Post Aug 2011 TWS media and chatter.

[GlennCMC70]

Post up those vid's and photo's folks!

I had a great weekend. Had some pretty hoe hum racing since I had nothing for JP and M&M. Had a good battle w/ Mulder who ended up taking 2nd in R3 (I think). My race of the weekend didn't come 'til R4 w/ M&M passing me for the lead, which I had for all but lap 1, on the last lap going into T10. I stuck on his ass 'til T2 where he entered a little wide and I snuck under him and beat him to the finish line. My new car is getting better. Small swaybar change for R2 helped alot. I just didn't have the tires to run w/ JP, M&M, and we can now add Mulder to the list. Mulder now has to turn-in his mid-pack slacker member card. He ran his first 59 this weekend in Q2 and then backed it up in R3 w/ a 58. Not a bad weekend for Steve.
I think I had a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and a 4th for the weekend - not in that order.
I was pleased w/ the turn-out. We had 13 or so CMC2 cars and 4 or so AI cars. NASA TX once again set a car count record for the Aug event. The NASA TX provided dinner Sat night was very good, as was the free beer. I'm still a little dirty feeling after seeing AL, Todd, Dave and 2-3 other guys all in a 12' above ground pool over in TWS's new camping area. I heard a rumor that the track owner was inthe timing tower and looked down and said "Is..... is that a swimming pool down there?"
Car contact was almost non-existant. 2 cars made light contact that resulted in no damage and a small rub mark onthe door/quarter. Other than that is was a good clean weekend. No DQ's, no blown yellows (and we had a few). Our group was praised durring the corner worker meeting Sun morning for putting on a great show.
Lets carry this thru to ECR and finish w/ a bang .....no .... um... uuhh... a large field.

[NickV]

Randy, Wayne, Jason and John made this event a blast for me! Through all the races we were running pretty close together swapping positions and running toe to toe. It was a huge amount of fun.

The highlight was seeing Randy in my rearview on the last lap of one of the races, come through turn 3 and track out wide in to the dirt and pull his Dukes of Hazzard impression, then come back on while not losing a single position!

[AllZWay]

Big fun..clean racing... and not as hot as I had expected. Still hot, but it was survivable.

Steve raced his butt off... I had nothing for him in R4.

If my video worked...I post later this week.

[GlennCMC70]

Also - thanks to all you guys who made my father-in-law feel welcome. He had a great time for his first roadraicng event ever. He had lots of good things to say about you guys.
The heat didn't bother him one bit. It is well over 110 in Yuma where he lives and being here in Ft Worth all week w/ 105-110 temps, he was loving the 102-103 temps we had Sat/Sun.

Anyways, thanks again.

[Al Fernandez]

Mulder definitely has turned in his "mid pack slacker" id card and picked up his "trophy queen" tiara. Not only was he posting the same times as the podium guys, he scored a 2nd, a 3rd, and two 4ths while dicing it door to door with the likes of Proctor, Mosty, and Landrum!! Congrats Steve, awesome driving.

Another guy that's in danger of picking up his tiara is Gary Robertson. Gary landed P4 in qual and finished 3rd that session. Nice job Gary!!

Thanks to a nice schedule I was able to watch all four races from between the caroussel and turn 3. That is a great spot. There were tremendous races going on: Frank and Bryan were nose to tail for AI all the time, English, J-Lo, Stehle, Valentin, and Zimmer were almost always locked on a five way battle, and of course the fights at the front of CMC were insane. In R4 the lead changed twice on the last lap!! You guys should hear the radio chatter when that is going on because during the last lap each station calls the session leader's position...it was awesome.

15 cars might not be an attendance record overall, but it is great for this August burner. More importantly, fifteen cars over four races and two qual sessions and only one case of side to side/no damage/no position loss contact is fantastic. I saw a LOT of very clean side by side racing with drivers giving each other the room to make it fun and safe. Congrats to all of you.

Now...how about NASA Tx bringing out ice cream? Talk about perfect after the super hot day. And you can call it dirty, but that pool kicked ass!!

