Hoosier Tire FST Rounds 3 & 4 - Waterford Hills

[jsteeb]

That was the best race I've been in since....well... the last FST race I was in!

Reece got a pretty good jump at the start, and pulled a good gap during the first lap or 2. The more I race this kid, the more impressed I am (not that my opinion means anything, but there it is). Doug and Bill were popping up in my mirrors early, but they never made any moves. Long story short.... I had to drive my arse off to close the gap. Tried him in 1, nothing. Tried him in 6, nothing. Got a better run out onto the back straight the following lap, and managed to get ALONGSIDE him in 6, then eventually cleared him in paddock bend. Whew. After that... I burned the front tires off the car just trying to stay in front of the relentless little punk! If he could have found a way around, I'm don't think I had enough car to repass him. It took everything I, and my little car, had today.

The heat and the constant pressure reminded me how out of shape being a dad is making me.

I have a feeling tomorrow will be a bite different. Doug's lap time is RIGHT there with us. Robert and Bill ran into trouble. Jim, Mr. Dawson, and Jonathan Mader all laid down some pretty respectable lap times as well - considering the heat and the bumps, etc. Dr. Doug is progressing well, along with Dave (who overcame quite a bit just to make the grid).

Good day at the track. More fun tomorrow.

[Bill Bonow]

Looks like the Hoosier FST guys will get a break today from the heat. The area forcast says the high will be 86 degrees for today, but there is a 30% chance of isolated thunderstorms possible.

Should be a great day for FST racing.

[Bill Bonow]

The grid is set for today's race at Waterford Hills.

1) Jason Steeb 1:14.042
2) Reece Everard 1:14.580
3) Doug Seim 1:15.070
4) Rob Clark 1:15.351
5) Dave Dawson 1:16.352
6) Bill Wise 1:16.572
7) Jim Nash 1:16.945
8) Doug Sharp 1:18.136

Jonathan Mader and Dave Blevins were not on the qualifying sheet sent by Tracy. I'll try to find out what happend. More results from Waterford soon.

[Bill Bonow]

Well, reports were that (as usual) the weatherman was off... 96 degrees at race start. It was a four car battle for the lead until a close call with Seim and Everard broke them up. Seim managed to catch up to Steeb and Clark for a very close finish (.164 seconds at the line).

Here are your official results:

1) Jason Steeb
2) Rob Clark (Fast Lap 1:14.023)
3) Doug Seim
4) Reece Everard
5) Jim Nash
6) Doug Sharp
7) Dave Blevins
8) Bill Wise

More details to follow, but here is a photo of the Round 4 podium.

Get ready for the next two rounds of the Hoosier FST Series......

We are the feature race at the Grattan National in August!

[steve everard]

see attached photo from sunday podium.

[jsteeb]

All I can say about today is... whew!

We had a great 4 car battle for the win. With about 8 laps to go I thought it was only a matter of time before Rob and/or Doug managed to find a way back by.

Reece got me at the start, and (based on the lap times in quali) I thought I'd line up with him to see if we could maybe gap Doug and Rob. Nope. 2 laps into it, Doug passed me and started his attack on Reece. Reece did everything he could do to hold all of us off, but with a broken RF shock mount, it looked like his car wasn't handling like it had been the rest of the weekend.

Doug and Reece had a great multi lap scrap for the lead. I have to admit... at one point I considered trying 3-wide down the back straight, but my brain kicked in (thankfully). I managed to sneak by Doug while him and Reece were going at it. At some point Rob passed Doug as well, but I don't know when (I can't wait to see Rob's video!). With the handling issues, Reece was a sitting duck coming out of Big Bend, and I got him under braking into turn 6.

Once I was in the lead... I tried to buckle down and gap the field, but Rob Clark found some great time this weekend, and was flying in today's race. We had a few FUN moments (mostly into the T6 braking zone)....at one point I was certain we were both heading straight off the track! Only drivers of our supreme talent and skill could have collected our cars, and not hit each other - or lose a position.

