Mark in Baltimore

The track this morning was very fast; I set a new personal best in the enduro qualifying and, finally, after who knows how many years, broke into the 23's (maybe in ten more years I'll break Trombly's 22.6 record in his 964 cup with the 2018 Hoosier R12's). The combined enduro went really well and with very few incidents. I spun in T9 chasing Louis Bedstadt down and kissed my golden horseshoe a few times after not hitting anything. During the enduro, I corded both front tires and still had a leaking LR wheel issue, in addition to a cracked spoke in my Fikse FM-10's (not responsible for the leak). I was happy to hang with Ivan Arzola in the red GT3S car and Bob Miller in the Amico's 993 cup car for several laps, although I'm fairly certain that both had issues hampering their forward movement.

Again, Potomac and PCA national, thanks for a great event!

Mike Buck

I watched you spin Mark. You guys were running close for several laps. I didn't run the enduro, but came to watch for a bit anyway.

"Tony S" and I had some good runs in both sprint races. I was faster in some spots and him in others. I really had to work to get by and make it stick. Really had to concentrate and not give an inch. Local knowledge (home track) and Hoosiers (my first) helped a lot. Fun racing with 911s. All my racing to date with 944's and the 944Cup series.

It sucked to see Geoffery hit the deer and damage his beautiful car. He did win the best prepared award Saturday night and deservedly so!!! I won the $1k in free tires raffle, so not too bad either

Sean F

Congrats on the podiums Tony. I'd say you did a whole lot better than your goals.


Great driving Mark. You looked great out there all weekend.

jerome951

I was working T1 on Sat & Sun. Unfortunately the track is starting to break up on-line just before the apex thru the end of the repaved section.

There was a lot of mechanical grip to be generated so no wonder everyone said the track was fast. However, looks like they'll have to patch or repave again in the future.

There was a lot of close but clean racing all weekend. Thanks for making the corner workers' jobs fairly easy.

I'll echo the sentiments about the deer. I happened to be flagging at the entrance to T4 (the chute) Friday when 4 deer hop out of the woods track left right at the turn-in point for the chute and head toward the racing surface during the fast group's 2nd practice session. Racers can't see them until they come over the rise (at ~110-120 mph) so I'm waving the yellow as frantically as I can. By the time the first driver crests the hill, all 4 deer are nose-to-tail across the track but the driver manages to stop in time. Then of course I'm worried about the 5-6 rapidly approaching cars rear-ending the stopped driver or each other. Luckily everyone whoa'd enough to not hit anything, but it easily could have resulted in several damaged cars.

BTW, I hit a small deer on the front straight last year.

good hands

My first race ever and what an absolute perfect weekend. ( well almost, I lost my third gear synchro during the first sprint race ). I accomplished all of my goals which included finishing all races, ( including the enduro ) having fun, learning, being competitive ( although running ra1's is like bringing a knife to a gun fight ) , and of course beating streak in 2 of the 3 races. My thanks to Tony K for mentoring me and all the help and advice i got from Duane Moses and for that matter all the drivers who were quick to give pointers and advice.
PCA racing is wonderful environment full of quality people and amazing comradery. Now how can I ever go back to DE ?

PS. Hoosiers are on the way along with a new LSD

paulamico

I agree with Geoff Ring on Andy's shunt. Although the RR wheel was damaged in the crash, one spoke was broken right in the middle, half-way between the hub and the rim. Very suspicious given we've seen cracking in these type wheels at that location. If it went in that high speed left hander the car would snap just like Andy and the corner worker described.

ajenks144

Hi Geoffrey,

When I came back to the track Sat night to pick up my stuff, I saw the wheel and the corrosion on the spoke. I had my left rear wheel break at the Glen this year. The car spun so quick, I do believe there was a failure somewhere. Still my fault for not inpsecting the wheels close enough, especially since I had the same failure at the Glen.

I hope I can fix the car. If it were just any car, I would get a new tub and build a new one, but it's not just any car. We'll take a look at it in the coming weeks.

Sorry to hear about your car. I hope it's not too bad.

-Andy

Gary R.

Nice job all weekend Scott! Sean and I watched your and Hunt's progress through the practice's and races. Nice consistent improvement the whole time for both of you. You both should be very proud you were able to actually improve your best times on your home track during what we all know is a very stressful 1st race.

Congrats!!



