Hoosier Tire US Formula First Rounds 1 & 2 - Nelson Ledges

[jsteeb]

What a great weekend! I was joking in impound with Doug... this is what all those long hours in the garage are for. I almost forgot what an awesome time racing in the series really is.

Saturday was great. I had a great scrap with Doug and Robert. We were nose to tail for the entire 15 laps. Swapped the lead back and forth a number of times. I was lucky enough to come out on top. This tight racing really is par for the course in FST. How cool. This class is awesome!

All things considered, Sunday, turned out to be my lucky day. Doug and Robert made the best of a green track in Quali, and I had Dave and Reece RIGHT behind me on the time sheet. I figured I was in for an 18lap, 5 car battle for the podium.

The first few laps ended up being pretty relaxed tho. Robert had a some sort of problem, and Reece / Dave were having a scrap of their own. From what I could tell Doug and I managed to gap everybody a bit, and then swapped positions a few times. I think we were just starting to have some fun when I screwed up.

To be honest, I'm a little disappointed in myself for making that mistake. I'm happy as hell about my results, but 2nd place was a gift today. I drove the wheels off a broken car to catch Dave and Reece, but without Robert's mechanical failure, Dave's car developing a pretty nasty U/S, and 1 tiny little mistake from Reece, I would have surely been 3rd (at best).

Here are the highlights from my point-of-view...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CgRf_egBcQ

At the risk of turning this into a Nascar interview
Thanks again to everybody who made it out. There was a definite hole in the paddock without the west siders. Plus, I was hoping to see some of the new faces. Oh well...maybe next time!

Thanks to Robert G. This series is awesome! Coolest (and most competitive) class I've ever raced in!

As always...racing without my fam would be pretty lame, so thanks to my mom and dad, and my wife for coming to the track. It's a lot more fun with everybody there!

Props goes out to lawyerbob too! Flogging, sweating, shaking out all the issues with a record time conversion...but always smiling! You are one dedicated dude!

I hope to see everybody at Waterford! Should be another great weekend!

Jason

[rgu]

To rip off Traci Clark's Caption

"SRacing sinks to new low's"

Mike Partington's pics

[Doug FST 5]

Outside of the days of rain that turned the paddock a bit soft (understatement!) Nelson provided another fantastic weekend on the track. FST has earned a reputation for close, exciting racing. As I drove to false grid lots of folks were heading trackside to watch our show! Lots of great racing throughout the group. Congrats to Jason for his win on Saturday.

Thanks as always to Robert and Randy for great race prep in the paddock and in the pits.

Can't wait for Waterford!


Doug FST 5

[teamclark]

Well it was a bit of a strange weekend for me - I am not sure what it is about Nelson but every time I go there I seem to break things on the car without hitting anything?

The drama's began Friday when Jim (after being advised by Robert Gudhe that he would be fine to park the transporter on the grass) promtply sunk it to the axles.....despite the efforts of a frontend loader which moved it enough to drag the trailer into the same sink hole it would go no further....so we pitted where it stopped!

Heading out for Saturday's qualifying we here on the grid when Jim realised the tire pressures hadnt been set - as the field was rolling out! So they held me on the grid while Jim did the pressures - and by the time I hit the track all heck was breaking loose - with a yellow out for Bob Stack who had stopped on track and then full course yellows after Dave Dawson went frog hunting in a ditch. Luckily I managed to squeak in a ok time despite all this and started 3rd for the Qualify Race.

The qualfying race should have been a good warm up for the afternoons points race - but leaving the grid the card dropped to 3 cyclinders (later found to be a tappet adjuster screw backing out) - given the grid was going to be set for the afternoons race based on finishing order I had no option but to stay out and try and keep Mark Farnhams Vee behind me - which wasn't easy on 3 cyclinders - so I ended up 5th (thanks to the small field) and in ok shape for the points race.

The afternoon race was great fun - after a bad start on my part I was able to sneak by Dave and Reece in the first two laps and quickly catch Doug and Jason - from there on in it was a 3 way battle - of which I spent most of my time waiting for the other two to make a mistake. The racing was tight, fast and well......lets just say there were a lot of wide cars in the passing areas.....

Jason took a well deserved win. Unfortunately with all the action someone on the crew had left the memory card out of the camera (ok it was me) so I got NO footage of the great action &#%#!

Sunday should have been a better day - the sun was shining the mud was drying (despite more rain overnight). Qualfying started with the 4 cars close together - Jason, Doug, Dave and I - until Doug decided to take a bath in the pond on the outside of the last turn. After carving and oar and paddling out he did rejoin and set the pole time, just beating me with Jason 3rd - setting up what should have been a good afternoons race.

The start of Race 2 was a similar story to Race 1 with Jason, Doug and I jumping out and the action being close - although I could see that there was a lot more body language in the cars - so something was going to happen eventually - and it did I broke a header - and dived to the pits to have it checked (thinking I had dropped a plug lead) - that cost me 2 laps - which I never got back. Once I got the ok from the crew to go hammer the car despite the header I rejoined and feeling a little annoyed put my head down and managed to grab the consolation of fastest lap.