[Fbody383]

I heard a rumor that the track owner was inthe timing tower and looked down and said "Is..... is that a swimming pool down there?"


"Is... is... OH MY GOSH! IS THAT MORE THAN 2 FIVE GALLON FUEL CANS SITTING NEXT TO EACH OTHER????!!!???"

Fixed it for ya. Yeah the owner "introduced" himself to M&M Saturday morning. At first I thought he was dropping the "we have fuel here, no need to bring so much" angle but it could be a legitimate case of "let's not burn down the entire garage in one fire" concern.
And if you've ever wondered about the difference between a steel and bronze distributor gear, ask Michael for pictures of the one he took out on Saturday.</p>And not racing, even in 100+ temps, sucked. Glad you guys still let me hang out.</p></p></p>

[JasonLiiR]

Well sunday had a disappointing end when after R3 there was a steady stream of oil coming from a newly developed hole in the oil pan but overall I had a good weekend. Last year to this year I was 3-5 seconds off my pace but the racing back there was a blast. Its frustrating not having the power to make moves stick most of the time but I stayed up with Old English, Nick and all those guys enough to keep them honest. I wanna say thanks to Sam Crumpacker for letting me run his camera on Saturday, he showed up just a little late Sunday morning. But as usual it was fun, clean racing. The pool was an awesome way to cool down satuday night, the food was good, the beer was cold, the racing was close, and the people were...well alright I guess. ;)..Couldn't ask for anything more from a race weekend.

[HoustonNW]

Randy, Wayne, Jason and John made this event a blast for me! Through all the races we were running pretty close together swapping positions and running toe to toe. It was a huge amount of fun.


Absolutely!! I think I spent half of the Sunday races sideways trying to catch, pass, and occasionally stay ahead of those guys. Well, when I wasn't going off backwards into the dirt when the rarefied air of P5 got to me during the first lap of R1 on Sunday!

There are the trophy girls and mid-pack slackers, we need a nickname too. Paging Bryan Leinart ... would BL please come to the courtesy phone ...

[Alien]

Pictures from the track dude who takes pictures at the track.
http://cafephoto.smugmug.com/NASATXTWS8-2011/Thunder

I like this series, over the jump going to T3 where the cars get a bit light.
http://cafephoto.smugmug.com/NASATXTWS8-2011/Thunder/Sun-AM1/18423421_W9FRMV#1420602564_Fdk2vtt

[David Love AI27]

It was a good save

http://cafephoto.smugmug.com/NASATXTWS8-2011/Thunder/Sat-PM2/18423405_hgJx8n#1420594213_rSZqXH8

[jdlingle]

I had a great time this weekend in spite of all of the teething issues with my car overheating. I really appreciate everyones help in trying to figure out what I could do to make the car run a little cooler. And a special thanks to Sam for helping me change front brake rotors in about 10 minutes while getting ready for the last race after discovering a crack in a one of my rotors. Without his help there was no way I would have made grid. This race group is awesome. I cant wait for ECR!

[David Love AI27]

Glenn,

Check out the difference between a "supported" front spoiler and "unsupported"... and that is at LOW speed

I know ours sticks out too far because it has been torn from the original mounting holes but I really don't see a true performance advantage... Not trying to start a debate just want to be able to have some input since there are no 3rd gen owners in a position to make a final rule decision

http://cafephoto.smugmug.com/NASATXTWS8-2011/Thunder/Sat-PM1/18423398_4FGmGX#1420594052_4SmQMnG

[David Love AI27]

con't

Supported:

http://cafephoto.smugmug.com/NASATXTWS8-2011/Thunder/Sat-AM2/18423390_mbfbnZ#1420581863_GCPC9BW

Unsupported:

http://cafephoto.smugmug.com/NASATXTWS8-2011/Thunder/Sat-AM2/18423390_mbfbnZ#1420581744_3JNXMLD

[David Love AI27]

Spent another weekend in the stands.... You guys ROCK!!! overheard a group of Baby Grand drivers commenting on how "CRAZY" you guys are....

