Hoosier FST - Rounds 9 & 10 - Watkins Glen

[Doug FST 5]

I just entered. Get yours in too! Watkins Glen is a great place in the late summer and this race always has a great turnout. As of this morning there are 14 FV's entered out of the 23 cars in our run group. Another interesting thing, 21 S2000's are entered out of the 33 cars in the "wings and things" run group.

I wonder why my home region can't get 56 formula / sports racer cars to commit 3 weeks before the event?

Doug FST 5

[SamF]

There is this thing called work that will keep me from going to the Glen

I wish I could go, it is a great place to run. See you all at Mid-O.

[teamclark]

So far we have 5 entries for the Glen. I know we have several regulars that can't make it, but hopefully we can get some new faces in place to keep our numbers strong. We need to make a good show with the 14 Vees entered, so get those entries in!!!!

REMINDER: If you ran at Nelson Ledges you get a 10% discount on entry for the Fun One - just bring your payment to the track.

Entered:
Rob Clark
James Guthrie (SR Racing 25)
Doug Seim
Doug Sontag
Doug Sharp

Maybe
Bill Wolfe
Matt Gordon
Jim Nash
Dennis Richarson
George Podgorski
John Stofka
Dave Blevins
Dave Dawson

Definate No:
Bill Bonow
Butch Deer
Sam Farmiga

[Steve Hill]

James Guthrie, former Indy 500 driver.

[Bill Bonow]

Yes, I will not be able to attend WGI

As I will be attending the Essen welding show in Germany: http://www.schweissen-schneiden.com/

But I will miss not being at WGI for the fun one

[Doug FST 5]

Two races in a row not trying to keep Bill Bonow in my mirrors? Not Good!

I looked over the entries this morning. There are two Lola T97/20 Indy Lights cars entered in the wings n things group running FS. That should be interesting!

Doug FST 5

[Amon]

Doug:

There was an Indy Light at the Grattan Vintage race several weeks ago dressed up in
the Jordan F-1 "Seven-UP" livery. He was very slow but I think that was due to a mechanical issue (clutch?) that caused him to leave the track that afternoon. The car
looked and sounded great, it's a shame it wasn't running correctly.


Mark

[Bill Bonow]

http://www.motorsportreg.com/index.c...F#.UiAKj1Yo6Ul

[rgu]

For the 1st time this year RGU racing will be a two car team! The number 16 Evolution of George Podgorski joins the #5 Doug Seim car--and we have a secret weapon.

IN CAR TEXT MESSAGING

The FUNONE brings out our adolescent side!

[Doug FST 5]

Jst pasd u lol

[teamclark]

So I won't have to use morse code on the back of Doug's car like last year???

[rgu]

Yes Rob found this technique highly communicative.

[rgu]

I posted a small version of the secret nose code picture.

This is what I wanted to post

[Doug FST 5]

... .--. .. -. -. --- .--

[BLS]

My secret decoder ring must be broke...

[Dennis Richarson]

SPIN NOW

[BLS]

SPIN NOW

The secret decoder ring is OK. The decoder operator cannot read the last letter very well...

[Bill Bonow]

OK,

Looks like a good sized event will happen at WGI and the Fun One.

Here is the line up as of this post:

# 37 Clark, Robert Evolution Mk. I SR Racing Rochester, MI
# 27 Guthrie, James Evolution Mk 1 Crafters, Guthrie Racing Albuquerque, NM
# 16 Podgorski, George Campbell/Guhde Evolution 2.5 PNP Glastonbury, CT
# 53 Richardson, Dennis Adams Aero Doo Dah Racing White River Junction, VT
# 5 Seim, Doug Mysterian M5.1 Battlepack/AutoWerks Okeana, OH
# 90 Sharp DC, Douglas Jacer V2K2 Sharp Chiropractic & Advocare Kawkawlin, MI
# 94 Sontag, Doug Protoform P2SR Racing Georgetown, KY

(7) cars are registered with a good sized list of

Maybe or not yet entered:

Bill Wolfe
Matt Gordon
Jim Nash
John Stofka
Dave Blevins
Dave Dawson

Butch, Sam and myself are regrettably not going to make WGI

Even with out us, the potential for (13) cars at WGI. A big grid for a big event. Typically, Dr. Bill Wolfe is always a last minute entry, but what's the outlook for the other guys?

[dd46637]

Okay I'm in.

[dblevins]

I won't be able to make it,but will be at MO.Finally figured out what my gremlins have been
regarding my engine issues. It seems that I have been suffering from a lack of oil due to:
1.a poorly designed system with way too many 90 degree bends,(did I mention that I
designed my system ?),and 2.a pinched oil line.

[rightturntiger]

I won't know until late this week/early next week. Looks like I may (not sure yet) have some issues with my truck and Jim doesn't have room to haul my car this time - we'll see.

Matt

[rgu]

Just a little preview of how good FST racing actually is. Here is Robert Clark's terrific video from 2012.

Watkins Glen Saturday 2012 race, the long course.

http://vimeo.com/49889468

Boy do those big tires give you a whale of a draft. This video also highlights a WGI feature which is the checkered flag flying at 6PM exactly.

[rightturntiger]

I entered this morning - looking forward to running the Glen for the first time in 7 years!

Matt Gordon
Jaygo Racing

[Bill Bonow]

The entry is up to (9) at this point with just a few days to go.

