Right Coast Formula F Series Race 3 at Pitt Race

[Joe Marcinski]

Hi,

The third race of the 2017 Right Coast Formula F Series presented by American Pen Company will take place at Pittsburgh International Race Complex in Wampum, PA on July 28, 29 & 30. We will be racing in support of the Formula Race Promotions Pro F1600/F2000/FAtlantic series that weekend. We are hoping that this PIRC event will be able to duplicate or surpass last year’s event when we had our largest field to date when we had 26 entrants.

During the off season, the older portion of the full 2.8-mile circuit has been repaved and this incredibly interesting race track will be even more fun as it is now smoother and faster. Unanimously hailed as a spectacular facility with a track layout rivaling such icons as Road America and Watkins Glen; PIRC [or Pitt Race or whatever you want to refer to it as…] is challenging to drivers of all experience levels as well as a great racing track featuring three or four excellent passing opportunities each lap. Entry details and links along with a weekend schedule can be found on the “Schedule” page of the Right Coast website at www.rcffs.org.

This will be another all formula car race weekend. You will get to see the pro F1600, F2000 and Formula Atlantic series and the Formula Vee drivers of the Challenge Cup Series.

The Right Coast Series drivers will be on track twice each day. On Friday we have two practice sessions. On Saturday morning we will qualify and race the first of three races on Saturday afternoon. The second and third races of the weekend take place on Sunday.

So please enter early and come join us at this great race track for another great weekend of Formula F and Club Formula F only racing.

Thanks,

Joe Marcinski

[Earley Motorsports]

Although I won't be there I highly recommend running with these guys. You will not be disappointed and the amount of track time is spot on. Great drivers and just a great bunch of people. Come on all those who haven't attended a RCFFS race. It is well worth it in every respect.

[PK]

I just looked at the entry list on rcffs.org and was surprised to see my name on it already. I'm planning on coming, but i don't remember registering for this event. Anyone know how I figure out whether I need to do anything to register?

[Bob Wright]

You need to enter the race through FRPentry.com. If this is your first event, you also need to register at FRPLicense.com. Both sites are easy and intuitive. Register for a one-off license so you don't need to upload a headshot or get a hardcard.

[PK]

Thanks, Bob. I did all that for Mid-Ohio a couple weeks ago, so I'm 'in the system'. I was just wondering why the RCFFS entry list showed me on it already.

I'll do the registration through FRP in the next couple days.

[jgaither]

Just did a vintage FF race there this past weekend. Terrific track - interesting, smooth, fast in places, technical in others. Nice facilities. About $9 for 110 gas. Garages available. Paved paddock is huge.

[dgernert]

Thanks, Bob. I did all that for Mid-Ohio a couple weeks ago, so I'm 'in the system'. I was just wondering why the RCFFS entry list showed me on it already.

I'll do the registration through FRP in the next couple days.

Hi PK,

We manually do the entry list that is on the RCFFS site. The list is a combination of those who tell they definitely will be there and those that register on the FRP page. As Bob notes we need to register on the FRP site to make it official. Sorry for any confusion.

Cheers,
Dave Gernert
FF# 8

[bassracer]

Registered. Did entry cost go up since last year? Not complaining, just surprised. Looking forward to high quality track time and racing!

[Joe Marcinski]

Hi Brandon,

Yes, because the FRP races are being sanctioned by USAC rather than SCCA the entry fees have been increased slightly to cover the cost of USAC membership/insurance/etc. which has been folded into the entry rather than having each of us pay for our USAC hard cards seperately.

I hope that helps answer the question.

Joe M.

[bassracer]

Yes, Thanks Joe!

[Dave Harmison]

Not sure if I will make it.

If I do, is there late entry at the track?

Can I just show up and write a check at registration?

Is there an extra charge for late entry?

[Bob Wright]

Show up, we'll make accommodations. Better to register at FRPentry.com and check 'pay at the track'.

