Summit Point 12 hr Report

[.RJ]

(copy & paste from rr-ax.com, i'm too lazy to change any of it)

Good be out there and see lots of familiar faces - but we didnt fare so well

We had some difficulty in the first few hours of the race, and we had to put after ~90 min because our first driver was getting dehydrated and exhausted. After we got another of the drivers in we started really making up time on the track, and in the pits as other cars were coming in and we can go ~2:45-3:00 on a fuel fill (22 gallons) and up to 3rd in class and on the same lap as the other ITA cars. We got driver number 3 in, and within 2 laps he got hit by a damn spec miata twice coming into turn 5 in the left rear, and hit him so hard that it knocked the radiator out of its mount - we got him in, put another radiator in it, fired it up and it wouldnt even hold an idle and sounded like a lawnmower - pretty sure the head gasket blew. First time that our team has had a DNF, so we loaded up, cooked dinner on the grill then went down to the carousel with some beers.

Kirk & Co was there with their ITB car, looked like they had a tangle with a spec miata early in the race but they were running strong when I left around 9pm.... Blaney's team was there but they were in an out of the pits all day and I think they finally called it a race around the time I left, unfortunate because every year that I've crewed (I think I'm on my 5th?) they have a DNF.... Payton Wilson was leading the overall in an ITS RX7 and that thing was hauling ass. There was a grand-am cup ITR (Radial Tire) out but both halfshafts blew up within the first 3 hours. The car leading ITA for most of the race (VW Golf - I think an A2 chassis?) rolled in turn 10 and folded the whole car up like an accordian, it was pretty damn ugly and the driver went to the hospital. There seemed to be a lot of cars blowing up and dropping out this year, even though the weather was very cool for this race - 80's most of the day and cooling down in the afternoon.

RJ - looking forward to next year already

[.RJ]

Thanks again to Mikey, Andrew and Rob, they did a great job on the crew this year

[GQROB]

Had a great time!
The ITS RX-7 won the race.
Lotsa Mazda's up front during the finish. Zoom Zoom!

[Mike]

f'ing fag cars... they really need to limit entrants based on car model.

[Ginger]

I had a great time! It's a shame that we couldn't finish, but I suppose that's racing. I was really impressed with the car owner, Tony, when we decided we couldn't make it back out on track. He was a real class act and rolled through the entire event with a smile.... a Miata driver that got taken out in the very early stages of the race didn't react so well and threw w 5 year old tantrum, probably breaking his HANS in the process. It's good to know that our team was full of better personalities.

All in all, there's next year and I'm excited to go back! Thanks for the opportunity, RJ.

[.RJ]

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://itforum.improvedtouring.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8358">http://itforum.improvedtouring.com/foru ... topic=8358</a><!-- m -->

This is absolutely hilarious

Damn spec miatas.....

[white_2kgt]

http://itforum.improvedtouring.com/forum...topic=8358

This is absolutely hilarious

Damn spec miatas.....

How about you copy/paste the article here since we all don't have accounts on that forum big boy

[.RJ]

Fack.

I'll do it later.

[Evan]

Fack.

I'll do it later.

ctrl-c, ctrl-v take too long?

[Evan]

I assume RJ was talking about this, posted by Greg Amy

Let's start with the positive: as anyone that has been a part of, or around, this team can attest, this is a fantastic group of people with which to be associated. Jeff put it quite well and succinctly during our drive home yesterday: if it was anyone else, we'd probably not be doing it near as often (or at all). I cannot say enough for this team and its protagonists. Cheers to you guys!

As for "The Lap Eight Incident", well, how do I put this delicately without starting a major pissing match? I really can't. Bottom line, as a generalized group of people the Spec Miata drivers drive like total asshats. There, I said it, let the war begin.

Here's a sanitized, edited version of The Event I sent to a friend via email:

The Spec Miatas were all driving like [idiots]. Dive bombing, stupid low-percentage passes, passing in areas guaranteed to slow down both parties unless the passee drove off the road. Very selfish, me-me-me, gotta-get-this-done-right-now-or-we're-gonna-die type of driving. Even the low-key drivers of the team were getting hacked off by these [idiots].

And this was on the opening laps.

I took the green flag stint, starting 43rd of 50 overall, 2nd of 4 (?) in class. The field looked like a Miata convention, comprising (I heard) 36 of the 50 slots. Believe it or not, everyone tippy-toed through T1 with no immediately noticeable results. However, by the start of lap 2 all the Special Me's (and Super-Special Me's and Super-Special-Me's dressed up with ITA and ITS decals) were beating up on each other. ON THE SECOND LAP! And mean literally bumping, hip-checks, [stuff] like that. I quickly passed the leading ITB car and got stuck behind a pack of about 8 or so of these wankers; realizing that there was NO way I was getting through them I laid back about 100 or so feet to let them duke it out and thin out the herd.

Unfortunately, one of the [idiots] caught me off guard and tried a STUPID dive bomb pass on another Miata into a no-braking, all-momentum, full-throttle corner (entering turn 9) and started a classic Miata Melee in front of me. ON LAP EIGHT OF A FREAKIN' 12 HOUR RACE! Dust and cars was flying everywhere and I turned hard outside to intentionally drive off the track. Just as I was about to make it through the mess a black Special Me (the one that may have started this whole thing) backed out of the dust cloud to intercept my line off the track; I tried to turn away but couldn't and hit him square in the rear quarter. DAMMIT!!!