It was all I could do to hold the guys back today. I really thought I was heading for a 4th place finish. Luckily... my Steve Steeb Service owned, Autowerks engine and Averill Stuff brake pads gave me just enough of an edge to hang onto the lead!

Like I said... Whew.

I LOVE this series!

I hope everybody had as much fun as I did this weekend!

Cheers!
Jason

[Doug FST 5]

Hey Jason! - Great race! By the way, Rob got by me while I was trying to figure out how to see through my nose after it got popped up on top of the car during some pretty close racing with Reese. The nose finally departed the car for good in the middle of T1. I was lucky to run down the gap to get back to you guys. The epic battles you guys had going into T6 sure helped. I figured to be in P1 coming through T6 at some point!

Doug FST 5

[teamclark]

First off I have to say a huge thanks to Mark Kelly, who worked his butt off on Saturday and who I really owe the 2nd place finish on Sunday too. Also to Jim who gave up good drinking/sleeping time to change out the engine.

My weekend was a classic high and lows of Motor Racing (and I know a couple of others came out worse).

Saturday during the 2nd lap of the qualfying race I hit zero oil pressure and the engine lost power. Limped back to the pits, quick diagnosis looked like the oil pump had failed. With no time to change engines it was a case of jumping into the No.25 backup car.

This meant I would be starting from the back of the grid, and due to the differences between the cars shift linkages my seat wouldn't fit in the 25 so I would be 'loose' in the belts. Well it turned out to be a disaster, on the tight and twisty Waterford circuit I was sliding all over the car and hanging on with my arms for dear life (nice set of bruises and sore muscles today). Well after 3/4 of the race enough was enough I was knackered and called it a day - I was so overheated when I first got out of the car I couldn't catch my breath for about 20minutes - luckily the crew poured liberal water over me and got some ice on my neck which eventually cooled me down.

So Jim and Mark set about changing engines, I left the track at 10:30 and they were still going by torchlight and I think they got done around 11:30.

So Sunday I was back in the 37 and ready to go. Qualfying was going ok until Dave Dawson took an ugly hit into the wall, and then behind the pace car I lost a plug lead, set an ok time but still off the pace of the front 3 (Jason, Reece, Doug).

Sunday's race really was a ripper, from the start Reece jumped out to a few car lengths while Jason and Doug made up 2nd and 3rd and I took up a watching brief in 4th. Doug slipped by Jason and then the group of 3 caught up with Reece, then ensued several laps of very heated dicing between Reece and Doug (side by side through turn 6, rubbing wheels and plenty of wide cars). Jason was close behind looking for an opening and I was still back in 4th waiting for everything to break loose.

Eventually push came to shove and rouding 6 Doug and Reece got together as Reece ran wide then spun back towards the track and took off Dougs nose cone, Jason slide by the pair of them going into 7 and when Doug's Nose laying straight up obscuring his view I dived under him.

For the next two laps I sweated on Reece, while Jason built a small lead and Doug did the best to shake of his errant nose cone. Eventually I got past Reece into 6 and set off after Jason. When I caught up to him it was then a case of looking for any opening and trying to manage some front tires that were past their best.

There was defintely several moments going into Turn 6 where things got very dicey, side by side on one lap we both breaked late, locked up and slide towards the edge of the circuit....that really slowed us down and Doug now minus his nose cone and with the benefit of the extra cooling was making significant ground on us as we diced, with three laps to go I eased off Jason to make sure Doug didn't get too close, had one last try on the last lap at Turn 6, but couldn't get far enough up to make it stick and crossed the line just behind Jason, but I did manage to claim fast lap.

Great race, very happy with the recovery, but the sad news was I forget to start the cameras, so not race footage (damn).

[kea]

As has been the case of the F/FST races that I've seen, either at Grattan (coming next month) or at Waterford, from a spectators viewpoint, it was quite entertaining.
The cars sound great (even with a Super-Trapp), make some pretty quick lap times and the teams come with cars that look nice with their different paint designs.
We will be going to Grattan next month and I look forward to their races again.
For those teams who didn't make this one, don't miss Grattan.

