FV Runoffs 2015

[BLS]

1 (2) Michael Varacins Burlington, WI, Speed Sport AM-5
2 (4) Andrew Whitston Neenah, WI, Protoform P2
3 (5) Richard Shields Bridgeville, PA, VDF VDF-2
4 (10) Charles Hearn Houston, TX, Vortech Vortech FV
5 (18) Mitchell Ferguson Salem, VA, Vorscha GB5
6 (8) Gary Kittell Tully, NY, Caracal D/SB
7 (13) Alex Scaler Flemington, NJ, Mysterian CM2
8 (3) Ron Whitston Neenah, WI, Protoform P2
9 (12) Tyler Hunter Denver, CO, Vortech FV
10 (15) Andrew Abbott Livonia, MI, Vector AM-1

[FVRacer21]

Okay 4 1/2 hours after the race, not even provisionals are on the scca site. GTL, the race after the FV has the provisionals up - any news?

ChrisZ

[BLS]

Chris, the results I posted are from the provisional results listed in the "news" of the race. I have no idea why they are not listed in the results section. Perhaps just incompetence. No reason not to post provisional results...

[FVRacer21]

Observations,

Congratulations to Mike, although I would buy lottery tickets tonight.....

1. There are 7 different makes in the first 7 places.
2. Protoform P2 seems to like Daytona, maybe more than the Vortech,
3. For the first time I can remember, there were no Citations or Lazers in the race.
4. How old is Mark Edward's Glamdring?
5. How many gearboxes will go on the shelf for the next Daytona Runoffs? Exhaust systems? Engines?
6. There will probably be no "off season" for the engine builders.....

7. With all the oval, the fastest lap only averaged 90 mph. Lime Rock the average is 93 for the track record in FV - and for the first time, there are no FVs registered as of now for the NARRC Runoffs this coming week....

Any others?

ChrisZ

[BLS]

the fastest lap only averaged 90 mph

Where do you find that information?

Looking at the three segment times, S1 (the infield) is a bit over 1/3 of the lap time. During the pre-race they showed a lap from Laura Hayes car with info displayed. IIRC, there was at least one turn close to 40mph, which would really kill any speed average.

There were only 32 cars entered. Is this a Daytona phenomenon? Not a true road course so the entries were down? I know the entry count was down at Laguna due to the distance. I was expecting 50+ at Daytona.

[Tom Valet]

Is Guy Bellingham ok? He's the Pink & Blue BRD they showed nosed into the wall briefly, looked a bit odd.

I spoke with Jim Kearney this morning, he said Guy is fine and in fact was thrilled with the race despite his crash, he was running really well up to that point.

[Steve Bamford]

Good to hear. Thanks for the update Tom.

[BLS]

Official results are up. Top ten did not change.

http://cdn.growassets.net/user_files...pdf?1443368274

[G.B.]

Is Guy Bellingham ok? He's the Pink & Blue BRD they showed nosed into the wall briefly, looked a bit odd.

Yes, I am okay and thank you all for your concern. The car finished up in no-man’s-land, there really wasn’t a safe place to run to, so with just two laps to go, I stayed in the car. I actually got quite a good view of the finish.

[Agitator]

What a great race. Watched from Turn 1. Bellingham appeared to just coast into the wall, and gave thumbs up to corner workers, otherwise, I think they would have had a FCY. Instead, the race thankfully stayed green and he remained in his car until completion.

Saw Davis and Siebenaler spinning, but it was all too fast to see who hit who. Unfortunate for both, as they were really showing their stuff in the early laps.

A couple of times it looked like MV was going to get away, as he exited the infield with a good lead. He broke deeper than anyone into 1, not wanting to be behind any carnage, it appeared. Everyone up front played cleanly, and it was one heck of a last lap. Varacins is not only a heck of a driver, but an excellent tactician as well.

Not a good week for our team. Isley's borrowed engine just didn't have any oomph. He pulled in after 10 laps. Our other driver, Laura Hayes, drove well, but was mired for much of the race in the second group. She had the lead draft several times, but just couldn't move up. She entered the last lap 8th, but faded to 12th. On a positive note, she recorded the fastest speed trap of the week at just over 127mph.

Lots of rumblings about whether Daytona was a deserving/proper track to hold the Runoffs. It made for some good racing, but also took a lot of mechanical casualties in other classes. It seems that SCCA is interested in getting the race to some "bucket list" tracks, as opposed to putting it in a geographically friendly area or more challenging track. Looking at the "driving" section times, it does appear that driving was more important than some folks estimated. Yes, drafts were huge in all classes, but you consistently see that the top finishers were the cars that were quickest in the technical sections. FV was no exception. Top 3 cars had the top 3 infield times, if my quick glance at the race stats are correct.

