Neohio Double Regional & Pursuit Race

[ITA_honda]

I had an interesting weekend.

Finished 2nd Saturday in the wet. The rain is the great equalizer!! And we were all on dries

After the race i said to myslef (am I crazy or what?) haha, but wow!

Sunday came home 4th. Those Colletti boys are real fast!!

How did everyone else do??

[jumbojimbo]

I had a great time. That's the first time I've ever camped and it was a lot of fun. Got to spend some time sitting around the fire getting to know people. It might sound corny, but it was as much fun spending time with fellow competitors than it was running the races. Ok, it wasn't as good as Saturday's race in the rain, but it was a hell of a lot better than Sunday's 1.3 laps and a DNF.

Seems like I owe Jayson several beers. Does he really only drink MGD or something? That's a pretty good trade, he gives me a couple of nice micros and a Paulie Girl and I pay him back with Miller at MO? And thanks to Jim for the homebrew. mmm, sweet beer.

For anyone who's never been to Nelson, you really should go. The atmosphere is so friendly. You feel like part of the family instead of feeling like a number. The bathrooms are clean, the showers are quaint, but they do work. You can ride your bike around the track and nobody hassles you. Overall if you are willing to put up with a few less amenties, the payback is worth it.

NEOhio did a good job putting on the races. A run group was dropped and this is the first time I've been to a race that used that time to add to qualifying time. Usually the track just sits empty for the extra time. I'm glad we were able to use the time.

Oh, how'd I do: 3rd in the rain on Saturday. DNF on Sunday. I probably didn't deserve 3rd on Saturday, several people dropped out. But I'm not going to turn it down.

[dj10]

Who smashed into the ITS 07 bmw @ turn 1, I believe it was a AS. What penalty did the stewards give him? From what I heard the guy deserved the penalty.

[gpeluso]

Hey Dan...
missed seeing you tear-up the field.... I did ok...2nd in the rain and 4th in the dry...first full weekend at Nelson's....bumpy but pretty fun....except for the cost $100 extra bucks...I see $50, but $100....by the looks of the turn out they must have needed it.

Greg

[R2 Racing]

That's the first time I've ever camped and it was a lot of fun. Got to spend some time sitting around the fire getting to know people. It might sound corny, but it was as much fun spending time with fellow competitors than it was running the races.

I wouldn't even consider racing without staying at the track. You're right about thinking that hanging out with your racing buddies and drinking beer around a campfire is half the fun of a race weekend, because it is. My entire racing experience would be vastly different if I didn't do that, and I don't think for the better. Some of my fellow racers have become very, very good friends of mine by just hanging out at the track. Hang out at Mid Ohio, and you'll see the same thing. We always have a pretty good time there.

[dj10]

Hey Dan...
missed seeing you tear-up the field.... I did ok...2nd in the rain and 4th in the dry...first full weekend at Nelson's....bumpy but pretty fun....except for the cost $100 extra bucks...I see $50, but $100....by the looks of the turn out they must have needed it.

Greg

R U racing Beaver on the 6th? I might use Sat. as a test day.

[ITA_honda]

I had a great time. That's the first time I've ever camped and it was a lot of fun. Got to spend some time sitting around the fire getting to know people. It might sound corny, but it was as much fun spending time with fellow competitors than it was running the races. Ok, it wasn't as good as Saturday's race in the rain, but it was a hell of a lot better than Sunday's 1.3 laps and a DNF.

Seems like I owe Jayson several beers. Does he really only drink MGD or something? That's a pretty good trade, he gives me a couple of nice micros and a Paulie Girl and I pay him back with Miller at MO? And thanks to Jim for the homebrew. mmm, sweet beer.

For anyone who's never been to Nelson, you really should go. The atmosphere is so friendly. You feel like part of the family instead of feeling like a number. The bathrooms are clean, the showers are quaint, but they do work. You can ride your bike around the track and nobody hassles you. Overall if you are willing to put up with a few less amenties, the payback is worth it.

