FB at the sprints

[Richard Dziak]

Thanks Lee for the excellent updates.......and George Dean.

Should be interesting to see the final times.

[RussMcB]

Thanks, Lee. Please thank George for us, too.

[billwald]

Congrats Coop and to all the FB drivers and crews!

Thanks for the updates Lee.

[Lee Stohr]

George was standing with Justin Pritchard most of the race, he says the Coop sure pulled eveyone on the straights.

[Lee Stohr]

George is heading for the podium to hand out some F1000 series awards.
I'll talk to him later.

Don't know anything about FE, don't care.

[cooleyjb]

Results

http://scca.com/documents/resultfile...p3-PrvRace.pdf

[VehDyn]

Can't wait to see the video!!! Congrats to Coop as the man to shoot for in FB. Great job by the Phoenix crew and Mark. How about Stecher? I bet the Alabama boys are glad they made the trip. Great outing. Great job by Kyle on the fastest lap. 2:12.04.

Have safe trips home.

[Lee Stohr]

Mark usually has an in-car camera. Maybe he'll upload it in a few days ?
Pretty cool to see a class of fast, great sounding race cars, with 4 different manufacturers all competitive at the biggest amatuer roadrace of the year ! I'm sure Citation and others will be fighting for the front row soon as well.

[Richard Dziak]

Congratulations to Glenn Cooper, Mark Jaremko and John Stecher for a great race and building excitement for the class. It is awesome to see what a person who is dedicated to racing can do converting a FC to FB. Cooper raced against the finest built purpose built cars in the world and brought home the victory. Many of us were hoping to watch the live timing, but it down right before race time for the FBs.

Congratulations to Mark Jaremko and Dustin Wright (Team Phoenix) on their 2nd place finish in the new Phoenix F1k.09. I know that Dustin Wright has dedicated an emense amount of time to get this car out on the track. Their is no doubt that Phoenix Race Works produced one great car.

The upcoming ARRC race should be fantastic, and certainly Glenn Cooper has emerged as the FB racer of the year.

Can't wait to see video and an analysis from the drivers.

Thanks to Lee Stohr and George Dean for the up to the minute results towards the end of the race via ApexSpeed.

[Brands]

Well Done Cooper Senior!

[Wren]

Coop had the field covered pretty well. Kyle lost a seal and blew his engine.

We had a wheel so out of round that things were just vibrating off of the car. Brandon ran the last half of the race with bodywork coming off and blocking the rear wing. It made a nice parachute to drag him back.

Overall, a great trip since we made big progress on the car. Finishing 4th made it even better.

[Mike B]

Just a quick update for I pass out...

We started pushing water out of the engine in the morning Q2 and George Dean diagnosed it as a head gasket. At about 11am we made the decision to try to make the race and began removing the engine from the car. Thanks to my incredibly dedicated crew of Steve and Craig Jarosinski, and some guidance from George, they worked the rest of the day, skipped lunch, and had it back in and ready to run with about 45 minutes to spare.
Other than a problem with fuel pressure in the later laps, the car ran great with no evidence of water or oil in the catch bottle. Thanks again to my crew and George. He really is the man!
Oddly enough, even after finishing our longest race distance with the car in one piece, we have a lengthy list of things to do before the next race.

Big congrats to Coop, MJ, and John Stecher. With the June Sprints win, Coop claimed $300 of a possible $1000 as part of the Rilltech Racing/Speads Hat Trick Award. He just needs to win his division and the ARRC.

It was great to see Chris Waterman get back on the track after seeing the damage caused by his fire yesterday. It was bittersweet for me because he got around me during the race...

It was also great to see Brandon Dixon finish so well in a car that is still being developed. Made the trip worthwhile. He's even talking about coming back in July for the Cat National.

Brian Tomasi tested the Phoenix on Wednesday while Dustin was waiting for Mark to arrive. He said the car was a blast to drive, had tons of downforce, and awesome brakes. If he hadn't just converted to Zetec, we might have had another convert. Maybe we'll see him in an F1000 some time in the future.

This is what all F1000 races should look like in a year or two, the top several cars all within tenths of a second, in three or four different makes of cars. This is beyond my expectations as one of the founding fathers of F1000. Makes me proud. I really hope that it starts to continue the momentum and become one of the top open-wheel classes.

I need to sort through some pics and get some ready to post. Stay tuned.

[Mike B]

The podium:

[Wren]

Niki is fighting some kind of thermal issue where his power drops off severely after a few laps. That brought him in to the pits early. Micheals possibly had an incident near Canada that left him disabled.