Can't wait to get back on track with you all.....

[GlennCMC70]

con't

Supported:

http://cafephoto.smugmug.com/NASATXTWS8-2011/Thunder/Sat-AM2/18423390_mbfbnZ#1420581863_GCPC9BW

Unsupported:

http://cafephoto.smugmug.com/NASATXTWS8-2011/Thunder/Sat-AM2/18423390_mbfbnZ#1420581744_3JNXMLD

David, I'm just pointing out what I feel is something you should be sure is correct. You do what you feel is correct. I have no data to back-up my concerns. Gary provided me w/ some good info to help your case. I have no plans to do anymore than what I have which is to inform you that you need to be sure what you have is correct.

[GlennCMC70]

This thread sucks w/out vid's.

[Al Fernandez]

Looks li that Mustang could use a bit more rebound on the rear John! lol!

David: supported is good, purposely deformed is not good. :)

[jdlingle]

Looks li that Mustang could use a bit more rebound on the rear John! lol!

David: supported is good, purposely deformed is not good. :)

Yeah I think I almost took flight there! Hoping no one noticed but you busted me. I am looking at springs as we speak to try and get my ride height down to more manageable terms. I even showed that pic to my wife to try and explain why I needed new rear springs for my 30th birthday. :) Ive got way to much front to rear rake amongst other things and I have already cut to much off my front springs to keep up with the rate. I am hoping to have the car much more sorted out by ECR. I am definitely learning as I go here!

[AllZWay]

Most of my video didn't work this weekend. Race 1 didn't have anything to show, Race 2 didn't take at all and Race 4 stopped before lap 1 was over.

So...this is all I have which is Race 3.

http://www.vimeo.com/27516796

[GlennCMC70]

Most of my video didn't work this weekend. Race 1 didn't have anything to show, Race 2 didn't take at all and Race 4 stopped before lap 1 was over.

So...this is all I have which is Race 3.

http://www.vimeo.com/27516796

Nice run JP. I knew you were coming at T11 and just let it happen. I figured you would catch M&M and possibly one of you would push too hard. M&M did (spin), but I didn't get around him.

[michaelmosty]

Ugh, Vimeo and Youtube are blocked from my work!!!!

[edrock96GT]

Overall I had a fun weekend, although the racing was not very stellar for me. I was 3 seconds off my time from last year. I'm sure the heat played a part in it, but my tires are old and my radiator finally gave up. I guess I just had an off weekend and didn't bring my A game, but I'll be back at ECR!

Had fun Saturday night though (from what I can remember...)

[Rob Liebbe]

Somebody finally called me "Rob - Who?" but I still had fun hanging out, drinking, being a smart-ass, and getting Todd to give the third Porsche racer a cake name - Spice Cake. Thanks to the Crumpackers for letting me crash at their pad. We watched the last part of Zombieland which was nowhere near as bad as Michael was making it out to be. Michael's girlfriend Reagan was really cool and it was nice to meet her.On Saturday evening, we took my car out on the track - with permission - to look for Gary's lost GoPro camera. As we pulled back into the garage spot, the track cook came walking right up to the car. I thought he was going to bust me again but he was just announcing that dinner was ready. I will be back - just not sure when. I definitely need some track time as my street driving is starting to resemble a CMC inverted start.

[nasa-rm]

Somebody finally called me "Rob - Who?" but I still had fun hanging out, drinking, being a smart-ass, and getting Todd to give the third Porsche racer a cake name - Spice Cake. Thanks to the Crumpackers for letting me crash at their pad. We watched the last part of Zombieland which was nowhere near as bad as Michael was making it out to be. Michael's girlfriend Reagan was really cool and it was nice to meet her.On Saturday evening, we took my car out on the track - with permission - to look for Gary's lost GoPro camera. As we pulled back into the garage spot, the track cook came walking right up to the car. I thought he was going to bust me again but he was just announcing that dinner was ready. I will be back - just not sure when. I definitely need some track time as my street driving is starting to resemble a CMC inverted start.