NEOhio did a good job putting on the races. A run group was dropped and this is the first time I've been to a race that used that time to add to qualifying time. Usually the track just sits empty for the extra time. I'm glad we were able to use the time.

Oh, how'd I do: 3rd in the rain on Saturday. DNF on Sunday. I probably didn't deserve 3rd on Saturday, several people dropped out. But I'm not going to turn it down.

It was good to finally meet you. Nice job on Saturday, but Sunday was OK too. Thats racing, things happen.
I was always thrilled to see how many people I met in my rookie year. Im a people person, and hanging out with my buddies at the end of the day is worth it! Im not 21 yet though, I turn 21 this July....so.

And Jay keeps telling me they have an "open cooler" policy. HAHA. I told him in July! that guy cracks me up. When you get a chance, go over to their paddock and hang out (which im sure you have already) Its a good time.

[ITA_honda]

Who smashed into the ITS 07 bmw @ turn 1, I believe it was a AS. What penalty did the stewards give him? From what I heard the guy deserved the penalty.

Im not sure, I heard something about an incident but I dont know who did it.

[gpeluso]

Dan,
see you at Beaverun...after jim straightens me out.....................

Greg

[jay05]

The weekend turned out good, but because of others misfortunes. Saturday in the ran Bill just walked away. He can really move that think in the rain. Until he dropped a valve. Hopefully he's got it sorted. The Miata on the tire wall that went of on the 1st lap was a constant reminder to not to push it. Sunday was a blast. Other than almost rolling in 3 in the morning. In the lead on lap 2 miss a shift Jon walks right by me. The next 5 laps we spent drafting each other on the backstretch and side-by-side from the kink to T4. I got some room on him and he lost a wheel going into one. It would have been a great finish. Remember if Jon ever tells you his car is garbage and he's lucky to run 1:26's. That really means he's going to run 1:23's. Sorry to see Ryan's beautifully painted car get a little dinged. I have some blue duct tape for ya.

Jim, Miller Light. Yes, we have an open cooler policy and if you need that cup of joe in the morning, we have you covered also. Nelson Ledges is such a great place to race. I'm always running late for grid, because I'm too busy yacking it up with someone. Everyone seems so open and friendly. You take the same people and put them in MO, they become quiet and to themselves. MO just stresses everyone out, because you always feel like your breaking a rule when you're having fun. Hope to see all you guys at MO in less than 2 weeks.

[ITA_honda]

The weekend turned out good, but because of others misfortunes. Saturday in the ran Bill just walked away. He can really move that think in the rain. Until he dropped a valve. Hopefully he's got it sorted. The Miata on the tire wall that went of on the 1st lap was a constant reminder to not to push it. Sunday was a blast. Other than almost rolling in 3 in the morning. In the lead on lap 2 miss a shift Jon walks right by me. The next 5 laps we spent drafting each other on the backstretch and side-by-side from the kink to T4. I got some room on him and he lost a wheel going into one. It would have been a great finish. Remember if Jon ever tells you his car is garbage and he's lucky to run 1:26's. That really means he's going to run 1:23's. Sorry to see Ryan's beautifully painted car get a little dinged. I have some blue duct tape for ya.

Jim, Miller Light. Yes, we have an open cooler policy and if you need that cup of joe in the morning, we have you covered also. Nelson Ledges is such a great place to race. I'm always running late for grid, because I'm too busy yacking it up with someone. Everyone seems so open and friendly. You take the same people and put them in MO, they become quiet and to themselves. MO just stresses everyone out, because you always feel like your breaking a rule when you're having fun. Hope to see all you guys at MO in less than 2 weeks.

