Round 7 Recap: Autobahn

Last week / weekend turns out to be one of the lowest points in the life of a racer.  A good friend of mine passed away not nearly a week ago and his funeral was the Friday of the Autobahn race weekend that I needed to attend (with the goal of pushing to be a competitor at the end of the season I decided I had to race).  However, I spent much of the weekend rethinking of memories of Tim Krumm – a husband, father and all around great guy.

I got to know Tim and his wife Cheryl from going to STL PCA events many years ago.  Often I wanted to get some more track time by heading over to STL and driving at Gateway (a track that I enjoyed immensely until it sadly closed [however it has a new owner and has reopened for 2012]).  The Krumms were gracious hosts for those staying at the DEs often offering the use of their spare bedrooms for migrant racers.  I remember discussions with Tim about driving and his passion for learning more, enough so that Tim became heavily involved with STL PCA, and so contagious in his focus that Chery even started going along to DE events as a driver – leading me to actually sign up my wife for an Girls DE Event.

Little did I know, this was just the start of an underwhelming weekend.

Friday Enduro

We haven’t even started racing yet and Angel was already in trouble.  On his tow back from Mid Ohio an trailer axle bearing destroyed itself and he had to have his trailer and car impounded near the IL/IN border on I80 (not a pleasant place).  So he spent much of the week between Mid Ohio and Autobahn getting parts to fix the trailer and get his car back.  By the time it was all said and done Angel was so worn out in energy and money he decided not to race and packed it back home.

After a grueling week at Nationals, Sid and I decided to skip the Autobahn enduro race.  So with my new found free time I offered to help pit crew for Eric/Neal and Bryan Cohns’ teams.

From the previous 2 events and this weekend Sid and I have learned that we should race in E2 class as most competitors in it do not finish races or spend more time in the pits than on the track.  In this fashion Neal started out in practice only to find out one of the castle nuts on the tie rod came off giving him one wheel steering.  Pull into the pits and get that fixed.  At the start of the race in Neal’s stint – an loose oil pan drain bolt (Eric’s car was torn down from Nationals as he finished 2nd but with Autobahn so close in time there was a rush to put everything back together) caused him to oil down the track including his rear wheels which spun Neal and he was collected by a Spec Miata (who likely could not stop due to the oil).  Later on a spill of fuel onto the ground gave them a 5 minute penalty – akin to 2 laps.  Seemingly Sid and I race in E3 and for the first 2 events have finished higher than Eric/Neal we could have kept our noses clean and taking a higher spot.

Fixing broken tie rod and replacing oil drain plug.

Broken tie tod from impact with Spec Miata that spun on Neal's oil.

Saturday Race

A little work needed to be done to Ken’s car as his headgasket blew and he needed to change one over.  Nick and his team did the work Friday evening.

Ken's call all mended and ready to race.

Saturday was dry (one of the great things we miss racing this year was dry weather as over 50% of our races have been in the wet or slightly wet conditions).  Morning warmup went well with me getting up to speed.  I qualified 5th but Dan was disqualified for passing under yellow in qualifying so I was moved up to 4th.  I got a great start and made up 2 spots at the start by going on the outside of Turn 1/2 complex and got a great run up into turn 4.  I held that position until I slid a little wide losing a lot of momentum in turn 10 watching Neal & Eric battle a slow GTS2 M3 with a rookie in it (he seemed to like racing our slower cars b/c he kept on winding up in the middle of our battles).  I realize in hindsight I should have downshifted to 2nd (usually hold 3rd in that corner) as it would help me not bleed off speed.  The race was a blast as the the 4 of us (Eric/Neal/Dan and I) were battling repeatedly for positions jockeying back and forth.  Neal was able to pull out a commanding lead at first as that M3 again spun and came back on messing up my pass attempt of Eric in Turn 4, then slowly motoring past the others on the straights where he’d dive bomb them in the corners with his sticky Hoosiers.  That is until Eric locked up his rears too much then had trail braking problems and Ray and Dan got past and my self until that M3 incident.  Neal though lost his engine as it was running too lean with 2 laps to go.  He’s had such bad luck this season.  I wound up 4th in the race and was hoping for a higher finish however and the top 4 were all within 1 second on our fastest lap – the smallest spread we’ve ever had through those positions.

After the race we all went out for Mexican and Sid and I went to go see the movie “Chase”.  Before though as racers we did some practice laps for tomorrow.

For the record - Sid did beat my best time.

Sunday Race

With Neal’s motor completely blown – Nick decided to do an all nighter motor rebuild.  They had a spare block already built in the truck, and they had a spare head that needed rebuilding (the hope was Neal’s current head on his engine could be salvaged but the head got so hot is seized.

Black Pistons - ominous signs

Head seized enough that the hydraulic lifters were impossible to get out.

12 hours later...

Other than the motor rebuild excitement, Sunday morning started with the heavens pouring down rain that continued through the day with drizzle to downpour.  I like everyone else didn’t go out for warmups.  In qualifying I was struggling as my car is mainly set up for dry – shocks on hard all the way around and sway bars full firm.  I qualified 5th with a pretty dismal time trying to keep the car on the track.

