F1600 Championship at The Glen

[RussMcB]

Sounds like an amazing weekend.I would have expected more cars at this event than VIR.Anybody have any ideas why numbers were off from VIR?

Having experienced a lot of fun at the VIR event and being very impressed with every aspect of it, it was painful not being at the Glen race. For me, that long trip was just too far for my budget. I'm hoping 2012 will include Rd Atl and other southeastern tracks.

Perhaps FF racers who are not as fast as many of the pro F1600 drivers, are worried about being on pace. The talent and quality of competitors in the series is jaw dropping. However, I would encourage local racers to join the series when it's nearby. It will be an experience you'll cherish forever. One of the great parts of the series is a full field, with plenty of competition throughout the field. Plus, I think they'll waive the series fee for your first race (if you may not do more).

For all of you who raced at the Glen - Congratulations. From tweets, race reports and apexspeed posts, it sounds like it was even more competitive than VIR.

[M.Sauce]

I wish I could have been there as well but the distance for me to most of the races is too far.I will be trying to figure out a way to make some races next year.Sounds too cool to miss.

[swiftdrivr]

As noted above, the critical factor is distance. Distance equals more gas money, more lost wages / off days burned, and more crew dissatisfaction. [It's hard to throw in some sightseeing when your rig is 30 + ft long and stuffed with easily pawnable tools.] Hopefully, there will be enough interest to justify a race at Road Atlanta, in addition to VIR, next year. And as above, even the Club Ford guys should take the opportunity to come race. There are few chances to run with a full field in Fords, and there was good racing from the front of the pack to the back. I think everyone involved had a great weekend. ---Jim

[PerfectLap]

Hey guys, Colin Thompson here, and I just wanted to thank all the help I received from Valet, Scanlan and Robinson to get my car on the track after a near weekend ending wheel failure in practice. We fought back as a team to pick up speed after losing valuable track time and grab two decent finishes during race time. The third place finish was one of the hardest battles I have ever had, and I have to put it out there to Forrest Hull. He did a great job holding his line and giving room in close quarters. I have to say it felt good standing up on the podium and being scolded for drinking the champagne, but that third was as much Forrest's as it was mine. Great racing. As for race two, it was tough getting back up to P2 after I was shuffled back to 6th on the start. Valet and I pulled away to a solid 5 second gap and it was certainly nice to think P2 was a worse case scenario finish. Valet's slip up was a regular racing incident and I did everything I could just to finish the race and not make contact with Valet's car. It was a bummer missing out on another podium but there was nothing Valet could have done once he dropped that wheel. Good racing to all and I promise I will take my turn on top of the podium at Mid Ohio! I learned a lot this weekend which I will use to my benefit for next race. Now begins preparation for next race and I can't wait to battle it out with this group of guys again!

Thanks to all of my sponsors who helped me race this year: Thompson Org, AWE Tuning, LTI, Iracing.com Simulations, Replay XD, Oakley and TeamSpeak.

Support my Racing!

http://www.colin-thompson.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Colin-...09341862421655

[Purple Frog]

Sunday's podium.

And a shot of Valet's car, taken post-race from the "best side". The other side wasn't as photogenic.

If you are not at one of these events it's hard to appreciate the intensity, yet all the sharing of parts and labor and sportsmanship between folks.

[Tom Valet]

Mike, thanks for posting the photos. The group photo with Bill's car is the Lehigh SAE Team "bachelor party" that put the car back together.

Here are a couple more photos from Sunday's post-race ceremony that Dennis and TJ took:

John Robinson and James Lee:

[Purple Frog]

OK Sportsfans, eat your hearts out.

This is what a F1600 field looks like in 2011.

OBTW, notice Kent-Honda-Honda-Kent... Piper-Swift-Piper-Swift...pretty even up front.

[swiftdrivr]

So wheres the video, guys?

[Roux]

I had a great race experience as usual at the Glen and fixed what turned out to be a camshaft button that had somehow pushed the locktab away and walked off the end of the nose of the cam. That gave the really bizarre variable cam timing symptom once the bolts started to slip and of course flow the soft steel locktab between them and the gear. Actually quite an easy fix.

Now for the favor. The guy who was crewing for me on Thursday and Friday and who helped me fix the engine problem was critcially injured on Friday night about an hour from the track. He died in the hospital in Syracuse on Tuesday. Robert left the track to visit some friends who live upstate and it seems that he fell about one story and suffered severe head trauma. He was supposed to return with those friends on Saturday to watch the racing and return to crewing for me but that never happened. So if anyone has photos of a slender grey/silver haired guy hovering around my car (perhaps on the grid for the first session on Friday) it would be nice to get that to his wife and kids. On Saturday and Sunday two other buddies were there and its not those guys who I am hoping to get photos of. This specifically would be Friday before 5PM. I really hope there is one last image of him out there that might help the family heal a bit. Let me know

thanks

Steve

[Purple Frog]

Steve,
I just went through a few thousand pictures. Janice didn't have any pictures of Robert.

Our sympathy to you and his family.

[RussMcB]

Steve, very sorry to hear about your friend.

[Tom Valet]

Steve, I am very sorry about this terrible loss. TJ and Dennis will go through their photos but I am afraid that almost all of their work this weekend was on the track and they spent very little time in the paddock or on the grid. If they are able to find any photos of your friend we will let you know.

take care.

Tom

[Tom Valet]

So wheres the video, guys?

Jim, sorry, there isnt any video from us this weekend. Saturday's race camera-wise is very boring (which is a good thing I guess) and for Sunday the camera was the one thing we couldnt get fixed in time to make the race.

[Purple Frog]

Sometimes i find these odd pictures, that are still kind of interesting.

Rand was a bit stressed....

[Ralph Z.]

Frog:

Thanks for the photo. It's probably the only photo of the weekend where I am in the foreground as this photo is looking at the back of the pack!


Ralph

[Purple Frog]

Front view.

[swiftdrivr]

Tom, Thanks, but from what I hear, you guys had plenty to fix without worrying about the camera. Cool that you were able to fix it and do so well. Kind of wish someone behind you had the film this time. I heard you guys were way loose. It would have been really exciting to watch [from a safe distance.] Congradulations on a great run.---Jim

[Monty M]

Oops - ignore this - pulled up the wrong thread...

[John Merriman]

Guys, can someone point out which cars were HONDA powered?

[RussMcB]

Guys, can someone point out which cars were HONDA powered?

I think you have to go here to get that: http://www.f1600championshipseries.com/drivers.html

[Steve Bamford]

If you go to the drivers section on the F1600 website it lists the chasis type as well as engine.