Round 5- TWS Highlights

[Todd Covini]

I spent Saturday with the Texas AI/CMC crew, but unfortunately had to leave and go to work on Sunday.

Here are some of the highlights from the day:
+ All cars series teched prior to Race 1- (100% logbook checks and other items)
+ Great to see current AI & CMC Champions Burch & Pedersen at the track!
+ Jerry, Gary & Morgan ("The Kid") also checking out the racing action prior to their 2008 debuts
+ Jerry cleared to race CMC17 on Saturday from the back of the pack and never lost sight of them. Holding his own in the CMC group of cars despite continued brake issues.
+ Jeff Wirtz left his car at home and also came by to check out the action
+ Boudy & family trackside support for Argent Lab including Info Broadcast
+ Lee Ann Rimes sings the national anthem with skydivers landing on track with Texas and U.S. Flags
+ Track announcer all day long broadcast on 90.5FM
+ Track videographer tapes all AI/CMC races with announcer dubbed over
+ Fulcrum Motorsports debuts testbed aero packages on 3 cars

RACING ACTION
+ Liebbe takes pole position in CMC
+ White takes pole position in AI
+ There were no AIX racers until Love rolled on track after the green flag fell....and after that, there were 2 AIX racers for Race 2!!!

Race 1 winners
White (AI)
Love (AIX)
Landrum (CMC)
Warren (CMC-2)

Race 2 winners
Donovan (AI)
White (AIX)
Burch (CMC)
Warren (CMC-2)

Donovan had radiator issues
Marshall had splitter issues
Burch had rear sway bar issues
Liebbe had tire issues.
Landrum had tail-light issues
Love had tranny issues

Proctor got into the back of Dawdy during braking on lap 1 of Race 2.
No visible damage however it did result in a Dawdy spin.
Contact forms were filed and IRB determined it to be a racing incident.

A few drivers carried on the "fun-wagon" tradition of giving rides in their racecars with new passenger seats installed. Glenn proved that even GM drivers can have "big-offs" whilst showing off their AI/CMC skills on track!!!

Kudos to NASA for putting on a great show.
Kudos to Adrian for fighting (and I mean, fighting) for our NASA individuality and getting us a giant "finger flag" for "one to go"!! :wink: LOL
Kudos to Argent Lab for really stepping up the trackside support.
Kudos to Fulcrum Motorsports for their debut of some great products

The day ended with a keg of Shiner Bock with the corner workers followed by an AI/CMC group dinner later. Nearly every one of our racers and their families made dinner for 25+ at Outback Steakhouse a great ending to the day. I toasted to another safe and exciting day of AI/CMC Racing, but failed to mention that days & dinners like these are what make Texas AI/CMC racing, what it is today!!! (I had a blast with some great friends.)

-=- Todd

PS- More of the same action on today, and early reports are that Landrum got the CMC pole position but lost 3rd gear during Race 3.

More from series directors Donovan & Landrum regarding Sunday's action...once they return home.

[NASA13]

Big congratulations to Rob Liebbe for his first Pole position and First Win this weekend.
I knew he would shave his tires someday. Now we are screwed.

I cant wait to lose to ya Rob, sorry I missed it this weekend.

Corey

[AllZWay]

IProctor got into the back of Dawdy during braking on lap 1 of Race 2.
No visible damage however it did result in a Dawdy spin.
Contact forms were filed and IRB determined it to be a racing incident.

ops: Other than that... It was a good weekend.

[NASA13]

IProctor got into the back of Dawdy during braking on lap 1 of Race 2.
No visible damage however it did result in a Dawdy spin.
Contact forms were filed and IRB determined it to be a racing incident.

ops: Other than that... It was a good weekend.

That was a dirty trick Proctor. I cant believe how cut throat you are playing for the 2nd place championships. That's ok because I will be there to back up my teammate in Houston.
CMC is all about Payback Racing. :twisted:
Right Todd?
I hope you have brusies from all the big guys that I asked to hit you in the arm. Oh well, I guess Pit Happens.
Wish I was there sounded like a blast.
See you kids at Nationals.

[Waco Racer]

Oh, and over $500 raised for Jerry MacNeil.

[GlennCMC70]

RACING ACTION
+ Landrum takes pole position in CMC (1:59.6xx)
+ David D takes pole position in AI

Race 3 winners
David D (AI)
Liebbe (CMC)
Warren (CMC-2)

Race 4 winners
Donovan (AI)
Mosty (CMC)
Warren (CMC-2)


yep Todds right, i gave up a pole to a Ford. i felt bad for taking most all the poles so far this year (Jeff W got one for being a new guy!).
Robs car is an animal. he's always been fast at TWS, and this weekend he did a really great job. sorry i didnt know it was your first win, i would have made mention of it in out meeting. Congrats!
kudos to Michael Mosty for his win today. he ran a great and consistent race. good job to little M&M!

