F2000 Championship Series at Watkins Glen June 8-10

With the next round just a week away it is time to see who is coming.
Well, it looks like almost everyone with an FC car East of the Mississippi.
The entry stands at 45 today, Wednesday May 30, with one or two more possible.
As usual Van Diemens dominate with only 4 cars outside the VD fold. Those being the two 2007 Mygales of PMC Racing driven by Phil Lombardi and Doug Prendeville, an older Mygale with Clark Cambern and Jesse Yorios Piper. On the motor front the field looks to be 80% Zetec vs 20% Pinto.
The mutli car teams of Andersen [5, Mansur-2nd in points, Bystrom-3rd in points, J Gonzalez-6th in points, Willard, Vassmer], GTP [4, McDonough-1st in points, Fatur-equal 10th in points, P Gonzalez, Baum], St Clair [4, Jordan, Defer, Cooper, Morgan-7th in points], Greisinger/Fat Boy [7, Kniffin-8th in points, Gumprecht, Finelli, Reilly, Puderbach, Amato, Burke], VS [2, Van Sicklen-4th in points, Dorscheimer], ADSA/Wright [3, Wright, Guibord Jr, Guibord Sr], R-Sport [3, Rieffle, Mazziotti, Gesford], PMC [2, Prendeville-9th in points, Lombardi, against the single car entries from Nicholas [5th in points], Yorio [equal 10th in points], Hallman, Minor-now Zetec powered, McCusker, Cambern, Clawson, Dole, Fahan, Pashley and a new entry from Burton Racing out of Indianapolis with driver Caleb Loniewski, as well as new additions Chris Camadella, Johnny Reisert and Lindsay Wolfer.
Race 5 of the 2007 season is Saturday morning before the 6 Hour Grand Am race with Race 6 Sunday afternoon.
As usual Rob Howden and Al Craighead of Formula Car Magazine and Eformulacarnews will be providing updates and results all weekend long.
And Clark Camberns Speedcast Productions will be producing webcasts with multiple in car cameras as well as interviews from both podiums.

Another great showing for the series.

This is great for everyone. The "formula" seems to be working.

Congrats again to the organizers!!!:D

cant imagine anyone with a FC within 1000 miles not running this event. The schedule and track time is fantastic for a true pro weekend and being part of a historic event.

in the 1st two pro weekends Rob has run 760 miles of track time. Compare that to what you are doing now. Great value for the dollar

It's been 22 years since I've been to Watkins Glen. Seems that it has only gotten better. Quite the contrast from our Road Atlanta just 3 days ago. Both are great race tracks, BUT...

5 miles north of Road Atlanta is Oakwood GA, an interstate intersection surronded by fast food joints, and chain motels, tons of traffic.

5 miles north of WGI is the Village of Watkins Glen. Beautiful views of Lake Seneca. Great little restuarants. Something like 51 wineries on Lake Seneca alone. Nice little scenic downtown with tree lined streets, neat shops and galleries, marinas, and even a dozen specatular waterfalls downtown. Neat little Mom and pop motels with rooms overlooking the lake, bars with authenic racing history on the walls, people that are glad you are in town.
Yep... we ain't in Kansas anymore...nor, Oakwood.

And, did I say we wore jackets all day.. on June 6th. Supposed to go down to 38 tonight.
This place is like racing heaven.

Pretty impressive to be mixing with other SCCA pro series teams, and especially the Daytona Prototype teams that are here for the legendary 6 Hour event.

F2000 gets to race the long track. Looks like they repaved the whole south end and smoothed it out.

I second what Kevin wrote. Can't believe anybody with a FC within 500 miles of this deal isn't here.

damn, st clair blew thru here today on interstate 80 and forgot to pick me up.

mark d

Mark,
When Rob got here, disappointment spread rapidly through the paddock. Lo, no Defer, nor Jordan. :( Cooper will have to carry the 'geezer' banner.
Couldn't they build that building for a few days without you?

yeh, it sucks. seems like another "issue" every day. but we'll be at the next 2 races...i think.

Mark d

I'm watching the opening test session from the media center right now. What a great field! :D

As GR would say... this place rocks!
7:15 Jesse 'commutes' into the paddock in his NSX 'daily driver'.

