Runoffs Updates
I will be trying to make regular and frequent updates about things on my Facebook page. I'd post things here but it is easier to do it on Facebook. Feel free to get the latest scoop there. If anyone wants to know about other classes I can try to track that info down too.
RH
fv fv fv fv!Originally Posted by reidhazelton
I don't have a Facebook account. Does this mean I have to break down, at my advanced age, and open one? Please say no.
Since I'm here already for testing, I may survive without semi-live updates. Today the track was very fast (high temp was 57F), and there were very few cars -- just 5 Fords (me, Stan Townes, Mark Keller, Randy Acock, and Cliff Johnson). A good deal of track time. Tonight it rained, so I don't know what the track will be like tomorrow.
We're in with 500s, Vees, and Spec Racers -- the latter being somewhat of an adventure. It will get crowded through the weekend.
Good luck, everyone!
Oh yeah, Reid, I should have mentioned, Nick did magic on the car. Looks good, we've got the set-up very close to where I like it, I am a little hesitant going into T6 but that's me, not the car.She did an amazing job, as she always does.
"I don't have a Facebook account. Does this mean I have to break down, at my advanced age, and open one? Please say no." -Allen
I second the "Please say NO."
just call me,
Another old guy that has survived well over 50 years without Facebook! (And, I still have a few friends that actually talk to me!)
See you next weekend at the Runoffs Allen. Thanks for posting the report. Oh, and no surprise here that Nik has your car looking and performing great!
Steve Barkley
Euroswift SE-1 FF1600
Please post info on here as I don't have Facebook either !
Allen, I'm over 50 and have been on Facebook for awhile. Come over to the dark side! BTW, Manny B is playing at my pit area Thursday from 6:30 to 9!.
Competition One Racing
racer6@mchsi.com
Excellent news. Carmen and I will be there. I missed last night due to the rain. Glad to hear you were able to arrange it.
Special for those without Facebook . . .
FF qualifying under sunny skies and with temp of 68F. We went out at 2:10pm.
(top five, rounding up on tenths)
1. Lewis Cooper 2:21.4 (no, that isn't a typo)
2. Reid Hazleton 2:22.7
3. Scott Rubenzer 2:23.0
4. Cliff Johnson 2:23.8
5. Russell Ruedisueli 2:25.1
6 of us ran in the 28's; unfortunately for me, I was the highest of the 28's -- and 16th overall. We decided to run 4 session 25's - figuring that, given the rain, the track wouldn't be its best and also this would put us on cycle to be able to run the race this year on fresh tires - and the 25's didn't stand up to the carousel at all, starting to push very early on, so I am optimistic about the rest of the week - with luck I should stay in the top 20!
There was a black flag after 3 or 4 laps, with one FC across the track at the exit to six and another in the wall near one, I believe.
Late yesterday, in the final test session, John Benson's car went into the wall 100-150 feet past the kink, driver's left, right about where Dan Murphy hit in the morning. Murphy was back on track by session three. I heard in the paddock that Benson's car was repaired but that he was very sore; he didn't run the first qualifying session. I hope he's ok and will be able to re-join the circus tomorrow, when we qualify at 4:50pm. It looked like a hard hit. I know that wall myself, only a little closer to the kink. It is definitely not "driver friendly." Best wishes to John . . .
Check it out at http://www.livetiming.net/SCCA/Runof...=1024&Class=FF
Thanks for the report
Allen, I don't do the social media stuff, so I appreciate the update here. I hope you have time to keep the updates coming. Good luck!
Jim
Swift DB-1
Talent usually ends up in front, but fun goes from the front of the grid all the way to the back.
2nd Qual
Boys are flying! Four under 22.
Rubenzer 21.50
Hazelton 21.66
Johnson 21.89
Cooper 21.56 (just tossed in a quick one)
Cooper just went P1 with a 20.678!!
Last edited by Tim Webb; 09.20.11 at 6:20 PM. Reason: Added times
Of the top 4 who is on the skinny rear tire and who is on the normal tire?
Crossle 32F, Piper DF5 Honda
We ran under threatening skies today, and, in fact, I had to get rid of tearoffs during the portion before the black flag as there was enough water gathering under mine to annoy me.
The top 4 are insane!
1 Lewis Cooper III 2:20.678
2 Scott Rubenzer 2:21.507
3 Reid Hazelton 2:21.662
4 Cliff Johnson 2:21.887
Scott, Reid, and Cliff are on skinnies, I don't know about Lewis (I don't get to see much of him!). Skinnies are the new normal!
So we have Lewis under Jeremy Treadway's previous qualifying record and these 4 under Tim Kautz's race record. Congratulations to all four. If you are out there like me, flogging to get into the high 20's, you appreciate the talent and work of these 4 drivers. The race should be fantastic.
