Right Coast Race Report from Mid Ohio
Hi,
The official race results can be found on the Right Coast website at http://www.rcffs.org/results.html.
The second race weekend of the 2016 Right Coast series presented by American Pen Company was held at the Mid Ohio Sports Car Course in conjunction with the Pro F1600/F2000/FAtlantic Series presented by Formula Race promotions on July 1, 2 & 3.
The weather started off a bit iffy with showers on Friday morning which resulted in most drivers giving the first session of the day a pass and not taking advantage of the first 30-minute practice. The few drivers who did venture out found themselves experiencing first-hand the remarkable lack of grip offered up by the wet Mid Ohio racing surface.
The weather took a turn for the better later Friday morning and remained spectacular for the entire weekend. We had somehow managed to placate the weather gods and it was sunny with low humidity for the remainder of the weekend; just perfect for racing over the Independence Day weekend.
7 days before load in we were looking at a field of 20 FF, CF & HF drivers, but as the load in day got closer we lost a few cars. Sadly, a death in the family kept Steve Roux from participating and as Steve and Tom Venturino use the same trailer to tow both cars we came up two cars shorter. Will Velkoff had some last minute engine drama and Al Cantrell thought it would be better to help Derek Holmes sort out the new SCCA spec radials so we came up short of our 20 car goal for the weekend.
Honestly, we were very disappointed that more SCCA drivers who are aiming for the Runoffs in September did not join us this weekend. It was a perfect opportunity to race on the same course layout as that being used for the National Championship race, but only one of the favorites for the Runoffs title chose to race with us.
Happily, on a very positive note, we were joined by June Sprints winner Andy Melvin who was going to do double duty and race with both Right Coast and Pro F1600. Andy and Reid Hazelton are responsible for the day to day operation of American Pen Company and it was an absolute pleasure having one of the two presenting sponsor principles racing with us. Dan Pyanowski was originally scheduled to race with Pro F1600. Dan unfortunately missed a few F1600 sessions with some nagging driveline issues, so he decided to race with us to help sort things out.
We were also joined by our first Historic Ford pilot, Graham Earley. Graham turned up with a “Honey I Shrunk the Lotus 72” version of the Lotus 61. Graham’s 61 was turned out in the black & gold John Player Special colors and even had side mounted radiators with custom covers that made the car look just like a smaller version of Emmo’s 1972 world championship winning car.
After the open practice sessions on Friday we held the first of two evening socials. As we had all the drivers sign the series posters that we present to the class winners of the final race of the weekend; we also had the drivers place their car numbers in a hat for the award drawings. We then had Becca Kingham, the Right Coast trophy princess, draw for the ANZE Suspension award which went to Doug Fisher and the CCE Composite bodywork award which went to Wayne Nicolette. Wayne is going to try and convince Steve Maxwell of CCE to make a mold so we can all buy carbon fiber versions of the famous Lola 340 series snorkel air box. I can say for sure that if Steve builds it; I will be the first in line to buy one.
Saturday morning qualifying saw Andy Melvin in the VanDieman Honda FF take the pole, closely followed by Phil Kingham in his Zink Z10 CF & Reilly Harris in his Gemini CF. Race 1 on Saturday afternoon saw 14 cars take the green flag for an absolute barn burner. Andy Melvin led Phil & Reilly with the two Club Fords changing places several times each lap. Andy was having some Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid moments because each time he looked in his mirror; he would see one of the Club Fords right on his gearbox. I am told that Andy keyed the radio an inquired as to “who are those guys?”.
Dan Pyanowski in his VanDieman Honda FF started dead last and rapidly worked his way up to fourth overall. A newcomer to the series, Brandon Lavender in an immaculately turned out RF85 VanDieman FF began to find his way around the Mid Ohio circuit and would eventually finish 5th overall. Mike Rand in his Crossle’ 30F Honda CF and Wayne Nicolette in his Lola T340 CF had a whale of a battle changing places back and forth for pretty much the entire race. Dave Harmison in his Royale RP21 CF started off very strongly, only to fall victim to a stripped second gear and an unfortunate DNF.
It seems as though everyone had someone to race with for some considerable portion of the race. In a battle of the Chuck’s; Chuck VanNostrand in a Zink Z10 & Chuck Smith in his Tiga CF battled back and forth to the entire race with Chuck V finishing just a couple of car lengths in front of Chuck S. Graham Earley brought up the rear with a steady drive in his Dunlop trod Lotus 61 HF.
At the checker is was Andy Melvin winning just .636 seconds in front of Phil Kingham and Reilly Harris who both lapped under the official Club Ford lap record with Phil recording a 1:31.74 and Reilly just behind with 1:32.07. Dan Pyanowski FF, Brandon Lavender FF, Mike Rand CF, Wayne Nicolette CF, Kevin Brumbaugh FF, Dave Petzko FF and Derek Holmes FF completed the top 10.
On Saturday evening we had our second beer party of the weekend. Becca Kingham again pulled some numbers out of the hat and the Primus Racing Parts award went to Dave Harmison and the Quicksilver Race Engines award was won by Chuck VanNostrand. Unfortunately, no one hurled in their helmet so we did not have a Spirit of DUFFUS award presentation and yes; Ed Callo was sorely missed this weekend.
