Thank you, NASA, CORNERWORKERS!!! and VIR.....great weekend....cept for the humidity....


On to the racing.
R&D crew arrived friday morning for the test and tune. Talked dave into going on friday so that we could dial in the new car and there would be no concerns come saturday when we took the grid for the first time in the car. Friday's test and tune proved a couple of things....I only need a couple laps in the car at MY HOME TRACK (13 weekends now) to be quick...The new car felt GREAT!!!! cept for the oversteer that it had.....serious oversteer....but as the laps went by that was the fastest way to get the car around the track, sideways. I guess i was now experiencing what corey brags about all the time....james and i diced it up alittle on friday and following him i wondered how my my rearend steps out at hogpen....cause his was sideways more than once!

saturday comes......
practice goes good....parker the rookie leads the way through in practice....we started in the back of the first row and within 2 laps we were through all the 944 cars that were in front of us....practice went well....i pit and we make no changes on the car cept for bleeding the brakes.
qualifying....4 laps in dave calls on the radio.....SMOKE....about .5 second earlier i noticed it too....as he was saying "SMOKE" i was already checking out the guages....by the time he finished saying smoke i had the car shut down because there was NO OIL PRESSURE reading on the guage....my heart sinks.....my weekend is over.....embarassment etc.....i get pulled into the pits thanks to the VIR WORKERS....
after inspecting the car and seeing no rods through the block it was determined that the smoke was caused by the oil pressure line.,,,must have it the header and melted....so we start the car and sure enough oil coming out of the oil line!!!!! hunter runs to advanced and brings back a line...(hunter, you still owe me 8 bucks for those spark plugs at NAPA!!! ) so we get it back together and are good to go....i qualified 5th after only 4 laps. not great but ohkay....i knew i would own the start....or at least i thought i would....

the race.....don't remember much except chasin, chasing, more chasing, more chasing....half was throught the race i think i was still 5-8 cars behind whitake, corey and scot....then something happened....THEY STARTED RACING EACH OTHER!!! it was 3 wide in many spots...they either slowed down or i sped up and within 2 corners i was in the chase too....i think scot was in the lead and got stuck behind a 944, whitaker when by corey gave chase and then i ducked in behind corey and gave him a little love tap going under the bridge.....i then got past the tank on the front straight and the carbotech pads took the cobalts into turn one...(GUYS THAT IS AN INSIDE JOKE, i'm not saying anything bad about any company....just an inside joke corey and i have) so anywyas.....i got corey onthe front an was giving whitaker chase.....i gave john alittle love tap between 3 and 4 and then under the bridge again....man i wanted by but knew i didn't have the brakes to go deep on him since we HAD NOT BEEN ABLE TO GET PROPPER COOLING to the rotors in time.....so i ducted in and followed john up the hill....when out of nowhere i get SMACKED in the rear.....corey decided that he would return the favor of my love tap with a love SMACK dat azzzz...anyways...at the same time i gave john a tap.....i was thinking holy crap....WE ARE NOSE TO TAIL NOSE TO TAIL NOSE TO TAIL going ***** out into stevie wonder....a blind apex uphill down hill turn.....man too bad there weren't any spectators up there....i really think that is wehre most of the action happened!!! anyways....john and i get a few cars on corey on the front straight....a 944 is in front of john.....john goes wide.....and i start celebrating....i knew he messed up.....i took the inside at turn 1 and we were 3 wide....john 944 me....by the apex john and i had left the 944....and i was a nose in front.....held john off by 3 and went wide.....i went 4 off but was somehow able to contunie with my speed and got back on track without getting passed....had to take a funky line into 4 when SMACK....i got hit....HARD....i immediately opened the steering wheel and luckily i didn't spin.....i continued in the grass till t-5....coming on the the back straight i checked my mirrors and didn't see either john or corey....a big sigh of relieve cause i don't think i had taken a breath yet that whole race!!!
somehow corey had gotten around john and was back on my butt by hogpen....i got a good run out of the pen and put a few cars on corey.....corey hounded me for a few laps before the white flag came out....

i actually saw 2 white flags.....dave on the radio said he saw checked fly when i drove by but i didn't.....and knowing what happens when you don't take the checkered i continued to race for another lap....

weights had been lifted off of my shoulders when that checkered came....WE FINISHED....and in FIRST!!!! it felt great and i knew then why i had continued to prusue this hobby i so througholy enjoy!!!

