I ran my second SCCA National race this past week end at beautiful Gingerman Raceway in South Haven, MI. I have visitors, as MySR71 and his girlfriend (OK to characterize in those words?) stopped by. Good to have company.
The race weekend went less than good. I qualified 4th out of 6, behind Fred Baker in his brand new Porsche GT3, and the Corvettes driven by Lance Knupp (what for this name, as he is going places) and David Roush. So good names ahead of me. I typically am the fastest of the second tier of drivers, I need to work on that.
The start of the race was bad: going into turn one, a sharp left hander, I was punted off the track by an American Sedan (A/S) Camaro. It turns out two of them tried to go 3 wide around the 5th place Vette into a turn that is tough two wide. They slide into me and knocked me off track.
I got back onto the track and set sail regaining my lost positions. I did not know that my mechanical problems would cause my next incident: The very next lap I entered turn One again, and this time I ran into the back of a T2 Firebird. Pushed him around and he clipped my driver's door.
Then the brakes really started to go, and I eventually lost the rear brakes completely. I was still passing SS/C, SS/B, A/S and T2 cars without full braking, but eventually this came to an end.
Turns out, the right rear brake bleeder screw backed out and allowed fluid to pump out. I did not tighten the screws enough when I bled the brakes Saturday. I won't make that mistake again.
I finished sixth out of six, kind of a blow to my ego. But this is all a learning experience for me.
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Kryderacing/Phoenix Performance/Hoosier/WRP Investments #40 SCCA T1 Dodge SRT10 Viper
Other cars: 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe LTZ/2002 Chevrolet 3500 Crew Cab Dualie/2005 Cadillac STS 4
David: Sorry to hear that you had a run of bad luck. Like you said though.. It's all a learning experience. You'll get em' next time.
Was there any damage to your car after getting punted and then after running into the back of the car?
How did you like Gingerman? How does it stack up against some of the other tracks that you've been on. Difficulty? Fun factor? Etc...? That's the track that I learned on, so it holds a special place in my heart.
Thanks for the great weekend. I had a GREAT time. You car looks good. Sorry to hear about the trouble with your brakes and your racing incidents. It really is unfortunate when you have to pay for the mistakes of others. Such is racing.....
I did take some pics and a couple of very low res videos with my digital camera during Saturday's qualifying. The pics didn't turn out that well but there might be a couple of decent ones. If you PM your address, I will burn them onto CD and send them to you. All in all, there is about 20 MB of pics and videos. I would be more than happy to it for you.
I was hoping to stay longer and chat more but my co-pilot had other plans. I have written down that you will probably be at Grattan on Sept 4th. I hope to make it out for that weekend as well.
One more thing. THANK YOU for introducing me to Kurt at Phoenix. My oh my. We are both on the same wavelength with regards to putting in a roll bar into my car. This was very refreshing to hear. When the time comes, hopefully this fall, I'll let them do it. I think they will do a terrific job.
I can try and get the pics out. Problems with my internet connection at home. As for the video, I don't know. I might be able to if my connection is back.
Was there any damage to your car after getting punted and then after running into the back of the car?
No damage when the A/S car knocked me off in Turn One. I "cut" the driver's door skin just under the roll bar when the T2 Firebird slid into me. About $500 worth of fiberglass repair work and paint, plus the mirror needs replaced.
Quote:
How did you like Gingerman? How does it stack up against some of the other tracks that you've been on. Difficulty? Fun factor? Etc...?
I have a soft spot in my heart for Gingerman: I did my first SCCA driver's school there last June. Nice place, track staff are real nice, but it is NOT a classic Corvette track...too slow. With 45+ cars on the track there was not alot of room to stretch the legs on the car. But otherwise a very nice facility, first class people.
David, sounds like a rough outing. Is there usually that much contact in T1? I have the same opinion of Gingerman. Fun track, but not built for Vettes. Keep your chin up, good things are going to happen for you in future races. Ron
Thanks for the explanation and photos! Gingerman is a nice track, but it surely isn't a hp track like you guys said. The two straights aren't very long.
Ron, no, usually the T1 guys are pretty good to each other and don't bang fenders. I was warned about the A/S guys; they are a bit crazy, and seem to race with a chip of their shoulder in regards to the T1 Corvettes. This was a case of a banzai attempt to get in front of two T1 Vettes, and one (me) got the short end of the deal.
Thanks for the words of encouragement: I was more bummed out Monday, and everyday after that I am getting more itchy to get back at it. Thanks again.
DMP
Last edited by David Pintaric : 04-28-2004 at 10:18 AM.
Thanks for the comments. It seems as though I was not the only one who had a bad weekend racing...our own subdriver, Brad Neff had mechanical problems in Nebraska.
David,
Sorry your weekend didn't go so well. Mine didn't either, but I haven't had a chance to get online since I got back at 3:15a Monday.
I'm leaving for Norfolk in a few minutes to take my car to my brother in laws shop to repair a broken timing chain.
So what was the outcome between Lance, Dave and Freddy? I didn't see anything about this on the SCCA forum yet.
So what was the outcome between Lance, Dave and Freddy? I didn't see anything about this on the SCCA forum yet.
Freddie outq'd Lance by a few tenths, Lance only got one clean lap, then got clipped by an SS/B car. Bent a rear tie rod end, and I think flattened a tire. So the grid was Fred, Lance, Roush and me, then Jeff R and a bunch of A/S cars. I was about 2 secs off the 13 car, but that did not bother me as I was looking for an education of sorts from Dave.
I got knocked off when McDermit and Brian Wallace tried to go 3 or 4 wide into Turn One. It was all down hill from there for me.
Lance could not catch Fred, but Fred was "credited" for at least 3 passes under yellow, but no one filed a protest, so no action was taken.
The GT3 is fast, and so is Fred.
Lance has the gift, that's for sure. Good thing he had Kurt there to help out, or he'd not have finished second.
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I have written down that you will probably be at Grattan on Sept 4th. I hope to make it out for that weekend as well.
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