Weekend Report

[Butch Kummer]

Sorry to be late with this, but there was a LOT of libations to be consumed on Saturday evening and I had to hold up my end of the deal! 

Friday test day saw a number of V8RRS racers participate, some with a level of success and others less so. The real action started on Saturday with a 22-minute qualifying session, with our V8 drivers filling in nine spots of the 22 car Big Bore field, The results were:

1st GTA (3rd OA) - Bobby Reuse, 1:59.586
1st GT1 (4th OA) - Ricky Sanders, 2:00.507
2nd GTA (5th OA) - Andy Trought, 2:00.743
1st T-1 (7th OA) - Chris Durbin, 2:03.455
1st GTSC (8th OA) - Chris Evans, 2:04.431
2nd GTSC (10th OA) - Jim Jost, 2:06.776
3rd GTA (11th OA) - Chris Gill, 2:10.001
!st GT2 (13th OA) - Butch Kummer, 2:11.305
2nd GT2 (18th OA - Mike Attaway, 2:17.278

There were raindrops on the windshields as we went out on the pace lap for our 25-minute timed race on Saturday afternoon with even more moisture in the Boot section of the trace. As a result, overall pole-sitter John Branscombe chose to follow the pace car down pit road as we came up to take the green so the outside row moved up one space. Randy Rosenmerkle led the field into Turn One followed closely by Ricky, Bobby, and Andy, then in the typical first turn accordion Butch downshifted out of habit and the shifter stuck in second for the third time that weekend! Mark & Amy Mercurio were prepared for such an occurrence and had taken the tools to pit road to knock it back out of gear, so when the jack dropped Mark keyed the mic to tell his rookie driver, "Remember that second gear SUCKS!" as he rejoined the race one lap down,

The race at the front was a barn-burner, however. Rosenmerkle kept the lead until lap 8 when his car shut off coming out of the Heel of the Boot. Ricky, Bobby & Andy each took turns leading the V8RRS portion of the race before each gave it away with a spin. At the end Bobby recovered quicker than the other two did so the order at the checkers was:

1st GTA (1st OA) - Bobby Reuse, 2:00.407 (and a new GTA track record!)
2nd GTA (3rd OA) - Andy Trought, 2:00.844
1st T-1 (4th OA) - Chris Durbin, 2:02.146
1st GT1 (5th OA) - Ricky Sanders, 2:01.902
1st GTSC (6th OA) - Chris Evans, 2:04.420
3rd GTA (9th OA) - Chris Gill, 2:09.467
1st GT2 (12th OA) - Mike Attaway, 2:13.783
2nd GT2 (19th OA) - Butch Kummer, 2:12.007 (using a 2-speed)
2nd GTSC (22nd OA) - Jim Jost, no time (oil control issues)

There was a LOT of concern about the weather for Sunday and it rained heavily during the night, but it had stopped and we had a damp track for Sunday's qualifying session on the NASCAR course. Jim Jost was not able to fix his oiling issues so we were down to eight V8 racers. People were tentative but we still had a few offs, one of which (not one of our V8RRS members) spread mud all across the track on the exit of the last left-hander. Many people came in before the checkered flag, but the results of Sunday qualifying are:

1st GTA (4th OA) - Andy Trought, 1:23.674
1st GTSC (5th OA) - Chris Evans, 1:23.921
1st T-1 (6th OA) - Chris Durbin, 1:24.348
1st GT1 (7th OA) - Ricky Sanders, 1:26.092
2nd GTA (8th OA) - Bobby Reuse, 1:27.417
3rd GTA (11th OA) - Chris Gill, 1:34.965
1st GT2 (15th OA) - Butch Kummer, 1:37.428
2nd GT2 (20th OA) - Mike Attaway, 1:43.038
DNS - Jim Jost

Andy is supposed to be taking pictures, so hopefully he'll post them here soon. And I've got an eighteen drive ahead of me so I'll post Sunday's race results when I stop at the No-Tell Motel later this evening.

You can also follow the results online with the RaceMonitor app, but you need to click on "Road Racing" rather than the "SCCA" section. Look for "2016 FLR SCCA The Fun One".

More later...

