NOLA Oct 19-20

[Al Fernandez]

Who is going? I looked at the signup sheet this morning and there is no one from Tx AI or CMC so far... I want to go!

[Sook]

Who is going? I looked at the signup sheet this morning and there is no one from Tx AI or CMC so far... I want to go!

Planning on it. Is it listed under TX yet? I wasn't sure if it was gonna be part of the season.

- Josh

[blk96gt]

I'm planning to go.

[drecords]

I'm planning to go.

I’ve decided to go...I enjoy that track. Going to cobble my harness together and run old tires and just try to have fun!

[RichardP]

I'm going to hype up this event a bit by pointing out that, for the first time in a while, there is a tight battle for the CMC Season Championship at stake going into the last event of the season. Great Stuff!

Looking at the points after COTA, it seemed like John, with four wins and the points lead, was a lock for the championship as long as he kept showing up for events. Since then, Josh has been on quite a tear with four wins for himself. Or, put another way, Josh has won or crashed in every race since our failed attempt at doing a half-assed budget suspension revision at COTA.

The hype for this event is a little bit muted because Michael showed his true cheatin' self at COTA by going full Mario Kart and throwing car parts at his pursuers in an attempt to thwart their progress. You might be a bit confused since it's clear that Michael is most definitely not a cheater. A quick check of the rules shows it's not actually illegal to throw stuff at the competition during a race (noted for future events). Unfortunately for Michael, the parts he chose to throw were actually quite heavy and he came in a bit under weight at the end of the race. Following the well intentioned but actually pretty poor CMC rule in section 7.9, zeros due to technical infractions are not droppable, regardless of the reason. I don't think Michael should get to keep his win because, not only did he race some portion of the race light, he was out of configuration for his certified dyno by not having an exhaust. I just think ejecting him from the championship battle is a bit harsh. If Michael's COTA zero was droppable, he would slot in between Josh and John in points for a spectacular three way battle to the end. How great would that be for the series?!?

I clearly have a preference for who I would like to win but realistically it would be great if either won since neither currently has a season championship. Josh has a small points lead and the momentum going into the event. John has been to NOLA before while Josh will be going in cold. Let's see if we can get more cars to show up so they have a serious fight for it all...


Richard P.

[drecords]

I love it, strealing parts for the CMC Facebook page




I'm going to hype up this event a bit by pointing out that, for the first time in a while, there is a tight battle for the CMC Season Championship at stake going into the last event of the season. Great Stuff!

Looking at the points after COTA, it seemed like John, with four wins and the points lead, was a lock for the championship as long as he kept showing up for events. Since then, Josh has been on quite a tear with four wins for himself. Or, put another way, Josh has won or crashed in every race since our failed attempt at doing a half-assed budget suspension revision at COTA.

The hype for this event is a little bit muted because Michael showed his true cheatin' self at COTA by going full Mario Kart and throwing car parts at his pursuers in an attempt to thwart their progress. You might be a bit confused since it's clear that Michael is most definitely not a cheater. A quick check of the rules shows it's not actually illegal to throw stuff at the competition during a race (noted for future events). Unfortunately for Michael, the parts he chose to throw were actually quite heavy and he came in a bit under weight at the end of the race. Following the well intentioned but actually pretty poor CMC rule in section 7.9, zeros due to technical infractions are not droppable, regardless of the reason. I don't think Michael should get to keep his win because, not only did he race some portion of the race light, he was out of configuration for his certified dyno by not having an exhaust. I just think ejecting him from the championship battle is a bit harsh. If Michael's COTA zero was droppable, he would slot in between Josh and John in points for a spectacular three way battle to the end. How great would that be for the series?!?

I clearly have a preference for who I would like to win but realistically it would be great if either won since neither currently has a season championship. Josh has a small points lead and the momentum going into the event. John has been to NOLA before while Josh will be going in cold. Let's see if we can get more cars to show up so they have a serious fight for it all...


Richard P.

[Al Fernandez]

I have it on good authority that John Martin will be there so it’s on!

