Results from Lime Rock??

[TimM ITB]

Hope that everyone had a safe and fun weekend at LRP - anybody able to post some results?? I really wanted to be there this weekend, but had business committments - I'd love to hear how it went?

thanks,

Tim M

[observer]

Can't find results as well. Strange

[Dave Zaslow]

Tim,

Qualifying was interesting. As people were waiting to grid it started drizzling, then a light rain started. The track was an ice-rink and the ice racers did well. 35 cars started the race, 32 finished.

As of 4:30 PM the 'final' results were being re-evaluated for errors, so there will be 'really-we-mean-it, these are final' results. I can tell you the first six in ITB:

1st Raymond Blethen, 4th overall
2nd Stephen Blethen, 5th overall
3rd Enrick Benazic, 8th overall
4th Paul Curran, 13th overall
5th Dave Zaslow, 14th overall
6th Greg Subtelny, 15th overall

After that there are some issues.

Dave Gran balled up his car doing something lurid out of west bend and there was a 5 lap pace car period while it got yanked. I'm sure he is sore today.

I'll let someone else write about the ITS race results.

[observer]

Well done! Do you have the ITS qual/results though?!

[Andy Bettencourt]

From Memory

ITA Qual:

Rick Benazic
Richie Hunter
Andy Bettencourt

From Results:

ITA Final:

Rick Benazic
Greg Amy
Andy Bettencourt
Richie Hunter
Tim Klavna
Dom Vigliotti
Roger Daskam
Max Lingenheld
Louis Iannaccoine
Alan Daly

The top 3 ran across the stripe all inside of .869 window. I am bias but I can't see how it wasn't one of the best races to watch from the stands. Hunter was in the 4-car pack until he had to take the runoff road into one on the white flag lap. He also ran fast race lap of 1:02.220. Yikes! I think the top 4 or 5 ITA times were faster than ITS...3 of us in the 1:02's.

Our qual was in the rain so it was the first time on the track in the dry for most of us this year. Greg made a great run from more than a few rows back because he qualed on slicks and it was pretty wet. He rolled through traffic like a pro and pounced on me when a opportunity presented itself to him (that I created stupidly). I have some great video - and anyone wanting to build a NX2000 because they think it's the car to have needs to take a look - that freakin car looks like it just doesn't want to turn. Awesome driving. The NARRC runoffs should be a hoot.

AB

[BobsAuto]

Congrats! Raymond and Stephen!!!!!

It's really a shame that the ITB race got shortened so much due to the slow cleanup effort of the Acura. I am excited as hell that the kids got 1 and 2 on my first visit to LRP in 4 years, but it would have been fun to see more racing. It seems that a lot of track time continues to be under yellow (I remember racing that way in the old days) and I'm not sure what can speed up the process of getting more hot laps in. I empathize with the guys/gals who paid $280 for 6 hot laps at best.

On the other hand, I found that LRP was a wonderful place to take pics (again, my memory is so short and I forgot the old days) and hopefully will have some great pics for the RST website shortly. (I still use film) Maybe I cqan ask Santa for a digital SLR for Christmas with an assortment of lens' .
It was great seeing you all down there and hope to see you either the 4th (if I can afford the trip) or at the Pig Roast weekend. :P

[lateapex911]

Yeah, a note on the Gran deal. My understanding was that Dave was sadly successfull in bending most parts of the car out of West Bend while running 1st in ITB after a great wet qualifying session, and was holding station in 4th overall with the ITS cars! He looked set for the B win.

The car wound up just past the Bridge nosed into the outside barrier, and blocking the outside of the track. Not a great spot, and definately dangerous for racing with a local yellow.

On top of that, the positioning meant the wrecker would REALLY block the track. It is too bad that from the time of the incident, to the end was over 15 minutes. That sucks for those who went to race. I WASN'T impressed with the drop off of the car in the paddock either, when they brought a tow truck in to drag Daves car off the flatbed, but failed to releases the straps on the flatbed before doing a little tug of war with the car.

I WAS impressed when Steve Blethen volunteered his trailer to Dave so that Dave could get his car home, as he uses a tow dolly to transport the car, and the result had left no 2 wheels pointing the same direction. I know how it feels to be stranded at the track, (my school/race wound up with my car having it's front right suspension removed at Pocono..not my fault, LOL, but I had driven the car there. Gulp. Kurt Weiss, my instructor that day, and last years outgoing CRB Chairman was there, and handed me the keys to his rig. Thanks Kurt), and when guys Like Steve and Kurt step up like that you are reminded of how there are some great people in our sport.

Classs act, Steven, how was the drive home on the slicks?????

