MARRS 7&8

[spnkzss]

I wish I could say I had a good weekend. As a matter of fact it just seemed to be par for the year.

Both races I qualified 5th. Sunday, I decided to play with fuel pressure. I know better than to mess with a car before a race. I was trying to solve a fuel starvation problem in 6. I couldn't break a 1:372. After messing with the back markers for a while and almost driving through them in 10 (four wheel on the gator teeth multiple times to prevent from hitting other cars) I figured it was time to come off the track before I hurt the car or someone elses. The car handled great, but no power above 5 grand. Finished 11th.

Monday, I went out for hardship with presure returned to where it was. It didn't feel 100%, but a lot better than it was. Went out for the race and it just fell on its face. My teammate gave me a nice couple (ok maybe half dozen) pushes down the straight on the start. Couldn't get the car to get out of it's own way. Had a good time racing him though. I had the corner speed he had the straight line speed. I think we gave my wife and his g/f a heart attack when he went to pass me in 8 and I kinda.... lets say.... sqeezed a little. I finished the day I think 8th. I have to say, I have never driven the car as hard as I did that race. It's interesting when your used to driving a good car fast versus driving a bad car fast. If I can just drive the car as hard as I did that race with a good motor, I might think about trying to chase down Troxell

Short version of what I'm going to do to fix it. Go out with a full tank. I've gotten away from that lately and I'm burning more fuel. I don't think I'm filling it up enough. Get some injectors cleaned and balanced. Replace plugs, and wires. Do a compression test. Go out and kick some ass.

Long weekend, was ready for it to be over, didn't want to touch the car for a month. Now it's Thursday, I want to go fix the car, and race this weekend. Not looking forward to the long winter ahead.

[85itccivic]

Hey , Rob,

I hope you know that for all the trash talk we do I was a bit bummed that you had problems this weekend. I thought it was great that you had such a good run in July and really expected you to be mixing it up with every one this time too . All I really want it for ITC to once again be a multi car race at the front like it was years ago. Close , clean racing is what we are there for and that will attract more people back to our class.

Roger

[spnkzss]

Hey , Rob,

I hope you know that for all the trash talk we do I was a bit bummed that you had problems this weekend. I thought it was great that you had such a good run in July and really expected you to be mixing it up with every one this time too . All I really want it for ITC to once again be a multi car race at the front like it was years ago. Close , clean racing is what we are there for and that will attract more people back to our class.

Roger
[/b]

I'll get it runnin' again. I already have a set of injectors ready to send out. Once I get a few more thing taken care of the car should finally be where it needs to be. Now that there are about 7 or so cars up front (which is more cars then we have had in the field over the past few years) it should be fun. I also want to continue to help Kev get up there with us. Just not too much up there

Appreciate it, and look forward to seeing you in my mirrors at MARRS 9.

[Bads Mr2 Crew]

So there we were, Monday mid morning, the rain was gone and the weather good, so far… I usually crew for two mr2’s each weekend. This weekend only one car was there so I had a bit of a reprieve. I could actually watch some racing whilst at the race track.
So, intent on watching some good racing, my dad and I decided to go down to the carousel with a couple of friends, to watch the small bore race. Always entertaining. We got there and sat at our usual spot. Top right corner of the carousel grandstands. You can watch them come down the chute, go through the twisty bits, and then watch them go up the hill.
There is almost always some minor bumping and grinding as the faster cars make there way through the lapped field. And, almost always, everybody keeps it on the track to continue another lap.
This day we were watching an SPU Mercedes try an inside pass on a Baby Grand in 6b. After the first touch, I thought for sure the baby grand was going off onto the grass on the outside of 7. I mean, this was a tap from a Mercedes. But the little guy corrected and kept it on the track. Unfortunately, the Mercedes was occupying the space the Baby Grand needed, and there was another contact. It was just enough to jolt the Mercedes a bit too far to his right and to then proceed off track into the grass.
Now, I had seen this happen many, many times. Cars coming at us straight at 7, but they always hit the tires and the embankment and came to a jarring stop. But not this time.
I was watching a movie. The Mercedes hit the tire wall at near full speed (for that area) and it didn’t stop. It blasted over the tires and the embankment and through the beautiful brown fencing that surrounds the track.
Throughout the weekend we had seen a Buick, parked in that area, arrive, park, pull forward, back up, turn around, set up a tent, lay the tent down, move the car back, then forward again. This time the Mercedes helped it move, after it had cleared the lain down tent.
After brushing off the Buick, the Mercedes was aimed right at us. I could look the headlights straight in the eyes. And I did, as I watched it coming right at me. I almost stood. I almost ran. But I kept thinking, it wont make it this far. It won’t hit us. I know my dad was to my right, but I didn’t see him. My entire perspective was taken up by this car. I watched it in high-speed slow motion. It wont make it this far. I remember kinda crouching where I was, not yet ready to run. What if I ran and it didn’t hit, I'd look a fool. It won’t hit us.
And then it hit us.
Imagine sitting in a chair and someone comes up behind you and pulls the chair out from beneath you fast enough, so that for a split second, you are sitting on air. That is what it felt like when it hit. The grandstands actually cracked in half. The right side, where we were sitting, was pushed back at least four feet from its foundation. The left side almost a foot.
So if you can imagine the steepness of the grandstands, we were instantly about 2-3 feet off our seats. It wasn’t so bad, until we landed. Boy did we tumble around those seats. When I picked myself up, that’s when I saw dad, pretty much upside down, a couple of feet below me. I guess he didn’t crouch.
We stood there for a second. It was kind of surreal.
The driver got out of his car and, luckily, he was fine, going so far as to try to wave off the ambulance driving across able between racecars.
Then we started asking ourselves if we were fine. We all were.
But what to do next. You don’t just sit back down and continue watching racing after something like that.
Then, moments later, we were surrounded by orange shirts. They were everywhere, instantly. They immediately took charge and told us all to sit back down and get off the grandstands.
Some of use tried to do both. It was then decided it was probably best to vacate our broken seats. The orange shirts circulated the crowd checking for injuries. The worst that I saw was my dad with a wee bit of blood on his elbow. Eyeing some of the tasteful rust spots decorating the grandstands, he opted for some antiseptic and a band-aid.
Soon after, we spotted some friends that had seen what had happened from other parts of the carousel heading towards us to check everyone’s well being. We were just a bit shaken and stirred.
I then saw the red flags. The race had been stopped.
The driver was ok, and we were ok. The grandstands and the unlucky boys’ bicycle that had been resting up against the corner of the grandstands, were not. But thanks to the EV crews and corner workers, the situation was under control and all was being taken care of. We received a ride with some friends back to our respective paddocks.
I have been going to summit point raceway for 29 years now as a spectator and crew. I’ve seen some wins, and I’ve seen some accidents. But this will stay with me for a long time.
Thank you again to the workers and the EV crew of Summit Point Raceway.