Cen-Div FF - Who is doing what in 2012?

[cooleyjb]

Thanks guys for the positive vibes!

Disappointed to say the Stohr FF will be up for sale on ApexSpeed shortly. I had initially envisioned a relaxing summer conversion to the Honda engine while I raced the DB1, but with all the recent excitement in my life (combined with the fact that it's only been on track for five weekends in the last six years), I have come to realize the Stohr is better off in the hands of a driver far more worthy than I.

Well, glad you're doing better.

And damn you. That Stohr was one of the cars I always said would be me back to FF from SRF.

[mike g.]

This thread reads like a soapopera...

..I plan to dominate CFF, being the only entry in cendiv this weekend, it seems. Might be time to give up on SCCA CFF and head to something more populated..

see some of ya'll this weekend

regards,

Mike

[Allen_W]

Mike,

It's an ambitious plan, but being the only entry doesn't guarantee a thing - for example, you might miss turn 2 at Blackhawk, as I have heard its location is not well known.

See you this weekend,
Allen

This thread reads like a soapopera...

..I plan to dominate CFF, being the only entry in cendiv this weekend, it seems. Might be time to give up on SCCA CFF and head to something more populated..

see some of ya'll this weekend

regards,

Mike

[mike g.]

Allen,

That is true. There once was a April school where I would have placed 3rd no matter what, except I didnt start the race. oops.

Maybe with the new observation deck, we can finally put the issue to rest that there is no turn 2 at Blackhawk.

Watch out for banana peels on the track.

See ya trmw evening or Sat morning.

-Mike

[reidhazelton]

With all the improvements to Blackhawk this year, I hear they moved turn two out by the registration building. Something about adding to better drainage and reducing wildlife on track. So, you might still have a hard time finding it.

[Allen_W]

These rumors are not correct. I ran the Council race last weekend and I can tell you that turn 2 is right where it has always been. This information doesn't help certain racers, however, as it depends on their knowing where turn 2 was in the first place.

The improvements are good except the exit curbing at 7, which looks like it will destroy anything lower to the ground and less sturdy than a Humvee.

With all the improvements to Blackhawk this year, I hear they moved turn two out by the registration building. Something about adding to better drainage and reducing wildlife on track. So, you might still have a hard time finding it.

[mike g.]

The improvements are good except the exit curbing at 7, which looks like it will destroy anything lower to the ground and less sturdy than a Humvee.

Problem solved. Hawke = Humvee with no doors.

[Allen_W]

Put Hoosier 25's on it and it will stick enough that you won't need to run wide onto those massive asphalt teeth . . . have you tried it with Ford tires, Mike? I think it would work . . .

Problem solved. Hawke = Humvee with no doors.

[Gokart Mozart]

Wait a tick, there is a turn 2? In the Eagle I just leaned a little and I'd wind up in T3...

[Allen_W]

Ask Mike G. He is pretty sure there is a turn 2, he just isn't sure where it is.

[mike g.]

Put Hoosier 25's on it and it will stick enough that you won't need to run wide onto those massive asphalt teeth . . . have you tried it with Ford tires, Mike? I think it would work . . .

I did. Once. Well, twice. And both times it broke the axles. Can't have too much grip!

But now its all fixed - outboard brakes, VD axles and CVs - I guess I could try it again.. but alas, I dont have R25s anymore.

-Mike

[fubar]

Now that we have Blackhawk figured out, why not come up north Memorial Day weekend to Brainerd International Raceway and try to figure out what's going on with turn 2 here. Is it the one just past the new bridge after the finish line or the good old turn 2 where FF's were once known to run three abreast at 130 mph plus. I know which one IS turn 2. For any CENDIV racer who hasn't run the new 2.5 BIR layout, you are in for a treat. No more falling asleep on the old 1.5 mile straight when there wasn't anyone to draft with. Also you get to see if three NASCAR racers can make it under the new bridge at the same time!
PS: have fun at the Farms this weekend. I'm still adjusting DB1 fixtures to accomodate HANS.

[Allen_W]

. . . I know which one IS turn 2. . .

They moved it to Brainerd? Wait til Mike finds out . . .