8:15 a.m. Jim Morgan drives in from Detroit with Cole waking up in the passenger seat. Something about cancelled flights to Elmira. All night drive to the track from Detroit.

About 9:00, first practice session. Cole has never seen the track before. Oops... he turns up the fastest in the session... WTF

Later in the afternoon Cole slips to second as Rickardo Vassmer leads the whole second session. Eric from QS discovers Cole's fuel pump pickup has gone south. We believe Cole has finally fallen asleep. Vassmer is already knocking on the fastest lap for the whole weekend last year. Ricardo is cooking. And Mr 8x10, none other than Kniffin, is constantly in the third position.

Middle of the second practice session... Oops... black flag all. Never detered. Zebra esq. drives to the bottom of pit lane and waves frantically for the officials attention. He then announces that Fat Boy Racing is hosting the post race party at the Seneca Inn at 6:30. After all...Fat Boy Racing does have their priorities... Immediately thereafter he generously waves past three or four competitors as the cars return to the track.

4:00 Rob Howden bikes into the paddock. Pandamonium breaks out as hundreds swarm him for autographs and to sign up for the greatest racing magazine.

4:30 Tim Minor arrives from Maryland. The field is about complete. Butler Racing unloads bullet #2 for Caleb.

5:00 Al Jr. and trusty crew is about done doing a clutch repair. OBTW, the same trusty crew that repaired a rear corner to get Al Sr, getting him back into the second session. They deserve a nice dinner, hum... maybe at the Seneca Inn?

6:30 Seneca Inn, Upper Back Deck, just steps outside the bar. Fat Boy Racing, true to their word, commences the biggest party so far of the F2000 season. Seneca Inn is in true appreciation. The evening view over the top of Watkins Glen and past Lake Geneva is spectacular. Wrinkled wreaths hanging all around the bar... last worn by winners of US GPs @ the Glen. The whole scene is a bit over the top as members of many of the F2000 teams drink and dine in the lodge.

Holy Toledo...

It gets serious tomorrow....

Frog,...Before you hop back to Fla, go down town (route 14) to the Falls state park and hop up the falls walking path. It's truly an amazing walk through and under many waterfalls (frogs like water) Don't take Rand with you. His attention span is very short and he'll get lost !

Agnif

Frog:

As Mike says, the Falls walk is a must. Also, if time permits, a visit to the Motorsports Research Center is equally manditory.

If your gills get to wilted, take a dip in the lake. It will shiver your timbers.


John D.

Good morning, men -

I'm live from the media room here at Watkins Glen to continue this year's coverage of the F2000 Championship Series over on www.eformulacarnews.com. Al Craighead is in Montreal at the GP this weekend to cover the FBMW and Formula Ford events, so I'm here to give us the double coverage.

I'll be posting our regular post-session reports, along with all the results and audio interviews throughout the weekend. If you have any questions, just post them in the EFCN F2000 forum thread.

http://www.eformulacarnews.com/viewtopic.php?p=3606

If you folks thinks Rob narrates the Clark Cambern videos great... you should hear him live on the WGI speaker system while the F2000 cars are on the track. The guy is so tuned in. The commentary is great and spot on. Rapid fire and accurate. He's putting Grand Am announcers to shame. The guy needs to be on the lead chair on a TV broadcast.

Hot today. Breezy, but hot.

Nothing too surprising in the top five, but some new names in the top 15.
Notable is Charles Finelli esq. in 7th during Qual #2. Zebra, already tagged as party coordinator for the series, partied down late at the Seneca Lodge last night. It must have been a majic tonic, because he was leading all the Fat Boy / Greisenger Racing gang.

Jesse seems to have found the handle on that beautiful Piper and pulled in 4th in Qualifying for race 1.

Clark Cambern was fastest pinto all day... on left over tires. 8th for Qual #1.

The in-car camera from Keegan's zetec shows a very close and equal battle for numerous laps between him and Craig Clawson in a pinto. At a track like WGI, it looks like the parity formula is pretty darn close.

John Dole got a well deserved 8th in the seconfd qualifier. He has been steadily getting faster and faster.

Doug Kniffin had been the fastest on 8s & 10s finishing up in 10th in qual 31. Unfortunately his zetec swallowed a nut from a velocity stack. :(

Through it all the lads seem to be playing real nice. Very little carnage, and hardly any car to car contact. Very impressive.

