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

[thunderracing91]

Yah it was a great weekend. The car is driving really well. My lap timer said I pulled off a 1:13.2 I will check it again to make sure. I'm really happy with that considering its the 3rd weekend driving the car. The whole being under weight thing sucks but I had to know in order to get a baseline of how much weight/fuel etc etc etc was needed. I'm not running for pts this year anyways so its not a big deal. I had a great time following Grooms. He showed me a thing or two out on track that helped me out a ton.
Looking forward to the next event!

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.

[mblanc]

Great track, great competitive field, great weather,

As we were all cruisng through T2, two wide, and I'm seeing Reid going around, I thought this was gonna be BIG for everybody, good job ALL, missing him, he spun off left, and I drove off right avoiding, then spun, cold tires on the grass, not the hot setup.

GREAT DRIVES this weekend Allen!!!!!!!
stopped by a few times to see you, and kept missing you. NICE JOB!!
You must be psyched for the Sprints,



Very emotional parade lap of all the safety equip, etc, and workers out w/ flags,
Seemed like the same kind of beautiful day it was three years ago.
I'm sure Ron was there in spirit having fun with us all.

[reidhazelton]

Great job by all, and thank you. I watched my video and I dropped the right rear in the grass. Two and a half wide in T2 is not so good. My apologies to all and thanks for the great heads up driving.

Also, I was told the parade lap was also for a long time rescue worker who lost a long fight with brain cancer. Maybe Brad Ellingson can help me out here, but I do not know her name.

Brad, sorry to not take the checkered from you for the victory lap. I was really nervous on weight but turned out being 12lbs fat. Next time!

[GP15]

The special parade laps were for Ron and for Barb Peterson, long time rescue worker.
She passed away a day before Ron.
Her sister Sue works registration.

Reid, nice drive to come back from your spin!

[Allen_W]

Marc, thank you much. You cannot believe how many times I played that start in advance - and every movie in my head had you doing just what you eventually did. You just took off, like you do. I told myself to fall in and follow when it happened. Luckily I wasn't that close by T2. You had nowhere to go there and saved massive carnage by the way you dealt with it. Hats off. Somebody once told me "things will get better."

Saturday qualifying was such a blast, running with Scott and you. Mind altering for me. I tried finding you, as well, Nick said you stopped by the trailer, so next time. Very glad to see you at BHF rather than fishing or whatever that other idea you had was. What a great race weekend.

Reid said it, and you did too, Paul M has done such a tremendous job with the track.

On grid I thought about where you and I were sitting and about that day three years ago and where we were sitting afterwards. As you put it, Ron was with us in spirit. I was very touched that the event honored Ron - and to learn the same for Barb Peterson.

Great track, great competitive field, great weather,

As we were all cruisng through T2, two wide, and I'm seeing Reid going around, I thought this was gonna be BIG for everybody, good job ALL, missing him, he spun off left, and I drove off right avoiding, then spun, cold tires on the grass, not the hot setup.

GREAT DRIVES this weekend Allen!!!!!!!
stopped by a few times to see you, and kept missing you. NICE JOB!!
You must be psyched for the Sprints,



Very emotional parade lap of all the safety equip, etc, and workers out w/ flags,
Seemed like the same kind of beautiful day it was three years ago.
I'm sure Ron was there in spirit having fun with us all.

[Brad Ellingson]

Also, I was told the parade lap was also for a long time rescue worker who lost a long fight with brain cancer. Maybe Brad Ellingson can help me out here, but I do not know her name.

Brad, sorry to not take the checkered from you for the victory lap. I was really nervous on weight but turned out being 12lbs fat. Next time!

As has been answered, yes...it was for Barb. She will be greatly missed. No worries on the checkered flag...I'm sure that opportunity will come again You need to watch more F1 and learn to drive through all the marbles and pick up weight there sure seemed to be plenty of it out there this weekend.

Looked like some great racing out there....maybe someday i'll make it back out there with you guys.....

[JeffBartz]

Had a decent weekend all things considered! Especially since we were running the FC shocks in the car. This made the car push like a pig everywhere! Looking forward to Brainerd and lowering my track record!

