the IT team is on it, 1st half of the Sunday race (more to follow)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVYN-toMae8
Andy
Good video Andy!
Jay
Quote from: JayGomer on October 17, 2016, 11:12:08 AM
Good video Andy!
Jay
that was the Good video, the Bad and the Ugly will follow, stay tuned ;)
Andy
Subscribed O:-)
Here are the unofficial results from Sundays race.
(http://whiteroseeng.com/Av8rrs/10_2016/VIRsundayrace.png)
Quote from: millstreet on October 17, 2016, 11:22:06 AM
Quote from: JayGomer on October 17, 2016, 11:12:08 AM
Good video Andy!
Jay
that was the Good video, the Bad and the Ugly will follow, stay tuned ;)
Andy
5:05 The Bad, running off the track in turn 17A, losing 8-10 car lengths on GTA race leader Bob
Davis
9:05 The Ugly, running off the track AGAIN in turn 17A, dropping from 2nd to 3rd in GTA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kLtuuGSlp4
BJ Holley summed it up well post race saying "I figured you saw something out there, since you run off that same corner twice" I added us former dirt track racers are always searching for a better line....... ;)
Andy
That is actually some good racing. I love that you see Tyler in the mirror till the ugly.
Here's what I got for video:
Best qualifying lap, including a nice shot of Vern driving off the top of the esses:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKXhBqeCSWY&t=4s
Race 1 broke 4th gear on the second lap
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZpRcQqGiLY&t=2s
Race 2 lost 2nd gear in Tylers trans on the 4th lap
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Efqbve6sOUs
Sorry to be so late in getting to this, but a LOT of things happened over the weekend that I needed to get organized:
Bottom line - the October 15-16 weekend at VIR brought an OUTSTANDING conclusion to the 2016 V8 Road Racing season!!!
Going into the weekend Dainton Brooks had already wrapped up the AS title, Ricky Sanders secured the GT1 title over Mark Mercurio and Zach Monette (none of whom had cars at the event), Larry Hoophaugh clinched GTSC when Chris Evans didn't make the Finale, Paige Monette Alexander took SPO over her dad Bob Monette, and Chris Durbin was our T1 champion even though he broke his race car loading it into the trailer. That left your faithful scribe with an outside shot at winning GT2 over Mike Attaway, but the REAL barn-burner was going to be in our most popular class, GTA!
In the V8RRS points scheme you count your best five races during the season and then add the points from both races at the season finale (VIR). A minimum of 50 points is available each weekend, so after the tenth round (Watkins Glen) each of the top six in GTA had a shot at winning the title:
1. Randy Walker - 142
2. Bobby Reuse - 138
3. Tyler Wilson - 131
4. Vern Smith - 124
5. Andy Trought - 118
6. Chris Gill - 105
Chris didn't make the trip from Buffalo to Danville (something about getting some real work done!) so the battle would be decided amongst the top five. All five ran the Friday test day and I don't have lap times for anyone, but Bobby decided to add a bit of a challenge to the proceedings by doing a close examination of the tirewall in the Uphill Esses in the first session. He and the crew soldiered on, however, and the #89 WCIParts.com Camaro was ready for action on Saturday morning.
