We have one more session later in the day, and as it’s very mild outside, chances are we’d be able to go much quicker on a hopefully oil free racetrack.

Qualifier 2
Getting a clean lap is proving to be pretty difficult, as we are on track with other class cars that comprise Group 6. Normally I would come in, wait patiently at pit out for a gap in traffic, until such time as a call comes over the radio to nail it – NOW!
Strangely though all things alluded to there being plenty of gap, but in almost every single lap, I would get balked. I end up 5th again, with almost everyone improving on their Q1 time.

Put yer violins away – I’m not lookin’ for any of that action – it’s just that I had wanted our class to run solo at this event, to prevent this exact scenario from playing out, but the only way that could happen was if we came up with twenty F1000 entries, AND agreed to a Sunday race.

No big problem for me living one hour away, but a huge problem for many in the class who had one or two days of towing lying ahead of them, post race.
Plus we only had 14 entries confirmed…
With the recent announcement that F1000 would now be invited to take part in the 2010 SCCA National Championship Runoffs, this year’s event should be the last time we have to deal with that situation.

Post qualifying I did something I’d not ever done before and that was to make a pretty substantial change to the car, and not just this weekend’s trim, but rather to how I’ve run the car the whole time I’ve owned it…

On the last few laps of Q2 the slipper clutch, which has always preformed seamlessly, started to flake out, giving a goofy feeling while under multiple downchanges, basically at T10a entrance at the end of the backstraight.

After much deliberation I decided to disable it, a 5 minute operation done via an inspection cap in the clutch cover. The fact is that I have driven bike engined cars prior to the advent of slippers, it’s just I didn’t want to have to learn anything in the first couple laps of the race, running against a field so overtly packed with talent.
‘nuff said.


Q2 ends and the FB/Formula 1000 order is set:
1st Coello RFR F1000
2nd JR Osborne Stohr Gen 2 F1000
3rd De La O Phoenix F1K09
4th Hill Photon / Van Diemen conversion
5th Cooper Novak / Van Diemen conversion
6th Dixon Citation
7th Oseth RFR F1000
8th Cooper Jr Piper
9th McLaughlin RFR F1000
10th Slahor Novak / Van Diemen conversion
11th McNitt Stohr Gen 1 F1000
12th Holden RFR F1000
13th Freeman Freeman JF1
Pretty incredible field when you look at it:
Multiple National Champions, brand new cars, converted cars, as well as home built cars.

Race
It turns out we are not going to get our split start which was thought to have been promised to us, or at the very least damn near 99% guaranteed. What this means is that the grid will be comprised of the other class cars, all mixed together. On overall pole is one of these cars, and directly in front of me is another.

I’m hoping the out of class drivers will allow us to have our own unadulterated battle, and NOT attempt to race with us (F1000 drivers), and possibly effect the outcome, just as had happened in last years edition.

As we take the green, I actually have to lift completely off the gas as the ASR directly in front of me is slow to get going – not de rigeur for my buddy Jean Luc – I’m sure there must have been a glitch of sorts.
As all this is happening, Hill in his self converted Van Diemen/Photon, and Dixon in the Citation are getting a real good jump on my left. I finally get past the ASR on the way into T1, running real low.

A quick glance in the left mirror reveals a clear track behind and I use this gap to shoot up the hill outta T1 on the left, setting up Dixon on the way into the right T3. Out of 3 and start the long left, half way up the inside of Hill, who is staying on line, forcing my left side wheels to climb the curbing. I wisely choose to fall in behind, just as Dixon shoots back by on my right.

So, this is how it’s gonna shake out, huh fellas?
I only hope so, cause if that’s the case, this is gonna be a blast!
Up out of T5, I get a run on Dixon, and make it stick on the brakes into T6. Onto the back straight and I pick off the other red car of Hill on the brakes into T10, but only just: remember the slipper clutch disablement?
(Uh Coop, is that even a word? –Ed.)

It turns out I damn near threw it away here on Lap 1, ran it in waaaaaaay deep up the inside of Hill and locked the rears and got slide-happy. The slipper clutch, when it was working correctly, made this braking area almost automatic, no worries of rear wheel lockup, hop, or skidding, which is exactly what it did when I over aggressively (Moi?) came barging in there. I barely held off Hill, but ugly as it was, made the pass and set off after the rapidly disappearing pack.

