Our next race was the SCCA Majors event at Mid-Ohio May 30-June 1, 2014. Mid-Ohio is a FUN track to drive but it is also one of the technical tracks in the US in my opinion. The last time I was there the car's handling wasn't to my liking so John Block and I talked about it and came up with a different set-up. Unfortunately there wasn't going to be a test day before the event and the first session was the first qualifying session. The one benefit to that was that we didn't have to spend money for the test day but I of course found another way to spend that money. :)
Wyatt Gooden (wyattgooden.com) is a renowned SIM racer who won an iRacing championship and the prize was a ride in a real race car in the 2010 Volkswagen Jetta TDI Championship. He did very well in that series and won two of the races and also won the title of Rookie of the Year. Wyatt also drove for Quantum Racing Services in the F1600 series in 2011 and won all four races that he entered including the races at Mid-Ohio. I met Wyatt at one of the races and had some email correspondence with him regarding iRacing setups and the similarities between online racing and real racing. Over the winter Wyatt sent me an email which announced his new company (Wyatt Gooden Racing) where he would provide both coaching services online using iRacing and at the track coaching services. I decided to take him up on the online coaching services prior to Mid-Ohio. I have always felt that iRacing and other online racing venues can provide real world racing benefits and this was a perfect way to test it out.
Wyatt chose a Spec Racer Ford (SRF) as the car to drive since he felt the way the car handled (mainly how the weight transferred) was the most similar to my race car. Wyatt told me to practice some and get to what I thought was a decent lap time and then download the data and send it to him. I did that and then he drove some laps and he compared his data to mine and sent me a detailed report discussing the differences. After I had time to review the report, we got on iRacing together and he drove some laps so that I could see what he was doing at different corners. Then I drove some laps and he critiqued what I was doing and we focused on specific corners where I was having difficulty. We were online for 2 hours and although I wasn't able to immediately replicate everything that he was teaching me, I understood what I was supposed to be doing and it gave me something to practice before we made the drive out to Mid-Ohio. I'll get into the details of the qualifying sessions and the races below but between Wyatt's services and John's services I was 4-5 mph at the apex of certain corners and I effectively took at least a second off of my previous best time. It wasn't an apples to apples comparison because when I was at Mid-Ohio in 2013 we didn't run the chicane and we were running the chicane this time around. But I can't argue with those results -- thanks Wyatt! And thanks again John for your help as well!
As mentioned above, there was no test day so it was straight to qualifying on Friday. Unfortunately our first qualifying session was cut short after about 10 minutes due to a major incident that happened right in front of me. I caught a F500 entering the Keyhole and as we came out we were both catching a Formula Vee. All three cars were at full throttle going down the back straight and the F500 and I caught the FV at the kink in the back straight. The FV was on the left, I was on the right, and the F500 was in the middle. I was also slightly behind the F500 so I could see the F500 passing the FV. There was plenty of room between all of us but for some reason the left rear of the F500 made contact with the right front of the FV. The F500 got in the air and made a hard left into the concrete wall on the left -- not good. My data shows that I'm doing about 120 mph there so the F500's speed had to be similar. The F500 driver was briefly knocked unconscious and had to be cut from the car. He was then airlifted to the nearest hospital. I never did find out exactly how he was doing but I heard a rumor that he had a broken leg and I certainly wouldn't be surprised if I found out that he had a concussion. The only thing positive from the session was that the car felt pretty good and I turned the 3rd fastest FF time.
The 2nd qualifying session was less eventful (thank goodness) but the track felt really slick. Still, my car felt fairly balanced and that gave me some confidence. I thought my speed was pretty good but the FF drivers that were there were really quick and I ended up qualifying 7th out of 14. Still not too bad in my opinion -- I figured I could move up from there. I sent the data from the session to John and we made some small changes to the car but nothing major.
Our race on Saturday was around 11 am and it was a 30 minute timed race. Unfortunately I didn't get a great start and a F500 easily got in front of me and so did a couple of FFs. I was able to pass one FF back going down the back straight. I stayed behind the next FF until the F500 made a mistake in the chicane and the FF was able to get buy the F500. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get by the F500 at the same time and I was stuck behind it for another full lap. The F500s have great acceleration but they don't corner as well as our cars do (at least this one didn't) and they can really screw up our races as a result because their lap times aren't as fast but they are difficult to pass. It was amazing how much of a gap the FF pulled out on me in one lap. Luckily someone put down oil in the chicane and the F500 spun out in it on the next lap and I was able to get by him. I was glad that I didn't have to battle the F500 anymore. The track was really slick again but I put my head down and just tried to crank out laps. I did have a FF behind me that was really putting the pressure on me but I tried to focus on catching the next FF. Fortunately for me (but unfortunately for him) the car behind me ended up spinning. I ended up catching the car in front and we proceeded to battle for 6th position. You can see what happened in the video but we went two wide through the corner (T7) at the end of the back straight and I tried to give him room as we set-up for T8 but unfortunately he ended up hitting my left rear and we were both done. He apologized for the incident but after watching the video I think I should have given him more room as well. The one thing that I was concerned about was losing traction and going off course if I tried to take the corner wider. Hindsight is always 20/20 though. It really was fun while it lasted!
