Nelson Ledges 24 Hour Race; 2008

[type r rocket]

So are they ding this thing this weekend or not....Bueller,Bueller...anyone?

[datadude]

Yes, the race is on for this weekend.

[Bill Miller]

Updates???

[xr4racer]

From my gameboy/icard:

1. #23 ITE Miata 996 laps
2. #97 ITS Miata 969
3. #09 ITE MX-5 982
4. #06 ITS Miata 969
5. #83 SM Miata 935
6. #12 SM Miata 931
7. #28 ITB Golf 881
8. #04 ITA Miata 877
9. #72 ITA Miata 856
10. #56 ITE BMW 848
11. #51 ITS 240Z 832
12. #32 SSc Neon 817
13. #07 ITB Rabbit 796
14. #21 SM Miata 707
15. #00 ITE MX-5 654
16. #13 ITB BMW 585
17. #64 ITE Honda 407
18. #30 ITB BMW 372
19. #17 ITB Honda 280


Piper #56 BMW Grand Am Cup car was well in the overall lead before crashing at Oak Tree around 8am. #00 Car and Driver MX-5 rolled at around 10pm and again in the morning. #51 ITS Datsun 240Z lost a stub axle in the LR wwhile running very well. #13 BMW changed an engine this morning. #12 SM had a RF camber eccentric bolt shear off and hit the wall at Oak Tree with about a 12 lap lead in SM during the night. This is all I can remember. Hopefully the car makes are correct. Ther may have been as many as 5 or 6 rollovers.

matt

[cjb25hs]

From my gameboy/icard:


#00 Car and Driver MX-5 rolled at around 10pm and again in the morning. Ther may have been as many as 5 or 6 rollovers.

matt

Sounds about right, I remember crewing for an ITB team back in 94 I beleive, when they rolled a prototype Mustang Cobra R w/351 in it. Seems like the C&D guys always have trouble at NL.

[downingracing]

...#00 Car and Driver MX-5 rolled at around 10pm and again in the morning....

So how many times do you 'roll' the car in one race before calling it a day and breaking out the beer? Hope everyone is having fun and staying safe!

[Knestis]

Looks like our nemeses Troxell's had a pretty good day! Sorry we couldn't be there for it.

K

[datadude]

All sessions are posted to Mylaps.com. Search thrugh Neohio and find the event.

[mtownneon]

The ninth place finishing team was running a Neon ACR. We had fun!

On the C&D crew, every session I was out, they were doing their best to wreck it seemed.

[xr4racer]

http://www.mylaps.com/results/showrun.jsp?id=934273


Posted on mylaps. I messed up the 2nd places laps. I card was wrong by 1 lap, possibly because of the blackout Saturday night at 930pm. The race was decided by 1 lap and the SM by 3

[CaptJon]

But no one had to use a backhoe to straighten their car this year

[MMiskoe]

From Team CRS #23 ITE Miata's point of view it was a great weekend. It was a very fun event, everyone involved was happy to have people there racing and worked hard to make you feel welcome and that it was an 'event', not just another SCCA weekend. For us it was finally being able to catch the unicorn that we've been chasing for 9 years now - an overall win.

The driving was good, with that many laps there are bound to be issues and it is not a track that is forgiving, but I was not unhappy to race with any of the people out there. I tried to give thank-you waves to people as I went by for giving room and points.

A public thanks to the crew & co-drivers with me, I don't know what I did to be so lucky to get to racing w/ a team like that. It is not something you can do by yourself.


Matt Miskoe
#23 Team CRS
ITE Miata

[LarryWinkelman]

I was driving with the ill-fated Honda Ron entry that finished DFL, but other than our personal misery it was a great event. Too bad that there were so few cars. My first LD there were 52 starters!

I was surprised by the overall pace, and the number of cars still running at sunrise. Also, hats off to the F&C and Safety folks for keeping the FCY to a minimum, even while doing some tricky extractions from the tires in very exposed areas.

Finally, the overall driving was superior, with few or none metal-to-metal situations. In spite of some serious performance differential, I thought everyone handled themselves very well.

By they way, if they run next year, I'll be looking for a competive ride!!!

LW

[Thorshammer]

This was my first LD race, but I have been involved with Berg Racing since the Summit Point 12hr, and driven in other 24 and 12 hour races in cars and motorcycles. I normally crew for Berg, but was given the opportunity to drive and crew this weekend.

We had two cars and qualified 2nd and 6th. Both ITS Miatas. The race started and was uneventful for the first few laps. Unfortunately, we had some contact in the 06 car with the Phar Lap E30 BMW guys and they went off track. Our driver radio'd in that the E30 changed his line and slowed, and he had minor contact with the right rear portion of their bumper. We did what we could do to apologize to the driver as it was not intentional. Got spoken to by the Stewards, and continued racing.

