2nd Annual ApexSpeed.com Chicago Indoor Racing Event

[Shep]

I faxed my forms in last night:

Erik Shepard
Rick Hoyt

I'd say there's a 45% chance that Rick actually makes the trip, unfortunately. I'm not married, so maybe you guys can tell me - when the wife says, "sure honey, you can go all the way out to Chicago to race karts that weekend" but gives him "the look", what are the chances?

Hey, I told him he should sell it as a romantic getaway and take her with him.... (That's what I did!)

[Keith Carter]

So.... I won't be putting Rick down on the list. Once his wife finds out it's that close to Valentines day, it's all over. C'mon guys, we need at least 11 more registered to meet the minimum requirements of what I promised would show.

[ccambern]

I told my wife it would be our Valentines getaway... cost me a night in a nice hotel and a day of shopping, but that's OK.

-Clark

[BrianT1]

I sent in my registration form today.

Brian Tomasi

[Ian Lenhart]

I sent mine in last week Friday, and 2 of the 3 guys will get them in today. The 3rd guy I haven't been able to get a hold of.

Ian Lenhart

[Keith Carter]

Bob Lutz and Dave Cox emailed me stating that they will submit their registration today. Please let me know when it's done guys.

Ian: What are the names of the guys you are bringing and did the two you mentioned register yesterday?

Tovo: Where are you?

[David Cox]

Mine went in this afternoon.

[Jtovo]

Tovo, boy, that Tovo.


I am standing you up. I sent an email off to Doug last week about it.

My wife booked a trip to Phoenix and mentioned the dates to me last weekend, 2/9-2/14. So, I am out.

I got your email about needing 6 more guys. I will talk to the guys I was going to bring and see what they can do. I am confident that I can get you 3 more, easy.

Really sorry to be missing this, it is a GREAT event.

[Keith Carter]

Crap... There's some serious miscommunication going on there... So Ian and Bob, were you guys able to register? We still need at least 6 guys in a bad way. I promised 23 and we're missing that by quite a bit now... C'mon, where are you mid-winter bench racers at? Wouldn't you rather be driving something for real? I'm going to call CIR to see what our options are, cause I'll be damned if they're going to put $700 extra on my credit card from no shows.

[Keith Carter]

Ok, I just called CIR and I updated the registered list accordingly. We currently have 20 registered with two people that also may be with us. Does anyone know of Steve Longow or Al Pinkowski? Our CIR rep said they she had phone messages from these guys and haven't been able to get in contact with them. We should be ok I think... A week and a half to go! If there is still any interest, we have until the end of the business day today so get them in.

[Jtovo]

Keith,
I am going to call this AM and take 4 slots.

Paul Sikora
Bill Meyer
Thad Williams
Guest

Really wish I could make it. Instead, I am paying for 4 guys to party without me. They will probably like it even more that way.

[Ian Lenhart]

Keith,Steve Longow or Al Pinkowski are part of my group plus Jonathan stocton and Robert Stockton(tentitive).
That is 1 more then I originally posted.
The main problem is that CIR has only one person who can handle taking the reservation and she does not answer her phone. A entry form that could be easily filled out in MS Word and returned via email would have been nice.

Ian

[Bob Lutz DB-1 #54]

Keith -- I'm in -- Faxed it on 2/1 -- see you there -- I'm disappointed that the EWC guys aren't supporting this better.

Eric -- please E-Mail me about your plans for the weekend -- I'll be visiting my cousins in Buffalo Grove for some of the weekend, but maybe we can catch up together -- are you bring that sweet girl that you really ought to be settling down with?

[Bill Bonow]

Keith,

Looked a little tight on the deadline. Did we get enough for an event? I sure hope so, lots of names I'd like to meet on the list .

Bill

[Keith Carter]

We should be good. This time I think I'll bring name tags and a marker. I didn't really get to meet too many people the last event and it seemed to go by really fast.