And, I almost forgot about the coolest thing we were able to present to one of our drivers. An anonymous donor gave Right Coast a brand new sticker set of Hoosier rain tires. So, we had Becca reach into the hat and pull out the number 84 which ment that Dave Petzko now has a new set of rain tires. We have some really cool people who are not only watching what we are doing, but giving us things to give to our drivers to thank them for racing with us.
Just before race 2 of the weekend on Sunday morning, Andy Melvin let me know that he was only planning on doing 5 to 8 laps to sort out a new setup for the F1600 race. Andy said he would then just pull into the pits. The race began right where they left off on Saturday with Andy leading Reilly and Phil all nose to tail. After a couple of laps, Andy moved over and let Phil and Reilly by and then tucked in right behind them. Lap 5 came and went. As did laps 6 & 7. After lap 8 Andy’s dad Bob came over and told me that when Andy was called to come in he asked if he could “please stay out here, this is the most fun I have had in long time and I want to watch these guys race”. Bob explained that Andy would be disciplined later for defying team orders………………………………..
Phil and Reilly swapped places many times with Andy right there watching the race. I believe that it was on lap 2 when Brandon Lavender, running in fourth overall, had a big moment right in Turn 1 front of the rest of the field. Some pacemakers kicked in and some underwear was rendered unfit for wear, but everyone managed to miss Brandon. Dan Pyanowski, Kevin Brumbaugh, Wayne Nicolette & Mike Rand went at it for a while before Dan pulled away a bit. Brandon recovered nicely and eventually worked his way up to 5th overall and third in FF with a very nice drive.
Unfortunately, Dave Harmison lost a CV joint which would eventually end his weekend. Dave is one of the best CF drivers there is and was really a shame that some mechanical ills impacted his weekend. Dave Petzko and Doug Fisher had somewhat lonely races as they focused on trying to get faster. The Chuck’s, Smith & VanNostrand picked up where they left off on Saturday and had a nice race long dice. Graham Earley again lapped steadily in the HF Lotus.
Race 2 ended with Phil Kingham first overall and first in CF, Reilly Harris 2nd overall & CF, Andy Melvin 3rd overall & 1st in FF. Dan Pyanowski was 4th overall & 2nd in FF followed by Brandon Lavender 5th overall and 3rd in FF with a nice recovery from that lap 2 spin in Turn 1. Kevin Brumbaugh was 6th overall & 4th in FF with Mike Rand 7th overall & 3rd in CF. Wayne Nicolette CF, Dave Petzko FF and Derek Holmes FF rounded out the top 10.
I have to apologize to the drivers and crews as there was a problem with race distance/race time. In our (me and Larry Oliver, the Chief Steward) desire to give the drivers as much track time as possible we tried to make the most of the 25-minute race time/30-minute total available time window that FRP provided for us. After this race we realized that no good deed goes unpunished as race two was one lap longer than race one on Saturday. This did cause some confusion and consternation.
As a result, we have decided to define a specific number of laps for all the subsequent races/weekends the we will be doing with FRP. After qualifying we will do a calculation to determine how many laps could be expected in a 25-minute run. The races with then be described as XX laps or 25 minutes, whichever occurs first. We did this for race three of the Mid Ohio weekend so that the drivers and teams could decide what their fuel strategy could be and to provide the drivers with a “hard” stop or last lap notification so that the driver/team can decide on a last lap strategy.
The final 17 lap race of the weekend saw Reilly Harris lead Phil Kingham to the green flag. Andy Melvin chose not to start (so that he, Bob & JD could get a head start on their 2200-mile trip home). Reilly & Phil went at it until lap 6 when Reilly had a spin on the backside of the course and had to retire with a broken header. Dan Pyanowski and Brandon Lavender raced closely for a few laps until Dan pulled away.
Brandon, Wayne Nicolette and Kevin Brumbaugh had a nice race for a while until Brandon and Wayne pulled away a bit and ran in close proximity right up to race end. The final order was Phil Kingham CF, Dan Pyanowski FF, Brandon Lavender FF, Wayne Nicolette CF, Kevin Brumbaugh FF, Mike Rand CF, Derek Holmes FF, Dave Petzko FF, Doug Fisher CF, Chuck VanNostrand CF, Chuck Smith CF and Graham Earley HF.
The remaining corporate partner awards tally for the weekend went as follows:
American Pen Company Fastest Lap of the Weekend Award: Phil Kingham
American Pen Company Formula F Last Race of the Weekend Winner: Dan Pyanowski
American Pen Company Historic Ford Last Race of the Weekend Winner: Graham Earley
American Pen Company Most Promising New Driver to the Series Award: Brandon Lavender
Stonebridge Cryogenics Hard Charger Award: Wayne Nicolette
Williams Racing Developments Hard Fader Award: Reilly Harris
So now we look forward to Weekend #3 at Pittsburgh International Race Complex on August 5, 6 & 7. Please come and join us for another weekend with the Pro F1600/F2000/FAtlantic series and the GT cars of NARRA. It promises to be another great weekend on the very interesting PIRC long course.
Joe Marcinski
DUFFUS Prime
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