The Longest Day is Back! 24 hours at Nelson

[mgyip]

** Tech - why is the annual inspection process fine for every other race in a season but NOT OK for this one? Am I missing something? The lines weren't long (not a ton of entries) but the processes involved were just slooooow.[/b]

It wasn't just the Annual Tech requirement but the attitude of "How do we know that your car is still the same one that was annual tech inspected?" and "We don't know you so you need to bring us EVERYTHING".

** Schedule - Please, please, PLEASE reconsider the 3:00 start. Just HAVING the Longest Day is enough recognition of the event's history, without having to resort to using the traditional start time. If there's anything that puts future trips to Ohio in jeopardy, it's the fact that we have to ask crew members to take yet another day off if they live more than just few hours from the track.
[/b]

Agreed - one of our fellow crew members who NEVER complains made comments starting at 11 am on Sunday that "If the race ended at noon, we'd only have an hour left". Those of us who drove home on Sunday evening agreed with her!!

I have a few nits to pick since this is the second year I've attended an event at Nelson and this is the second year that gigantic holes in their supps caused me to grow more grey hairs and develop an ulcer or two.

First off - the rule about a fireman on-station AT ALL TIMES DURING ANY PIT STOP is a bit excessive. The lack of language about how said fireman should be dressed during a non-fueling stop led to confusion more than once during the race.

Secondly - the language about Black Flag All and working on the car is very unclear and the Chief Steward and the Pit Chief don't agree on what it says. The wording is such that "All work in the Pit and Paddock must cease during a Black Flag All and may not commence until the race restarts". For those of us who drive, a restart tends to be signaled by a GREEN FLAG. This is how the Pit Marshalls interpreted the rule but they were shot down by the Chief Steward who allowed cars to 1) pull directly from Black Flag All grid into their pit stalls without completing another lap and 2) allowed work to commence once the cars went out under Double Yellow (read: PACE LAP). This allowed several teams to service the car without losing a lap under either Double Yellow or Green. Furthermore, while some cars were corralled in Tech for repairs, others were allowed to return to their paddock spots for repairs - given the language of the Black Flag All rule, unless there were a Paddock Marshall at paddock spot, that rule is simply unenforceable.

Lastly - Selective Pit Rules enforcement - I personally observed a car that almost ran down their crew member during a pit stop and then BACKED UP UNDER POWER. I heard it over my headset!!! There were two Pit Tech workers in the immediate vicinity who did nothing about it!!! Yet we were warned about fuel spills when our cell "swelled and dropped a dime-sized droplet of fuel" which was much unlike another team whose fueler was bathing in fuel as it ran out of their dump can, down the fueler's shoulder and arm and finally sprayed the fireman as it was whipped out of the filler neck. We were the "out of towners" so we were certainly watched with greater scrutiny - at least by the locals.

I'll be back but I don't know if I'll do anything other than crew and keep my eyes shut to the "Local Hero" phenomenon. I've worked as a Pit Marshall in the past and pride myself on being impartial - you f**k up and you get a penalty, period. There is some flexibility but if it's a big f**k up like backing up under power or dousing crew members in fuel, there's no leeway - period.

Having driven on the track at other events, I applaud everyone who raced at the Longest Day - the track is punishing on cars and equipment.

[JohnRW]

** Track - I think it was Walsh who called it der Nelsonring. [/b]

Well, it's either that...or "Nelson Legistan".

Personally, I love the place. My big reservation prior to this race was that it would change my long-held opinion and I'd learn to hate it after a 24 hour, like I've learned to hate other places I've done 24's (I can be VERY impolite about Moroso, for example, and I've had almost a decade to "get over it").

The Nelsonring didn't dissapoint me. Whoohar...the place has a definite flow...and it's sooooo freaking fast...that I usually had at least one giggle a lap.

Well, we couldn't back up our SM win in the 12 Hour there last year, but we had a good time and the car finished with just a few minor paint scuffs from 'other traffic'. Some air & fuel filter issues slowed us down...A LOT...in the wee hours of the morning, until we did a shotgun fix and got it running strong again about 8am. We were loosing about 4-6 secs. a lap for 7 hours...hope we stayed out of everybody's way. Kinda disheartening getting out-dragged by ITB cars for a few hours.

