Grattan - Memorial Day Weekend

[R2 Racing]

Ian was complaining yesterday that no one had started a Grattan thread yet, so here we go. We'll be there with me in my ITA Integra, Ian in his ITA CRX, and my Dad in his ITC Civic.

Best Saturday night dinner of them all, hands down. :023:

So, you coming?

[Eagle7]

You becha, if ISC has my splitter in stock (ran out of talent on Friday's test day).

[iagreen]

Yea! I didn't start the thread. Should be fun. 1st time to Grattan. :happy204:

[Rabbit07]

Sorry I can't make it, first time in 5 years...... :(

Have fun, see you guys at Mid-O

[downingracing]

Sorry I can't make it, first time in 5 years...... :(

Have fun, see you guys at Mid-O
[/b]


Me too - I think it will be my first time in 5 years not to make it. Taking my time getting the car fixed and back together. Might consider doing the 'other' Grattan race this fall... I really like the track/hosting region/party/fun! See you all at Mid-Ohio!

Matt
(busted race car because the driver sucks)

[R2 Racing]

You guys saying Mid Ohio as in the IT Fest or the OVR restricted regional?

[Rabbit07]

You guys saying Mid Ohio as in the IT Fest or the OVR restricted regional?
[/b]

I just sent in my registration for the OVR Race. I may even run in DP? I need seat time at Mid-O before the IT Spectacular.

Play nice at Grattan...... :P

[downingracing]

I'm the co-race chair for the National/R Regoinal for OVR, so I'll be working all weekend. And I won't have the car done by then... My next event should be the IT Fest. in August.

[x1/9racer]

I will be there. No Matt Downing, though, so all you ITA guys should have a chance :D

[StevenS]

I'll be there. Sorry to hear that Cat Killer and Downing won't be there, we ran close together the last couple of races at Grattan.

Great fun TRYING to keep up with Chris at Waterford 2 weekends ago, and Downing and I had a blast at the Mid-O WOR games last fall. I will definitely miss seeing you guys at Grattan!

I'm pretty sure Alex MacDonald (ITA CRX) and Jan Rief (ITA Integra) will be coming to keep Ruck and Moser busy at the front of the pack...

Steve Sancricca

ITA CRX #27

[R2 Racing]

I'm pretty sure Alex MacDonald (ITA CRX) and Jan Rief (ITA Integra) will be coming to keep Ruck and Moser busy at the front of the pack...[/b]
http://www.xsltblog.com/archives/24805BP~The-Simpsons-Mr-Burns-Excellent.jpg
I'm looking forward to running with some other quick cars I know well. I need some help confirming or denying a couple of questions I have about my car but haven't had a real measure to go against. :eclipsee_steering:

I'm not sure if the Moser's are going to be there. I talked to them a couple of weeks ago and they were unsure. I think Bob was going to head down to Florida for some fishing, but there's a chance Joey might show up.

Hopefully Jan listened to me and won't blow up any axles this time. :P

[Joe Moser]

Sounds like a great weekend, but I'm heading down to Florida for some diving and fishing too... There is a good chance I'll be at the OVR restricted at Mid-O, but there is a Triathlon race that weekend too... I haven't decided yet! The summer is short, too much to do :)

I need to get back on some Hoosiers soon! We did a back to back at Gingerman and found 3+ second difference from Toyo's to Hoosier's!! (Granted, we aren't even close to having our cars setup for Toyo's, they feel like hell so far - Car is an Understeering pig with Toyo's... Any suggestions?)

Have fun out there!

[GT240sx]

I am planning on making it up there.....at least right now I am. Hopefully my car and driver are a little better and I can chase Marty the Eagle around the track.....

[R2 Racing]

I need to get back on some Hoosiers soon! We did a back to back at Gingerman and found 3+ second difference from Toyo's to Hoosier's!! (Granted, we aren't even close to having our cars setup for Toyo's, they feel like hell so far - Car is an Understeering pig with Toyo's... Any suggestions?)[/b]
Hey, I already gave you all of the advice on those retched tires that I could. :D

You're going to Putnam this weekend, right? The H4 record there is mine, so hands off! :bash_1_:

[CaptJon]

I should be there ...... first trip there so my learning curve should be pretty steep.

