Confessions of a new guy

[racerdad2]

DANG !!! Finally got my CFC on track on Monday. I had no appreciation of just how fast these cars are. I may have the slowest CFC in the country. Still, it was difficult to get my head around the speed at entry. H*&y S&*! I'm ten seconds off the FC record & having a blast. OMG !!! FIRST, I want to acknowledge that I know nothing about racing a Formula Car ! I thought I did... Intellectually, yes. In reality, no. All my prior comments on racing have been rendered null & void.... After a day to decompress, I must admit, it was fun having a very fast car on track with some very serious tin tops. At best I was driving the car at 8 tenths. Short shifting ( I know nothing about the engine ) braking way, way early. Still, very fast. I want to thank all the tin top drivers at BIR for giving me lots of room. The braking is incredible. The speeds thru the turns is truly remarkable. And my car is just an entry level machine... My respect for the guys who design, build, tune & drive these things has gone off the charts... Now, how do I manage to think about work... I believe Steve was right. Life IS racing. All else is just waiting...

[kea]

The beauty of your statement is that you did this in a 25 year old car.
Not everyone needs to spend $70G's + to have a good time.
Not everyone aims to be National Champion, "Pro Champion", maybe even Regional Champion.
Yes, while driving they may think along those lines but by the end of the day, having a good race, a great single lap or just spending time racing with others who enjoy the same thing, can be the most rewarding.

[rmccown]

I remember the same kind of feeling, of speed and control. I started out like you, 10 seconds off pace, but having a blast. Heading into Turn 5 at Summit Point, I was braking way later that I had before, and thought "This is not going to be good" but turned anyway, and the car stuck, rotated, turned, and launched. In two laps I had shaved 5 seconds off my previous average. These cars are FUN!

[Marshall Mauney]

I loved reading this - it takes me back to my first time on-track with a beat-up old Club Ford.....

[Josh Pitt]

I want to thank all the tin top drivers at BIR for giving me lots of room.

dad,
i would NEVER, NEVER, NEVER go out on track with tin tops when i am in a formula car. too easy to get killed by a heavy tall vehicle hitting me.

I cannot beleive that people who organize events even allow this to be a choice for drivers.

minumim run group i would even consider participating in would be open wheel grouped together, and closed wheel grouped together.

FYI, i doubt they can even see you when you are near them....................
Josh

[TimH]

by the end of the day, having a good race, a great single lap or just spending time racing with others who enjoy the same thing, can be the most rewarding.

I'll settle for one good corner. And, yes, the company matters.

[Tiago Santos]

Josh, I mostly agree with what you're saying, but if it was my only choice, I'd take a FC to a track day. A vee, or even a FF, I'd think twice (or more..)! At least with a continental, compared to just about any track day car, you have a clear choice of where to approach them and where to get away from them. It shouldn't be too hard to avoid them considering how different the cars are. Also most track days don't allow passing into corners, so that makes things easier.

Racing with tin tops would be a NO on any open wheel car for me!

Congrats racerdad on your first day out! I can only imagine the excitement The first times I ever got in a race car (both a tin top and later a FV) were both during official race weekends and I was too worried about other stuff to actually remember enjoying the driving! Sounds like you had a blast and obviously you're hooked for life

[racerdad2]

Tin Tops ! I made a point at the driver's meeting to announce to all the driver's that I would be on track with them. That they would not be able to see me. That I would attempt to pass ONLY if I saw the hand wave, 'contract' pass. I left foot brake. I NEVER had my foot off the brake pedal. Every pass I made was EZ with lots of room. The last too sessions of the day left me with the really fast cars & drivers. Thankfully, they were courteous, & waited for my pointed contract pass on the straights. Obviously, no one had much for me in the turns. 1200#'s with downforce is hard to beat. I knew full well how dangerous it would be. How dangerous this really is. Sadly, BIR is the only track nearby, we don't really draw enough cars for a race, let alone track days. I must work, still racing karts with my son, so, $$$ are tight for the Reynard. I would certainly rather be in an all open wheeled group. That said, I know how quickly things do go wrong when wheels touch, or worse, tires...

I gotta say, when the owner of the new Gull Wing AMG Merc walked over h told me he was envious of my ride, well, DANG that felt good I didn't mean to hurt his feelings, I may have, when I told him his wheels & tires cost more than my car...

Thx for the kind words & the words of caution. I hope I didn't sound defensive or cavalier...