We ran very strong the entire race, and had a minor black flag for a stop and go. Our #97 car passed a distressed car that was waving us by. It was a call that could have gone either way. One thing that was contradictory that we are asked to do. Pull in when you see the blag flag and your car number. As the person on the radios at that time, I wanted to comply, only to find out the stewards spoke to the driver of the distressed car that was being towed in, to find out that it happened as we said. Jack from the pit lane apologized, and we went on racing. I don't think it would have changed the outcome.

My first stint was about 4:45 pm and after just a few laps of Friday practice and my first time ever in a Miata, I got down to a 19.2, but it took me awhile, I will say this. there are other cars out there, and I have driven alot of different cars, but I was impressed at the Miata and it's abilities.

We continued our pit stops, and found we were getting much less mileage and time from our cars than we did at Summit Point? Our new fueling system was not completely filling the fuel tank. Bummer for us. we found we could only run 1:35-1:50 minutes depending on who was driving. This would be our downfall in the end. Not to take anything away from the CRS ITE Miata guys that drove a great race.

About midnight our two cars were running 4th and 6th, with the Piper BMW maintaining a commanding lead.

Our normal crew chief Mark Gregory also got a couple stints in the car, and did quite well, running into the 19's I think. At least he didn't put it off the track (more on this later).

At 12:50am my second stint started, and I found a quick pace and was able to hold it there pretty well. The 28 Going for Donuts VW has made some nice changes to the speed of their car, and it was apparent when I was trying to go by them, nice increase in power for those guys. I had a good scrap with the 21 SM car, as he was faster than I in the carousel but I was better exiting the last turn. I learned alot thanks 21. Near 2:30 I was letting John Weisberg (our other team car) through on the inside and found myself outside at the carousel and in the marbles, off I went causing a full course yellow. I impacted the tire wall and the woods/bushes after sliding across the wet grass (they have dew in Ohio it seems) at about 65mph. That grass was slicker than snot on a hot griddle. Anyway, the corner workers did a great job communicating to me and the tow truck came very quickly. They yanked me out of the tire wall, I strapped up and started up after a quick walk around and started driving back to the pits. I want to say again, the corner workers that helped me communicated exactly what was going to happen, how it was going to happen, then made it happen, they did an excellent job, and were very accurate and organized in how they went about it, Thanks guys!

On the way back to the pits the wheel was straight and after a few left, right motions, the car felt good, and when I got back, it just took some fender straightening and some duct tape. A gas stop and oil check, and since I was in early, no other drivers were ready, so back in the car I went for a double shift. The funniest part of the entire stint was when the crew asked me if I thought I was okay to drive a double, I had to tell them to give me a minute, so I did a body check, and a focus check, and after thinking about it, I replied I could do the double. I passed alot of cars Between 3:00 and 4:35 and somewhere near 4:10 ran my best lap, a 18.7 with a slight tow from the team car driven by Richard Picut. We both got a slight tow from the Piper BMW.

Crawling out of the car (not climbing), I could barely hold the fire bottle for the refueling stop. After a 2 hour nap I got back to my pit duties, and found we were in 3rd and 5th. About 8:00 or so, the Piper BMW went off track with a huge lead , and sustained significant damage. As they worked on the car to get it back to the track, our friends over at Phar lap had repaired their damage, and had been back on the track during the night hours, sufering a trans failure I believe, then another off, not assisted by one of our cars, they were the team that worked the hardest to keep going. No matter what. I believe they earned alot of respect. I must have seen them on the hook 4-5 times. It was a tremendous effort from them for twenty four hours.

At 9:30am we were setting up our final hours of strategy and we saw the phar lap guys coming back in, something had broken, I think in the engine, and they were going to town. These guys are some "never say quit" racers. The Piper BMW was undergoing some pretty significant repairs, and the ITE Miata of CRS (get it See Our Ass) funny, had a 9 lap lead over our #97 car. We ran both the #06 and the #97 car as hard as we could, and made our fuel window so both cars would finish, but just barely. One driver later admitted to being so tired, in the corners he would rest his head on the head restraint, HEHEHE. We were catching the Team CRS car, they had a small left front stud problem which allowed us to close the gap. At the end, I believe we were one lap behind plus some time on the track. Hats off the the Team CRS guys with a great race.

Our team finished first in class and second over all, and 2nd in class (ITS) and 4th overall.