The car started fine (I had locked it up and stalled the engine when I hit the grass) but it was obvious the right-front suspension was bent. I turned the car around, only to see the "driver" of the Special Me out of the car and walking/running towards me. I let him know via hand signals he was Number One and drove towards the track, watching for the corner worker's signals to re-enter, and as I sat there waiting for directions the guy was yelling into the driver's window and banging on the roof! I ignored him and merged back into the flow and went straight into the pits.

(I heard later that his actions caused quite a stir on the Worker net. After I drove away he apparently tossed his ripped-off rear bumper into his car, jumped into the car with no belts, window net, or other safety equipment, and drove the car back in. A steward told me "they had a long discussion." The guy never got back on the track and was listed as a DNF with only 8 laps. Classic.)

I made it into the pits, cussing like an unhappy sailor (a pitlane worker near us said she learned a few new words that day). Damage on the Golf wasn't as bad as I feared: the bumper cover was trashed (it got tie-wrapped/taped up), the right front fender was crushed (banged out), fender liner was ripped and worn (removed), the passenger door was bashed (no performance effect), there was a bent tie rod, and a destroyed tire. Cameron and crew replaced the tie rod and tire, quick-aligned the car, and I was on my way. I had to come in once more for an alignment check (slightly toed-in) and once it was all said and done we had lost 19 laps - about 26 minutes - for the repairs, but the car felt fine. In fact, I ripped off a couple of near-qualifying times and kept going (Jeff later beat those times - and set fastest team race lap - in his stint).

At that point I decided since I had already bought a fender, door, and bumper cover I was going to knock every G-D SM off the track I could find ("they should all pay for sins of the family" is how I think I put it), but instead I behaved...

The rest of the day went swimmingly, with nary a major concern, except for long-term continuation of the afore-mentioned Stupid Miata Tricks. You would not believe some of the selfish, short-term thinking of these guys, sticking their little noses into places that made no sense, either strategically or tactically. The attitude is pretty much "I'm faster, it's your responsibility to get out of my way!" Funny part is, on rare occasion (and I do mean rare) you'd have one of those experienced drivers that understood what it meant to work traffic, to strategic "plan" a pass such to maximize relative traits and to minimize time loss to both parties involved. When you saw those guys you'd work with them and probably only tie them up - at most - 1/2 second. Then you've got the Terrible Two's drivers trying to barge in and hip check a Golf in the carousel. Interesting enough, you'd be surprised at how slow and wide a Golf gets through there...as one other drive put it, "hey, Chief, you're slowing me down? We're BOTH slowing down!" and they'd lose AT LEAST 2 seconds on that lap, plus whatever momentum they lost on the subsequent lap. The really funny part? They'd do the SAME G-D THING next time by! Amazing, simply awe-inspiring.

We finished the race second place in class -- 18 laps down. To say I'm ripped with both "them" and myself for letting it happen is an understatement. But, I'm proud of the job the guys did to get us back online and I'm proud what we did for the rest of the race.

Here's the ironic kicker: in July '04 I rented the Flatout #00 for the Pro Spec Miata race at LRP. I started near the back of the pack (it was my first time in a SM) and ended up t-boning a guy that was driving like an [idiot] and spun. Guess what sponsor decal was on the rear window of the car I tagged on Lap Eight? You guess it: same one. I gotta wonder if - up until reading this post - the guy knew I'm the same person? If it was the same driver, I refer you back to my posts on SM.com just after that July 2004 event. It's obvious nothing's changed in two years...

Karma's a pisser (thanks Christine), ain't it?

I hate Spec Miatas.

FWIW, many people driving SMs at this enduro are not regular SM drivers, but rented rides in one for the enduro

[G.Irish]

Whew, good lord we missed a good one!

Nothing worse than a rented gun in a SM. I should know, because I rented one and hit someone

[Ginger]

The guy I mentioned in my post, the "Special Me" driver that sent his HANS into the back of his trailer at baseball velocities, was the same driver that was banging on Amy's roof. He was a complete asshole and stormed around the pitbox for a few minutes yelling about "killing that fucker" and some such.

I didn't realize Greg was the other party involved in the incident at the time... too bad, too, because he's a Class Act

[Mike]

The guy I mentioned in my post, the "Special Me" driver that sent his HANS into the back of his trailer at baseball velocities

helmet too... what a dolt.

[white_2kgt]

The guy I mentioned in my post, the "Special Me" driver that sent his HANS into the back of his trailer at baseball velocities

helmet too... what a dolt.

a HANS is bolted to the helmet...

who sanction's the 12hr?

[.RJ]

a HANS is bolted to the helmet...

Unless you get the quick release tabs.

who sanction's the 12hr?

DC Region SCCA

[white_2kgt]

who sanction's the 12hr?

DC Region SCCA

ha, figures

[.RJ]

ha, figures

:?:

It is one of the best run events I've seen, several years running. They are on top of EVERYTHING.

[white_2kgt]

ha, figures

:?:

It is one of the best run events I've seen, several years running. They are on top of EVERYTHING.

The quote Evan posted above doesn't really seem to support that...and from what I have seen from the SOLO DC region I don't have a lot of confidence in their ability to host a road race, but that's just me.

[.RJ]

The Solo Group and the Road Racing group are two completely different groups of people.

You cant control people running into each other on the racetrack, unfortunately. Honda Challenge has done a pretty good job of that so far this year, so no group is immune to bend up cars.

[Ginger]

The HANS was un-attached from the helmet. He launched 'em both.

It was a very well run event.... unfortunately you just can control a bunch of twits who like to wad up cars they don't own.