[Bill Bonow]

In looking at the list of attendees and so many hot topics/thread at a full mid-winter fever pitch

You gotta wonder if A) any Karts will ever turn a wheel or B) the event will turn into "death-race 2006". We could form team based on current Apex topics, "the Kent Crusaders" vs "the Duratec Dreamers" or "the Hard Slickers" vs "the Tread Heads".

Anyway, I'm just lookin to have a good time and meet a few fellow Apex'ers

See you tomorrow.

Bill

[dc]

Damn, that was fun.


Who else feels like they are 75 years old this morning?

[Keith Carter]

Yep, another successful karting event has come and gone. Lot's of positive feedback again so we'll be back at it next year! We had 20 drivers signed up that I knew of beforehand and ended up having 29 drivers show up for the event. Go figure?! Luckily we didn't go over the 32 driver count because that would have messed with our scheduling. Official reults and times will be posted when available as will photos of the event.


Finishing Results:
1)Peter Jankovskis (Blame TimW for bringing in the ringer )
2)Bruce Camkern (Ok, what is your real name? Bruce, Clark, Camkern, Cambern )
3)Doug Carter
4)Keith Carter
5)Brian Duncan
6)Carl Middelegge
7)Erik Shepard
8)Brian Tomasi
9)Paul Reineck
10)Bill Bonow
11)Dave Cox
12)Jerry Smith
13)Loren Tieman
14)Jason Byers
15)Robert Stockton
16)Ryan Byers


We had one person who didn't pay at the event since there was a no-show that already paid. It mentioned to me that it was either Bruce(Clark) or Carl that got to take one of the spots that Joe Tovo paid for. Whomever it was, please email me so we can get that straightened out.

[ccambern]

Keith,

To clear up the name thing... my name is Bruce Clark Cambern. I go by Clark, but Bruce went on the entry form b/c that's the name on my credit card. As for "Camkern"... my teachers always warned my about my handwriting.

If I got Tovo's entry fee, it's news to me (but good news, if it's true).

Thanks for setting the whole thing up. It was a ton of fun!

-Clark

[dc]

I think Carl was the one who didn't pay the race track. He should pay JT directly to make up for the payment imbalance.


Where'd that Advil go?

[kbee00]

[size=2]Had a great time - and it was good to put some names with faces. And yes, I feel at least 75 today! That was some work muscling those things around - but I can't wait for next year.[/size]

[size=2][/size]
[size=2]Thanks for arranging the outing Keith.[/size]
[size=2][/size]
[size=2]Loren[/size]

[JByers]

Keith,
Thanks for organizing a great event, Ryan and I had alot of fun. I also want to thank everyone for making Ryan feel welcome, especially you Brian Tomasi . Next year I will bring lead for everyone under 190lbs, maybe that will keep me out of the sin bin.

Jason

[Keith Carter]

I think we may need to chain a piano to Doug's kart, Jason. He would need 50 pounds of lead or so... He needs to train on a strict diet of excessive chocolate shakes, cheese burgers, and pizza for next year. Doug, you can only eat dinner right before you go to bed from now on!

Here's the results sheet off of the CIRacing page:

[dc]

No way, man. I'm keeping my F1 physique just in case I may need it in the future.

I have little talent in a kart or race car, so I need all of the advantages I can get. My aerodynamic shape and lack of extra ballast is all I have to work with.

[Jtovo]

It sure sounds like I missed a good time.

One of the guys from my office, Paul Sikora, has been bugging me to drive a race car. He tells me that he is a really good driver and such on the expressways.

He finished second to last or last in each race. He could not finish the 25 lap race, too tired.

He now has more respect for what we do!

Who is Carl, don't know the man. Anyways, he/you can reach me at 630-890-8113 or jtovo@godnj.com to work out a way to settle up on the money.

Next year, no excuses...I am in.

Thanks for beating the crap out of my guys, they needed it.

