Opening Day Results?

[TimM ITB]

So, who can enlighten us as to the results from the IT world at NHIS? What a PERFECT day for a race! I went to the The 16V site and it looks like Ed Tisdale in ITS? or was that ITR? Beran Peter or Tom Kelly in ITB? Greg Amy in ITA?? Whatever you know, please post!

Thanks,

Tim M

[RSTPerformance]

ITA:

Greg Amy took a flag to flag victory, but not without Brandon Bogart from BB Racing on his tail for most of the race. Andy stated well back in the field and was on a mission to get to the front. He appeared to be faster than Greg, and found himself in second after Brandon fell out of the race. The best race was for third between Jeff Lawton and crazy Joe Diminno. Joe beat out Lawton with a few less parts than he started the race with and a bit louder... lol

EDIT: Looks like from reading the posts further down that Jeff did get ahead of the crazy loud Joe on the last half of the last lap... Sorry I missed that Jeff!!! It's great to see the race come down to the last lap... well its good if you are the one advancing!!! lol Thanks to both for a great show, it was the best of the weekend from what I saw.

A quick observation on the ITA field was that it had 7 different model cars in the first 7 spots for most of the race!!!

ITB:

Beran Peter ran blisteringly fast in that Yellow A3 Golf that is now his!!! He is among a few select people that have beaten Scott Carlson in the last 5 years... Great Job, not only in driving the car, but also to Tom Kelly and Beran Peter for building a VERY VERY fast car that has been vertualy undefeated since it has been fully built. Scott Carlson is Back and finished a healthy second after qualifying 3rd. Shawn Fohs is also back and finished third after qualifying 2nd in ITB.

No Hondas??? but 4 Volvo's!!! Yikes!!! Congrats to Jarod in the newly built Audi for getting signed of at the school

ITC:

The great Actor, Fred White took the win over a newbe in Brian Megliola's car... I don't recal his name

No Eric Perham???

ITS:

One of the Autotechnic BMW's took off while the other was in a great battle for the second overall position between ITR winner Ed Tisdale and ITS 2nd place finisher David Maynard. In the end one of the Autotechnic cars was gone, not sure what happened to him. and sorry for not posting names, I never know who's driving which car


ITR:

Ed Tisdale had a strong and fun race with the front running ITS cars, and took the ITR win, but not the overall win. Gregory Deems was the only other ITR car and finished mid pack in his first race with the car in ITR.

Was Ed running in ITS spec, or ITR spec?



Thanks to everyone for a great weekend. No major incidents occured and I think the only car we "lost" was Nat Wentworths old Saab. A student gently rolled the car in turn 10 in his second session Saturday. I talked with the new car owner and they plan on buildig another Saab for ITB!!!


Raymond

[JLawton]

The best race was for third between Jeff Lawton and crazy Joe Diminno. Joe beat out Lawton with a few less parts than he started the race with and a bit louder... lol

[/b]

Um, you got part of that right.............

[dickita15]

Ed Tisdale had a strong and fun race with the front running ITS cars, and took the ITR win, but not the overall win. Gregory Deems was the only other ITR car and finished mid pack in his first race with the car in ITR.
[/b]

Good report Raymond but there was a 3rd ITR car a few cars behind Greg. I don't remember the name but it was a grey BMW that got signed of Saturday.

[BobsAuto]

I'm bummed I didn't get up to see the races, but Raymond's report and the reports I got as I sat at Dunkin'Donuts make it sound like it was a heck of a day. I had the chance to earn a living (my small landscaping company--me) and I went for it. I have since found the muscles that went south for the winter and am REALLY sorry I didn't go up an spectate at least one of the two days of the weekend. (Any massage therapists out there for CHEAP?)

Sounds like a great weekend was had by all and from the faces I saw at DD's it was a fun one as well. BTW, the gals that work DD's at the time the races let out are the best. (I happen to know several of them and they actually know how to make a coffee right and smile as well. Next time you are in ask for Sonya and tell her I sent you.)

Take care and see you at the next event.

[Greg Amy]

I don't have anything significant to add to Raymond's report, other than to emphasize his points in ITA.

- This was not a walk-away win by any means. The top 5 cars or so were within a new tenths of each other, and this after a very high-traffic qualifying session.

- Andy had unfortunate difficulties with a shifter during qualifying, causing him to drop out on the first flying lap and start from the back. Joe, Jeff, and Brandon started *right there*

- I slipped past Mark Megliola's FP car through the oval; he got his tires heated up and passed me into T3 on lap 2.

- Brandon made a demon start, and tucked up right behind me. Each time we went into the braking for T3 he'd catch up and we'd drag-race up to T6.