[racingflyboy]

Jeff- Glad to "see you" here on Apex. I think you'll find it's a great place for exchange of info on everything Formula racing. Maybe you'll even share some of your speed secrets

As for your BIR record, glad your coming back up there. I hope to be there also, although it's going to be a scramble to get my car ready - engine may be back next Tuesday. If Farley just gives me an extra 40 or 50 hp, I might be able to get the record back! I heard they made a slight change to the track, as NASCAR wanted more pit lane available, so they moved the pit lane entrance back to the carousel and modified the turn right where pit lane began, (or at least moved the wall) and as such, there was speculation that the current records will stand for the original configuration, and new ones will be available to be set for the new config. So you could possilby end up with two records on the same track. ("Original" and "new" configs referring to the 2.5mi "Competition Course", not the original "Donnybrooke" 3 mile)

[fubar]

Hey all, sorry to report that the new pit entrance is still in the planning stage and won't be ready for this summer. Might be a slight change in the wall at current pit entrance but not sure. New entrance will be done along with widening the track to 40', new paving (!) and corner bumps all planned for this fall. Don't know what that will do to the current records for 2.5 mile track but will certainly lower lap times. As best I know records for 3.0 mile course are retired; don't know if there will be a 3rd category for revised 2.5 track.

Jeff, glad to hear you are coming back with VD and be advised I've made up a special bungee in hopes of catching a good tow down the straight. Now get some of those other B/H hotshoes like Scott, Reid and Marc to head north. Steve, tell Farley to get off the water and back into the shop cause time is a wastin'! TF

[JeffBartz]

Thanks for the update and actually as it stands Reid is planning on coming and Scotty is trying to go... as long as his car is all ready. All in all sounds like its going to be a fun weekend now that im back at a track i have been at before so it will be more equal than Blackhawk!
See you all up there,
Jeff Bartz

[JeffBartz]

Actually reid is not coming he was just joking with me but nobody bothered to tell me! Bummer i was looking forward to actually being able to race with him... well at least i guess more points for me!

[reidhazelton]

Actually reid is not coming he was just joking with me but nobody bothered to tell me! Bummer i was looking forward to actually being able to race with him... well at least i guess more points for me!

...or maybe I was just messing with you when I said I wasn't going.

[racingflyboy]

Come on up Reid! My engine's on it's way, I intend to be there. You'd be one more guy I could drive (way) behind!

Steve

[reidhazelton]

Hey Steve- I'd love to learn some tips from you on your track, but the budget isn't there. I am doing the bare minimum this year to get to the Runoffs; closest 4 nationals.

Best of luck, and don't cut this Bartz kid any slack

Good luck to you too Jeffrey

[racingflyboy]

"learn some tips from you" - now that's funny, Reid.

As for that Bartz kid, don't worry, Tony & I have a plan for him. We were just being "Minnesota Nice" to him last year, being he was new and all. He got to have his fun with us, but this year will be different. WAKE UP Steve - You're Dreaming again! It will be fun to see him and Scott go at. Gotta feeling a there will be a new track record again.

My engine is back in town, Farley said it's strong but he didn't the 150-160hp I was hoping for, (as my wife says, I do "dream in color") but I'm picking it up this afternoon anyway. Ethan Mackey is coming over to help install it tonight, so BIR, here I come. Should be a fun weekend, sorry you won't be joining us, but certainly understand. And I'm certain you will be in the Runoffs again. Best wishes, this could be your year!

Steve

[Allen_W]

Will be at Grattan this Memorial Day weekend. Dave Harmison and Phil Kingham will be on hand, so says the entrants list, to give all of us lessons in driving the track. WMR has switched this race back to a double Regional, like in the days of the EWC, and this year is running 5 groups - that way there will be a 20-minute practice first thing Saturday, then 20-minute qualifying, and then the first Regional race. Sunday: a 7-lap qualifying race, and the second Regional race.

WMR throws a great race weekend - the folks are extremely friendly, from Tom Smolinski with the mirrors to the false grid team. I love the track - it is very difficult, and just as rewarding.