Tomorrow promises to be a great race with Terrick, Cole, Rickardo, Jesse, Matt and Noah all screaming down into T1.

Great Job in Qualifing Charles,

Good Luck.

Fred

Quick Update:

Cole Morgan wins Round #5 at Watkins Glen.

I'll have the full report on www.eformulacarnews.com soon.

RH - FCM

... TO GO COLE!!! Nice job man :D

Sounds like another great F2000 weekend. Congrats Coleman!

PS: Glad Al's okay.

I didn't read any articles until this morning..........

I am glad you are ok Al :( ......... Been there, done that.... :skull:

Nice drive too Matt!!! :D

After a GREAT Weekend for the St. Clair Team we had a guest appearance on Sunday. The one and only Jason Byers showed up and even had time to get a picture with his race winning car.

is that picture of cole or freddy mercury?

Freddy Mercury never looked that good in a duct tape mustache...

Congrats to Cole Morgan who at 18 years old is one of the most mature and engaging people I know. Fast, smart and confident.

Also, congrats to my Fat Boy Racing teammate, Charles Finelli, who qualified 9th. and 7th. against some of the fastest people in the country. He never sat in a race car until two years ago!

Just woke up and realized what day it is. My thanks to everybody for all their concern and help. We really are a family. Now on to re-building a new car. Thanks again to you all.
AL Guibord sr

Thom........................... How many people do you know? ;) :D

Don't let that persona fool you...... he isn't all that he appears to be ;) . Although, with having to grow up around the gang he has had to at the track, it may be more like...... survival instincts :D

Cole............ You're starting to make the finishes look like a rollercoaster ride with the arm flailing and all!!:D:D :D WAY....... TO..... GO!!!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: What a ride, eh?

Keep pushin' him Matt.... One bobble..... and your there. Nice drive man!!!

Hey folks,

I want to thank everyone from the F2000 Championship Series communtiy for their hospitality this past weekend, I really enjoyed myself. Special thanks to the Fat Boy crew for doing their best to inject some real 'community' into the paddock. You're doing more for the series than you know.

I was particularly impressed with the series in my first trackside experience and I hope to attend another race soon. I hope that you enjoying our coverage on EFCN and in FCM and I wish you all luck at Cleveland.

Very nice!

RH - FCM

Rob,

Your enterprise is keeping all of us interested parties in tune, and doing a great job getting info out to everyone else as well!

Thank you for what you do :thumbsup: ........ Oh, and by the way......any swimsuit issue planned? ;) :D

Rob,
On behalf of Fat Boy Racing (as the Junior/Skinny member) thank you for the kind words. It was great to meet you and talk with you. As noted above, your race commentary is fantastic.

Rob you are VERY NICE!!! behind the mic. Thanks for some fun this weekend. Hope to see you at more F2000 Races.

"You boys been doin a bit o' boozing have ya?" :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by GR

"You boys been doin a bit o' boozing have ya?" :D

---

I can proudly state that Cole 'Pro' Morgan proved to be a steady designated driver this weekend. Paitent as well, handling the antics of his carmates well.

Fred thank you for keeping track of my progress.

Rob Howden, Cole, Ricardo, Noah, even shy Terrick, fast Matt, Jesse, Doug Prendeville, Mama Prendeville, Purple Frog, Hankook boys, Chris Burke, Jeff McCusker, Clawson & the chainsaw boys, Al Sr., Al Jr., John Dole, Jed Dorsheimer, Bob Wright, Mike Rand, Glen Phillips, Fahan, Fatur and Speed Vision Camera crew all contributed to a great time at the Fat Boy tent/circus:D . ALL are welcome ALL the time. Missing were Rob Nicholas, Clark Cambern, Phil Lombardi, Scott Willard, Jim Hallman, Tim Minor, Caleb, Lewis Cooper, Peter Gonzalez, Chris Camadella:( we hope to see you at the tent at Cleveland.

We are investing in more Fat Boy recliners to satisfy demand.

Great job F2000

Charles Finelli
Senior Fat Boy

GR
You know the rule"What happens at the track, stays at the track"
I do however want advance warning the next time Howden shows up!
Besides with the "Fat Boys" around,eveyone else looks well behaved.

Rob -

Wasn't cole egging on the "antics of his carmates" ?