[esuvee]

As Steve mentioned, I'll be there as always on memorial day. This year (yes, Kevin, this has to be brought up again) I'll set Kevin's clock back *20 minutes* instead of the 10 that worked so well last year :dead_horse: .

BTW, my 'loose wheel bearing' that was bothering me throughout Sunday's race on Labor day weekend at Grattan turned out to be a completely broken hub, thank god for a good stake on the axle nut! I'm hoping a properly attached wheel will be worth a few tenths next weekend.

Alex MacDonald

[Eagle7]

I am planning on making it up there.....at least right now I am. Hopefully my car and driver are a little better and I can chase Marty the Eagle around the track..... [/b]

Don't forget to turn right at T5A (after the jump). I've been known to go left. Didn't work out all that well.

[R2 Racing]

As Steve mentioned, I'll be there as always on memorial day. This year (yes, Kevin, this has to be brought up again) I'll set Kevin's clock back *20 minutes* instead of the 10 that worked so well last year :dead_horse: .[/b]
I do not find your post amusing.... <_< Eventhough that clock is still in the RV, with fresh batteries, I never trust that damn thing anymore.

Speaking of that, anyone want to save us a spot in the infield where we can fit a 70ft rig and three cars? :P

Can you have dogs at Grattan?

[GT240sx]

Don&#39;t forget to turn right at T5A (after the jump). I&#39;ve been known to go left. Didn&#39;t work out all that well.
[/b]

I did that same thing twice last September....it&#39;s a lot rougher than it looks out there in the grass.

[R2 Racing]

I did that same thing twice last September....it&#39;s a lot rougher than it looks out there in the grass.
[/b]
You weren&#39;t out there dodging my wrecked heap of a car, were you?

(BTW, my in-car from that can be found on youtube right now if anyone wants to see it. I&#39;d get the link, but my work sucks and blocked youtube. :( )

[esuvee]

Actually, due to the dog we&#39;ll probably be on the outside of the track this year as well. Dogs are explicitly allowed outside the track but not in the infield. We&#39;ve had our dog inside for an entire weekend in the past without any problem (as have many others) but I&#39;d rather not be the one that ruins it for everyone and gets dogs banned completely.

Alex MacDonald

[Racerlinn]

You weren&#39;t out there dodging my wrecked heap of a car, were you?

(BTW, my in-car from that can be found on youtube right now if anyone wants to see it. I&#39;d get the link, but my work sucks and blocked youtube. :( )
[/b]

Here&#39;s Flipper!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7auuj_EnYmQ

[R2 Racing]

Actually, due to the dog we&#39;ll probably be on the outside of the track this year as well. Dogs are explicitly allowed outside the track but not in the infield. We&#39;ve had our dog inside for an entire weekend in the past without any problem (as have many others) but I&#39;d rather not be the one that ruins it for everyone and gets dogs banned completely.

Alex MacDonald
[/b]
Ok, that should work. Being that we never get to the track much earlier than about midnight Friday night, there&#39;s never any chance of getting inside the infield anyways. So I think we&#39;ll bring the pooch. He had fun at IRP, which was his first time to the track.

I should&#39;ve called Vegas and got the odds on Steve being the one who found the video. "Uhm.....wow, this is strange. Sir, I don&#39;t know how this happened as I&#39;ve never seen this before, but the computers say it&#39;s 1:1!" :wacko:

[Eagle7]

I did that same thing twice last September....it&#39;s a lot rougher than it looks out there in the grass. [/b]

Ya, but did you make it all the way to the trees? :bash_1_:

[GT240sx]

I wasn&#39;t dodging kevin&#39;s incident because I was bringing up the back of the race group and no Marty I didn&#39;t get anywhere near the trees, I did most of my spinning on track to slow me down. You must have actually turned left after the jump to make it that far!

