The Devil in the Dark 2013

[Knestis]

Pending "Full Release" by those with empowered to do so.

K

[RSTPerformance]

RST Performance Racing is happy to officially announce that we will be running the #50 Mazda RX8 at the “Devil In The Dark” 12 hour endurance race. The team has competed in several multi-driver 3hr and 4hr endurance races however this will be the first time that the team takes on a 12hr endurance race. It will also be the first time that we will be racing at night!

At this years event not only will the car turn some heads but we are also excited to announce our driver line-up that should turn even more heads!

Long Time endurance driver/champion: Kirk Knestis
FWD hero: Tim Dugan
Co Pilot: Raymond Blethen
RX8 "pro" driver: Stephen Blethen
5th driver: To Be Announced!

The team of drivers will be supported in pit lane by the same people who have helped make RST Performance Racing so successful over the years:

Crew Chief: Randy Schneiderheinze
Alignment Specialist: Tom Gray
Diagnostics: James Chafe
Gas Man: Justin Abbott

We are also happy to announce that we will be working with SCCA officials to test a possible future tire rule for long distance endurance racing. The car will be set up per the NASA PTC class but will run in the ITX3 class with a street tire restriction putting us in the highly competitive E3 Endurance Class for this event. We are confident that despite the restrictions on the car and the number of pit stops we will need to make, our driver line-up will be able to keep us near the front of the pack against all of the Miata’s!



RST Performance Racing has been competing and supporting SCCA road racing since 1984; Information can be found at www.rstperformance.com. More information about the Devil In The Dark 12 hour endurance race can be found at www.thedevilinthedark.com.

[Knestis]

Woo-hoo! This is going to be *very* interesting. I'm jazzed about being part of the tire test initiative. Props to the organizers for giving this a shot!

K

[StephenB]

So how far do miatas go on a tank of gas? WE only go about 60-65 minutes so I am thinking we may be at a HUGE disadvantage!

With that being said does anyone know how long an average pit stop time with refuelling takes?

With some math I can set some goals for us to start practicing Surely the gas will take less time since it only fits 12-13 gallons max.

Do people set up lighting out over the pit wall into pit lane? how is the lighting that already exists from the track?

What other random things do we need to plan for?


Excited to be participating in this event, I have heard nothing but great things in the past and I am excited to be part of it this year. Pretty cool to have the famous "K" with us as well! I almost put a "K" on the window instead of his last name

Stephen

[Knestis]

Pablo used to need about 3.5 minutes (additional time on the lap, not time sitting still) to do tires, 22 gallons of fuel (NASCAR dry break dump), and driver change. That presumes the typical rules that require the driver out while refueling.

Pit lights are helpful but differ in importance by track. I have to confess I don't remember how much lighting the track provided last year but I think it was pretty good...

K

[webhound]

The supps dictate driver out while fueling.

We used two halogens (think the ones painters use) on the wall at Road Atlanta to illuminate our hot pit, we'll use that with another two on a stand for additional. We've also decided on some sort of lighting inside our EZ Up to help with finding tools and such on the cold side. For this we'll use a couple enclosed kitchen type fluorescent lights. Another quick idea I had from watching the Rolex is a cheap collapsible shelf, probably plastic four-levels that you'd find at H-D racing on the cold side for driver gear, otherwise the gear shits up your space, and drivers end up putting that stuff on seating surfaces, tool boxes and coolers.

Will

[JLawton]

So how far do miatas go on a tank of gas? WE only go about 60-65 minutes so I am thinking we may be at a HUGE disadvantage!

With that being said does anyone know how long an average pit stop time with refuelling takes?

With some math I can set some goals for us to start practicing Surely the gas will take less time since it only fits 12-13 gallons max.

Do people set up lighting out over the pit wall into pit lane? how is the lighting that already exists from the track?

What other random things do we need to plan for?


Excited to be participating in this event, I have heard nothing but great things in the past and I am excited to be part of it this year. Pretty cool to have the famous "K" with us as well! I almost put a "K" on the window instead of his last name

Stephen

Stephen,
You have one of the best amature enduro experts on your team................ Ask him!!

[RSTPerformance]

RST Performance Racing is happy to announce that our 5th driver for the Devil in the Dark 12 hour endurance race will be Rob Foley! I think we have a great driver line up and the best crew we could ask for... Now the only thing to question will be how good these street tires do against the R compounds

Raymond

[Knestis]

...and that is going to be a very interesting question. The more I think about it, the more I'm pleased to be part of this experiment. Go back and look at all of the "why is Chump/LeMons better than SCCA" conversations on the various boards. I'm convinced that much of the difference is cost (real or perceived) and that a pretty substantial chunk of that is tires. NJMP is going to be something of an acid-test for the concept, being relatively tough on tires but if we can demonstrate that we can get through a 12-hour race without using the 10 tires that I would typically dedicate to the process, it may be something of a game-changer.

K