sunday's qualifying.....i dind't do so well since i went into a tire wall after 4 laps....so i started 18th on row 9.....
it's all good....i kill american iron at the drag strip every friday night why wouldn't i do the same there....
ended up i got DQ'd for bumping a factory 5 car.....actually my bump caused him to spin which is technically a PUNT by nasa standards....i actually took the lead for a corner or 2 durning the HC race on sunday....but brake fade DUE TO INSUFFIENT COOLING caused me to go off at 1.....i worked my way back to the leaders and was side by side with corey when i went straight off at 7 trying to get past him....finished 4th in HC after starting 6 or8th....but all was lost due to a factory 5 guy coming down on my line.... oh well....that's racing....

overall very happy with the new car....i am even digging the dents and wrinkles from the tire wall....although it was nice to have a CLEAN PRETTY car for about 30 laps!!! hehehe.....

thanks H1 guys for the great racing!!!!!!! it was fun to be in the HUNT again!!!

 

Nice write-up Chad . Your 4 off in race 1 between 3 and 4 was quite entertaining!

Brian

 

I have to ask:

Just HOW often do you guys hit each other????

I'm kidding, sort of.....

Bowie

 

I hit you coming down roller coaster on the short straight.. =~)

Chad "why did you hit me"
Me "you were going to slow"



BEST racing ever last weekend, Honda Challenge Rules

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Honda318dx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">BEST racing ever last weekend, Honda Challenge Rules</TD></TR></TABLE>

...and i missed it all... BAH!

and my intake cam gear is pointing in a funny direction...stupid cars...

 

corey you got me going up the hill to stevie wonder didn't you??

and it isn't HITTING....it is bumping...

i was gonna tap our boy bookler....but i remembered his antics on the internet and decided not to break his car in...

 

Yikes. When I got to the part about the oil pressure... well, I jumped to conclussions!!

Nice job and congrats.

 

OK, I'll take up where Bowie kind of went. Chad, how many times did you "love tap" someone? I counted 2 or 3....Bump drafting Ok but.....

I remember back in the "old days" when there was a meeting with the powers that be (Scott and Karl) if ANYONE hit/ tapped etc ANYONE. The beauty of ECHC was there was an enforced 13/13 rule. Hit anyone and you stood a chance of being put on probation for 13 months (or something like that). Amazingly there was little metal to metal contact! Go figure.

Guess since this has now been rolled into NASA this is no longer so strictly enforced. This was one major topic of debates when ECHC came under NASA.

While I'm not racing this year (building a house takes a lot of time!) I'd sure love to come back next year and see a bit more attention/ focus on the no contact ideal.

Ron

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by thecaptain &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I remember back in the "old days" when there was a meeting with the powers that be (Scott and Karl) if ANYONE hit/ tapped etc ANYONE. The beauty of ECHC was there was an enforced 13/13 rule. Hit anyone and you stood a chance of being put on probation for 13 months (or something like that). Amazingly there was little metal to metal contact! Go figure.</TD></TR></TABLE>

IIRC Scott said something about contact being part of it and a 13/13 not an effective or enforcable rule.

He then left for the SCCA.

EDIT: The rule as of now, taken straight from the 2004 ECHC Rules:

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">19.0 On Course Conduct
The philosophy behind the Honda Challenge Series is a simple one. It is intended to be a Motorsports showcase for Honda products in a clean, sportsmanlike environment. The belief is that a skilled, clean, wellexecuted pass is preferable to “punting” one’s competition off the racetrack or “leaning” against them to gain position. It is felt that a sportsmanlike environment, where skill is more highly valued than aggression, fosters sportsmanship and friendship. It also helps the participants maintain a reasonable budget. This being said, participants in the Honda Challenge need to be aware that accidents happen in automobile racing. Racing is, by nature, a dangerous sport. It should be noted that any driver displaying rough, negligent, or unsportsmanlike conduct will receive harsh penalties, which may include loss of points, suspension and/or fines. Additionally, an Incident Review Board (IRB) may be assembled to investigate an on-track incident. Please consult the NASA CCR for specifics with regard to incidents and penalties.</TD></TR></TABLE>

No mention of a specific 13/13 in there.

On a side-note for some reason my Acrobat is showing all edits/changes (and the ORIGINAL info) made in that .PDF and I see a lot of minor changes have been made to class rules. Is this normal during the season?

How odd . . .