So for the Sunday race I decided to go with a full wet setup – soft shocks, disconnect sway bars and full wet tires.  Ready to race.  Well the race started out great – I was fast and the car was stable (the best its ever felt in the rain – now I’m knocking my own head as to why I didn’t do this earlier).  The four of us again were flying at the start until Turn 6 of lap 1 where Ray went 4 wheels off at the exit where he hit a mud puddle which splashed mud onto my windshield and with the wipers smearing it I was literally blind.  I slowed and started to pull off to the right side of the track when Ray came back on and spun across the track into my path where we both hit pretty hard – hard enough to spin his car.  I wasn’t sure of the damage so I drove at a slow idle speed a little further on until my oil pressure started to drop and I killed the motor and coasted out into the grass to stay out of harms way.

Poor Baby!

 

Ouch!

 

Ray's Poor Car!

Video from Ray’s Car

Well this ends my season early as I will miss the Road America season ending event.  Sadly I will miss racing with this group of guys as I’ve had a great time racing and enjoyed he support the team provides from friendship and BENMS.  I have not figured out my 2012 plans but racing is in my blood.

Precursor to Round 7: Autobahn

No rest for the weary it seems.  After getting back 4 days ago from Nationals and the associated 12 hour trip, it’s off again to Chicago for the last race at Autobahn.  Here’s to hoping that I score some good points in the championship as there is only one round after this (Road America – a track I’ve never driven).

There is an enduro Friday evening but my partner (Sid) and I decided to bow out of the endurance race and rather focus on relaxing more.  I will be doing enduro support for a friend of mine so I should have some fun hanging out with the guys.  Plus this enduro race goes into the night so that’ll be interesting.

NASA Nationals Recap

With my full time participation in racing with NASA I was able to race at Nationals.  This is one of the most grueling racing weeks with a 4 day race schedule plus 3 practice days.  Since the event is held at Mid-Ohio, weather always plays a factor.

Drive to Mid Ohio & Wednesday Practice Session

I left for the event late Monday night to get part of the 12 hour drive in – which I finished on Tuesday.  Wednesday was a practice day I thankfully signed up for as it was raining most of the day making track time treacherous (Mid Ohio puts down sealant in the high wear parts of corners which acts as ice in the rain) trying to find that line where you have grip – often driving around the track braking on the inside of corners then making most corners way off line at the very edge.

Wear it with Pride!

This week also started my wardrobe malfunction where my left shoe lost glue on the outer sole and came loose; the zipper on my race suit broke; then my sunglasses got sat on somehow leaving me with quite a bunch of issues in getting ready for the races.

Yes - Racer's Tape does fix actual Racers.

It was also the race weekend where Neal broke more axles than anyone I’ve ever known in a 944.  Seems he bought a bunch of brand new axles from Germany that were defective breaking on him in both qualifying races – but after the drama Neal prevailed from last on the grid to the podium.

We were also coached by Mike Skeen who took time out of his busy schedule to go over data / video with various drivers and help us understand the track better.  Mike races in various professional venues including Grand Am and Speed World Challenge – Google him and watch some of his driving has he’s incredibly fast.  He’s also much younger than me making me jealous!

Bennington Motorsports Circus Tent!

That night we had our big driver meeting and then met up at the BENMS trailers and Neal did a track review.

Neal doing a turn by turn analysis of Mid Ohio for the group to get us all up to speed.

Thursday – Qualifying Race 1

I was able to get to know the other competitors from various regions across the US.  Tyler Palmer from SoCal; Phil Fromme from TX; Brad Raum, Shannon McCue, and John Armstrong from Great Lakes Region; and David Dirks and Sean Thule from Rocky Mountain Region.  In the end we had 2 previous National Champions (David and Eric Kuhns [double champion]) in our field and two hot new drivers to our series in Neal and Tyler.

Thursday was a day of drizzle then it would actually rain before each session until the race.  It was then thankfully dry.  I qualified 9th for the race as I was unable to get clean laps during qualifying.  At the start of the race Neal lost an axle so it caused the field to react quickly around him.  During the race I was able to work my way past several drivers and finish 5th in class.  This included a scrap with Angel and Ray from my region and fending off Phil who made a daring pass splitting Ray and I into Turn 7 only to go off immediately in Madness giving me back the position.  I was thankful he is ok as he got right back on but glad he went off so I didn’t have to fight to pass him.

Thursday evening we had an off site party at Ohio State Penitentiary in Mansfield, OH.  This was the site of most of the filming of Shawshank Redemption.  It is a beautiful yet slightly creepy prison – built in the late 19th century.

LEMME OUT!