Our V8 racers made up thirteen of the 31 cars in the run group (and we generated a LOT of interest among our fellow ground-pounder drivers), so here's the V8RRS grid for Saturday's race:
1st GTA (4th OA) - Al Rowland, 1.59.484
1st GTSC (6th OA) - Willie Mullins, 2.00.491
2nd GTA (9th OA) - Andy Trought, 2.01.363
3rd GTA (10th OA) - Moe Colontonio, 2.02.353
4th GTA (11th OA) - Tyler Wilson, 2.02.390
5th GTA (14th OA) - Roger Reuse, 2.04.410
6th GTA (16th OA) - Bobby Reuse, 2.04.813
7th GTA (17th OA) - Randy Walker, 2.05.245
8th GTA (19th OA) - Steve Magowen, 2.07.294
9th GTA (20th OA) - Vern Smith, 2.08.718
1st GT2 (21st OA) - Mike Attaway, 2.09.761
2nd GT2 (23rd OA) - Butch Kummer, 2.11.967
2nd GTSC (30th OA) - Larry Hoophaugh, no time
I don't have many details about Saturday's race since I was (sort of) part of it, but I understand Randy Walker was on seven cylinders and there was a tremendous battle at the front of the GTA pack. As they lapped me, however, I did get to see Andy hounding (potential 2017 member) Bob Davis for the class win with Tyler not far behind. Here's the finishing order with each driver's best lap:
1st GTSC (2nd OA) - Willie Mullins, 1.57.692
1st GTA (5th OA) - Andy Trought, 2.00.238
2nd GTA (6th OA) - Tyler Wilson, 1.59.575
3rd GTA (8th OA) - Bobby Reuse, 2.02.907
4th GTA (9th OA) - Roger Reuse, 2.03.598
5th GTA (11th OA) - Randy Walker, 2.05.067
6th GTA (12th OA) - Vern Smith, 2.06.090
7th GTA (13th OA) - Steve Magowen, 2.04.996
1st GT2 (14th OA) - Mike Attaway, 2.08.161
2nd GT2 (16th OA) - Butch Kummer, 2.08.429
2nd GTSC (21st OA) - Larry Hoophaugh, 2.04.557
8th GTA (28th OA) - Al Rowland, 2.02.612 (dimpled the oil pan)
9th GTA (29th OA) - Moe Colontonio, 2.09.282 (lost fourth gear)
Mike Attaway clinched the GT2 championship by making one lap, so at Saturday evening's award party we presented all the awards that had been decided and read out the updated GTA points totals:
1. Randy Walker - 162
1. Bobby Reuse - 162
3. Tyler Wilson - 159
4. Andy Trought - 151
5. Vern Smith - 142
Any of the top three could win the championship by finishing ahead of the other two while Andy and Vern would "need help" to take the top spot, but all five still had a shot at being the first-ever V8RRS GTA World Champion!
The grid for Sunday's feature race was set by one's best lap to that point and I don't have the final grid sheet, but I do know Andy & Randy both went faster during the optional Sunday morning qualifier than they'd gone all weekend. At the green my car again got stuck in second gear going into Turn One (same issue as at WGI), so I pulled in at the end of lap 1 to watch a tremendous GTA battle from in front of the Tower.
Randy led early with Andy, Tyler, Bobby, and Roger right on him. I don't recall the exact order of happenings, but Andy and later Tyler got by Randy before Bobby slid off in Turn One and continued, then a few laps later Randy went off the end at Turn One and never came back around. Andy was hounding Bob Davis with Tyler right on his bumper, and even though I explained to Mark Mercurio (Tyler's crew chief) that Tyler would be champion even if he finished second to Andy, Tyler continued to run hard. Tyler turned his fastest lap of the weekend (1.58.832) on lap nine, then the next time by he had passed Andy for the V8 GTA lead! Tyler wasn't done, though, so after hounding Bob Davis for the overall GTA lead he passed him in Turn One as well. At the checkers the order was:
1st GTA (4th OA) - Tyler Wilson, 1.58.832
2nd GTA (6th OA) - Andy Trought, 1.58.555 (set on lap 15)
3rd GTA (7th OA) - Roger Reuse, 2.01.290
1st GTSC (9th OA) - Willie Mullins, 1.59.355
4th GTA (10th OA) - Moe Colontonio, 2.02.583 (using Tyler's spare transmission)
5th GTA (11th OA) - Bobby Reuse, 2.00.920
6th GTA (12th OA) - Vern Smith, 2.02.046
2nd GTSC (13th OA) - Larry Hoophaugh, 2.06.010
7th GTA (14th OA) - Steve Magowen, 2.05.779
1st GT2 (15th OA) - Mike Attaway, 2.06.391
8th GTA (22nd OA) - Randy Walker, 2.00.374
2nd GT2 (23rd OA) - Butch Kummer, no time
dns - Al Rowland
So after the dust settled and the roar of the crowd died down, here are the final standings in GTA:
1. Tyler Wilson - 192
2. Bobby Reuse - 182
3. Andy Trought - 179
4. Randy Walker - 176
5. Vern Smith - 160
Congratulations to all our 2016 V8RRS award winners:
AS - Dainton Brooks
GT1 - Ricky Sanders, Mark Mercurio
GT2 - Mike Attaway, Butch Kummer
GTA - Tyler Wilson, Bobby Reuse, Andy Trought
GTSC - Larry Hoophaugh, Chris Evans
SPO - Paige Monette Alexander, Bob Monette
T1 - Chris Durbin
And finally, while Tyler did not get a call from someone claiming to be Roger Penske, he DID get a call from someone claiming to be Tim Cendric, Head of Operations for Penske Racing. I'll let him tell you that story over a beer one evening... ;D