 

No to rain on Chads parade, but AS he said he did get dsq'd from the race on sunday for the love tap between him and the FFR Cobra unintentional as it was.
As far as the contect between him and Whitacker in turn three and four that as just racing as both cars had droped wheels of the pavement and were fighting for control.

You should have seen the train of people who came up to talk to Control this weekend, for a multitude of things inlcuding contact between cars.


BTW Chad... Great Driving regarldess, the pass you made on Whitacker going through 2 was just great driving. nice pick with the 944 car!


Modified by Solracer at 2:27 PM 8/2/2004

 

The "hitting" is love taps... No one is taking each other out..

I don't think I rubbed ya at stevie, only on Rollercoaster..

 

Drew I can't speak to what Scott may have said. My understanding of why he left was it took too much away from a race weekend by being in charge of the ECHC. Ask Karl, a LOT of time was spent behind the scenes before, during and after each race weekend to pull it all together. We went for almost a year without seeing Karl smile!

As for 13/13 not being able to be enforced, the contrary was true. I recall several folks being put on probation and perhaps even loosing their licenses for metal to metal contact.

NASA's wording is what I consider pretty vague. ECHC wording was very, very straight forward. Sure we all understood that racing incidents can and do happen. I like what NASA is doing but they seem to be straying dangerously close to what the SCCA was here not too many years ago. Lots of words but no action in this area.....

Not to single Chad out as I didn't see the racing but he did get DNQ'D on Sunday. I wonder if anyone talked to him about contact on Saturday?? If the contact on Sunday wasn't his fault then why didn't the NASA's "racing incidents" part of the rule apply?

The appeal of ECHC to me was that a bunch of honda owners got together and raced each other with high regard for each other's and their own equipment. The SINGLE biggest draw for fans was the ECHC races. The standing start, the great racing, all this had fan appeal. Frankly we have lost some of that and its a shame to see. I'm sure there are excellent reasons for the changes. As I said, NASA runs a fine show and packs a LOT into a weekend. Scheduling must be a nightmare!

 

I believe the contact Chad had on Sunday was in T3 on the opening lap, it was very bunched up coming through there, someone may have checked up in front of him, who knows.

Brian

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by thecaptain &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My understanding of why he left was it took too much away from a race weekend by being in charge of the ECHC.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Oh I am not in any way implying that he left because of the 13/13 situation. The 2 were unrelated beyond the fact that I seem to remember the rule being changed for Season 2 and he didn't run much (if at all) then.

I do NOT remember exactly what he said regarding the rule but his comments struck me as him not being very fond of the 13/13 structure. I could be completely off-base but I DO remember the original ECHC rules actually calling it the 13/13 rule. Now the ECHC rules are vague and subjective.

 

Of course Chad didn't mention that he was going to give me the love tap DURING THE COOL DOWN LAP! LMAO!

In Chad's defense, I was right behind him when he "punted" the Cobra, and I didn't think it was his fault at all. Those first few turns were mayhem!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by thecaptain &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">a bunch of honda owners got together and raced each other with high regard for each other's and their own equipment. </TD></TR></TABLE>

What has changed?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by .RJ &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What has changed?</TD></TR></TABLE>

The fact that there is more contact in 1 ECHC race now than there was the entire first season.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by thecaptain &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
NASA's wording is what I consider pretty vague. ECHC wording was very, very straight forward. Sure we all understood that racing incidents can and do happen. I like what NASA is doing but they seem to be straying dangerously close to what the SCCA was here not too many years ago. Lots of words but no action in this area..... </TD></TR></TABLE>

Ron what makes you say there is nothing being done? Do you have a list of drivers that are on probation from braking the rules when it comes to contact/flagging? Control Does, and keeps that list from race to race... once you get enought points.. your done for the year.

All contacts situation that are called in are reviewed and then decided on weather they will be acted on or not, I know that Chad Contact with whitaker was reviewd and ruled a racing incident, espically with no change of posistion, the sunday one as differnt (not to pick on chad) as there was a change of posistion so he was DQ'd for that reasong from my understanding.

Ron how many weekends have you been with us and what makes you say it is all words?


Edit- Sorry to come of Harsh but know that JJ, Jim Politi and TS Chief JP did not get any beer or food saturday night at the party because they were trying to work out all the incidents that happen in the diffent groups (4or so in HC/944 alone) and then to hear someone say that NASA is not doing enought to enfornce contact upsets me.

