2003 ARRC

[Mark H]

A much bigger field than last year so maby the runoff's for the non national cars is going to take off!
There were many different types of cars entered in different classes then you would normaly see.
The '90 and older FC cars ran as CC so they get first bill.
1st Richard Matthews 1:32.445
2nd Brian Burke 1:32.836
3rd Mark Hatheway 1:33.159
4th Mike Eakin 1:33.345
5th Mark Ritter 1:35.442

Richard, having come back from the Mazde pro ride to see if he still had it was setting the pace all weekend. Brian towed from Mich. to defend his title and just kept getting faster every session.
I put on some new tires to try to keep up?? Mike was much more relaxed than the SIC weekend but he said so was his engine. Mark had very good speed and it was only his 3rd race in the SCCA.
It was cool being in the front of overall grid[4th,5th,6th,7th & 10th] without all you FC guys gettint in our way.

Notes of interest, Kevin Roberts in FS had the fastest lap of the meet 1:26.930 in his very close to stock FM.This guy is BA.
There were about 3 F-SCCA cars also runing in FS the quickest of the bunch was David Webb at 1:30.940.
Steve Brooks took the CF class and 8th overall with a 1:36.036.
There was a problem with the SCCA cars not having papers but with one call to Topeka that was cleared up.
Lots of fans , lots of cars, lots of fun, next year lets get some more of you yankees down here to see if you can do what Brian did this year, put us rebs in our place.

[carnut169]

I'd like to apologize to anyone with a dial-up... this may take a little while for you to view.
Here is one of the matching Aiken Vtech rides...


One of the best races I've ever seen involved Butch and his GT1Vette... did a full 360' at the start, moved from 1st to 14th? and still was able to catch and pass the leaders for the overall win. Great fun from our perspective. Here are a couple shots os his ride:



Court & Chuck's massive rig on the left, the Aiken camp on right


Here is Frog's camp (like the flowers?)


Not too happy posing for photos:


Here is a shot of group 7, about to head out


Mark did great this weekend... raced with a new Enterprise car who just could not shake him!

[carnut169]

Frog and Mark had a great race... Mark's strong desire to win and his strong Nelson motor gave him the edge.


Speaking of Nelson, here is Russ and engine builder Nelson talking things over


Scott left the track Friday night 9:30- 10:00pm holding pieces of his motor in his hands. Saturday he came back, car together and ready to race. Unfortunately, 1/2 way through the race his rear wing shot about 150ft up into the air and he was unable to continue


Better shot of the TeamSupertech ride


Full winged field

[Jerry Santucci 33]

no need to apologize to this dial-up guy....
great photo's thank you! [img]smile.gif[/img]

[GR]

Looks like it was a blast of a weekend! Kept checking the weather from here and it looked like great racing weather.

Congrates to King Richard on his ARRC CC win! and to the rest of the CC field.

Sure wanted to make it w/ya

Until next time....

[RussMcB]

Sean, great pics. Thanks.

One correction: It wasn't Scott's rear wing that came off. There was another car that looked like Scott's. Bruce Domeck had a Ralt RT-4 (bigger than Scott's RT-5). I heard it was quite a sight when the wing departed on the front straight.

Scott's return to the track on Saturday was very impressive, especially since he went to the social Friday night, then went home, had a good night's sleep, and decided, "Maybe I can fix that thing" at 9:00 AM race day. He got it running and thought he was set for a fun race, but it didn't last long, I'm afraid. He will be strong with his 2.1 liter next year.

It was a fun weekend and the field get stronger each year. Kevin Roberts was untouchable this year. I have to admit publicly that all he did to make his Formula Mazda legal for FS was to remove the Supertrapp plates. I spread the rumor that he had a twin turbo three rotor but I lied. Kevin can really drive. I think I could've finished in second place had I not run over someone's exhaust pipe, but there's no way to know if I really could, because Bruce, Grant Lockwood, David Webb and I had very close fastest race laps.

I look forward to getting together with everyone in the spring time.

[Purple Frog]

If only I could get logged in...

[Purple Frog]

First time in 1984 posts that F2000.com has treated me so poorly. I have to crash in from the side door to post... sort of the story of my weekend.

The ARRC may finally be growing into the event the Atlanta Region had hoped for when they created it a few years ago. Great turnout in the tintop classes, and 29 cars in the open wheeled, which is probably the most on record. Not a spare piece of real estate in the paddock.

