The Golden Part 1 Mid Ohio Race Report
The first half of the Right Coast Formula F Series 50th Anniversary of Formula F in the US celebration events presented by American Pen Company took place at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on June 28, 29 & 30. The weather during all three days was hot and sunny. The drivers of Right Coast tied a weekend attendance record with 27 entries.
The first practice session on Friday morning saw the ranks swell to 32 cars with the addition of five F1600 drivers who were looking for some additional track time to acclimate themselves to the difficult Mid-Ohio circuit. Johnathan Kolyk in a K-Hill Motorsports Mygale Honda topped the chart with a 1:31.034. Next came another F1600 driver, his teammate Bryce Aron in another K-Hill Mygale Honda at 1:31.847. Aryton Ori and Burton Kyle Orton in Mygale Hondas were next followed by RCFFS drivers Rob Dietz and Ray Rivard in their VanDieman Hondas. F1600 driver Alex Scaler in another Mygale Honda was the last driver in the 1:32 bracket.
Right Coast driver Will Velkoff in his VanDieman Honda was the sole driver in the 1:33’s. Sam Lockwood was next in his Spectrum Honda was doing double duty running both F1600 and Right Coast. Phil Kingham in his Zink Z10 Ford CFF, Wayne Nicolette in the Lola T340 Ford CFF, Dave Harmison in his Royale RP21 Ford CFF, Dan Pyanowski in his Crossle 30F Ford CFF, Mike Rand in the Honda powered Crossle 30F and Greg Peluso in a VanDieman Honda FF rounded out the top 15.
Chuck VanNostrand was in great form in his Zink Z10 Ford CFF in 16th, Doug Fisher in the Zink Z10 Ford CFF, Tom Venturino in a Royale RP31 Ford CFF, Michael Neylon in his Zink Z10 Ford CFF and Chip Van Slyke in a Crossle 62F Ford FF was next in 20th.
Joe Marcinski in a Royale RP24 Ford CFF, Graham Earley in his Lotus (JPS like) 61 Ford CFF, Mark Davis in his very interesting highly modified 75 VanDieman Ford FF, Angela Slocum in a K-Hill Mygale Honda FF, Mike Kelly in his Zink Z16 Ford CFF, Chuck Smith in his Tiga 81F Ford CFF, Mark Walthew’s Crossle 45F Ford CFF, Kevin Brumbaugh in his Crossle 35F Honda CFF and Steve Brooks, all the way from Atlanta, in a VanDieman 81F Ford CFF rounded out the field that made the session.
Steve Roux in the Wyvern Honda FF, Brandon Lavender in his VanDieman 85F Ford FF were at the track but did not make the session. Brandon’s weekend has been documented in another thread on ApexSpeed, but he, with the help of Wayne Nicolette, Dan Pyanowski and several other put forth a Herculean effort to get Brandon on track later in the weekend. Sam Eyer and his Zink Z10 Ford CFF were late arrivals and did not make it out at all on Friday.
Lap times and results from all the on-track session can be found on our website at www.rcffs.org.
Friday afternoon’s session was topped by F1600 drivers Alex Scaler, Dexter Czuba, Aryton Ori, Burton Kyle August followed by Right Coast drivers Rob Dietz and Ray Rivard. Next came F1600 drivers Bryce Aron and Josh Green. Will Velkoff was 9th, then Phil Kingham, Dave Harmison, Wayne Nicolette, Steve Roux, Dan Pyanowski, Steve Brooks, Mike Rand, Greg Peluso, Tom Venturino, Chuck VanNostrand, and Mike Kelly in 20th. Kevin Brumbaugh, Doug Fisher, Mike Neylon, Graham Earley, Joe Marcinski, Chip VanSlyke, Angela Slocum, F1600’s Johnathan Kolyk, Mark Davis, Mark Walthew, and Chuck Smith all recorded times. Sam Lockwood took the session off, Brandon Lavender was still working on getting the VanDieman up and running and Sam Eyer arrived after the session was over.
At the Friday evening social we let everyone know that our good friend Bob Melvin, the owner of American Pen Company and a great friend of our series; was not going to be able to attend. We also announced that Sunday’s feature race was being titled “Bob Melvin’s American Pen Company 50th Anniversary of Formula F Race. There have been just a few people that I have met in my life that I have almost instantly liked; Bob is one of those people. He was going to try and make this event, but a bunch of things conspired to prevent that from happening. We are hoping he will be able to make The Golden Part 2 at Road Atlanta in November at the ARRC weekend.