Black flag about 4 laps into the sessions was for Dan Murphy's second hit in the kink since the festivities began - this time on exiting, his back end broke loose and he came across to track right, smacked the wall just in front of me, and rolled back across the track, winding up right where I dove past, thankfully after I went by. I will try to post video tomorrow. On the black flag lap, I could see Dan out of the car and looking ok. I hope so.
The six of us in the 28's yesterday made some progress, with Wes Cunningham really flying, breaking into the 26's, and both Jamie Stiehr and me turning 27's. John Vlasis joined that group with a 28 flat.
I spoke to Bill Valet at length and know that prior to qualifying he continued to struggle with an electrical problem.
The forecast calls for rain around midnight, then cloudy - temperature in mid-50s at qualifying time, which is 8:40 am tomorrow.
Qualifying times
Are any of the top 5 running the honda motor? Lot of talk about the 29.5 dia. not big enough to equal horsepower at some tracks.
No, I believe that there are three Hondas - John Vlasis, Dan Murphy, and David Loken. I don't know how to say this exactly, but I'm not sure what the results tell us about the two engines - except that very few FFs with Honda power showed up.
Wow. Impressive, all of you. As Allen said, congrats all.
Lewis, that is outstanding. I think I need to find out what you eat!
Can't wait to get there to watch it all this weekend.
Steve Barkley
Euroswift SE-1 FF1600
Really impressive showing by everyone so far. LCIII, you should know that at the Lime Rock Pro race all the talk was how fast you were going to be, and boy have you delivered!
I just talked to Bill. The electrical problem that put him out of Race 2 on Saturday continues to plague him. The engine shuts off under high loads but otherwise runs fine. They went through the car, found nothing obvious, changed about a dozen things so far but today the problem continued. They have just finished going through the car again and changed a few more things, hopefully tomorrow will be better.
Best of luck to everyone.
Wishing Bill the best of luck in getting rid of the electrical gremlins. Would love to see him up front too.
Lewis's performance is incredible. Three other drivers are under Tim's record - and the fastest of them is barely within a second of pole! Wow.
Doesn't appear to have rained overnight, the parking lot where I'm staying is dry. No rain in forecast this morning. Temps in mid-50s. We're out second, so the track should be starting to get good . . .
Updates!
Allen thank you for the updates! What's the story with Tim Kautz? He missed the first two sessions? It was a stretch for both Bill and Tim to run at Lime Rock and go directly to the Run Offs! What about Marc Blanc he always does the Run Offs??? In his back yard too.
Thanks Wes
Mr. Kautz had a rod come through the side of his motor at the F1600 event at Lime Rock over the weekend. Last I heard, he was still trying to get an engine together and make it to the runoffs.
Looks like Kautz turned at least one lap in Q3, albeit a pretty slow one. But at least he's there and running!
Matt King
FV19 Citation XTC-41
CenDiv-Milwaukee
KEEP THE KINK!
Today's Update
I was wrong, as the parking lot at 4AM was misleading! It rained over night, and quite a bit. The track was green and slippery, and there was water inside the kink and damp areas all along the so-called straight to Canada Corner.
Only two cars improved their grid positions. Mike Sauce is learning the skinnies and turned a :25 to get into top ten, with 9th. And John Benson, after breaking down first lap yesterday, turned a :22, good enough for 3rd on the day and 5th overall.
Top Five
Cooper 1:21.8
Johnson 1:22.4
Benson 1:22.8
Rubenzer 1:23.1
Hazleton 1:23.3
The skinny on skinnies: Cooper is on skinnies, as are Rubenzer, Hazleton, Johnson, Bartz, Sauce, Kephart, Kautz. I don't know about others.
Tim Kautz was pulled off track right a bit past three on lap two. I heard (not sure) engine. Bill Valet still appears to be chasing the electrical problem that's plagued him since Sunday at Lime Rock. We had another black flag when Loken went off (suspension broken) at the exit of Canada Corner and a Continental was off in T14. We can't seem to get through a session.
After his hard hit exiting the kink yesterday, Dan Murphy was not back out this morning.
A large number of cars didn't return to the action following the black flag, figuring, I am sure, that the track wasn't there and should be tomorrow.
We qualify at 11:20 am tomorrow.
I destroyed a set of tires yesterday, my first session on them, and couldn't get them to turn this morning in the carousel. The left front is cupping badly and looks awful. This scotches our perfect plan -- to run them 3 sessions and have scrubbed tires for the race. Instead, we will try stickered tires tomorrow, which I've never done, and that way save the scrubbed set for the race while having a shot at a good qualifying session. I ran 12th again today but dropped to 14th overall with Benson shooting to the top five.
My guess is that there will be three FF races Saturday . . . action everywhere in the field.
Considering all the really fast guys yesterday went slower this morning, Benson's 1:22.8 in a DB-1 looks really impressive.