 

David, please re-read my posts. I did not say that NASA was not enforcing stuff, I said it appeared that was the case based on what I read here in the forum...and only based on that. I can say, with out a doubt, that the contact rules are much more open to interpretation than they were under ECHC rules.

Someone else asked what has changed (honda owners running with respect ....). Hopefully nothing but I don't recall folks recounting how many "love taps" they gave in a race.

So, enough from me. As David Teague points out, and rightly so, I do NOT have any insight to what is going on behind the scenes. I was just going on what I've read here. Perhaps NASA should publish a list of protests and who is on probation so others don't draw the incorrect conclusion as I may have.

 

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

The fact that there is more contact in 1 ECHC race now than there was the entire first season.</TD></TR></TABLE>

contact yes, punts no...

Its just hard, good racing, you wouldn't understand unless you were out there.. My car my have a cracked bumper or bent fender now, but I came off the track with the biggest smile on my face because THAT was good racing, and I'm sure everyone in H1 or the rest of the ECHC would agree..

Who wasn't watching the Sunday race? Loss of spectators, I doubt that!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by thecaptain &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Perhaps NASA should publish a list of protests and who is on probation so others don't draw the incorrect conclusion as I may have. </TD></TR></TABLE>
I don't think that the general public should have the right to know of every protest that goes on, afterall some are not valid protests and are just done out of spite, and some are handled without any actual repurcussions (not on NASA's part, an agreement is reached by the drivers involved). I do agree however that there is validity in having a list of drivers on probation, people do have a right to know if the drivers they're racing with have any outstanding issues. Perhaps this is something that drivers (not spectators or others who don't have anything to do with the racing) should bring up to Chris.

FYI: My comment "not spectators/others" is not meant as a slight towards any one particular person, there just seems to be a lot of opinions floating around from people completely un-involved in the Racing weekends, and I think that adds a lot of fuel to the fire.

 

Ron,
Sorry for being harsh, I should not have put the dig in there about not racing with us and that was out of line becuase I know why you haven't and I should have said anything like that to someone l respect and consider a friend, I just got a bit riled up when I saw someone saying all the talk about cleaner racing with NASA was just words, and I typed before I thought... which I normally do not do so I apologize

However you are pobably right there probably is not enough info about what incidents are looked at and who is put on probation and such and I will ask Chris Cobetto about that, if that is information he wants to be made public or not. Ron you are not the first to ask thoose questions and that is probably why I jumped before looking...

I can tell you that any incident that is called in from the corners is investigated and that any incident a racer brings up is investigated, and that on satruday they stayed till 8:30 go over all incidents and reading all the reports from corner workers and drivers, I know that is what they get paid for, but I can tell you that JJ, Mark and Chris C take and incidnet, contact, blowing yellow flag and such, very seriusly.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Honda318dx &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

contact yes, punts no...

Its just hard, good racing, you wouldn't understand unless you were out there.. My car my have a cracked bumper or bent fender now, but I came off the track with the biggest smile on my face because THAT was good racing, and I'm sure everyone in H1 or the rest of the ECHC would agree..

Who wasn't watching the Sunday race? Loss of spectators, I doubt that!</TD></TR></TABLE>

I am pretty sure I understand what hard, good racing is. I am pretty sure I have been involved in a little of that over the last 5 years of racing. I submit that hard, good racing can be accomplished without ANY vehicle to vehicle contact, and that if contact occurs, it should be treated as a mistake, and apologised for.

I just see on this list a very cavalier attitude about contact, at least as referenced in the myriad ECHC posts, and the use of the thought that "you aren't racing unless you hit each other" worries me a bit.

Not calling anyone out, just an opinion.

Bowie

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dragon &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
FYI: My comment "not spectators/others" is not meant as a slight towards any one particular person, there just seems to be a lot of opinions floating around from people completely un-involved in the Racing weekends, and I think that adds a lot of fuel to the fire.</TD></TR></TABLE>


uh-huh.........

 

Dragon: Don't know your name but, no offense taken. I have raced with NASA and ECHC but not this year so you are 100% correct, this year I am nothing other than a spectator. But I do have a motive. I'm hoping to have some free time next year to come back and race.

David, no problem, I understand your reaction and why. It was, indeed, actually called for. I did NOT have full information and just reacted to what I had read.

To me it sounds like things are being handled.

Like SCCA does, regardless of merit, I still think protests and outcomes of them should be made public. What's the down side for the competitors?

Perhaps knowing your protest will be made public would eliminate some of the foolish ones.