Lightning Results

[Tkczecheredflag]

Any chatter coming out of NJMP - we're waitng?

[Jeremy Billiel]

I believe I heard Cefalo won ITA, with Jeff in 3rd and Andy had a DNF

[JLawton]

Mark, Brian (Miata driver from down south) and myself had an awesome battle. I just watched the video and it's a keeper. The track was VERY greasy and we were all over the place. In fact, Mark was shown the furled black flag a couple of times for going off so much. But there were very few corners where we kept all four on the pavement. A great time. Branscom came in 4th. One of the few times where I can say I'm not so sure I could have driven faster.

Andy puked his splitter AGAIN, putting a hole in his radiator hose. Geez, even monkies learn after the first time!!


Tomorrow should be interesting.

ITB was Benezik, Reese and Wentworth (i think)

I think there were only two ITS cars. Didn't know either one of them.

Great weather. 80 and dry.

[Tkczecheredflag]

Nice result for you Jeff - keep peddlin' and keep scoring points - we all know that in racing S*%T HAPPENS. Have a good run today.

[JLawton]

Sunday's race wasn't as much fun as Saturday's but it was still loads of fun. The first four, Mark, Brian, myself and Geoff formed up going into turn one on the start and played nice for a few laps to try and get a good gap on Andy who we knew would come storming through the pack. Geoff fell back a bit, then I bobbled and Mark and Brian were able to open a gap. At that point I could start to see Andy. Geoff held him off for a few laps, a few laps later he reeled me in and a lap later got by. Mark and Brian were battling very hard so Andy was closing the gap but couldn't get close enough.

Towards the end I was having a lot of trouble trying to keep the car on the track and Geoff caught up and I let him by. No sense doing something stupid over fourth place.

I thought the NJ regions put on a great weekend, it was a great time. I really liked that they actually had a podium with pictures after each of the races....... although I only saw it from a spectators perspective!!

.

[Andy Bettencourt]

The best race weekend of the year I think. My results weren't what I had hoped but that is racin'. I did blow up the splitter on the outside of T1 in the qual race (second splitter for me - Forrest blew up the other one Jeff!) while I was leading by about 6 seconds after just 5 laps. Jeff, Marc, Brian and Geoff fought each other real hard that race so I could get away...made the mistake of 'relaxing' in T1 and turned in too early and went off into the grass. Dope.

Since it was a qual race, I started from the back in the 20 lap feature race Sunday. 20th place with ITC, IT7, Spec 7 and ITA. Decent start and was up to 5th pretty quick. Getting around Geoff and Jeff proved difficult and Marc and Brian kept the gap strong. Tons of traffic at that point but they all did a great job from my seat but that was probably due to the leaders punching that 'awareness' hole for me. Needed a couple more laps to make a legit run at them. It was a really fun race - hectic but fun. So many other great things about the weekend:

• Lots of track time. Test day was FULL but worked well. A Qual, Qual race, a 20 lap feature and a Pursuit race
• Joint racing board between South and North Jersey. Plenty of workers who were friendly and genuinly happy to see the entrants and solicit input on the couple issues they wanted to proactively address
• Great races. TONS of MARRS cars that are old friends, some new friends and some faces to 'business' friends. Happy to race against some fresh faces and fast cars
• Pusuit race. A very fun idea. I think the concept will catch on...between 55 minutes and 60 minutes of more race time for $140 and a cash payout to the top 10 within 45 minutes of race finish!
• Willingness of the stewards to call drivers in for crappy driving or contact. Sometimes there is a reason for it but mostly it makes us drivers aware that people are watching and contact is just not acceptable
• We all know it's a dusty place. Sometimes dangerously so...but a couple times during the weekend I saw some water trucks dampening some of the critical run-off areas to minimize this issue. I am thankful that the track took an active role in making the racing/safety better DURING the race weekend

Couple opportunities for improvement in my mind - and they are VERY small in terms of importance...