[FASTDAD]

If a guy didn't know better, you sound excited! Nice!

[racerdad2]

Excited ? Understatement BIR Track Day Rules. Novices & SRF drivers from their School have three passing zones. Turn One before Turn Two. Straight between 3 & 4. Straight between 6 & 7. Intermidiates (not positive) Experts can pass anywhere they feel safe. The 'experts' drive & race hard. I went out in the morning with the Novices & SRF guys. That was 'interesting'. One guy in an SRF had no clue what a race line looked like, had no clue what it meant to keep a consistent line & I know he had no idea I was behind him. I followed him from turn six, where I attempted a pass to no avail. He turned into me as soon as I hit the gas. I missed him by several feet with a dive to the right & a pretty heavy foot on the brakes. I just waited to til turn one & then went by as fast as I could on the inside as he wandered to the outside. I knew I had to keep an eye on my mirrors & out front all the time. In the afternoon, I was on track with some very hot shoes. I was very busy trying to go fast & watch the mirrors, too. Intimidating ? Yes. Exciting ? Absolutely

[Tiago Santos]

I hope I didn't sound defensive or cavalier...

Not at all I've been frustrated and upset with some of the latest developments in my racing "career", and posts like yours make me remember WHY I "bother"! Cause every now and then, you have one of those days that make it all worthwhile!

[Steve Demeter]

Sports racers generally can't see a formula car in their mirrors any better than a sedan can.

Been that way since the beginning of time.

Be careful and don't assume that anyone sees you until you are sure of it.

[racerdad2]

I heard that ! I drove under the premise that I was invisible & did so even if they saw me and gave me the wave I knew the SRF guys were there as first timers looking for the thrill of driving a "real race car on a real race track" and kept a close eye on them. Truth is, I trusted No One that was on the track with me. Even the SRF's looked huge compared to me. So did the BMW Z4 Fortunately, all the Chump Car guys were gone at the end of the day when I was getting up to speed. I knew I was getting close when I could feel the neck strain in Turn One Honesty, I had no idea this old Reynard was this quick & that little front wing was nothing more than stuck on for looks Back up in two weeks ! Now, how can I do this more often..... Hmmmmm....

[racerdad2]

Running flat out to the number three marker going into turn twelve was just plain stupid. But Damned sure exciting

[FASTDAD]

When I took our FC car the for the first time it was on the old 3.1 mi road course. Come out of ten, mat the gas run up thru the gears, and never lift until turn three. Thing is that a guy could take turn one anywhere on the track because of the banking, wind buffeting becomes a very real situation to deal with. Turn two, with no banking was a real rush, still flat but car position becomes more important. Very fun, and then work your butt off on the back side of the course. Can't wait until I'm done with our car to run the new layout! Keep going flat to the 3 marker, just be real sure when going down to the 2 1/2 point. The excitement just keeps getting better. Then there is the KINK at Road America, the story begins.........

[Purple Frog]

Kirk and son deserve to have a compleye blast.
Thede guys are totally immerised in grtting the mosy out of the experience.
I

[racerdad2]

Thx Frog ! You're the man that got me started & I think about you every time I'm working on tbe car, in a good way In the beginning I told myself that this would just be a track day car, next, just get my novice competition license. Next thought was, well, run a couple of club races. Then, maybe a regional or two. Certainly, nothing more. Now, that I've driven her, dreams of running a National & (really dreaming) a run for the Run-Offs In reality, I may never be more than a field filler on a club level. That said, for all you guys that have yet to drive a Formula Car, WOW !!! and my hats off to all the guys & gals that have !!!

[racerdad2]

FastDad, You're going to love the new pavement !! I had a tad under 7/8" ride height on the front skid. Very smooth. The track is much wider out of three, very fast exit. Next time out, I'm working on one corner at a time... It's a lot to get your head around... Keep in touch. Perhaps we can practice together one day. I'm thinking if you drive 8 tenths, I could keep up

[Rick Iverson]

Kirk;

Next time you come up, let me know. I live 2.1 miles from the track, and can assist. My sons will be racing at the Jack Pine Sprints, so I'll be there as well.

V/R

Iverson

[racingflyboy]

When I took our FC car the for the first time it was on the old 3.1 mi road course. Come out of ten, mat the gas run up thru the gears, and never lift until turn three.