[Eagle7]

...You must have actually turned left after the jump to make it that far! [/b]

Well, not exactly turned. I was sticking my nose inside George Russell as we crested the hill, and I must have tapped the brake at the crest instead of waiting for the car to settle. Next thing I knew I was pointed about 40 degrees left. The splitter didn&#39;t make it as far as the car did. Sadly, the replacement splitter took a fatal hit on the opposite side of T5 two weeks ago. Splitter #3 is in the mail. Follow me over the jump at your own peril.

[R2 Racing]

Follow me over the jump at your own peril.[/b]
Quoted for truth. :023:

Is it Friday yet?

[GT240sx]

Follow me over the jump at your own peril.
[/b]


I don&#39;t plan on following anyone over the jump too closely. Will anyone be there for Friday practice? I am planning on making the afternoon session.

Also, is there usually tire support there? I may need a few tires changed.

[R2 Racing]

Hoosier Midwest is usually there but if you need anything from them, you need to call them today. One, to get your order in and two, in years past they&#39;ve actually not been able to get enough guys to come due to the holiday weekend and end up not coming at all. So if you need them, you need to call them now.

[R2 Racing]

Pack those rain tires.... :rolleyes:

Friday - AM Showers, 71°/51°, 40%
Saturday - Few Showers, 72°/58°, 30%
Sunday - Showers, 67°/48°, 40%

[Eagle7]

Pack those rain tires.... :rolleyes: [/b]

If I had some. At what point are street tires better than Hoosier R6&#39;s?

[Greg Gauper]

Don&#39;t forget to bring a rake too! They usually cut the grass right before this event, and it&#39;s usually pretty thick afterwards.

The track didn&#39;t seem that much different when we ran the National a few weeks back...maybe a bit bumpier in the area leading into and out of the bowl, otherwise it was pretty much the same.

Have fun guys!

[gsbaker]

Everyone have a great time this weekend! Remember, go fast, stop slow. :)

[R2 Racing]

Speaking of Mr. Baker, this will be my first event being Isaac equipped. Sweet, now I can really run into some stuff! I&#39;m anxious to try the system out as I only hear good things from those who use it. If anyone wants to check them out, feel free to stop on by. :023:

[downingracing]

Pictures/results/video... Come on people - lets hear how it went. I&#39;m glad it is over - still bummed I missed it. :bash_1_:

[R2 Racing]

A fun weekend, and the car ran awesome the whole time. Two more wins. Full on wet setups both Saturday and Sunday morning. We had the ITE/TCC and AS cars in our group, so it was fun putting my car on the outside pole in Saturday morning&#39;s rain. I went from 2nd overall to about 12th overall by turn two. I&#39;ve never been so scared during a start in my life than when a dozen 700hp fire breathing beasts were right behind me. Then Sunday morning&#39;s qualifying race was wet too, so I drove from 12th to 2nd in only seven laps. I pissed off a lot of Corvette guys and hurt some ego&#39;s. I loved it! The video&#39;s great - I&#39;ll get it up eventually. So of course Sunday&#39;s race was a replay of Saturday&#39;s - start 2nd, go to about 12th by turn two.

Awesome weekend. Got to work on my rain setup, car performed great in both the wet and the dry, nothing broke and I didn&#39;t hit anything. All I&#39;ve got to do for Mid Ohio this weekend is re-intall a wire that pulled out on the TraqMate&#39;s data port, adjust the rear sway bar, and mount up the new rubber. That&#39;s it. Bring on Mid Ohio! B)

edit - "I think I&#39;m going to need a bottle of NOS.......actually, better make it two."
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j228/krbobcat/untitled-2.jpg

[Eagle7]

My best weekend ever, by far. My group had a dry track both sessions both days, which I&#39;m very grateful for, since I don&#39;t have any rain tires. I won the pole on Saturday (first ever - wohoo :smilie_pokal: ), but really got schooled on the start. With a veteran behind me (Lance Loughman) and beside me (George Russell), I was third when we passed the starter. Managed to go side-by-side through 1 and 2 with George in 2nd place, but had to tuck in behind at 3. They checked out on me and that&#39;s how ITS ended - Lance, George, Me, Russell White.



