The SCCA Runoffs are underway this week. Qualifying is currently underway. If you want to check out the progress of Chris Foley, aka Racer Chris, in FP or any one else you know you can go to the site below and select the class and session. The races, 24 total, start tomorrow, Friday through Sunday. I wonder if hurricane Isabel will affect Mid-Ohio.

Mike

http://www.scca.org/

Git in there & root around.

Woops! Busted by Brad for forgetting the link!

http://www.scca.org/amateur/club_racing/ru...offs/index.html
Mike

Dude.. I'm lazy...

I wont swear to it.. but I think Speed channel carries the event live all weekend.



B

Whoa.. only 9 seconds off the pace. The guy in the spitfire is kicking EVERYONES ASS.

Kirby.. is a shoe.. and his car is well developed.. cool to see Chris out qualified him.

I see Ray Andseron from my old home town (Mansfield Texas).. with the Dan Cashman tuned DC racing 914 in FP.


I know the name Walter Handly.. but I dont know him. It appears he is on pace.


B

Negative, Brad. I'm pretty sure they are not on this weekend. Speed will show them all tape delay over several weeks. I think all 24 races to be shown in a Christmas day marathon, too. The broadcast schedule is on the Speed site.

Mike

Here's what I get when I click on that link:


Sorry, but the link you clicked or the URL you typed isn't pointing to any page
found within SCCA.org.

The SCCA site is huge.
Try this one.
http://scca.vfx.com/valvoline/livetiming.asp

Chris is now 4 sec off the pace.

Sorry about the bum link. I edited my post to indicate this one:

http://www.scca.org/amateur/club_racing/ru...offs/index.html

Go to RESULTS and a menu off all classes and sessions will appear.

Mike

Git outta my way you English POS

I find it still interesting that FV 40 HP race cars with very stock vw suspension is faster than many of the newer racecars. I used to drive one in the early 70's

Bernie

The blue car belongs to Kirby. He is about 70 years old now.. I think him and Chuck Forge are tied for the death pool.


B

Brad,

Are you sure the blue car is Kirby? I have seen his car in several Runoffs from the Road Atlanta days and once at Mid-Ohio and his car was always black with gold trim. This years entry lists his car as #02, although this can always change, and the color as black. Just wondering!

Mike

I am really surprised #78 doesn't appear to have a video camera. With the hyperintensive atmosphere of the Run offs you almost need one for self defense.

Mike.. your right. Black and Gold. I looked at the pic too quickly and posted. The blue car was/is maintained out of Florida. He also has been running for years.



B

A Spitfire pilot's worst nightmare......the Hun on his six.


Ah, edit mode:

Four score and 7 years ago, I was just a pup. Now I'm an old fart....what does it all mean?

JP's 914th post

Whall I'll be dipped in dodo, so it was.
Just more drivel, too (sigh)..........

Yeah.. couldnt make a presidential speach for your 914th post.. had to be drivel..


B

oops...now I have no 914th post, but 2 915s.... what's up with that?

Qualifying for FP has been completed.

Looks like Chris is going to be starting from the 21st spot. There are two other 914s starting ahead of him.

I don't think anyone is going to catch that Spitfire though.

"40 horse"... Yeah, in theory... With the exhaust and such, I'd be surprised if they weren't putting down at least 45 HP!!

Just goes to show you what a very light weight car that is set up specifically for racing can do!

--DD

I used to have a Spitfire - it was my first car. It's hard to think of them as track cars. The rear suspension setup on a spitfire is so god damned ugly it's not even funny. Despite the nostalic memories I couldn't bring myself to own another one - which is partially the reason I got a 914.

Fiid.

I'm back!
What a week! It was fantastic. Mid-Ohio is a difficult track to get the hang of, especially when you make embarassing mistakes that keep you from finishing each session.
I was happy with the 1:43.9 qualifying time even though it is a lot slower than the 1:37.4 pole time by Sargis in the Spitfire. On the other hand, he broke after 10 laps and I finished the race.
I was the first Porsche to cross the finish line out of 6 of us. The #78 (blue) car pictured above was driven by Walter (Les) Handley from PA. He went off after just 4 laps. Ray Anderson from TX broke at the start, but I was prepared to beat him anyway! Burdge and Kirby didn't qualify well and Kirby pulled off after just 2 laps. Burdge finished a lap down. He had two broken pistons after a Practice on Sunday and it was all he could do to rebuild and qualify. His engine wasn't 100% for sure. The 356 of Charlie Coker was the best qualifier among us, starting 6th, but he retired into the pits after 7 laps.
I took 1.5 sec off my qualifying time during the race and would have finished better if not for a bad M/C that caused a soft brake pedal and more than one anxious moment. I was all over the Lancia for the last 4 laps, nearly running into the back of him a couple of times, but that guy knows Mid-Ohio very well.
I'm already looking forward to next year's runoffs, and will be back with a faster car for sure!

Glad to hear you and the car are in one piece.


Paul

Chris.. I am REALLY impressed with your outing. To actually finish the race with a running car is AWESOME. You done good !! .

Maybe next year we can drum up some sponsor money for you and get you a practice day a month or two prior to the event.

I have a funny feeling that Ron Wicker and Rich Bontempi will be making the event next year. Ron has 2 fresh engines and a third semi complete. Rich has 1 new one and 2 more in the works. I cant wait. Ron took this year off comepletely so we could do some chassis work and roller bearings for the suspension (Bontempi did the same)

It would be a blast to get a few more 914's on the grid for FP.


