June Sprints

[rickb99]

Kyle Oberndorf did a mega-tow for the Sprints. And yes, he puts a serious effort into his racing. Engine swap over night at the Seattle Double National and a big effort for the Rose Cup National in Portland. I can imagine he's just a little (sic) upset about this.

If as you say wings were measured after qual. somebody must have written it on paper. If you had the time to do-the-fight, I'd be looking for that document. Shucks Shucks sorry to see that.

[Matt Conrad]

Congrats Coop! Congrats Jay!

Haven't heard what happened to the Piper, but in one of the pictures....he's doing a drifting demo!!!

As far as impound goes....we've actually had our entire car measured at a Regional race here in Phoenix. They even went as far as to inspect and measure the floor deviation....it took like 30 minutes for them to devise an accurate measuring method.

Truthfully, I just think the officials like to play with new toys....just like we do. Bring something new out that they haven't seen....and they'll be all over it.

I did notice that at least one of the Stohrs did not have the original wing package on it....it looked exactly like an Atlantic wing assembly....and that could explain the problem. I'm pretty sure the Atlantic rules state 96cm maximum rear wing.

Matt Conrad
Phoenix Race Works, LLC

[Stan Clayton]

Too wide by 157 thousandth's???? Geez

Is that measured from the inside of the wing end plates or the the outside? What's the 'rule'? Width of the WING or width of the wing 'assembly'??

Were ALL of the Stohr's measured??

From Table 5 on page 245:

I. Maximum rear aerofoil width (includes endplates) - 95cm

[Paul LeCain]

Atlantic rear wing width is 110 cm, so that wasn't one of those.

[Matt Conrad]

Sorry....I was reading the Pro Mazda section of the FA rules.

Matt Conrad
Phoenix Race Works, LLC

[EJNMN]

Does the GCR leave any room for Stewards to use their discretion to implement warnings vs. enforcement? None of the Stohr wings had been modified by the teams, so the result of the change is to move a car with presumably the same non-compliant wing to a podium position.

Certainly, this problem never should have occurred in the first place, and the Stewards are right to point it out, but it seems like the enforcement of this provided more harm to the credibility of the results than good.

[Matt Conrad]

My take would be that at the June Sprints, which is the SCCA's #2 event (some may say #1)....it is enforcement time. And we're not talking about a rule that is subject to interpretation here....it is a simple GO or NO GO situation...you are either within the rules or you are not.

I am surprised though that this was not caught before...and pointed out so this didn't happen at such a high profile event.

Matt Conrad
Phoenix Race Works, LLC

[SCOTTY81]

Awsome job Glen,

Congrats to you , your girlfreind ( sorry ,but I forgot her name ) and Mike for the win.
I enjoyed meeting all of you.
To see what you started with on Thursday.....All I can say is WOW.....

Scotty
Taylor Race Engineering.

[Stan Clayton]

Not sure on the rule as I don't have the GCR in front of my but it was end plate to end plate with a variety of tools. They had a huge micrometer and a tape measure they measured it all with.

The thing that pissed both Kyle and I off the most about (besides sitting for 2 hours plus) was that none of the cars that took our spots had to be impounded or looked at so lord only knows if something equal awful and performance enhancing as our extra 4mm could be found. But rules are rules and you have to play by them I guess.

I myself don't feel like I was robbed as Jean Luc if his car kept running would have been in front of me BUT Kyle drove the wheels off the car and got the shaft.

Only Kyle and my car were measured.

I understand your frustration with the 2-hour wait, John, and appreciate your measured response. As you note, the rules ARE the rules, and it is the responsibility of the stewards to enforce them.

Since you note that you are new to Nat'l racing, I'll share a few points with you. First, as a general rule, cars found to be non-compliant are not classified ahead of finishers not judged non-compliant (note I make no claim that these other cars are compliant!). So, your penalty is as mild as it gets and is consistent with normal procedure. The stewards understand that 4mm is probably no big advantage, just as being 4 lbs underweight is no big advantage, but it is non-compliant nonetheless, so you and Kyle were moved to the back of the finishers.

Second, any time there is an impound delay you can ask for a conditional release to go freshen up and begin getting ready for the haul home. Tell the stewards where you're located in the paddock and offer them your cell phone number. I have never seen someone turned down for simple measurement issues.

Hope that clears up things a bit.