Sunday&#39;s race I got to the leader&#39;s (Lance) bumper with a couple laps to go and we had a great time working through lapped traffic, but I had no opportunity to advance. ITS finished Lance, Me, George, Russell. I forgot to turn off the video camera after the morning session, so my best race didn&#39;t get recorded :bash_1_: .



Kudos to Russell White who was about 1.5 seconds off the pace on Toyos :023: . Russell, you just keep running those tires, OK? :rolleyes:



I had the biggest grin on my face watching Kevin run up through all those Vetts - way to go Kevin. :OLA:

[gsbaker]

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j228/krbobcat/untitled-2.jpg
[/b]
A Honda towing a bunch of &#39;Vettes. Now that&#39;s funny. :D

[R2 Racing]

What can I say? My car&#39;s making great torque this year! :P


(Gregg - the Isaacs were awesome. By the end of the weekend I was getting into them pretty quickly. I also couldn&#39;t even tell I was wearing them once the cars started rolling. :023: )

[Racerlinn]

What happened to Ian - did I miss a thread somewhere?

[GT240sx]

I also had a great weekend and learned a lot more about the car.
My clutch literally disintegrated on the first lap of practice. :bash_1_:

I have to say thanks to the track first of all for letting me have my $100 check for the practice session back, which funded my stock replacement clutch. Also a big thanks to George R. for helping me pull and reinstall the transmission Friday night! Marty and Lance were also a huge help as always. I had a ton of fun on the starts with the ITS guys and it was fun trying to keep up with the veterans! :happy204:

I may have to try a set of the Hoosiers after these Toyos are done. I hear they are faster. :023:

Kevin, tell your dad thanks for giving me some room in the hairpin....and Ruck racing had a great weekend, good luck at mid-ohio!

[iagreen]

What happened to Ian - did I miss a thread somewhere?
[/b]


No. I&#39;m just lazy and didn&#39;t post about it. The NASCAR/Busch car/whatever thing running in SU I think (with no competitors) got in between Steve and I racing for 3rd. In turn 3 he stuck his nose down under Steve and I went behind him to follow him through the hole if he stuck Steve to the outside. But Steve came down to his apex and him and the NASCAR hit, spun Steve to the inside and I ran into the back of the NASCAR when he checked up. It wasn&#39;t that hard but the NASCAR thing just has a hoop to protect the fuel cell, no bumper, so my car took the whole hit. I didn&#39;t think it was that bad (it looks like I hit a pole), I could tell the hood was bent and watched the gauges real close for about 6 laps. But I have stock gauges and it looked fine so I forgot when me and Steve got back together racing for 3rd. Then coming onto the straight to take the checker (4th at the time) it started cutting out and wouldn&#39;t rev past 5K. Then I looked over and noticed the temp pegged. Put the clutch in and it immediately shut off and started billowing smoke. I rolled across the line for 4th and had to be towed back. Hopefully it&#39;s just a headgasket, but I&#39;ll take my time between the MO nat/reg and the IT fest to make sure it&#39;s fixed correctly.

[R2 Racing]

I may have to try a set of the Hoosiers after these Toyos are done. I hear they are faster. :023:

Kevin, tell your dad thanks for giving me some room in the hairpin....and Ruck racing had a great weekend, good luck at mid-ohio!
[/b]
Seriously, in Sunday&#39;s race you were moving really well and even pulled along side the third place ITS car at one point down the front straight. Right about then though I could tell that your Toyo&#39;s started cooking and you began falling back. Once they get cooked, they don&#39;t come back. Didn&#39;t I tell you that? :P Those things are evil - if you don&#39;t have a sanctioning body telling you that you have to run them, don&#39;t.

I&#39;ll tell my Dad, and thanks for the compliment. The &#39;85 Civic was running really well at the start of Sunday&#39;s race with the different carb (matched its fastest lap of the weekend on lap 2), but it started running into some sort of a fuel delivery problem (I think) around lap three. Kind of wierd. It sounded and acted like it was running on three cylinders, but then would occasionally come back. Gauges read fine so my Dad finished the race anyways. We haven&#39;t started digging into it yet to see what the problem was.

