Chumpcar Sebring 2013, My second one Options

[ThePaintedMan]

Well after FourBlades and I endeavored to finish our 914 for Chumpcar this year, we came up a little short. Just plain ran out of time.

Anyhow, I got a call last week from a guy that got my name from the team I drove with last year. He needed a fourth driver, and I offered it to FourBlades first, but he couldn't make it. The guy called me back yesterday pleading with me to drive, so I did. Today has been awesome. Other than a shock bolt coming loose, we've had no issues to speak of, and out of 96 cars, we're currently 17th with 3.5 hours to go.

Unfortunately the car is a BMW 325... hopefully I'm not ostracized for that!

Pictures and video to follow.

[Mblizzard]

You are dead to me George!

Not really I don't think many would pass that up even in a BMW.

Sounds like some damn good driving.

[r_towle]

It could have been a miata, so at least it's german

[URY914]

Sooooooooooo.............

Update please. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer.gif)

[ThePaintedMan]

Sorry, spent most of the day Sunday sleeping and replenishing fluids. I lost about 12 or 13 pounds on Saturday (I don't have a Cool Shirt yet).

We did all 14 hours of the race without a radio since the guy who prepped the car wrapped the push-to-talk button around the steering wheel wrong and it was cut before we ever took the green flag. Basically we would just walk out and flag that driver down and did our pit stops that way.

The end of the race was absolutely incredible. Started pouring down rain just after I posted that, and those who have raced Sebring in the wet know that it's a whole different track when it starts raining.

As it got dark, it became apparent that our lights were woefully inadequate. None of the guys who knew the car knew how to adjust them, so I did my best to get them aimed on our first night pitstop. This is the kind of stuff that no one ever considers until you do an endurance race, but also what makes you appreciate the professional teams.

No one wanted to drive at night AND raining, so I got in the car with 2.5 hours to go. I'm not sure I got any GoPro video of that stint, but it was some of the best driving that I think I am capable of. I was doing 2:58s in the wet, where I was doing 2:45s during the dry. I was gaining 15-20 seconds on the guys closest to us, most of whom we were trailing by 1-2 seconds all day. I learned that BMWs are a hoot to drive in the rain - very predictable. The best part is that I finally got some throttle oversteer, which helped me turn the car - most of the day it understeered like a pig, especially on turn-in. At night I would use the damp portions of the track to add a small Scandinavian flick to get the car pointed better and get on the throttle earlier. The biggest problem was when I wasn't around other cars, I had no idea where I was. The lights were so bad it was like driving blind, probably not very different from those poor souls who drove the track back in the 50s-80s. What was even more interesting was that our throttle pedal broke off right before I got into the car, so I had to pull the pedal portion out and drive only with the very top of my foot on the pedal arm. So I went from heel-toeing with a "roll" of my foot to braking with my heel and toeing with the ball of my foot.

We finished 20th overall after loosing a ton of positions getting the throttle pedal out. I passed a ton of cars in my final stint to bring us from 35th back to where we finished.

I have to say that I improved immensely from last year. I attribute 99% of it to T.C. and his guidance. Every lap I was remembering the line he showed me and all of the little quirks of the track that I didn't know about last year. I was driving a car that was, from what I can tell, quite a bit slower, but yet I was still turning laps consistently faster than before. Thanks T.C.

Finally, the coolest part was that the race came down to the final 10 minutes. All of the cars that were typically the fastest in years past had fallen out throughout the day. A Nissan 240 driven by several girls was leading with 10 minutes to go (after nearly 14 hours). We were all pulling for them, but a FWD Mitsubishi was able to take advantage of the wet conditions and their car and overtook with 2 laps to go. On the final lap, an Infiniti J30 overtook them as well, but all 3 cars were within 15 seconds of each other. Really incredible and it was a blast to watch.

I highly recommend, if you have a chance to do a Chumpcar race, take it. It's a lot of fun and you'll meet some great people in the process. I'll post video when I have a chance to edit it tonight or tomorrow.

