Labor Day Double at Summit Point

[CRallo]

Awesome event, but a busy one for me...


Skipping to the punch line for now, apparently I'm not done with IT just yet!

[ajmr2]

Excellent race, Spencer, always great to see someone succeed with persistence and sheer determination. So was something wrong with the car at MARRS 11? I watched the M12 ITB race from the carousel before I headed home early, hot and tired from the previous 2 days of racing and wanting to save something for MARRS 13. (Excuses, excuses!)

Congrats!

[CRallo]

Thanks Art!! We changed drivers on you though

That said, Spencer did well considering he is new there and new to that car and improved as the weekend went on... I coached and crewed for him for the whole weekend and on Sunday evening he asked me to run the Monday B race.

Had a great race and I was very grateful for the opportunity! Even the people I beat thanked me for being there !! Great people. I hopefully will get to make a habit of running this thing, but we'll see...

[ajmr2]

Sorry Chris, my bad. I just looked at the driver list from MARRS 11 since MARRS 12 was not posted on MyLaps when I commented. Definitely hope to see you again! Perhaps MARRS 13?

[CRallo]

That's okay, even the announcers were confused!

[Knestis]

Chris also modestly doesn't mention how close he was to the B lap record. That's not screwing around.

For my part, I was super-sad to not be in that ITB brawl. The Jetta TDI is really cool and all but the MARRS B field is still some of the best pure road racing on the planet.

K

EDIT - Gratuitous "really cool car" pic follows, courtesy of Mike Kelley

[gran racing]

For my part, I was super-sad to not be in that ITB brawl.

How do you think I feel?? Glad you had fun with it Chris and the years of development were proven to Spencer.

Did they finally give Jeff U credit for his lap record? What was your fast time Chris?

[CRallo]

Chris also modestly doesn't mention how close he was to the B lap record. That's not screwing around.

For my part, I was super-sad to not be in that ITB brawl. The Jetta TDI is really cool and all but the MARRS B field is still some of the best pure road racing on the planet.

K

EDIT - Gratuitous "really cool car" pic follows, courtesy of Mike Kelley

Thanks Kirk, not even sure what my official fast time was to be honest... As soon as I got clear I eased up a bit and decided not to go for broke, all I know is that multiple .29's came up on the lap timer.

I was the only B car to not get lapped... That made the last lap very lonely, I drove it as a cool off as there was no need to keep on.

Had a great freaking race the first few laps!! Beth didn't give me an inch and nor did Tom, he kept us both very honest! I gauged the competition, made my final move on the 4th lap or so and managed to get clear by the end of that lap.

I was there crewing and coaching for Spencer Taylor who bought the car from Dave... I drove the car a couple sessions on Friday to gather data and good video to use to work with Spencer as well as check/adjust the setup. The car was very close, I only made three small tweaks. ----> thank you Kessler Engineering!

After the race on Sunday, Spencer asked me to take over driving duties for the ITB race on Monday... of course I obliged! "Go kick some ITB ass!" he said, so I did. And he is very happy to have me doing so on his behalf while we develop him as driver. He even picked up the entry fee...

I am very grateful to be working for such a generous team player!!

How do you think I feel?? Glad you had fun with it Chris and the years of development were proven to Spencer.

Did they finally give Jeff U credit for his lap record? What was your fast time Chris?

Yes, I believe so... He is credited with a 128.3X. Super fast!! Supposedly it was on a cool day with a tow... as many good records are set. As I said above, I'm not even sure what my official time was, as much as I was tempted to try for it, that wasn't why I was there and it was only my second day in the car...

[CRallo]

Oh and Kirk, or anyone else, how do I find the photographer(s) from the the event?

[ShelbyRacer]

Looked great coming past me. Unfortunately, I had nothing to help me get up to the real battles, but instead just had to battle to stay out of the way.

Not to steer away from the OP, but did anyone's logbook get zapped by the neat-and-clean fairies? I heard there was a protest stemming from the arbitrary and capricious nature of the enforcement. Any word on the outcome?

[CRallo]

They tried on our's... We wouldn't let them near it! Had a heart to heart with Nesbitt... Told him to clean up the series of contact and you won't have this problem! His basic response was chicken/egg and that this is one step toward doing that. We promised to clean it up by next year.