[Greg Amy]

The ITA was probably the best race I've had in a long time; I thoroughly enjoyed it. Andy Bettencourt was a demon mosquito on steroids, Rick Benzanic did an awesome job in qualifying, getting out front and staying there out of trouble, and grabbing a well-deserved win. Tim Klavana and Richie Hunter are not to be ignored; if it weren't for traffic I'd bet we'd have had a 1-2-3-4-5 finish nose-to-tail. Further, it's my firm belief that if had not had some similar-speed out-of-class traffic to deal with that Andy Bettencourt would ahve walked the whole field to the win. No more whining Bettencourt, you've shown your hand and it's got a couple of aces in there...

Anyone know why Jake Fisher was excluded?

I do have to offer public apologies to Dominick Vigliotti, and inferentially my buddy Rob Breault. Dominick got swallowed up by me, Tim, and Jonathan Leitner (EP BMW) at the green flag. I passed Dominick on the outside of the left hander; after reviewing my in-car videotape (and being surprised by seeing marks on the car after the race) I realize that between Leitner and me we (I?) did not give him enough room and we touched. I heard later that this caused a series of check-ups that took out Rob, and for all that I offer my sincerest mea culpas.

Greg

[lateapex911]

Anyone know why Jake Fisher was excluded?

Greg
[/b]

He and Rob breault got together, details I am not aware of.

Jake limped in, but wanted to finish. He went to the paddock, got a spare, bolted it on, came back, asked an SCCA type to rejoin, and was waved back on.

Thats a no-no...work must be done in the pits..he was mistakenly readmitted.

Too bad, as the brass higher up drew teh line, he never misses a checker.

The ITA race was a good one...Greg you had a good run from your start. I'd hate to have to keep you behind me if I found myself miraculously in front of you, LOL. Andy had a great run too. The Miata seems to be coming along nicely.,

[67ITB]

[quote]
Yeah, a note on the Gran deal. My understanding was that Dave was sadly successfull in bending most parts of the car out of West Bend while running 1st in ITB after a great wet qualifying session, and was holding station in 4th overall with the ITS cars! He looked set for the B win.

Dave,
Yellow car.... ITB.....in the lead.... wrecked car...... Sorry to hear that. been there done that.... still putting it back together.
If you need a hand shoot me a PM and I can stop over. also we have 3 HUGE dumpsters right around the corner if its that bad.

Again sorry to hear that


Matt Bal

[JLawton]

Stephen,
I agree with Jake, that was a class act! that's what it's all about!! I thought the ITS/ITB race was going to be a little more interesting than it was. But everyone seemed to behave themselves. It would have been a great show to see all the ITB guys start together. That would have been a hell of a race!!

Yup, the ITA race was one of the more exciting. But I am sick of Andy whining about needing 30 more horse power and Greg whining about his car bouncing all over!! After the show you guys put on, I don't want to here about it!! I think you both should get another 50 lbs!! And if Andy hadn't gotten caught in traffic...........

I hope Tim K chimes in with his interesting qualifying story!! That was too much!! I want to see some video!

[Andy Bettencourt]

Stephen,

Yup, the ITA race was one of the more exciting. But I am sick of Andy whining about needing 30 more horse power and Greg whining about his car bouncing all over!! After the show you guys put on, I don't want to here about it!! I think you both should get another 50 lbs!! And if Andy hadn't gotten caught in traffic...........
[/b]

Well I guess it depends on the track - as was predicted! LRP is pure momentum and we should be tough. NHIS and Pocono have 2nd gear corners and drag races where we are 2 seconds off the pace! Hello!!!

It's a fun car, I love it and we will develop it within an inch of it's life...

[dazzlesa]

the A race was great and the B race was anoying.
starting with qualifying i went out for B qualifying with dry tires on a wet track. i knew for A qualifing i needed the rains. i think the b quallifying gave me the edge i needed for the A race. i was allready comfortable on a wet track on dry's so running the rains just made it better and that helped get the pole for A.(side note first pole in a)
i was totally surprised that the its guys did not run off and hide from the B guys. we were mixed in between and i could not get past them to get a rythem going.
unfortunatly david wrecked and our race was cut short.does anybody know what happened to him? he was kicking our asses.
the A race was a blast. i had to run my ass off the hole race. first it was rich, then andy was flying and then greg from way back.i must say that the production guys were giving me and i am sure the rest of us fits.the fp guy was costing me time at the start and then he was racing me at the end of the race when i needed clear sailing.
i was surprissed how the tires were falling off at the end of the race. at summit the car stuck with me the whole race. i am thinking that we are so quick through the corners at lrp with short straights and the added weight to my car is taking a toll on the tires. i was fortunate to hold you guys off.
I know that the weight adjustments are good for the class but i liked the way the car used to run and feel. can we take more weight off all the cars across the board so i can drop mine back?????????????
Rick

[gran racing]

I appologize for screwing up the ITB / ITS race. I've been on the other side of things and know how frustrating it can be to have the race end up being a bunch of parade laps.