With Jason spinning and rejoining Doug 'cruised' to an easy win, Jason recovered for 2nd and Dave Dawson gave a great drive for 3rd. I did get video of the race which I will post soon - the first laps until I drop out are worth watching.

Thanks to everyone who came out - although the field was small the action wasn't. Dave Dawson and Reece showed some real speed, Jason and Doug are going to be tough to beat all season long and with a few more cars coming out and the ability to drop 4 rounds this is going to be a very tight championship.

See you all at Waterford.

Rob

P.S. Jim did finally get towed out but it took the frontend loader and another large tractor to move his transporter - I hope the infield at WH is dry!!

[lawyerbob]

Well, unfortunately my weekend wasn't as grand as everyone else as we chased problem after problem. Got a little track time but it seems we have a fuel delivery problem that bumped me out of the races on both Saturday (9 laps in) and Sunday (3 laps). Saturday qualifying I did complete a lap, but 2/3 of it was on a rope behind a safety truck. Sunday I missed qualifying because well, I'm a bonehead and left my master switch on Saturday night so arrived to a dead battery on Sunday morning.

Still, I can see I'm going to really like the Citation once the bugs are sorted out.

I owe a HUGE thanks to Robert Guhde and Doug Seim and the RGU team, as well as Jim Schings. A lot of work was done on my car and a ton of diagnosis etc etc. If it wasn't for those guys I would have been heading home on Friday, assuming I could get out of the mud. Thanks are also due to the rest of the FST, and even some of the FV guys for their help as well.

With luck the fuel issue will be resolved and I'll have had a chance to work on the alignment before Waterford. Then I'll be able to focus on other things, like, oh, learning to drive the car!

See you all in a few weeks.

Bob

[rgu]

Now wait a minute Rob. I actually called Jim while the great deluge was taking place Friday night and told him not to hurry to the track since the road in front of our tent was under 3 inches of standing water. I advised him to just park on the road leading out to turn 2. Then at registration I said “maybe” the area past Jason might be ok because I got the feeling he wasn’t keen on backing up that monster.

Then I saw Brandon directing him to the great bog and I was trying wave him off from the distance but of course I wasn’t about to run over to where he was. I’ve seen those grade B movies where the hero gets in the quicksand pit and I was scared.

Anyway you can make it up to me by going over to Waterford in one of your hi dollar company cars and scoping out a decent motel where they don’t cut off your trailer locks. Just tell the motel that you're from the FFDA .

[Amon]

Gang,

It was nice to meet Bob, Jason (& family) and see Robert and meet his family etc. I love to know what it took to get Jim and his rig out of the mud....so please provide the info. if you're in the know!

Thanks!

Mark Farnham

P.S: Rob, Thank your family again for the photo's of my trailer extraction!

[sracing]

Gang,
I love to know what it took to get Jim and his rig out of the mud....so please provide the info. if you're in the know!

Two tractors and 2 chains side by side. Actually it went quite well considering how deep it was in . Here is a pic showing the depth with Rob in the rut.

http://sracing.com/images/TOTER.jpg

[Amon]

I'm glad they got you out without having to resort to an expensive alternative!

M

[sracing]

Actually, I tried to pay them and they wouldn't take any money. They just kept apologizing that the ground was so soft and thanking me for coming. I wish the track/facilities was a bit nicer and then it would be one of my favorites. The people have always been good.

BTW, they probably pulled out another 10 or so trailers/trucks before they got to me. But we were on the road by 4+ and home by midnight.

[rgu]

Just like last year there was a great time had by all both on and off the track. I know that there were good reasons why a lot of cars had to stay home but what we are left with is a lot of Series points staying on the table. Right now it looks a bit brighter at Waterford and maybe a whole lot better. Bob Stack and Dave Dawson won the random tire drawing.

The puddles in front of the timing tower made Nelson’s award podium useless so we just used the side of the barn. I was surprised that everyone came over for the ceremony. You already seen the finishing order but here is a pic of the Saturday podium. L to R Rob, Jason and Doug. The Sunday picture unfortunately, featured drivers without heads so I’m not posting that one. I’ll be saving it for our Sleepy Hollow race.

I also want to thank Sandi Kryder for putting on a great event under difficult conditions. We appreciated the effort. Naturally we also need to that Hoosier Tire for everything especially keeping the racing cheap.

I’m posting another picture titled fiberglass vs. mud. It speaks for itself. I’m sure the white blue and gold car with be ready for Michigan. It’ll be like the Big Ten there.

[Amon]

Does Waterford allow individuals to sleep in their trailer on the premises?

Thanks!


Mark

[sracing]

I haven't been there for 10+ years, but they used to. Actually they even had a camping ground.

[Dave Woodmancy]

Does Waterford allow individuals to sleep in their trailer on the premises?

The paddock rules in the evening are very relaxed. No problems with sleeping in the paddock/trailer.

[stvstb]

I did some checking this weekend - yes, you can sleep in your trailer in the paddock. There is a pretty cool campground on the premises but we do have a few people who have campers in the paddock. And if you wish, you COULD sleep in your trailer...