[michaelmosty]

I love it Richard, hahaha. I should have made just a muffler fly at John and not the whole exhaust. ;^)

I checked the points with drops and it looks like we will be having 4 drops this year. If we take the lowest 4 points out from previous events I show John at 1125, Josh at 1085, and me at 1075. Double check my points to make sure.

We also need to see how many races and points scoring races there will be at NOLA to best prepare.

I know it is a longer tow for some but is anyone else planning to go?

[RichardP]

I checked the points with drops and it looks like we will be having 4 drops this year. If we take the lowest 4 points out from previous events I show John at 1125, Josh at 1085, and me at 1075. Double check my points to make sure.



The problem is that you checked the rule book. That's a dumb place to go. They just put those there just to tease and confuse people. We're talking NASA Texas here. That means that we have to follow the "NASA Texas Supplemental Rules, Version 1.3 Updated 12/20/18." https://nasatx.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/NASA-Texas-Supplemental-Rules.pdf

From Item 5 of the supplemental rules: "CMC, AI, SI, AIX will have 7 race drops. This rule supersedes the CCR and/or class rules."

So, we have 7 drops. With 7 events and four races per event, that's not an unreasonable number. Well, COTA was only ever going to have three races. And then Eagles was cancelled. There was also a small issue with weather at Hallett and timing issues at TMS that each caused a race drop. So, seven actually ends up being a really big number. Oops. The good news is that you don't have to worry about how many races we will be able to get at NOLA...


Richard P.

[Al Fernandez]

So with seven drops where does that leave the top three CMC??

[drecords]

Looks like I’m sitting NOLA out. Our dog Bandit (Blue Heeler begging for ribs at Hallett) is thought to have pretty advanced and terminal cancer and doesn’t have much time left. To that end I won’t be prepping my car this weekend so we’ll catch you guys at MSR-H in January.

[Sook]

Looks like I’m sitting NOLA out. Our dog Bandit (Blue Heeler begging for ribs at Hallett) is thought to have pretty advanced and terminal cancer and doesn’t have much time left. To that end I won’t be prepping my car this weekend so we’ll catch you guys at MSR-H in January.

Really sorry to hear that bud.

[Sook]

So with seven drops where does that leave the top three CMC??

Here's what I got with 7 drops:
Pos No. Name 7 Drops
1 50 Joshua Sooknanan 925
2 7 John Martin 905
3 11 Michael Mosty 835

[michaelmosty]

Here's what I got with 7 drops:
Pos No. Name 7 Drops
1 50 Joshua Sooknanan 925
2 7 John Martin 905
3 11 Michael Mosty 835

Josh, did you drop the 7 lowest scores from the races already run?

I don’t have the numbers with me but when I dropped the 7 lowest scores for all I had John in first by about 60 points over you in 2nd.

I definitely want to make sure all are on the same page heading into NOLA next weekend.


So sorry to hear about the news with Bandit, Daniel. :^(

[Sook]

Josh, did you drop the 7 lowest scores from the races already run?

I don’t have the numbers with me but when I dropped the 7 lowest scores for all I had John in first by about 60 points over you in 2nd.

I definitely want to make sure all are on the same page heading into NOLA next weekend.


So sorry to hear about the news with Bandit, Daniel. :^(

I think that's what I did. I tried to be fancy with the spreadsheet so I may have made a mistake.

- Josh

[RichardP]

Josh's numbers match what I calculated using information from here: https://speedhive.mylaps.com/Championships/75390. We would certainly like to know if that's not correct.

Remember that Josh's DQ is droppable because he just punted someone out of the way and screwed up their race (when he had brake issues). Your DQ isn't droppable because you failed to screw up anyone else's race, or something like that??? If your zero was droppable, you would slot in the middle with 915...


Richard P.

[michaelmosty]

Josh's numbers match what I calculated using information from here: https://speedhive.mylaps.com/Championships/75390. We would certainly like to know if that's not correct.

Remember that Josh's DQ is droppable because he just punted someone out of the way and screwed up their race (when he had brake issues). Your DQ isn't droppable because you failed to screw up anyone else's race, or something like that??? If your zero was droppable, you would slot in the middle with 915...