Here is an updated list:

# 37 Clark, Robert Evolution Mk. I SR Racing Rochester, MI
# 27 Guthrie, James Evolution Mk 1 Crafters, Guthrie Racing Albuquerque, NM
# 16 Podgorski, George Campbell/Guhde Evolution 2.5 PNP Glastonbury, CT
# 53 Richardson, Dennis Adams Aero Doo Dah Racing White River Junction, VT
# 5 Seim, Doug Mysterian M5.1 Battlepack/AutoWerks Okeana, OH
# 90 Sharp DC, Douglas Jacer V2K2 Sharp Chiropractic & Advocare Kawkawlin, MI
# 94 Sontag, Doug Protoform P2SR Racing Georgetown, KY
# 1 Dave Dawson Campbell Evolution South Bend, IN
# 57 Gordon, Matt Citation FST BattlePack.com/Jaygo Racing Lexington, KY

Maybe or not yet entered:

Bill Wolfe
Jim Nash
John Stofka

[rgu]

Anyone planning to get to the track after registration closes on Friday please call or e-mail me.

[rgu]

We are one entry away from insuring that all currently running NE FST's will be at WGI.

[rgu]

Its off to the races folks. See you there.

[Bill Bonow]

The race is being covered on Race Monitor:
http://www.race-monitor.com/Live/Race/11611

Heard that it is quite cool and overcast with temps in the 50's

Lots of trouble with T & S, so this may be wrong.

Top 5 in qualifying:

1. George Podgorski
2. Dennis Richardson
3. Robert Clark
4. Dr. Bill Wolfe
5. Doug Seim

Will try to post race results.

[Bill Bonow]

From watching Race Monitor, looked like a real barn burner.

My guess is Richardson spun (or similar) on the first lap, so that left Podgorski, Seim, Wolfe and Clark to battle it out. They were together for the entire race swapping positions almost every lap. Race Monitor was having scoring issues, but it looked like a yellow ended he race at 9 laps.

Race Monitor posted results:

Seim
Wolfe
Clark
Podgorski Fast Lap 2:16.245
Richardson
Gordon
Sontag
Guthrie
Dawson

[Doug FST 5]

I think Bill had the results sorted on lap times as George had the fast lap. The finishing order was:

Seim
Wolfe
Clark
Gordon


Doug FST 5

[Steve Hill]

Nice Job Doug and Matt!

[rgu]

A bunch of good races in Formula First. We'll post soon. Very nice weather Sunday. Track much better.

Race for the point was

Seim
Clark
Podgorski

But lots of other good racing and happenings. I have plenty of pics to post and good things were happening. If need to be at an affair so maybe tonight.

Rob Clark said you'll all love the video!!!

[Steve Hill]

Congrats Doug! 2013 Points Champion!

[Doug FST 5]

Thanks Steven!

I can't wait to see the video of Sunday's race. After the full course yellow the traffic situations got pretty intense. It should be fun to watch.

WGI is a great, historic track. Its fantastic to get a chance to play there.

Doug FST 5

[teamclark]

For a second year in a row Watkins Glen turned on almost perfect weather for rounds 9 & 10 of the Hoosier FST Championship, although qualifying in 45deg temps did make for some dicey moments as the tires never quite got up to temp. It was great to see a number of "new" cars making there first appearence in the championship this year - Doug Sontag, Dennis Richardson, George Podgorski and Jim Guthrie who was driving the SR 25, but had a tough weekend with mechanical issues.

Race 1: Race one was a very tight affair at the front, Bill Wolfe was on form and despite a few gremlins in qualifying was fast in the race, and joined Seim, Clark, Podgorski in a 4 car tussle, with the usual mutiple lead changes every lap. With 3 laps to run Podgorski had a throttle cable let go and pulled out, it looked like be a tight race to the finish, but a full course yellow/safety car was thrown due to the various cars littering the track and the race finished under the yellow with Seim leading home Wolfe and then Clark. Great result for Matt Gordon who came home 4th!

Race 2: This time Seim and Clark jumped clear of Podgorski and had established a good lead when Dennis Richardson had a nasty crash at the Bus Stop, with his FST into the armco. The resulting safety car compressed the field and eliminated the split grid start, so when the restart occurred the leaders had several slower FVee/Fords and F500 to try and deal with, this resulted in some very tight racing (you can pass in the Bus Stop), as the 500s in particular did not make any attempt to get out of the FST battle. On the final lap itwas Seim, from Clark then Podgorski, who took a nice pass into the Bus stop for 2nd, but leading into the final two corners it was 3 wide with Seim holding the lead and Clark diving under Podgorski to retake 2nd, at the final corner Clark lunged at Seim, but couldn't make it stick and the group crossed the line Seim, Clark, Podgorski.

I have some geat video from Race 2 that I will get posted asap, I am a little back logged on video's as I still have Grattan and Road America to edit, but will get to them soon.

Big thanks to Larry and Penny for making the long haul to Watkins to support the SR Racing team this weekend.

Bring on Mid-Ohio

[Doug FST 5]

George was the fast guy on the track Sunday but he missed the lap record by a bit.

Doug FST 5

[Steve Hill]

Too bad Jim broke down, I hope he returns. It's cool to have a Indy 500 driver.

[teamclark]

Steve, with respect, you have shared your opinion on this multiple times...let it go, or turn the other cheek whichever metaphor you prefer.

[Steve Hill]

yeah....

Steve, with respect, you have shared your opinion on this multiple times...let it go, or turn the other cheek whichever metaphor you prefer.

[rgu]

From the pits you don’t see much at all but from the passing and drafting that I could see there was a pretty good race going on Sunday’s race between Bill Wolfe Matt Gordon, and Doug Sontag . I always wondered who was going to show up at start/finish first. I got even more complicated when the field congealed for the FCY. These guys did a great job getting their cars ready.

My congratulations to Race Chair Gary Lippert for putting on a great event!!! Fran McAllister got us involved and Marsha Toombs did everything necessary to get us all registered and inside having fun.

However if you want to see things go up to the turn ten grandstand and its like being at Grattan. Just bring binoculars.