Executive Summary:

I went to the Runoffs at IMS entered in STU. The car made it through all three qualifying sessions and I started the race at the back of the field in 29th place. I ran the entire race, moved up 9 spots to finish 20th and improved on my best qualifying time by 5 seconds. I drove the car back the trailer after the race. Today I drove it from the trailer into the shop.

Longer Story:

I started prepping for the Runoffs in mid July. As detailed earlier I went through the fuel system back to front, the ignition system and electrical systems. Also made a trip to the JPM dyno where miracles occurred and my car's running issues were resolved. Every nut, bolt and screw on the car was touched by the appropriate tool. Finally I added some aero devices. Specifically a rear wing and a splitter/under tray. I spent a considerable amount of time on the splitter both at the shop and later at the track. The car looked really cool before the first qualifying session:






First Qualifying Session:

STU was the second group to take the track on Tuesday 9/28 at about 8:40AM Est. The sky was clear and the sun was bright especially in turns 4 and 8. I was pretty stressed and barley slept the night before. The glare from the sunlight, a general lack of sleep and the desire to put down a good time turned out to be a bad combination.

The splitter I had spent so much time on didn't survive an entire green flag lap. I killed it when I missed the turn in point at turn 8 and cut across the grass to rejoin the track at turn 10. I got a fair amount of air doing this and ripped the splitter free from it's mounts. But it didn't completely come off so I drug it around the track for 5 more laps. Occasionally, the splitter found its way under my front tires where it provided no additional traction. On lap two, I blew through turn 1 with a big lock up. Instead of using the correct bail out procedure to rejoin the track, I did a 180 and rejoined the track at turn 1. This was a mistake and earned me a visit from a Race Steward. He was nice about the whole deal and probably figured I had suffered enough when he saw how disfigured the front of my car was. Oh, and last but not least, later in the session I decided to test my rally cross skills further when I blew turn 4 and drove through the sand trap and reentered the track at turn 5.

Back at my paddock spot I got busy with hammers, drills to get things straightened back out. The splitter was trashed so I took it off. A highlight came with kurtf came by and introduced himself. It was great to put a face with with a forum presence. Kurt's a great guy and I had a lot of fun chatting with him and over the week. My wife and his wife also hit it off so that was cool too. Spoiler alert, Kurt had a successful Runoffs....he should have a good write up in a few weeks.

Later in the day Austin Bradshaw dropped by and introduced himself as well. Super nice young man and it was good to talk to him. He was doing a great job in qualifying and his car (as is Kurt's) is really nice. I gotta up my game.

The funny part was my wife's reaction to these visits. I am pretty reserved....she is my social director....and I don't talk to many people at the track. She didn't know about this build thread or the stuff we talk about here. She looked at me and said, "your famous!" and was genuinely shocked.

Qualifying Part 2

On Wednesday I decided to go out without the wing and of course with no splitter. Also put on some scuff tires just to go back to a "known" setup. Oh, and I slept most of the night before. Just like the first day we were an early group but we were also not combined with GT3. So I ran the entire session, found the track better and improved my lap times considerably. The old tires were not really up to the task the car was suicidal on turn in so I had a few "moments." I also found the turn 4 sand trap again. This time I managed to get about 20 feet deep into it but was able to power my way out.

The car ran cooler and was still running strong so it was a better day

Qualifying 3:

I decided the wing needed to go back on and so did a new set of Goodyears. On the wing I removed the Gurney flap and lowered the end plates (to stay in rules compliance) and filled the fuel cell. Also did a nut and bolt check a general inspection.

This time we were the third group out on Thursday morning but were again combined with GT3. The session started ok for me and I could tell that the new tires and wing "fixed" the car so I was pretty happy. The GT3 cars really caught me off guard though (they are freaking fast) and with yet another trip through the turn 4 kitty litter I decided to come in after three laps. Which was a mistake

Later in the evening at the dinner, it was pointed out to me that I was NOT under the 115% requirement in the official grid. After reviewing the supps, I realized I needed to speak to the Race Director in order to get a waiver to start my race. My day went from great to not so great.......

Pleading my case:

Friday morning I woke up at 630 and arrived at the track at 730. I could have gotten to the track earlier.....I didn't sleep much the night before. I was able to secure a meeting with the Race Director shortly after the end of the T4 race. It was a short meeting and after discussing my plight I was granted a wavier to start the race. It was made clear to me that I would be black flagged if I failed to keep up with the field. All of this is fair. I didn't do my job in the last qualifying session. But I was going to get to race.

Race Day Report.......coming soon

 

Thanks for the detailed report. Congrats on making the event, overcoming the issues and finishing the race. That has to give you a sense of accomplishment.

