Here are a few pics of practice and qualifying from Saturday @ Pacific Raceway.

And they were from 8/16/03 not 8/10 (<<<<<<------ idiot)

Jim Hill


JamesA


Links to the albums....
Album 1 http://members5.clubphoto.com/...phtml
Album 2 http://members5.clubphoto.com/...phtml

If anyone is interested in the full high res versions of the pictures or prints please let me know via email or pm.

Nash

 

Wow Nash, those are some nice pics, and you caught my pass on that big P-car too.

The race on Sunday didn't go as planned. I got the pole, lost the lead on the start from BMW traffic, regained the lead, and then tried a new line out in the dirt a few times on turn 8. This did make for insanely huge dust clouds, and it turned out to be the slow way around the track.

Great to see all the guys come out to the track, and meet some new ones.

 

Looks like all the Hondas made it out...except mine

Who won, lost, wrecked, broke...? I see Rick H made it out in Steve's CRX. How'd he do?

Keith and Reg should be in a pretty tight points battle for ITA. Anyone know the group 5 results for ITA?

 

Nice pics

Another Honda that's race did not go as planned.
2nd Place.
Beaten by VW fare and square.
Ultimately i beat myself (do not take out of context). Morning qualifying i was hitting everything dead on,
I had pole position. Come race time i couldn't hit anything right to save my life (or win the race). I was not at one with the track. I could blame new tires. Not getting the weight correct, 45 lbs. over min. weight. I could blame a rx7 who isn't even in contention with anyone but who insist on racing you, and messing you up and the racer you are in contention with (total frustration). Nope it was just me. To add insult to injury the winner said one more lap and i would have had him (his oil pressure was maxed). The race was cut short.
I did have a good weekend over all. Most of all i got my points.
If all weekends went as planned you wouldn't appreciate the ones that go good.


Modified by JAMES "A" at 3:09 PM 8/18/2003

 

Just a program note...

If I were in Seattle this coming weekend, I would go to PR and watch the Winston West race. It is ALWAYS good for some racing and big-car action. Michael Waltrip will be running and might surprise some folks. Last time I saw these cars @ Seattle, I was a starter-in-training and got to be in the flag stand for the start. I thought it was going to shake apart. That was the year that R. Petty ended up down by the railroad tracks on the back side...

Kirk

 

Kirk,
I was at the track this weekend, and today as well. The Winston West (NASCAR) cars will be using the "old" track configuration (at least the configuration you might be used to ) using the drag strip. There's a wall separating the "old" front straight from the "new" front straight that comes to a point as the drivers exit T9. It's not in a good spot, so let's hope it doesn't cut a car in half.

There's a lot of work being done out there, and after talking to a few guys out there today, they're bulldozing a lot of the old trees back by 3a-3b to make the track more "viewable" from the crane cameras.

This will be a televised event, but I'm not sure if they'll tape delay or not. Special race groups are ITS, ITE, and PCA. I'm not spending $50 for a ticket, so I'll see if I can weasel my way in somehow.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Knestis &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If I were in Seattle this coming weekend, I would go to PR and watch the Winston West race.</TD></TR></TABLE>


Hey there Kirk,

Whats a little airfare these days? Just make it happen. These guys will be an absolute hoot and holler to watch between what must be a caution filled afternoon.

There was an open test day last Friday with a bunch of Winston West guys out to learn the track, do set ups, etc. A few of the cars went home way bent. The telltale rubber marks coming down the back straight up into turn five told a lot of the story, brake lock ups and spins into the 10-12" FIA curb, launch across the track into the new concrete wall coated with tires.

Rick

 

Oh, so now I'm old? Oops - yeah, I am.

There was a wall there back in my day too, sonny. A guy flipped a Mitsubishi off of the end of it at a Conference driver school in the mid-80s. It basically went over the guy standing there pointing cars into the slow lane or the fast lane on the straight. I should remember his name but don't. FWIW, I don't recall any problems with the end of the pit wall at an actual racing event.

T9 got interesting when SIR management reconfigured the dragstrip launching pads, when they got the big NHRA gig - the corner got a little tighter and the put slimy stuff on the asphalt so it went from one of the most boring turns in NW road racing to one of the most dangerous. They kind of pulled the entrance to the pits back around toward 8 and the wall got less pointy looking...

K

 

Don't worry, were all aging.