Mid-Ohio Saturday Race Last 10 Laps
In order for me to race on Sunday, my car needed to be fixed. The left rear half shaft was knocked out and there were a number of other pieces that needed to be replaced including the right rear brake caliper which was surprising since everything else was on the left side. I'm still not 100% sure that the caliper wasn't damaged previously. I had some of the needed parts but thanks to Jeremy Grenier of Ski Motorsports as well as one of the vendors at the track I was able to come up with the rest. I forgot to mention that Chris Elwell was helping us again and this time he was actually doing double duty and helping a friend of his running a Bugeye Sprite in H Production as well. Plus, Chris brought his girlfriend and this was her first race weekend so she was able to see what racing is really like. She actually seemed to like being around it so that is good for Chris. :) Chris was a big help in getting the car back together.
I was able to run a few hardship laps on Sunday morning and I found that there was still some air in the brake lines. We bled the brake lines and crossed our fingers that all the air was out before the race. But on the warm-up lap on Sunday's race the pedal still felt soft. It crossed my mind to pull it into the pits and now I wished I had but I knew I could get brake pressure by pumping the pedal so I figured I could do a couple laps to see how it felt. At the start I again had a F500 (really a F600 with a motorcycle engine) come screaming by me at the start. I got through the chicane and was turning into the Keyhole when I suddenly got hit from behind by the same F500 that I had to race with the first couple of laps the day before. I don't know what he was thinking but he was obviously overzealous. He actually ended up riding on the back of my car partly around the corner and he ended up flattening my right rear as well as bending my sway bar and other pieces. Of course he was able to continue and he actually got 2nd place in his race because there was only a handful of F500s entered. I didn't talk to the F500 driver but I will at the next event that both of us are at. Anyway, here is the link to the video from Sunday's race. Hopefully the next race weekend is better!! We are planning on racing at our home track (Summit Point, WV) August 1st -3rd.
Mid-Ohio Sunday Race
Just one more thing, congrats to Jeremy Grenier of Ski Motorsports for winning on Sunday and finishing 2nd to Tim Kautz on Saturday. Those two guys were the class of the field and it is amazing how fast those guys can hustle their cars around the track! Here is a link to a video that Jeremy posted from Saturday. This is how it should be done!!
Jeremy Grenier chasing Tim Kautz Saturday Race at Mid-Ohio
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
VIR SCCA Majors 2014
Prior to the start of this season, my wife and crew (Terry) and I talked about whether or not to run the F1600 Pro Series again or to run SCCA Majors weekends. There are positives and negatives to both but the main decision maker was whether or not the events were fun for both of us. I enjoyed being on track with only Formula F cars at the pro series races but I have to admit that the stress level was a few notches higher compared to SCCA weekends because of the schedules. There just wasn't a lot of time between some of the sessions and that can create quite a big problem for a small team like ours that doesn't have the manpower to get the car back on track in a short period -- especially if there is a problem. Conversely, the main issue that I have with running SCCA weekends is being on track with cars in other classes. That has definitely bitten me but the schedules are a little more relaxed and the stress level for Terry and I is down at these events so as a result so I consider the SCCA events to be more fun for us. This is just a hobby after all. I still love following the pro F1600, F2000, and Formula Atlantic series' and it is really impressive to see what some of those drivers can do -- especially the young kids in the F1600 series! If I win the lottery and I can have a pro team behind me then I would definitely be right there with them! I also think that the USA needs these series in order to help ensure that a US driver makes it to Formula 1 or even to get more Americans in the Indy Car series. There really is a lot of talented American drivers but it takes everything (especially a substantial amount of money) to get them to the ultimate pro ranks.
Anyway, the first race weekend for me this year was the SCCA Majors event at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) April 18-20, 2014. VIR was just repaved and it is at least 2 seconds a lap faster and probably the smoothest track I have ever driven on. Unfortunately Terry wasn't feeling well so she wasn't able to attend but I did have the help of a couple of younger racers, Chris and Luke. I have mentioned Chris before but Luke just got his SCCA regional license and he decided to make the 4.5 hour drive down from Northern Virginia and help out. Believe me, the help from Chris and Luke was very much appreciated! I also had John Block of Autoware (www.auto-ware.com) on standby throughout the weekend to analyze my data and give me set-up advice. I have really enjoy working with John and I think we have made great progress with the car set-ups and getting me to drive the car harder.
