Go ahead Brag

[thedemoguy]

Go ahead Brag about your self, what did you do this year or what happened that you would like to shamelessly brag about.

There has to be some good story's to tell, some crazy or amazing thing's that happened during the 07 season...

I'll save my story about my first season racing ITB in the SCCA for later...lol
But I can tell you this it was a trip, from the double school at Nelson in the spring to the last race..........
I love this shit...

[keycom]

Got my license! At age 56!!! Dreamed of this for over 40 years now.

That's pretty amazing to me. :026:

Three races and haven't hit anyone! Now that's amazing.

My proudest moment though was finishing a seventeen lap race without being lapped by Chris Albin!

Not bad for my first year.

Now on to loftier goals.

[Knestis]

My car and the Conover Motor Sports team had a better year than I did, personally...

1st ITB at the ARRC for Bowie Gray

1st ITB at the VIR 13 hours - Phil Phillips, Greg Amy, Matt Brown

1st ITB at the Longest Day 24 - at least I actually got to drive for that one!

1st overall at the NASA VIR 3 hours - that was sweeeet. :026:

But it's still hard to complain about all that, I guess...

K

[Gary L]

It had to be the April 14/15 Regional and IT Tour events at Hallett:

- Beat all IT cars in both races

- Turned the fastest IT lap for the entire weekend

- Took out Chris Albin's Hallett ITB lap record in the process

For the record, 2 ITE cars - both 944 Turbo's - were not included as part of the above brag.

And no... it was not raining.

[thedemoguy]

Ok, before I leave and to keep you all from the unnecessary suspense and inevitable anxiety that you would undoubtedly suffer from not knowing how my first year racing in the SCCA turned out.

The story is so amazing that it needs a title...

First let me introduce myself, My name is Bill Johnson I live in northeast Ohio, I'm a Demolition Contractor by trade and Wrecking shit is my game,...that's what I do...thedemoguy, doctor of destruction,...the master of disaster,...I just love to tear shit up and I do it very well...

So enough of my humble introduction...

Demo Bill's first year racing SCCA...

I have a friend by the name of Csaba Bujdoso, we race karts together with our boys, it's great fun.
One day Csaba asked me if I would like to come to Nelson and give him a hand, he was racing in the ITB class with a VW Jetta that he built, of course I said yes, well Csaba kicked everyone's ass that weekend, it was GREAT...

So I bought the car...lol it's a 1987 VW Jetta and it's one of the most well developed cars you would find, it has won championships and held the track record at nelson for a time, in the hands of Csaba.
enough about Csaba, this story is about me...

Now I have a proven fast car, it's time to take a school to get my SCCA license, Nelson double school...
The school consisted of 2 things really, 20 minutes on track and 20 minutes of Csaba who was my instructor telling me how I SUCKED,... I can still hear it in my head,...YOU SUCK, YOU SUCK, YOU SUCK, YOU SUCK,...please make it stop...

Any way, I got the hang of it and did very well, we had a race at the end of the school and I lapped most all the field and was only about 1 second off the track record, and this was in the school...IT WAS GREAT !!!

My first race, I lapped most of the field and WON, My first race...IT WAS GREAT !!!
the next day some hot shot from Columbus just wouldn't get out of my way,... finally got past him but he got me back at the end and I was the first driver to lose that race, 2nd,... 1/2 second off track record

I won a couple more races and then it happened, I wish I could say it was this or that, or even someone else but it was me I did it all my fault, I was in the lead by oh, most of a lap and my engine started to get hot, not to hot but hotter then I had seen, so I backed it off to 5500 rpm's, now it was stable,...I came around turn 13 and the nice guy in the tower showed me the 1 lap to go,...cool,...then Csaba told me the second place ITB was coming around turn 13 and coming fast... son of a bitch...I said to myself, and I kicked that thing in the ass, that little Jetta took off like a scalded monkey WaaHooo,...
I love this little bastard...and off I went around turn 1 good, down to turn 2 hear we go,...now my favorite turn 3 hammer down... Drag race to the carousel, hold it hold it,..I SMELL ANTIFREEZE SHIT ! now my temp is in the red, double damn dog nuts, rotten little piece of shit, this car sucks...
Coming out of the carousel that little piece of shit started to run like shit and that ------ ------ was coming on fast, held him off to turn 13 and he was right next to me, then it happened the little piece of junk stopped running,...%$@#!&^%$$# So I whipped it in to the pit lane and I was the first driver to lose that race as well...

Now that little piece of junk that my BUDDY Csaba sold me was all F-ed up, But Csaba can fix it...
took the head off and well it was bad, really bad, but the guy said he could fix it, 2 months later we had the head back, missed some big races but it was just my first year so oh well.