Before I get into the qual. / race stuff, I really, really want to thank Ray and Stephen for all of their help. Letting me borrow your trailer was so cool of you guys. I can't even tell you how much I appreciate it! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I want to thank everyone that stopped by to lend a helping hand, make sure I was o.k. and called me this weekend. This really is what club racing is about.

Oh Matt, dumpsters? Sweet!!! I was planning on taking off every useable part, but quickly remembered how difficult it was to get rid of my last parts car which I did the same to.

More to come soon.

[gran racing]

After finally getting to the track with a bit of a delay, I realized that I forgot my wallet with both my driver’s license and my race license in it. Nice! The workers at registration were extremely helpful, even though this was a pain in the butt for them. Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately as things turned out) one of my friends who was coming to the race just left his house and was able run to my house and get the wallet. But he was still over an hour away and B qualifying was scheduled to start right about then. The workers asked me to come back in about 45 min, when Topeka should open so they could verify things for me.

We got down into the paddock where Ray, Stephen and Jason saved me a spot - favor # 2 of the weekend. Little did they know. Before that, they also helped me find crew spots for two of my friends. I looked up in the sky and wondered what the heck was going on with this rain!! All week I heard that it was going to be absolutely beautiful outside. When I left CT, it look nice too. I learned one of my lessons here – don’t leave my intermediates/rain tires home regardless of what I think the weather will be like. The one really nice thing was I didn’t have to hem and haw over rains or dry tires. My friend got to the track with my wallet just in time, and I was able to go out for qual. When we got out there, the track sure felt slick! After a few laps I started feeling more comfortable with this rain racing thing, but I was nervous out there. When I came in, my friends asked how it was out there. Scary! But in a weird way fun. (They also quickly told me that the expression on my face when I came it didn’t look like it was one that a person would have after having fun!)

A little later I went to see what the results were. Thor (another B driver) stopped me and said congratulations. I quickly asked “for what?” That’s when I learned I got the B pole and qualified 4th overall with B/S/ and GT(?). I was in total shock with the news and needed to see the results for myself. I think Ray and Stephen were a bit surprised too?

Time for the race – I knew it wouldn’t be very long before the rest of the B guys were on my butt. During the start I was preparing for ITS cars to pouncing on me very quickly. After turn one, in amazement not many (if any) cars got by me. “O.k. But they’re going to be flying by anytime soon” I kept thinking. I also knew that I needed to take advantage of the fact that the other B guys were dealing with ITS traffic. After 4 laps, I was still in fourth position. I felt great out there! Going into West Bend, all of a sudden the rear of my car came waaaay out. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue and I did everything I should be doing with a FWD car. I thought I was going to be able to pull out of it, but before I could went into the grass and that’s all she wrote as everything went into slow motion. As I hit the inside wall then started crossing the track towards the outside wall, I was really afraid someone was going to hit me. After I finally stopped (after hitting the other wall) and the caution flag was out, I was extremely nervous about getting hit. I was sitting down the hill just enough I knew drivers wouldn’t be able to see me sitting there.

Although I feel horrible that I ruined everyone’s race, I am very happy I didn’t involve anyone else in my accident. Physically I'm fine; after coming to a stop I was expecting to have some physical issues. I know this is the most important thing, but metally I'm very frustrated and disappointed. I’ve replayed everything in my head (and video) too many times already, and still don’t know what happened. I had that race! It wasn’t like my line was off from where I normally run, or I did anything I consider dumb. A few people that know me well enough and realize that correcting my tail coming out is normally a very easy practice for me, wonder if there was something mechanical that broke. Regardless, the car is done, engine mount snapped off the block, who knows about the tranny. I’ve got a very long road ahead of me before 2007. I suppose this is one way to force me into getting a new tub for the Prelude (or whatever).

[benspeed]

Dave - that is a total bummer on your crash leading the race. I can relate to replaying what happened again and again an saying, "what the frig just happened?"

Glad you weren't hurt!

Cheers,

Ben

[RSTPerformance]

Well... After not getting any IT.com fix for a few days as I was up in NH right after Lime Rock working on stuff at my dads old house (moving the racing stuff out sucks ) and we have many more weeks of prepairing and moving to go... I am now in hartford for a meeting so I only have a few minutes...

Anyway onto the racing stuff...