Richard P.
That is exactly it. I was thinking Josh’s DQ was for being under weight but I remember now that was last year.

[centerville]

Looks like I’m sitting NOLA out. Our dog Bandit (Blue Heeler begging for ribs at Hallett) is thought to have pretty advanced and terminal cancer and doesn’t have much time left. To that end I won’t be prepping my car this weekend so we’ll catch you guys at MSR-H in January.

Sorry to hear this. They are mans best friend for a reason.

[michaelmosty]

I called and got details on the NOLA schedule for this weekend. Saturday will be the standard format with 2 races and Sunday will have qual and just 1 race being a 40 minute race that starts at 11:00. Will be nice to be able to get home at a more reasonable hour.

I see myself, Josh, John, and Heather signed up. Who else is planning on going? Al and Kevin, are y’all still in? Pranav? Who else?

[Pranav]

I called and got details on the NOLA schedule for this weekend. Saturday will be the standard format with 2 races and Sunday will have qual and just 1 race being a 40 minute race that starts at 11:00. Will be nice to be able to get home at a more reasonable hour.

I see myself, Josh, John, and Heather signed up. Who else is planning on going? Al and Kevin, are y’all still in? Pranav? Who else?

I am in and finishing putting my rear end and checking things over.

I don't want to register until the last minute given their refund policy.

[ShadowBolt]

So since I'm not going anyway I don't give a damn but does this mean we are going to three race weekends in the future? If I remember the last race weekend also was just three races. I'm not sure of that. I just spent $3500.00 on my engine that I would not have spent if this is going to be the norm. I understand it's just me that does not like the three race deal and I know NASA Texas wants us to run just three races. I need to know so I can figure out what I'm going to do about next year. The car may be for sale soon with a brand new engine. I've been on the fence about getting out for the last year or so. Maybe this is the push I need.

JJ

[michaelmosty]

This NOLA event is hosted by the NOLA region so we are racing by their rules / schedule. I have not heard anything about changing to 3-race weekends. Myself, along with many others, prefer the 4-race weekends!!

[AllZWay]

This NOLA event is hosted by the NOLA region so we are racing by their rules / schedule. I have not heard anything about changing to 3-race weekends. Myself, along with many others, prefer the 4-race weekends!!

Not currently racing... but I certainly would want four races instead of three.

[ShadowBolt]

This NOLA event is hosted by the NOLA region so we are racing by their rules / schedule. I have not heard anything about changing to 3-race weekends. Myself, along with many others, prefer the 4-race weekends!!

It just seams to me there have been a lot of three race weekends. COTA for sure then didn't something happen at the last event (the Roval) and you guys only got three races? Since I have not been to many races this year maybe I'm wrong.

JJ

[Sook]

It just seams to me there have been a lot of three race weekends. COTA for sure then didn't something happen at the last event (the Roval) and you guys only got three races? Since I have not been to many races this year maybe I'm wrong.

JJ

COTA being COTA, Monsoon at Hallett, timing loop issues at TMS.

Edit to add the NASCAR light/runoff area issue at TMS

[Trublu]

I absolutely positively want 4 races for a weekend. NOLA ran 3 last time I was there but really doesn’t get the car count for a thunder class or any other specific class for that matter. I’m going to test all weekend given I’ll be the only AI car (for the second time this year).

We need to grow the thunder group back to where it was a few years ago, the tire discussion is a distraction, let’s get back on with attracting and welcoming new and past folks back to AICMC. some of the threads on here serve to dissuade folks, I’m sure that’s not what we want right?

[blk96gt]

I'm out. Work is being a PITA right now.

[Pranav]

Car is close to ready but I am not, same thing here work has been nuts.

Going to try my best but will decide by tomorrow.

[ShadowBolt]

I'm out. Work is being a PITA right now.

F'ing job!

[rleng1]

Still running 4 race weekends here in RM. CMC car counts seem to be improving.

[RichardP]

It's a shame this event isn't better attended. Classic CMC stuff going on. John is faster than Josh but Josh is out there now trying to find more time. John's car died on track last session. A quick diagnosis shows the crank spins but the cam doesn't. Wrenches coming out to dig deep to figure out the exact reason.

