Road Atlanta FB Winner

[RussMcB]

Not a new, swoopy car!

Sean drove a great race, running the first few laps in third place, close behind the two Stohrs. After a few laps, Sean got ahead and pulled away, turning many laps in the 1:25's.

That red car pictured behind Sean in the impound line was the (Swift? Ralt?) CSR of famous race car driver Jim Downing, who also finished behind Sean on the track. There were quite a few fast cars that finished behind Sean.

Impressive and fun to watch.

[Frank Varano]

wow even though I don't race F1000, I am considering it in the future. Its good to see something built in a garage go out and beat the big guys, and by 19 sec. none the less. What drive!!! Congrats Sean.

[rcrockett69]

Congrats Sean. Nothing can substitute great driving in the end.

[Lee Stohr]

Congratulations Sean !
FB is shaping up to be a great class.

[Stan Clayton]

So Sean, what were ya doin'...sandbaggin' in qualifying?

Just kidding...and congrats! I agree with Lee that FB is shaping up to be a great class!

[JByers]

I suspect his next project will be quite a jump from his current steed.

Good job Sean, how about that video?

[carnut169]

Thanks fellas. Would not have been possible without the help of Comprent, Jim, Mike, and many others. Maybe it was just my new Averill wing? It is very satisfying when a lot of hard work turns into a grand finish.
Tom & Ken were gracious competitors... class acts. They were screaming fast until their tires went out. I also believe the wider wheels and swoopy bodywork could have been a handycap at Road Atlanta.
My car ran great. Stuck to the new Road Atlanta pavement like glue.... I may have even figured out the monoshock! A couple of adjustments following qualifying to reduce a push that ate my R25 left front and a new set of R35 fronts... hold on.
I'm sure I will have more to say once I've come down from my current high...

video is being uploaded to a server as I type...

[glenn cooper]

Damn, I knew I shoulda went back up to the track today. Maybe it's better that I didn't - probably would be hoarse from all the screaming!
Congrats, GC

[Stan Clayton]

Sean, how about a linky to the vid?

[sidney]

Congrats Sean! All you guys with conversions in the works, it can be done! Put the hammer down and get moving. Awsome to see the car at half the price finish first. Conragts again. I haven't seen odds in Vegas on the AARC, but I'd guess Sean is out front!

[preform resources]

Sean, I hope you turned that camera around to get a picture of the Stohrs, good job, excellent result!

[Mike Allison]

Fine job Sean. I've been silently following your efforts. Great job...one for the privateer.

Mike Allison

[carnut169]

Here is the video recorded w/ a Chase Cam. Of course to be able to upload it the quality has been turned down... the system is awesome. I did get some junk on the lens cover also... (go ahead, say it... I suck at starts!!)

Part 1...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mybtqL9IHo

[carnut169]

and part 2, the end of the race:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SRPCZuf3Vk

[Purple Frog]

Where does one start to tell this story?

Some kid writes into Apexspeed (back then... F2000.com) and asks if it's a good idea to sell his street Porsche and buy an old dust covered FC car that had been in storage for a few years...

Same kid a few years later does a reverse full gainer in the car at T7 at Road Atlanta (Chinese judge did score it a 7.9) nearly destroying the car.

Same kid does win the first ever FC race at Barber. Gets quicker and quicker. Becomes one of the best advisors on Apexspeed.

He works and works and get smarter and smarter, finally smart enough to realize a 96 VD isn't going to beat the modern FC chassis.

"Maybe if I put a motorcycle engine in it, I could at least be able to race with the fast FC cars and have fun." , he says.

He goes to the '05 Runoffs as a spectator and seriously eyes Jeremy's Photon. "Yes, I'm going to do it."

So he sets off to convert a monoshock 96 VD into an 1000cc mc powered car. Along the way he is one of the strongest voices pushing for a new class and is an active member of the rules writing team that submits a winning proposal to SCCA. Mr. F1000.

He keeps building, testing, and rebuilding. A showcar quality project results.

And so the story goes....

Testing at Road Atlanta on Friday was problematic for all. A rather large run group (60+), created way too many "black all" conditions, making it hard to get in many laps at all, much less any clean ones. The track seemed to be faster with the new pavement, and not tough on tires. Sean was going a bit faster than his effort at the '06 ARRC, but not setting the world on fire.

The weather was tourist perfect, but warmer than racers like best. It was obvious that the Saturday morning qualifier was important, for the new black track would be real hot in the afternoon. The afternoon would be a writeoff... or so we thought.

Sean went out Saturday morning on 6"/8" FC tires, Hoosier r25. He turned a 1:27.48, faster than he had ever been. He was happy. The Stohrs were a tic quicker with Ken Tyrrell at 1:26.139 and Tom Shelton at 1:26.305. Only one car (Kevin Allen's DSR) was wedged in the FB field. Sean would be able to at least see the competition... we hoped.

After the morning Qualifier Sean could see that the r25 fronts were giving up the ghost, no way they would be able to last 18 laps in the hotter Sunday race. So he scooted down to see Rodney at Applachian Race Tire and returned with a r35 fronts.