GREAT fields both days, 30+ cars and 14 in GTA alone 8)
Sat AM qualifier;
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Email/i-pqzBW2D/0/L/20161015_112834-L.jpg)
Sat race results;
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Email/i-X4mnMvT/0/L/20161016_073517-L.jpg)
Sun AM qualifier;
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Email/i-zwxS3Pk/1/L/20161016_104115-L.jpg)
Andy
Pit stroll;
Bob Davis;
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Email/i-JdC2m4K/0/L/20161016_103042-L.jpg)
Herman Ratchford Jr
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Email/i-kTLFCRs/0/L/20161016_102625-L.jpg)
Gerry Hudson;
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Email/i-m7L277f/0/L/20161016_102448-L.jpg)
Adam Romito (motor was broken on Sat, so my Sun AM stroll found his car in the trailer)
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Email/i-wjFZDK9/0/L/20161016_102215-L.jpg)
Willie Mullins;
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Email/i-WqHSC8z/0/L/20161016_102132-L.jpg)
Michael Attaway;
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Email/i-84qjC35/0/L/20161016_101613-L.jpg)
Steven Magowan;
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Email/i-27K7xWp/0/L/20161016_101540-L.jpg)
Butch Kummer;
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Email/i-XcFmcN3/0/L/20161016_101513-L.jpg)
Roger Rouse;
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Email/i-jHhjHmm/0/L/20161016_101437-L.jpg)
Bobby Rouse, this car was wrecked hard Friday (maybe someone has a "before" picture?):
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Email/i-f75sZJN/0/L/20161016_100052-L.jpg)
Andy
INCREDIBLE field this weekend, I think everyone there was impressed by the number of cars and the level of competition. Fantastic way to end the season, there seems to be ALOT of excitement for next year from what I was hearing on the grid pre-race to the impound lot post race.
more strolling;
couple TA2 cars, Fields racing had this one, Kurt Roehrig had his Camaro at the Friday practice;
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Email/i-T3kTJc8/0/L/20161016_095618-L.jpg)
Ken Morgan;
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Email/i-RHwg9HM/0/L/20161016_095357-L.jpg)
John Morgan;
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Email/i-bWFZwwj/0/L/20161016_095345-L.jpg)
Tyler Wilson;
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Email/i-2DrcgQ9/0/L/20161016_095302-L.jpg)
Larry Hoopaugh;
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Email/i-N4mxBdw/0/L/20161016_095242-L.jpg)
Randy Walker (Late Model);
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Email/i-MRgPtGF/0/L/20161016_095029-L.jpg)
Randy Walker (Howe Camaro);
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Email/i-vdMHGQP/0/L/20161016_095014-L.jpg)
Vern Smith;
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Email/i-tx7fBgV/0/L/20161016_094913-L.jpg)
Mo Colontonio;
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Email/i-hrgLkDb/0/L/20161016_094816-L.jpg)
Andy Trought;
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Email/i-fpB8BgP/0/L/20161016_094803-L.jpg)
there were more, I tried to get all the stockcars I could find
Andy
just for the record, the VIR track record that is, current GTA track record is 1:57.719 by Randy Sampson 8)
Andy
Congrads!!! to all the V8RRS race winners and Class Champions. Great job Tyler and Andy, can't wait to compete with you and all the other GTA guys next season! Unfortunately engine failure cut our weekend short.
Also a Huge Thank You to Roger & Bobby Reuse for stepping up with there WCIparts.com sponsorship for the V8RRS series for next year, with car counts like this past weekend and a series sponsor things are looking Great for 2017!
Hey Butch; speaking of car counts, just thinking since there were so many of the, Boy's of Thunder, in attendance at VIR last weekend why not double up next year, with a spring and a fall race at VIR? SCCA usually has events in March. April, and May, I think the April event is Major....... just thinking?
Thanks again, Al Rowland
Quote from: ARowland on October 20, 2016, 09:32:42 PM
Also a Huge Thank You to Roger & Bobby Reuse for stepping up with there WCIparts.com sponsorship for the V8RRS series for next year, with car counts like this past weekend and a series sponsor things are looking Great for 2017!
Hey Butch; speaking of car counts, just thinking since there were so many of the, Boy's of Thunder, in attendance at VIR last weekend why not double up next year, with a spring and a fall race at VIR? SCCA usually has events in March. April, and May, I think the April event is Major....... just thinking?