I've heard several drivers complain about not having the time to look at data during a race weekend. Frankly, it is a very valid complaint but John had provided a solution -- he does the analysis while you can focus on other things. You just have to email it to him and he will get back to you in an hour or so. Here is an example of just one of the benefits that I have experienced by using John's services. Before VIR but after a test at Summit Point John noticed that the right front shock histogram was looking very different from the rest so he had me check things out. It turns out that a bolt was binding in the upper rod end of the pushrod going from the lower A-arm to the rocker. The wheel would move the shock fine as long as there was enough force but the histogram showed that it wasn't moving properly over smaller bumps. This could obviously cause the car to handle differently so it was a great find and again shows the benefit of having data. John's pricing is very fair and I definitely encourage those with a data system but feel that they don't have time to analyze the data to utilize his services.
In addition to having John helping me out, James Kearney of Kearney Driver Development (www.kearneyKDD.com) was at the track working with some clients and he was kind enough to give me some segment times and other words of wisdom. Jim is a great driver's coach so those racers reading this should definitely consider using his coaching if they can!
For the SCCA Majors weekends, there are two qualifying sessions on Friday, a race on Saturday, and a race on Sunday. Your best time from the two qualifiers grids you for Saturday's race but your best time from the two qualifiers plus Saturday's race grids you for Sunday's race. As mentioned above, we also share the track with other classes and for this weekend we were sharing the track with Formula 500s and Formula Vees. I qualified 5th in my class for Saturday's race and there was no way any of us were going to go faster than our qualifying times in Saturday's race because it was raining Saturday morning. Here is a link to a video from VIR qualifying:
VIR Qual 2 4-18-14
We were scheduled to race in the morning and according to the forecasts it was going to rain all morning so Chris, Luke, and I put a rain set-up including rain tires on the car when we got to the track. But then it stopped raining an hour before our race. And when this happens there is a lot of second guessing as to whether or not rain tires are a right choice. I could see the track drying but I initially stuck to my decision to run on rain tires. Cars were already going up to the grid and Chris was buckling me in my car when I changed my mind. :) I figured that Chris and Luke would be able to change the tires in time so I asked them to put the slicks on. Chris and Luke did a great job and got the tires changed quickly -- THANKS Chris and Luke!! It turns out that we had more time than we thought because there was significant cleanup from the previous race group. But I was still the only Formula F on slicks and I knew it was a gamble and that I was either going to be the hero or the zero. On the pace lap I could tell that it was the right decision because I could see that there was a dry line and it still wasn't raining but unfortunately I lost the back end of the car going through a corner at the end of the first lap and ended up on the wet grass and mud. Unfortunately it took me forever to get going again. I was able to work my way back up to 6th place in my class so I guess I wasn't a total zero. :) Here is a link to a video showing the first part of the race.
VIR Race 1 4-19-14
The good news was that the car was just a little muddy and there wasn't much to do to prepare it for Sunday's race. I was again starting 5th and there was no guessing about the weather -- it was a nice dry day and track. A F500 decided to race me another Formula F in the beginning stages of the race and that broke us off of the leading Formula F cars pretty quickly. I also made a couple of little mistakes early on and that hurt my lap times. However, I got a couple of lucky breaks when the car in 4th place spun and then the car in 3rd place went off course avoiding an incident with a car in another class. That means that I was in 3rd place! But the previous 3rd place driver was Lewis Cooper (a National Champion) who has a very nice Spectrum Formula F and he was coming on strong. This was the first time I had to deal with lapped traffic and I was probably a little too conservative with my passing. Lew caught and passed me as we started the last lap and I finished 4th. Obviously I was a little disappointed that I didn't get on the podium but it was a fun race and I was really happy with the gains that I made during the weekend. And a 4th place finish, a 6th place finish, and being able to roll the car back in the trailer after the weekend ain't that bad! This video is the entire Sunday race so it is rather long!
VIR Race 2 4-20-14
Btw, the videos in this posting were created using a GoPro camera but the I was able to overlay the data using Race Render (racerender.com) software. This software is actually pretty neat. It is a little difficult to get the data to align with the video but once you do that you can include any data that you have collected on the video and you can present it in different formats. Hope you enjoy them!
