Duel In The Sun !!

[AerosportsRacing]

Nelson Ledges Race__
Mark D.on pole sorry I did not get the time but I am sure it was at least a low 1:03 Dave W. was close by.I think there was 4 or 5 cars and one crashed in Qual.
A good start buy all with Mark getting the lead in turn one and then pulling out a short lead over Dave as they both took off in to the distance to have there own race.It was fun to watch from the hill on the outside of the pit strait!!! I hope Dave and Mark could give their sides of what happened to what looked like a very fun time and a good race!!
Lee

[mark defer]

it wasn't fun. dave blew my doors off for the 3rd time this year. this is getting old dave!!

md

[DaveW]

It was interesting. Mark and I have been trading wins at Nelson for several years now. For the last two years, Mark had the upper hand. Now it seems to be my turn.

Mark qualified at a 1:02.78!! and I was at a 1:02.99.

In the race, after 2 extra laps behind the pace car due to someone going off course during the pace lap (see Tim's post below), Mark took off and got a 2+ second lead while my tires were warming up. My car started to come in, while Mark was developing handling problems (looked like high-speed oversteer plus a bit of low-speed understeer - not a good combination). With that (and his clutch problems - see below), I caught Mark coming onto the pit straight about half way through the race and was inside for turn 1. I was able to keep the lead to the end. We both turned low 1:03's in the race.

In the impound area, it was pointed out that my front wing was very loose and wobbling from about lap 2 on. Turns out that one of the two support brackets fatigued off and the left side of the wing was dragging on the ground. I never noticed anything major in the handling until I started to develop a little bit of high-speed understeer - seems about 20% of the bottom of the left wing-skin wore through - not very efficient that way. Since I couldn't see it wobble, and don't use a radio, I never knew I had a problem, but it sure worried my wife, my crew, the officials who were debating whether to call me in, etc.

Guess luck was on my side.

[size="1"][ July 15, 2003, 12:13 PM: Message edited by: DaveW ][/size]

[AerosportsRacing]

I was rooting for you Mark!! It was a good race to watch,I was with 5 friends and we all enjoyed it from the hill.It was also nice to see that the track was at least showing they were trying to make an effort at improving the facilaties.Hey at least the Grass was mowed !!!That Harder compond seems to be working really well for Dave after about 3 to 4 laps then they really comein !!It is the same thing that happened at the Sprints.Well maybe Mark will turn it around at the next race!!
Good luck too you both!!
Lee

[Tim FF19]

The reason for the extra pace laps was not a spin but an ignition fire on Tom Mihelich's 1600FF VD. He pulled off just after the kink with smoke coming out. No serious damage to the car but no chance to race either. Mark and Dave both had the bit in their teeth and checked out right away. Both of these guys are really good at Nelson but Dave had some luck on his side as well - there was not much holding the wing on at the end, I couldn't beleive how much it was flopping around when I looked at it in impound!

Tim FF19

[mark defer]

thank's for the support lee. didn't know you were there last weekend. stop by next race and share a beer.
2 lessons learned last weekend:
#1] a race car that's fast for 3 laps, might not be fast for 10. i really already knew this, but sometimes we forget. our qualifing strategy was to put the least amount of laps on my sticker hoosiers as possible. since i don't test at nelson, we can't scuff our new tires the day before. usually i can count on my teammate bill jordan [alias "scuffboy"] to do that for me, but he had some work issues [where are his priorities?] and couldn't make the weekend. anyway, we clocked our 1:02.78 on our 3rd lap and pitted. we had a clock on dave and waited out the rest of the session. in the race, the car was quick at the green, but started to develop issues as the tires warmed up. oh well.
#2] there can be a "wave off" by the starter for something other than field alignment. as we came around for the green, the pace car didn't pull off due to the aforementioned ff problem. we did 2 fcy laps which counted as race laps. so the race had started, right? and i'm thinking, so this will be a restart, meaning single file? well, turns out that it wasn't a restart even though we were starting lap 3 when we took the green. the first 2 laps were considered "safety wave offs". who knew? guess i should bone up on my gcr.
last note. not an excuse, but something that did contribute to my demise, i lost the clutch somewhere in the first 10 laps. i noticed i was having trouble on my downshifts in oak tree and turn 12 which was keeping me from attacking those corners the way i like. after the race, as i was pulling into tech, i found out why.

md

[DaveW]

Mark, I was wondering why at 12 and 13 your lines looked a little weird and you were slower than normal, making it fairly easy to get a run on you up the pit straight. The clutch-release problem explains it.

What did happen to the clutch - break a hydraulic line, or what?

[mark defer]

stupid clutch seals. they were last replaced 5 races ago. but like you, my engine's coming out now for a rebuild, so we thought they'd only have to go one more weekend. again, it wouldn't have made a difference in the outcome, but it surely didn't help.

md

[DaveW]

Poopy!!!!

Mark, that's the kind of stuff that usually bites me in the butt - stuff I should have fixed, but put it off for whatever reason. Most times when I don't fix whatever it is right away, it gets me!!!!!!!

You probably already know this... Sounds like there may be a fix for this... Did you see the thread about clutch seals a few days ago?

VD Clutch Seals

[size="1"][ July 15, 2003, 12:14 PM: Message edited by: DaveW ][/size]

[AerosportsRacing]

Mark
I think I might be at Road America with Jim Kelley and maybe Grattan with Roger Schroer.
Can't wait for that beer!!
Thanks Lee

[mark defer]

lee,
you'll have to wait a bit longer for that beer. like dave w, my engine is coming out now for it's pre-runoffs rebuild. my next race will be at mid ohio labor day weekend. hope to see you there. we'll keep one cold for ya.

m