I should add I had a great time, though ran a rather "dirt orientated" race similar to Sean's... SO glad to see you are "OK" Andy. Sheet metal, even fairly rare sheet metal, can be replaced...

good hands

Thanks Gary . I think by mere self preservation i beat my best DE time by a full 2 seconds. My best time all weekend was a 127.97 . Absolutely amazing how much faster you can go with someone chasing you and you chasing someone. i am so hooked I left my car at the track with my mechanic and told him to put an LSD this week. I am trying to scheme a way to go to CMSP next month.

some video of the start of the enduro.

http://vimeo.com/1896529

APKhaos

I was set up next to you and Steve B, and had a good look at your car. I think there is a very good chance that your RR wheel may have failed. Having totalled my tub after a similar RR wheel bearing failure, I know how that feels.

Your partner Steve Boris & I had a barn burner of a race in the first sprint!! I managed to shake him off eventually, but not before a couple of pass/repass cycles. Steve claims he pushed me into the 1:24's, which is probably right. I was closing on Dwayne Moses [insanely fast as usual in his D car] when I started running out of gas. Now a great end result, but a great race nonetheless and I was pretty happy to finally get into the 1:24s.

We saw same great racing, and four fresh Potomac racers did very well in the sprints and the enduro.

On behalf of Potomac, thanks to all who raced and all who worked hard to make it a successful event.

Geoffrey

Andy, if I were you, I would send the car to Jim Newton to look at. 860-693-0278

}{arlequin

sorry to see your car damaged geoff. it was my favorite 'build' on this forum. have some pics of it before bambi found it

the euro cup is just a damn shame. hope it's fixable

GT3 Nut

This was my first race in my new to me 997 Cup. I was only in the car one day prior to this event, so it was interesting still learning the car and racing at a track that I have not been to in over 3 years. I had a great time though and also some close calls!
In Saturdays qualifying I was pinched off the track in between 2 and 3. I had a pretty scary spin off and on the track which really messed up the alignment so that the car was almost undriveable.
The guys at AtSpeed did some quick fixes and also had to take the starter out because it was malfunctioning and occasionally hitting the flywheel. I was able to do the 2nd sprint starting from the very back and having to be pushed started since I had no starter. The car was still a mess and it was hard to drive fast. The best times I had were 1:18's and that was difficult. I think I finished 6th overall.
So Saturday night Bob Russo from AtSpeed worked very hard and did a complete setup on the car and made it ready for Sunday morning. The car felt great. I did a 1:15 in the enduro qualifying which put me on pole! I was thrilled and nervous at the same time! I have never been on pole before! Lawson W. was in the #2 spot in his 996 Cup. I knew I had my work cut out for me. Lawson is a better driver and more experienced racer than I am and it showed. We exchanged passes in the beginning, but once he got by me and we were in traffic he just worked through the field better than I could.
During the enduro I had a SPECTACULAR spin going into the shoot. I am still amazed I came out unscathed! I spun off track right going into turn 4 and spun across track and stopped about 5 feet from the tire wall. I was going over 100mph when I went off, so how I didn't crash is beyond me!
I came in right after for my 5 minute pit stop. I went back out and was having a great time but then at about 80 minutes into the race my car just lost power. We think (hope) it is just a coil pack or something minor. All the vitals on the car (oil pressure, water temp, etc.) were all fine. In the end I didn't finish the enduro which was very disappointing to me. I did have a great time though - even with the HUGE disparity in cars running at the same time. Most guys were very aware and courteous to the faster cars.
Lawson took first place overall. Good job Lawson! It was a pleasure being out there with you! With some more seat time in my new car I hope to be able to pass you and make it stick next time.
Overall my experience this weekend was great. It was fun being in my new car. Potomac did a great job with the event and most guys were great to be on track with!
I can't comment on the track condition because I have really nothing to compare it to since I have not been there in so long and that was in a Cayman street car.

APKhaos

I was in the tower with Control when the call came in from the Chute:
" Car 03 spun in T4, off track driver's left, crossed track to drivers right........" There was a break that went for what seemed a loong time, and we were all waiting for the bad news, and then, " Car 03 has recovered and rejoined."

Loosing it in the Chute and driving away without a scratch is a pretty neat trick, Matt! Nice work!

78SC

Matt, thanks for the props. It was nice to catch up with you both on and off the track. A couple of more race weekends in that car and I am sure you will be tough to deal with!

The track was as fast as I have ever seen it on Friday and Saturday. My lap times were a second quicker than in previous years. By Sunday it seemed like the grip and surface were deteriorating. During the enduro turns 5-6 almost felt like oil was on the surface. Turns 1 was in a similiar state. I was getting big understeer in those corners and ended up cording the left front tire which has never happened.

Overall a great weekend with perfect weather. Closing speeds during the enduro made things intersting but as you said most people were pretty aware of approaching cars.