RA June 16-17

[rabbidmk1]

We got the double at Road America scheduled as our first race! I was just currious to see who is going.

[shwah]

We plan to be there.

[michael baumet]

I plan to be there provided I can get everything ready in time.

[shwah]

Also - newcomer Bob will be there with his white Scirocco 2 in ITB.

[planet6racing]

That's the weekend before the Sprints. Expect to see a lot of National level people there, tuning up for the next weekend.

Unfortunately, I won't be there driving. Just coming back from vacation the weekend before. Plus, the girlfriend is still trying to convince me to do the F1 race at Indy that weekend... :P

[shwah]

That's the weekend before the Sprints.
[/b]

Tell me about it. I had a hard time convincing the wife that we needed to head up there two weekends in a row. She enjoys going racing, but with a 4 month old and 2.5 year old in tow it has become a whole lot more work for her than me when we take the whole famn damily.

sooo - I will be heading up by myself for the Sprints. Talk at the runoffs sounded like GP would be fun, Mathis, Ken B., Woody and Prather all sounded like they might show up. I know Mathis will be there

[R2 Racing]

My Dad&#39;s going to be there, possibly in my ITA Integra. I&#39;m not completely sold on that idea yet though. <_<

Plus, the girlfriend is still trying to convince me to do the F1 race at Indy that weekend... :P[/b]

That&#39;s where I&#39;ll be.

[rabbidmk1]

Cool guys! All I need now is a little seat time before the event to shake down the car... Is it possible to get the cars first tech ever done at the track or should I find someone local?

Aaron

[shwah]

I would get the log book local. Just in case the tech inspector wants something changed...

[R2 Racing]

My Dad&#39;s going to be there, possibly in my ITA Integra. I&#39;m not completely sold on that idea yet though. <_< [/b]

Yup, it was there, and I&#39;m happy to report that it&#39;s not only still in one piece but it also won ITA both days!

My track record&#39;s still safe though.

[shwah]

I stopped by and said hi to your dad. Congrats on the two wins.

It was a rough weekend on the ITB field. One car toasted a trans on Saturday morning and was done. One hit the wall in Saturday&#39;s race, two came together on Sunday&#39;s race resulting in the full course yellow. So 4 of the 9 ITB cars were not racing by end of Sunday, with another stuck in 3rd gear (tough break Aaron..)

My weekend was a mixed bag, but overall positive. It was my first time at the track, and the first event with the new motor, so there were some butterflies.

The good:
Saturday qualified ITB pole 2:55.1xx
Saturday won the race, best lap 2:54.9xx (also see bad notes below)
Sunday qualified ITB pole 2:52.8xx (magic conditions in this session - not hot, not humid, sunny)
Sunday made a strong charge through the pack to finish 2nd (see bad notes)

The bad:
Saturday race, backed into the wall driver left before the carolsel - dropped a wheel off exiting 8 and didn&#39;t save it. Gave up a comfortable lead, but ended up have a blast racing with Tom for the lead the rest of the way. Damaged the rear bumper only - lucky.
Sunday race, apparently missed the start (and/or the guy in front of me did) because when I went the cars 2 rows behind me were next to me. Got two bumps from the cars squeezing through on the front straight without ever changing course, but in the end everyone kept it together as we went 25 wide into T1 (slight exageration)
Sunday race, had contact with ITA neon lap 1, T3 - didn&#39;t realize he had TWO cars on the opposite side, and thought I was leaving enough (but not extra) room. We leaned on each other enough to be frustrated but continued unscathed. I should have been more aware of the situation.
Sunday race, exiting that very same T3 started racing on 3 cylinders - limped around (as course when full yellow) found a loose plug wire (now that is self inflicted pain!) - ran hard to catch the field before green and did my best to catch back up. Ended up 2nd, 3s behind the winner.
Sunday race, approaching T5, as I worked my way back through took my normal (normal is relative - this was my 4th session on the track) left edge of the track line just before the slight left bend that goes into 5 without properly checking my mirrors and got in the way of the same neon. Again - I needed to be more aware here. Luckily I don&#39;t think I got in his way any more, as I continued to move up the field.

It was an exciting weekend. A real shame for a few good guys in ITB that have plenty of work ahead to get back on track, and some good lessons and debug for me on the car and new motor. I guess I will call it a successful weekend, but am really frustrated that such a simple preparation mistake probably cost me a win on Sunday.

[BlueStreak]

Sounds like a race weekend

Did you shoot any video?

Sounds to me like you had a successful weekend.

After my first wreck, I revised my definition of a good weekend to be "the car got onto the trailer under its own power"

[shwah]

I totally forgot to include some very important thanks related to this race weekend.

Thanks to Gary at 247-Parts.com for helping us step up to a higher level of prep.
Thanks to Chuck Mathis for building and AMT Racing Engines for machining a great motor.
Thanks to Tim Garner for crewing all weekend and finding the loose plug wire in Sunday&#39;s race.
Thanks to my Dad for driving 8 hours to join us and bringing a camper to sleep in.
Thanks to VFC Engineering for staying up late to help cornerbalance and align the car on Thursday night.
Thanks to Genesis Racing Development for squeezing me onto your dyno Friday morning.
Thanks to my wife Brandy for letting me put so much effort into the car this year!

And of course thanks to Milwaulkee region for running a very well organized, fun racing event. We had a complete blast when we were not commiserating with fellow competitors that bent their cars.

[michael baumet]

As a bent fellow competitor I had a great time right up until my thoughtless off track excursion which cost me more than just a good race. (that was the most expensive 2 laps I have ever run!) I am really enjoying getting to know my fellow competitors on a personal level and I feel there is a great deal of respect and camaraderie beween us.