 

It was cool seeing it on TV...got a couple of good shots, I was watching it at work with no sound so I don't know if the announcers said anything about you...have to go back and re-watch. Figured there must have been some issues you were dealing with but good job making up spots in the race. I was very sad to see Austin's car get clobbered in the EP race. He and his family have been a great help to my team and he did a 24hr race last year with us. Looking forward to your next report!

 

Race Day:

I spent Friday doing a through race prep. More nut and bolt checks, topped off the fuel cell, cleaned the wheels and inspected the tires. Chris, my wife, vacuumed out the car and I put the cool shirt box in the car and routed the hoses for it. Also cleaned the front and rear windows and decided to tape up the top of the windshield to fix early morning glare. Grilled some burgers, had a few beers and got a good nights rest.....for a change.

Saturday we were the first race, due to start at 8:10. We arrived at the track early, finished getting the car ready, I put on my super suit and got in the car. We had trouble getting the window net to work - it had been moved during the vacuuming - but we got it in finally. Then I went to start the car. It sputtered, caught and then flooded. The battery started getting flat and wouldn't turn over the engine fast enough. We were getting frantic. Fortunately one of the racers near us figured out what was going on and got a bunch other racers and crew to give me a push start. The car started and I made it to grid just in time to get the 3 minute notice......whew!

We rolled off the grid on time and the pace lap started. Lots of tire warning and brake warming by all the competitors. I kept telling my self it is just another race.....just another race....just like a bunch of other races I had been in. After turn 10 the pace car left the leaders to continue towards the green flag. Up front the racers picked up the pace and before I knew it all of us back markers were strung out and starting to move a race speeds to keep up. When we entered the front straight we were met with a cloud of wall to wall of grey smoke. I am starting to have visions of Days Of Thunder hearing Harry Hogg in my head and wondering where I should aim my car. Save me Tom Cruise.....save me! Out of the cloud of smoke an Toyota 86 appeared and it was obvious that it had blowed up.

And we were off and racing. The Supra I was paired up at the start moved up several places and the Neon I had been racing with all season fell backward towards me. Just as I was making a plan to put some moves on the Neon I saw the double yellow flags. FCY. We stayed like that for the next 4-5 laps. Alternating between tire warming and trying not to that guy that hits another guy during a FCY. It was sort of a blessing. It calmed me down and gave me time to think.

At the restart the back of the field started to reshuffle again. Soon I caught and passed a Miata at the Hulman Straight and then settled into a racing rhythm. Eventually I found myself dicing a little with the 85 Supra of Peter Federlin. I made a successful pass at turn 12 and then got off line at 13 and put 4 wheels off. Federlin let me get back on the track and we raced down the front straight where he passed me back. We settled into that running order and progressed around the track as cars in front of us started dropping out of the race. At one point we both had to short cut turn 10 to avoid a spinning Neon.

I started getting sore. This is the longest race I had been in for a while and my left thigh was getting crampy. I shifted in my seat a little and tried to focus on running clean lines. it worked and I felt better eventually. Federlin had gaped me a fair amount but occasionally he fell back towards me or maybe I did something right for a while and caught him. All the while my car was running very well....not hot....plenty oil pressure. Around lap 16 the front runners started to catch me. First Moser, the eventual race winner and then the Audi, Lotus and Honda. Later three more guys flowed past with the S2000 pulling off a perfect drift through turn 7 right in front of me.

As we went down the front straight for the second to the last time I saw Federlin miss turn one. Maybe it was intentional to let a faster car go by or maybe he over cooked it. Either way, I got in front of him but noticed that once he got on track he wasn't that far behind. I started to press to keep my lead over him. My car was still driving well but it was clear that the tires were past their prime. There was a equal lack of grip at both ends of the car. I kept my lead and eventually saw the white flag at the Yard of Bricks as we headed down the front straight for the last time. Through turns 1-8 I had an advantage over Federlin. But as we rolled through 9, 10, and 11 it was clear he was catching me. At turn 12 Federlin pulled a well timed dive bomb and I gave him plenty of room. Then he over cooked 13 and put 4 wheels off in the grass.....like an idiot I followed him there. Then it was a drag race to the finish. I held on to second gear a little too long but started reeling him in once I was in 3rd but ran out of race just before we crossed the line.

Peter Federlin and I had improved our starting positions by 8 places during the race (later it would be 9). Because Peter placed higher than I did, he scored the Sunoco Hard Charger award. He deserved it. He drove a great race with a wounded car.

Epilogue:

So this was the culmination of my dream to race at Indy. A race like this is the reason why I built this car and authored this thread. Would a story book ending have put me in the top ten....on the podium....maybe sipping champagne from the first place trophy....sure. But lets be real, I am the nut holding the wheel on this race car and while I can do better; I got the most out of where I was on that day in that place.

