Hallett R/N/IT, Apr 4-5

[PSherm]

Registration is open for the Reg/Nat/IT Tour races on April 4&5. Optional test day available on Friday thru Stephens Bros. Information and forms available here: http://avrg.wichitascca.org/

[PSherm]

So far, 4 ITS, 4 ITA, 3 ITB, 1 ITR, 1 ITE, no ITC entries.

C'mon peoples, come have some fun at Hallett this weekend! 30% chance of rain, but at least no snow in the forecast! :happy204:

[KelleyHux]

Uhhhh ... Paul ... you need to re-check the forecast ...

Saturday looks to be tolerable (but windy) ... Sunday may be a different matter. :(

See you there!
Remember to wave at the "PLAY SAFE" banner.

Kelley Huxtable
DMVR

[Turkflyer]

I just checked....and both are right. 30% chance of isolated showers Saturday, windy, and better (but cooler) on Sunday. See you there!....gonna give that black Neon a hard chase!.....and I'll wave at all the nice workers that help us have so much fun....Thanks!

[Turkflyer]

Paul...who are the other ITA's?

[buldogge]

Not making this is a real bummer for me after last weeks crap weekend at GIR. Between the weather and no other ITS entries it was abysmal.

I just can't do back to back weekends with the little one at home, unfortunately.

Paul...Can you list the IT entries here so we can see them?

Any of the ITS guys going to MAM in a few weeks??

:(

[PSherm]

http://avrg.wichitascca.org/documents/April09EntryList.pdf

[gottagofast13]

Not making this is a real bummer for me after last weeks crap weekend at GIR. Between the weather and no other ITS entries it was abysmal.

I just can't do back to back weekends with the little one at home, unfortunately.

Paul...Can you list the IT entries here so we can see them?

Any of the ITS guys going to MAM in a few weeks??

:(

I was one of the entries for this Hallett race - unfortunately pistons didn't make it in time so I had to cancel. I'm planning on MAM, but I'm not positive at this point if it will happen.

If you go to dlbracing.com, I think you'll see that 2-3 other ITS cars are already signed up and Herrman isn't on the list yet...I think he always does the MAM races.

Anyways, hope to see you there...I think we might just have a 5-6 car ITS field - that would be great.

Ryan

[buldogge]

Hey Ryan... Robert is listed under GT3...??? ...and...there appears to be a bunch of 924/944 driver's school entries...not sure there.

Might see me there...

[gottagofast13]

Hey Ryan... Robert is listed under GT3...??? ...and...there appears to be a bunch of 924/944 driver's school entries...not sure there.

Might see me there...

That's weird about Robert.

I didn't realize the 924/944s were signed up in the drivers school.

Hope to see you there!

[SLUF]

Trey and I had to drop out too due to his college stuff. I can't believe anything like that could be more important than racing.

[arpenn]

Anyone have results for the IT classes? How was the weather?

[IPRESS]

B. Laughlin won A and Matt "Sideshow" Reynolds won S. Not sure about B either had to be Chris or Gary. I didn't get to see it but heard they were having a great race.

I will give a longer report later.

[KelleyHux]

Not to hijack the thread - but, of the entries for MAM - some of the Porsche drivers have regional licenses and are not entered for the either of the drivers schools. I recommend we take this discussion over to the Double School/Double Regional thread started by MustangHammer. (she says while wearing her registrar's hat)

As far as Hallett goes (putting on her flagger hat) - Chris and Gary had a dynamite race both days. Chris was workin' hard on Saturday, but Gary started ahead of him. Then Gary drove a good clean race, and Chris just couldn't quite catch him. Congrats go to Gary for a win in ITB! Sunday was a little different story - eventhough Gary again started ahead of Chris. But Chris must have found some extra horsepower (or he finally knocked all the rust out) ... 'cause he was able to catch Gary and get by ... but then they swapped positions a couple of times ... and in a finish which was still in doubt as we watched them round the corner at 10 (we had to ask race control who won) ... Chris won on Sunday. Thanks for the great races guys!

The weather Saturday was pretty okay - windy, but at least warm. Sunday was MISERABLE! The low 40s temperatures combined with the 25-30 mph winds with gusts to 40 mph made for a terrible day.

The good news was that most of the drivers behaved themselves, and there wasn't much to do for the flaggers. The only exception was when a SRF and an HP car wanted to occupy the same track space in the braking zone at 3. Sorry for the FCY, but when you've got a car with only 2 wheels ... in the track ... it has to be moved. Otherwise, there was good racing in almost all of the race groups, which really helps keep things interesting and allows you to shove aside the thoughts about how cold it is.

Kelley Huxtable
"PLAY SAFE"
DMVR

[Turkflyer]

Thanks to Kelley and all the workers that withstood the miserable weather to make it a fun weekend!

[PSherm]

I *kinda* had fun... finally found the misfire problem, but it was after I retired from Saturday's race. At least the car ran fine for Dave on Sunday. :rolleyes:

And the AS Camaro ran fine w/no hiccups... :happy204:

Looking forward to MAM!

