Vir '07

[Beartrax]

Scott Willard had been providing the series officials access to online real time avaition radar.

Ironic that someone named Scott Willard was providing weather info...

[Matt M.]

we'd be more than happy to let matt wear the hat of shame!

Yea.... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. no

I also wanted to say (now) that I think all the young guns did an excellent job. Keegan obviously - The Andersen tent is going to be very fast this year. GTP's very own Mike "Da" Baum - driving an FC car for the very first time from F500 - never raced in the rain!!!

The Mygales look like they will be strong in another race or 2. Unfortunaly Phil's car broke some piece that never breaks and there was zero in the country - very sad. Dougs car got sorted in time for the rain - but he hydro'd at the start and ended up back in Danville when he got stopped.... But a strong run back. They will be fast at RA

I finally got all the red mud out of the white suit....... That Oxi-clean is awesome. Have to say thanks to GTP, Dynamic, PI and bald spot!!!

[Bob Wright]

I would add one point...after a couple of incidents Thursday morning, we had NO full course yellows or black flag all's for the rest of the weekend; that's 4 hours Thursday afternoon, 2 practice sessions Friday, qualifying and races both Saturday and Sunday (not to mention the monsoon conditions for both Q and the race). That says great things about everybody who participated. Thank you all.

[Douglas Kniffin]

You did stop both qualifying and the race on Sunday at the absolute minimum length because the track was littered with broken and stuck cars.

[Bob Wright]

mmm... picky, picky. I think Sunday Q was cut 7 minutes short and yes, the race was flagged at the minimum length due to the, shall we say, interesting conditions. Never-the-less there were no full course yellows or black all's after Thursday morning. (Oh,yea- I had no say in the procedures-that was Dave's call as chief steward)

[Douglas Kniffin]

Just to restate my earlier comments I thought the event itself was a huge success. Your staff gets a 9.5 for excecution. It was far from a no yellow flag perfect event and that is on us the drivers, not Dave. It was a basic crash fest on Sunday.

[mark defer]

i was asked my opinion of my first experience participating in the series and thought i'd post my comments here.
first of all, what was i looking for that i felt i wasn't getting at the club level? basically 2 things. first , i wanted to get away from the multiple groupings we see on club weekends. secondly, i wanted to race in a situation where i didn't feel that the officials were treating me like i had never done this before [that's the nicest way i could think to say that].
on the first point, it was great being back in a situation where i wasn't running up on much slower cars nor having to look in my mirrors for a FA all the time. i did spend a bit of time looking in my mirrors on thursday while i was learning the track, but after that it was great being in a field of similar cars.
on the second point, the people administering this series really made me feel welcome. not only did they seem truly interested that i was there [like a customer], but they also seemed to acknowledge that i've had a bit of experience doing this. several times throughout the weekend mike rand would come by each trailer to offer some info such as a change in procedure. he would tell us what it was, start to explain it but stop saying, "you guys [cooper, jordan, byers, and myself] know what to do". don't get me wrong, i'm not really knocking the club officials. they have to deal with hundreds of different drivers on a weekend and can't possibly know us all. but this was definitely a nice change.
so, my expectations were definitly exceeded. now, how did the series do with respect to what they promised?
#1 they promised great venues. i hate new tracks because i'm a slow learner. but VIR is a premier venue which i'll be excited to return to. the series delivered on this point.
#2 they promised a lot of track time. 6 sessions spread over 3 days not counting the thurs test day which was an open track. again, delivered as advertised.
#3 they promised an atmosphere of inclusivness or parity. if you have a scca legal FC, bring it and you'll be competitive. it's close. there seemed to be an opinion that the zetecs were getting off the corners better. that could be true. as i said, i'm terrible at learning new tracks so i know i was leaving a bit of time on the table. although brent did dip into the 59s during the first qualifying, i look more to tim for a gauge as to how close the cars are. he's a top national competitor and he knows VIR. i was suprised to not see him further up the grid. anyway, i'll withhold judgement until we get to tracks i know, mid ohio and cleveland. but again, it is VERY close.
all in all, i'd have to say that it was one of my most enjoyable track experiences in awhile, and i'm definitely looking forward to the rest of the season.

mark defer

[swiftspeed]

Hey all,

First the Webcast is really great. I saw the move Matt made on Tarrick, but it happened so fast you can't see all the detail. The video showed it perfect. I hope Elan is helping to finance this portion of the series.

