If I don't have to do any major work during the week I'll try to post some times and any large happenings.
Speedcasttv.com will be airing the race live I think. Or so that was what I heard. They do a really nice job too, so it is very good to watch. Friday at 4:30 is the race, tune in.
Weather and track conditions were perfect on Mon, Tues, and Wed. I left Thur at noon and the day had been wet with on/off drizzle all morning. From memory the FF's I saw running were myself, Foster, Townes, Kephart, Chisholm, Galagher (sp?), Shippert, Butcovich, and Cooper. All 4 days were lightly attended, mabye price had something to do with it?
I am not arriving at RA until Wednesday but just spoke with Bill. He said the session was black flagged after Rob Albani spun coming out of Canada and was hit by Stan Townes. Both drivers ok Bill thinks. Rob has repairable suspension damage but he is not sure about Stan's car, it also hit a wall after contacting Rob and both sides of the car are damaged. The black flag ended the session because there was only 9 minutes left.
Top 5:
Bill V: 2:23.6
Tim Kautz: 2:23.7
JT: 2:23.8
Art Foster: 2:24.2
Reid: 2:24.5
The was a black flag after a crash coming out of Thunder Valley early in the session. There was at least one Swift (Townes?) off driver's left and a VD in the middle of the track minus a corner. That ended the session. I think most of us only got 2 flying laps, but maybe some at the head of the grid squeezed out a third. Rain in the forecast for tomorrow (and possibly Thursday) as well.
My son Bill and Treadway are on the big rear tires as are all of the Swifts except for Marc Blanc. I do not know which of the VDs are on fat rears, Art Foster ran wide rear Hoosiers all year but he tested a lot last week and may have made the switch to skinnies.
Reid, Scott Rubenzer, Tim Kautz, Lew Cooper are all on skinny rears, all Hoosier I think.
Bill and Jeremy are running Goodyear, which changed its front tires back to last year's design just before the Runoffs (at the request of most everyone who tried the newer design and hated it).
When I get out to RA I will gather all the chassis/tire/engine info and post it before the race.
First off, congrats to Reid to a heck of a lap...Scott and him worked together to really put some pressure on the field. The goodyear guys really struggled today, I don't know if it had to to with the weather or what. I know that Cliff, Jeremy, and myslelf had some absolutely terrible graining today. I know I got about 1 lap out of my tires before they let go, and all three of us had the same graining on our tires. The hoosiers look like the tire to have at this point but there are about 10 drivers who have a shot to keep within draft this year which is REALLY exciting! Looks to be a heck of a race!!
I think the theory is that it reduces drag and improves response time as you aren't spinning up as much rotational mass. You have to balance that with less grip area, change in ride height, different spring rate of tire, sidewall flex, etc.. That is my understanding anyway. The guys actually doing it successfully like Reid, Coello, etc. could probably add a great deal more.... but they would be giving away their secrets!
Joe
Last edited by Joefisherff; September 22nd, 2010 at 11:08 AM.
Which size(s) rear tires do they use for the skinnies? Also, do they use the 20.5 X 6.0 fronts in both the front and rear? What about compound or is that carefully guarded and/or weather dependent?
Thanks!
Dick
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joefisherff
Dick,
I think the theory is that it reduces drag and improves response time as you aren't spinning up as much rotational mass. You have to balance that with less grip area, change in ride height, different spring rate of tire, sidewall flex, etc.. That is my understanding anyway. They guys actually doing it successfully like Reid, Coello, etc. could probably add a great deal more.... but they would be giving away their secrets!
The guys running skinny rears do not run FF front tires on the rear. They use a slighter larger tire for the rear, I think it is the front tire from a Formula Mazda.
The Swifts are running the large rears at RA mostly because the lower height of the skinny tires messes up the geometry of the Swift suspension. You can change the geometry but it is a lot of work and really only makes sense if you run all the time at RA.
2010 Runoffs