Thanks again, Al Rowland
I will cover this in more detail once we get the T's dotted and I's crossed on both the partnership agreement and the 2017 schedule, but (as I announced during Sunday's trophy presentation) we
do have a handshake agreement with the Reuse Bros for the "
V8 Road Racing Series presented by WCIParts.com". This was an excellent first year and there's a lot of enthusiasm for the program going forward.
We also talked about having a second weekend at selected tracks, but instead of doing that the directors voted to add more events next year. Specifically, we're looking to add Roebling Road, CMP, Barber, Blackhawk Farms, and NJMP to give us sixteen total weekends in 2017. We want to keep the concept of having (at least) three events within one day's tow of most of our drivers, and adding those tracks helps us do that.
And yes, VIR was an excellent showing by the "Boys of Thunder" (I like that term, but Paige Monette Alexander might feel slighted :) ) but the fact that it was the Season Finale meant some people showed up that probably wouldn't in April or May. We're constantly tweaking the format, however, and will keep that in mind for the future.
If you watch closely at the very beginning of this video, you'll see Tyler Wilson give overall GTA race leader Bob Davis a beautiful "head fake" to take over 1st place. Bob was watching Tyler closely in his mirror, so when Tyler faked left, Bob went so far left that he drove off the outside of turn 1, handing the lead over to Tyler.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y59hBAQgdtM
If Bob and I can quit landscaping, maybe we can keep Tyler behind us ;)
Andy
That's my crossover move (from my basketball days) :P
I noticed he was doing a fair amount of "driving the defensive line" so I guess I tried to beat him at his own game. Post race, he came up to me and the first thing he said was "you caught me blocking you!"
:)
You don't miss a thing Andy
Good stuff ;D
Quote from: Tyler Wilson on October 21, 2016, 03:41:22 PM
That's my crossover move (from my basketball days) :P
I noticed he was doing a fair amount of "driving the defensive line" so I guess I tried to beat him at his own game. Post race, he came up to me and the first thing he said was "you caught me blocking you!"
:)
You don't miss a thing Andy
sorry the video was crappy, the camera needs to be higher and further forward, and (after watching Mo's video) my windshield looks like sandblasted plastic ???
Andy
Andy I had a young Asian kid set mine up. The gopro has a spot metering setting that eliminates that washout on the windshield. Also, I mounted my camera right off the seat, I'll get you a picture tomorrow. It's a perfect angle.
Guys,
I finally got the VIR photo album up on Facebook. These are computer screen sized, if anyone wants a picture to print, let me know. I will size them correctly and take my water mark off.
For right now, any picture you want would be free of charge. Just let me know.
https://www.facebook.com/v8roadracingseries/photos/?tab=album&album_id=609054602608012
Nice!!
good racing going on right here; https://www.facebook.com/v8roadracingseries/photos/a.609054602608012.1073741831.435330929980381/609061385940667/?type=3&theater
Thanks for sharing
Andy
beautiful place; https://www.facebook.com/v8roadracingseries/photos/a.609054602608012.1073741831.435330929980381/609062105940595/?type=3&theater
thanks again,
Andy
Great jog Dinah!
Quote from: flyinwrenchz on October 26, 2016, 08:09:45 PM
Great jog Dinah!
I second that and special congratulations to Moe for giving the middle finger salute to the photographer :) That's what I've always liked about racers, being politically correct has never been in their vocabulary :)
Sent this to our V8RRS distribution list, but for those that might have missed it:
= = = = = = =
Executive Summary:
Although we finished second (in a class of two - the competition finished next to last) and were 6-8 seconds off what we SHOULD have been running, the October 15-16 weekend at VIR was very successful. The weather was perfect, the host club (North Carolina Region SCCA) went out of their way to welcome the thirteen V8RRS drivers attending, we put on a great show (which I got to watch on Sunday), we'll probably sign up ten new V8RRS members for 2017 because they're excited about what we're doing, and we loaded a running race car in the trailer on Sunday afternoon. As a bonus, when I unloaded Cuervo on Monday evening I'm pretty sure I figured out why I was not running as quickly as I should have been so it's not QUITE time to post an ad on the internet looking for a new driver!
Longer Version:
You can see almost 300 photos Dinah Thompson took of the 2016 V8RRS season Finale on the V8RRS Facebook page. I also posted a series-oriented report of the weekend on our forum to supplement reports, videos, and pictures by others, so this will be a recounting of the weekend from BK Racing's perspective.