my hoopty almost failed me two times this weekend. Friday practice i had a brake line fail. it was a quick fix, but a failure non the less. but sunday R3 was the big one. i lost 3rd gear during lap two and a lap later an off track exploration moment caused me to drop back to last. there was no quick fix for the missing gate for 3rd, so i informed all the AI/CMC drivers i was starting on the front row and to look for a point by cause i had no 3rd. the end result was i learned a lot about carrying momentum during that race. dropped a stop to Mosty on the start (2nd to 4th on the front straight makes for a less than stellar start). from there it was all about keeping on his bumper. i managed to keep w/ him a 2nd place finish. did i mention i drove the whole race in 4th? w/ one hand on the shifter to keep it in gear while driving w/ one hand? did i mention i also set fast lap of the race for CMC? i cant explain how much this issue taught me about my car and what it can do. i was dumbfounded that i could stay up w/ the leader. i was floored to see i set fast lap (2.01.0xx).


we had lots of really good racing from all in attendance and i'm 100% sure everyone went home w/ a tired smile on their face. we endured the heat and had a blast!. the announcer was awesome - look for DVD ordering info coming soon!
for those who missed it, you missed out!


also- yes, i did givea fun ride, and yes, i kept the Covini tradition alive. i took Jim Dulaney for a nice hot lap (90%) and we had a nice big off in T1. we did get a nice clean lap the lap prior. he''s hooked dispite the off, and commented that his CMC build time frame has just been bumped up to ASAP! i also took Kim and Morgan Lebaron for a ride. that was all it took to seal the deal for them to think more about CMC than AI. i'm sure we will hear more from this father son team in the near future. i think David D gave a nice ride to a former drag racer. former as in he was converted on satuday when he got the ride. 8)

over all this was one of the best event NASA TX has put on in a long time. good to see those who were there and missed those who were not.
more to come.

[marshall_mosty]

The weeks leading up to this event were very busy for both me and Neill Gathings (Fulcrum Motorsports) as we finished the design and fabrication of both the two AI spec wings (AI #7 and AI #67) as well as the CMC wing that is on Michael's #11 car. All three wings worked flawlessly. More information will be available very soon on Fulcrum's website http://fulcrumcaddesign.com/.

Enough of the shameless plugs. 8)

I had a great weekend fighting through both front splitter development issues. After some quick fab to support the center of the splitter, it was good to go.

I haven't run TWS in some 2 1/2 years with the last time on track being my first AI race ever with something like 2:08's as my personal best. Needless to say, that personal best was shattered by over 10 seconds getting me down into the 1:56 range.

After the splitter issues and missing qual on Friday, I gridded from DFL for R1. I fought my way through a very tough CMC and AI field. James Proctor (aka Tony Stewart ) was a difficult guy to get by. That Camaro just seems to be 15 feet wide at times! Misty was as courteous as ever, allowing more than she should at corner entry. at the end I was right on David Kiersh's bumper going across start/finish at the end of R1 to take a 4th place.

The R2 invert still had me at almost the back of the pack and after a very agricultural adventure in T6 dodging Morgan's spin, I was once again at the back of the pack. I was able to fight all the way back through the field to get up to 2nd behind David Donovan for a podium finish.

Qual on Sunday was where it all went bad. For some reason, I had dreams of something bad happening this weekend. I kept shrugging them off and rolling the dice. We'll, I "crapped out" during qual. During my 3rd hot lap going into the carousel, downshifting from 4th to 3rd brought on a mechanical symphony rivaled only by the music group "STOMP". I had vibrations going on that were more severe than a hula dancer on crack. I thought I had either broken a torque arm mount or the panhard bar due to the noises, but when I pulled it onto pit lane, the noises continued until I entered my pit stall. This is definately something that an oil change won't fix. Thanks to Nick, Matt, Morgan, David, and whoever else helped push the car on the trailer.

I'll tear into it and let everyone know what the diagnosis is.


All in all, great weekend. Clean racing, good times.

Hopefully I'll see you guys at Houston or Barber, but time will tell in regards to the motor. At this point, I'm thinking "season over" and just come out of the gates running in '08. 8)

[Todd Covini]

Sunday was Ford Day in the AI/CMC winner's circle!!!

FORD= First On Race Day

:roll: uh-oh...here we go with bad acronyms :roll:

[marshall_mosty]

For me this weekend...

Friggin' Overworked Rotating assembly Disaster

[mitchntx]

Nice write up Todd. Thanks for jumping on that. It's great read!

Also, thanks for working that magic in getting the announcer and videographer synced up for a race DVD.

Everyone was stoked about the announcing details of all the drivers. That was a fantastic job, there buddy.

I also enjoyed breaking bread with you Saturday night. I know you are under the gun at work. I appreciate your taking the time away from your family to support the race group.

I love you, man.

:roll: uh-oh...here we go with bad acronyms :roll:

Family On Race Day