Hallett R/N/IT, Apr 4-5

[KelleyHux]

Not to hijack the thread - but, of the entries for MAM - some of the Porsche drivers have regional licenses and are not entered for the either of the drivers schools. I recommend we take this discussion over to the Double School/Double Regional thread started by MustangHammer. (she says while wearing her registrar's hat)

As far as Hallett goes (putting on her flagger hat) - Chris and Gary had a dynamite race both days. Chris was workin' hard on Saturday, but Gary started ahead of him. Then Gary drove a good clean race, and Chris just couldn't quite catch him. Congrats go to Gary for a win in ITB! Sunday was a little different story - eventhough Gary again started ahead of Chris. But Chris must have found some extra horsepower (or he finally knocked all the rust out) ... 'cause he was able to catch Gary and get by ... but then they swapped positions a couple of times ... and in a finish which was still in doubt as we watched them round the corner at 10 (we had to ask race control who won) ... Chris won on Sunday. Thanks for the great races guys!

The weather Saturday was pretty okay - windy, but at least warm. Sunday was MISERABLE! The low 40s temperatures combined with the 25-30 mph winds with gusts to 40 mph made for a terrible day.

The good news was that most of the drivers behaved themselves, and there wasn't much to do for the flaggers. The only exception was when a SRF and an HP car wanted to occupy the same track space in the braking zone at 3. Sorry for the FCY, but when you've got a car with only 2 wheels ... in the track ... it has to be moved. Otherwise, there was good racing in almost all of the race groups, which really helps keep things interesting and allows you to shove aside the thoughts about how cold it is.

Kelley Huxtable
"PLAY SAFE"
DMVR

[Turkflyer]

Thanks to Kelley and all the workers that withstood the miserable weather to make it a fun weekend!

[PSherm]

I *kinda* had fun... finally found the misfire problem, but it was after I retired from Saturday's race. At least the car ran fine for Dave on Sunday.

And the AS Camaro ran fine w/no hiccups...

Looking forward to MAM!

[IPRESS]

Yeah ditto what the ARKY Farmer said. You folks out on the Flag Stands had to be freeeeeeezzzzziiiing! My car had a slight oil leak and then I blew a shock (sitting on the grid) for the Regional race. Every left turn the front left wheel jumped up and down like it was going over RR tracks. Some nice guys from Little Rock put a new one in for me and I had a fun race in the Sunday National with two former ROffs. podium guys (J. Saucier & R. Jones.) SSC is very different than IT, but each race I am getting the hang of it just a little better. I ran some real high tire presures that seemed to help get the Integra around the corners better. Was pleased to finish second and have no damage running with the SM crowd. In fact the SMers were on their best behavior.
Thanks again Kelley (love the sign at the start)

[Gary L]

First things first... I want to add my thanks to the workers as well. That was a brutal day to be flagging races!

Yes, Chris and I had a race on Sunday! I forgot to ask him, but assume he was on fresher rubber than he used Saturday. During Saturday's race, I was consistently quicker by two or three tenths; on Sunday, it was the other way around, and I made no changes whatsoever.

Anyway, the videos are up on YouTube, just click on the YouTube link in my signature below. They are two 9+ minute pieces worth watching, IMHO.

[tnord]

so who is this brian laughlin guy and where did he come from?

[PSherm]

Dunno where Brian came from (or if he's on the forums), but he was flying! That was one very fast miata! And well driven...

Lots of new track records, so the cold helped in one regard. Chris and Gary put on a good show in ITB.

[Gary L]

so who is this brian laughlin guy and where did he come from?

Brian has been running COMMA events at Hallett for several years, at least since I came back to racing in 2005, so I've been able to watch him mature as a race driver. When I first started running with him in COMMA, to say Brian was inconsistent would be a gross understatement. IIRC, his best lap times were in the 1:36 - 1:37 range at that time, and he was off course a lot. By early last year though, he and I were running fairly evenly at Hallett, in the 1:32 - 1:33 neighborhood. In fact, we had a pretty good race at the Hallett SCCA meet a year ago this month. Now, he's running consistent 1:30 - 1:31's, and I'm sure there is more to come. After all, his new ITA lap record (1:29.975) is still nearly a second off the SM record.