While some beer and snacks were being enjoyed, we held our corporate partner drawings. Steve Roux and Chuck Smith were the lucky winners of a half set of tires generously provided by our great friends at Hoosier Tire. Doug Fisher’s number was drawn for the ANZE Suspension $75 off certificate from Angelo Zarra. Angela Slocum and Mark Walthew were the lucky draws for the KFP Brake pad 25% off certificates provided by Keith Averill. Will Velkoff won the $200 gift certificate from Brad Baytos of Primus Racing. Steve Brooks was the recipient of the $250 off engine service certificate from Sandy at Quicksilver Race Engines.
Saturday morning qualifying went well until the engine in Mike Neylon’s Zink expired and we were all summoned to pit lane while things were being cleaned up. With 7 plus minutes left in the session we were waved back out on the track to finish qualifying. Unfortunately, on the out lap a car left the track and got stuck in a gravel trap in a dangerous position. The session was then checkered almost immediately as the car had to be moved.
Rob Dietz’s FF was on pole at a 1:33.93 then Phil Kingham’s CFF at 1:34.683, Ray Rivard in FF at 1:35.011, Sam Lockwood’s FF at 1:35.377 and Brandon Lavender’s FF in fifth at 135.520. Will Velfoff’s FF, Dave Harmison’s CFF and Wayne Nicolette’s CFF were next in the 1;36’s. Dan Pyanowski’s CFF was alone in the 1:37’s followed by Steve Roux FF, Mike Rand CFF, Steve Brooks CFF, Sam Eyer CFF and Greg Peluso FF all in the 1:38’s. Mike Kelly CFF at 1:39.841, Joe Marcinski and Tom Venturino in CFF’s in the 1;40’s. Chuck VanNostrand, Doug Fisher in CFF’s and Chip VanSlyke FF in the 1:41’s. Kevin Brumbaugh was experiencing overheating and had a clutch slave cylinder issue so he was uncharacteristically slow. Mike Neylon was next but unfortunately the weekend was over for Mike as the engine was terminally damaged. Mark Walthew CFF, Mark Davis FF, Angela Slocum FF, Graham Earley and Chuck Smith’s CFF’s rounded out the field. As I mentioned, it was very, very hot and Mark Davis was also having some problem with high water temps.
I wish we had some pictures of Mark’s car. The work he did on this 75 VanDieman is very impressive. All inboard suspension, nice safety enhancements and stiffening of the frame, nicely done aero bodywork; a really well-done project.
There were quite a few questions of about the start/stop after the black flag, but our Chief Steward Larry Oliver provided the explanation that reinforced his decision. Larry does a superb job for Right Coast and we are very fortunate to have him as our Chief.
It was hotter still when the 16 lap Race 1 of the weekend took the green flag. My in-race reporting is really limited to what I could see as I was a bit busy myself. Hopefully, some other Right Coast drivers will add their accounts of the race.
Early in the race, after my usual terrible start, I was doing my best to hang on to the back of group that included Wayne Nicolette, Mike Rand, Mike Kelly, Greg Peluso, Steve Roux, Sam Eyer, Tom Venturino, and Doug Fisher. Several laps in, Tom had a moment in the Carousel, and this caused Doug and I to have to slow and we lost the rest of the group. The remainder of the race was an enjoyable tussle between Doug and I which Doug later pointed out that was much the same as we had 40 (yep four decades) ago. Kevin Brumbaugh chose not to start while he worked to resolve the clutch and temp issues. Brandon Lavender had some minor contact up front and pulled in after 6 laps to check and make sure all was well with the suspension. Steve Brooks had a carburetor issue right from the start, dropped back and only did 2 laps.
Rob Dietz was able to pull away to win with a comfortable cushion over Will Velkoff, Ray Rivard, Sam Lockwood, Phil Kingham and Wayne Nicolette. It is my understanding that second through sixth changed pretty much every lap. Steve Roux, Mike Kelly, Dan Pyanowski, Greg Peluso, and Mike Rand were next; again, with some pretty good dicing according to what I heard after the race. Sam Eyer was next a bit further back and some distance ahead of me (Joe Marcinski) and Doug Fisher. Chuck VanNostrand, Tom Venturino, Chip VanSlyke, Angela Slocum, Graham Earley, Mark Davis and Mark Walthew finished in that order. Dave Harmison was next, but I am not sure why Dave was so far back; then Chuck Smith was the last running car.
Our Saturday evening social was a great time. Thanks to Mr. Melvin and American Pen Company; we had pizza party for all. We presented our unique horses posterior kill stickers for podium finishers Rob Dietz, Will Velkoff and Ray Rivard in FF and Phil Kingham, Wayne Nicolette and Mike Kelly in CFF. The group hung around for quite some time and put a pretty good dent in the very large cooler of liquid refreshments. Lot’s of Formula Ford stories from longer back than many of us would like to admit were related. After the party broke up and darkness descended; those of us left in the paddock were treated to a nice fireworks display put on by on the nearby towns. On another note, Mid-Ohio has addressed some creature comfort issues by completely rebuilding the restrooms and showers in the infield near the track operations facility. They did a really nice job with individual shower stalls, much nicer sinks and toilets; a real step up from previous years.