[stvstb]

WOW! I was stood on the Tower at Waterford Hills for both Formula First presented by Hoosier Tires Feature Races. I knew you guys were watching video all winter and this year you would have this place figured-out and treat us to the same close racing that you exhibit everywhere else you race. And boy did you DELIVER! The race between Jason and Reece on Saturday was as intense as it gets, no mistakes allowed. And Doug lurking, waiting for the big mistake that never came... And then the Sunday Race with a four car pack and the dicing and puffs of tire smoke and the errant nose-cone when a move got judged a bit too fine... WOW! Thanks for a GREAT SHOW - both days. I'm fairly certain Waterford Hills will be wanting to have you back next year for the same show if you are interested.

As always, we found Robert Guhde and the rest of the Formula First Competitors to be a super group to work with - I just wish we had a bigger paddock (with fewer HORNETS) and maybe a bit more run-off area. Your series regulars are a fantastic group of guys and the new additions to the series are learning fast! And the cars looked fantastic. THANKS!!!

Oh, and I bet I see you all at Grattan... steve

[2BWise]

https://vimeo.com/45802261

[Doug FST 5]

Hey - If you borrowed the 36mm / .75" drive socket from the RGU trailer and didn't return it let me know. Its gone missing!

Doug FST 5

[rgu]

I have to say that FST competitors are a tough lot. It was hot! And Hot! And dusty and dry. But everyone just kept coming back for more session after session.

I showed up mid PM on Friday and it was very warm but Jon Mader and Dave Dawson noticed that hornets were emerging from the ground under their paddock spots and were buzzing them. These things were huge (2 inches long) and they looked formidable. Dave theorized that they had no real role in the Darwinian sense, except to chase people and animals. Steve Steeb came around and emptied a couple of spray cans of hornet killer into the ½ dozen outlets from the hive and that just seemed to piss them off. Seemed to do the trick over time though.

We heard from Sam Farmiga that his truck had problems on the way up and he most likely would not make it. That was really too bad because Sam worked really hard to fix the leftover Nelson issues. I’m sure he is greatly disappointed.

Jon Mader’s second race weekend was quite successful in my view. He had gotten his times down into the high 15’s and was running strong. However, a pull rod rocker broke and he went into the tire wall. Initially it looked like a bent disk and the rocker were the only issues. The rocker was re-welded and when the disk was being pulled Dave Dawson discovered the rear sub frame was bent and the shifter was being interfered with. So Jon had to withdraw from Sunday. Too bad because he was really getting with the program and it’s only been one race weekend.

Jim Nash had very good news. He sold the first of two kits he’s been working on. It’s heading to the west coast. I’m hoping the second one stays closer to our series because the Mission is a great looking car and an invaluable asset for the series. By the end of the weekend Jim overcame a few teething problems and reported his new scoop design to be a great success. They are also really beautiful and I’m disappointed because I didn’t get a picture so we’ll have to get Jim to post one.

Dave Dawson needed to run on the grass to avoid a spinning car on the straight. This unfortunately put his car into the firewall. The front beam was bent badly and lots of Evolution parts are history. This was too bad because Dave was really quick and was going to score plenty of points. This is the second time I’ve seem a U-Shaped Momo steering break one its sides off.

Jim Schings tells me that Rob Clark’s oil pump was fine, as is the engine. Just a bad oil pressure sensor and a spark plug wire giving trouble at exactly the same time. Bill Wise’s problem is solved too and it was a float that was too high. In the past we’ve needed to lower the float level at Grattan on a couple of cars. It’s easy to spot and often mistaken for electrical issues.