We are on the road and headed for Alabama. I think we have a substantially better car in the trailer than what we had on the way up here. Lots of thanks to the guys that helped us: George Dean, Frank Howard, and Richard from Rilltech. The Chicago region put on a great event and Mike Beauchamp put a lot of hard work into making this event great for the FB cars.

Savannah double national is in two weeks.

[Wright D]

Obviously we would have preferred to win, but we are pleased to have podium-ed with such awesome competition. Cool Class, Cool race, and Cool people.

Thanks George Dean, Mark Jaremko, and Stefan Dwornik.

Thanks to Mike B for organizing the series, and thanks to all of the F1000 competitors for a great weekend!

[RussMcB]

George was standing with Justin Pritchard most of the race, he says the Coop sure pulled eveyone on the straights.

I guess it's not surprising that Coop's FC-based car gets through the air well, but I would have thought the Phoenix and Citation would be pretty slippery, too. Of course, we can't assume the engines in those cars are equal. Some may not be as powerful as others.

Did any of the Stohr F1000's at the Sprints have the new body design? I've heard about it, but haven't seen pictures yet.

Hey, how come Justin was on the sidelines and not racing the Piper at the Sprints?

[Tom Valet]

Congratulations Coop! To come home first ahead of that group of drivers and cars is very impressive! Great job!

Tom

[RobLav]

Congrats to all. You too for the school Tom...

[VehDyn]

Did any of the Stohr F1000's at the Sprints have the new body design? I've heard about it, but haven't seen pictures yet.

Post 25. The third picture. THe #2 care was Kyle's.

[Rick Ross]

Of course, we can't assume the engines in those cars are equal. Some may not be as powerful as others.

Excellent point, Russ...........

[glenn cooper]

Had a great wakeup call as cars took to the track.

Straightaway I've got to say that Kyle drove an amazing race. I have NEVER been under such pressure in my life. We both pulled away at the start, and it became a titanic scrap. I made many a mistake, he'd close the gap right up. He'd kill me on the brakes into 5, sometimes passing 2 lapped cars on the inside w/ such ferocity that I thought he'd not be able to make the corner, causing me to release the brakes and run wide! My car is definitely faster on the straights, the "big tire'd" cars much quicker in the slower corners. More rubber = more grip/allows higher cornering speed...
The analogy I use is to say the the big tire'd cars are like arrows, and my converted FC is like a dart; MUCH smaller in frontal area, and resultant drag improvement.

Kyles car looks really cool. Thee redone body and wings looks almost sci-fi.
I think that some type hybrid, big tires, combined with svelte body will be the way to go in short order. Not to menmtion the braking improvement offered by the newer cars compared to the 10 yr old, FC spec twin piston calipers on my old ride. I think some radial mount Brembos and full floating, vented rotors may be the way to go!

Mark and Justin at Phoenix did an outstanding job, taking pole w/ a very quick time considering the carnege, amount of oil and water on the track, and dampness in the kink area. The session ended one lap too early for me as I had just positioned myself for a flyer and thought that pole was a very reasonable outcome; just ran outta time.

I had virtually no laps in the 2 test day sessions on Thursday, and missed the Fri morn practice alltogether, suffering from and remedying a nasty dental issue. The only real times I got were in Fri afternoon's 1st Q, about 4 or 5 laps w/ only one of those being clean, resulting in 4th on the grid, 3/10ths off pole.

Stetcher meanwhile is THE go-to guy if you want to make the podium, way to go John.

Now it's on to Mosport for next wekends's SCCA North American National. We are just gonna cruise in that general direction, all Griswold style in the Conquest motorhome.

Full Coop Chronicle to follow, I've got the titlefigured out: One tooth made all the difference (and not just the ones in yo' mouf).

GC

[RussMcB]

I completely forgot about the tire size variable (and gearing/sprockets) affecting straightaway speeds. I remember Coop's narrow FC tires looked very different than some of the newer chassis cars with wider wheels.

[Rick Ross]

It sounds as though you made the correct tire choice, Coop. Were any of the other top 3 or 4 cars using the "small" tires?

[Ivinsea]

By big vs small, do you guys mean 8/10 vs 6/8?

Are FB's limited to 8's and 10's (or smaller)?

[Lee Stohr]

10" wheels is the limit. Stohr / Phoenix usually run 8/10" Goodyears. Coop and Piper last year normally run 7/9" Hoosiers, I think.

