Memorial Day NHMS 2014

[jwasilko]

Test day was wet, ranging from mist to fairly heavy rain.

Some cars in the school session had accidents, not sure what else.

I don't think anyone won the test day though.

[MMiskoe]

Well, the weather was on & off as well as some of the cars.

Rain in the morning until about group 5, then it was nice, until group 6 - SM race in the afternoon when it rained like Noah talked about. So SM and ITE/ITR/GT/AS races were in heavy rain and surprisingly, they finished under green. Unlike ITA,B,C,S,7 and STL which were dry races, but finished under yellow.

Dick P. congratulated the rescue guys for doing hot pulls during group 2 qualifying, but then had a major failure in turn 3 rendering his Dino-7 a tripod and we finished behind the pacecar. This race however went off well considering the grid was scrambled due to the rain, very few problems at the first few laps. ITR got moved to group 7 and I was the only ITS car, so I either won, or came in dead last depending on your view.

ITA - Jeff Wasilko
ITB - Nat Wentworth
IT7 - Dan Sheppard


Group 4 STL SSM had two cars tangle in turn 6 and we were done after about 8 laps.

STL - Greg Amy
SM2 Jimmie Locke
STU - Cy Peak
SSM - Peter Fail

[StephenB]

Tim Dugan ran away with his ITS converted to ITR BMW in the rain today about 2 seconds a lap faster then the rest of us. Doc came in second in his bmw just ahead of Russ in his newly converted ITS to ITR 944 and I watched closely behind in 4th with the RX8. The three of us were equal with each other in lap times but all stayed safe! I have drastically changed my car set up for tomorrow and excited to try it out!

Stephen

[jwasilko]

As Matt said, Qual for ITA on Saturday morning was in the rain. Traffic was pretty heavy with the large car count and recent school grads. I thought I had a solid lap down and traffic was getting worse so I came in mid-way thru the session. Jeff Lawton stayed out until the end and bested me by by more than a second. He got pole for the the afternoon race with me in 3rd.

In the afternoon race, Jeff Lawton got together with the Blethens 3-wide in turn 3 on the first lap which made for an interesting start. Matt Miskoe and I had some fun racing, but I was dealing with a motor that was running hot and I kept having to duck out of traffic to get some cooler air. I ended up 2nd with a new T4 BRZ taking first. Matt Miskoe and Abhi were behind me.

In the cooler weather this morning I had no cooling issues and managed to put down a 1:15.874 and won the race. As Matt said, the race ended under caution. Robert Blake and Matt Miskoe (ITS) were 2nd/3rd with Matt Rowe and Abhi in 4th/5th.

I started from pole for the last race but didn't start as well as I could have and both Matt and Abhi got by me by turn 3. Traffic and a repeat of the overheating left me in 3rd overall in ITA. Blake/Lawton in the ITS RX7 took 1/2 and Abhi and Matt in ITA took 3/4. Matt Miskoe and I had some more fun racing but the cooling problems left me a bit behind. He finished ahead of me in 5th overall.

It was a fun weekend and I'm looking forward to the soft open at Thompson in a couple of weeks, and also the installation of a new radiator tomorrow!

[dickita15]

I agree with Mr Miskoe. For safety I worry mostly about the weight of the cars being not a big range and for fun if the cars race different i want enough speed difference that they pass easily without make desperate moves.

[JLawton]

Jeff and Abhi had awesome weekends. Hats off to both. Jeff was on fire in the morning race............ and was nice enough to loan me a part that helped me through the last race............ In which I came in third in ITB!

I was praying for rain the whole weekend...................

Other than the little incident Ray and I had, I think it was fairly clean weekend with everyone?

Hope the car is ready for LRP..............

[gran racing]

You better be ready for Lime Rock!

[Andy Bettencourt]

Nice write up!!! Have fun at LRP!!!

[Raceman77]

well all in all things went well. thanks to the workers for there work in the rain and all the operational people that were in place. great job by all. also thanks to mazza vineyards of Pa for being the sponsor for the NE Divisional Series. www.mazzawines.com

[JLawton]

Crap, I forgot to talk about the operation of the weekend. Very challenging during the school for workers and students. Great group of students, probably the best over all attitudes of any of the years........... Except the guy (I forgot what he drove) that made fun of Dave and Doug's camper......... he almost didn't get signed off......... But everyone did a great job of staying within their limits. Tough conditions all around.

I cant say enough about the workers who had to stand in it all day long........... and then the next morning They are awesome for the support they gave us.

JB did an awesome job! Great weekend operationally. Thanks JB!! And over all "niceness" of all the volunteers was above and beyond. Registration, tech, stewards. NER is top notch!!

Also a good job with the hot pulls. We could have easily spent twice as many laps under full course yellow but those guys were on their game.