So no Brainerd for me . . . I guess I will read here about just who was playing mind games with who and what the new track record is. Have fun guys . . .

The Grattan entrants look to be -
Club Ford - Chuck Smith, Dave Harmison, Phil Kingham
Ford, er, F - Megan Ruedisueli, Gordy Good, Jim Smalley, me

Anyone else in?

[Allen_W]

Brainerd results? New record(s)? Details and fun stuff?

[reidhazelton]

Texted with Jeffrey, he said he got a win. And a win over Scotty is a big accomplishment. He said it was close much of the race. No new record, about second off from what I hear. I'd assume the heat was a big factor.

So, congrats to Jeffrey on what I imagine was a hard fought win.

How about Grattan??

RH

[Allen_W]

Holy moly. Wow. Good for Jeff.

Grattan - well, what a track. Right? 4 Fords, 3 Club Fords.

Dave Harmison and Phil Kingham were both there, in Club Fords. They really run hard at Grattan (well, everywhere) and I learn a lot from racing with both Dave and Phil.

We got going Saturday during the race and were able to pass Dave - finishing behind Phil, who informed me I need to carry more speed through T1 and do much better on the first lap of a race. I admit to tanking the start on this occasion because I didn't want to ruin the race between Dave and Phil. Phil just took off. It was a fun race, we ran faster than before at Grattan.

Sunday had a 7-lap qualifying. I didn't tank the start, Phil still crushed me. I was able to pass him on the last lap when lapped Vees caught him out. Ran still faster than Saturday. The final race was more of the same for me: Phil took off, I tracked him down, passed, then got clever and went off about lap 10 (just after the jump) trying a new line, managed to hold on to stay in front and on last lap got still another personal best (22.1 . . . I know, I know . . . but, heck . . . ) Both sessions Sunday we were on 7" fronts. I think the weekend gave us good data on the 6" vs 7" issue and good prep for the August National. Plus two really fun races.

This is the deal: I worked my ass off Saturday and Sunday, lowering my personal best each session - and still Phil and Dave were right there, in friggin' Club Fords. Those two guys can drive - and race. Always impressive. In Fords they would run away from me, for sure.

Texted with Jeffrey, he said he got a win. And a win over Scotty is a big accomplishment. He said it was close much of the race. No new record, about second off from what I hear. I'd assume the heat was a big factor.

So, congrats to Jeffrey on what I imagine was a hard fought win.

How about Grattan??

RH

[mblanc]

Congrats Jeff,


AND


nice job again Allen, Two races in a row, and personal bests.

Sprints coming up, hope you continue..........

[racingflyboy]

BIR offically became a part of the Brainerd Lakes Area with all the rain they recieved the week prior and then what was estimated at 4-6 inches on Sat. night. MN now has 10,012 lakes, including the new ones at the track. Sat morning was moderate rain, clearing in the afternoon for some great racing, then heavy overnight rain until early Sun morning, leaving the apex of Turn 1 under water, and Turn 9/10/11 very wet in the morning. By late morning though, with the exception of the newly formed Turn 1 Lake, the sun and breeze dried the track for the afternoon racing. Looking around the track on the cool down lap of morning Qualifying, I realized that there were several areas where if anyone went off track, we could have the first drowning at BIR!

