Hallett R/N/IT, Apr 4-5

[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.

[IPRESS]

Travis,
That was the same question others were asking. I think he must be a COMMA guy with a pretty hot Miata. At least D. Reynolds told me the car was plenty fast. ( And he drove it well.) Hallett is getting known for "home cookin" (meaning the fast guys that run there a lot benefit at Hallett more than at other tracks do to it's technical aspects.) COMMA has some really fast guys & cars these days. That particular miata looked like it would give the "Yellow Beast" all it wanted, so you can figure it is a fast car.
Tnord you should get your "S" together and see what you can do in July.

[IPRESS]

Oh yeah can I count on you for "crew chief" next month at HPT?
If so please wear a Groucho Marx disguise so that the Ozmant clan won't be after me!

[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.