• Bump drafting. Some of us do it, the SM guys do it all the time - its part of how they make the speed and it's accepted with the drivers. Make note of it and if a driver wants to protest someone for it, the record will be there. If it's something that the stewards don't want to see, write it up in the supps.
• Pursuit race. I know the rules were lifted from another series so as not to have to reinvent the wheel but there is a huge flaw...the 'break out'. Your start position and time were based off of your fast lap in the qual race on Saturday afternoon. Well a 8/10ths differential in fast lap translated to a 40 second head start in the PR. The rules stated that you could go faster by up to 10% without penalty. Well that would have been ~7.8-7.9 seconds for a fast ITA car. We all know that you won't find that kind of time, but the top 4 finishers all improved by between 9/10ths and 1.5 seconds. That just can't happen. I suggest you should only be able to 'improve' by less than half a second on your fast lap or you 'break out' just like in bracket drag racing. Prevents sand bagging...and this is a cash race...the bigger the field, the bigger the payout
• Make it a double NARRC race and it would have generated even bigger numbers!!!

Overall it was outstanding. Thanks to everyone who had a hand in the design and the implamentation because the result was great. I am glad the quantity of entrants rewarded you for all your hard work. See ya'll at the Glen!

[dj10]

"Andy puked his splitter AGAIN, putting a hole in his radiator hose. Geez, even monkies learn after the first time!!"

Oh My.......:~)

[erlrich]

Andy - sounds like a great race weekend, and if you were able to run down Marc & Brian from that far back you must have been hauling the mail...congrats on a good finish. I'm hoping to get up there for the Aug race at Thunderbolt; I hope to see some you guys there.

The whole qualifying deal brings up a question though; is that format - Sat morning qual session, Sat afternoon race, with the race results setting the grid for Sun - what you guys use in the NARRC series? The reason I ask is that I was under the impression they were using the MARRS format for the races at NJMP, which uses the best time from both Sat sessions to set the grid for Sun.

Also curious; were guys getting black flagged for bump drafting? I think that may be something to fuss at drivers about after the race, but if I got pulled off track during a race for that I would highly pissed.

[Andy Bettencourt]

"Andy puked his splitter AGAIN, putting a hole in his radiator hose. Geez, even monkies learn after the first time!!"

Oh My.......:~)

Actually, I came in because of a tire rub and we saw a tiny little hole that was 'spritzing' some water. Probably would have lasted the race but was better in the end to come in...plus - who needs that dripping on the track...

On a side note, the 3 top ITR cars were pretty well matched. They did seem to get spread out too quickly for some bumper to bumper action but by Sunday's race I think they were all turing similar laps. Doc?

[Andy Bettencourt]

The whole qualifying deal brings up a question though; is that format - Sat morning qual session, Sat afternoon race, with the race results setting the grid for Sun - what you guys use in the NARRC series? The reason I ask is that I was under the impression they were using the MARRS format for the races at NJMP, which uses the best time from both Sat sessions to set the grid for Sun.

Also curious; were guys getting black flagged for bump drafting? I think that may be something to fuss at drivers about after the race, but if I got pulled off track during a race for that I would highly pissed.

In the NARRC, we seldom have a two day single. It's either Sat AM qual, Sat PM race and then Sun AM qual, Sun PM race for a double. We do have a triple that is Sat AM qual, Sat PM race, Sun AM qual race based on fast time and Sun PM race based on finishing position. So because it's a 'triple' and not a double, we use both methods. At the end of the day, I BELIEVE NARRC drivers prefer to race vs. qualify...meaning the format this weekend at NJMP was preferrable. If you are racing, finishing positions are what matter I would think...

Nobody got black flagged for BD but they were calling it in and it was a topic with some drivers.

[mossaidis]

Thanks for the write-ups!

Make it a double NARRC race and it would have generated even bigger numbers!!!

I agree!

[JLawton]

The whole qualifying deal brings up a question though; is that format - Sat morning qual session, Sat afternoon race, with the race results setting the grid for Sun - what you guys use in the NARRC series? The reason I ask is that I was under the impression they were using the MARRS format for the races at NJMP, which uses the best time from both Sat sessions to set the grid for Sun.

Also curious; were guys getting black flagged for bump drafting? I think that may be something to fuss at drivers about after the race, but if I got pulled off track during a race for that I would highly pissed.

No, that's not how we "normally" do it in the NARRC series gor qualifying but we have a few times. I was told by a MARRS guy that is how they do it at Summit???? But hell, I'll take two races over a regular qualifying and race any day!!