On Sunday morning 26 cars took the green flag for the 16 lap Race 2. Mike Kelly’s chronic back problems acted up and he put Derek Holmes in the Z16 for Sunday’s races. Derek left grid in 26th place. Phil Kingham retired his Zink after 4 laps with a misfire problem. Kevin Brumbaugh brought the Crossle in at the same time as it was still overheating, and he did not wish to do any further damage. Doug Fisher and I also retired after 4 laps. I don’t recall what Doug’s issue was, but my brake pedal had gone spongy and quite frankly I was already pretty tired. Dan Pyanowski pulled in after 7 laps, but I don’t know why. Steve Brooks only managed 12 laps as his carburetor issues worsened. Kevin and Steve unfortunately put the cars in the trailer and did not start the feature race.
Rob Dietz won again followed by Ray Rivard and Brandon Lavender, Sam Lockwood and Will Velkoff as the top five. Wayne Nicolette was the CFF winner in sixth with Dave Harmison, Steve Roux, Greg Peluso and Sam Eyer with a really nice drive to 10th. Derek Holmes was next in 11th up from last on the grid in a really good drive. Chuck VanNostrand, Chip VanSlyke, Angela Slocum and Mark Davis completed the top 15. Mark Walthew, Graham Earley, Tom Venturino, and Chuck Smith were the final runners. Mike Rand had come in after 14 laps with a stuck throttle which quickly diagnosed and corrected.
The feature race, Bob Melvin’s American Pen Company 50th Anniversary of Formula F in the US was set for 18 laps on Sunday afternoon. With Steve Brooks and Kevin Brumbaugh unable to make the race we were down to 24 starters until Bryce Aron, an F1600 driver, let us know he would like to race with us. Bryce took up his place in 25th and last on the grid.
Up front, I am told that Dietz, Rivard, Velkoff, Lavender, Lockwood and Kingham were having a really good time for the lead. Harmison, Nicolette, Rand, Pyanowski, Roux, Peluso and Sam Eyer where also having a great dice. My goal for the race was to try and hang on to that second group. That seemed to be working OK for the first three laps and then Derek Holmes had a moment in the Carousel in front of Doug Fisher and I and that put a pretty big gap between me and Sam. After a couple of laps, I realized I was not going to be able to get back to the group. With the brake pedal still being a bit spongy and me being pretty fatigued; I decided to pull in.
Chuck VanNostrand, Chip VanSlyke and Doug began a really good fight that lasted for the rest of the race. Mark Walthew, Graham Earley and Mark Davis also had a great dice for the remainder of the race. Brandon Lavender pulled in after 10 laps with an engine issue. Mechanically, Brandon had a pretty tough weekend, but when that car ran right; he was right there at the front, very impressive. Tom Venturino retired after 11 laps.
While all that was going on Bryce Aron was making his way forward in the K-Hill Motorsport Mygale Honda. In another very impressive drive, the young man made it all the way to front and won the race. Bryce was followed home by Ray Rivard FF, Rob Dietz FF, Will Velkoff FF and Sam Lockwood FF in fifth. Next was Phi Kingham first in CFF in sixth overall, Dave Harmison CFF, Wayne Nicolette CFF, Mike Rand CFF and Dan Pyanowski CFF in tenth. Then Steve Roux FF, Greg Peluso FF, Sam Eyer CFF, Chip VanSlyke FF and Chuck VanNostrand CFF in 15th. Doug Fisher CFF in 16th, Angela Slocum FF, Mark Walthew CFF, Graham Earley CFF and Mark Davis FF in 20th. Chuck Smith CFF and Derek Holmes CFF were the final two running at the finish. Tom Venturino CFF 23rd, Brandon Lavender FF 24th and Joe Marcinski CFF 25th rounded out the results.
Mark Walthew was the Stonebridge Cryogenics Hard Charger winner having gained 5 places from his starting spot. Brandon Lavender was the Williams Racing Developments Hard Fader award winner having lost 24 places due to his mechanical issue.
The trophy presentation for Bob Melvin’s American Pen Company 50th Anniversary of Formula F in the US (quite a mouthful) was held shortly after the race. Please check out the photos of the trophy winners at www.rcffs.org. The trophies were not our usual/unique $7 horse's behind statue; we had some very nice crystal cups made up with the 50th Anniversary logo engraved in them.
We would like to thank all the drivers, crew, friends and family members who came to Mid-Ohio to help us with this celebration. We are looking forward to an even bigger celebration in November at Road Atlanta for The Golden Part 2. Please come and race with us.
Joe Marcinski
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