Looks like I will be happy guy this season. We sold more tires in one weekend than we did in three races last year. Of course from my point of view selling 100 rain tires is always a bonus, especially on the first weekend.

On a serious note, if you need to get more rain tires for Atlanta, let us know. I'm sure with the Sunday race being a downpour the tires didn't wear like an average rain race and my have some life left. It will be very helpful to us to know who needs a fresh set before we go.

Again, I love coming to these events as I am made to feel a part of the group. A lot of times when the tire guy is there he is sort of the "necessary evil" but everyone really is nice to us.

A special shout out to Tim Minor for 3rd on Sunday and for the great grubb.

See you all in Atlanta.

[Cole Morgan]

If I come play will I get taken out in the same turn twice in one race like in Mazda??

Defer, i miss you, will you and the st. clair family take me back??

Your nephew Cole

[HazelNut]

If I come play will I get taken out in the same turn twice in one race like in Mazda??

if you put a fatboy logo on your car i bet finelli could manage to punt you. But only if it was an outlap as he only crashes his teammates on outlaps of practice sessions.

[Zebra]

I can take out hazelnuts who try to pass me, as usual you are always battling to pass me so it will be quite easy to punt you.

Charles Finelli

[HazelNut]

ok who came in 4th in the rain and who parked it like a scared little girl?

As i recall i also finished the dry race ahead of you and was lapping abou 2 seconds a lap quicker.

[mark defer]

yes cole, we'll take ya back. that's what family supposed to do, right?

mark

[Zebra]

In actuality, the Zetec alternator arcs and shorts out in the heavy rain and does not charge the battery. I did not put the car on the charger after qualifying and was apparently low on voltage. My PI system was not fully set up or set up properly and my dash was giving me an alarm without telling me what it was, so, rather than roast an engine thinking there was at least 7 more laps to go, I pulled in just to watch the checkers come out.

KEEP YOUR BATTERY ON CHARGER BETWEEN OUTINGS DURING RAIN RACES AND MAKE SURE THE PI SYSTEM HAS A VERY LOW, 11.4, THRESHOLD FOR VOLTAGE ALARM AND MAKE SURE IT TELLS YOU WHAT THE ALARM IS FOR. FOR THAT MATTER WHO NEEDS A VOLTAGE ALARM NON OF US WILL PULL IN FOR VOLTAGE. I guess it is nice to know you have an alternator problem though.

Charles Finelli

[Douglas Kniffin]

Do you even believe you own bull****? No one else does...

[Zebra]

Sure do

[Zebra]

And thank God most jury's do too

Charles Finelli

[Zebra]

Mark Defer great seeing you and the St. Clare boys Sunday night at the Pub.

Charles Finelli

[HazelNut]

Mark Defer great seeing you and the St. Clare boys Sunday night at the Pub.

Charles Finelli

agreed! The food is pretty good at that place!



as for senor zebra, i'm still not buying your "low battery" story. I saw all the mud in side the bowels of your car at the shop yesterday. Come on just admit you flew off the track at like a buck twenty, just barely missed a wall and scared the **** out of yourself! At least you went out in the rain and made an attempt!!!!

[Zebra]

Please believe me the rain does not bother me, I have raced sail boats in extreme storms offshore, steep waves gale force winds for hours on end, cold wet and miserable is normal on a sail boat along with the fear of falling overboard and the rigging falling down (we actually very very rarely sink), read the book Fastnet by Ted Turner or "the Sydney/Hobart race' so that drizzle we had was nothing.

Charles Finelli
Tired sailor
anxious racer

[Purple Frog]

Cole,
Get with the program Grasshopper.

Besides which, with you not there, I'm having to eat your rations plus my own at Cafe St. Clair. I don't need to gain any more weight.