HOTlanta ECR SARRC ProIT

[IPRESS]

Great, fun weekend (at least for most.) We need some reports as I think there were several improvedtouring.com BB participants racing and crewing.
Myron and I had a blast sharing the "Multiyellow" (as we call it now after several fender repaints.) Other then a brake fade problem during the ECR and the results being a trip to the T1 tire wall, we were contact free all weekend. Obviously we were pretty consistent as we finished 3rd in all three races with two different drivers. I left without getting the results, so others will need to fill in the blanks, but in ITA Tenney, Hoppe, Phee, and us were in the mix most of the races. Attila grabbed second in the ProIT as I remember.
The turnout looked a slight bit smaller then I remember, but was still pretty good. If the economy stays down, (or goes up) racers should try to go to this weekend. Two drivers can share a car and get tons of racing and practice without the cost of a two car tow. THANKS BIG TIME to Butah and the ATL Region for fixing the schedule for maximum car share!
It was good to see a bunch of the folks I talk to on here, like Bowie, Kirk, Hoppe, Chris, etc.
Now give us a report on what went on.

[Tristan Smith]

Had a good time racing against Myron. I probably could have given him a bit more of a fight in the race, had I not had a Hoosier....well for lack of any outher term, have a belt delaminate or seperate. What's odd is that was the second one I had do the same exact thing, in the same inside edge of the tire. They were 2, 3, maybe 3 and half years old, so that MAY have been the problem. ha

Anyone ever have that happen to them? I can't believe that my set up would have done that to a tire.

[Cobrar05]

I am curious who ran the ECR and how it went.

[Knestis]

I ran the ECR and had a great time. I treated it as a "learn to race at RA" session, having done the test day with Bowie Gray's tutelage to figure out the basics, and we accomplished all our goals. Ended up first (only!) in ITB and 14th OA - pretty happy about that.

One issue though - particularly at a place like RA, with so many blind spots, if you are circulating 20+ seconds off of your qualifying time, and an additional 15 seconds off of the pole in your class, PLEASE consider that your personal goals of finishing might well come at a substantial cost to others.

Yes - we all have to worry about traffic, including slower traffic, particularly in enduros. But there are too many places at this track where differences in lap time between a healthy fast-class car and healthy slow-class car are totally manageable, but a sick car is slow in very unpredictable places.

K

[DavidM]

My weekend wound up ok thanks to Dr. Tristan. The car started acting up during the qualifying "race" and I was chasing a pretty bad engine miss Sunday morning before the race. I was at the point of giving up when Tristan said it sounded like his car did when an injector let go. So I proceeded to jiggle the injector connectors and, lo and behold, the miss cleared right up. The wiring on this thing is so band-aided together I probably should've checked that first.

The race went ok. I got out motored by the ITS Olds Cutlass (or whatever it is) at the start and fell in behind him. His car then proceeded to die on the way up the hill and I got freight trained by 3 or 4 guys behind me before I could get around him. I picked off a couple guys on the first lap and it took me a little longer to get around the others. After that I was on my own. I was catching up to Tristan at the end (which he says was due to his tire, though I never saw it), but ran out of laps.

I felt I drove as well as I did in November at the ARRC, but only managed a 50.9 as my fastest lap. I was doing 48s & 47s at the ARRC. Some of it was the heat, but I think my motor is down on power. Going to do Barber and then may call it a season and work on getting the car ready for next year. We'll see.

David

[Cobrar05]

I had to miss the ECR waiting on a radiator part. Needless to say I was disappointed to have to withdraw.

I really wish we could run ECR's elsewhere than just RA.

[trhoppe]

It was definitely a good time! Some of you guys should come play at Barber in a few weeks

[Roger Walker]

I ran the SARRC race this past weekend at Road Atlanta, If anybody knows
of someone that was taking on track photographs I would be intrested in
purchasing any pictures of my car, I saw several people taking pictures
around the track but due to a limited crew, we could not dedicate someone
to take pictures, the car was a IT-7 car number 8, Thanks for the help !
Had a great time, can't wait to get to play again.