BIR Turn 1 on the old course, Vic Elford, the man that drove a (rather unsorted) loose 917 245mph down the Mulsanne, told me "he didn't remember a lot about Brainerd, except that it had an extremely long front straight with a huge banked turn at the end, and in a CanAm car, you could go through it at 200mph, but man you had to have guts". Curtis Farley, on the other hand, said first time he drove BIR's old course was in a Formula Vee. The straight was so long, next time he brought a magazine to read between 10 and 1! Too funny.

Kirk, glad you finally got the chance to experience the disease we all love. One bit of advice I always get from my wife "just keep it on the blacktop, ok"

BTW, the newly repaved course is 39 feet wide, so while its not advisable to drive Formula cars, with SRF's or tin tops, the track is wider than most, allowing very wide passes, so maybe marginally safer with the mix, although they still can't see you.

[racerdad2]

Rick. I'll certainly give you a call. Steve. One big off on my first day was enough fun for awhile

[racerdad2]

Finally, my first race weekend this past Memorial Day Weekend at BIR Only had the one track day last year. Just not enough stamina in this body to race karts all weekend & make the Monday track days at BIR last year.

Arrived early Friday afternoon, unloaded, set-up & wrenched - prepped and got thru tech. Packed up paddock & off to motel at 9 pm. Back to track at 5:30 am Saturday. More nut & bolting. Adjusting belts, etc.

First practice, tires cold, big understeer exiting 12. Kept adding more left turn to wheels. Became apparent that I was going straight off into tire wall. Rookie Mistake ! Major Lift Off Oversteer as I lifted while wheels turned hard left. Snap spin across track. Instinctively, both feet in. Came to rest in the grass, off the tire wall, engine running, car in neutral. Waited for three hours for corner workers to signal me back on track. Actually, 90 seconds tops. TOTALLY blind corner.

Practice, qualifying, race went well, despite slipping clutch. Couldn't give more than half throttle nor get over 5200 revs.

Still managed a First in Class & set the Track Record in CFC !!!

Only car in CFC & no one had ever officially raced in CFC at BIR

Repeat performance on Sunday sans spin. Avoided a few spin-outs in front of me, including the track owner in his FE in Turn 3. Made it thru the military grade smoke screen laid down by the FM. Didn't miss any flags. Saw everyone coming to lap me & gave them the point by.

Was offered used clutch & pressure plate on Saturday evening. Appreciated the offer. Too old for first attempt to split the car while swatting mosquitoes

Now, to separate the back half from the engine. Find what parts I need. Surface the flywheel, if possible. Reassemble without any left-over nuts, bolts or other whizzy bits

Next race at BIR July 5-6. Be interesting to see what happens at full throttle & 6800 rpms

Danged Addicting ! I did wonder why everyone was in such a hurry to pack up & leave after the races on Sunday ? Now, I know. Pack up & get gone while the adrenalin is still pumping

[EYERACE]

............Speed will come

[racerdad2]

Thx ! As long as I talked about my lap times with the SM & SRF guys, they thought I was pretty quick I managed 15 seconds off the fast time of Pro Driver in fully prepped Zetec - Van Diemen. Considering I shifted from 2nd to 3rd at 5200 & ditto 3-4, & it stayed there if I didn't completely lift, I did ok. I managed to practice threshold braking, downshifting, situational awareness, going thru several oiled corners not to mention finding a small transaxle leak, etc. Over all, It was a great weekend. Got another weekend signed off on the Novice License. I'm still grinning

[brownslane]

Every one you can walk away from.....

Seriously, your concentration needs to be on SEAT TIME. Don't hurt the car, stay clean in traffic and work on hitting your marks consistently. Make sure you have a basic neutral, consistent setup on the car, then LEAVE IT ALONE. Once that is done, work on a corner at a time, deeper braking/earlier throttle.....then move on to the next. Your karting experience will move you way forward in your learning curve.

Tuning on the car and worrying about more power should come later once you can drive the wheels off your car. Sounds like you got this whole thing moving in the right direction; Well done!

Tom

[racerdad2]

Thx for the encouragement ! Ethan & & Pat Mackey came up for moral support. Good to see them. The Miller's were there, so John could come by to harass me throughout the weekend

[brownslane]

Kirk, you have it covered! Just like a Kart but heavier!