Mid-Ohio is, I dont know how to discribe it...not as "friendly" as Nelson. But I do like the track. I mean the people there are usually the same which is cool. But when I went down there I paddocked in one corner by myslef LOL. it was peaceful.
I guess since the IRL, Lemans, world challenge go there you feel like "big stuff" and maybe thats why the atmosphere there isnt as good???
It doesnt matter, Im there to race.:026:
and hang out with my friends of course

[CaptJon]

How did MY weekend go???? A loose battery cable shorted out a bunch of electronics in saturdays race that we didnt figure out until sunday morning. At 7:45AM. Rain tires still on the car from saturday. Dash is still torn apart. And I had already been to registration to withdraw from sundays race. Oh yeah one other thing, my crew was still in bed. Woke them & they did a wonderful job of getting things ready on the car. We made it on track about 5 minutes after everyone else did so I did get some good qualifying times. The start of the race was exciting as Jim made a good pass on me going into 2. After I got back by him the real race started with Jason. I think that is the most fun I have EVER had racing. Once we hooked up we never had more than 15 feet between us. Then there was that small mechanical failure. My on board camera even got the tire as it bounced over the tire wall as I was bouncing through the grass. Lots of work to do on the car but it should be ready for the ITFest.

Have to thank everyone that checked on me both saturday & sunday. It really means alot when people care enough see if there is anything they can do to help get someone back out onto the track.

Great people. Great racing. You can't ask for much else.

[ITA_honda]

How did MY weekend go???? A loose battery cable shorted out a bunch of electronics in saturdays race that we didnt figure out until sunday morning. At 7:45AM. Rain tires still on the car from saturday. Dash is still torn apart. And I had already been to registration to withdraw from sundays race. Oh yeah one other thing, my crew was still in bed. Woke them & they did a wonderful job of getting things ready on the car. We made it on track about 5 minutes after everyone else did so I did get some good qualifying times. The start of the race was exciting as Jim made a good pass on me going into 2. After I got back by him the real race started with Jason. I think that is the most fun I have EVER had racing. Once we hooked up we never had more than 15 feet between us. Then there was that small mechanical failure. My on board camera even got the tire as it bounced over the tire wall as I was bouncing through the grass. Lots of work to do on the car but it should be ready for the ITFest.

Have to thank everyone that checked on me both saturday & sunday. It really means alot when people care enough see if there is anything they can do to help get someone back out onto the track.

Great people. Great racing. You can't ask for much else.

you and jay had a heck of a race man! I was watching you guys from everywhere!!! turn 1,2,3,4, the kink, 12 and 13! sorry about the bad luck but you had a good weekend overall!!

[jay05]

I think that is the most fun I have EVER had racing.

Same here. What a blast. I guess 2 wide in T3 is possible. Hope you can get fixed in time.

[RedMisted]

Had a great time, even though I had no competition in ITR. The best part of the weekend for me was beating a T-2 Camaro on Sat. And of course, seeing my good friend Dr. Dan complete the requirements for his regional license in his ITE (ex-NASA AIX)Pontiac Firebird was as thrilling for me as it was for him.

[boywonder]

We had a blast! This was my first race weekend and since I'm quickly learning that this sport will drain my bank account my wife and I decided to camp at the track and save some cash. Camping together was also a first...but we survived. We were very pleased to learn that most everyone was super friendly at the track and enjoyed hanging out with Jim R and Jay and their ladies, and of course Jim H is always a hoot (I just hope his car is OK).

Qualifying on Saturday was held during perfect conditions and I managed to shave a little over a second off my previous best time at that track - while also qualifying only .06 seconds behind Jim. Whoo hoo!

Unfortunately the heavens opened up about a half hour before the start of our race and it really poured. While on the grid I learned that only my passenger wiper worked...thankfully the track is primarily right handers. I kept it together pretty well during our race despite the lack of visibility, lack of rain tires, lack of experience (my first race remember) and still not being good at adjusting my line to a "rain line." I had a pretty good start, picked the right cars to follow, and the right places to pass and passed quite a few cars during the first couple of laps. But then in the fourth lap I spun on the inside of the Carousel.