[vern smith]

Thanks for the report Butch, looking forward to the No Tel update    Sorry to hear the bulky shifter is still bulky. Hopefully you left it with Mark for repairs. Was Ricky driving the Corvette in GT1 he used in previous events this season?

[millstreet]

pictures you say?  kinda dark, but they get better-
Thursday night arrival, full moon over the Watkins Glen Grandstand;

[millstreet]

Was Ricky driving the Corvette in GT1 he used in previous events this season?

Yes he was;



although he was on an old set of tires and off the GT1 pace,  I had a blast racing with him on Sunday, passing back and forth several times during the first couple laps

those tires were so bad he decided to turn them into rains;

before;



during;



and after;

[millstreet]

Sat AM qualif. results;



Sat PM race;



Sun AM qualif;  (the track was still wet from the overnight rains, so the qualifying times were much slower than the race times)



Sun PM race;

[vern smith]

Thanks for posting your pictures and comments. I know from experience this is not a pleasant chore after four or five hours on the road. Also, congratulations on your performance, anyone that can run with Ricky Sanders has his s**t together   

[millstreet]

VIR is fast approaching, I need to get my s**t a little more together 

Andy

[millstreet]

Butch said "There was a LOT of concern about the weather for Sunday"

as it turned out, Sunday was the nicest day of the three, so nice, it even made the 57 look nice;



Andy

[millstreet]

notables;



these were Sunday short course records, Congrats!

[Butch Kummer]

Stopped for the night in Winchester, VA, and figured I'd post my report of today's race before hitting the sheets.

We had a full course yellow from lap 5 thru 10 when an ASedan broke and pulled off to the right at the top of the Esses. Before and after the FCY Bobby Reuse and Andy Trought again had a good battle with Ricky Sanders that ended when Bobby broke his driveshaft and Ricky pulled in as well, but not before Bobby set a new GTA record for the short course at a 1:17.143.

Chris Evans and Chris Durbin won GTSC and T1 respectively, but I don't have any details on how their races went other than Durbin came in early after setting a new track record in T1.

Chris Gill (yes, we DID have a lot of Chris's running this weekend) had a great battle with Butch Kummer and Mike Attaway that ended up with Chris 4.5 seconds ahead of Butch with Mike only 0.369 seconds back! Had the race been one lap longer the GT2 order could well have been reversed.

Final finishing order (with best lap time):

1st GTA (3rd OA) - Andy Trought, 1:18.118
1st GTSC (5th OA) - Chris Evans, 1:19.614
2nd GTA (8th OA) - Chris Gill, 1:24.459
1st GT2 (9th OA) - Butch Kummer, 1:25.004
2nd GT2 (10th OA) - Mike Attaway, 1:25.454
1st T-1 (16th OA) - Chris Durbin, 1:19.892 (new T1 track record)
3rd GTA (19th OA) - Bobby Reuse, 1:17.143 (new GTA track record)
1st GT1 (20th OA) - Ricky Sanders, 1:20.021
DNS GTSC - Jim Jost

Based on the response by both the racers and the host organization (Finger Lakes Region SCCA), you can probably count on The Fun One being a part of the 2017 V8RRS schedule...

[stick947]

Chris Evans and I were have a sweet battle after the caution, I was able to hold him off until when I landing in the bus stop I must have knocked off the tps or something cause she went dead stick (limp mode).  Haven't had a chance to properly diagnose, but thank you Mr. Evans pushing me to the T1 record.  Couple laps of the race attached.  You may not be able to see Chris (cause he was IN my trunk).


https://vimeo.com/183295344

[millstreet]

for those that have never been to The Glen, it's a beautiful place. It's perched up high looking down at Seneca Lake and the mountains beyond.

This picture was taken from the end of pit road, looking down towards turn 1 on the left and turn 2 (grandstand) and the Esses on the right;



Andy

[Tyler Wilson]

Chris, nice video. Were you as calm and collected as the video leads me to believe? 

[stick947]

Yes.  wink

[millstreet]

around the paddock;

John Hellmers SPO;



Chris Evans GTSC;



Chris Durbin T1;



Chris Gill GTA;



John Branscombe GT1;