Jason,
What happened to you? You are one of the smoothest drivers I know...thought you would have cleaned house. No disrespect at all, just suprised that you did not finish in the top five.

[dc]

A couple of notes on the results...

- Peter was a ringer in every sense of the word. Super nice guy, but he has thousands of laps on that layout alone, and admittedly, he runs there probably more than most individuals. He was kind of racing by himself all day. There wasn't anyone close to him. I know Keith and I joked that when the main started that we all were racing for the REAL 1st, 2nd and 3rd places, because Peter was in a different class of CIR racers than the rest of us. You had some of the best formula car drivers in the country that couldn't hang on to his bumper for even a half lap.

- If you look at the results from the main, and notice the average lap times, the race was VERY close from top to bottom. Even Ryan who finished last only because of a spin, was running lap times at the end that I couldn't real in. That was a great group of racers out there.

- There were VERY few warnings or penalty box visits yesterday. Amazingly clean racing with really great passing, back and forth. When someone got inside of you, there was no shoving, and the same when you got inside of them, they gave up the corner without contact. There was a LOT of patience on the track, and it was VERY obvious, and made for a much more entertaining event.

- You have to give props to Erik Shepard and David Cox, for running 25 laps in the Consi, then jumping back into the Main for another 25 lap event (AFTER having run 3 10-lap qualifiers like the rest of us). If you look at both of their finishing positions, those were two great efforts in the main that may have been slightly overlooked at first glance in the results. I'm pretty sure my arms wouldn't have let me do that.

- I'm buying a rib vest before the next time I do that again.

- Long distance award again go to the guys from NY/PA. Erik Shepard and Bob Lutz both attended last year, too. I guess they enjoyed it enough to come back. Makes you wonder why the guys who live in this area don't want to come out and play in the middle of winter? For one of the biggest regions of amateur road racing in the US, I really thought there would be more than 29 drivers attending.

- Again we had June Sprints champs, RunOffs winners and poll sitters and some VERY talented open-wheeled drivers attending. It's hard to not want to be a part of that fun.

- I can't wait until next year's event.




d

[Bill Bonow]

Had a great time. Got to meet a lot of names and race with the best . Hope to do it again (CIR III) next year.

Carl was with me, so I called him and he called CIR (Sara). They have charged him/his card for the event. Sara said Lee was the coordinator for the event (not back in until Tuesday) and she should be able to straighten this out tomorrow.

Thanks to Apexspeed & the Carters for hosting such a cool/fun event. With the pedigree of the drivers in those races, I was tickled pink to finish in the top 10!

Bill

[Bob Lutz DB-1 #54]

My thanks to the Carters for organizing this event for a second year. I had a great time and got to meet a couple of folks that I haven't seen in a few years. Being from NEDiv, I don't get a chance to race with most of you guys very often, so its good chance to connect faces to names on this forum. I'm ready for next year -- thinking about a special diet to get down from my 200 pounds to Erik's competition weight - I'm spotting him at least 50 pounds!

[David Cox]

Thanks Doug. I had a good time and it was fun running in the front of consi race and then humbly going to the back of the final. Moving through the field was fun even if I couldn't figure out how to get around bonow . My arms are ok, but apparently I thought the karts were a luge in the left handers, because my right leg must have been pushing the steering column to help steer, and I don't think my left hand uncurled for about 2 hours after the race was done.

Thanks Kieth for putting this together and thanks everyone for not giving a Spec Miata driver too much of a hard time.

Dave

[JByers]

David, Had I known!!!

Joe, A simple rule of power to weight ratio plus I got tangled up in one of the early laps that sent me to the penalty box and the back of the pack. You missed a good time and thanks for the kind words.

Jason

[Keith Carter]

It's pretty cool to see that the fast lap times of EVERYONE in the feature were within 1 second of eachother. Considering that the karts can vary quite a bit as far as throttle response, traction, braking, top end, and the weight of the driver's spread is about 75 pounds, that's pretty cool. I'm guessing that we had drivers as light as 140 pounds and as heavy as 215...

