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My first visit to Road Atlanta

2008-10-05T21:27:37-05:00

Had a great time. 1200 miles round trip. Got there on Wednesday evening. Was amazed at the number of campers already there. Then I learned that the locals get there when the gates open Tuesday, set up or leave there camper and go home. Infield parking is up to interpretation. There is no organized parking on the in-field except for reservations for motorhomes.

There is very little level ground at Road Atlanta. Many tents were not on level ground because there is so little of it. Squeezed my 19' motorhome onto a space on the inside of turn 9. I was lucky to get such a good spot.
Everybody (it seems) brings a motorcycle, 4 wheeler or golf cart. Some were very imaginative. I took my bike. I coasted down the steep roads and walked it back up.

The viewing locations are second to none. I used to think that Road America was made for spectators. Atlanta is better. A short hike gets you from the back straight to the esses in no time. With all the hilly terrain viewing of large sections of the track is easy. Pit and paddock access is a toss up as both are very good. Atlanta does allow spectators to do a grid walk which I've never seen before.

Attendance was reported 119,000 (?) I think I read. Biggest crowd ever. There may have been that many at Road America for (3) years.

My biggest plus was watching those cars at night. I've never seen that before and it is so cool. I highly recommend this event although if you are taking a motorhome, get there when the gates open or reserve a spot. I was told all the reserved spots were taken so you might have to act quickly.

2009 ALMS Schedule

2008-10-03T12:32:23-05:00

Here is the 09 ALMS schedule. http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/alms-2009-schedule-announced/

Petit Le Mans coverage: PATHETIC!!!!!

2008-09-03T09:08:10-05:00

I just looked at the program schedule for the coverage of the Petit Le Mans @ Road Atlanta on Oct. 4th, only to be DISGUSTED by what I saw. Of course I will be there, but for those that aren't, they are getting a raw deal. Coverage goes from the start at 11:00 to 1:00. Then goes away for Sprint Cup Qually, NCTS Setup, then a NCTS Race. Then Petit back on from 6:30 to the end. I just can't believe for a race with this significance, that comes only once a year, that they are skimping on the coverage this much!! Rediculous!!

A New Verb

2008-10-06T12:37:02-05:00

After watching Alan McNish's spin on the pace lap at Road Atlanta, I would like to propose a new verb, to "Guererro:"

Guererro (V): To do something stupid on the pace lap, crashing and taking your car out of the race before it has even begun.

Etymology: >Pedro Guererro, who had the fastest qualifying lap ever at the Indy 500, then spun out and crashed while warming the tyres.

Example: "Alan McNish guererroed his way into the fences at Road Atlanta, necessitating 45 minutes of repair, which put him two laps behind before starting the race."

2009 Grand Am Schedule

2008-10-06T10:14:50-05:00

2009 Rolex dates (Mexico City race) and Koni Challenge dates set...

2009 Grand-Am Annual Schedule
Jan 23 - 25 Daytona International Speedway – KONI Challenge
Rolex 24 At Daytona – Rolex Series

March 13 - 15 Homestead-Miami Speedway – KONI Challenge

Date TBD Mexico City 1000 km race – Rolex Series

April 24 - 26 Virginia International Raceway – Rolex Series
Virginia International Raceway – KONI Challenge

May 1 - 3 New Jersey Motorsports Park – Rolex Series
New Jersey Motorsports Park – KONI Challenge

May 15 - 17 Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca – Rolex Series
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca – KONI Challenge

May 22 - 25 Lime Rock Park – KONI Challenge

June 5 - 7 Watkins Glen International – Rolex Series
Watkins Glen International – KONI Challenge

June 19 - 21 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course – Rolex Series
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course – KONI Challenge

July 2 Daytona 250 – Rolex Series (Thurs)

July 17 - 19 Barber Motorsports Park – Rolex Series
Barber Motorsports Park – KONI Challenge

August 7 - 9 Watkins Glen International – Rolex Series (Fri)

August 14 - 16 Trois-Rivieres – KONI Challenge

August 28 - 30 Montreal – Rolex Series (Sat)

Sept 18 - 20 Miller Motorsports Park – Rolex Series
Miller Motorsports Park – KONI Challenge

October 2 - 4 Virginia International Raceway – KONI Challenge

October 9 - 11 Homestead-Miami Speedway – Rolex Series

Petit Le Mans Race Thread

2008-10-01T13:33:25-05:00

No one has started one, so I figured I'd kick it off.
I was listening to Radio Le Mans at work and the Wed. Prototype practice just ended. And here is the order, with (some) times included. Keep in mind I don't have all the car numbers or driver names in the list, I was just quickly taking notes.

1 Audi Luhr/Werner 107.0
2 Peugeot 107.2
3 AGR Acura 107.6
4 Ginetta Zytek 107.8
5 Penske #7 107.9
6 Penske #5
7 Audi #1 108.3
8 Patron Acura 108.6
9 Penske #6
10 Fernandez Acura 108.8
11 DeFerran Acura 108.9
12 Intersport/Fields 109.0
13 Zytek - Mowlem
14 Creation - Premat
15 Dyson
16 Dyson
17 BK Mazda
18 Creation
19 Intersport
20 Autocon

Another Sebring Question

2008-10-04T11:23:40-05:00

What is Sebring like for taking photos from the infield? At Daytona you can get above the top of the fencing with a step stool. At Road Atlanta I could only find one spot in turn 6 where the view was unobstructed by a fence.