Got the car all back together and off to the races,...went out and qualified ok, need to do some tuning,... went out for the race and the start was ok but something wasn't right 3 or 4 hard laps and the car started to smoke white smoke,...what the F--- back to the pits cant find anything and its running fine now maybe just some water in the head or something like that.
The next day, the same thing,...runs good for about 3 or 4 laps then white smoke...now I know what the problem is,...I think,...took the head off,...there was a small hair line crack that would only open when it got hot and let water in to the #3 cylinder,...got new head.

Now I'm back in business, went to BeaveRun, I like that track it's a lot of fun, I won both races there...
So for my first year I think I won 5 races and 3 seconds and 2 or 3 3rd's something like that.
I came in 3rd in the,...
Kryderacing Regional Championship Series
And some how 1st in the,...
NEOhio Regional Championship Series.

Well that's it, Demo Bill's first year racing SCCA...

Oh we came in 3rd at the 24 of Nelson, my first enduro's

[shwah]

Spring - completed new AMT Racing Engines / Mathis Racing motor

June - 1st race at Road America
Sat - qualifeid pole, spun and backed into wall drivers left just before the carosel, recovered, raced close with Tom Daly and won.
Sun - qualified pole .5s faster than lap record. Bad start, lost a plug wire on lap 1 turn 3, limped around the rest of the 4 mile lap, fixed, lapped under full course yellow until last 5 laps, recovered 17 positions on track to finish 2nd - 2sec behind Tom.

July - Blackhawk Farms
Sat - pole and win
Sun - pole and win, .1sec off lap record

August - Road America
Sat - stayed home to fix storm damage, and wait for electricity
Sun - qualified 3rd, and had a fantastic close race with Tom for 2nd - oily clutch all day. Aaron Stehly now has his Golf 3 working very well, and runs away from Tom and I. All three of us are under the previous record, but Aaron is 2.5 seconds under! We are all three now separated by 3 pts.

September - Milwaulkee Mile
cancelled Friday night upon arrival
This means that the order that Tom, Aaron and I finish at the last event will be the order we finish in our championship. I can't tell you how much more enjoyment you get out of races that are this close and mean something. We are all having a blast (other than the cancelled race part) in CenDiv ITB at this point.

October - Blackhawk Farms
single race, double points
qualified pole, flatspotted fronts in corner one trying to place a miata between Aaron and me (did get by the Miata, but man do square tires shake a lot!). Clicked off some good laps, made a mental error at T6 and really overdid the apex curb. Two laps later the front of the muffler comes loose and starts dragging on the ground, but the muffler remains trapped by a frame cross member, just drags along. Remainder of race, I keep it on smooth track and short shift at sound control every time. Win race, win championship, set lap record (top three finishers under previous record).

6 races - 5 poles - 4 wins - 2 seconds

Is it 2008 yet?
Aaron will definitely have a faster car next year, so we are looking all over the garage this winter for some overlooked speed. Also Bill and Bob made it out at the last event with their new Sciroccos, and both seem to be very fast as A1 cars go. I don't expect Tom to be satisfied with a 3rd place season. Will the fast Fiero be back next year? Can Todd break his bad luck streak that lasted a full year in the BMW? How fast will Mike be in his new car after running under the previous lap record at the last race (his first in that car)?

Now if I can just dig up some racing funds for next year....

[RacerBill]

Dave: Beat ya' Got my schools signed off at 57! Been involved with motorsports since '66.

We'll forget about 2005 and 2006 which were spent fighting mechanical gremlins (trying to breathe life in a 23 year old car!).

But 2007 was a banner year (relatively speaking).

June - Restricted regional at Mid-Ohio, finished higher than I started!

August - IT Fest - finished higher than I started again, and did not get run over by all the ARRC champs, and faster than June. Also started playing around with front alignments and managed to pretty well use up two of my first set of racing tires. Oh, well, they only cost me a net $25, so I guess they didn't owe me anything. The big thing was that I have progressed to the point where when the camber in the left front went from 1/2 negative to about 1.5 positive, I could actually feel the handling go away!

September - Mid-Oh. First rain weekend. No rain tires! Well, I had two tires that had some tread, so I put them on the front, Hankook slicks on the back. No raining but wet track so half a lap into the out lap in practice/qualifying and the back was sliding 20-30 degrees each way with each corner. It was obvious that this was going to get worse before it got better so I canned the session and went back to the paddock to make burnt offerings to the rain gods. Must have worked cause the sun came out at lunch time and we had about the only dry race of the day. Again, finished higher up than I started and faster than August with only about 10 laps on the new (to me) tires.