Crew chief Allan Kosloski and I left Atlanta around 3:00 on Thursday, October 13, and arrived at our motel in Danville VA about 10:30 that evening. Never once on the trip did I have to threaten to leave him on the side of the road, but then we never talked politics, how much either of us liked (or didn't like) driving at Barber Motorsports Park, or the NFC South (Allan's a Panthers fan and I'm decidedly not). Although we had a drivers' meeting scheduled for 8:30 Friday morning our first session on track was not until 10:00, so there would be plenty of time set up our paddock and finish prepping the O'Brian Express Monte Cuervo for the day.
There were four 30-minute sessions scheduled throughout the day, so during the first session the goals were to refresh my memory on which way the track goes, bed the new G-Loc front brake pads, and make sure the rebuilt shifter was working correctly. With those goals in mind we didn't even bother timing any of the laps, and after Allan reminded me leaving Pit Road that Turn One indeed is a right-hander we were successful on all counts. I ran an out lap to warm everything (including the driver) up, a "3/4 lap" to slowly build heat in the brakes, two laps with hard braking, then a complete lap without using the brakes at all to allow them to cool. Through it all the shifter worked flawlessly for each of eighteen shifts per lap.
Although I drove VIR in April 2015, we only needed to "turn a wheel" in order to earn a Runoffs invitation so I never pushed very hard all weekend. My best lap ever at VIR was a 2:04.8 back in 2010, but that was before at least two round of re-paving and course modifications. The GTA class record is a 1:57.7 set by Randy Sampson in May 2015, a competitive GTA time is around 2:00, and since Jay (Gomer) ran a 2:02.8 there last year in a "wounded" Cuervo I figured anything in the 2:01-2:02 range on old tires would be okay. I thought I turned the wick up pretty well during the day's second session, so I was SEVERELY bummed to be running in the 2:10-2:11 range with a best lap of 2:09.6 - maybe old age was finally taking its toll and I really HAD forgotten how to drive!
During lunch Allan & I reviewed the in-car video and discussed the situation. We did confirm I was hitting the 7000 rev limiter for about a five-count at the end of the back straight (right at 159 mph) so we skipped the day's third session while changing to a taller rear gear. In the day's last session I avoided getting in anyone's way and still ran two laps in the low 2:06's, so changing the rear gear certainly helped. After that session we checked things out, bled the brakes, and bolted on a sticker set of Hoosier 3045's to be ready for Saturday morning's qualifying session. We then circulated amongst our current and future V8RRS members in the paddock before heading to Aunt Milly's in downtown Milton, NC, for beer and pizza that's ALMOST as good as what Wayne makes for us at Johnny's in Hickory Flat! <g>
There was a bit of dew on the grass for our 8:30 qualifying session, but the track was dry and the weather cool. After warming things up on the out lap I ran a 2:14.0 while working to find a gap in traffic, and felt I'd found a pretty good spot coming out of Hog Pen to start lap 3. Unfortunately I tried to go too fast too early in the right-hander after Turn Four and decided to park over by Worker Station #5 to see how other people were taking that section of the track (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!). Even on the damp grass I managed to get stopped without hitting anything, but I was decidedly gunshy for the next couple of laps. On my sixth lap I found a nice gap in traffic and put down what I thought was a solid if not spectacular lap, so I was incredulous when Allan called out "two-twelve-oh" on the radio - I had somehow managed to go six seconds slower on sticker tires than I had on used tires!!! That best lap ended up being a 2:11.967, which was good for 23rd of the 32 cars in the field. About the only good news is I would line up right behind Mike Attaway, my competition for the V8RRS GT2 championship. Mike could secure the title just by starting the race regardless of how I did, but at least I would have someone to judge my progress (or lack thereof) against.
Our Saturday race effort was notable only for it's lack of notability. I got a decent start and hung with Mike for a couple of laps while we both moved up a couple of spots, and ended up turning my best race lap of a 2:08.429 on lap three. Despite my best efforts, however, Mike slowly pulled away and my lap times dropped off. From about lap six on I tried not to get in anyone's way and ended up having a pretty good race with Gene Ratchford in his GTA Late Model. I could put 5-6 car lengths on Gene on the two straights (I just bumped the rev limiter on a couple of laps on the back straight, which is right at 163 mph with the taller gear), but he'd be all over my rear bumper by the time we got through the twisties and made it back to the "corner formerly known as Oak Tree". I talked to Gene after the race and apologized if I had been holding him up, but he said I never really impeded him so all was good. I asked if Cuervo looked twitchy or whopper-jawed on the track and he said he didn't really notice anything, but he did suggest a Cool Shirt might help my consistency. Gene has a pretty good eye because it ends up I had forgotten to turn mine on at the beginning of the race but realized it about halfway thru. Looking at my lap times they DID improve from 12's & 13's to pretty consistent 9's & 10's over the last four laps! Bottom line is we finished 16th overall and second of five in GT2, so that evening at the V8RRS party I awarded Mike his championship trophy and gave myself the second place award.