BTW, thanks for the updates.
Crossle 32F, Piper DF5 Honda
Just spoke with Bill. Tim Kautz blew his spare engine today and is now putting in Cliff Johnson's spare engine.
On Bill's car they believe the problem was the fuel pump, which was not initially suspected because the car starts and runs fine at all RPMs except when it is in a high-g turn when it shuts down. After changing everything else on the car, they changed the fuel pump and hopefully Bill will get one more shot at a decent Q time tomorrow.
I really hope Tim and Bill get out and running well tomorrow. I say this knowing that there go two grid spots for me.and also a number of other drivers!
I had meant to add another comment for those who don't know this tidbit: One of the top drivers this year is a new Cen-Div competitor, 15-year-old Jeff Bartz. I have only met Jeff once, in impound at an early season Road America regional, his second or third race. Jeff is a quick study who dropped to :25's after that first introduction to RA. He has challenged top national drivers in other races this season, right up front. He is excellent on the track. It is very nice to see him doing so well with this very tough crowd, settled at 8th right now, in the :25s.
Oh yes, young Mr. Bartz. Very nice "kid". Met him at BIR Memorial Weekend "Rational" Race. He chased Tony Foster and I around the track on Saturday, stayed very close, was very competitve but no dumb moves. That evening, at the Worker's Party, he walks up to me and very humbly says he wanted to meet me. Why I ask? "Because, your're the Record Holder." It was true, I was. Unitl the next day. He out qualified all the FF's, led the entire race, with none of the "vets" even challenging him. Apparently he is very smart, and knew to spend his first day there watching the guys that knew this track, follow them, and race them the next. Or I should say, blow them away. Actually, he and Tony both passed me a couple times when I had a slight engine problem, and when it came back to life, I could pass them back, and no worries about going around Bartz (or Tony), he drove a great line, and stayed on it.
It was, it turned out, his 6th race in a Formula car. I went over to congratulate him on his win, and the first thing out of his mouth was an appology "for breaking my record"! No appology needed kid, no appology needed. REALLY NICE to see such a nice young man come into this sport and do so well. His parents were there, very nice folks, from right over at Plymouth, WI. I think Dad is his crew chief. When he said he has been racing go-karts etc since age 5, I didn't feel quite so bad!
Oh, and BTW, he informed me he was "fifteen and a half." His Dad said, "yeah, don't forget that half". So, I didn't get beat by a fifteen year old!
Steve Barkley
Euroswift SE-1 FF1600
Thanks for the updates
Thanks guys. I plan to watch on the wire, as I can't be there in person. Should be a great show.
Bill, The fuel pump sounds like what happened to me my first ever Solo 1, but it was a failing electrical pump. If it doesn't fix it, don't forget to check your grounds. I had one that looked fine, but caused similar problems [really bad miss, not killing out. ] Just a thought. Good luck.
Jim
Swift DB-1
Talent usually ends up in front, but fun goes from the front of the grid all the way to the back.
We had a high end miss once and changed ut a number of electricial and fuel components. Ended up being the rev limiter. If you are running one (Which I doubt) may be worth diconnecting.
Goof luck.. to all.
AMBROSE BULDO - Abuldo at AOL.com
CURRENT: Mid Life Crisis Racing Chump/Lemons Sometime Driver (Dodge Neon)
CURRENT: iKart Evo Rotax 125 Kart
GONE: CITATION 87/93 FC - Loved that car
GONE: VD RF-85FF , 1981 FIAT Spider Turbo
miss
Tom,
If that doesn't cure it try replacing the lead connectors to the coil. I was chasing a miss all season, it seemed to be worse in high G turns. I went through everything fuel wise and electrical except for the coil and actual lead from the points to the coil. A simple test with test light and multi-meter showed no troubles. Finally the connector fell off in my hand as I was changing the coil out of frustration. It had been hanging on by one wire strand.
I hope you find the trouble and get Bill going!!!
Go get 'em.
JD
Zink Z10
by the times showing up the track has dried out and is fast for the final qual session.
Kevin Firlein Autosport,Inc.
Runoffs 1 Gold 3 Silver 3 bronze, 8 Divisional , 6 Regional Champs , 3x Drivers of the year awards
Valet quicker
I would guess that Bill's miss was corrected. Nice job!!
JD
Zink Z10
Just want to say thank you to all who posted here, PM'd us and sent e-mails with their past experiences with similar problems and ideas about what was happening with the car. Lots of helpful information was sent and we are very appreciative of the support of Bill's fellow FF racers.
The car ran fine today, so we are assuming it was the fuel pump, although so many things were changed it is hard to be sure and in some ways what was happening did not line up with what one would expect from a bad electric fuel pump. But we are not going to complain, we are just grateful that there were 4 qualifying sessions this year instead of the 3 that they had in past years!
Best of luck to everyone on Saturday.