Wish you were joining us this weekend . . . tomorrow looks wet and brrrrr

[Allen_W]

So I estimate fewer than 100 cars entered for the Blackhawk Regional. FF had just 4 cars, and there was 1 CFF. We were combined with another group, as the DSRs - CSRs - Atlantics - FCs had just two cars running out of 4 entries. Temps were on the cold side, HP was definitely up, and our little group suffered one blown motor, very early on, and one car stuffed into the tire barrier exiting 5, near the end. The track was pretty green.

Where is everyone?

[fubar]

Hello AW: Watching raindrops in MN. Who blew and who stuffed? Inquiring minds would like to know. Come to BIR and be Rational, or get Lindstrand to tow to the Glen for July Nationals.

[Allen_W]

Hey Tony,

The race was dry, low 50s, before the deluge came.

Sadly, Steve Barkley lost his engine just after the start. Steve had a heckuva qualifying session, his first time out this year, doing a lap 1.2 seconds faster than his previous best at Blackhawk. This put Andrew Genkinger in his new monoshock Van Diemen, me, and Steve in a position to have a really tight, fun race. But Steve had to pull in and Andrew's car was loose, so I wound up racing a 500 and having almost as much fun anyway. I can't really explain this - the 500 was faster than I was yet I passed him, we had a blast, a very tight, clean, hard race with the yellow 500.

Mike Green in the Hawke dropped a wheel with maybe 4-5 laps to go, chasing Ethan Mackey into T5 - and wound up well stuffed into the tire wall. Car & driver both fine except that the car had a wee bit o' excess toe out in the front.

People were running quite quick, given the cold track and early date of this event.

I can't fit Brainerd in this year as it conflicts with the Grattan double regional - and I just have to follow the LMI circus to Grattan. Something about that jump and the blind uphill corner and the off camber stuff and all the weirdness of that track . . .

Allen

[thunderracing91]

It was a fun weekend. New car ran good. It's too bad I couldn't keep up with Allen in the race like I could in qualifying. It could have been a great battle. I should have gotten a van diemen a long time ago............only thing that sucked was my kid wasn't there to watch this weekend.

[mike g.]

You know where to find the good stuff:
http://contour.com/stories/2012-04-2...-race-incident

oops. not much damage. I was hunting Ethan and thought I could cheat out weeee bit more and get a run on him into 6. Dropped a wheel and the rest is on tape. I still won CFF :-)

...but, I did get a 1:16.8, so the car is capable of being quick, I just need to work on me more... so I think I'll keep the car, put treaded tires on it and run VSCDA or such while still looking for a newer FF.

-Mike

[racingflyboy]

Nice video Mike! Glad neither you or the car were hurt to bad. We should have seen it Live, as we were paddocked right there, and had been watching the battle between you and Ethan, but had just started packing up and missed it.

I'm glad to hear you're planning to keep teh Hawk for Vintage and get a newr FF. My wife would probably sell you mine pretty cheap right now, so you better not be calling her!

Good to see you again this weekend. Just sorry I didn't get to actually race with you.

"Cars Suck" - Randy Van de Loo

Steve

[emackey]

What the video doesn't show is that banana peel I threw out of the car at the turn in for Turn 6. Works every time...

Seriously Mike, you were driving the wheels off that car and I'm sure it would have just been another corner or two before you made the pass. Great fun racing with you and I'm glad that you didn't get hurt.

Steve - Sorry to hear about your motor. Call me if you want any help turning wrenches on it this weekend.

AW and AG - You guys were as usual, blazing fast and the class of the field.

It was great to get out on the track with you guys again after the long winter break. Look forward to the next time.

Ethan

[racingflyboy]

Thanks for the offer Ethan. (And the offer of your spare motor). Fubar" Foster offered to help also. I'll give you a holler if I need a hand. Either way, feel free to send cash Thx.

I did get the car unloaded last night and up on the stands. Drained the oil, and no big chunks came out, so I figure this is good news. Dragged a magnet thru the oil and again no big pieces, a very small amount of very fine filings, which may have already been on the magnet, even tho I wiped it first. I'll probably pull the pan and look inside before I send it to Farley. I hope t have it ready for BIR.