SCCA did a pretty good job all-around. One huge gripe was the apparent agreement with Daytona/NASCAR that no corner workers were allowed over the guardrails. It made for some ridiculous full course yellows. In the Spec Racer race, someone lost their rear bodywork in turn 1. There was a good minute after the last car exited 1 before the leaders would come through. Instead it sat there until they threw a FCY and a truck carried a Daytona employee out to pick it up. Same thing in the Vee race. When the car lost the wheel in One, the car could have been pushed by corner workers. Instead, they sent out a wrecker to pull it behind the wall. In the Atlantic race, a car sat on top of another one for a good 7-8 minutes while 4 people stood around doing virtually nothing. There seemed to be no sense of urgency to get the race restarted. I'm all for safety, but there has to be some respect shown for the time/money we spend to get to the Runoffs. It's frustrating to see the race time tick away because Daytona's staff had no vested interest.

James

[budawe]

Good observations Jim. All of the ISC, tracks forbid support vehicles, tow and emergency, on course without a full yellow and pace car. It's an issue at the Glen and Phoenix as well. Plus, these tracks require SCCA use their on track personnel and rigs. That presents a lot of coordination challenges.

The fact that there were few FCY's this year is a credit to all the drivers. Steven and Roger had contact when both tried to occupy the same piece of real estate in turn 1. I hated to see them exit since both were having great weeks.

[Hardingfv32]

...but you consistently see that the top finishers were the cars that were quickest in the technical sections. FV was no exception. Top 3 cars had the top 3 infield times, if my quick glance at the race stats are correct.

The winner was consistently faster in S1 and 2nd place faster in S3 until lap 13-14. At this point being faster in S1 failed to provide a safe lead at start finish. What change was the fact that position 2-5 began to cooperate is S2 and were close enough to use the draft in S3 to challenge for the lead at S/F.

Brian

[Agitator]

Thanks for your insight, Brian. I feel as if I was almost there.

[Matt King]

It's obvious Harding has never seen a motorcycle race at Daytona (they've only been racing there for 50 years after all). Everything we saw in the FV race has been played out hundreds of times on the Daytona road course.

[veefan]

So check this out the SCCA is finally getting smart...


John Steflik wrote 5 hours ago

OnDemand Videos of the 2015 National Championship Runoffs presented by Garmin Virb have started to be placed online for your viewing pleasure - Click on the "Runoffs OnDemand" link at the top of the Runoffs menu on the right of this page. For your convenience, you can also click here

[BLS]

Click on the "Runoffs OnDemand" link

Wow! Good deal SCCA!

[Speed Sport Engineering]

Thank you to all of those who offered their support and kind words. It was a crazy week in Daytona for us as it seemed like something went wrong every session from the start of the first test day. As mentioned in an earlier post, I was trying very hard to get a pole lap, but just came up a bit short. I never was able to get a lap I was happy with in qualifying...either I was draftless up to the bus stop or draftless out of the bus stop on what seemed like every qualifying lap. I thought I had a shot on the last lap of the last session as I was a solid .4 seconds up on my week best into the bus stop with several cars yet in front to draft but it got ugly and my exist was slowed too far. It would have been nice to get the SCCA record tying 7th in a row for the FV publicity, but Roger's lap was just too much.

We did a lot of engine changes over the week, mostly planned but one unplanned. We put the number one engine in for Thursday qualifying with the intent to leave it in for the race, but found a problem with it while adjusting the valves on Friday. I must have left the clearence too loose on an exhaust valve for Thursday as during the session it beat the end of the valve stem to where there was about .040" clearence. So for the race out came that engine and back in went the one we used on Tuesday and Wednesday.

As I said on the podium and post race media interviews, the biggest challenge for me this race was my own mental attitude. Work required a lot of focus this summer, and I really didn't feel like our usual prepared selves. I actually told my dad we are skipping this race as recently as 4 weeks prior to the start. It was him who had the confidence that we were still going to be plenty fast enough and we should go anyway. He convinced me to give it a shot. Loosing both Jim and Bob leading up to the event gave some motivation in hopes of being able to honor them in some way with a win. I like to think they were watching over that race. I would not be anywhere without those three guys - my dad, Jim Wallschlaeger, and Bob Lybarger.

So a big thanks to them and all of those who offered encouragement. I'm looking forward to getting back to focusing more on the racing I love and a good 2016.

Michael Varacins

[Amon]

Mike,

Congrats on your victory and thanks for your behind the scenes story! Sometimes my son and I feel that we're one of the few who go through tough racing times, and it was a great reminder on your part that everyone faces adversity and doubt, but those who press on are rewarded! Again, thanks for the story and congrats on your victory!

Mark

[crypt0zink]

SCCA 2015 Formula Vee Runoffs Race is up:
http://www.scca.com/videos/1972544

[fvee62]

Congratulations to Mike and Al on another well deserved National Championship!