Tom
4th Qualifying
It drizzled this morning, and the track was still wet at 9 or so. It dried quickly as the clouds began to break up - and we even got patches of sun. Our session was run (guessing here) in temps of about 55-57F.
Bill Valet did indeed get going, posting third fastest time of the day. Tim Kautz wasn't so fortunate, losing oil pressure in a borrowed engine. Valet joins the top group at 5th on the grid, which looks like this:
Top 6
1 Cooper 2:20.678
2 Rubenzer 2:21.408 (Scott's fast time was in today's session)
3 Hazleton 2:21.662
4 Johnson 2:21.887
5 Valet 2:22.240
6 Benson 2:22.801
The top 5 are running skinny rear tires. I believe that Valet is on the pro tires but am not certain.
The rest of the field
7 Bartz 2:24.688 (today's session)
8 Kephart 2:24.770 (also today)
9 Sauce 2:25.073 (you guessed it, today)
10 Reudisueli 2:25.083
11 Kautz 2:25.248 (today)
12 Acock 2:25.388 (today)
13 Livingston 2:25.458
14 Wheatcroft 2:25.796 (today)
15 Cunningham 2:26.514 (today)
16 Stiehr 2:26.781 (today)
17 Vlasis 2:28.050
18 Loken 2:28.147 (today)
19 Keller 2:28.462 (today)
20 Murphy 2:28.490 (not back out today)
21 Townes 2:29.576 (today)
22 Luxon 2:30.261 (today)
Today nearly everyone but the fastest guys ran their best times. I ran 5-6 laps faster than my personal best, including one a full 2 seconds better - and maintained my grid position.My 2 fastest laps came after our 4th black flag in 4 sessions - this one, 2/3 of the way through the session, for a black Continental (Tomasi?) with side damage off in T5. When I came into the pits, I decided to pull up to the front of the line waiting to go out - where it was David Livingston and me among a half dozen FC's. We got two flying laps - and David gave me an education in driving.
We're off tomorrow. The parties are tonight.
Wheatcroft 2:25.796
Holy smokes Allen. Nice improvement! For those of us stuck forever in the 2:30's, where on the track (or what aspect of driving) would you say resulted in the greatest gain?
JJ
PS: Am I correct in assuming Kautz has replaced (rather than cleaned) the oil scavenge line(s)? I wonder if he has a hose that looks good visually, but keeps collapsing internally under suction.
Last edited by Jon Jeffords; 09.22.11 at 5:05 PM. Reason: added PS
Thanks Jon. A couple things for me - LMI being the first. To keep the thread on the runoffs, I will PM you my thoughts about this.
Runoff's
Congrat's to everyone for a safe week at RA.
Lewie, absolutely smoking time. 2:20.678...WOW!! I can appreciate how narrow the place must have seemed for you at that lap time. Very, very impressive. Congrats to Jim for a job well executed in prepping everything for a good week, as always.
Scotty, for all that you have been through.....you're still the fastest guy in the field at over 50 by a long shot. You rock buddy.
Go get 'em you two. It's hard to pick a favorite!
GO Formula FORD
To Tim and Bill, hope your luck turns around I would like to see you guys on the podium again this year!!!
Allen
Thank you for the updates...awesome qualify run...go get em...good things happen to good people....Todd Rhoades
The trek
Tom. Great effort put forth from you two, and the Kautz guy's, for what can only be perceived as and arguous task coming from the pro race. What must have been almost a thousand miles, to run back to back events is truely impressive.
I heard last night at one of the paddock parties - so treat this as talk at a paddock party! - that Tim has been able to secure another motor, after the difficulties with his borrowed engine yesterday.
With Tim and Bill making that long tow and overcoming "issues," this is shaping up into an incredible race in my opinion. Four guys under the track record, two or three clearly capable of getting there, a variety of cars and approaches. Tremendous skill and hard work, all around. The talent of the front group is out of this world. We are off today and free to relax or not . . . this morning is very cold, in the high 30s, but we should hit 60 today for the first day of racing. It all starts with STO/T1 at 8:30, followed by FV at 9:30. I plan to watch at least the FC's and the FE's.
Congratulations to all the guys in the lead pack . . . the track has been very fast, clearly, but still the times have been ridiculous!
I ran up yesterday to drop some parts off for rebuilding and managed to run into a number of people on here. Thanks for the well wishes regarding the Eagle and myself. We'll be back.
Here are a few photos I managed to take before I left of FF and FC:
[FONT=Calibri]https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...7a88595&type=1[/FONT]
Best wishes to everyone for a safe and entertaining race!
Respectfully Yours,
Jacques N. Dresang
Jacques N. Dresang
Kettle Moraine Preservation & Restoration
1977 All American Racers Eagle DGF #005
1972 Elden Mk10B AM73-49 - #140/1
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