[Racerlinn]

No. I&#39;m just lazy and didn&#39;t post about it. The NASCAR/Busch car/whatever thing running in SU I think (with no competitors) got in between Steve and I racing for 3rd. In turn 3 he stuck his nose down under Steve and I went behind him to follow him through the hole if he stuck Steve to the outside. But Steve came down to his apex and him and the NASCAR hit, spun Steve to the inside and I ran into the back of the NASCAR when he checked up. It wasn&#39;t that hard but the NASCAR thing just has a hoop to protect the fuel cell, no bumper, so my car took the whole hit. I didn&#39;t think it was that bad (it looks like I hit a pole), I could tell the hood was bent and watched the gauges real close for about 6 laps. But I have stock gauges and it looked fine so I forgot when me and Steve got back together racing for 3rd. Then coming onto the straight to take the checker (4th at the time) it started cutting out and wouldn&#39;t rev past 5K. Then I looked over and noticed the temp pegged. Put the clutch in and it immediately shut off and started billowing smoke. I rolled across the line for 4th and had to be towed back. Hopefully it&#39;s just a headgasket, but I&#39;ll take my time between the MO nat/reg and the IT fest to make sure it&#39;s fixed correctly.
[/b]

That just plain sucks. I noticed that car in the back of the field in the pic The Orange Whip posted up of the start.
Puts the 2 batteries and 1 alternator I had go bad at Putnam into perspective.
Quit being lazy and get to work!

[gsbaker]

What can I say? My car&#39;s making great torque this year! :P
(Gregg - the Isaacs were awesome. By the end of the weekend I was getting into them pretty quickly. I also couldn&#39;t even tell I was wearing them once the cars started rolling. :023: )
[/b]
Let&#39;s hear it for torque!

Glad the product worked out. It takes a while getting used to, but that&#39;s true regardless of brand. Given your avatar, we expect future updates. :D

[Eagle7]

Given your avatar, we expect to replace it every month. :D [/b]

Fixed that for you Gregg. :lol:

[gsbaker]

Fixed that for you Gregg. :lol:
[/b]
We love repeat business. I can just hear the track buzz now...

Vette driver #1: "Geez, you&#39;d think we&#39;d have gotten rid of Kevin "The Crashmaster Pole Sitter" Ruck by now.
Vette driver #2: "Not a chance. Word is he has top notch safety gear."

Note to Marketing: Do NOT sell Ruck the extended warranty. :D

[R2 Racing]

This thread got "not funny" in a hurry. I&#39;m going to go sit in the corner now. :(

mylaps.com results are up!
saturday - http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=213330
sunday - http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=213338

[Rabbit07]

Was the Track slick in the Race? Looks like times were a bit off?

[R2 Racing]

Was the Track slick in the Race? Looks like times were a bit off?
[/b]
Yea, I&#39;m not sure what the deal was. Very few IT cars were matching their best times from last year without having done some good work to their car since then. I struggled to match mine despite the car feeling 10x better. It was by far the best it had ever fealt at Grattan - seemed a lot quicker. FWIW, the weather wasn&#39;t great and at least Alex and I were on pretty old tires (left overs from &#39;06) while we both were on brand new ones last year.

[Eagle7]

Yea, I&#39;m not sure what the deal was. Very few IT cars were matching their best times from last year without having done some good work to their car since then. I struggled to match mine despite the car feeling 10x better. It was by far the best it had ever fealt at Grattan - seemed a lot quicker. FWIW, the weather wasn&#39;t great and at least Alex and I were on pretty old tires (left overs from &#39;06) while we both were on brand new ones last year. [/b]

I set a personal best time on Saturday (1:31.8), but I usually do (better my time), since I&#39;m still on the learning curve.

{Edit: Corrected day and time}

[R2 Racing]

Me:
last year - 1:31.5
this year - 1:31.7

Alex:
last year - 1:30.9
this year - 1:32.5

Steve:
last year - 1:33.5
this year - 1:33.1



Hell, I don&#39;t know. :lol:

[StevenS]

My times seemed a bit off - my personal best was low 32&#39;s last Labor Day chasing Marty around :D

I was running S04&#39;s with plenty of heat cycles left but they are 2 years old now...