Did Gary get reconnected with his camera? About 5 minutes after he asked if he could go look for it, a course official came up and said he had found it and brought it in.

[nasa-rm]

Mulder definitely has turned in his "mid pack slacker" id card and picked up his "trophy queen" tiara. Not only was he posting the same times as the podium guys, he scored a 2nd, a 3rd, and two 4ths while dicing it door to door with the likes of Proctor, Mosty, and Landrum!! Congrats Steve, awesome driving.


Speaking of Mulder..... look who has quietly slipped into top honors in season points.

[Papa Kellam]

Nice run JP. I knew you were coming at T11 and just let it happen. I figured you would catch M&M and possibly one of you would push too hard. M&M did (spin), but I didn't get around him.

You saw him coming alright, as he blew by you. He had your number on that turn from the beginning.
Still not bad for crap pads/caliper and old worn out tires. Sure.

[Alien]

Did Gary get reconnected with his camera? About 5 minutes after he asked if he could go look for it, a course official came up and said he had found it and brought it in.

I got it Dave, thanks! I was hanging out by the gate waiting for Patterson to come thru, so I wasn't by my car. When he finally came off track, I grabbed Rob and headed out there. After hunting and right at the point of giving up, Wade rode over on the other side of the fence and said someone had turned it in.

FYI, those GoPro's are tough SOB's. It was still recording 40 minutes later. Kinda fun watching/listening to the rescue truck guys talking about it sitting in their truck.

[AllZWay]

Ugh, Vimeo and Youtube are blocked from my work!!!!

Mine too... but I am the admin. :D

[stevecmc8]

I tried telling you guys that it was my lucky pants. See what happens when you make fun. :) Seriously....I had a great weekend and enjoyed passing some of you guys that I've never passed before. Another thing....you have to watch the quiet ones!

[GlennCMC70]

You saw him coming alright, as he blew by you. He had your number on that turn from the beginning.
Still not bad for crap pads/caliper and old worn out tires. Sure.

Actually, I saw him in my mirrors. He was pressing me hard each time. I found at the track I have very worn hubs (non-rebuildable) and it was causing major piston knockback in the calipers. This was causing an inconsistent pedal. It took me most of Sat to figure out what was going on. Thus I was entering most corners a little on the cautious side. I never knew if the tires were gonna lock or not. At one point I was approached by the FAA. They wanted my N number since I appeared to be crop dusting most of the time.

To be honest, I could care less if you believe me. I had old tires w/ flatspots on the rear. A driverside front tire that was cupped down the center due to being run way over inflated early last year. My C6 calipers spread and I had to put my who knows how old (raced in CMC for 6 years) f-body calipers back on the week before the event. I had tapered pads (due to the calipers that spread) on the front. The fact that you think I'm a liar, doesn't mean I'm not telling the truth or that my parts were not less than ideal. I had fun. I was beat fair and square. I ran a very cautious race. But hey, why am I telling you? You could tell all that from the one race vid posted so far, right?

Get off my ass Wayne. Of all people, I expected you to act your age.

[BlueFirePony]

I'll post some vidz when I get back in town...I actually think I have 3 out of four races..new record for me :)Had a pretty good weekend. Set personal best during Saturday qual and then reset it again during R1 and then reset it again during R2. 2:00:052...Sunday was a different story....still got a ways to go :(The trailer I rented from Eric made all the difference for this Canuck. Eric is a great guy and the price was definately right!!I hope some of you took advantage of the A/C and shower through the weekend.s'all for now.

[Papa Kellam]

Actually, I saw him in my mirrors. He was pressing me hard each time. I found at the track I have very worn hubs (non-rebuildable) and it was causing major piston knockback in the calipers. This was causing an inconsistent pedal. It took me most of Sat to figure out what was going on. Thus I was entering most corners a little on the cautious side. I never knew if the tires were gonna lock or not. At one point I was approached by the FAA. They wanted my N number since I appeared to be crop dusting most of the time.