Stan

[Mike Devins]

1 FB Glenn Cooper - Van Diemen (GianCarlo Di Coopola)
2 FB Michael Rock - Speads RM 07 TL2

3 FB Justin Pritchard - SievnPiper DFB

6 FB Jean-Luc Liverato - Stohr F1000
5 FB Kyle Oberndorf - Stohr F1000 PCMW/Curvetech/Stohr Cars
6 FB John Stecher - Stohr F1000
7 FB Mike Beauchamp - Van Diemen RF

http://www.scca.com/documents/Club_E...p%208%20OR.pdf

something is funny on postion 6 but this is direct from web site above.

[jjstecher]

Thanks Stan. Like I said I am not pissed at the SCCA I know that rules are rules so like I said I don't mind letting it be. I sure as hell wasn't trying to cheat and if I would have known the wing was too wide I would have plained it down but I have to imagine most of us don't measure every angle of the car per the GCR so it just went unchecked. If we would have been told after they measured it in quals we could have fixed it. But C'est la vie.

The 2 hour wait however was at the impound folks insistence. They said someone had to be with the car and they needed the driver/entrant at the ready. Thus we sat.

As I said Karma comes back around and will pay me back sometime so no biggy. The weekend was a blast even with this damper on the end! Coop drove a hell of a race and is a great guy so I couldn't be happier he took the prize home complete with his radiator and water ducting Anna and him were fabbing between sessions.

[Mike B]

something is funny on postion 6 but this is direct from web site

Bob Schader is not shown in the results. I'm fairly certain that he took the green flag. Anyone know?

[jjstecher]

I dont think he took the green Mike. I believe he left Saturday night.

[Purple Frog]

It had to be Giancarlo De Coopala, because the Coop we've grown to love sports the vivid dayglo orange helmet! Not boring white. Congrats Coop. Can't wait to read the chronicles.

Jay could have measured everyones rear wings. Oops, forget that, I've still got his metric tape measure.

[R. Pare]

....it is a simple GO or NO GO situation...you are either within the rules or you are not.

Geez...... next time give them a shrink rule!

[Mike Devins]

Bob Schader is not shown in the results. I'm fairly certain that he took the green flag. Anyone know?

Talked to Bob this morning and he did not take the green - Mike Rock who was in the other Speads had an issue and Bob gave him parts off of the factory car so that he could compete, that left Bob with out a left rear upright. Class move by Bob, he was faster in qualifying and gave up the parts to support his customer.

[preform resources]

Heard from Mike Devins about coop's emergency tail..........nuthin like a little emergency tail to make you a winner! congrats coop,jay,mike.
Dave Craddock

[jjstecher]

Finally after waiting for like 8 hours it seemed to get this uploaded to youtube here is a little video of the race. Damn youtube cutting videos off at 10 minutes max length sucks but alas hopefully some folks enjoy and it gets everyone pumped to increase the FB field next year.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ_FVjEpkOM

[jnortonjr]

Hey John,

Cool video. I happen to be the FC just off the wall as you pass through the kink. What did you see as you came through? There also looks to be another FC on the right-hand side?

Thanks.

John

[Marshall Mauney]

Finally after waiting for like 8 hours it seemed to get this uploaded to youtube here is a little video of the race.

Nice drive! Too bad the bug strike on the lens obscures the view late in the video.....

[jjstecher]

Hey John,

Cool video. I happen to be the FC just off the wall as you pass through the kink. What did you see as you came through? There also looks to be another FC on the right-hand side?

Thanks.

John

jnortonjr - Really sorry to hear about the car and glad your alright. I just saw you go in as I was coming out of the carousel and then the corner worker freaking out with the yellow as I approached. There was a big flat piece of something on the left hand side of the track upstream of your car and between the other FC that was off on the right hand side then a piece that looked like a 1"x1" thick bar laying beyond that. You were facing backwards if I remember right and the other FC was facing down the straight on the inside wall. Someone's tire was rolling down the inside wall as well.

Marshall - I sent my condolences to the bugs family already.

[996kyle]

I thought now that I have returned home (after my 35 hour non stop journey) to Vancouver Canada and have had a chance to cool down, I should take the time to write a few words.

First off I want to thank Wayne and Doug Felch of STOHR Cars, for putting an absolutely awesome car together for me. Along with the support from Good Year Tires the car was incredibly fast, reaching speeds in excess of 150 MPH (from our CDS GPS driven) into turn 5 without a draft on most laps.
With more track time, "learning the line better" and more car development we will bring an even better package in 2009 to the Sprints.

Excellent driving by Coop and Justin, it was a treat to be able to run our first event at Road America at the front with those guys, congrats to everyone who finished and especially Coop, great drive man!