I saw relatively little 'dumb-ass driving'. There were "moments", however. I attribute it to "noobs in traffic". You'd be following somebody for a few laps...they'd be doing decent times and we'd just be in "punch out laps" mode...but then we'd encounter traffic and the "formerly decent fast guy" would just wig out and turn into a rolling roadblock. At one point, exiting the Carousel, I was stuck in a pack of cars behind one of those "traffic impaired" drivers, and just as I was raising my right hand in exasperation, the guy in front/next to me did the same thing, and I think the guy behind me did it too...so it wasn't "just me". Message to the "traffic impaired" - you were lucky to escape relatively unscathed from some of those encounters, as you had a bunch of pissed off racers behind you. Please learn to handle traffic. It's an enduro...there is no point in holding up faster cars, and actual benefits from being polite and making room for faster cars. One roadster, in particular, put me 'two in the grass' twice as I caught/passed him, and it was only due to my extraordinary patience and incredible driving skilz that he didn't have a silhouette of my car on the side of his car. Dope.

I was ~100yds. behind Kirk's VW as it exited the Carousel via the outside tire wall....been up on that wall myself, and in a VW too. Oops...glad it stayed right-side up. What many people don't know is that what would be a "hard off & race-ending damage" at most tracks is just a "buff out the scuffs & tape up the bumper cover" at Nelson Ledges.

Thanks to Roland and Steph (Neohio) and Scott and Kerrie (NLRC) and everyone else who put this weekend together. I still love the place.

[slackerjay]

Thanks to all who attended the 24 hour at Nelsonring, and especially to the workers....without you this great event would not be possible. It sounds like the race was a success. Congrats to the winners, great job!!

~Jason Myers
Kumho America Technical Center

[thedemoguy]

I would also like to thank Roland, Steph, Scott and Kerrie Lane for putting this race together...Good job

Although I'm no endurance racer I had the time of my life.... that was a race I'll never forget,... in-spite of the registration people giving half of our crew the wrong wrist bands, then coming over at about 8:00 pm and telling us that they could not be in the hot pit...lol What's up with that...?
I told him the story and that the crew was on the list and were signed in as such which he confirmed with his list...Then he considered letting me pay for the temporary membership that registration seemed to overlook...No problem right..................NOT... it seemed that there were no more temporary memberships available and we would have to pay for a Full SCCA membership for 4 crew members that would only be at the track for 1 day... 4 x $75 =$300....aaa NOT What a shake down

So we had to buy the $75 membership for the one mechanic that we had and work with him, my 16 year old son and a friend of mine that has never been to a race in his life....lol

And we still came in 3rd so there.........

The sad part about the membership shake down is that same friend was thinking about buying my ITC Rabbit and taking a Driving school this fall, now he's very skeptical about the SCCA and there integrate, knowing how much it cost the team to run the race and having something like that happen just blow his mind, hell I couldn't believe it my self...

But, what goes around comes around, no wounder the SCCA has such a hard time maintaining a Strong membership and so many are moving to other organizations...

Just some of the bitter and sweet of the most amazing race I've been in so far.

Bill

[callard]

Okay, it looks like John W. agrees with me. The track was rougher than ever. The rear subframe in my red Benz cracked early on and thanks to Bill Johnson's loan of a welder. we were able to get back on the track. Bill and his crew didn't know me from Adam but went out of their way to help another competitor. Later, the subframe broke in half and Scott Lane himself opened his shop so that we could use his MIG welder at 1:00 AM Sunday morning.
Folks, I've been doing endurance races for 18 years now and it's the spirit of the workers, competitors and crews that makes it fun. Kerrie and Scott deserve more than you imagine for stepping up to bring back the Longest Day! Can't wait for the next one...
Chuck Allard
50 Plus Racing

[CaptJon]

I am really glad to hear that most of the comments about The Longest day have been very positive. When Scott started talking about bringing back this race he was very hesitant about it. He worried that there wouldn't be enough cars entered to make it worthwhile. From my perspective (and not talking to Scott about it) I believe that it was a success. However, like all new events it did have its share of problems. The Chief Steward is already thinking about moving the start time earlier. As for the problem in tech, I asked about that myself. It has something to do with the annual tech not covering ALL the drivers of a car. If you have a suggesntion on how to improve things, please, please, please speak up & let the region know. Not sure what happened with registration but I will ask around.

One comment that has been bothering me since I read it this morning is about a team spilling fuel all over. If one of the pit marshals donesn't see it or doesn't do anything about it, tell a Safety Steward about it. That kind of action is totally unacceptable and is definitly a safety issue. I can't beleive with all the regions that were represented in the large turnout of workers from all over (who I want to thank) that it was a "local" thing.

[Knestis]

>> It has something to do with the annual tech not covering ALL the drivers of a car.

Solution to the tech issue is to treat the drivers and car separately. Present the car's logbook with annual inspection and event page filled out for the car's sticker. Then each driver has his/her gear checked (helmet sticker present?) for his/her driver-spec wristband. There SHOULD be a distinction between crew and drivers' ID, checked as deemed necessary, it seems like.