To be honest, I could care less if you believe me. I had old tires w/ flatspots on the rear. A driverside front tire that was cupped down the center due to being run way over inflated early last year. My C6 calipers spread and I had to put my who knows how old (raced in CMC for 6 years) f-body calipers back on the week before the event. I had tapered pads (due to the calipers that spread) on the front. The fact that you think I'm a liar, doesn't mean I'm not telling the truth or that my parts were not less than ideal. I had fun. I was beat fair and square. I ran a very cautious race. But hey, why am I telling you? You could tell all that from the one race vid posted so far, right?

Get off my ass Wayne. Of all people, I expected you to act your age.

I am acting my age. Old farts have an "attitude".
Sorry if I made you cry. I was really just rattling your cage. Nothing personal. Like some people I just wanted to get you stirred up. Guess it worked. Your Daddy called and said to lay off. Done.
Hope you still love me.
Have a nice day

[GlennCMC70]

I am acting my age. Old farts have an "attitude".
Sorry if I made you cry. I was really just rattling your cage. Nothing personal. Like some people I just wanted to get you stirred up. Guess it worked. Your Daddy called and said to lay off. Done.
Hope you still love me.
Have a nice day

If anyone called you, it wasn't on my behalf. Fill me in on who called.
I'm not anymore "stirred" than normal. And I like you just the same as before.

[BlueFirePony]

Race 2 is ready @ http://www.bluefireracing.com/video.aspxRace 3 is being edited...probably get it uploaded tonight.Race 1 - no camera...looking for Race 4...Qual was uneventful.Depending on your OS/browser combination you might have to run the Windows Media extension (browser should prompt you if you need it).PM me if you have any issues viewing.BTW, I've uploaded some pix that Raegan took to BlueFire Racing on Facebook. She got some really good side-by-sides and a some good paddock shots too.

[BlueFirePony]

Race 2 is ready @ http://www.bluefireracing.com/video.aspx Race 3 is being edited...probably get it uploaded tonight.Race 1 - no camera...looking for Race 4...Qual was uneventful.Depending on your OS/browser combination you might have to run the Windows Media extension (browser should prompt you if you need it).PM me if you have any issues viewing.BTW, I've uploaded some pix that Raegan took to BlueFire Racing on Facebook. She got some really good side-by-sides and a some good paddock shots too.

Link is foobar and can't edit post...click this (http://www.bluefireracing.com/video.aspx)

[BlueFirePony]

Race 3 is up... I put the pressure on Frank a couple times but made too many mistakes to get past him...way to keep the lead Frank! Just noticed that Firefox and Safari both autoplay the latest videos (i.e. Race 2 and 3) and the controls don't show for Firefox in some cases...I'll work on that this week. In the meantime, you can stop one of the videos (Safari - click stop control, Firefox - right mouse click on the video and click stop from the menu).

[GlennCMC70]

Think I saw a double block. I'll not point it out anymore than I already have. Lets be sure we are not doing this knowingly. The reason we don't allow it is to minimize the chance of contact. It almost happened in this instance.

[GlennCMC70]

I guess nobody got my jump at T11 (R1?). It was no "Rob Who?", but I would sure like to see it.

[marshall_mosty]

Good videos Brian! Wish I had been there. I'm waist deep in a motor swap at the moment. Old one is out and the new one needs new cam bearings and then it will go in... Hopefully will breathe life by the end of September...

[BlueFirePony]

Race 4 is up now as well.
Turns out I did turn on the camera for R1 but battery died before the end...
still, might be worth it for the start and my spin...nope...no Glenn jump at T11 from what I saw.
L8r this week...that's all the time I have for vidz right now.

[michaelmosty]

I guess nobody got my jump at T11 (R1?). It was no "Rob Who?", but I would sure like to see it.
I should have it. I'm guessing it will just be a cloud of smoke though. I haven't looked at the video yet since it was just a couple of laps but I'll get it edited.