[Joe Marcinski]

Hi,

We are four days away from load in at Pittsburgh International Race Complex for race three of the 2017 Right Coast series. The new extension that was opened last year has transformed this facility into a fantastic layout that is rapidly becoming one of the destination tracks in the US. I was at the track yesterday and the new pavement on the older portion of circuit looks terrific.

At this moment it looks like we have 17 firm entrants and another 4 or 5 drivers still on the fence. Please come and join us. The racing at Mid Ohio a few weeks ago was terrific and should be even better at PIRC. We have some of the finest club racers in the Eastern half of the country racing with us. If you are not ready to challenge the up and coming young guns of the Formula Race Promotions F1600 series; come and race with us.

You will also get to see the FRP pro series F1600, F2000 and FAtlantic series as well as the Formula Vee Challenge Cup series. We hope to see you this coming weekend.

Thanks,

Joe Marcinski

[bassracer]

I searched in a past thread that Mid-O gearing was suggested. Does anyone have any other recommendations? I appreciate it!

[Michael Rand]

Brandon,
I think Mid Ohio gearing is the perfect place to start.
I did in 2016 and never changed any ratio.
That said, I was a second plus off Phil Kinghams pace, but I am everywhere so doubt a slight gear ratiochange would make up the difference !
Mike Rand

[PK]

Yup, I just run Mid-Ohio gears. Seems to work ok.

[cgscgs]

I had a dream once about being a second off Phil's pace, but then I woke up.

[aslocum]

Dave and I registered for the race. We're looking forward to seeing everyone. Safe travels.

[Dave Harmison]

Another outstanding event! Joe even arranged great weather.

As usual, Phil put on a demonstration of how to go insanely quick. He turned a 1:48.6 Sunday morning. That's a decent pro lap and he's in a Z10.

If I do say so myself, the best race was the feature Sunday afternoon. I hung with Phil and got it just into the 1:49's until I spun. Then I had an incredible dice with Wayne to barely hang on for second. Wayne and I went side by side through turn 1 three times, both being tough but fair and putting on a show for the fans.

Looking forward to people posting videos.

Once again, thanks to Joe for bringing this group together. We had a bigger field than the pro guys.

[Earley Motorsports]

Yea, lets see the videos.

[problemchild]

Another outstanding event! Joe even arranged great weather.

As usual, Phil put on a demonstration of how to go insanely quick. He turned a 1:48.6 Sunday morning. That's a decent pro lap and he's in a Z10.

Outstanding racing. I wish I got a chance to see more of it. It is getting very close to FZ (as in Formula Zink).

The RCFFS and Challenge Cup guys are definitely doing their part to make FRP events special. I cannot believe that every class group on the eastern half of the US are not banging down Bob's door trying to get on these event schedules.

[EACIII]

Great weekend of racing and not a Miata in sight (well except for my flat tire on Sunday morning - but then I got to watch the racing actions from the outside of 18)

Ed

[MikeR]

Once again a picture perfect weekend for racing. Thanks Joe for organizing a great event. And thanks also to Mike Rand for the beverages and cheesy puffs at the after race gatherings.

After seeing the cameras on the backs of the pace cars, I thought I would try something similar for the Sunday morning race. I pointed the camera rearward off of Phil's car and have some good video of the opening laps of the race. 3 wide heading into turn 1 makes for some exciting racing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BmT...ature=youtu.be

Looking forward to Summit Point.

[Earley Motorsports]

Great video. Thanks for sharing.

[bassracer]

Didn't have the best weekend since there was a T4 guardrail involved, but I was able to finish the weekend thanks to the support and camaraderie of the RCFFs group. Huge thanks to Shane for removing a corner from his car (not spares) and bringing it to me Saturday night. It was fun starting at the back of race 2 and chasing Steve Roux for 4th during the last few laps of Race 3.

Thanks to Joe and Mike and all of those putting in effort behind the scenes as well as during the weekend.

[Earley Motorsports]

Great group to run with.

[dgernert]

Results from the RCFFS race at PIRC are on our web site: http://www.rcffs.org/2017-results.html

Photos to come next...