Yes, I was, I also financially supported it. I just like to see my friends have a good time, and Howden trying to get the shot glass to tilt in the Jager bomb was worth every dollar.

I nominate Howden for announcer of the Year after his Turn 1 "VERY NICE!"

June 11, 2007: Terror in Watkins Glen

In what can only be described as an act of terror, Formula Car Magazine and Eformulacarnews.com owner Rob Howden was attacked late Saturday night. It looked like the hooligans of Watkins Glen had used the cover of night to vandalize the Canadian’s rental car. Howden awoke Sunday morning to the scene and was immediately hysterical. “I don’t know what kind of a monster would do this. It just isn’t right, what a terrible act”, said an obviously emotional Howden. Luckily his friends were close by to keep him under control throughout the situation. Although charges have not been pressed the Media Mogul hopes those responsible are brought to justice.

That is right we set the F2000 Series "slick" sales record over the weekend. Cleveland looks to be even bigger. If you know of any new people who are coming or if you regulars need tires, please call this week so we have some idea we are bringing enough. :)


Racing was great on Sunday. I have attached a few photos:

#1 is the Start
#2 is the 1st Re-Start
#3 is the 2nd Re-start
#4 is is D. Prendevile gettings some love from Clark C.
#5 is the Greisinger Unbrella girls.... Nice See you at Cleveland

Special Thanks to the Fat Boys! These guys are what racing is.

Todd

Well..... nice prizes from ICUITI. The glasses and software are awesome.. I thought we'd give Jed D. a shout out for the great Hospitality tent on Sat. Thanks from Hankook for sure.

I don't think words can describe the F2000 Championship Series and everyone involved. The officials are first class, they want to help you not work against you, that is something all to uncommon in todays racing. The second my car rolled off the scales Sunday I had a check in my hand that will help us pay for Cleveland, I was speechless. Everyone at Hankook, YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME! Great guys, Great attitudes, and Great tires. ICUITI, I have never received such cool gifts for winning a race. These guys put together a great event Saturday afternoon and I am sure everyone had fun. Thank you everyone for a weekend I will never forget! Keep up the Great work!

Cole

Wow!
You folks that weren't there... you're going to have a hard time really believing how this series rocks!

Mrs Frog just told me she has 1100 images in her camera memory. She was stationed at turn 1 for both starts. We are still on the road heading south. We made a small detour to Annapolis, found it crowded, so wheeled down the "eastern shore" of Maryland. Left Kitty Hawk a few hours ago. Maybe by the weekend she can start posting pictures.

OK... I'm going to put it in writing. In the U. S. of A. if there is any one course to visit/race it has to be Watkins Glen. Road Atlanta and Road America are great courses. But, WGI has the surrounding area to have a blast taking in. Waterfalls, Tiki Bars, sailing on the lake, 51 different wineries, the Seneca Lodge, Glenora Inn, Famous Brands, and Montour Falls. If you can book a room there, no place better than the Falls Motel in Montour Falls. It's like 4 miles from the track. Great rooms, owners love racers, and two magnificent waterfalls within a few blocks on each side.

Special thanks to Fat Boy Racing. Charles and Thom took over the duties of series social event coordinators. In three nights they lead tours through the bars at the Seneca Inn, Glen Motor Lodge, and Glenora Inn. Maybe by next year all three establishments will have forgotten. :o What's purely amazing is how fast Zebra was the next day, all three days. Scary to think what would happen if they got "real serious".... about partying.

For those keeping track of such things. Al Sr's car chassis looks worse than my '05 Runoffs debacle. And if you are stupid enough to still be on the fence about whether to buy a HANS device... well... just ask Al Sr. I'm guessing it saved his life. It ain't easy sitting still on the track and taking an 100+ mph impact into the hip. Yet on Sunday Al Sr. was helping us load up to leave.

Clark Cambern, Chris Burke, and Craig Clawson showed us that pintos are still strong contenders. And would be stronger if they went on diets to get down to 1210.

The ICUITI folks are making an awesome product. Even though it did not allow me to make a U-turn on the cyber track in an effort to strategically pilot a head-on into Jim Morgan. :( They hosted a great lunch at turn 11 during the DP 6 hour race. Thank You!

By the end of the weekend Tim Minor was definitely getting the handle on the new zetec power. I expect him to be contending in the top 5 before long.

More later...