[David Love AI27]

Like some people I just wanted to get you stirred up.

Leave me out of it....

[jeremiahkellam]

Think I saw a double block. I'll not point it out anymore than I already have.

Watched all 3, didnt see it.

Enlighten us please!

[GlennCMC70]

Watched all 3, didnt see it.

Enlighten us please!

R3. 4:47.
It is a little subjective. I felt more confident about it when I posted originally about it. I had time to watch it several times today (only watched it once before) and I don't feel as strong about it. It appears the lead car makes a move to the left (very small and subtle) and at that moment the trailing car moves to the right only to see the lead car moving to the right now. This move to the right almost causes contact. Again, it is very subjective.
I'll consider it a non-issue since the trailing car didn't comment to an Official about it. Either he didn't care or it wasn't an issue to him.


And yes, I watch all the post race vid's I can after each event to look for issues of this type. It has resulted in talks w/ several folks over the years in an attempt to prevent protests.

Sorry I derailed this thread.

[GlennCMC70]

Also - Frank.....
In R4 at the 13:52 mark, your brake light switch fails. The lights stay on the whole time your in view of the camera from that point forward. Something to check before ECR.

[BlueFirePony]

R3. 4:47.
It is a little subjective. I felt more confident about it when I posted originally about it. I had time to watch it several times today (only watched it once before) and I don't feel as strong about it. It appears the lead car makes a move to the left (very small and subtle) and at that moment the trailing car moves to the right only to see the lead car moving to the right now. This move to the right almost causes contact. Again, it is very subjective.
I'll consider it a non-issue since the trailing car didn't comment to an Official about it. Either he didn't care or it wasn't an issue to him.


And yes, I watch all the post race vid's I can after each event to look for issues of this type. It has resulted in talks w/ several folks over the years in an attempt to prevent protests.

Sorry I derailed this thread.

All the lead car/trailing car almost made me think this was about someone else ;)
IMHO Frank did not alter his line nearly enough for me to consider it a block, never mind a double block.
I think what you are seeing is the effect of the narrow view of the camera.
Frank pretty much held a defensive line coming out of the turn all the way into the brake zone...he shimmied a bit right under braking but not on purpose (IMO)
When I got left he holds his line and I knew I could not make the pass on that side so I was going to set up an over-under but he outwaited me and I had to abort.
If anything I should have been less aggressive and just sat back a little to get a nice run off the corner using my normal line (which I tried on the last lap only to F*** it up on the next turn).
If anyone created an *almost* it was me.
As an aside:The lack of peripheral on these videos and poor field of view makes for a poor analysis fodder.
I'm going to alter my mounting position and adjust the focal point going forward.
I know you are just trying to teach/officiate Glenn, but probably would help to talk to the drivers in addition to the video before posting - I actually should have posted before now but I've only had time for fly-bys. Like this was supposed to be :(

[kbrewmr2]

R3. 4:47.
It is a little subjective. I felt more confident about it when I posted originally about it. I had time to watch it several times today (only watched it once before) and I don't feel as strong about it. It appears the lead car makes a move to the left (very small and subtle) and at that moment the trailing car moves to the right only to see the lead car moving to the right now. This move to the right almost causes contact. Again, it is very subjective.

Yep, very subjective - been on the bad end of one of those before. Best to get an idea of how close your RD is going to call it before a.) driving that defensive in the first place and b.) before protesting it.

The rule does mention it has to actually impede a pass, but still... even that isn't defined very close in the rule and is just as subjective.

[cobra132]

Wow. (Blank stare from within confines of glass house.)

[GlennCMC70]

Wow. (Blank stare from within confines of glass house.)
Sorry Frank.

[kbrewmr2]

Wow. (Blank stare from within confines of glass house.)

for the record I haven't seen the video so I don't have any opinion on that particular case whatsoever, just sharing my experience.

[BlueFirePony]

OK enuf on that. Where's everyone else's vidz? While the races were a blast and it was fun watching a couple times, they are old now...want more......neeeeed more. October is too far away!