Nik's comment was really nice "they always seem to run really good right before they blow!"

Sure did.

That's racin'

Steve

[reidhazelton]

So what gives?? Where is everybody?

Only 5 cars for the Blackhawk national....

[Allen_W]

At motorsportreg.com, I see only Scott Rubenzer, John Grooms, Marc Blanc, and me. Are you #5, Reid?

[reidhazelton]

Yup. Just like to wait as long as possible before shelling out $380 for a single....at Blackhawk.

What's the deal with that by the way? The Sprints are $385....

[PiperFF]

Piper is parked for this Event...$380. I'll do the Sprints for $385, also the Sprints offers more track time..JV

[thunderracing91]

I see 7 FF's for the national this weekend.

[Allen_W]

I see 7 FF's for the national this weekend.

Good news, late registrations from Jeffrey Bartz, Reid Hazleton and you! I have a good shot at 7th place . . .

[thunderracing91]

Good news, late registrations from Jeffrey Bartz, Reid Hazleton and you! I have a good shot at 7th place . . .

Ehhhhhhh.......we will have a good battle for 6th place. This time I will try to hang with ya!

[jgrooms]

Allen,

I think a blue and white car may be joining us so we may be fighting it out for 8th.

John

[thunderracing91]

Allen,

I think a blue and white car may be joining us so we may be fighting it out for 8th.

John

Damn! Allen and I keep falling further back on the grid!

[mike g.]

mylaps are up for the Blackhawk regional April 29th
http://www.mylaps.com/results/showrun.jsp?id=2248304

[Allen_W]

Darn, my times didn't improve with age.

[Allen_W]

So we did get 8 cars for the May Blackhawk National.

Let's see. The blue and white car showed up, but it is now black, red, and silver - quite sleek. Tim Kautz is driving it. John Grooms' red Swift was turned in for a blue Piper, to keep things even. Except that Scott Rubenzer's bluish Citation is now black, and Andrew Genkinger's blue Mondial got swapped for a black and white Van Diemen. Jeff Bartz flipped his black ride for a white one. The new cars are immaculate, awesome looking F's, if that is proper English.

Marc Blanc, Reid Hazleton, and I all showed up in our familiar colors. What were we thinking?

Ok, enough of that. The track is very good, and qualifying went off well, despite oil from the fender cars along the right-hand-side of the main straight for qualifying 2 . The field for tomorrow is (doing this from memory, I hope I don't screw it up):

Hazleton (K) 1:12.5
Rubenzer (K) 1:12.7
Kautz (H) 1:12.8
Wheatcroft (K) 1:13.4
Blanc (K) 1:13.7
Grooms (H) 1:13.8
Bartz (H) 1:13.9
Genkinger (K) 1.14.3

I wish we'd raced this afternoon, right after qualifying. I don't need something like 20 hours of visualizing a patented Marc Blanc blazing start putting all of today's work to naught. We race tomorrow at 1 pm, Central.

(I will be thinking of Ron Valine when I go out tomorrow. RIP Ron.)

[thunderracing91]

1:14.3..................uuuuggghhh how depressing! At least my kid is here to watch me!

[ric baribeault]

i think that's a pretty good time considering the car you're in, and the talent in your field.

[Allen_W]

i think that's a pretty good time considering the car you're in, and the talent in your field.

Totally agree.

And almost live - ahem - here is my best recollection of how the Carl Mueller National turned out at Blackhawk.

1. Hazleton
2. Rubenzer
3. Wheatcroft
4. Genkinger
5. Grooms
6. Bartz
7. Blanc
8. Kautz
(I hope I got this right, if I screwed anybody out of a position, I apologize in advance.)

A doozy. Very tough race for me, with my car pushing from lap 1 onwards, after being perfect yesterday (maybe it doesn't like fresh rubber?).

The start was as expected, with Marc tucking past me on the inside. Scott got a huge jump and got by Reid. Everyone clean through one but as we entered two, Reid went sideways and off to the left - and Marc, reacting without anywhere to go really, spun off to the right. Which left me somewhat stunned and not too far behind Scott and Tim.