They weren't getting black flagged. They were shown the furled black, then talked to after. A great way to do it. They also showed the furled black and talked to guys who kept putting four off......... and there were a LOT of them!!

As far as the track and the region officials, I think it was the "friendliest" weekend I've been to. Yes, they pulled a lot of people in but it wasn't intrusive to the racing.

[erlrich]

No, that's not how we "normally" do it in the NARRC series gor qualifying but we have a few times. I was told by a MARRS guy that is how they do it at Summit????

Jeff - yes, that's how they're doing it at Summit (starting this year), with the one difference that the best lap time from either Saturday session is used to set the grid for Sunday. The reason I brought it up was that Andy mentioned he had to start at the back because of a DNF in the Saturday race. But if they had been using the MARRS format he would have still been gridded according to his Saturday morning time, which I'm assuming would have put him much closer to the front. I think most of the MARRS drivers have found the new format to be much more interesting than the old one, which was 2 qualifying sessions on Saturday and a Sunday sprint race.

[Wreckerboy]

Actually, I came in because of a tire rub and we saw a tiny little hole that was 'spritzing' some water. Probably would have lasted the race but was better in the end to come in...plus - who needs that dripping on the track...

Geez Andy, you could have gone off track and at least watered down the dust then....

[Doc Bro]

The ITR race was exciting with Thiele q1 Powell Q2 and me in Q3. Going into 1 Powell came in a bit hot and hit Thiele in the RR. Thiele did a great job (in fact I didn't even know he'd been hit) and drove through smoothly. Powell had a mulitiple tank slapper going after the contact, ultimately sending him off course. I had to check up big time to avoid him. At that point Thiele had a large lead on the field because he was the only car to avoid the incident. I tried my hardest to reel him in with some sucess. We both had good and bad traffic, and I ultimately closed to about 2 car lengths. when I caught up to Thiele I also caught the ITB race for 1st and so I was stuck. Rob Thiele drove a great race and I threw everything I had at him, he deserved the win for sure.

On another note;

The only complaint I had from the weekend was some of the lack of hospitality in the paddock from some of the MARRS guys....a Miata crew (sorry but it was). NJMP doesn't allow reserving spots guys. Summit is Summit, NJ is NJ get over it and represent your region with some class; especially when you're running a "race business". Nuff said.

R

[jjjanos]

Bump drafting. Some of us do it, the SM guys do it all the time - its part of how they make the speed and it's accepted with the drivers. Make note of it and if a driver wants to protest someone for it, the record will be there. If it's something that the stewards don't want to see, write it up in the supps.

Why? It's in the GCR. Bump drafting is illegal, period unless the supps specifically allow it.

6.8.1. On Course Driver Conduct
A. It is the responsibility of all drivers to avoid physical contact between cars on the race track.

[John Nesbitt]

...

They weren't getting black flagged. They were shown the furled black, then talked to after. A great way to do it. They also showed the furled black and talked to guys who kept putting four off......... and there were a LOT of them!!

As far as the track and the region officials, I think it was the "friendliest" weekend I've been to. Yes, they pulled a lot of people in but it wasn't intrusive to the racing.

The closed black is a way of giving a warning to someone while they are still on track: "We saw what you did. Stop it." It is typically followed up with at least a conversation with a steward at the end of the session.

Remember that, unlike an open black flag, a closed black does not require you to come into the pits right away. You just have to mend your ways.

I thought that folks generally behaved very well over the weekend. I was Chairman of the SOM, and the court had very few 'customers', compared to many MARRS races.

[steve b]

I had a great time even running dead last. Can't wait to come up to Thunderbolt and start the learning curve (which was painfully slow) all over again.

Hopefully I got everyone around me okay.

[Andy Bettencourt]

I had a great time even running dead last. Can't wait to come up to Thunderbolt and start the learning curve (which was painfully slow) all over again.

Hopefully I got everyone around me okay.

Steve, I watched your MKI and the other one with great interest. Very cool and well turned out cars. Good luck!

[Doc Bro]

I had a great time even running dead last. Can't wait to come up to Thunderbolt and start the learning curve (which was painfully slow) all over again.

Hopefully I got everyone around me okay.

I was in your race group ( the Black e36 in ITR). You were great. Good job.

R