Anyway, I think everyone had a pretty good time on a weekend that really tried to be a complete rainout. On behalf of the LoL Region, and all of us that were at BIR, I'd like to say thanks to Scott & Jeff for making the long trip to BIR, supporting the Region, and making our race even better. Same goes for the others that made the long trek. From what I heard, Scott & Jeff put on quite a show for the fans that were there on Sunday. I never saw them after the first few laps. Scott had the (FF) pole, and Ethan I & were between them on the Start. After just a few laps, Jeff went blasting past Ethan & I going into Turn 3 like a rocket, perfect pass. Ethan and I ran as Regionals, and we had a blast in a fight for 3rd & 4th in the FF's. Just as Jeff & Scott, we took turns leading. I think this might have been Ethan's best race yet. He made me drive harder than I did on Saturday, where due to my being a pansy, left my car in the trailer during the raining Qual session, and therefore started in 21st position. But that gave me the opportunity to pass everyone for the overall win, with Ethan second. We ran Group 4(Formulas) & Group 5(SRFs) together due to schedule contraints with NASCAR being the Feature Race. The SRF group was ahead on the Split Start - yes, the SRF's - one anyway, were slightly faster in the Qualifying rain, that's how bad it was. Anyway, I passed everyone on the track, with the exception of Scott and one F5 that got together in Turn 13 on L1(?) and were unfortunately out. I even passed Jeff, although, I think he may have let me, as the gentleman he is, didn't want to mess up the race Ethan & I had going then, and he even dropped out with 2 laps to go so as to not mess with Regional points. Showed lots of Class. The rest of the FF field had a pretty good go of it too, and were never far (enough!) behind. But as I say, Ethan made me drive harder than than on Sunday. Besides my wife's support, I must also thank Curtiss Farley for quickly rebuilding my engine, (a very strong one at that) and Ethan for spending a long evening helping me put it in the car last week. WIthout his help, I'm pretty sure I would not have made it. If I were any sort of gentleman, I would have let him make one of his passes stick until the end!

Steve

[Allen_W]

Great description of the weekend, Steve. Thanks - and congratulations.

The conditions at Grattan were supposed to be rain all day Saturday (yours coming east, I think) and then mid-90s on Sunday. I was given control of the weather (by LMI, as has been the case all season so far, Jeff Salcedo having sneakily snuck a Weather Tech decal on the nose of my car) - and I did pretty well, I think: although it sprinkled once or twice on Saturday, the track never got even damp. The storms seemed to run into my invisible but effective Rain Barrier over Lake Michigan, the rain-fence working like a charm to break the storms up and dissipate them. Nick asked me to do something about the predicted heat on Sunday, and I did all I could - almost bursting capillaries and eye balls in the process. The result: high of maybe 80F, if that, dry and mostly sunny - whilst Chicago hit almost 100F. My last session Friday testing, the FF race Saturday, and the FF race Sunday all went down with the air temp at 78F. Pretty good for testing different tires.

If you guys drain that new lake sometime, I will have to try Brainerd one of these decades . . .

[racingflyboy]

If you guys drain that new lake sometime, I will have to try Brainerd one of these decades . . .

Pretty sure it's too late. Most likely the Develpers & Realtors have already sold off T1 Apex as Lakefront Property!

Oh, and Congrats on your Grattan success, and your new career in the Weather Dept!

[JeffBartz]

Thanks Allen and Marc! It was definitley one of the most fun races I've ran in quite a while. Me and Scotty battled virtually the whole race and it actually came down to a last lap dive bomb by me that sealed the deal. After the race I learned that Scotty did not know it was the last lap and he would've probably not have let me pass so easily! O well I'l take the win over Scotty seeing as they don't come around too often! I was a little dissapointed I wasn't faster but we are still figuring out the car and also last year in the race I ran all in the dry and much of this last weekend was in the wet. But no complaints at all. It was a great weekend!

Jeff Bartz

[emackey]

Very fun race weekend at The Mile with good battles in the small field of FF.

Saturday Qual - Nothing too exiting, everyone was feeling out the track.

Saturday Race - Vlasis took the lead on the start, but he accidentally hit the kill switch in turn one. Luxon and I took turns taking the lead and were in a nose to tail battle the whole race. He was stronger on the oval and I was stronger on the infield. We were like a rubber band, both of us just off the track record by around half a second. Both Luxon and I have Kents from Schultz Automotive Machine in Monroe, WI. Thanks for the strong motors Bruce! Luxon took the win on Sat.

Sunday Qual - The only thing memorable was that Vlasis and I were side by side on the straightaway and his engine cover flew off the car. Luckily, nobody was behind him.