They don't care how good the paint is (I'd just waxed our's), a show paint job over dents won't cut it. I felt that they were reasonable with their expectations. but may have gone about it a bit gruffly.

They won't not let anyone race, but have a strong interest to clean things up... hopefully they do on all fronts and the clean up is a one time cost for everyone.

[ShelbyRacer]

My issue was *how* it was done, AND the fact that the MARRS series and DC Region (club racing programs at least) seem to think they can dictate policy over a wider area than their own. If you don't want my crinkled rear quarter, then be clear about it and I'll refrain from entering. However, when they place a notation in my logbook, thereby forcing the next Scrutineer to continue *their choice of preferred rules enforcement*, they've exceeded their place by a few orders of magnitude.

My Monday entry was pulled (not only for this reason, but this was the wagonload of straw bales that broke the camel's back) in protest. I do have to say that the DC Region folks I spoke to (including the Event Chair and RE) were very attentive, and I'm hoping my concerns will be addressed. If not, there are other places to race.

[CRallo]

Thank you. looked like you had some good racing at times regardless of where in the pack it was. My guy had to start at the back and work his way up...


There is a 100 post thread on the "other" IT site... I've not read it all.

Looked great coming past me. Unfortunately, I had nothing to help me get up to the real battles, but instead just had to battle to stay out of the way.

Not to steer away from the OP, but did anyone's logbook get zapped by the neat-and-clean fairies? I heard there was a protest stemming from the arbitrary and capricious nature of the enforcement. Any word on the outcome?

[CRallo]

I agree. Hence the fact that we wouldn't let them anywhere near our log book!

My issue was *how* it was done, AND the fact that the MARRS series and DC Region (club racing programs at least) seem to think they can dictate policy over a wider area than their own. If you don't want my crinkled rear quarter, then be clear about it and I'll refrain from entering. However, when they place a notation in my logbook, thereby forcing the next Scrutineer to enforce the policy, they've exceeded their place by a few orders of magnitude.

My Monday entry was pulled (not only for this reason, but this was the wagonload of straw bales that broke the camel's back) in protest. I do have to say that the DC Region folks I spoke to (including the Event Chair and RE) were very attentive, and I'm hoping my concerns will be addressed. If not, there are other places to race.

[ajmr2]

When they brought up the issue at the drivers' meeting I thought out loud, "there go most of the 2002s!" Much to my surprise, only one or 2 were cited. I even teased one of them on the way out about how he managed to escape the scrutineers. He just smiled and mumbled something appropriate.
Honestly, it's a lot of work with a couple guys (who will go nameless) to avoid contact. I get chopped off in T1 and T3 on a regular basis by the same guys! Heck, I like my fenders to be straight, ya know? Maybe they know that!

[cbuczesk]

Oh and Kirk, or anyone else, how do I find the photographer(s) from the the event?

Look for Mike Kelley on facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/mazda.at.speed

Chuck

[callard]

I can attest to the fact that Chris worked hard for his win.
Unlike the other evenings, he refused late night libations and went to bed early before his race. What's the point

Oh, yeah

[ajmr2]

Unfair advantage! I'm filing a protest!

[CRallo]

I can attest to the fact that Chris worked hard for his win.
Unlike the other evenings, he refused late night libations and went to bed early before his race. What's the point

Oh, yeah

haha thanks Chuck! I didn't get to bed as early as I should have, but the time was well spent...

Look for Mike Kelley on facebook.
https://www.facebook.com/mazda.at.speed

Chuck

Thanks! I don't see anything from Monday though

Unfair advantage! I'm filing a protest!

Sorry Art, but you missed the deadline for such a protest a while ago...

[Gregg]

Did they finally give Jeff U credit for his lap record? What was your fast time Chris?

Finally? The DC Region website has listed Jeff's ITB track record 1:28.19 since he got it in 2010:

http://wdcr-scca.org/ClubRacing/MARR...9/Default.aspx

Chris's fast time was a 1:29.30

Results from the weekend are here: http://wdcr-scca.org/ClubRacing/Even...6/Default.aspx