Wrong wall. The "new" drivers right Turn 5a wall. A few years ago there were back to back year landslides that took the run off area and a small chunk of track down to aforementioned raliroad tracks. There is still a substantial hole (12-15 below track surface) there so they reasoned that 5 or 6 feet of gravel trap before the tire/concrete wall would be better.

The "old"straight was quite a challenge in the wet with its VHT coating. We could have held curling events on the front straight between sessions and cleaning people of the walls.

Rick

 

This was the wall I was referring to.



This is the best picture I could find on short notice. See the tire stacks? They are there to cushion the blunt end of the concrete barrior wall that separates the two main straights (similar to the concrete wall in the foreground) . It was there when the "new configuration" was first implemented, then went away due to safety reasons (so I'm told), and now it's back.

The car in the picture is exiting T9 and heading down the "current" (or new) main straight. The NASCAR race will go on the other side of the tires and use the "old" main straight and drag strip.

Rick,
Is this a temporary wall, or will it remain after the Winston race? Being how T9 is so narrow, I think the wall needs to go away and the dirt to drivers left on the "new" straight be paved to open up T9 a bit more.

 

There were a couple times this weekend that I tracked out to those tires at the end of the wall, and I was thinking, hmm thats new...I hope I don't plow into those.

 

That pic doesn't do the justice to the danger level of that wall. The tires amount to a Q-tip on the abutment end of the wall.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by johng &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It was there when the "new configuration" was first implemented, then went away due to safety reasons (so I'm told), and now it's back.</TD></TR></TABLE>

The original setup (last year) was actually at the edge of the gravel and back about 50 feet and also more narrow than the picture depicts. There was brick a 90 degrees to the track right at the edge of the line/track out point. We had a lot of debates on Friday night on whether to run in that config and looking back in hindsight we got lucky that no one hit the wall head on. Lost one car on the inside wall after he ran wide towards the wall and then crossed the straight into to opposite side.

Being the nice Steward that I am, I was the first to test apex concrete. Linkage broke at the shift/turn in point and I went head long into the concrete.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by johng &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Is this a temporary wall, or will it remain after the Winston race? Being how T9 is so narrow, I think the wall needs to go away and the dirt to drivers left on the "new" straight be paved to open up T9 a bit more.</TD></TR></TABLE>

The current opening in the wall will be plugged with bricks after the NW tour event. Eventually the old straight will be the new old straight as the dragstrip will be separated from the road course.

Current plans have the road course front straight and the drag strip opposing one another but only separated by a few feet.

Rick

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JHill &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There were a couple times this weekend that I tracked out to those tires at the end of the wall, and I was thinking, hmm thats new...I hope I don't plow into those.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

I am guessing that the cones should have led to the asphalt and not the gravel trap as well. Somebody should have brought that up before the end of the weekend.

Rick

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by turfer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">That pic doesn't do the justice to the danger level of that wall. The tires amount to a Q-tip on the abutment end of the wall.</TD></TR></TABLE>

well said.


<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by turfer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Current plans have the road course front straight and the drag strip opposing one another but only separated by a few feet. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Look at the track just a few weeks ago. You exit T9 and track out to the dirt area to your left. On the other side of the dirt area is the wall that runs parallel to the drag strip. Pave the dirt all the way to that wall and use the common wall to separate the road straight from the drag strip. Maybe then you could go 2-wide through T9 with both cars actually making it out the other side.

John -- who should've taken a picture today for Kirk

~edit~~ Are they also making a new parking lot as you enter the property?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by turfer &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I am guessing that the cones should have led to the asphalt and not the gravel trap as well. Somebody should have brought that up before the end of the weekend.

Rick</TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm sure a lot of people thought about the wall there, but I think that like me, most people were too busy fighting off the evil demons that seemed to be lurking all weekend. I need a bigger fly swatter.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by johng &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Pave the dirt all the way to that wall and use the common wall to separate the road straight from the drag strip. Maybe then you could go 2-wide through T9 with both cars actually making it out the other side.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

That would get my vote. There's too much risk in pinching drivers to the inside "point" (wall) to set up for a narrow track out. Things were dicey enough when the new whoopty asphalt bumps were in play.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bulldog_RS20 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

That would get my vote. There's too much risk in pinching drivers to the inside "point" (wall) to set up for a narrow track out. Things were dicey enough when the new whoopty asphalt bumps were in play.</TD></TR></TABLE>

The whoopty doos seemed to have been tamed since the last race. Maybe Jason got out his voodoo steamroller and did some magic.