Dave-

Was I suprised you were in front... HECK YES!!! With Scott not showing up and Jim M out from suspension issues I honestly wasn't all that concerned about being up front with the qualifying conditions. Just so everyone knows it was for all intence and purposes raining out, and the entire field was on dry's from what I saw. It was a friggen blast, although without a place to really work on the car after this race I played it VERY conservative. I wasn't all that confident on the dry tires and running a "rain" line however after talking to my brother and a few others it looks like I should have as it was much much faster. Needless to say I never got passed in qualifying and I didn't see anyone really keeping up so I didn't think I needed to try any harder... next time Dave watch out cause I will give it my all!!! All in all though Dave and Thor you guys did a great job I imgine that you had a lot of traffic to deal with as where I was on the track I didn't have much if any... Whenever I caught people they seemed to go off the track!!! lol

Anyway the race... We were a bit nervouse as our Rain tires take a different "lug bolt" as they have a different seat on the rim, so we were a bit nervouse and scrambled trying to make a plan incase it decided to continue raining. With the great help of Dave Zaslow and Mark Megliola we were able to get together enough "studs" and nuts for both sets of tires on both cars!!! We have wanted to change over to studs for a while now, so I am sorta glad we were forced to make a change... THANK YOU THANK YOU goes to Dave for supplying most of the parts, without him it never would have been possible!!!

ok now for the race... I think all of us "ITB'ers were a bit nervouse on the start for all the ITS cars that would be flying past us... For whatever reason they never came!!! I am thinking that I need to take on the challenge of running ITS as I would have finished 5th in a very healthy field, granted we only had 6 or so green flag laps. Anyway when the green flag flew one ITS car took off past me and my brother gong into big bend, as Dave was left unchallenged. Stephen and I got boxed out going onto no-name by an ITS car that I have no idea what was doing... I went past him like he was stoped in the grass as he moved over on me on no-name!!! Stephen had to slow and avoid contact and with that I was securly behind another RX-7 going into the uphill. All of a sudden he checked up and I made the decision although a bit risky to go to the outside of him going up the Uphill (well past the "window makere") over the crest we went and through the grass on the outside heading into west bend... after regaining pavement (notice not controle, cause it really was cumfy out thier!!!) I found myself in second place in ITB and 4th(/) overall. Later after the race I found out that the car I passed in the uphill had a flat and was already comited to the corner, I certainly wouldn't have wanted to be him, great job keeping it going streight!!! Anyway I new the rear tires were still cold and now covered in mud now as I turned into west bend. Sure enough the back came around in west bend but I held it together and headed down the hill still in second in ITB wiht a good lead now over my brother. Dave though pulled out a good lead on me in that first very entertaining lap. Dave maintained his lead and I struggled along trying to get into a grove... Then on lap 5 I see Dave apear to go off drivers left (no dirt) and shoot across the track with a very hard hit on drivers right before the bridge, he then bounced off the wall across the track again and into the wall on drivers left. The red ITS Porche (I will get the name, I forget dam it!!!) did an OUTSTANDING job avoiding Dave but had to slow up a lot, I was able to get back past him and was 4th overall!!!

The track crew did one of the slowest recoveries I have ever sceen, and I was very disapointed with the length of the yellow flag to recover 1 car (I think it was 15 minutes from what I was told). As far as I am concerned it wasn't dave's fault at all that our race was shortened, it was the track crew who picked up the car. Unfortunatly that is out of our hands and it is something we all probably have to live with.

Anyway after daves car was gone it was a 1 lap green flag sprint to the finish. A lap car (orange RX-7) was really slow in the turns and I don't think realized he was infront of a lot of cars going for a 1 lap sprint to the finish... He boxed a lot of people up including me at the exit of big bend and Stephen was able to get past me, unfortunatly Stephen also was boxed by him and I was able to get back past stephen in the left hander... from thier I was safe and shacking in nervouseness as I drove down the the checkerd flag for my 3rd win of the season!!! WOW, Third!!!! I am amaized, as the ITB competition is tough this year

All in all the weekend was a blast for me... I had a blast but was suprised in qualifying. The race was 6 heart pounding green flag laps which is all I expect at Lime rock running with a full field. The race was good clean and close racing.

Oh and PS: Dave, anytime we can help we would love to!!! See you tonight for a beer

oh PSS: Dave's "Tow Dolly" rear wheels didn't fit the Audi so we ran on the intermediates... they heat up and provide great traction!!! I don't think that tow dolly every stuck to the road so well

Raymond "looking forward to the next event!!!" Blethen

[Andy Bettencourt]

Results are HERE

[benspeed]

What is up with those ITS tiimes???? Them boys done got slow! Track must have been evil for the times to be that off for a dry race.

[gran racing]

Many sessions were slow. The ITB times were off too (myself included). But don't forget it rained not much earlier that day and the track was still pretty green.