Most of the formula car race story is Kevin Robert's as Mark and Russ posted earlier.

But there was this Club Continental race going on behind him....

Sort of neat in CFC (or Club Continental as the ARRC calls the class), the top 4 cars all ran laps within a second of each other, and finished the race within about 16 seconds of each other. Two through four could be covered under a ten second blanket. The margin between 3rd and 4th was less than .2 seconds, with all five CC drivers setting personal bests on the AMB system.

Out in front, Richard Matthews returned to finish what he started last year. And he had the CC field covered for the most part. Part of the story was he and his restored yellow Swift crossing the impound scales at 1193 lbs. while the next 3 CC cars averaged somewhere near 1250 lb. [img]smile.gif[/img] For the most part the 2002 SARRC CFC Champion wasn't presssed hard, and he did what he had to do. It was a well deserved win for one of the nicest guys in the sport.

Brian Burke got faster as the weekend progressed in his yellow Reynard. I couldn't tell what was the most fun for Brian, driving the course that he found exciting, or finding out just how much fun the southern CFC group has off the track. He was impressed by the facility to say the least, but we want him to also see Barber soon.

Mark Hatheway got a much deserved great finish to his season. Something clicked with the whole Supertech Team and in about 24 hours he dropped 5 seconds per lap and definitely moved into the ranks of a serious CFC contender with an '84 Reynard no less. We may have seen a glimpse of a next year's SARRC Champion. Mike Eakin reported that Mark was lapping faster than Mike had ever got the '84 to go. We all think Mark may have been the happiest guy on the podium.

Mike Eakin kept his 5 year streak alive, of never buying new tires for a Road Atlanta event. In fact, we think he may have been a bit too relaxed. Mr. Preparation loaded up in Savannah after the SIC and first time he unloaded his SIC winning car from the trailer was in the Road Atlanta paddock. He skipped the test day, started the weekend on 4 session old tires he had flogged at Savannah, and then was so lazy he left the tall Savannah gear set in his Reynard. Not too smart considering how serious the top three were about testing and mounting good tires. After the race, discovering he had gone faster than ever before even with the wrong setup, he could only wonder what might have been.

Mark Ritter in his red '84 Reynard was turning times that would have been very competitive in the July CFC race. Considering his bad luck at the start of the season, now at the end of the 2003 season he got to go home feeling pretty good about having his program on the right track. He's now poised to go into the 2004 season with a sorted competitive package. ...and that season starts next week down here in the Southland.

The 2001 SARRC CFC Champ, Marshall Aiken was a spectator helping his father Richard in one of their Zetecs. You just know that Marshall was wishing he had brought his other Zetec so he could play with Roberts up front. It had to be hard on him to just watch.

And just for the record, the 2000 SARRC CFC Champion, Court Dowis was in attendance also. He hosted a truly fantastic Low Country Boil on Friday night in the paddock. Then with no formula car in his trailer, he was seen driving a spec Miata in Sunday's enduro. It may take a few more sessions before he gets comfortable with 4 car bump drafting. [img]smile.gif[/img] He doesn't get to practice that in his Van Dieman.

More report later, when I can figure out how to sign on to the site...

[B Burke]

Just my 2 cents worth. Thanks to the Atlanta region for for the excellant race they put on for the 2 years we have been attending. Brian, myself and our crew Steve really enjoyed this year. The combination of the region's ability to put on an excellant race,and the hospitality of the Continental racers from the south was outstanding. They went out of their way to make us welcome and invited us to a wonderful feast at the Dowis rig. Excellant! As you can tell I am still stoked. Frog was right, we did enjoy ourselves. Now we need to get more open wheelers to come and see what we are talking about. Also a special thanks to GT1 Vette for his entertainment at the beggining of his race, and to Frog for his excitment at the end of his. I will let Frog do the embellishments either here or when he sends in his complete blow by blow to racer magazine. Thanks again to the racers and the region.

Paul Burke

[Mark C. Ritter]

Thanks to all that helped at gave advice during the weekend. I came with 2 goals 1. Bring the car home in one running piece and 2. Break into the 1:35's. I accomplished both and had a great time. With only 2 races on the motor it'll be an easy winter. I do see a diffuser in my future, and a lightweight, aluminum enclosed trailer is being fabbed as I write.
Some of you may have noticed the Magenta Margarita logo on the rear wing of the Reynard. Next race in March I'll be bringing enough for the whole motley crew of CFC'ers. Should add a whole new dimension to the party!