[Shep]

Thanks Carters for a great event once again! No doubt I got my money's worth! Whew! You youngsters complaining yesterday about being sore must be in shape... Yesterday I didn't feel anything, today I feel like I got hit by a truck! It was great to meet more ApexSpeed members - problem is, I still didn't get the chance to socialize with everyone. Maybe next year?

Thanks for the kind words Doug, but to turn it around...

I have little talent in a kart or race car, so I need all of the advantages I can get. My aerodynamic shape and lack of extra ballast is all I have to work with.

...that's hardly the case - I saw Doug's sweet pass in the hairpin leading onto the back straight. Coming in full tilt, I figured he was going to cream the passee, but somehow got the kart rotated and inside/alongside the passee in a flash, and off he went. Obviously doing something right.

Jason,
What happened to you? You are one of the smoothest drivers I know...thought you would have cleaned house. No disrespect at all, just suprised that you did not finish in the top five.

Hate to admit it, but I was faster because I was lighter. Everyone looked to have great lines, and the racing was intense all around. At one point, I was in line behind Duncan and Tomasi and they'd actually gap me in the rythm section, but one incident in front of them is all it would take to allow a lighter driver to take advantage. Jason had a solid performance, no doubt there.

I'm ready for next year -- thinking about a special diet to get down from my 200 pounds to Erik's competition weight - I'm spotting him at least 50 pounds!

Yep, 50 pounds ought to do it, Bob. How 'bout weight vests for the featherweights next year?? Get us all to say, 180#? (Hey, I'll still take the 20# advantage!)

Finally, we forgot to acknowledge MaxPower's birthday on Sunday. Not a bad way for Paul to spend his b'day!

Cheers,
Erik

[Ian Lenhart]

Yep, 50 pounds ought to do it, Bob. How 'bout weight vests for the featherweights next year?? Get us all to say, 180#? (Hey, I'll still take the 20# advantage!)

Cheers,
Erik

How about an 80 pound vest - that will still give you a 20# advantage over me!

I couldn't break into the 31's - my best was a 32.11


How about adjusting the throttle cable to equalize the power to weight.
I get full throttle and Erik gets none. That's it! See you next year.

Ian

[Keith Carter]

For anyone interested, Peter J is putting on a Grand Prix race of his own during the week. Here is his email to me regarding it. He needs a final headcount by Wednesday if anyone is interested.

Hi Keith,

Once again, thanks for putting together a great event
at Chicago Indoor Racing yesterday afternoon. If you
are anyone else in the group would like some more time
on Track 3 you are welcome to run in my grand prix
coming up on Thursday, February 23. I've provided
event details below. The format is very similar to
what we ran yesterday. The only difference is that
the qualifying races are 14 laps instead of 10.

Anyone that is interested in running can send me an
e-mail or contact the reception desk at Chicago Indoor
the day of the event.

EVENT DETAILS

Drivers will take part in three 14-lap heat races on
Track 3, starting one in the front third of the field,
one in the middle third, and one in the last third.
Points will be awarded based on the finishing
positions in the heats and used to determine the
starting grids for the A-main and B-main (if
necessary) events. If we have 17 or fewer drivers,
everyone automatically advances to the A-main. If we
have more than 17 drivers, the top 14 qualifiers will
automatically advance to the 25-lap A-main. The
remaining qualifiers will race in the B-main, with the
top two finishers in that race earning the right to
the final two starting spots in the A-main. Note we
will only have a B-main if there are more than 17
drivers.

The cost is $100 per driver if we have more than 17
drivers or $95 if we have 17 or fewer. You will need
to check-in and pay at the CIR reception desk by
7:30pm. Please ask for the "Jankovskis Racing" event.
Briefing is supposed to start around 7:30pm with
racing scheduled to start at 8:00pm.

Peter Jankovskis