The June Sprints was a fantastic event at an unbelievable track!

I know that I did what I needed to do during the race, really unfortunate as John stated that the measurements and 3 earlier inspections by the tech staff from earlier this weekend and previous events did not point out the issue, so we could remedy the issue before the race, as outlined we were not trying to play outside the rules.

The measurements of my rear wing were within tollerance in several readings but unfortunately were out in a few others, and were not as severe as Johns.

I had a blast and got to stand on the podium, no ONE in SCCA can take that away from me,

I have the pictures to prove it!
I will be back next year with a venegance, see you at the ARRC race.

Cheers
Kyle

[Wren]

Does anybody know what happened to Pritchard's car?

[glenn cooper]

Man! What a whirlwind tour. First it was Kimmell (TOO much fun), followed by Carson Daily (What a TOOL!), then, just yesterday... The View (Take THAT Helio!)

First off, thanks for all the support from my FB Brethren. It's quite humbling, lemme tell ya.

Where to start, guess I'll just jump in...

NEVER woulda got there w/o my buddy Jack Velden who really got me going in the right direction w/ fuel system and wiring. We barely made Rd Atl a few weeks ago for the first shakedown, which went well - 1st in class (out of 1 entry, woo-whoo!), but much more importantly, all systems checked out OK, even made some improvements in cooling.
It was jack who got me into open wheel cars in the first place, renting me a vintage FF back in '97. A true friend and a great Canadian.

Mecuon, WI native, EP, now GT3 driver and transplanted Georgian Jeff Dernehl, without whose bridgeport mill and advice would still see me whittling away on aluminum w/ a nail file.

Crewchief/Ace Fabricator/Nutritionist/ and, oh yeah, my main squeeze, Ana, without whose steadfast support woulda seen me pull the plug (as well as much hair outta my head) on this trip awile back. I mean who shows up at the Sprints w/o a finished car?

The FB pioneers: Hill, Beauchamp, O'Connell & McBride (HELL of a Law Firm!) who paved the way. I watched and listened (Yes, occasionally I can keep my mouth shut - if only for short bursts), learned and filed the bits away for future use.

Hats off to the Piper crew who have set the benchmark, and of course Stohr, who have createed quite a lot of excitement, and produced a very sexy car, which with the addition of a sleeker, slimmer body (Hey, have you seen Mariah Carey lately??), will be right there top speed wise.

Mike Devins - Hurley Race Products
I feel like I have been adopted by an older brother (Hey Mike, you ARE older than me, right?). We seem to work really well together (he tells me what to do, and I do it. We test it and it's better. Good plan). Many of the imporvements in cooling have his initials on the design plan. I also have a bitchin' to the rules difuser now, which will be on the car for the WG Nat'l in a few weeks. We ran the wee little stock VD piece for this race.
Also on the car for The Sprints was an engine cover (first time for everything), which was not up to the usual Devins standard, but rather had to be hauled out of the dumpster basically. It's closer to a design study for a mould than a finished product. Bottom line? It worked and passed the 100/100 rule.

The crew at Ten Tenths Motorsport Bill, Craig, and Jonathan.
A very timely phone call had my car on their trailer headed north.
They are VERY knowledgeable, and friendly too boot. Good dudes, and right around the corner from me.

George Dean - Took the mystery out of interfacing the Suzuki engine wiring harness to the car, and I quote, "Yeah, uhh Coop, you oughta just put that thing in a box and send it to me, it'ssss... ssssort of complicated..."

Of course Jay Novak and Dave Piontek who engineered and built the conversion kit.
I've got to say, it is a rather potent pkg. When you factor in that the chassis isn't close to being developed, AND it's the 2nd time out, well I'm feeling pretty good.

As many of you know, I was not racing at the ARRC last year, due to unforseen delays. It was great to still be involved, but it's much more fun to be driving...
I can't wait for ARRC '08. Hell, I may even have the paint job down to 2 colors by then...

Regards, GC

PS Coop Chronicles is coming, I've been overwhelmed w/ work from the moment I got back.

[Mike Devins]

Hey Coop - are you older than Ana? If so we might be the same age, if not I'll be happy to be adopted as your older brother.

[glenn cooper]

Me-46
She-49
You?

[RussMcB]

No way Ana's in her 40's. Learn to type, dude.

[Mike B]

Me-46
She-49

nuh-uh...

[Mike Devins]

OK so I am your older brother. 52