- The full-course yellow was for Joe dropping exhaust parts at the apex of T3 (which I *almost* tagged passing a lapped car) and the pace car came out. I accurately assumed it was to control the field so a worker could retrieve the part in T3, and I also assumed we would not stay under its control for a full lap. At that point Brandon began to fade and slid backwards, allowing Mark and I to pull out a loooong lead before we got the green at S/F next time by.

- From that point forward I put it in cruise mode and just managed the spacing; I had almost the full straight to the next ITA car.

Imagine my surprise when I took the checkered flag, looked back, and saw what I *thought* was a blue ITA Miata, headlights a-blazing, just a half a straight back! I could not *believe* that Bettencourt had pulled it out and picked off almost every car to finish second from DEAD LAST!! I think we were as excited about that second place as he was!

I heard the Joe/Jeff battle was epic; I also hope the video comes out.

Official results were not available by the time we left; there were apparently some RFAs in process for PUYs. I heard that I was a tenth off my track record, Brandon's best time was thousandths of a second off mine, and Andy was within a tenth.

The ITA battle in the northeast is heating up, boys, and that mosquito is the car to watch this year... - GA

[JLawton]

That was a wild weekend……….

I was very surprised to see I had qualified third, only about 5/100ths behind Joe and only 7/10ths (about) behind Greg. We also didn’t think Andy had a chance in hell in catching us from the back of the grid. Just too much traffic.

On the start, Brandon got a screaming start and got by both Joe and I before turn 1 and we went into turn three in order of Greg, Brandon, Joe and myself. Greg and Brandon opened up a small gap between Joe and I and we opened up a good gap between Jeff Branscom and Tim K. After about two laps of Joe and I working together trying to catch Brandon and Greg, I realized that wasn’t going to happen. I also decided Joe was holding me up and spent the next 14 laps waling on him to try and get buy!! Of course, we had a little intermission when Bettencourt comes cruising by us, giving me a “little” love tap as he did……. <_<

On the last lap, I was able to get a good run on Joe up out of three. Got inside him into 6, but had to down shifted into second . Joe tried the inside-out move but I stayed in the middle of the track blocking him from going inside, went to shift into third and missed!! Joe blasted me in the bumper and was able to get around me and get his nose up to my rear quarter but couldn’t make it stick. With all the side by side driving we did, the only time we touched was when I missed the shift! With Brando dropping out I ended up third. Not bad considering the size and caliber of the field!!

But the best part of the whole race (from what I heard) was how clean it was!! Not our typical ITA race. Maybe it was because a certain driver <Richie>, who shall remain nameless <Richie> wasn’t there!!

Also, a fantastic job by the three rookies who ran in the race. All of them did outstanding in the school, got signed off and had their first race with a 27 car ITA field!!!

The only problem I had all weekend was with the 914 Prod car. He shouldn’t have been out there…………..

Great job by Andy and Brandon. Both were only a few tenths off the track record. Looks like the Amy era may be coming to an end…………

And thanks to Joe, for not taking out me or the rest of the field!!

[hunter164]

The ITA race was definitely a fun one to watch from the stands. It was great to see the #16 run consistant laps so close to the track record without any real testing. Made all the hours over the winter worthwhile. We will have it back and running for the next race, no worries there. Too bad it wouldnt hold out for another couple laps! Congrats to all that ran well this weekend.

I definitely had a lot of fun out there running with the ITS boys and seeing how much more I have to get out of my car to make it to the front. I&#39;ll get there though! I was a little too excited during qualifying but was all settled down and had great time chasing everyone come race time! A couple more ITR cars to chase around wouldn&#39;t hurt.

[dpc]

That little black nat(small black bug) is going to be in your ears., Andy you were impressive from where I was standing..... dave

[JLawton]

I definitely had a lot of fun out there running with the ITS boys and seeing how much more I have to get out of my car to make it to the front. I&#39;ll get there though! I was a little too excited during qualifying but was all settled down and had great time chasing everyone come race time! A couple more ITR cars to chase around wouldn&#39;t hurt.
[/b]

Greg,
You had a hell of a weekend, nice job!! No doubt you have the talent and with a little more seat time, I&#39;m sure will be a force. (plus, the car sounds really cool!!)

[Greg Amy]

http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=200251

[dickita15]

Wow, I thought the ITS field was pretty good but both Greg and Brandon put in faster race laps. Sorry Andy your best lap missed by 0.001 seconds. <_<

[Andy Bettencourt]

Wow, I thought the ITS field was pretty good but both Greg and Brandon put in faster race laps. Sorry Andy your best lap missed by 0.001 seconds. <_< [/b]

I wonder why the ITS qual times were 1-2 seconds faster than their race laps while ITA stayed right on for the most part.