Sunday was steady rain all the day, so we joined the rest of the field who did not feel like doing body work all winter and backed it in. It rained all the way home!

Bottom line for the year, got a lot of seat time, no dnf's, learning the car, found out the car is not as bad as I thought, and got some good pointers of getting faster next year.

SCCA sent me a Christmas present early - moved the car down from ITA to ITB! A well prepared Charger/Omni can run at the pointy end so now I guess a HAVE to get the go-fast stuff (hard to justify to the team financial officer when the car is just barely moving).

But 2008 looks like its going to be a blast!!!!!!

Merry Christmas to all!!!!!

[Campbell]

2007 was a big year for change for lots of reasons.. but my highlight without a doubt was doing the Nelson 24hr race with Csaba Bujdoso, Bill Johnson (yes the demo-man, he is completely different in person than his written word!!) and our last minute addition: Brad Barnhouse.

We were all enduro rookies. Csaba put together an incredible car (92 Golf GTI) that ran 24hrs with the only mechanical failure being a head light switch!! unfortunately we had horrible gas cans.. another story. We did finish 3rd in class which none of us for a moment thought we would accomplish!! it was simply a terrific experience.

The longest I had ever driven was maybe 40 minutes. The idea of a 2 hr stint was intimidating!! but in actually doing it (3 times during the race), it still felt like a normal sprint race. The highlight for me will forever be leaving the pit lane with a full tank of gas at 2:00am, driving at speed under the moonlight and in and out of a fog that had settled over certain sections of the track. It was truly surreal and beautiful. 2 hrs and 20 minutes later when I pulled in, I was totally exhausted. I slept hard for a full 2 hrs and then was ready to go!! ha. That was the only sleep I had for the entire event.

By the end of the event I had some great new friends and an experience that created a special bond with Csaba, Bill and Brad that we will always have.

I can't wait for 2008 to start!!

[zracre]

Got my start in Grand Am Koni, almost won Homestead, did well at Laguna and played around with club racing some.

[Greg Amy]

I got my ass handed to me by the ARRC-winning champion Joe Moser -- multiple times!



Actually, the "dastardly subterfuge" Memorial Day weekend was pretty fun, as was beating up on Big Bore cars in the rain at LRP; and of course working with Team Conover for another successful enduro season in various roles was satisfying.

It was also a pleasure having Joe DiMinno and Jeff Lawton racking up wins for the team this year, and of course the ARRC and IT Fest was as great as expected...

But, dude, I got beat by the ARRC-winning car!!!



Details at http://www.kakashiracing.com/2007.html

[Rabbit07]

Started the year out by helping my buddy Toby Grahovec in Grand Am, which was cool. He and Kleinubing should be the ones to watch this year in ST. Then on to the 12 Hr weekend where I helped out some other friends, Stan Wilson and Hal Brown with their W/C Touring Car effort. Worked with Stan and Hal through most of the season even after having the cars and transporter ect. stolen!!!!

Developed the ITA Neon some more with some decent results. Cleaned house at Waterford in ITA, but without the Mosers and Beyersdorf there anymore that isn't so hard. Fandozzi and I had some good races at Waterford which makes it all worth it. I think I even went faster than Ruck on Sat at the IT-fest :P Went to the ARRC and blew up the new motor in the Pro IT race! (Crap!!!) Never made it to Grattan which was odd for me, but there is always next year?

Now getting ready to head to Sebring for the National in Jan. 2008 should bring good things.

Everyone, have a wondeful and safe holiday season.

[JamesB]

my season bragging.

Well the car starts, goes into gear and drives. I still walk on two legs, have not lost too much more of my hearing. Most of all, I had a BLAST racing this year.

[thedemoguy]

(yes the demo-man, he is completely different in person than his written word!!)[/b]

Bill, your going to mess up my abrasive image,... but thank you, it is amazing how you do create a bond I guess it is with people after a race like the 24, it was one of the most amazing things I've ever ben a part of and still to this day the screen background on my pc is a pic of you Csaba, Brad and my son Jeremiah and Csaba's son Robby...
I think of you guys often and consider all of you to be very good friends, although I've only meet you and Brad 2 or 3 times I still think of you both as good friends.
Only in racing can you develop a bond like that, different then just a friendship.

This is it.
[attachmentid=1256]
From left to right my son Jeremiah, Brad, The good looking guy with blond hair is me, Csaba and Constantin our ace broken car fixer, Robby Csaba's son and in the back right is Bill.

