Indy Practice

[veeracer98]

Any Vees at the practice sessions? Any feed back on track, shift points etc.?

[Hardingfv32]

Times are being posted by SCCA.

The track is said to be boringly simple. I do not think shift points are going to be had to figure out.

But it is Indy with over a 1000 entries… what else matters.

Brian

[nhJohn]

The Vees are in Group 3, with the SRF3's ... ??? really.....

[Steve Davis]

Just finished watching the "live timing" feed from SCCA - first session today (Sunday) ... seems the times are seriously compromised. Vees turning FF/F5 times. I sure hope they get this straightened out before the qualifying starts. Can't imagine how it is happening with transponders.. but it is. Anyone up at the track that knows? The majority of the times are probably legit, but a few either bolted on some JATO PACKS or something is hosed.

At least the "LIVE VIDEO" seems to be working finally. Yesterday the video was about 2 sessions behind.

[Hardingfv32]

A few strange times have been posted everyday. I wonder if one was to look at the FF/F5 times if they would not find a few of them with FV type times. It is like the name/numbers have become miss matched.

Steve… Your are passing on this years event?

Brian

[FVRacer21]

There seem to be some glitches - maybe when people went off or made pit stops - I don't think FV's will be in the 45's.......

I will try and get a hold of John Petillo - must have been some draft to get 112 when others had a hard time with 108:

#	Name	Fast Time	Speed
79	Petillo	01:59.7	112.016
88A	Richardson	02:01.5	111.171
52	Ferguson	01:58.9	110.132
5	Whitston	01:59.9	109.314
2	Abbott	01:58.8	108.709
37	Hearn	01:59.7	108.709
15	Farnham	01:58.9	108.111
12	Whitston	01:59.5	108.111
4	Posner	02:04.4	108.111

(Note the "A" seemed to indicate the regular number laps had issues.....

Hopefully when the groups are separated we will have a better indication.

ChrisZ

[Steve Davis]

Yes.. I'm passing on this years' Runoffs. One of the joys of doing this thing for all these years is having my wife with me - she enjoys it too. I've done my best to keep her happy at the track .. including buying a motorhome. When SCCA tells me I can't have my motorhome and race car/trailer in the same general vicinity .. then *I'M OUT!*. I'm sure there are things that I don't understand, but so there are that SCCA doesn't understand. There is a given amount of space, true, but I cannot see the logic of seemingly creating MORE space by forcing teams to separate their cars from their tow vehicles. I also have come to HATE the new "iconic track" method for the Runoffs. Primarily due to 'EVERY year it's NEW' .. for the track, the competitors and SCCA. NOTHING has been "ironed out" and EVERYTHING is new and untried.. and never seems to work the way it should. Staying away from home at a track for extended periods is tough enough. Adding all the grief from just the simple matter of PARKING just turns me OFF. I expect the same thing for Sonoma and, although I would LOVE to travel out there and run the track, I don't believe I will be able to get answers that suit me enough to warrant it. Sadly (for me), after FORTY years of FV racing, I just MIGHT have already attended my LAST Runoffs.

[problemchild]

The "timing process" is getting confused when cars have the same numbers, as in Richardson(FV88) and Kautz (FF88) or Farnham(FV15) and Ketchie(FF15). Every time Kautz or Ketchie went by, who were trading fast times, Richardson and Farnham's names would show at the top, until the real FV drivers would pass, confuse the system and disappear.

Presumably, it will fix itself in the official sessions that won't have duplicate numbers.

As if it was not confusing enough ......

[Agitator]

Brian, you're not there?? I thought you were building a "Daytona" car...that then became the "Indy" car.

[Hardingfv32]

My driver and project funder has sat out the last three seasons. I do not play if someone does not pay at todays prices. We should be good for 2018. The Daytona became the Indy and now I am not sure with Sears Point up next.

Testing new car at this time. Should be ready for the winter West Coast races. The car had a very successful aero/tuff test so the body is pretty much set. Need some more glass work around the front beam and head surround system…. maybe in the spring. Except for the roll hoop everything is within the frontal area limit including the floor pan. Small driver (hips) required (40 lb of ballast at this time). Everything pretty much enclosed including the rear pushrods. Oil coolers behind the front beam fed through the nose. Rear frame space frame is fully detachable and is made with 1.0"x.060 round tubing.

What is new with you? Changed anything on your car in the last decade or two? You guys are not going to catch Varacins doing the same old thing each year.

Brian

[BLS]

Looks good Brian. Good luck with it.

[Hardingfv32]

Looks terrible… aero dictates the configuration unfortunately. Very short nose and wheel base to get all the length possible in the tail. An easy 10" longer tail than the standard FV.

Brian

[FVRacer21]

Form follows function.

Unless the F1 rules allow unlimited elements in the front wing - in that case you get something out of a Tim Burton nightmare.

PS - If I won the lottery I would pay to see this car on the track, along with that other game changer that seems to sit in a garage in the east....

Chris

[Agitator]

Good looking car, Brian. I honestly hope it competes well. Your hard work and design is apparent.

As for your snide comments: We're here at Indy, not sitting in the garage. My dad retired 15 years ago, and I run a successful non-racing business. Dad makes a few changes when he has time, but he spends 8 months of the year traveling, and my mom is not about to let him toil in the garage for hours like he did for 25+ years. Our car won another divisional championship this year, and Agitators have won over 125 National and Pro races over the years. Not bad for a 40+ year old design. If we had 4 years of non-stop work on our car (like you claim to have) then I'm sure we could come up with something else to throw at it. There's actually a very radical design sitting on the drawing board, but just not the time (or desire) to do it. Alas, it's just not worth it to us at this point in life. Donnie Isley has the car on the fourth row, and if things roll his way, he has a shot at the podium. Varacins appears to be close to untouchable again this year. That's amateur road racing. No hard feelings, just a ton of respect for his program and preparation.