Then in the afternoon qualifier he just went out for a few laps to scuff them. And decided to stay with the r25 rears that were (?) cycles old at that point.

Later in the afternoon Sean started looking at his in car videos (which OBTW, are the sharpest I've ever seen. Great detail.) and noticed quite a few places he wasn't using all the track.

Then in typical Sean fashion he put the car on the setup pad and went all through it again, adding a bit more rake and trimming out a bit more wing.

He was running a new Averill single element wing on the front since wiping out a previous setup at the ARRC. A Gyrodynamics diffuser underneath. In the rear he had an old "low speed" VD element that Kevin at Comprent was teasing him about. While we are talking about Kevin... The Comprent folks did a bang up job on fabricating the latest rear suspension revision to Sean's car. I think Kevin was as happy as anybody at the track to see Sean running so well.

Sean skipped the Sunday morning hardship warmup. He was so nervous all through the lunch/quiet 2.5 hours. Afterall... he has given us a few laughs over the years in either the warmup/pace lap, or the first lap of a race. I think I was even getting nervous.

Rossella, the world's fastest FC starter was poised close behind. Sean didn't need too many squeazing in between him and the front running Stohrs. He needed first to start, then have a good start, and then to still be in contact after a few laps.

I left all my race notes in Sean's trailer, but it went something like this...

Sean 'blew' the start (but at least he didn't spin on the pace lap), then compounded it by getting trapped on the outside going into T1. Adious Stohrs. By T3 Sean was about 4 places back. By the end of the first lap he was about 2 places back. The second lap (or third ?) he turned a 26! Who let the dogs out! He was on the chase. Meanwhile ahead Tom Shelton was seriously chasing Ken Tyrrell. Lap 3 Sean is one back. Lap 4, Sean passes Tom. Beginning of lap 5 Sean passes Ken into T1. Somewhere in that sequence he has already turned his first of about 5 sub-26 laps. From that point on Sean grew the lead by at least a second per lap.

OBTW, Sean didn't have any radios on board. He's flying and now has his eyes trained on Ben johnston in a Swift 014. And Sean had been saying, "If only I could run with the good FCs.." So much for FCs. We are trying to get him to cool it and make sure he finishes. Maybe it's a good thing he didn't have radios. Even on Lap 16, when even he admits he knew the Stohrs were out of sight in his mirrors, he throws down another sub 26.

Finally for his nervous fan club they throw the checker, and it's in the books. Whew! we can breathe again.

What Sean had discovered was that he could carry much more speed through T3, T7, and T10A by using the hell out of the curbs. And the old monoshock seemed to love it. Give Sean credit though, he has done a lot of monoshock homework of late.

In impound Sean's tires showed almost no sign of abrasion, nor over heating. Not so for the the Stohrs on GY 160 'wide' tires. Ken's left front had obvious blisters. The inside 3 " of the Stohr rears were heavy abraided. Both Ken and Tom reported the cars had quickly become a handful. They appeared to be loose in T1 and pushing in the slower stuff. There was a mention that they were not using the curbs for fear the lower bodywork on the design would cause problems.

Sean had already discovered on the Saturday morning session that a trimmed out car on 6s/8s was a bunch faster on the straights. And Ken vouched for it after the race. Sean reports that the 8s/10s may be the choice for a super hot, low speed track, but not Daytona, RRR, nor Atlanta.

Tom Shelton, who I have met many times in the past was as usual a great sport and wonderful gentleman all weekend. Tom is a fierce competitior, who keeps advancing his already advanced skill set. If I ever win the lotto, he's going to be one of the first I visit... I have a weakness for Italian cars. Class act.

The unknown going into the weekend was Ken Tyrrell. He turned out to be a great addition to club racing and especially FB. Ken saw the FB class potential early on and was one of the first ever Stohr F1000 buyers. Ken is basically a rookie still to car racing, but he has raced Road Atlanta before on a motorcycle! To turn 26s on his first outing at Road Atlanta shows just how good he is. I think we are going to hear a lot more good things about this Tallahassee businessman and his silver Stohr this year and beyond. It was great to see his wife and kids cheering him on.

Both Tom and Ken were supported by the great guys at 10/Tenths... Bill, Craig, Dad, and their whole gang.

GY doesn't make a 250 in the size the Stohrs needed yesterday, and there was some hesitation to go crazy and attempt 430s, so they soldiered on with the 160s they had.

OBTW, about the conventional wisdom that the track would slow down in the hot afternoon sun on Saturday...20 out of 37 cars went faster in the afternoon. (no FBs went faster though)

"If it were easy, everybody would be doing it." Sean has definitely paid his dues, done his homework, and earned this sweet victory.

It is going to be one heck of a class! But then, Sean knew that all along.

[P. Howarth]

I watched part 2.
It is really fun to watch this stuff. Thanks for sharing!

I couldn't find part 1. YouTube said it wasn't there.
I can't wait to see it.

