SundayDriver

I just got these photos of the start. This is the first 2 corners of the first lap.

Glen

Mark, nice pictures and excellent work up at MO. Very well done indeed.
Sincerely,

Larry Herman

Looks like a real party in turn 2! Like the rear brake lockup, Mark. Must have been very interesting from your seat!

Juan Lopez

Could be me but, with all these mayhem I don't see any flags just stunned corner workers....

SundayDriver

From my perspective, I could not see this start. Somewhere between the second and third shot it became visible. At that point I jumped on the brakes as there was no open space. Then a hole opened as the cars moved off to the right and I got through.

SundayDriver

Yes, it is just you, Juan. I can assure you that the workers were far from stunned. These are the best in the country and what you see in the photo is not a flag station. T7 station is at the far left of the first photo and the T8 station would be roughly next to the photographer, not that anyone was watching flags at that point - we were too busy dodging cars.

Larry Herman

Doh! I saw it all on your video! I must be suffering from CRS (can't remember sh*t).

Professor Helmüt Tester

Too much rear brake bias, Mark. Jeez...ain't you got a **** for that ?

Flaggers - AFAIK, the 3 folks in white in the foreground are the 'safety team' for T7, flag station is upstream on driver's right, before the entrance to T7. The next flag station is just at the top of Mt. Saint Helens (always smokey there), on driver's left. If you've never seen the DSR's run, or aren't familiar with the track, this sequence was shot VERY quickly. I'll bet 'start to finish' was 3-5 seconds.

SundayDriver

Bias ****? I thought that was the trail braking adjuster.

Meant to tell you a funny thing about that ****. It works backwards comparted to the SRF. First few times out, I had too much rear bias and could not fix it. Every time I adjusted it, it just got worse and worse. Finally figured out why. Doh. Turns out I am not the only one to do that. Another former SRF current Stohr owner did the same thing. I guess you just can't train SRF pilots.

Professor Helmüt Tester

Get a black Sharpie. Use it to draw arrows on the bulkhead immediately adjacent to the bias ****, with the 'Front' direction labeled 'F' and the 'Rear' direction labeled 'R'. That's what I do.

I had one of those 'life changing' experiences with a brake bias adjusters, at Nelson Ledgistan, waaaay back with my old Bilstein Cup Rabbit. Couldn't reach it, Mad Mike reached in and cranked a few turns on it and said "You're good to go".

Next lap I set the "Backwards in a VW" Land Speed Record at the left-hander off the back straight. Should have rolled the car, but managed to miss all the walls and culverts. After that, I made sure that I ALWAYS know which way I was adjusting stuff while on track.

The "Red Sled" now has a hyd. prop valve for the rears, even though the old Balance Bar **** is still mounted on the dash. The **** now has a label that points one way and says "THIS WAY", and the opposite arrow labeled "THE OTHER WAY". It certainly confuses my competition when they look inside the car.

Juan Lopez

Thanks Sunday, never driven that track. You got lucky a hole opened up!

Flat Top

Is there truth is the saying that when a car spins in front of you drive to where the car is NOW - by the time you get there the car will be gone?

Jase007

Exactly, unless you are spinning in the same fluid he is ... e.g. oil, antifreeze / water from the water-pumpers, gravel, kitty litter, etc... Hard to see THAT is what made him / her spin and what you'll soon be in.

Jason

Professor Helmüt Tester

That's an old motorcycle race adage, that's not always true with cars. Nobody 'spins' a bike, it only starts as a 'high-side' and then just gets ugly. They're very predictable once they're on their sides...they just go in a straight line until they hit something. In the bike racing world, you "aim right for them, 'cuz when you get there...they'll be gone".

Cars are different, as they tend to stay upright. 4 big rubber erasers tend to slow them fast, as long as they're locked down. Problems arise when they're not locked, which will cause the car to shoot off at very unpredictable angles as the tires start to roll during a spin.

BrandonH

Mark, Do the runoffs use the back straight as a start finish? Why? The regular T1 is a much more accomodating piece of track for a start it seems to me. Also do they erect a temporary start/finish tower? I know MO pretty well but had to stare at the photo for a while to figure out what I was seeing when you said T1/2...
Brandon