[RussMcB]

<snip> ... Coop and Piper last year normally run 7/9" Hoosiers, I think.

and probably on 6 & 8" wide wheels (carried over from FC)

[RobLav]

I'm going to Mosport too - with 6" and 8" FC tires. Jeremy Hill is sked to run too. Someone needs to show me the way around the track!

[Ivinsea]

What would need to be changed setup-wise to switch from 8 & 10's to 6 & 8's?
Would it be feasible to run the wide wheels on a tight track and the narrow wheels on a long track?
Or is this not realistic?
Thanks.

[ghickman]

What would need to be changed setup-wise to switch from 8 & 10's to 6 & 8's?
Would it be feasible to run the wide wheels on a tight track and the narrow wheels on a long track?
Or is this not realsitic?
Thanks.

You can easily switch back and forth in tire width. Hooser makes a 1 inch narrower tire that fits the 8 & 10 inch rims. I believe this is what Justin was running. Hooser has a much better selection of tires in different widths.

GH

[BoulderG]

While I'm new to road racing, it seems this year's June Sprints has an especially high number of great adventures. As F1000 comes into its own, there are some great (and friendly) battles - it's exciting to watch.

There are some impressive achievements on the results sheet - and the stories behind the results are even more impressive.

I'd like to give a special shout-out to my good friends Stu and Chris Waterman.

Chris Waterman took fifth place amidst some pretty esteemed company in his Speads FB - a few things make this even more impressive:

1. Yes, Chris was the one with the fire on Friday. On his third lap, fuel spilled in the cockpit and ignited. Chris got second-degree burns on his arm, neck, and chin (full recovery expected). Chris' father (Stu Waterman) and Rilltech Racing (Richard and crew) did significant thrashing to repair burned wires, bodywork, safety belts, fire bottle, and more.

2. This is Chris' first National race! (Although only 19 years old, he has several successful years karting and ran an AMAC DSR regionally last year.)

3. This is also Chris' first visit to Road America. Thursday was his first time on track, and they missed most of Q1 and all of P2 and Q2! Since our first two local races were snowed out, Chris and the car have few miles together anywhere, let alone racing.

All teams and drivers worked very hard to compete at the Sprints, and I salute you. Can't wait to join you in a few more seasons!

[Wren]

What would need to be changed setup-wise to switch from 8 & 10's to 6 & 8's?
Would it be feasible to run the wide wheels on a tight track and the narrow wheels on a long track?
Or is this not realsitic?
Thanks.

Yes, it is definitely realistic. It is going to come to a point where the front runners are going to own 6's and 8's, 7's and 9's, and possibly 8's and 10's. Also a possibility for multiple sets of bodywork. All of that is off in the future, but I think it will have people wishing for a "continental with bike motors" class.

Hoosier has a shorter tire and they think there is something to it at Road America. I know Continental guys were playing with different size tires.

[Jnovak]

Wow what a MONSTER race A real scrap up front with the NovaDiemen BARELY leading the way over the really cool new Stohr, the super slick Phoenix & the Firman F1000. They were truely dukeing it out at the front with Kyle really closing on Coop numerous times. When I say close I mean it, like .1 seconds going into turn 1 many laps. This kind of a race really says a ton about the future of F1000 & it is only going to get tougher & better in the future. In qualy it was 4 different cars within .3 seconds, very impressive.

Coop & I discussed the race & the future of the class & it will definately take more work on our kit chassis & the aero package to stay at the front as these new cars are barely developed & they will only get faster. However, the NovaDiemen team has evil plans for the future.

Thanks to the Coopster for another great race .... Jay Novak

[Richard Dziak]

Jay Novak:

You and your Novak team should be very proud of your work and what opportunities that you have presented to future owner/drivers, to be able to convert an FC car to F1000. Your chassis conversion has proven to be reliable and a winner. To see a converted built car, perform against the best of the best purpose built cars is impressive. I am sure the future will only provide improvements to the chassis and design. For now you certainly deserve bragging rights, and adding such a capable driver as Glenn Cooper only strengthens your reputation. Now that your chassis conversion has won one of the so called "majors" of SCCA racing, it should open the door for more racers to make conversions knowing they have the potential to perform as well, if not better than the most expensive purpose built cars. The only words I can say is "Great Job", and hopefully orders for your end product will increase. Once again, you should be very proud of your product, and better yet, what a great testimonial with a 1st Place finish in a "major" race. Great job Jay.

The upcoming ARRC Race should be extremely exciting for the F1000 class, all drivers, all types, and brands of F1000 racing machines. This is truly an awesome class of Formula race cars.