Sunday Race - Luxon, Vlasis and I were a FF snake for about 6 laps with Vlasis and I swapping positions once. It was a good show for the tens of thousands of spectators that were onhand. From about lap six on, Luxon took off and went on to knock off several laps under the track record and eventually setting the new track record at 1:13.1. Brad Ellingson held the previous record at 1:14.621. Vlasis and I battled nose to tail for 2nd the whole race until the 2nd to the last lap, where we came up on lapped traffic in Turn 1 and I got caught out until Turn 3 which opended up a gap that I couldn't close. Luxon finished like 20+ seconds ahead of us. He was on fire this weekend and it was great to see him have a strong weekend (Sweep and Track Record). Congratulations John!

[Allen_W]

Thanks for the update, Ethan. A second lap record falls this weekend, congrats to John Luxon.

[chipsjrs2]

Thanks Alen. John did a great job this weekend.

[Allen_W]

I will be at GingerMan for the double National the weekend following July 4th, thus missing out on the Firecracker Regional. I need whatever points the Great Lakes drivers will let me have . . . plus, I really like GingerMan and the new layout.

Have fun at Blackhawk, guys!

[emackey]

Good Luck Allen. I'll be at the Firecracker. Looks like we have a good group of guys shaping up in FF and CFF at BHF. Looking forward to seeing everyone there.

Ethan

[racingflyboy]

Much as I'd like to see Allen at Blackhawk for the Firecracker, I'm really happy that he and his family came to their senses and he is going to try to make tte Runoffs again. My money says he'll make it. The plus for the rest of us is, with Allen at Gingerman, we'll end up one position higher in the finishing order at BHF! GO ALLEN!

Looking forward to racing the rest of you at Blackhawk. And yes Brad, Turn One is a Left Hander. See if you can get it right this time



Steve

[PiperFF]

Firercracker, J.Luxon will come to play
and me too...Just need to register and go through Reids tire pile...

Allen, Go get'em.....JV

[Allen_W]

Thanks guys, I absolutely love the Firecracker and it is sounding like a great field. But a family decision is a family decision, so G-man it is!

[Trhoades]

What's Bill Ehrlinger doing? He would be a great addition to the group.

[cgscgs]

Ten cars in our group is a decent turnout these days, but only 26 registered for the entire event is a concern. I wonder what the Go:No-Go number is for the regions to consider cancelling. The Registrar is trying to get out the troops, I hope she is successful.
See ya'll next weekend.

Chuck Smith
Tiga FFA-81, CFF #5
Indianapolis, IN

[mike g.]

I'd love to go.. but car still has 30 degrees of toe out in the front, and I'm committed down here in Ohio that weekend...

sometime soon... looks like a fun weekend...
-Mike

[Trhoades]

Any of you guy's know the story on the track condition?

[emackey]

I called over to the raceway and talked to Carol. She said that the new surface that they put down over the winter in Turn 1 and Turn 7 is starting to break up. Stones are separating from the surface material. Depending on the line you take, some cars are not affected and others are. They are applying a temporary fix in preparation for the Firecracker and then they are going to shut the track down July 16 to make the permanent repairs (replace the material?).

She mentioned that Paul is going to post some updates on the BFR website soon, so we should know more soon.

Take this as what it is, unofficial information. I'm sure Tom and Paul could give you the true description of the condition of the track and what they are doing about it.

Just to be safe, I'm bringing a set of Hoosier R95 Mud Tires in case it's really bad.

Ethan

[Allen_W]

From Sue Green:

Hello
I have received a number of emails regarding the track condition at Blackhawk Farms Raceway. Since I didn't have a proper response I called them to ask.
Here is what I have been told.
At the end of the season they fixed the track surface at corner 7.
This has since not held up as expected.
Track management met with the engineers today to find a permanent solution but in the mean time I have been given a guarantee that they are putting in a temporary fix that will make the track in good condition for the event on July 7 & 8.
I hope that this will convince those of you who were hemming and hawwing about that weekend to register and enjoy a great weekend with us.
Sue Green
Chief Registrar

[mike g.]

Watch out for the drop off at the turn in to 5. I hear that's a doooooooosie.

[Allen_W]

Watch out for the drop off at the turn in to 5. I hear that's a doooooooosie.

I have always heard that the key to a fast lap at Blackhawk is first figuring out where turn 2 is.