OK, so, what's happening in IT up at the Speedway this weekend??
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OK, so, what's happening in IT up at the Speedway this weekend??
ITA
Branscombe green to checker 1:18.25
Gangi coming on strong 1:18.12
Breault 1:18.35
Track was very slippery.
IT7 had Patullo and McStay with mucho amore for one another......
Bucella takes the win, Grant 2nd, Big wave Dave rounding out the top 3. I think Grant owes Dick a windshield...
ITB had Beran leading but pulled off with a handfut to go- Win going North of the Border, ehhh? (Vantage).
Ufelder in ITS with Lawton? and Miskoe? I believe.
ITR was Maynard (Naturally) with The Tizzer and Crugnale on the podium
Big scare in ITS/R with a red flag for an ITS e30 that lost it in 9, clibling the wall in the downhill and going airborn aiming for the flag station at the turtle. Everyone was fine but the car was destroyed.
R
That was a nasty wreck. I was one of the first ones to respond, it seems like it started at the tires out of 9 then carried it down to 10. It took a few gouges out of the pavement, but as reported driver was fine.
Chicane-Chicane qualifying;
Branscombe, Breault, Gangi
R
Waiting for Day 2.
ITA - Day 2 re-cap from #86 -
A fun start had Breault, Gangi, Ruddy, Branscombe for about 4 laps until I could not hold off Branscombe anymore. Branscombe caught up to Gangi and they both reeled in Breault. They both got by and Gangi held off Bransc. Final was Gangi, Branscombe, Breault, Ruddy. I think I need to find the hidden turbos on Breault's car!!
An amazing weekend of extremely close racing with no big incidents!!
Tim - you were missed... but don't hurry back. It was nice to bring home hardware. LOL
That was fun!!! First time in the front row, first time leading a race. Pace car paced us fast, but suffice it to say we were 4 wide in a drag race into 1 (chicane). Gangi low, Jeff next, me, and Anthony high. I had the prefferred line into 1 and came out on top, followed by Vic, Jeff and Anthony. I lead for the next 9 laps. It was COOL! I had opened up about a 3 sec lead on Victor, but he eventually cought me as my tires got hot. The track was very challenging and I felt that if I had to lose the lead to Vic I'd rather be outdriven than give it to him by spinning. Vic caught me and I held p2 for 5 more laps until [I blew it] my foot slipped off the brake pedal in 3 and nearly wrecked myself. Jeff drove to the door and we drag raced up the hill.....everyone knows how that turned out for me.....
Great weekend- 2 3rds....learned a ton.
The racing was as close as it could get and was VERY respectful, what a great group.
R
I had a tremendous time with some weak qualifying efforts and some strong races as I got more seat time. Definitely got warm! I think for today's ITA race there should be two classifications... the first three and the rest!
Props to instant and unselfish help I got on the qualifying grid when Black Betty developed a small coolant leak. #58 and #94 have some GREAT support... thanks man...
Now my hard part... a very sincere apology to Dave Fiata for the spin in T3... looking at the data system, I definitely caught some serious understeer, car did not hold and I came into your line in turn 3. My bad for sure... no doubt. Even checked the line I had with other passes I made to the inside of turn #3. I prolly shouda been more patient but I was on a roll. Please drop me an email if you need help with the three link... serious.
BB
It really was a wicked fun weekend. In the Saturday’s IT7 race we all got very good starts. Grant was leading, with Noam and a Miata between me with Mike pushing me hard and Dave not far behind. Noam and the Miata got by Grant and Mike and I were catching him so Mike and I stopped fighting for second and worked together to reel him in. on lap 7 the IT7 race was going to be a barn burner. We went up the hill with me have some overlap on Grant and Mike right on my but with Dave only one half second behind. I was thinking to myself how with 10 laps to go anything could happen. Halfway down the hill Grant and I came together and spun to the right in the gravel. Mike did a masterful job of missing the wreck and taking the lead. By the way the gravel in that section of the track is the size of baseballs. I learned my unique paint job is not chip resistant.
Grant reentered quickly in third, me not so much, way too much toe out. Mike led to the end. Grant caught up with Dave and they swapped places multiple times with Grant edging him out for second by inches at the line.