[Purple Frog]

the first lap of the video is a sub 26.
Then he stunk up a few laps (26s and 27s)
The next to the last lap is a sub 26.
The car he is chasing the first half of the video is an 014.
The green car that passes him is Keith Grant 014A (1:20.1)

Notice how he walked the leading VD (orange car on back straight) No more worrying about FMs being a bother on the straight.

Sean, you are worse than me. Showing the whole world how to do it. I should kick your butt.

OBTW, Watching that clip...I think there is more there Sean!

Notice how nice the front tires look even at the end, and in Russ' photgraph at the beginning of the thread.

[Nicholas Belling]

It sure is great when you accomplish something like you have with so many people watching...

Look forward to hear about your next race results..

do you have a website where you update aside from apexspeed.

[Stan Clayton]

Wow, awesome video from Sean and terrific write-up from Froggy...thanks!

Sean probably knows that part 1 needs reloading. I used YouTube's search function to try to find it, but to no avail.

I kept flipping back and forth from Mike's write-up to the video. Now I'm all fired up and the next race is a month away.

Watching the video, the thought strikes me that if we turned these cars loose with a DSR-spec engine they could run heads-up in Atlantics.

Don't shoot me, I'm just saying what you all are thinking...

Stan

[kea]

Congratulations Sean.
Keith

[10/TENTHS]

A big congrats to Sean for an excellent showing at Road Atlanta. The FB class is definetely growing and will be a lot of fun for everyone getting involved.

Ken Tyrrell and Tom Shelton drove great all weekend and avoided all the incidents on the test day. Ken had a spectacular weekend for his second time in an F1000 and first National as well as first time on the track in this configuration. Way to go Ken!

Both drivers tested on the 160's that were available and with at least one black flag every test session we didn't get to see what would happen across a long run. The Stohr F1000's were hooked up and fast early on, but the higher than usual temps (record high) for this time of year combined with the new surface was too much for their rubber which gave up the fight quickly. The team is anxious to see what the cars will do on the right tires.

Bill Vogeley
Stohr Cars North America

[smsazzy]

Great Video!!!!

I use a chasecam unit, and it works great. Although, as you said, uploading is a bit of a problem resolution wise....

[GR]

Sean "O"........ ROCKS!!!

[JEREMY HILL]

congats on your big win, i can't wait to join you with my 'conversion' this will provide the inspiration i need! cheers, jeremy hill

[Dave Welsh]

Sean

Great win!

The lap chart makes this accomplishment look even better.

http://www.mylaps.com/results/newLapchart.jsp?id=488897

[Mike B]

Sean,
You're killing me! Please reload part 1 so I can see the start!

[carnut169]

I'm working on uploading it now. It was just too long. You will miss the pass on Ken but the video cuts out just before it so its easy to see it comming. You will also see why I might not want you to see the start!

[carnut169]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFTolGjlqXc


Its a large file so you might have to let it load (hit pause) and watch later...

[VD27]

Sean, good job, this is just more motivation to join the F1000 elite. I saw both videos, they are exciting. I am a college student stuck doing homework, and watching those videos was the best thing I've done all day. Thanks! I am still in an FC but I am planning to convert and join you soon.

[Mike B]

Now THAT'S what I'm talking about! Thanks, Sean.

Back out to the garage to work on the conversion...

[Stan Clayton]

I was really enjoying the video, Sean, and then YouTube screwed it up by overlaying some long-haired-hippie-type-pinko-commie-grunge-music, and I could no longer hear your shift points. What a drag...maybe you can get them to fix it?

Thanks! Stan

[carnut169]

Hey Stan... FB is supposed to attract karters. You know, young guys who would apprieciate a little 311 mixed in. Name of the song is "Sweet", and when I got by that last DSR with nothing between me and the Stohrs, thats how it felt. You can still hear the shift points!

[billwald]

Congrats to you on your win at RA Sean! Very nice job.

bill

[Stan Clayton]

Hehehe...like the t-shirt says, "If the music's too loud, you're too old!"

[Brandon Dixon]

I enjoyed watching the videos as well, this kind of thing motivates me to go out to the shop and work a little harder!

One thing that I noticed was a relative lack of "carnage". Other than some dust at 7 I didn't see any indications of off track incidents. I didn't even notice any local yellows. Was the race that clean, and if so good job everybody!

Brandon Dixon
Citation F1000 (in progress)

[Wren]

great videos.

congratulations on the win.

Old 311 is still good music. You had that song going through my head all night last night.

[smsazzy]

Is it just me, and my lack of experience with Motorcycle engines, or does that engine just about drop to idle everytime it downshifts? Sounds odd?????

[carnut169]

mic is up front in the recorder...

[anthonywill3]

nice drive Sean..
what camera mount are you using?

[andyllc]

Is it just me, and my lack of experience with Motorcycle engines, or does that engine just about drop to idle everytime it downshifts? Sounds odd?????

I was thinking the same thing. I have had engines want to die on me before under hard braking so it could be that or possibly not blipping on the downshifts? Even with a sequential box the shifts should be blipped but I agree I was a bit confused too.