The Phar Lap guys won the peoples choice award. Now let me tell you a bit about them. Sometime during the wee evening hours these guys wrote with black marker " Miatas please do not hit here" on the back trunk lid. We got that report sometime about 2:30am. About 45 minutes before the end, we saw them pushing the car back and forth using an ATV and a few guys, it would not start. After a few tries, they got it going, just a few minutes before the end it was circulating but puffing the blues out ofthe tailpipe pretty hard. Somewhere on or near the last lap the car stopped running. After the racetrack was clear, here came the #30 on the tow hook for the last time. Stopping at pit in to unhook, the #30 E30 BMW received a healthy push to complete the 24 hours of Nelson Ledges accompanied by two workers running alongside at a brisk pace. We all cheered and I am sure the memory was captured in digital form of some kind.

One interesting part of the LD, was the roving reporters, and someone filming, as our Canadian driver gave an interesting interview that will certainly be edited from any final cut, it was colorful to say the least. Something about bedonkadonk's. I think you can guess from there.

Yellow rabbit: Great point bys with the turn signals, it was a pleasure racing with you. I was the guy that waved furiously at anyone giving a point by, and holding their line.

17 CRX, man did you have some issues, in the end, what happened?

Orange and Blue Honda, in a straight line that car has some major nut. It was good to race with you late in the night. For about 20 laps he and I went at it, I slipped by a couple times, only to get motored down the straight. I finally got by in turn 3, and was able to get a lead down the back straight.

To my Berg Racing co drivers and co crew: John W, Richard P, Brad, John L, Dinah (Pronouced DINA) Richard W, Mark, Alex, Mya (Sp?), Ron, Paula, Lenny, Chris, Dan (Red), Daniel. Thanks I had a blast!

Thanks to the workers: We appreciate your efforts and especially the carousel crew about 2:45 am, thanks for saving my ass. I thought I was in a wild kingdom show trudging though the bush. In my best Australian accent: "see the Miata as she quickly grazes the grassy slope, only to impact the tall under brush and come to rest upon the round rubber mounds so often found here in the eastern Ohio".

Lets hope this happens next year...........................


Erik Madsen, Berg Racing

[Cobrar05]

will they keep doing this race with 19 cars entered?

[Knestis]

... By they way, if they run next year, I'll be looking for a competive ride!!!

Start planning now and come run with us. We felt terrible missing this year and would love to go back.

Kirk

[dlg208]

Props to the Hillbillys...

They did everything to their car....
(even an engine change a C-4 hrs)

And the Chicken had a bunch of repairs also.
(Not like last year but still)

And that 30 white car was off at 17 minutes in to the 24....WTH?
17 minutes!!!

We're talking ITB guys only...
I know everyone else had mishaps also.

[Weasel Keeper]

Very fun race, and as mentioned before my hat's off to the drivers. The metal to metal our #72 ITA Neon recieved was mainly from the Piper BMW, and I believe 4 of our 5 drivers ended up trading paint with them. Nothing wrong with having a car that outclassed most everyone, but they were passing at some fairly dangerous places without much regards to safety it seemed. We also took a tap in the rear bumper from some Miata and also the 240Z once...but that's racing.

We approached this race as a marathon and not a sprint. Our #1 goal was just to complete the 24 hours still running. The Neon had done a few 10 hour races and a 12 hour race before, so this was a biggie for us.

After mainly being in cruise control for most of the race, with about 3 hours left I took my final stint and decided it was time to show that the Neon wasn't just out for a Sunday drive and started pushing for the first time. I was able to run just fine with the VWs, Hillbillies, and the SSC Neon, and at times I felt I could have gotten around them but still had the thought of tearing up the car before the end so I just ran with them. To my surprise Dave and Katie followed my lead with their final stints and finally the blue flags from the corners weren't flying as often for us...heh.

All in all it was a great time and I'm happy to have been a part of it with you all. Major thanks to the workers and officials, and our crew for going mostly without any sleep.

Cheers!

Jay Jenkins
#72 ITA Neon
"Snot Rocket"
Murfin Racing

[MMiskoe]

For what its worth to you Jay, all the Neons were fun to watch going around the carousel. The 10+ dgrees of yaw angle is always interesting to see.

Matt Miskoe
#23 ITE Miata

[Weasel Keeper]

For what its worth to you Jay, all the Neons were fun to watch going around the carousel. The 10+ dgrees of yaw angle is always interesting to see.

Matt Miskoe
#23 ITE Miata

Hehe, almost as much fun as watching the VWs going through there and T-12/13 with the rear right wheel about a foot off the ground. I know the "Rubber Chicken" VW's right rear tire never touched the track through the last corner until it was back on the front straight. Great stuff!