Thanks--
Rick
http://www.raw-footage.com

BK’s new Lola Coupe

2008-09-27T20:20:27-05:00

http://www.b-kmotorsports.com/photo-galleries/testing-pre-petit/

looks pretty darn good, although i saw another shot of the car in black, and i think that might be an even better look for it...

24 HOURS OF LEMONS

2008-10-01T14:47:23-05:00

I'll start from the beginning, a few months ago I stumbled on some information on what is called the 24 Hours of Lemons, I began looking further into this "series" of races which are held at various locations across the country and learned that there is a 'Detroitish' event to be held in Toledo Ohio. It did not take long to come up with a short list of people I know that would think this is too cool, and would definitely take part.
O.k. now we have a "team", so the next step is what kind of car should we get, since the total allowance is $500 bucks, that includes the car purchase and the repairs needed to make it 'competition ready' :)
The search begins, of course the first place to look would be e-bay, auto trader etc. Even better would be if someone we know would be willing to donate an old crapper that is sitting around, preferably something like an old Rx7, miata, something small but sporty so driving this thing could almost seem like actually being in a race car in a real race. After a couple weeks of dead end searches one of our team members suggested an 87' BMW 325i that has been growing weeds for about two years. PERFECT. It's a four door and in line six which means somewhat reliable and smooth power band, but not too small of a car that we would get pushed around the track by say a huge Lincoln or old Caddy weighing more than a modern day SUV. At first glance the car looks decent for a car with 275k miles or at least that is the last time the Odo was working. Some rust through spots on the roof, drivers lower door is nearly gone and the ground could be seen from various angles inside the car. Which is not a bad thing, less weight right. However the power steering was non existing and leaking from every hose in the system. The cooling system was scary as well, corrosion had overgrown the entire t-stat housing assembly which covered the hoses and hose clamps. The rules are clear on leaking fluids, NO LEAKING FLUIDS. So we replaced anything that was potentially a source of a leak.

The car began the strip down process right away, two piles were made trash in one and to-be-sold in another. The 500 bucks max budget can be offset by items sold that are taken off of that car. Many interior items IE door panels, HVAC controls, etc. actually sold on e-bay which offset our small leak re-hab repair costs.
Safety items which include roll cage, harness, brakes, wheels and tires are not added to the max budget of $500, for good reason obviously. So work began on the brakes which received new rotors and Cobalt Friction Technologies pads. Special thanks to Andie at Cobalt for all his help and support. Working with Cobalt has been a great learning experience, Truechoice Motorsports and Cobalt have developed some brake pads commonly used for vintage racing applications which came directly from the Rolex Grand Am DP Series racing program of Southard Motorsports.
The car was then taken by a team member to fabricate and install the roll cage. Keeping in mind the non-existing spare time a new father has as well as a job which takes him away from home as well he did a great job. With the cage finished work began on the interior items seat , harness , fire extinguisher system , car radio for pit communication- this is jumping ahead but I don't want to forget to tell this. This is budget racing at its comical best, if one does not want to spend the money and time on installing a car radio system what are the options, you have a pit board and that is it right-WRONG- I witnessed some interesting methods, when the car passes the grand-stand the driver would signal the crew by beeping his horn which I assume means he is coming in because five or six people stood up and walked down to the paddock area, another was someone in the grandstand had a handheld air horn and would blast the horn when their car passed the grandstand. These are the ones I witnessed so I am sure there were other techniques I just was not aware of happening, but if anyone has information on other methods I would love to hear about it.
O.k. back to the build up of the car, along the way we all pulled together to find any and every way to raise money and source items to reduce our financial load.
The greatest news was from a team member that had secured sponsorship from a biker bar in South Carolina, Suck Bang Blow. What a great name. We all are very grateful for their generosity and assistance in making this LEMON car a pleasure to be associated with THANK YOU. The seat position was finally settled on and the column lowered about an inch to bring the steering wheel closer to the drivers. Harness was installed and adjusted to a length that would accommodate all five drivers. The windows were removed and any unnecessary items like trim pieces etc. All safety and hardware items were assisted by Truechoice Motorsports http://www.truechoice.com/ special thanks to them. All five drivers would be using the Hans Device so all helmets were prepared for that as well as radio harness installed inside of each helmet.
Decals were made and were the last items to go on the car, some creative art work for the headlights and taillights (see photos) and proper graphic placement aided in covering up alot of rust holes.

So we are ready then........................
Off we go on Friday afternoon from Columbus Ohio driving in the rain with a horrible outlook of nonstop rain the whole weekend,,,,,great.....:(

TOO BE CONTINUED

http://www.truechoice.com/blog/default.asp

Should Corvette Racing Take It To LMS?

2008-10-03T16:45:15-05:00

Since there's basically no competition in the ALMS don't you think it'd be a good idea if Corvette Racing took their team to the LMS at least for a few races to seek out the competition? I know this doesn't make much marketing sense because I don't think Chevys overall sell well in Europe but if Aston Martin can come here and compete a couple of years why can't Corvette Racing return the favor?