In post-race discussions Allan and I decided to soften up the rebound three sweeps and for Sunday's race I'd concentrate on (1) making a wider entry into Three, (2) carrying more speed at the far end, and (3) trail-braking better into the left-hander at the end of the back straight. We also decided to definitely run the ARRC by GRM at Road Atlanta (my home track) to find out if there was a problem with the car or if I was just scared of VIR - if I could run 1:32's at Atlanta we needed to work on the driver, but if the best I could do was a 1:35 then there was something wrong with the car. During that conversation there was NEVER any discussion about the shifter because it had worked perfectly all day Friday and Saturday.
We did not run the optional qualifying session first thing Sunday morning and in retrospect probably should have. I don't remember where we lined up for Sunday's race, but on the pace lap (after remembering to turn on the Cool Shirt) I focused on three areas - entry to Turn Three, far end, end of the back straight. Again, there was never any thought about the shifter, BECAUSE IT HAD WORKED PERFECTLY TO THAT POINT!
At the green flag I got a decent start and shifted to second, then on the shift the third the lever stuck in neutral just like it had at Watkins Glen. I completed that lap in second gear, came into the pits, proceeded to Impound, shut the car down, and then joined Allan, Mark & Amy Mercurio, and V8RRS Series Administrator Jim Creighton in front of the Tower to watch the race. When Jim asked what happened I said, "I knew this was going to be a great race and I wasn't going to be a part of it, so I decided to spectate instead of drive". As I wrote earlier in this report, that's my story and I'm sticking to it! :D
And a great race it was! The top seven GTA cars ran nose-to-tail during the early laps and four different drivers ended up leading during the 16 laps of the race. At the checkers Tyler Wilson ended up taking both the race win and the 2016 GTA Championship with Bobby Reuse and Andy Trought finishing second and third respectively in the points. The weekend was an excellent conclusion to the first year of the V8 Road Racing Series and we're all looking forward to even better success in 2017.
While loading Cuervo up Sunday after noon we noticed he was "rolling funny" as we winched him into the trailer and I figured out why when I went to unload on Tuesday night. It ends up we had installed different sized "trailering wheels" on the left and right sides, and that's why the car wouldn't roll straight. After I jacked the rear up to help straighten things up while backing it out, however, I realized the larger tire (which was still on the ground) would not free wheel like it normally would. When we replaced the Benson rear end with the Tiger unit after Charlotte I had noticed the new center section was about an inch narrower, but I didn't think anything about it and used one (31.5") axle from the Benson and a new 30" one to get the proper end play on the axles. It ends up the 31.5" axle was actually engaging both drive plate in the rear end, which means I was effectively racing with a solid (spool) differential. Obviously I was adjusting my driving to the conditions rather than being smart enough to figure out the car was pushing like a bulldozer on corner entry, but then I never DID say I was all that smart! I've since ordered new (shorter) axles and now we'll find out at Road Atlanta whether or not I almost look like I know what I'm doing.
In other news, the SCCA Board of Directors will conclude their second round of meetings regarding the SCCA presidency the same weekend as the ARRC by GRM. Based on those meetings we should expect formal announcement of the job opening will be posted mid-November, so until then my official position on the matter still remains:
"I continue to monitor the situation with a great deal of interest".
Final event on the 2016 BK Racing schedule:
• Nov 4-6 - The ARRC by GRM at Road Atlanta (Braselton GA)
As always, let me know if you'd like more information about that event.
See y'all at the track...
https://www.facebook.com/v8roadracingseries/photos/a.609054602608012.1073741831.435330929980381/609062052607267/?type=3&theater
This was great!
Sunday SCCA GTA podium- Tyler Wilson 1st, Bob Davis 2nd, Andy Trought 3rd
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Email/i-ChKnPJ9/0/L/sunday%20podium-L.jpg)
Saturday SCCA GTA podium,
same cast of characters,
order shuffled, Bob Davis 1st, Andy Trought 2nd, Tyler Wilson 3rd;
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Other/Email/i-4zxwdMg/0/L/SAT%20PODIUM-L.jpg)
Andy