I want to thank a few people. My wife for putting up with me when I am pissy, dejected and for being the person that cries when the car breaks and cries when everything works out like this week. Charlie Clark at KC Raceware for years of Mentorship and advice. There is no racing for me without Charlie. David Long at Santa Fe Garage for all the machine work, hand me down parts and for teaching me how to do this stuff the right way. Jesse Prather for fixing my stupid car and salvaging my year. And finally all of you....KurtF, ConeKiller13, j9fd3s, Carl, Kenku, mhr650 and countless others that contributed, asked questions, answered questions and kept my head in the game all of these years. I hope that I helped and inspired you. You have certainly done the same for me.

Post race.....

 

Great wrap up. It would have been nice if the cameras would have caught some of the action you had racing with Federlin. It's great to hear how satisfied you are with the weekend and the opportunity to have some good racing and yes, this thread has been great inspiration to me and my team. We are constantly referencing things that you've done, not only in engineering solutions but quality of work. So now the question begs, what's next? I'm hoping you will be continuing to campaign this car locally and maybe go to another runoffs in the future...? More upgrades/changes planned?

 

Sounds like you had some fun racing once it got to the day! I had a couple other friends running at Indy and ... well. Hope to get up to speed in T4 or GT3 by the time the runoffs come around to there again.

 

ConeKiller I was pretty happy with the coverage I received on the telecast. The battle through the last few turns was a hoot and they showed the last part of it.

As for future plans, I will race in the Midwest Division next year and work on winning Division Championship. My next "big" event would be something like the June Sprints or COTA in 2023. As for the Runoffs, I am not sure I want to do one again. It is allot of work even when nothing bad happens. Plus your race can be totally screwed up by things out of your control - watch the H Production and E Production races. It is not a good bang for the buck either given the amount of track time that is included for the cost of the race entry. For me the best parts were the new people I met this year and seeing the people from 2017 again and immediately reestablishing the connection that was created four years ago. And I am not the people person on my team!

Future projects on the car will include finding a final solution for my fourth gear vibration, fixing the air dam, under tray and taking the dings out of the radiator duct. Would also like to shed some weight on the car and do a proper alignment/corner weight.

 

For your sake I hope that we return to Indy some day. Racing there is a big deal for sure. It would be nice if we could reestablish a better working relationship between the Indy Track crew and our drivers. The lack of hot-pulls really screwed up the races. What I heard is that the track crew was concerned about the number of passes under yellow that they were seeing. So throwing a FCY became SOP for the races.

Also the track has a few issues that could be corrected. For example it is way too easy to end up in the sand trap to the outside of the 6 (the "Horseshoe"). More grass run off would be nice there. Or they could change the characteristics of the sand trap so that is more like the one outside of turn 4. I know for a fact that a person can drive out of that one, I did it 3 times. Anyway a solution for all of the FCYs is needed.

 

Car looked great and sounded sweet. So cool to see it up close. Fantastic hanging out with you and your wife. Fun
watching the race and and hope we can do it all over again soon.

nice write up btw.

 

Same here, hanging out was a highlight. I was very impressed with your car and the work you have done on it. You had a great drive in your race! We need to find a centrally located track between KS and CA to go to.

 

Interesting that you mention T-4. I was pouring over that rule set (as well as B-Spec) looking for ideas for a simpler race car. I have been studying the 4.0.L Mustang but it looks like they are a back marker and their tires are spendy. Which one are you considering, a Miata or maybe an RX8? The cost of entry on an RX8 makes it attractive if you can find one with a "blown" engine.

 

Dupe!

 

yes? oh sorry i'm late! congrats! super exiting weekend, and its always great to live the dream
when we did the nationals, at laguna in 2016, it was a 40 minute race after 3 days of practice and qual, so half the field broke.
i think the tow truck was out but they could only get the dangerous stuff, if you broke and pulled over you sat the race out.
the other thing was that they only did a local yellow, so they were racing around the tow truck, which got kind of hectic.

i keep asking Don to do a fast lap in the tow truck, i think its on pace with the slower race cars.

 

Oh it's even easier than that... dad built a T4 NC MX-5 out of a street car and it's what I got my comp license in a few years ago. Running with Midwest Council and stuff but ... I figure in the next year or two, get an SCCA license and do more races. Probably need a couple things for all the T4 legal parts (header, retune, maybe the Penskes instead of Bilsteins) but mostly there. Something about a car to learn with that you can just get in and drive... and that you can't screw yourself up on setup because it's a spec suspension package.

I have a friend (Greg Guthrie) with an RX-8 that was running T4 at the runoffs... midpack but he had a blast. RX-8 seems kind of high speed-ey and isn't allowed proper spring rates, NC MX-5 is allowed springs but is down on straight line speed.