Sunday was less eventful. Qualifying was Mike, Grant, me and Dave all within .8 seconds. It was nose to tail for 5 laps (chicane sucks) or so but I then lost contact with Grant when everything hot and Dave fell back when he got crossed up with a SSB car. I was just tooling around for the rest of the race. When a Miata wanted by in three I gave him the inside and he promptly drove into me on the exit taking a chunk out of my right front wheel. Not sure if there is any more damage yet. At least I finished.
Congratulations to Mike on his first and second win in a sweep of the weekend.
Aren't Miatas fun?!?
Sounds like you guys had a great weekend - Congrats to all!:happy204:
Nice job guys!! Congrats to Rob, Victor, Anthony and Geoff!! I wish I could have seen it!! Looks like we could have some serious fun in August!!
Dick, is IT7 gonna turn into SM?? I want to see video!!! :D
You know I am sick of hearing this momentum car excuse. I heard a quote told a Miata driver at another track and event: “it sound like you put more importance on the need to preserve your momentum than on our duty to not have contact”
Most
Important
At
Track
Always
Andy, I admit it is fun to engage in a little Miata bashing after all they are not a minority so it is still permitted.
Fully 50% of the cars that hit me this weekend were Miatas while they were only20% of the field. 100% or the cars that hit me that were not in my class were Miatas so as you can see statistics are on my side.
By the way the last time I had contact was at least two years ago, I think that was… oh yea, I won’t go there.
:D
I am with you big boy! Sometimes a protest can work wonders. Gotta be patient with lapped traffic dontcha-know!
I love to read this forum.....everyone has a name accept guys or gals in Miatas.:shrug:
They have names that we use, just not in polite company!:D
It's just frustration Jerry. The ITA drivers all play very nicely with each other and it seems to be the Miata's that double dip that seem to be the problem (although I don't now anything about Dick's situation). For the most part, the've done a great job with their situational awareness when getting lapped but there are still the same stories.....
Last weekend at Pocono, the ITB leader was almost taken out by a Miata mid packer pulling a real bone head move. That sort of crap has to stop........
DICK.........spot on race reporting! ALSO you must be the ONLY person I know who would report "Wicked fun weekend" after being spun out of a possible victory (lesson to be learned i would say) The "wave of debris" that came off Dicks car was most impressive (it really looked like water)! I also would like to thank all who stopped over to congradulate Us on our 1st victory! I did not know I had that many friends and have to admit I did not know everyone who stopped in!!!!! What a GREAT club!
6 weeks till RAL.
Mike B IT7 #29
My incident involving a Miata did not involve lapping. He was running in ITA behind me, my race went away and I backed off a bit. He caught up with me and as he was not in my class the first time he took a look I gave him the inside and he could not pull it off without hitting me. The lapping comment is an inside joke between Andy and I.
Jerry I see no reason to call this guy out by name as I do not think he is on this board.
I am not sure why we tend to see more Miata guy seeming to get into this kind of spot than others but I have some guesses. There are a lot of novice drivers running Miatas. My friend was in our April school.
I think that Miatas are easier than most cars to drive therefore rewarding a inexperienced driver with a faster lap than he might get in another car for the same skill level.
And finally for those that hang out with the SM/SSM crowd I really do think there is a culture difference that does value momentum more than the duty to avoid contact ay all costs.
The incident I had on Saturday was between two cars dicing for the lead driving at 100% if their combined talent level and car capability. At least we were racing for something worth winning.
The novice in the Miata that hit me after I gave him the inside was 10 seconds behind the next ITA car and 5 second ahead of the next one with cars from other classes in between.
Sorry to change the subject from Miata bashing BUT, I'd like to applaud tech this weekend.
Tech was very proactive this weekend. They encouraged driver involvement in self policing by mandating open hoods. They encouraged drivers to look under everyone's hood. There were questions asked and answers given, some with embarassed expressions (like why are you using our broom to hold your hood open?). They also checked motor mounts, ride heights, weights and in SM made them take off exhaust manifolds to check porting, to name a few. While there were some grumblings, I personally think it was great.