[Kazis31]

I'm in the same shoes with my FE.
These things are unreal when it come to braking.
Wait .however when you're 2 sec of fast guy pace and try to hung with them
at lead and follow, it will blow your mind.
Shifter karts are quicker, but deceleration and corner speeds of these cars are
mind blowing.
multiply that by 3 to 4 times and that what F1 pilot goes thru on every GP weekend
for sometimes 3 hours in the row.
Respect to open wheelers.


cheers

[racerdad2]

Well, kinda like a kart. My first race weekend in the kart I had a severe push, understeer, thru a flat-out right hander. So, I lifted to settle the front end like a car. Oops. Luckily, I got back hard on the gas to jack the inside tire, solid axle, and made the turn. Narrowly missing our 300# track photographer, who stood just inches off the track for those 'optimim' shoots

I thought my weekend flying was addicting, as was my boating, gliding, street rodding, karting, Spec Miata... These are all like black coffee... addicting, but manageable

The Reynard is pure race crack ! If there's a 12 step program for this, I don't want to hear anything about it !

[Pop Chevy]

It's too late now ! There's no turning back. I been racing 35yrs, tried quitting a couple times. It's just no good I can't do it. I tell people I'm addicted to speed and they look at me funny ! Hah! I'm going to celebrate my 61st BD at Indy on the oval w my foot to the floor..
You've gone over to the DARKSIDE, embrace it. Pops

[racerdad2]

AWESOME !!! I have discovered that the old F250 doesn't have quite the same late braking capabilities of the Reynard. Although, with the toasted clutch in the car, 7500# of truck & tools sure does out accelerate her

I started each race at the back. Nose to tail. At the wave of the green flag it looked as though I threw it into reverse I asked the track announcer to explain my clutch issues. It was pretty embarrassing... Still had a blast !!!

[rickb99]

The Reynard is pure race crack ! .... !

It is a really, really neat car isn't it? We had two of them, 89 and 90.

[flat tappet]

I loved reading this - it takes me back to my first time on-track with a beat-up old Club Ford.....

In my first race,ever...in a closed wheel first gen Mazda RX7 at Lime Rock, we had a total downpour for the whole ITA/IT7 race. Lots of great, experienced racers, I had never driven the car before,ever.We tried to do a SCDA track day in advance but got BF'd because we put the supertrapp on backwards...LOL. Made it louder.Skip Barber called from Sharon,CT to scream about something that sounded like a giant bumblebee on track(car was yellow).

Anyway, All I had for tires were Toyo RA1's..no rains. They actually were not bad in the rain. What I did not know was that there was no heater core in the car(and tech missed it). I did not know the trick(thanks, Dick Patullo) of having a cutoff broom handle with a sponge on the end to wipe the windshield from inside,strapped in with no other way to wipe the windshield.

Went off track drivers left between turns 2 and 3, not because I lost control...but I could no longer see the track.

To make a long story, even longer....Going back to the original premise of this thread...it is so much fun to race(and be careful of others) in older non competitive cars...always!!

[Charlie Schmidt]

Back to the subject of mixed groups...we used to go to BIR and run vintage. We would run with another club, and put all vintage cars in one run group--transam Camaro to vee

Never had an issue, everybody just kept their eyes open and played nice

this was the old track config I still miss putting my foot down coming out of 10, and not lifting until turn 3

[kea]

The Reynard is pure race crack ! If there's a 12 step program for this, I don't want to hear anything about it !

That's why I have so many of them racing around here !

[marshall9]

Awesome.......nice to hear that you enjoyed the experience. Reynards rock!

[racerdad2]

As soon as I get the car sorted AND the driver sorted, I'm headed East to run in GLC I have the car very well balanced with 4 wheel drift thru the turns. It is surprising just how far one can go before braking.

[marshall9]

"I have the car very well balanced with 4 wheel drift thru the turns."

No you don't.

You do have a start and awesome resources there to do so (kea).

[racerdad2]

OK... I'll agree with that. Well balanced for half throttle We'll see how well she handles full tilt & how fast - slow I really am next time out. Keith is the master. Getting the car to his shop is the first stop when heading East

Since I'm new to this, does anybody know where I can get a copy of "The Top 10 Driver Excuses & How To Make Them Sound Legit" ?

Amazon doesn't seem to carry it....

[TimH]

Since I'm new to this, does anybody know where I can get a copy of "The Top 10 Driver Excuses & How To Make Them Sound Legit" ?.

Folks on ApexSpeed will see right through anything. And you're not likely to find any we haven't used ourselves..