One more, keep an eye out for the kid in the middle, he'll be taking his SCCA school in the spring, and that punk's fast...
[attachmentid=1257]

[ITS5GB]

I sold 2 cars (rather quickly I might add), neither of which my wife thinks I should have had, or at least should have been using ( I'm a General Contractor in the Metro Detroit area, business is sooooo good! LOL). Bought a new car without selling the other 2 first and without telling my wife until after it happened . I have to brag that I was able to run the entire season at Waterford Hills and go to the ARRC to watch and help our local boys do well. Oh yes, and stay married!!!

[dave parker]

I will throw in.
Finally won a MARRS race in April (the other guy broke). Thanks Evan Webb (you should come back to H Prod).
Won a second MARRS race in June (both other guys were still running).
Finished second in the August MARRS race (got to watch one of my best buds, Gary Callihan, get his first MARRS win).
Finished third in the Sunday Labor Day double race after a hammer and tong ten lap battle with Al Seim (Al is a true gentleman racer that raced me hard but fair). Broke on lap 7 of Mondays race <_< .
Finished second at the late September race to Frank Jones (who struggled all season with a car that would not finish a race).
I watched my wife race the most races she has ever run in a year (six, including her first Labor Day Double) and drop ten seconds off of her lap time over the course of the season.
I remembered that this is "hobby" racing that is all for fun.

I spent a year watching my little girl grow up (into a four year old).
I realized that its not what you do, or how much you make or spend, its how much you challenged and enjoyed yourself that is REALLY important.

Not really that much to brag about, all in all.

cheers
dave parker
wdcr HP #97

[spnkzss]

Raced a full season in WDCR except Nelson. First trip to VIR finshied second both races. Mulitiple podiums (2nd and 3rd) this year, finished second in points to Beth with the championship not being 100% determined until the final race.

Most importantly my wife gave birth to our first child, Emma, in July.

Last but not least, began building new ITA car for &#39;08 season. and yes, I&#39;m still married to a wonderful women who is supporting all of this :P

[BRAD BARNHOUSE]

It will be hard for me to top last year as far as excitement. Had a great time doing the MARRS again. Managed to get third in ITA points. It went down to the last race between myself and Bryan Pritt for that position. Bryan showed great sportsmanship when things just didn&#39;t go his way. Did all of the races except for VIR. In addition as mentioned in an earlier post I got a call from Csaba on the friday before the Longest Day to come to the track with my suit and helmet in case I was needed. I think it was a set up because I was the second driver in the car. It was cool to hear Csaba come on the radio in the morning and say "turn the headlights off". I had the fastest lap in the car until the last stint. Thats when Csaba rolled out a brand new set of Hoosiers for himself. I hope I get to do another enduro someday. I even had excitement at the shop fixing wrecked race cars. Four not counting my own(sorry Gregg). To all my MARRS friends, and my new enduro buddies, as well as my customers thanks for a great year.
Brad

[shwah]

2007 was a big year for change for lots of reasons.. but my highlight without a doubt was doing the Nelson 24hr race with Csaba Bujdoso, Bill Johnson (yes the demo-man, he is completely different in person than his written word!!) and our last minute addition: Brad Barnhouse.

We were all enduro rookies. Csaba put together an incredible car (92 Golf GTI) that ran 24hrs with the only mechanical failure being a head light switch!! unfortunately we had horrible gas cans.. another story. We did finish 3rd in class which none of us for a moment thought we would accomplish!! it was simply a terrific experience.

The longest I had ever driven was maybe 40 minutes. The idea of a 2 hr stint was intimidating!! but in actually doing it (3 times during the race), it still felt like a normal sprint race. The highlight for me will forever be leaving the pit lane with a full tank of gas at 2:00am, driving at speed under the moonlight and in and out of a fog that had settled over certain sections of the track. It was truly surreal and beautiful. 2 hrs and 20 minutes later when I pulled in, I was totally exhausted. I slept hard for a full 2 hrs and then was ready to go!! ha. That was the only sleep I had for the entire event.

By the end of the event I had some great new friends and an experience that created a special bond with Csaba, Bill and Brad that we will always have.

I can&#39;t wait for 2008 to start!!
[/b]

I wish I would have been able to join you Bill. Sounds like it was a BLAST!

[ccearlock]

Okay, since you asked.... I set the ITC track record at Laguna Seca, eclipsing the one that was set by Barry Hartzel back in 1996. Earlier in the season I missed the ITC record at Thunderhill Raceway by one one hundredth of a second.

[attachmentid=1258]

[steve b]

I passed the spring and fall schools at Summit Point and will start my racing career next season, running in the MARRS in ITA.