Dave Blevins spun at the end of the longest straight and was collected by a F500 which bent his beam on the right side. Luckily we had the “Bonow Beam Straightener” but we didn’t have a piece of steel big enough to push on so we ran out of travel. First we tried using it with a trailer sway bar but they flexed too much and the beam moved very little. We next used two sway control bars which flexed less but destroyed a ten inch clamp when they let go. We did find success in heating the beam then pressing it back was much easier. Wasn’t perfect but Dave finished the race and renamed his car to “Twitchy”--- I guess to handling wasn’t great. He now needs to toss out some other bent parts and the heated beam and he’ll be ready for Grattan.

A number of drivers are really coming on. Reece Everard is there now as a trip to the podium and lots of time at the point amply showed. I guess everyone always knew Reece had the talent but he was held back by gremlins and prep issues. He and his dad have pretty much put those behind them and they’ll be a force the rest of the season. Dr. Doug Sharp’s Jacer drew lots of admiring glances and he’s getting used to driving low powered cars. I watched him in a couple of corners (you really see a lot of corners at Waterford without moving your eyes much) and he was really getting comfortable with our kind of driving. Doug told me he was never at either Nelson or Waterford but has run at Grattan—in a motor cycle racing-- in the reverse direction. I wonder how the jump turn is running backwards? Did you know Doug was a champion pole vaulter too? He went over 18 ft!

Since I was working on Doug Seim’s car in my spare time I thought I’d pass along a weirdo problem I’ve never seen before. To start with almost every running gear part was replaced after the ARRC accident. Moreover, we constantly adjust suspension settings to suit him or the track. Therefore the upper ball joint nut needs to be loosened and tightened a lot to adjust camber. He was driving up to the false grid for qualification and the car changed camber by itself and the steering wheel turned by itself. Cause we determined was the ball joint nylock loosened in the prior session enough to let the eccentric turn and cause the issue. It was tightened and set by eyeball. We finally fixed it by tossing out the Nylock and replacing it with a new one and we cleaned the ball joint threads with Brakleen so it could work better and by Sunday the problem was fixed. Before the next race a box of high quality nylock will be purchased and they will be periodically replaced.

So that’s a bit of what I saw and heard but I want to thank Steve and Jason for everything. They did a fantastic job planning and getting all our ducks lined up which made for a great event. They even made an arrangement for a free entry at Waterford for 2013. The winner of this prize was Dave Dawson.

Thanks everyone—And I was amazed by little Colin Steeb. Absolutely the best baby I’ve seen while at race track. Nothing bothered him and his cuteness caught everyone’s eye.

[joel hershoren]

We thank you folks for coming. I tried to get to all of you, to thank you personally on behalf of the club, but i know i missed a few.

I hope The First group feels most welcome @ Waterford. The show was great, the cars look great, and we appreciate the car count.
Steve and Jason do a lot of behind the scenes work to make this happen at Waterford, and you guys redeemed the effort yet again.

We look forward to the series returning next year.

Cheers and Thanks,

Joel Hershoren,
President-WHRRI

[Doug FST 5]

I was too busy yesterday for more than a few quick words. Waterford is a tricky and surprisingly technical place to race a car. Its pretty bumpy and shook loose stuff that normally stays tight on our car. The ball joint problem Robert talked about was a first for us. I'm not sure that problem really added to the amount of alignment work the RGU crew was going to have to do to chase the setup to get the car going fast. We got the car to behave on Sunday which allowed us to work just on performance. The car was just about right for the race.

Thanks, as always, to Robert, Matt, Randy and Brodie for sticking with it through the heat to put a competitive car on the track.

Now that I've been to Waterford twice the place intriques me even more. I also have to hand it to the Waterford race officials. Any other sanctioning body could learn quite a bit from them on how to efficiently run a race weekend.

Doug FST 5

[jsteeb]

Some fun pics...





Photos can be found here: Clutch

[jsteeb]

As well as some fun video...

Sunday Race

(at least - as soon as VIMEO is done doing it's thing).

[jsteeb]

Not sure if these images will work

Good looking grid....


One of the prettier cars out there... Jim Nash in his Mission...


Jonathan Mader's Adams...


Reece, right where I want him....


More pics in this gallery