BTW, there were some DQ'd, and some given a by next event as a result.
R
I've only driven a Miata once at Lime Rock and was surprised at how easy of a car it is to drive a 9/10ths. It was a damp day, the back end came out in the left hander and was much easier to control than I would have anticipated. Getting the Miata to that last 10th is a whole nother ball game though. Maybe because reaching the 9/10ths mark isn't too difficult but getting to the next level is might be the cause of some of these incidents.Quote:
I think that Miatas are easier than most cars to drive therefore rewarding a inexperienced driver with a faster lap than he might get in another car for the same skill level.
It's popularity and relative ease to build a decent SM also adds to new drivers being attracted to the category. I also think the fact it's a spec class creates a thought process that they need to take larger risks to complete passes. For us IT guys, different cars have different strengths and weaknesses so we determine where our cars are stronger more easily. I wonder if in combined groups they're just so programmed with the way they race in a complete SM field.
The Meotters I've driven have been incredibly forgiving, and I've watched guys race with me -(at pocono, where I was grouped with them, and my 4 laps on a wacko track I'd never driven put me in the not so desirable neighborhood) - do some real shove it in there,dive bomb, hope for the best on the other side passes, and if I wanted to be a dick, (the third time from the same..... errrrr...guy) i could have easily not jumped out of the throttle, and therefor driven into their recovery space and punted them. Finally, I got a clue as to where the track went, and drove more aggressively, and that was that.
I think that the fact is that you can be a complete bonehead, get the thing all out of shape, and just drive, away makes folks feel invincible. In other cars I've driven, if I pulled some of the stunts I've seen, I'd be at the frame shop.
I normally don't post, but I check this site faithfully. I plead guilty to being the racer (Jim Alley) who ruined Dicks weekend.
I got involved in SCCA in 2006 and have raced in the NER ITA field since I joined. I was sixty years old when I joined and quite frankly don't have the skills, experience, or guts to run up front. Then again and don't have the ego so that is a problem for me, as it apparently is for others. I have been racing door to door with all the people in this race group for three years without contact and now that I have made a driving error, and because I drive a Miata, I am some kind of an idiot or jerk.
All I can say is:
1. I went out of my way to find Dick in the paddock area on my way out, to apologize as I probably didn't give him adequate room. Although I will say that I was hit in the rear quarter and think if BRAKES had been applied the incident could have been avoided. Maybe not. Either way I took the responsibility and still do.
2. Starting at age sixty to take up racing I chose the Miata on the advice of quite a few knowledgeable people as I wanted to start in a Viper I owned at the time. I am glad I chose the Miata as it is well balanced and very forgiving. In my mind it is the perfect car for someone my age who is happy running mid field and I don't think I should have to apologize for driving a Miata.
3. I have been dive-bombed and cut off by every type of car because I am a mid pack racer. I have always given point by's when being lapped and don't think I have been a problem for others on the track. I have had no more problems with Miatas than any other car.
4. I hope if I don't get discouraged by all the negativity and quit, that I don't fall into the category of whining, complaining and making excuses for my own inadequacy as seems to be a commonplace problem. I decided to do this for the fun, enjoyment and an escape of owning and running a business that is stressful. I am not interested in going to the track to be the center of controversy or to have any confrontation over club racing. No Thank you!
Well I have most likely said more that I should have, but it is not fair to other responsible Miata drivers to be painted with the same brush. Think about it!
Jim
I am sorry you are upset or discouraged and if you have been racing for three years and never had contact that was the start of a good record. I am sorry I called you a novice, I thought I saw you at the school in April, if that is not true I am sorry for the mistake.
Yes you did wave me down and apologize. I have to admit I found it a little unsatisfying. First if I feel I wronged someone I try to seek them out right away and not let over an hour pass and second, and this may be a matter of style or personality I really was not impressed with the idea that you really thought this was your fault. You never looked at my car or asked about damage. This maybe only my perception as you seem to express yourself more fully in with the written word than verbally so again if I perceived the conversation wrong I am sorry.