Watching the video it looks like I carried a bit too much speed into the corner and after that there was nothing I could do but hold on and pray that I could keep it on the inside and not go across and off the outside. Of course the spin cost me all the places I had picked up so I backed off after that and decided to just try to figure out how to race in the wet. I can't say that I really figured it out because I spun one more time that race (this time in turn two) but I'm going to count having only two spins as marked improvement over the numerous spins I had at Putnam Park a month ago. Oh yeah...half way through the race my other wiper decided to work - once. It flung across the windshield and lodged itself under the driver's door mirror. So then I had to shut the wipers off altogether. Lesson # 371: visibility is important. I started 17th and finished about the same I think.

Sunday was gorgeous but the car gave me all kinds of fits during qualifying. First it wouldn't start when it was time to grid. Finally I got it started and after three or four additional starts I made it to the grid where it died four or five more times while waiting to go out on the track. Then it died between pit exit and turn 1, and four more times that first lap. I brought it into the pits and hopped out and looked over everything and it all looked fine. So I kicked, tapped and spit on it and went back out and while it didn't run well, it did stop dying every turn. Now it was only stumbling coming out of the Carousel and dying while flat out in the kink and while under threshold braking going into 12. Fun. :cool:
I'm not sure what my lap times or final qualifying time were like but I'm guessing not good. However everyone else must have been having trouble too because I again qualified 17th.

I came in after qualifying and changed the fuel filter (which ended up looking fine), and after talking to Steve Colletti also swapped out the distributor. After installing the distributor the car wouldn't start so after some trouble shooting we figured out that I somehow installed the distributor 180º off, (even though it should be impossible because the teeth are offset...?) but without time to take it off and re-install Steve had the bright idea to just switch the plug wire order on the cap. Duh! So then it fired right up and off I went to the grid. My start wasn't as good today thanks to the Pinto in front of me but after a few laps I passed him and a few others. The car still bogged down exiting the Carousel but otherwise felt pretty good and resisted dying while I had my right foot planted. I didn't realize it but I made it up to 2nd in my class (unfortunately a few of those spots were because Jim and Jim dropped out) and decent way up in the overall pack. But... with a lap and a half to go I spun in the carousel and went into the tire wall. :eek:
I'm still unsure what I did wrong but I started to turn down to hit the apex and the car decided it didn't want to turn and instead started understeering up the track. I nearly made it but the driver's rear dropped off into the grass and took me on a magical mystery tour backwards and all the way around and up onto the tire wall. Banged up the front bumper and driver's side front fender and cut a brake line but otherwise I think it's OK. The tow truck pulled me off the wall and I managed to drive it in under its own power. I had enough laps in to be counted as an official finisher though, so now with these two races under my belt I have enough to trade in my novice permit for a regional license.

Afterwards I did more damage to the car though; thanks to a large dip where the trailer was parked I managed to the bottom the car out on the tie-down eyelet on the trailer and ripped a 8" gash in the passenger floor. Oh, and then damaged myself while strapping the car down by striking my head on the license plate holder that the wrecker had bent when dislodging me from the wall. Ugh. We did make it home without further incident though.

So it was a weekend full of ups and downs, some that could of been prevented, some that come with inexperience, and some that are just part of racing. Overall it was a good education though and I'm looking forward to Mid-Ohio in a few weeks.

I have a decent amount of video from both days up on YouTube, you can find them here: http://www.youtube.com/user/placidchaos

[ITA_honda]

We had a blast! This was my first race weekend and since I'm quickly learning that this sport will drain my bank account my wife and I decided to camp at the track and save some cash. Camping together was also a first...but we survived. We were very pleased to learn that most everyone was super friendly at the track and enjoyed hanging out with Jim R and Jay and their ladies, and of course Jim H is always a hoot (I just hope his car is OK).

Qualifying on Saturday was held during perfect conditions and I managed to shave a little over a second off my previous best time at that track - while also qualifying only .06 seconds behind Jim. Whoo hoo!