K

[thedemoguy]

Registration should only have driver and crew wristbands, thats all the people that should be in registration.
spectators should get there wristband at the gate, that way registration can not "mistakingly" give spectator bands to your crew...
It doesn't sound like much, but it was a big problem for our team, they made a mistake and made it our problem, then to add insult to injury, instead of making things right, they tried to charged us full membership price for our crew... How many of you had to pay $75 each for your crew members ?
This was my first endurance race, so is this standard procedure or was there something underhanded going on ? reminds me of some other underhanded people at a different racing series.

[datadude]

Registration only handles the volunteer workers, drivers and crews. If your team had "spectators" coming in on your waiver that is up to you and could be what got you turned around in registration. Best laid plan for anything is be prepared before yoou get to an event.

[racechair]

Bill,
Sorry for what happened at registration. Some of the issues mentioned can be fixed for next year. There was one issue that could not be helped. SCCA has restructured the temporary membership program. Effective Sept 1, temporary memberships will be good for the weekend only and cost $15.00. The old ones that were good for 90 days are no longer available, so once they were gone, they were gone.

[mkahley]

mgyip what car were you with.

[JCTrox]

I want to add my congratulations to the Conover team. Great job! You brought a well prepared car, worked hard to overcome difficulties and ran fast. You did exactly what it takes to win and enduro.

I want to thank all the people involved in putting on the race. Some are getting bashed here, but they are doing a job the best they know how to and I’m betting the people that are bashing them are not willing to do it. I’m sure mistakes were made and I bet they learned from most of them way before someone felt the need to point them out after the event. They best criticism I’ve seen on this site is the ones that provide suggestions to improve, not just complaints or accusations.

I could “what if” our performance all day, but I’ll save that for my team to help us improve. Like I said above, this is an enduro and Conover did what it took to win ITB, we didn’t.

I do want to thank everyone who helped us. We had a mechanical problem during the race and all of our ITB competitors, except one (you know who you are), offered us spare parts. That is one of the things I love about enduros, we all compete against each other, but we also help each other.

Finally, our team. THANKS! There is no way we could have done it without you. As a driver, it is usually our mistake that creates work for you. This time was no different. You guys and girls did everything to keep us on the track even when we couldn’t.

[Hahn63]

Wow, what a race. I never expected the pace to be so fast and stay that way!!

Thank you to all that made it happen, from the workers to the drivers and crews.


Since this was my first attempt at race chair I knew I would make a few mistakes.

Mistakes , yep had a lot of them and yep made notes and it WILL get changed. I'll agree to a noon start.I'll make sure the supps cover the tech issues. Registration will get a large tent so that it won't get a bottle neck again.

Mistakes from officals on pit lane, it happens( we all had very little sleep; drivers and officals alike)I guess a "what if's" review before the race might be helpful to the officals to keep it straight.

The "Longest Day" will continue in '08. So send me your likes and dislikes and we'll put them into the pot , add some gas , mix and see what we get!

Thank you to all again, hope it was enjoyable and look forward to seeing you next year.


Roland

[datadude]

You can download official results and records on the Neohio website

[mgyip]

mgyip what car were you with.[/b]

The black Mercedes - RC Imports

[Piper Motorsport]

We had a decent race. Mid way through our 56 car had an 11 lap lead over the field. One of the fuel barels we purchased from the track (sunoco) was contaminated with water and full of rust. Unfortunatly it clogged our fuel pumps and filters which took a while to diagnose. After falling 32 laps behind we managed to make up 26 laps to finish 3rd overall. Nothing we can do about the fuel incident, what a mess. Great race though!

[Hahn63]

Did the drum come from sunoco that way or did you by a drum from someone and have it filled with fuel?

Roland
( brain now coming back online)

[tdw6974]

[quote]

Since this was my first attempt at race chair I knew I would make a few mistakes.

Roland, It is a real learning experience. I co chair the The "last Chance" weekend at Watkins Glen. I think it would be nice if each driver could co chair an event . THEN MAYBE No further comment. T Weaver Thanks to all those that made it happen and all those that participated Make sure you bring back the coffee wagon with the "Drink till you Drown" special

[Piper Motorsport]

Did the drum come from sunoco that way or did you by a drum from someone and have it filled with fuel?

Roland
( brain now coming back online)
[/b]

It was a new, sealed drum.

[Hahn63]

It was a new, sealed drum.
[/b]

That is aweful. Hope they make an attempt to make it right. I know they can't give you the race back but they should do something for you.

Roland, It is a real learning experience. I co chair the The "last Chance" weekend at Watkins Glen. I think it would be nice if each driver could co chair an event . THEN MAYBE [/b]

Yea, you got it ...some have no clue just like I didn't.