Above is where we have a problem. Had I been able to divine that you were unable or unwilling to control your car in a manner that would allow me racing room, yes I could have jammed on the brakes at the exit of the corner and avoided contact. I am not that psychic. The track narrows to forty feet at the point that you hit me and drove me off the track. I was letting you by and gave you 35 of track to get it done. The rules require you to leave me 5 feet. You were not hit. You hit me in the right front wheel.
You cannot have it both ways. Saying it may or not be your fault is not taking responsibility.
If you are discouraged my conscience is fine.
My final word on this:
A person should not be judged by the car that he has chosen to drive.
The Miatas racing in ITA are there because they have a right to just as your Honda, Accura or whatever is.
I'm sure if Jim was driving a RX7 it may have been nothing more than a bad move!
In my 8 years of racing Miatas I have never driven anyone off track or taken anyone out of a race, so I don't like being lumped into a catagory just because of my car choice.
Call them....Old, bald, fat, short, but please not Miata guys!:D
But, then again??????never mind!
Jerry, tried to PM you but you have it turned off.......
Yes, we do have a tendency to lump all Miata drivers together......Human nature....... But that being said, the Miata drivers in general have a different frame of mind. The stuff I see in the SM and SSM races just makes me shake my head. In my years of running IT (7), 80% of my hits came from Miatas..............all in the two year period when I was in ITB and ran in the same run group. You had stated that you have never hit anyone (and knowing you, I have no doubt about that) but how many times have you been a victim??? I know, you race SM so the percentages are there.....but how many of those hits came from more than just "racing" incidents?
We do have a great group of racers in ITA here in the Northeast. From what I have seen, none of us is willing to total their car just to make a pass. That's why I have really enjoyed racing the last two years. I just wish everyone else had the same frame of mind.
(and I really don't care if you're old, bald, fat and short!! :lol: )
I understand everyones frustration, but it's not because their is some sence of willingness to write off our cars.
New drivers go to Miatas for several reasons, unfortunately we all have to deal with them.
The SM guys upfront race hard and clean, and yes we worry about the new aggressive guys at the back.
I had two well know IT guys in my rental Miata this weekend both ran mid-pack without any issues.
If you guys think it's only Miata guys that are bad and problemed stand in T3 for an IT race, take your blinders off and pay attention!
HELP WANTED! at all NER races!
Pacecar drivers
Trophy person
gas pump attendant
send resume to:
[email protected]
:happy204:
Jerry,
I don’t know what to tell you. You are not going to stop the trash talk. Kind of reminds me of the old joke about lawyers: “it’s 90% that spoil the reputation of the rest of them”
We have talked above about some of the reasons why we have more problems with these cars and the stats support the problem. Sure there are plenty of good drives who race Miatas but the odds of running into a problem are real. There were 4 Miatas in my race group. Two or maybe three had contact. I don’t have firsthand knowledge about the third, but the two seemed to be at fault.
I am sorry for those good guys in Miatas who are offended but there is a reason for stereotypes.
Same tune, different beat:
http://www.roadrace-autox.com/bbs/fo...osts=3#M213346
Dick
I am sorry I didn't seek you out sooner, because thats what you consider proper protocol. To be honest I don't intend to get into a confrontation because someone is still hot under the collar and needs to cool down.
I may not be very vocal or keep a low profile, but I do observe behavior around the track. Some of it is not very desirable (although I am impressed that a greater percentage of behavior is very sportsman like) I don't know you or your personality so I thought it was the best way to handle it at the time.
My wife and I had a family obligation and I was loading up and try to get out as quickly as possible so maybe more time expired than I realized.
Please PM me if you have expenses that you occurred and want to discuss.
It was nice visiting those that I was able to see... I stoped in with Stephen and we bought Smarty out of a couple sizes of new tires for the Audi's :) after that we went back home to do some work on the cars trying to get them ready for the PROIT race at Lime Rock on 8/2/08... Hoping to make that, and we will see what comes next... we need to beat up on the VW A3 takeover... It was nice to see Tim Mullen in an Audi, now he knows how we feel at NHIS!!! lol
Dick/Jim and others...
Did the Stewards stop you in Black flag" (the pits) to discuss any of your "incidents?" Just wondering...
Raymond
yes Raymond they did.