Anyway, the first race weekend for me this year was the SCCA Majors event at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) April 18-20, 2014. VIR was just repaved and it is at least 2 seconds a lap faster and probably the smoothest track I have ever driven on. Unfortunately Terry wasn't feeling well so she wasn't able to attend but I did have the help of a couple of younger racers, Chris and Luke. I have mentioned Chris before but Luke just got his SCCA regional license and he decided to make the 4.5 hour drive down from Northern Virginia and help out. Believe me, the help from Chris and Luke was very much appreciated! I also had John Block of Autoware (www.auto-ware.com) on standby throughout the weekend to analyze my data and give me set-up advice. I have really enjoy working with John and I think we have made great progress with the car set-ups and getting me to drive the car harder.
I've heard several drivers complain about not having the time to look at data during a race weekend. Frankly, it is a very valid complaint but John had provided a solution -- he does the analysis while you can focus on other things. You just have to email it to him and he will get back to you in an hour or so. Here is an example of just one of the benefits that I have experienced by using John's services. Before VIR but after a test at Summit Point John noticed that the right front shock histogram was looking very different from the rest so he had me check things out. It turns out that a bolt was binding in the upper rod end of the pushrod going from the lower A-arm to the rocker. The wheel would move the shock fine as long as there was enough force but the histogram showed that it wasn't moving properly over smaller bumps. This could obviously cause the car to handle differently so it was a great find and again shows the benefit of having data. John's pricing is very fair and I definitely encourage those with a data system but feel that they don't have time to analyze the data to utilize his services.
In addition to having John helping me out, James Kearney of Kearney Driver Development (www.kearneyKDD.com) was at the track working with some clients and he was kind enough to give me some segment times and other words of wisdom. Jim is a great driver's coach so those racers reading this should definitely consider using his coaching if they can!
For the SCCA Majors weekends, there are two qualifying sessions on Friday, a race on Saturday, and a race on Sunday. Your best time from the two qualifiers grids you for Saturday's race but your best time from the two qualifiers plus Saturday's race grids you for Sunday's race. As mentioned above, we also share the track with other classes and for this weekend we were sharing the track with Formula 500s and Formula Vees. I qualified 5th in my class for Saturday's race and there was no way any of us were going to go faster than our qualifying times in Saturday's race because it was raining Saturday morning. Here is a link to a video from VIR qualifying:
VIR Qual 2 4-18-14
We were scheduled to race in the morning and according to the forecasts it was going to rain all morning so Chris, Luke, and I put a rain set-up including rain tires on the car when we got to the track. But then it stopped raining an hour before our race. And when this happens there is a lot of second guessing as to whether or not rain tires are a right choice. I could see the track drying but I initially stuck to my decision to run on rain tires. Cars were already going up to the grid and Chris was buckling me in my car when I changed my mind. :) I figured that Chris and Luke would be able to change the tires in time so I asked them to put the slicks on. Chris and Luke did a great job and got the tires changed quickly -- THANKS Chris and Luke!! It turns out that we had more time than we thought because there was significant cleanup from the previous race group. But I was still the only Formula F on slicks and I knew it was a gamble and that I was either going to be the hero or the zero. On the pace lap I could tell that it was the right decision because I could see that there was a dry line and it still wasn't raining but unfortunately I lost the back end of the car going through a corner at the end of the first lap and ended up on the wet grass and mud. Unfortunately it took me forever to get going again. I was able to work my way back up to 6th place in my class so I guess I wasn't a total zero. :) Here is a link to a video showing the first part of the race.
VIR Race 1 4-19-14
The good news was that the car was just a little muddy and there wasn't much to do to prepare it for Sunday's race. I was again starting 5th and there was no guessing about the weather -- it was a nice dry day and track. A F500 decided to race me another Formula F in the beginning stages of the race and that broke us off of the leading Formula F cars pretty quickly. I also made a couple of little mistakes early on and that hurt my lap times. However, I got a couple of lucky breaks when the car in 4th place spun and then the car in 3rd place went off course avoiding an incident with a car in another class. That means that I was in 3rd place! But the previous 3rd place driver was Lewis Cooper (a National Champion) who has a very nice Spectrum Formula F and he was coming on strong. This was the first time I had to deal with lapped traffic and I was probably a little too conservative with my passing. Lew caught and passed me as we started the last lap and I finished 4th. Obviously I was a little disappointed that I didn't get on the podium but it was a fun race and I was really happy with the gains that I made during the weekend. And a 4th place finish, a 6th place finish, and being able to roll the car back in the trailer after the weekend ain't that bad! This video is the entire Sunday race so it is rather long!
VIR Race 2 4-20-14
Btw, the videos in this posting were created using a GoPro camera but the I was able to overlay the data using Race Render (racerender.com) software. This software is actually pretty neat. It is a little difficult to get the data to align with the video but once you do that you can include any data that you have collected on the video and you can present it in different formats. Hope you enjoy them!
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