 

So race shots. Snipped these from prints that I bought


Out of turn 8 I think. Lifting the inside front tire

Pass at turn 7

Braking into turn 7. You can see a hint of flame behind the car

 

Wow...those are some nice shots. Love the 3 wheeling!

 

Got any in car video?
Anyone got a link to the SCCA coverage?

 

 

 

Why does your tach bounce around so much?
Nice lap.

 

Thanks.
I think the tach needle is jumpy because it is old. It started doing it this year. So, it looks like its time to use the new Autometer tach I on the shelf.

 

Nice video! The G-force meter on the dash really caught my attention about mid-way through the video. Maybe could use a scale on the outside, but the fluid in the left reservoir pretty much tells the story of the "G's" Congrats on what sounds like an awesome week.

Carl

 

Thanks, yes it was a fun week. We are still coming down to earth
Yep the reservoirs kind of tell the story and I have caught myself watching them on the videos. Kind of surprised they don't leak! Jinx!.

 

Should have posted this sooner. One of this years SCCA HOA inductees is a friend and mentor of mine - Charlie Clark. https://www.scca.com/articles/201565...-of-fame-class

He is an RX7 racer from a way back - starting with a 79/80 model in Improved Touring S trim (the first race car he let me work on). Later he built an E Production RX7 for SCCA National racing so he could retire his GT3 Corvair. I was working for him when he started racing RX7s and I remember not really liking the way they sounded.

Some of you may be using the front hubs he developed for GSL/SE front brakes in E Production that he sells through his KCRaceware.com site. Prior to that he did some POC work using spherical bearings on SA/FB suspensions for Improved Touring. Locally, he constructed 3 more FB E Production RX7s for other racers including one that later won the Runoffs and another one that was at Indy this year.

I see Charlie at least once a week at the race shop and he is still actively working on car stuff.

 

The "not JPM Shop tour." Its dusty and cluttered but this is where we play with cars.

Charlie Clark's toys:

C Prepared autocross car. This car is listed in the past Champions section in the SCCA Solo Rule book 4 times (3 in CP and 1 in DP). The car was also campaigned in D Production and then later in GT3. It made a number of Runoffs appearances at Road Atlanta. The engine is heavily modified and fitted with dual 3 barrel IDA Webers and a KC Raceware vertical fan. Rear suspension is a 5 link modeled after a formula car.

E Production RX7. Currently has a JPM 12A mated to a Jerico Y2K transmission. Rear suspension is a 3 Link with Watts link. Axle housing fitted with Speedway Engineering floating axles and hubs. Charlie retired the Yenko from road racing about the time when the Runoffs moved from Road Atlanta to Mid Ohio. The economics of a limited prep RX7 in E Production are hard to beat. Charlie, among others, helped make the SCCA Production Limited Prep rule set a reality.

LS Swap S10

I am not sure if it is allowed or even legal to have a race shop that DOESN'T include an LS Swap. Here is ours. The owner has revamped the front and rear suspension and installed up graded brakes. Will eventually have an LS with a Tremec 6sp

A "Capri"

Remember the Mazda based Mercury Capri. This one was originally set up for F Production road racing. When the owner passed, it was picked by its current owner and is being prepped for E Prepared autox competition. Charlie Clark caged the car many years ago

Nissan Sentra...no really, that is what it is

Bare Naked Nissan Sentra. The owner stripped it down and is almost done with paint. Then wiring, new brake plumbing and reassembly. This car competes in GT Lite and was at Indy in 2021.

Tony G's Z Car!

How about a 1 owner Datsun 240Z? That is what this! In fact it was the first 240Z sold in KC. The owner drove this car on the street, autocrossed it in various classes and then road raced it. In autocross he runs the car in F and X Prepared. When he road races it, it is used in GT2. The car has been to numerous Solo Nationals and Runoffs. In 2020, Charlie Clark fabricated the SLA front you see here

More 1 owner 240Z. The owner is our resident composites guy. All of the fenders, hoods and even the wings are his. He made my carbon fiber hood and all of the body work on Charlie's cars.

Jerico 5 speed from the 240Z

Lopshire Toyota Tercel

The other GT Lite car in the shop. The owner built this car from the ground up. I mean the whole, freaking, thing. So like if you have a new Miller welder and pile of tubes...why not. The car has been raced in GT5 and then later GT Lite. So it has been around for awhile. Currently It features a 1.6L 4 valve engine with EFI. Transmission is a 5sp sequential and has a Winter quick change rear end. Its fast and not low budget.

My Shi....I mean stuff

My mess....really, its a mess right now. I have the engine and trans out of the car. The Jerico transmission is being inspected for bad bearings. So far nothing untoward has been found .

More of my mess. Engine will get an S4 water pump housing and an oil pan with some oil control improvements.
Under the hatch, you can see all of the stuff I have removed from the car....in bags and labeled. I'm messy but organized!!!