Richard P.

[Pranav]

Yeah I threw in the towel early in the week due to work and just a complete lack of energy.

Instead I took the car down to Alvin to have some body and random trim/fabwork done, so I can focus on a few things over the winter.

Anyways on my way down to Alvin from Spring a couple of guys waved at me and pointed at my trailer while in stop and go traffic, looked back in time to see a huge puff of smoke come out the trailer wheels.

Stopped in downtown and found I smoked an outer bearing again, stopped by an oreilly's to get some tools and spent an hour fighting with it and got the spare hub/bearing swapped on; thanks to those guys I didn't trash an axle end by running it for miles and miles.

Glad I was not doing that in the middle of the night on the way NOLA.

[smitty328]

Not currently racing... but I certainly would want four races instead of three.

Ditto

[Sook]

We had FOUR races at NOLA, I think the three race thing was a mixup.

[Supercharged111]

Still running 4 race weekends here in RM. CMC car counts seem to be improving.

We should have double digit car counts next year so you guys should pick a race to come up here next July or August.

[RichardP]

So, the big battle for the championship was a bust. After lots of poking and prodding, it was determined that John's engine issue wasn't anything that was going to be fixed at the track. Big bummer for the battle and a huge bummer for John.

That doesn't mean that the championship was wrapped up. Michael was still mathematically alive but all Josh had to do was win one race or start two races to clinch. In the first race, Michael had the fastest lap by .023 seconds but Josh won the tight battle by less than 1/2 a second to claim the championship. There were more spectacular battles in the second and third races with Michael taking one and Josh taking another.

The good news for Josh is that by taking two of the three races, he beat the points total that Michael would have had if his DQ was droppable. That means that Michael didn't loose the championship because of the rule issue that unfairly penalized him for his exhaust falling off. It was just a solid battle to the end between two very worthy competitors.

Michael bailed before the fourth race. Josh and I decided to stick around for the fourth race. I don't believe anyone in Texas has run in AIX this season. I can also find no evidence that anyone has ever run AIX at NOLA? We had mentioned it earlier in the weekend and Craig said he was thinking of running in AIX. He bailed Sunday morning and we don't know if he ever did? Anyway, Josh got with the race director and changed his class to AIX for the last race. If Craig didn't run in AIX, that means that the two laps Josh ran in the last race were good enough for the win in AIX, the lap record at NOLA in AIX, and the Texas region AIX Championship. I guess it also gets him the NOLA region AIX championship to go with his NOLA region CMC championship if nobody runs in either of those classes at their last event of their season??? Anyway, silly stuff that might not actually happen as the official results on RaceHero don't actually show the change to AIX yet. They are supposed to be correct when the official results come out but we'll see. The results do show Heather with her second win in CMC as she ran more laps than Josh in the fourth race...

Josh said he was going to work on some video highlights from the weekend. He's also trying to figure out what to do with his racecar as it's looking a bit rough. Anyone have a spare Mustang tub they are looking to get rid of?


Richard P.

[Sook]

Finally got the R1 video together.

Clearly, I wasn't ready for the start. The leaders of the field never formed up but they threw the green anyway. Michael and I had an insanely close battle for the whole race. It's hard to see once I'm in front, but he was right on my bumper the whole time.
<iframe width="972" height="547" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qFmNkbBw0ts" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Here's where I tried to pass a Corvette in the grass, three wide with Michael:
https://youtu.be/qFmNkbBw0ts?t=174

Pass for the win:
https://youtu.be/qFmNkbBw0ts?t=643

We went three wide again a few corners before the checkered flag (can't see Michael in the video but he's on my right). Comp school 350Z that didn't quite know what was going on for the whole previous lap:
https://youtu.be/qFmNkbBw0ts?t=1348

Great race, I'll work on getting R3 up which was also an awesome battle.

- Josh

[centerville]

Great job Josh and congrats! Thanks for posting this.

[mach1]

Nice work!!! Thanks for posting, Congratulations!!!

[Supercharged111]

In the words of flyin Bryan, if you ain't in the dirt you ain't tryin.