This is almost a replay of last year where I had a problem (in the same corner, on the same lap!) selecting gears on multiple down-changes, which took me a little while to figure out, adapt, and finally overcome.
Although the race is not quite one lap in the books, the top 3 have already begun pulling away; it was apparent that I had a lot of work to do to catch ‘em.

It seems we were into lapped traffic somewhat early, hey, these cars rip, I’m here to tell ya! Anyways, this actually helps me reel the pack back to me. Maybe about 1/3 of the way into the race and I’ve established contact.

The order remains as it did at the start, Mucha in the FS car out front, but only barely,
followed/hounded/nipped at/in the crosshairs of Coello, who has been on the receiving end of some outright outrageous passes, and pass attempts, courtesy of one JR Osborne, with 16 year old “Fresh out of Karting and into the Calphalon 3 Qt Frypan” Phil De La O next in line, possibly looking on in horror, but most likely giddy with the “up close and personal” EXTREME ACTION TM, followed by yours truly, back to playing my old roll of caboose.

Say, isn’t there a kid’s story about a little caboose that had higher aspirations? Hold on –
getting’ ahead of myself…

OK time to assess the sitch-e-ation: I’ve got a comfortable gap back to Dixon and Hill in 5th and 6th respectively, so I can concentrate directly ahead, while still keeping the super-secret third eye glancing back occasionally… keepin’ an eye on you boys (literally!).

Where can I try to get by? (Uh, how about wherever you might be able to?). Any weaknesses? (With these guys? Yeah, nice try… Ha!).

Might I be able to throw a fresh motor on any of ‘em? (Invalid query - temp gauge reading 225).
Game Plan Revision – Hang with these cats, build more gap, run some laps down, catch your breath, relax a little, breathe, deep breath. There ya go…
The whole last half of the race is so chock full of passes, stuffs and re-passes I swear you’d think they were sold by volume, NOT weight!
It was a virtual stuff fest (And with Thanksgiving right around the corner – how appropriate!)

Dudes were going wheel to wheel. Folks were throwing it down, left and right. Fakes and feints abounded.
The action was so intense that I heard later on that race announcer Greg “Screamer” Creamer was sans voice for the next week solid, actually causing him to miss an announcing gig the next weekend. OK, so that part’s total BS, but I heard he turned a very bright Crimson. I’m worried…

In the meantime Coello has managed to get by Mucha, and is starting to pull away. This was the new (world) order for some time, before Mucha then ran wide/slowed coming off T6, allowing the Osborn/DeLaO/Cooper express to honk past (passed).
Coello in 1st meanwhile has opened up a huge gap at this point, and it was apparent that barring a complete screw up, he was going to finish there.

It looked like my goal of winning the F1000 Hat Trick award (2 of the 3 already checked off, this race win being the third) was fading in inverse proportion to my tach needle swinging deep into the red – hey wait, these things don’t have friggin’ tach needles!
Something else very apparent was that my (back)straight line speed was no match for the Phoenix. Time and time again I would be leading out of 7, and by the time we were half way down the straight, De La O would come waltzing effortlessly past.

This was about the same overtaking rate I enjoyed at the June Sprints over Oberndorf in his Gen 2 Stohr. His car was puking water from the start with a blown head gasket, and now my car was suffering from coolant temp woes also – 225 degrees F is not the hot ticket (D’Oh!) for making maximum horse pressure!
On several occasions I am actually up to first of our little 3-car train, getting some pretty
tasty advantages in traffic.

I’m actually very stoked to be in this rareified air: To be running not only with very top notch guys, but doing so in a 10 year old chassis is amazing.

For my not-so-technically-inclined readers, the big differences are in the aerodynamics, and just as huge advances have occurred in everything from electronics to Gelato (remember how crappy it was back in the late 90’s? Bleeech!) in the ensuing decade, so have radical differences in the new racecars vs my “Old School” ride.

Chief amongst these differences is front downforce. The new cars have raised front floors: when seated in the car your heels are higher than your butt. This design allows a full length wing, which can produce more downforce with less drag. This configuration also offers better airflow to the sidepod mounted oil and water coolers.

