MSRH 2021 recap

[Sook]

Had a great weekend of close racing. We had an interesting format this weekend beginning with qualifying, race 1 rolling start grid inverted based on qualifying, and race 2 standing start grid based on qual. We did this both days, and it made for excellent videos from R1 and R3.

R1, Mostly and I had a near photo finish with a 0.072s gap.
https://youtu.be/a40K4WPDhbU

R3, I didn't go as far off track as I thought when Dave missed a shift and got sent alllllll the way back to the back. Had a great race checking out the side of Steve's car in every turn.
https://youtu.be/Kp_27veskkI

Josh

[Shortcutsleeping]

Good to race with you all! I had a ton of "been sitting for three years" issues with Scratcher and ended up in the grey 480 GSpeed corvette for R4.

A DE3/4 guy pitted next to me, Paul Jantzi, hung out with us a good bit since we had all the action going on trying to keep Scratcher on track. He had a mustang on pirelli slicks and seemed to be doing quite well and asked a lot of questions about racing classes and such. Gary Robertson was helping me a ton (THANKS!) and we touched on most all NASA classes, but spent the most time on CMC and the new AMCM. He had a lot of good questions and Gary walked him over to you all Sunday afternoon so hopefully some of ya'll connected. I'll text him and let him know about this forum so he can see. He asked about car prices and such and I know Gary told him of at least two CMC cars that are Texas-ish and such, so maybe he'll be joining the ranks.

R4 from my 'never driven this car' point of view: https://vimeo.com/508243857

Again, enjoyed it and we'll see if NASA keeps ST and CMC together as the season progresses. I don't know if I'll be in SLJHMR or Scratcher...I just want to be there!

Costas
cars and such...

[Fbody383]

R3, I didn't go as far off track as I thought when Dave missed a shift and got sent alllllll the way back to the back.

6:15 of Josh's R3 video is why we race CMC. Besides, from the back you get to pass everybody...

Josh, I thought/was pretty sure I had left you enough room over there. The 88 would have been much easier to drive if you guys would have just run a bunch of 51s... it had no business going as quick as it did on those tires.

[fscott]

Hi yall! I'm Frederic Scott, and I've joined the insanity that is CMC. I'm driving Kevin Jander's old car, and just completed comp school at ECR in December.

MSRH was a blast.

Day 1, I qualified third and finished fourth. I went over the scales and was informed that I was 60 pounds underweight. That's not a typo, I was running stupidly light!

Josh, Michael and Sam donated ballast, bolts, and tools, and I managed to bolt 70lbs of steel into the car before race 2. I came in 5th out of 9th for a solid Mid-Pack Larry result.

Sunday we ran CCW. I qualified fifth, but that paid off in the invert race. I managed to get to 2nd place before Bus Stop, and grabbed first place on lap 2. Then I ran like hell while everyone else was battling for position. I got my lead up to about 7 seconds, then Michael Mosty got clear of the pack and began catching up. Michael qualified over 1 second faster than me, so I knew that it was just a matter of time before he caught up. The race ended with him 1.194 seconds behind me. One more lap, and he would have had me.

I never expected to get a first place win before I'd even taken off my rookie plate, so I'm thrilled with the result.

Race 4 went well enough. Sam Crumpacker make me look at his bumper for most of the race, but then had a 10 second power loss at Diamond's Edge. That cost him two places. I claimed 4th without ever having passed anyone against their will. Here's hoping Sam finds the problem.

After the race, I was informed that I had a leak from my rear axle. While I was investigating it, I learned about a CMC tradition for when you win your first race. I'm glad my phone wasn't in my pocket!

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And there's one more story to tell from the trip home.

After a post-race dinner in Pearland, I drove down the street to the AutoZone to get wiper blades. I had the Mustang back on the trailer in preparation for the long drive home. As I got out of the truck I heard a little boy yelling excitedly,"RACECAR! RACECAR!"

I spotted him and his family, and invited them over to take a look. The little boy, perhaps 8 years old, climbed up into the car and settled into the driver's seat. I went around to the passenger side, put the car in neutral, and then showed him what to do.

"Flip this switch up."
*The dashboard lights up, the fuel pump hums, and the gauges sweep across the dials*
"Now press this black button"

The 4.6l V8 roared to life through a 2.5" exhaust equipped with mufflers that barely deserve the name. The kid's jaw dropped and his eyes got as big as saucers. I showed him a few features on the car, such as the detachable steering wheel, and told him that this car had just won first place. I didn't have the heart to tell him that it was just club racing with a 25 year old Mustang, and just one race out of four, because that kid was sitting in a goddamned racecar. I bet that days later, he's still talking about it.


Everything about the weekend was great, and I'm looking forward to the next race at MSRC.