[cnewman]

The only thing funnier than Court driving a SM in the enduro was seeing Frog and Marshall in the pit lane during a sedan race!

Actually, the boys did an outstanding job getting gas and 4 tires on the red Miata and putting us back out in the overall lead. Marshall did a great job carrying tires, and Frog looked a lot like Chocolate Myers putting gas in the car.

Unfortunately, the driver ( that's the 3rd person reference to myself) put the car in the gravel outside 5 trying to miss a really slow ITC Honda.
Sorry guys, but thanks for the great job!

Chuck

[B Burke]

I would also like to say thanks to everyone for making the ARRC such a great event. I am going to spread the word to the north that the CFC'ers in the south are a class act. I'm glad that others in this sport realize that friendships and fun are much more important then a 6$ trophy. We need to hype this event as the national championship for the club race cars CFC, CF, CS2000! I hope to see a field of 20 + CFC's and ABC primetime televesion coverage next year! Ok maybe thats a bit much. Look forward to seeing everyone next year If the car doesn;t sell. Thanks again

BB

[Mark C. Ritter]

Oh I forgot to say thanks to Court and Chuck for the excellent low country boil on Friday night! Might have had something to do with those 2 seconds I found.

[carnut169]

[Purple Frog]

that picture is one of hundreds we shot for the upcoming Formula Car Magazine article. Get your subscriptions in now. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Left to right on Club Continental podium:
Mark Hatheway (3), Richard Matthews (1), Brian Burke (2)

Thanks to Rick Kreiselman for many great photos of the podium activities.

You got to asking yourselves... just how many races do you run in where you get champagne on the podium? The Atlanta Region really does this one up well. They should be turning entries away. Great event.

[Mark H]

But now I have to wash my uniform or next Mar. everyone will think I was boozin BEFORE the race.
Great race great fun, maby they should do this for the SIC?

[Purple Frog]

Other tidbits...

Looking at the picture, it's easy to see why Richard Matthew's ride weighs in at 1193 pounds, and the rest of us are at 1250.

Purple Frog Racing went through a few bottles of Tequilia Friday night without the help of the Magenta Margarita mix... could that be why Eakin didn't wake up until lap 11?

Mark, what if we don't want to wait until March to try the Magenta Margarita? Samples? [img]smile.gif[/img]

Racing at close to dark:30 did make for interesting sights on the track. Reports came in that Eakin's car put on F1 type spark showers in some of the high speed corners.

The real sparkler shower was seen if you were following Russ McBride into T6 as he was high-centered on a wayward Swift tailpipe that had been abandoned on the track. [img]redface.gif[/img]

Just how many different cars borrowed Team Roberts' scale pad? A big thank you from the CFC contingent. The Roberts brothers are a class act.

Does anything upset Scott Woodruff? Always smiling. Stays at the friday night party until we are out of tequilia. Trailers his broken car home. Gets up Saturday morning at 9. Starts looking at the car. Rebuilds the bottom end of the engine. Arrives back at the track as we are being called to grid. He says it was running good at the start. He did make it to T4. After all that, he's still bouncing around the paddock smiling to beat the band.

Something like 14 Club Fords showed up to play. That was cool.

You should have seen Court Dowis trying to climb out of a Spec Miata after driving a 55 minute stint in the enduro. I was laughing so hard I almost dumped the fuel into the trunk instead of the tank. Of course watching Continental drivers trying to do a high speed pit stop on a SM was pretty funny in itself. The damn things don't have centerlock nuts...4 damn little nuts per wheel.

Everytime Eakin would start his pinto under GT1Vette's canopy Butch thought the generator in the trailer was kicking on. When GT1Vette would start his motor under the canopy one would think the world was coming to an end. So just how does that thing stay under 103 db?

If there was ever an antique shop that guys don't mind browsing in, it has to be Antiques on the Square in downtown Marietta (just down the street from the "Big Chicken"). There is even a glossy color picture in there of Carnut169 right-side-up. Neat shop. Racer friendly.

[formulasuper]

Well, like the saying goes, "a bad day of racing beats a good day at work, everytime"! Scott.