All the newer cars have much larger sidepods, allowing fitment of coolers that much larger. Good and bad here – mostly good.
Bigger coolers – probably better cooling. Bigger sidepods – more frontal area - possibly more drag. A toss up, but probably even more correct, a necessary evil.
Trying to cool these hot little beasties is obviously best done with the drag penalty of the bigger coolers/sidepods.

Hopefully by the next race meeting I will have carried this change out to my car and in typical Coopsport Development Mode (CDM), it won’t be the prettiest thing, but will work!

Another big difference is rear downforce, with the Stohr seemingly taking cues directly from the F1 pitlane: a very advanced rear diffuser seems to be the business.

And finally weight. I roll across the scales at about 1020, un-ballasted or so, post race. 1000 pounds is minimum. Newer cars barely squeak the minimum and need to run ballast to get there. Always better to be able to put the weight where you need/want it, as opposed to having to run with it wherever it ends up!
The 20 pound difference is probably equal to a one, or one n’ a half horsepower. Oopsie…

The race is winding down, 2 to go. I’m really thinking I’ve got a chance here of making the box. I’ve got enough gap that I think I can hold off the kid and JR, but as we are down to just 5 turns remaining, I get held up just enough by lapped traffic into T7 on the last lap that the Phoenix/De La O come by and just flat pull away.

The dip, or rather what’s left of the dip is coming up and JR is next to have a go. He tries me on my left, but I use my one move to leave what I thought was about one car width less about 5 inches on my left. He tries me here, or rather makes me think that he’s trying me here, on my left. I run it in a little too deep, he flicks it hard right, also in a scosh too deep/much and we both do a little synchronized slideways stunt show (For the fans mind you, it’s all about the fans…).

JR exits to my right and I try to stay even with him up the hill to the bridge. We crest the T11 bridge turn damn near side by side, both of us again getting loose as we skip across the little dip there.
It’s a full boogy, 12,750 rpm, 3 gear change jaunt to the checker, but first we gotta get through T12. Side by side. I’ve seen this pass made before. In fact I’ve seen it done with two wheels and four.

I’m in real hot, we’re sidepod to wheel, and I‘m running out of track. My left side wheels climb the painted outside curbing and the next thing after that is dirt. Which is exactly where those 2 wheels ended up, right about 2 or 3 feet back from JRO’s. 4th it is, and the “Race of my Life” has just ended.

Finishing 5th and closing quite quickly at the end was Dixon in the patched together Citation, having quite a shunt in Q1 and resultant work-party late into Friday night. Sleep deprivation and a first class case of the blues mighta held him back at this race meeting, but you can bet this guy is gonna be battling it out front real quick-like.

For being from Alabama, NONE of the crew sound the slightest bit red, btw! 6th is Hill, nursing an ill handling car. He claimed it impossible to come off slow corners without
lighting up the tires and suspects rear diferential woes. I was behind at the start for a few corners and concur…

7th is Jason Slahor in the other Novak/Van Diemen. I looked their car over and it was neat to see how they went about building the car compared to what I had done with mine.

8th Jerry Freeman in his homebuilt. It’s big, it’s battleship gray, it’s aluminium, and it just finished the biggest race of the year in the Top 10.
Yeah folks don’t just make their own car, by themselves, out in the shop.
Never happen… Yeah Right!

9th Bill Mclaughlin in his RFR. They were 3 laps down and I believe had some type problem.

10th Chris McNitt DNF in his Stohr

11th Lewis Cooper Jr DNF in the Piper.


DNS List:

Russ McBride - Nicest guy you could meet, worst luck in the world. Good news is that he has made huge progress on his self built and designed early Van Diemen conversion, running very strong at Barber M/S’s Park a few months ago.
At this event, his jackshaft bearing and shaft did the splits; he’s already deep into getting it fixed up right.

Steve Oseth RFR F1000 – a broken chain whipped around and took out the water pump and clutch slave cylinder mounts, rendering the engine in desperate need of a fresh set of crankcases. I offered up my brand new fresh spare to them through an intermediary, but they politely declined.