Shawshank Prison

Friday – Qualifying Race 2

Friday was another slightly wet morning but drying up during the day.  I qualified 5th this time (just over a second off pole).  I was hoping to do well in the race but I screwed up on the start as I could not see the flag station and just when I had to lift to not tap the car in front the flag waived and I was immediately passed by good starts by both David and Phil (they both also put down more over 139whp – pretty high in our field).  I finished 6th in class so was a little disappointed in my result as I wanted to do better.  Neal again blew an axle on the first lap and had a bad tranny mount.

Nick fixing broken tranny mount with Window Weld.

Saturday – National Race

Warmup came and went as it was dry however the clouds loomed overhead and every 10 mins we’d check the weather and it gave us a 50% chance of rain.  With 30 minutes before the race we had a small sprinkle with dark clouds coming our way.  Nick Miller made the call that we should go wets (they had to change tires on 5 cars) but I didn’t change my dry setup (soften up shocks).  Well it was the right call as 15 minutes before the race it started to pour and didn’t let up.

Due to the rain we had 2  warmup laps to figure out the track, find the rivers of water and puddles making it treacherous.  Being behind other cars made it hard to see.  I started 7th in class as a 5th and a 6th only gives me so much points – but I was hungry to do better.  Sam Grant made it just out of the pits and his car stopped running (electrical issue with the water).

The start of the race was something incredible – you couldn’t see because of the spray of water.  I was listening intently to Mike Skeen when he noted that during the start of the race you can drive up the very inside line of 7 and brake hard to rotate the car to cross the apex straight – which then puts you on the wet line through Madness.  Well I did this and make up 2 spots to make it to 5th after madness.  The rest of the race was a tangle of keeping the car from spinning and sliding off track as anytime you touched the dry line it felt like driving on ice.  I was able to maintain my position and started pushing a little harder.  Neal caught me and I was able to keep him behind for a couple of laps until he got a better run on me.  I followed him and was keeping up until I pushed too hard in turn 1 and slid wide under brakes taking me where I could no longer make the left turn and had to go off track.  I lost a place to Ray who got by me as he was right behind me (only for Ray to slide off in Turn 11 and get stuck losing a lap).  I got back on and was in front of Dan and we battled for several laps until in Turn 7 I hit the brakes and had snap oversteer (I think there was some oil on the track as I braked at the same spot and marker).  Well what ensued was a wonderful drive through China Beach in which I smacked it into 2nd and powered out.  What was funny is that I watched a racer earlier today and we were cheering for the exact same stunt (and I could see the crowd cheering as well – so thanks!).  I got back on and started pushing to catch Dan as I could see him ahead through another corner (Dan spun also right after me but was able to stay on track).  A full course yellow came out and it allowed Angel to catch up to me but we were lucky to beat out the pace car and not go a lap down (was able to make up a lot of time I lost).

In the end I was able to pilot it home in 7th place in my first ever nationally televised race.  I can’t thank BENMS for keeping a good car under me and setting up the car.  Nick has 2 good helpers who work on our cars Corey & Dennis who crawl under cars and do a lot of needed work.

I will again be racing this coming weekend at Autobahn with an Enduro that goes into the night and a normal race weekend.  The last race I have is Oct 8/9 at Road America for our season ending event.

Sunday Remembrance

NASA handed out some 9/11 stickers we all fashioned to our cars to remember the tragedy and the sacrifices our soldiers give to make our country safe.

Never Forget

Precursor to 2011 944-Spec National Championship

Long time no post – reason being is I have to work a real job and play racer on the side.  Plus, my evil plan of tricking Wayne Taylor to think I’m the eldest of his kids has not worked.  So it’s off to the National Championship race with the usual support of BENMS.com.  This will be my first ever effort to compete on a national scale racing against former champions and some of the best drivers across the US in our series.

Open track time will be on Wednesday September 7 for practice.  We will be getting some coaching from Mike Skeen (professional driver for many touring car based series such as Speed World Challenge and Grand Am Sports Car Series).  I will actually have 3 races the entire – of which Thursday & Friday are what we have called Qualifying Races.  Your starting position for the actual Championship race on Saturday is based on the average of your finish from the two Qualifying Races.  So if you win one but DNF the other – you start mid pack.  Thursday evening we will also being going on a tour of Ohio State Reformatory (where they keep players and alumni who break NCAA rules) and eat at the dinner hall.  I’ll be sure to bring my orange jump suit and load up on some free tattoos in order to fit in.

Saturday = National Championship Race

All (and only) Saturday & Sundays Races will be cast live on the Web at Speedcast TV (LINK TO Website).  Click the Watch It icon to start the Webcast.  We have over 20 drivers (maybe more as I did not hear the full count) in 944-Spec but we will also be sharing the track with Spec e30 (80’s BMW 325 Series) and Spec3 (which I’m not exactly sure what that is…maybe a catchall 3 series series (lol)).  Our race will be at 3:05 PM ET Saturday September 10, 2011.  Please try to watch the race if you can and cheer / jeer me on.  Post race driver interviews will be on GoRacingTV.com where they will have post race driver interviews.

Big Thanks to Toyo Tires and Hawk Brakes for their support.