[Andy Bettencourt]

Crazy weekend for the 09 car. Test day was shortened ironing out some prep issues and the discovery of a mystery oil leak ended the day. Luckily we had the 2 days until the race while the school was on.

With the help of Lester from Apex Automotive (who was IN the school), the upper cam seals and the lower crank seal got replaced. The technique he showed us for a speedy install was used later the next day on another car...

So I topped off the oil (remember that) and we went out to qualify. First flying lap the shift lever came loose. The factory delrin locating bushing at the base of the ball had cracked due to insufficient torque on the locating bolts. Couldn&#39;t find any gear...qualfied last with my warm up lap as the only time I had posted.

Reset expectations...with Greg, Joe, Jeff and Brandon all running solid times, my new goal was to somehow set fast lap as I got through traffic and to finish 5th or better. I got 10 spots in the first lap and was the recipient of some nice luck and some great racing slowing guys down (thanks Joe and Jeff!). Car was smoking something fierce in right hand turns - especially under braking. Another crew guy had &#39;topped off&#39; the oil so I was running an extra quart...thanks to the corner workers for recognizing I wasn&#39;t dropping anything on course and letting me continue.

FCY came out and I saw a shot, but as Greg said, someone didn&#39;t keep up so they got away...Brandon&#39;s car went flat and I got by him...and then there was one. I knew Greg had to have been running conservative as I wouldn&#39;t have gotten to him but just under 4 seconds seperated us at the stripe. A great result for me - there were times during the weekend I thought we were done.

Now off to take my beating at Pocono before we get to Lime Rock!

[jpvonoy]

Also, a fantastic job by the three rookies who ran in the race. All of them did outstanding in the school, got signed off and had their first race with a 27 car ITA field!!!
[/b]

Thanks Jeff, I had a blast out there, I can&#39;t wait to do it again! The only close call I had was with Rob B. in the Z3. I didn&#39;t realize he was going to make his way off the track, and went by him on the right as he was turning into me. I don&#39;t know if that was my fault, sorry Rob, at least I went off the track a bit and didn&#39;t make contact.

I just want to say that everyone I met or dealt with over the weekend was very nice, helpful, and really gave us a great first impression.

Jeremy

[almracing]

I have to say I was quite surprised when I saw Andy&#39;s Miata up thru the field so quickly. Needless to say I made sure he had a hole to fly thru.

My race was not the best performance of the car&#39;s potential... with a loss of power and vibration i dropped into the pit lane when the double yellow was thrown. After a quick check, I tried to head back out but the car would not fire.

Finally, I could not have raced this weekend without the help of fellow IT racers!! I spent the spring rebuilding the car and overlooked my helmet date. At the annual tech my helmet was found to be out of date. DOH!!

Thanks to Brian Mushnik who happened to drive up and let me borrow his helmet. And a thanks to Fred White for letting me borrow his helmet too. I needed to use Fred&#39;s since he has the Hans clips. It says alot when people will lend gear without any hesitation!!

Now back to troubleshooting the loss of power....

[dazzlesa]

for comparison, in 99 the winner ran 1:18. it was my first race and i ran a 1:28 the last car running.

[Doc Bro]

Jeremy,

No sweat bud, I was stuck in 5th gear after a broken shifter linkage pin. I had no power to get out of the way up the hill. I was a sitting duck, but when you guys came up on me 2 guys went track left and you went track right. I tried to get out of the way of the masses, but 3 wide is tough there. No harm we all got out unscathed. I was sorry to be out and sorry to see you w/ 2 wheels off.

On a side note thanks to Andy, Nick Leverone, Greg, Dave and Dan Maynard and Crazy Joe for helping me with my suspension and shock set-up. Thanks to the folks who expressed concern for the mechanical. We qualified 19th and was sitting in 9th after 6 laps. I was pleased with the handling of the car after their expert advice. Car&#39;s fixed...see you at Pocono.

PS....G.D. 39 cent parts!!!!



R

[dominojd]

I just want to say that everyone I met or dealt with over the weekend was very nice, helpful, and really gave us a great first impression.

Jeremy
[/b]

So ya coming to Pocono in 3 weeks?


I don&#39;t have any long stories about this weekend Jeff, Greg, and Andy pretyy much summed it up.

All I have to say is Holy Crap I ran a 1:16.6xx and were in the hell did that Mosquito come from. Freakin awsome job Andy that was impressive. You have Greg Shakin in his shoes.

[Andy Bettencourt]

No more cars with HP at Pocono!!!!!

:P