Phil Holden - Never met him, not sure what happened here.
Wow – Great reporting huh? Hey, I got a day job…
How’s a guy gonna live this race down, especially in light of wrapping up the F1000 Championship?

That’s right my little furried friends. Wrapped up.
Actually, it was mathematically wrapped up earlier, when it was discovered that 2nd place in points Mark Jaremko/Phoenix would not be making the trek from Spokane, Washington.
Lessee, bust out the old checklist:
Championship season, Check.
Race of my life, Check.
Hung out with all my buddies at a racetrack for 3 days n’ nights, Check.
Had a great party that was well attended by all sorts of open wheel afficianados, Check.

Cool, (Birthday) Wishes Do Come True!
Giancarlo Di Coopola
FB 43

[carnut169]

God I love reading the Coop Chronicles. Almost as much as I loved watching the race from turn 10... it was definitely a show worth the price of admission!
I still think you should be traveling the world writing for Road & Track (Men's Journal, whoever) rather than distributing liquid motor remedies.


BTW, your car looked pretty sweet with the flat-black/ day-glo orange paint scheme.

[glenn cooper]

Sweet AND cheap; about $30 for the flou orange vinyl!
GC

[Mike B]

Just what we've come to expect from Coop, ever since the heady FormulaCar Magazine days. This might be better than watching your in-car vid. I'll reserve that judgement until I actually see said vid. Should be awesome.
Thanks, Coop!

[bill gillespie]

Hi Coop,

I think you have a lot of Richard Egan in you.......please submit this page-turner to one of the slick periodicals......they would be fools not to use/ abuse you.

Regards,
Bill

[Wren]

It's a full boogy, 12,750 rpm, 3 gear change jaunt to the checker, but first we
gotta get through T12. Side by side. I've seen this pass made before. In
fact I've seen it done with two wheels and four. I'm in real hot, we're
sidepod to wheel, and I'm running out of track. My left side wheels climb
the painted outside curbing and the next thing after that is dirt. Which is
exactly where those 2 wheels ended up, right about 2 or 3 feet back from
JRO's. 4th it is, and the "Race of my Life" has just ended.

I hope the camera's caught this. From where I was standing at S/F, this looked like the pucker factor would have been extremely high.

I think there is going to be some great racing in FB in SEDIV next year.

[glenn cooper]

I loves me some good abuse!
GC

PS A childhood buddy/schoolmate, Brian Catterson of Motorcyclist Magazine, and prior to that Cycle World, Roadracing World & Motorcycle Technology, and initially Cycle News (Whew!) was the first to notice my wordsmithiness and turned on all sorts of folks at Hatchette Fillipachi Publishing to me work. He told me stories of getting calls from the guys at Motor Trend asking if the next CC had arrived.

Yeah, I oughtta look into that...

[Stan Clayton]

If you start at the top and just hold down the scroll button, Coop's Chronicles look like a Rorschach Inkblot Test as they blur by on the screen...

[bill gillespie]

Here's the deal: get put on retainer to go race and then write about it......whole new tax status for racing.......win for us, you, them !

[Northwind]

Coop is so good with words he could make a story about brushing his teeth entertaining.

The best part is he doesn't stretch the truth about this race one bit. It was that exciting. I could only imagine what a field of twice this many cars would be like.

[ghickman]

The best part is he doesn't stretch the truth about this race one bit. It was that exciting. I could only imagine what a field of twice this many cars would be like.

We're going to find out in 2010....

Gary Hickman
FB #76

[Ted Idlof]

Dan W (NorCal) helps out with formatting. You need any help with editing the video? I'm available. Lemme know.

Sweet AND cheap; about $30 for the flou orange vinyl!

Rat on

Your Shoestring Brother,

[glenn cooper]

Yeah Ted, knowing my skills with this stuff, yeah, I'd say so.
Hopefully Errol at goracingtv.com will be sending me the DVD soon enough; kinda hoping for some relevancy here. I asked for a copy at the track and he asked me if I had a "thumb drive" (?), but the look on my face and the cricket chirp in the background answered the question for me...

Maybe he can do some kind of file transfer e/m type deal...
I'm on the phone now.

GC

[Ivinsea]

4th it is, and the “Race of my Life” has just ended.

That is so bittersweet, I have actually re-read it several times.