And thanks to the IT7 guys for the entertainment! On and off the track!! And thank you Dan for being patient with me despite my on-track problems. (I hope I'm not ruining your reputation) Don't worry, Jamie gave me a ration of shit every time she saw me to make up for it!! LOL

[dickita15]

It did seem to go well considering the friggin rain. I ended up working tech for the school Thursday night and Saturday as no one else could. a few of you gave me a hand Thursday night which i appreciate but i really want to thank Denise Van Buren for helping me all Friday morning. I am sure i could not of kept up without her.
Dave Lapoint showed up Friday night to chief the rest of the weekend and i am grateful.
Group two Saturday qualifying sucked, no so much sucked as it seemed like ice. too stiff a car and too hard a tire and i was slowwwwww. 8th out of 10 in class i think. thank god there were two newbies to beat.
The afternoon race went well. Fair start, Buchello's car laid down a bit, Lavigne missed a shift, JB slipped up a little in 6. some fun with Denise and a Branscome and Raymond Blethen and I are moving up and i am catching Drew in the second place 7. Drew does not see me hiding behind the Audi. this is going to be good.
then going thru turn three a big bump, a quick spin and i am stuck in the middle of the track. left rear wheel had parted company. one stud pulled out of the axle and the other three broke in sympathy.
sorry to everyone for shortening your race. see you all at Thompson.

[georgethefierce]

From a new guys perspective the weekend was great, school in the rain was a real eye opener, thanks to the instructors and every one in the paddock that gave me advice, I learned a ton and had a blast...super special thanks to the It7 guys, you all made my first race weekend the most enjoyable experience it could have possibly been!

[YusufA]

Here is the URL for the Memorial Weekend photos. I'm transitioning my site and this is a quick and dirty gallery.

http://abudiphotography.com/pa/lr/NHMS-May-24-25-2014/

[kcolbey]

As a newbie to the track, I was in relatively happy with the weekend. My dad passed the school, but needs another school before his license. The torrential rain really messed with him, as all he got was mist on the windshield. As for my own racing, thanks to all the leaders for not running me over as I was being lapped (again, and again). I got faster in almost every session, until the Sunday afternoon race where I just hung around my morning quick time (but much more consistent). The other highlight, I wasn't last!
I installed some new brakes over the winter and what I found out was that they are really strong, but touchy. In the hairpin at 3, I had a couple lockups, one I'm sure which caused some commotion at the corner station, as I missed the concrete by about 6 inches. What it is telling me is I need more tire, or at least not super old heat cycled tires. Look forward to running with you guys again.

[Greg Amy]

A new one-handed technique. While holding the transaxle into 3rd and 5th. Without power steering. With a 13B-powered Miata chewing on my ass.

Never again. Arms/shoulder hurt; way too much work. Need to be a steward and just DQ people instead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGJzsFq6AGQ

[mossaidis]

A new one-handed technique. While holding the transaxle into 3rd and 5th.

Needle bearings on 3/5 shaft or 3/5 shifter fork?

[Greg Amy]

Needle bearings on 3/5 shaft or 3/5 shifter fork?

Even better: I'm flying in, from Ohio, a Honda transaxle-specialist/scientist, who will be doing DNA-chemical/carbon-dating/genetic-testing/climate-warming evaluation on said transaxle while the rest of of us grill various forms of protein, all while simultaneously consuming various brewed/malted/fermented beverages (except for the "flying" part; he's coming in via Greyhound and Metro North).

Translated: party at Kessler's on Saturday. MistaBone's showing up. BYO protein and beer. No, really, seriously.

GA

[mossaidis]

Even better: I'm flying in, from Ohio, a Honda transaxle-specialist/scientist, who will be doing DNA-chemical/carbon-dating/genetic-testing/climate-warming evaluation on said transaxle while the rest of of us grill various forms of protein, all while simultaneously consuming various brewed/malted/fermented beverages (except for the "flying" part; he's coming in via Greyhound and Metro North).

Translated: party at Kessler's on Saturday. MistaBone's showing up. BYO protein and beer. No, really, seriously.

GA

I read "Ohio" "Honda" "Transaxle"... I am like "Bones"? Yup. Have fun - say hi to "transzex" for me.

[JLawton]

Here is the URL for the Memorial Weekend photos. I'm transitioning my site and this is a quick and dirty gallery.

http://abudiphotography.com/pa/lr/NHMS-May-24-25-2014/

Once again, spectacular pictures! Thank you! I really like the ones over looking the speedway with the clouds (I'm assuming that was Sunday)

[georgethefierce]

Once again, spectacular pictures! Thank you! I really like the ones over looking the speedway with the clouds (I'm assuming that was Sunday)

agree 100% thanks for standing out in that crappy weather to grab some awesome pics!