[Earley Motorsports]

Looking at the times, it looks like there was some close racing. Great fun.

[Joe Marcinski]

Hi,

Finding it a bit difficult to write a race report now that I am (thankfully) actually racing in the series. So, this will be a summary of the results and corporate partner awards from the Right Coast Formula F Series presented by American Pen Company Race 3 at the Pittsburgh International Race Complex. Somehow we had managed to please the weather gods as some incredible rain storms passed through the Pittsburgh area on Friday, but all the bad weather occurred after dark on Friday. The first practice session saw 21 cars take to the track.

At the end of the session it was Phil Kingham in his Zink Z10 Ford turning the fastest time of 1:50.516 followed by Wayne Nicolette in the Lola T340 Ford, Mike Scanlan in his Spectrum Honda, Dave Harmison in the Royale RP21 Ford, Rick Payne in the Rice Racing Reynard 84F Honda, Chuck Horn in the other Driver Services Spectrum Honda, Mike Rand in Gus & Lucy's Crossle 30F Honda, Joel Haas in the Piper Honda, Steve Roux in his self built Wyvern Honda and Doug Fisher rounding out the top 10 in his Zink Z10 Ford. Dave Gernert in the K-Hill Mygale Honda was next, Ed Callo in the Bowman Ford, Chuck VanNostrand in his Zink Z10 Ford, Mike Kelly in his (new to him) Zink Z16 Ford, yours truly in the Royale RP24 Ford, Sam Eyer in his Zink Z10 Ford, Ken Suid in the Driver Services Swift DB6 Honda, Greg Peluso in a Van Dieman RF88 Ford, Angela Slocum in the other Mygale Honda and Brandon Lavender in his VanDieman RF85 Ford in 21st. Brandon was unable to get a time posted as the ignition system had an issue before he could complete a lap.

The second practice took place early Friday afternoon with Phil Kingham once again leading the pack. Generally speaking everyone improved and recorded a better lap compared with session one. The full circuit at PIRC is amazing. This is truly a track that is going to become one of the destination tracks in the Eastern US. The layout provides several really nice passing opportunities and the elevation changes and flowing corners are really challenging. Just a blast to drive! Would be happy to come here several times a season.

The weather held while we had our Friday night social where we had drawings for some of the corporate partner awards. Chuck VanNostrand and Derek Holmes numbers were drawn for the KFP Brake Pad discount certificates provide by Averill Racing Stuff. Sam Eyer's number was pulled for the $50 Pegasus Auto Racing Supplies gift certificate. Angela Slocum & Ed Callo were the lucky winners of the two $25 Pegasus gift certicates. Steve Roux was drawn as the winner of the ANZE Suspension $75 off discount certificate. We also voted to have the final race of the weekend on Sunday afternoon be the trophy/feature race of this meet.

Saturday morning was clear and crisp; many people were wearing sweatshirts (in late July!!!) as the Friday night monsoon brought some relief from high humidity and temperatures. Qualifying saw Phil Kingham record a 1:49.621 to take the pole. Dave Harmison, Brandon Lavender, Wayne Nicolette, and Steve Roux filled out the top five qualifiers. Ed Callo, Mike Rand, Doug Fisher, Mike Kelly and Sam Eyer were 6th thru 10th. Chuck VanNostrand, Greg Peluso, Dave Gernert, me, and Derek Holmes were the next five. Ken Suid, and Angela Slocum rounded out the field of 17 qualifiers. Four of the drivers who practiced with us on Friday were going to focus on the FRP pro F1600 schedule for the remainder of the weekend.

Brandon Lavender had an off and a brush with the Armco at the downhill lefthander at the end of the South Pit Straight. The resulting damage to the left front suspension meant that Brandon wold not be able to start the first race of the weekend on Saturday afternoon. The incident did however, trigger a response which is typical of the drivers in the Right Coast Series. Several other drivers and crew went over to help Brandon get his car repaired. A phone call went out to Shayne Frebert, another Right Coast driver who was not racing this weekend.