[carr914]

I haven't heard from George. He borrowed my HANS & I thought he was going to stop by yesterday.

Maybe they Won & he is on a Champagne Hangover in Zolfo Springs (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

[ThePaintedMan]

I haven't heard from George. He borrowed my HANS & I thought he was going to stop by yesterday.

Maybe they Won & he is on a Champagne Hangover in Zolfo Springs (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

Really sorry T.C. As I said above, I was totally wiped on Sunday. Though we didn't win, it almost felt like it. Was nice to be in a car that actually ran the whole distance, other than the shock bolt coming loose and the accelerator pedal breaking. I will bring your HANS back this week along with those tools you needed.


Also, awhile back on another thread we were talking about telemetry Apps for track days. I used my Trackmaster App on my phone to log our stints during the race, so if you're curious what the output looks like, check out the Excel spreadsheet screenshot that I attached with this post, and the Google Earth screenshot below which shows individual laps.

[FourBlades]

Nice driving George! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/piratenanner.gif)

Sounds like a really exciting race.

I ended up having the flu this weekend anyway so I am glad I bailed.

If it had rained sooner you all might have won.

John

[carr914]

I haven't heard from George. He borrowed my HANS & I thought he was going to stop by yesterday.

Maybe they Won & he is on a Champagne Hangover in Zolfo Springs (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)

Really sorry T.C. As I said above, I was totally wiped on Sunday. Though we didn't win, it almost felt like it. Was nice to be in a car that actually ran the whole distance, other than the shock bolt coming loose and the accelerator pedal breaking. I will bring your HANS back this week along with those tools you needed.

No Worries, just braking balls

[carr914]

George, is this the car?

[ThePaintedMan]

Here is the highlight reel from my day stint, it's only like 12 minutes. Make sure you check the video resolution in YouTube - this was recorded in 1080P. I never did get any video of my night stint in the rain, which is too bad because it was a lot of sliding and countersteering.

I'll post the fast lap for all of your critiques as well soon.

Thanks John! I thought about you this weekend, and I'm committed to getting our car there next year for sure. Hope you're feeling better.

T.C. that's the same kind of car, but not ours. Those guys are a bunch of young rich frat boys. I haven't found any pictures of ours yet.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lnC_Z_szgQ

[Jetsetsurfshop]

(IMG:http:///Users/shanesparks/Pictures/iPhoto%20Library.photolibrary/Masters/2013/09/28/20130928-165654/DSC_0069.JPG)

[Jetsetsurfshop]

Is this one your car?

[ThePaintedMan]

Yup, that's it! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)

Where are you guys finding these pictures?

[Jetsetsurfshop]

Found one more. I spent the morning taking pictures. Hope to be in the race next year.

java script:emoticon(':Qarl:','smid_7')

[balljoint]

Good story George.

It almost makes up for my disappointment in your 914 not making it.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[ThePaintedMan]

Hey Shane, those are great shots! Send me a PM sometime - our 914 didn't quite make it this year, but I figure another 12 months should give us plenty of time to get it done... now that we've missed it two years in a row (IMG:style_emoticons/default/blink.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Dave, I know. I let a lot of people down, especially John (FourBlades). I know he was really excited about driving this year. Anyhow, we've learned a lot of what to do and what not to do, but prepping a car for racing is far more time consuming, not to mention money consuming than I thought. Lots of little things that you just simply don't think about till you go to tighten that bolt, or actually sit in the car.

[carr914]

Found one more. I spent the morning taking pictures. Hope to be in the race next year.

java script:emoticon(':Qarl:','smid_7')

It would be Cool if we could fill up a couple of cars with 914World Members!

[carr914]

http://www.awolphoto.com/event-photos/09-2...umpcar-sebring/

[tscrihfield]

George, that looks like a blast! I thought the driving looked good.

Thanks for sharing!

Thomas