There is no doubt that F1000 has a very bright future.

[glenn cooper]

Coop at the wheel, Ana on keyboard, enjoy the pics.

[jjstecher]

First off...thanks Anna for posting the picture of us on the podium with me looking like I have an IQ of -1. :P

Secondly. Great weekend in Wisconsin once again! The Chicago Region and Road America always put on an awesome race and for all of you F1000 guys that didn't make it this year you better be here next year! I had a fun weekend despite battling the car all weekend with tires going flat, tires blistering, and my dash deciding to turn off randomly while on track. Outside of that the car ran great! Motor made good power (148 into T1 and T12 on the GPS), temps were low, and everything held together which is more than I can sadly say for a lot of other motors. Lots of Suzuki blood was spilled this weekend in central Wisconsin.

Qualifying was a cluster with FE's off everywhere and a total of ohhhh 40 minutes of track time out of a scheduled 75 between the practices and two quals. My thoughts and best wishes go out to Dennis Marklein who had a big crash in Q1 after what looked to be a mechanical failure. Ended up with just 1-2 good free laps each session and tried my best to make them count. I was relatively happy with ending up 5th overall behind the other big guns that were in attendance.

The race was pretty uneventful competition wise outside Brandon giving me a good run for the first two laps or so and then eventually me running down Niki in his crippled Firman. The eventful nature of the race came in some pretty major handling issues the car decided to unveil for the first time with far more unpredictability than expected. I started backing it off for the last few laps just to bring her home cause I knew I had no chance to catch coop and mark.

Podium ceremony was awesome as usual and I want to personally thank coop for attempting to blind me for the second year in a row by injecting the bubbly directly into my eyes. I think both of us spent a good few minutes trying not to fall off the ledge while trying to regain our sight.

Big thanks to my lovely wife, Eric, John, Mark and Michelle my crew and Keith and Dale Carter for once again making the weekend so much fun. Also thanks to everyone that stopped by at the F1k party. It was great putting faces with names.

Video of my best quali lap is here: http://www.vimeo.com/5267698

Video of the race is here: http://www.vimeo.com/5268362

I'll try and get some pictures up soon as well. Great weekend for F1k as a class!!!!

[racerjb]

Awesome video of the start. Coop did a nice job.

I thought Coello qualified 2nd, in the video he looks like he started 5th.

[Rick Ross]

John,

Great video.....thanks for sharing.

And since you brought it up........exactly how many FB engine failures occurred at the Sprints this year?

[jjstecher]

Racerjb - Coello started 6th after getting penalized for ignoring the flags during Q2. Not sure what flags he ignored as I imagine he is always well within the limits but who knows. But that's what happened.

I think 4-5 failures is what I counted over the weekend including the test days. Not sure of the cause in most of them but I know both Firman cars ate motors (maybe multiple) and I think James Micheal and Kyle did during the race. It was hot as hell humidity wise this weekend and track temps were as high as I have ran my car in.

Now I have to ask where in the hell are everyone's pictures of the race...I know I saw about 800 cameras this weekend.

[Wren]

Racerjb - Coello started 6th after getting penalized for ignoring the flags during Q2. Not sure what flags he ignored as I imagine he is always well within the limits but who knows. But that's what happened.

He did an extra lap after the black flag came out.

I think 4-5 failures is what I counted over the weekend including the test days. Not sure of the cause in most of them but I know both Firman cars ate motors (maybe multiple) and I think James Micheal and Kyle did during the race. It was hot as hell humidity wise this weekend and track temps were as high as I have ran my car in.

Now I have to ask where in the hell are everyone's pictures of the race...I know I saw about 800 cameras this weekend.

My pictures are on Brandon's laptop. I was too busy during the race to take any though. I did get several on false grid.

I think McLaughlin was chasing an oil plumbing issue that finally killed their motor. I would be interested to know everyone's oil temps though.

[Richard Dziak]

John Stecher:

Great video.

Surely after the start and the leaders swept away, you had the track by yourself, but you drove hard, and I am sure at 7:00 minutes into the race once you saw the rear end of the car ahead, the rush took over to chase the 4th positon car down. By 12:14 into the race you pased him and it was sure fun watching you catch the rest of the field and start passing cars. From your video alone, I know why I am just a regional racer. Great driving awesome perseverence John. Well done. Now if we can get some other videos and photos that would be great.

Hats off to all the FB drivers who just drove the cars so fast and hard...wow.... what racing. Had to be excitng just to be part of the racers.