I thought maybe as my tires warmed, the push would go away, but it worsened. Tim's engine crapped, I am guessing - I can't recall exactly when - and I tried to keep Scott in my sights - Reid came sailing through the field - and watching him overtake Scott made me feel a little better about how fast he went by and away from me.

I knew that as my tires got worse, the field was coming to me - or vice versa.

On lap 22, John Grooms almost got past me entering T3. On lap 23, he did get by me there. Andrew Genkinger was right behind him and tucked in behind me. I stayed with John - and got a good draft out of T7. Since I feel unrealistically that I can outbrake anyone on planet Earth, I went pretty deep into T1, got by John, checked my mirror on exit - and there was tons of dust and a blue Piper bouncing along more or less behind me track left. Andrew was on my gearbox entering T1, and John, liking that pass entering T3 on the previous lap, had tried keeping up on the outside and splitting Andrew and me. Which, dust and all, left Andrew now battling me for 3rd, Reid having wrapped the race up. Somehow I got one or two exits pretty decent, and managed to stagger across start-finish just clear of Andrew. Phew, P3.

Thanks to LMI and Nick - and once again to Nick and Jeff Salcedo for telling me on Saturday to stop making excuses and figure out how drive whatever car I have in any particular session. I think how they put it was that the fast drivers do that . . .

There was a salute lap, with safety vehicles, prior to the pace lap - and we gridded on the main straight in honor of Ron Valine.

[reidhazelton]

1:14.3..................uuuuggghhh how depressing! At least my kid is here to watch me!

Not at all fellow 3-shocker. Last year, a 14.3 would have been 3rd or 4th. Somehow the rest of the field really picked it up. I was really impressed with how much everyone else seemed to get so much faster.

[reidhazelton]

My apologies and thanks to Marc for avoiding me when I spun in 3 and ruined his race when he spun avoiding me. He has had a rough couple of years and I hate to think I perpetuated that trend. A nicer guy can not be found. He should have wanted (and very justifiably so) to kick me in the nuts, but instead congratulated me on a good run.

Other story lines, Allan seemed to find the loud pedal and crack of a few laps 7 tenths faster than he ever has before. Very happy for him. In impound after qualifying he jumped out of the car and wanted to tell the first person he could about his chase with Scotty in his "happier-than-a-pig-in-slop" mixed with "enthusiasm-of-a-8-year-old-who-got-a-pony-and-a-red-rider-bb-gun-at-Christmas" personality. Not much makes me happier than seeing that guy have a good weekend, hats off to him...welcome to the 13 sec club.

Tim's "new" car is gorgeous. Think he had some teething problems in the race with a misfire, but in Q1 when I was behind him we were dead nuts on power on the top end, and really really close out of the corners.

Jeff Bartz had his new Honda/VD out this weekend, and did well. When he gets it more sorted he will be coming to the front.

Jon Grooms' Piper is immaculate. Looks like a hot rod it is so clean...so few wires and lines you wouldn't think it would be able to run. It's all there, just packaged very cleanly.

Andrew's three-shocker was going well. Could be wrong, but I do think that was his first time out and that is a great time in that kind of car at the first crack.

And Scotty, well, he was Scotty. When I got done with the fuel sample, sweat dripping off my face...I look over and here is Scotty with a big ole chocolate ice cream drumstick. He was going to town on that thing, but only got about three bites in before his granddaughter caught wind of it and gave him the puppy dog eyes. No more ice cream for Scotty.

Blackhawk is getting nicer every year since Paul bought it. Year one he got rid of the bathrooms with the spiders and hot water knobs that would give you a little electric tingle when you touched them. The new pavilion and viewing tower is really nice.

[thunderracing91]

Well I actually got last place guys...........my crew and I decided to take 10lbs weight out of the car since it was overweight. I knew it would be cutting it close. So after checkered I said ehhhhhh hell why not weigh it. Well it came in 2lbs light. They DQ me so they bumped me to 8th. Oh well........at least I know I gotta put some weight back in.

[Allen_W]

And I have a "picture" of you in my mirrors that last lap that says how you really drove and finished. Nice job, Andrew. You will figure out the weight thing as you get more time in the monoshock. It was good to see you and family, including dog, this weekend. I hope you do some more Nationals I'm at this year.