Unfortunately the heavens opened up about a half hour before the start of our race and it really poured. While on the grid I learned that only my passenger wiper worked...thankfully the track is primarily right handers. I kept it together pretty well during our race despite the lack of visibility, lack of rain tires, lack of experience (my first race remember) and still not being good at adjusting my line to a "rain line." I had a pretty good start, picked the right cars to follow, and the right places to pass and passed quite a few cars during the first couple of laps. But then in the fourth lap I spun on the inside of the Carousel.

Watching the video it looks like I carried a bit too much speed into the corner and after that there was nothing I could do but hold on and pray that I could keep it on the inside and not go across and off the outside. Of course the spin cost me all the places I had picked up so I backed off after that and decided to just try to figure out how to race in the wet. I can't say that I really figured it out because I spun one more time that race (this time in turn two) but I'm going to count having only two spins as marked improvement over the numerous spins I had at Putnam Park a month ago. Oh yeah...half way through the race my other wiper decided to work - once. It flung across the windshield and lodged itself under the driver's door mirror. So then I had to shut the wipers off altogether. Lesson # 371: visibility is important. I started 17th and finished about the same I think.

Sunday was gorgeous but the car gave me all kinds of fits during qualifying. First it wouldn't start when it was time to grid. Finally I got it started and after three or four additional starts I made it to the grid where it died four or five more times while waiting to go out on the track. Then it died between pit exit and turn 1, and four more times that first lap. I brought it into the pits and hopped out and looked over everything and it all looked fine. So I kicked, tapped and spit on it and went back out and while it didn't run well, it did stop dying every turn. Now it was only stumbling coming out of the Carousel and dying while flat out in the kink and while under threshold braking going into 12. Fun. :cool:
I'm not sure what my lap times or final qualifying time were like but I'm guessing not good. However everyone else must have been having trouble too because I again qualified 17th.

I came in after qualifying and changed the fuel filter (which ended up looking fine), and after talking to Steve Colletti also swapped out the distributor. After installing the distributor the car wouldn't start so after some trouble shooting we figured out that I somehow installed the distributor 180º off, (even though it should be impossible because the teeth are offset...?) but without time to take it off and re-install Steve had the bright idea to just switch the plug wire order on the cap. Duh! So then it fired right up and off I went to the grid. My start wasn't as good today thanks to the Pinto in front of me but after a few laps I passed him and a few others. The car still bogged down exiting the Carousel but otherwise felt pretty good and resisted dying while I had my right foot planted. I didn't realize it but I made it up to 2nd in my class (unfortunately a few of those spots were because Jim and Jim dropped out) and decent way up in the overall pack. But... with a lap and a half to go I spun in the carousel and went into the tire wall. :eek:
I'm still unsure what I did wrong but I started to turn down to hit the apex and the car decided it didn't want to turn and instead started understeering up the track. I nearly made it but the driver's rear dropped off into the grass and took me on a magical mystery tour backwards and all the way around and up onto the tire wall. Banged up the front bumper and driver's side front fender and cut a brake line but otherwise I think it's OK. The tow truck pulled me off the wall and I managed to drive it in under its own power. I had enough laps in to be counted as an official finisher though, so now with these two races under my belt I have enough to trade in my novice permit for a regional license.

Afterwards I did more damage to the car though; thanks to a large dip where the trailer was parked I managed to the bottom the car out on the tie-down eyelet on the trailer and ripped a 8" gash in the passenger floor. Oh, and then damaged myself while strapping the car down by striking my head on the license plate holder that the wrecker had bent when dislodging me from the wall. Ugh. We did make it home without further incident though.

So it was a weekend full of ups and downs, some that could of been prevented, some that come with inexperience, and some that are just part of racing. Overall it was a good education though and I'm looking forward to Mid-Ohio in a few weeks.

I have a decent amount of video from both days up on YouTube, you can find them here: http://www.youtube.com/user/placidchaos

I already saw your video on Monday. Nicely done!

[cjb25hs]

Any results posted yet?

[ITA_honda]

Any results posted yet?

no results posted yet that I know of....

[jay05]

mylaps?