Shayne also has an 85 VanDieman and he proceeded to remove the left front suspension from his car, put it in his car and drive from Maryland to PIRC so that Brandon's car could be repaired in time to race on Sunday.

The first race of the weekend saw Phil Kingham (CFF) eventually pull away from Dave Harmison (CFF), Wayne Nicolette (CFF), Steve Roux (FF) and Mike Rand (CFF). Doug Fisher (CFF) led the next five home followed by Greg Peluso (FF), Sam Eyer (CFF), me (CFF) and Chuck VanNostrand (CFF). Ed Callo was eleventh, Ken Suid and Angela Slocum founded out those who were still running at the finish. Mike Kelly had an off in qualifying and was unable to start while he was repairing the car. Dave Gernert had a brake issue and completed only seven laps. Derek Holmes had a clutch issue and completed 11 laps.

The second social of the weekend convened at about 4:30 PM and we awarded our DUFFUS kill stickers to the podium finishers in each class. Doug Fisher was the lucky winner of the Primus Racing gift certificate, Mike Rand won the K-Hill Motorsports discount certificate and mine was the lucky number drawn for the Quicksilver Race Engines $50 discount certificate. Mike Rand and I were able to let the group know that we have been in discussions with Bob Wright of FRP and with FV Challenge Series folks regarding the 2018 race season. We were pleased to report that things are looking very positive for an even better race season next year.

9:00 AM Sunday morning saw us take to the grid for Race 2 of the weekend. Phil Kingham (CFF) led off from the pole. During race 2, Phil recorded an amazing 1:48.610 lap to win from Dave Harmison (CFF), Steve Roux (FF), Mike Rand (CFF) and Sam Eyer (CFF) in the top five. Brandon Lavender was next followed by Doug Fisher, yours truly, Greg Peluso, and Ken Suid. Chuck VanNostrand was 11th with Angela Slocum as the 12th and final finisher. Derek Holmes, Dave Gernert, Wayne Nicolette, Ed Callo and Mike Kelly were unable to finish with various issues.

The final race of the weekend took place early Sunday afternoon. Phil Kingham (CFF) again led from the pole and Dave Harmison (CFF) was able to stay close for a few laps before Phil pulled away a bit. Because I had a mechanical issue I can report that Dave and Wayne Nicolette (CFF) had a hell of race for second. They were nose to tail for the second half of the race and never separated by more than one or two car lengths. Brandon Lavender (FF) was next then Steve Roux (FF) was next followed by Mike Rand (CFF). Ed Callo came from 16th on the grid to finish 7th and earn the Stonebridge Cryogenics Hard Charger award. Doug Fisher (CFF), Greg Peluso (FF) and Dave Gernert (FF) completed the top ten. Sam Eyer (CFF), Chuck VanNostrand (CFF) and Angela Slocum (FF) were the remaining finishers.

Derek Holmes put Shayne Frebert in his Swift, but Shayne was unfortunately only able to complete 3 laps before encountering a mechanical issue earning Shayne one of our Dead Last DUFFUS trophies. My mechanical issue earned me the Williams Racing Developments Hard Fader award for losing the most places from starting position.

It was a really great weekend of racing. It was also another example of how the drivers and crew of Right Coast will go to extreme lengths to make sure we all have a good time and get on the track to race if it is all possible. Shayne's extraordinary generosity in dissembling his own car to bring the parts to another driver have earned him the Spirit of DUFFUS award and one of the very special pens provided by our series sponsor, American Pen Company.

Please come and join us at Summit Point on August 25, 26 & 27 for race four of the 2017 series. Summit is a great race track and you will not find a finer group of people to race with.

Thanks

Joe Marcinski
DUFFUS Prime

[Roux]

Awesome weekend!! Great people, lots of track time and hard and fair competition throughout. I have been watching the in car stuff over and over again, We are all loving that layout at PIRC. so many fun corners to work on over the weekend,

Come on out to summit in a bit less than a month!!

Steve