I don&#39;t know - it FELT like I was going faster...I was really hoping to break into the 31&#39;s last weekend.

Steve Sancricca
ITA CRX #27

[esuvee]

I think Saturday was the only day for a time close to last year, by sunday the rubber was washed completely off. I was experimenting with the &#39;rain&#39; setup on the Hoosiers on Saturday afternoon so the car pushed pretty badly while Kevin was laying down 31&#39;s. By sunday with a new setup for me we were both in the mid 32&#39;s so I think the track had really fallen off. Like Steve said, on Sunday the car felt great, I expected low 31&#39;s from that session.

Oh well, Sunday&#39;s rain race in the morning was worth the whole weekend!

[ftamagician]

Hey Marty!!

Tom the "guy that does magic" here (although I&#39;m not doing it much lately). I didn&#39;t recieve an entry form for Grattan but skipped it due to a major project we&#39;re doing that&#39;s taking all my time (and money!).

We&#39;re building a full size and drivable/raceable (at "exhibition speeds" as the Vintage Oval racing group says) replica of the NASCAR racer I was a "helper" on back in 1979 when I lived in Charlotte. This was for my favorite driver Frank Warren and his Dodge Magnum #79.

There&#39;s an event in about two months where we&#39;d get to take this car to Michigan Int Speedway and not only have it on display but we&#39;d get 4 ON-track sessions over the two days there...plus free tickets to the Indy Car race that&#39;s running the same weekend (I&#39;m HOPING Danica Patrick stops by to check it out!!)...so I&#39;m really putting everything towards getting this car done but hope to maybe make the next Grattan race in the Cougar Labor Day weekend.

Since I did the drivers school and race last year at Gingerman, I could skip this year and still have another year to run another race (at lease I HOPE that&#39;s the way it is!!??) which might be the case with still so much to get done (and spent) on this.

I really WANT to finally get ON the track at Grattan but sure want to do the fun event at MIS (the weekend of August 4-5) too!! May I could bring the Magnum to Grattan "for exhibition only" too!!????

If anybody wants more info on this, check out vintageovalracing.com

Talk to you later!!

[Eagle7]

Hey Tom. I wondered where you went. Sounds like you&#39;re having fun - keep it up. Hope to see you at Grattan.



Marty

[00Photo]

BTW, my &#39;loose wheel bearing&#39; that was bothering me throughout Sunday&#39;s race on Labor day weekend at Grattan turned out to be a completely broken hub, thank god for a good stake on the axle nut! I&#39;m hoping a properly attached wheel will be worth a few tenths next weekend.

Alex MacDonald
[/b]

Hey guys I was out there taking photos. The full gallery is here:
http://00photo.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=41


I think I got a shot of Alex developing another "loose wheel bearing" <_<
http://00photo.com/photos/albums/racing/2007_05_28_Grattan_Alfa/20070528_GrattanAlfaRomeo_2855.jpg

I see he also forgot to mention this little incident..... lol

http://00photo.com/photos/albums/racing/2007_05_28_Grattan_Alfa/20070528_GrattanAlfaRomeo_2032.jpg
http://00photo.com/photos/albums/racing/2007_05_28_Grattan_Alfa/20070528_GrattanAlfaRomeo_2035.jpg

That series starts here:
http://00photo.com/photos/displayimage.php?album=41&pos=2012

It was fun watching you guys out there and I had fun driving the lunch touring sessions.

[StevenS]

That was Alex in the passenger seat...Lisa (Alex&#39;s wife) was driving his CRX at the open track event on Monday. Prolly won&#39;t be long before she is mixing it up on the track with us!

As Alex says: "Oversteering girls are cool"!!!

Steve
ITA CRX #27

[R2 Racing]

Sunday morning's qualifying race was wet too....I pissed off a lot of Corvette guys and hurt some ego's. I loved it! The video's great - I'll get it up eventually.

I had the biggest grin on my face watching Kevin run up through all those Vetts - way to go Kevin. :OLA:
Well, that only took 22 months. Sorry.:(

But it's still a pretty good video.:eclipsee_steering:
Clip 1
Clip 2