[NutDriverRighty]

My brother, Doug Franklin, took some pics on Saturday. His name on this board is "Captain Who". Clark McInnis took pics both days. Doug can put you in contact with him. Karen Hudson at the Atlanta Region can help as well.
I worked Turn 5 all weekend and we had some adventures. Seems like the "new" flagging position just at the turn-in for T5 had a magnet in it. Lost at least three cars there over the weekend (ITS BMW, R/W/B with "Jackson Hole" stuff on the side, black ITS Integra #15, a DSR). Greg Amy's former ARRC winner got hammered driver's left by 5A. The blue #42 ITB Golf did a rollover just past turn 3.
David Kim in the ITS Z car had a couple of awesome drives.
Participated in the Susan G. Komen foundation "beauty contest" as "Stephanie". Overall, more than $3K was raised over the weekend, all things told.

[IPRESS]

I was hoping we would hear something about the Conover #42 VW. I didn't get that good a look but it sure wasn't in great shape. Not as bad as the Pinto in T1 inside. I have hit both T5 tirewall and the tires where #42 was, but just a glancing blow to avoid a spinning car. Working at T5 is probably the best seat in the house.

[NutDriverRighty]

I only saw the end of the rollover by the #42 car. IIRC, there was no mention of contact. However, as busy as the weekend was for excursions, I could be wrong. Bummer about the Pinto. That guy and his wife are good folks.

[NutDriverRighty]

You've got the yellow Miata with the blue numbers on a white background?

[DavidM]

I ran the SARRC race this past weekend at Road Atlanta, If anybody knows
of someone that was taking on track photographs I would be intrested in
purchasing any pictures of my car, I saw several people taking pictures
around the track but due to a limited crew, we could not dedicate someone
to take pictures, the car was a IT-7 car number 8, Thanks for the help !
Had a great time, can't wait to get to play again.

There was somebody taking pictures and had them posted on a web site for you to look at if you wanted any. They had a sign up, but I don't remember the site name at the moment. Maybe somebody else remembers the name. Butch probably knows.

I believe the Golf had a suspension failure that caused the rollover.

David

[Knestis]

Post-incident updates from the driver and (2nd hand) from a worker suggest that Pablo the Golf (with Chris Perera at the helm) had oversteer right at 3, snapped back left, then snagged the rear wheel. That parted company as the car kind of vaulted into a flip - as distinct from a "roll," where it's bouncing on the ground. It landed right-side-up, Chris got out, and the world was pretty much at peace with itself.

Bowie Gray drove on 3 wheels back to the paddock where Cameron was waiting with spares to bolt it up and drive into the trailer. I suspect that got some looks from the folks still packing up...

From Conover, the upshot is that only the driver's side is skitched, and that not so bad. All the glass is still there, the roof is straight (even the antenna survived intact), and the hood is OK. The rogue wheel/rotor/caliper/stub assembly dented the fuel cell can and there's some suspension damage but CMS is confident we'll be back in shape for the 'fest.

K

[lateapex911]

I like the balance sheet on that bit of "Bad news/good news", Kirk!

[IPRESS]

That is good news Kirk. Chris must have had a wild ride there for a moment. I have followed Albin through T3 several times with the wheels up and often thought what if. Boy, I hated to see the red rocket get torn up. I had just told the new owner 9forgot his name) how fast Greg had been a couple of years ago at ARRC... next thing I hear is the PA guy saying it had a problem. I may change paint color on "multiyellow" before ARRC and try to disguise myself from those tirewalls.:eek: Yellow has not been very lucky.

[ITC69]

KIRK:
Glad to hear that everyone is ok after Sunday afternoon incident. As I loaded my car and drove home after the enduro, I missed the fun on the turns. As for our race results, we started 40th and finished 30th, Ist (and only car in ITC) - sorta like Kirks results in ITB. Car was slow & we found a small problem with the Left front upper shock mount Saturday after qualifying - fixed it and had fun sunday.