[IPRESS]

Yeah ditto what the ARKY Farmer said. You folks out on the Flag Stands had to be freeeeeeezzzzziiiing! My car had a slight oil leak and then I blew a shock (sitting on the grid) for the Regional race. Every left turn the front left wheel jumped up and down like it was going over RR tracks. Some nice guys from Little Rock put a new one in for me and I had a fun race in the Sunday National with two former ROffs. podium guys (J. Saucier & R. Jones.) SSC is very different than IT, but each race I am getting the hang of it just a little better. I ran some real high tire presures that seemed to help get the Integra around the corners better. Was pleased to finish second and have no damage running with the SM crowd. In fact the SMers were on their best behavior.
Thanks again Kelley (love the sign at the start)

[Gary L]

First things first... I want to add my thanks to the workers as well. That was a brutal day to be flagging races!

Yes, Chris and I had a race on Sunday! I forgot to ask him, but assume he was on fresher rubber than he used Saturday. During Saturday's race, I was consistently quicker by two or three tenths; on Sunday, it was the other way around, and I made no changes whatsoever.

Anyway, the videos are up on YouTube, just click on the YouTube link in my signature below. They are two 9+ minute pieces worth watching, IMHO. :)

[tnord]

so who is this brian laughlin guy and where did he come from?

[PSherm]

Dunno where Brian came from (or if he's on the forums), but he was flying! That was one very fast miata! And well driven...

Lots of new track records, so the cold helped in one regard. Chris and Gary put on a good show in ITB.

[IPRESS]

Travis,
That was the same question others were asking. I think he must be a COMMA guy with a pretty hot Miata. At least D. Reynolds told me the car was plenty fast. ( And he drove it well.) Hallett is getting known for "home cookin" (meaning the fast guys that run there a lot benefit at Hallett more than at other tracks do to it's technical aspects.) COMMA has some really fast guys & cars these days. That particular miata looked like it would give the "Yellow Beast" all it wanted, so you can figure it is a fast car.
Tnord you should get your "S" together and see what you can do in July.

[IPRESS]

Oh yeah can I count on you for "crew chief" next month at HPT?
If so please wear a Groucho Marx disguise so that the Ozmant clan won't be after me!

[PSherm]

Mac - Do you know why John only ran half of the C race? Nice Acura, BTW.

[BrandonP]

Yes Brian is a regular in the COMMA series and won the PA division last year in that car. It is a quick little Miata. We have to find some speed in our little Civic to keep up this season as it looks like his lap times are considerably quicker than last season. One of these days we will race with you SCCA guys ;)

[tnord]

Travis,
That was the same question others were asking. I think he must be a COMMA guy with a pretty hot Miata. At least D. Reynolds told me the car was plenty fast. ( And he drove it well.) Hallett is getting known for "home cookin" (meaning the fast guys that run there a lot benefit at Hallett more than at other tracks do to it's technical aspects.) COMMA has some really fast guys & cars these days. That particular miata looked like it would give the "Yellow Beast" all it wanted, so you can figure it is a fast car.
Tnord you should get your "S" together and see what you can do in July.

Oh yeah can I count on you for "crew chief" next month at HPT?
If so please wear a Groucho Marx disguise so that the Ozmant clan won't be after me!

i'm trying.....but there's a lot to be done, and life keeps getting in the way. the 4th of july weekend is always hard for me to make, but this year it will be extra difficult with my cousin getting married that weekend.

yeah, there's nothing i know of that would keep me away from topeka that weekend. so count me in.

[IPRESS]

PSherm,
I didn't get a chance to talk to John. I am sot sure, he was at impound and got third. He drove the car to the trailer and nothing looked or sounded bad. He may have just wanted to save car & tires. We talked a lot about costs at lunch. I wish he had kept going as racing with him was making me drive about two seconds faster per lap. He has been at this a long time so he knows what he needs to do to be ready for RAmerica. I don't expect to run the Acura more than one or two more weekends before the RunOffs. I may run ITA in the miata some this summer.

Keep your ear out for someone who would like to make a run at the 2010 RunOffs. The Acura will be a pretty cost effective way to go. It is the reason I got it and will sell it AT or AFTER the 09 RunOffs. Moving it to SSC has made it have a decent chance (especially with a better driver) at RAmerica.

[Gary L]

so who is this brian laughlin guy and where did he come from?
Brian has been running COMMA events at Hallett for several years, at least since I came back to racing in 2005, so I've been able to watch him mature as a race driver. When I first started running with him in COMMA, to say Brian was inconsistent would be a gross understatement. :) IIRC, his best lap times were in the 1:36 - 1:37 range at that time, and he was off course a lot. By early last year though, he and I were running fairly evenly at Hallett, in the 1:32 - 1:33 neighborhood. In fact, we had a pretty good race at the Hallett SCCA meet a year ago this month. Now, he's running consistent 1:30 - 1:31's, and I'm sure there is more to come. After all, his new ITA lap record (1:29.975) is still nearly a second off the SM record.