B

Thanks Brad!!
I had no idea this event would be so much tougher than the other Nationals. It's really easy to get psyched out. One might think that all the extra time might allow some sightseeing, but we worked on the car for hours every day.
I really have a lot to do before next years Runoffs, like building two competetive engines so this one really is just a back-up. My top speed was about 6-7 mph off the fastest cars' speeds. During the race I was at red line (6600) in 5th at the end of the back straight
Sponsor money would help big-time, and I have already been working a bit on this.
I look forward to having more 914s running as I think they can be very competetive in this class. The Huffaker Midgets that finished 1,3 & 4 are some of the best built race cars around. BTW, I beat the second place finisher earlier this year in the rain at Lime Rock Park.

Thanks for carrying our torch. It is no wonder you finished better than the other 'teeners, you're a member here!

Glad you made it home safe.

Paul

Thanks Paul, and to everyone who was rooting for me & watching online!
The travel to and from Mid-Ohio covered about 1400 miles, rather uneventful thankfully; also put about 600 miles on the Neon rental car, and 100 hard miles on the Tangerine at up to 113 mph.
I got a $64 speeding ticket from a local Ohio cop. I probably deserved it, driving the rental car 68mph in a 50 zone in the rain.
Nearly wet my pants in the race car a couple of times. I got it sideways going through someone else's oil slick on the 4th lap of Thursday qualifying and had to use every trick in the book to get it straightened out. My best qualifying lap was the lap just prior to that & I had to drive around the oil the rest of the session. Also had the back end step out at 85 mph in turn 1 during the race once.
We had rain from Isabel Thursday night and Friday morning, then very windy Friday afternoon with a couple of light showers.
I can hardly wait to do it again. I love

Congradulations, Chris, on a good week at the Runoffs. What was the protest concerning your oil cooler ducting? Did you have to change it?

The broadcasts of the races, unfortunately do not start until November. I wonder why production takes so long, but I'll tape and watch them when they come on. The Speed schedule is listed at:

http://www.speedtv.com/programs/142/

Mike

Mike,

It's not that production takes so long, SPEED usually doesn't post (they tape the show as a live performance), but it's a programming issue. The racing season is just about over, so fresh material is drying up, so they postpone the broadcasting these to fill in airtime.

Make sense?

When I first turned my car into a Prod car I chose to put the oil cooler inside the front trunk. My fuel cell is in the stock location and I thought it would be safe and convenient to have the cooler inside, with a duct from the front, just below the bumper. I created a rectangular opening by cutting out the panel where the 5 center holes are located. Then I removed the metal plugs from the floor to let the hot air out, as well as having the other 4 holes in the front panel open behind the air dam.
SCCA Production rules prohibit creating openings like that, ie. removing structural material from the car, except in specific applications.
I showed my installation to another 914 racer back in June, and he said he thought it was illegal and he might protest it if I didn't straighten it out. Then I went on to beat him in the rain with my wimpy backup engine, so he made threatening remarks in impound about protesting me. His way of being a nice guy was to tell me I was lucky he wasn't protesting me right then and there. I tend to be honest and up front about what I know, so I informed him that a mechanical protest by a fellow competitor must be filed at least an hour before the competition. The guy doesn't read the rules, he just goes by what he's been told by more experienced racers.
We met again a month later at Lime Rock where I qualified within 0.1 sec of him in the dry, again with my wimpy engine. He once again made gestures about a protest, but didn't follow through. I had a tech official look at my car and he told me I had to replace the missing sheet metal, which I subsequently took care of before attending the Runoffs.
While helping this 914 driver diagnose an engine problem I realized that he could get both arms into his engine compartment way too easily. The top 6" of the rear bulkhead was missing, from inner fender to inner fender. Later in the week I stopped to see him as he was re-attaching his engine, with both arms in the engine bay. I commented that it sure was nice, and I would like to do the same, but didn't think it was legal. His comment was that he had never thought about it, and didn't think anything was wrong. His wife said she didn't think there was a problem because it had always passed tech. My comment was that tech officials don't check for stuff like that, and that "it is only a problem when guys like me come along and make it a problem." I left it there for the time being.
After thinking and discussing it with my wife I decided to fix the little remaining inconsistencies related to my front trunk and to plan a protest against this driver. I had a small piece of sheet metal overnighted to me and installed it Thursday before final qualifying. Then I went to the other guy with my rule book and said I wanted to file a friendly protest to find out if I could do the same thing to my car. He got defensive right away. He said, why would I do this to him after he didn't protest me? I said if he thought it was legal there should be no problem.
We had a short discussion where I read the rules to him, but he wouldn't burdge (sic). Since he was still not running well and struggling just to qualify I decided to give him the option of fixing it over the winter before I called him on it. His reply was that he would look into it, but the most he would do is Dzus fasten the piece in place.
This guy has been to at least 6 Runoffs with that car. He should know by now that it is not legal and needs to fix it. I am planning to protest his car at the first race next season without even looking at it, since I doubt he will do anything over the winter. I have also heard that another front running 914 (this years divisional champion) is the same way, so I might protest him at the same time, without looking at his car first either. The saying goes - people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. I prefer to live in a house without walls.
BTW, my current oil cooler duct configuration is perfectly legal and works just fine.

We run the same setup on all the FP cars (BUT.. our panel is removable) and therefore legal. Its Zdus'd into place and actually looks one piece when you first see it.

B

This is the rule in the GCR pertaining to the legality of said alteration: PCS section 9.b. "Integrity of Structure: All permited alterations, modifications, components, or safety structure installations are understood to be additions to the basic vehicle. No part of the body/frame or unibody shall be altered or substituted unless specifically authorized by these rules or by the vehicle's specification line."
Since, IMO, cutting off and re-attaching the bulkhead with Dzus clips constitutes an alteration not specifically permitted anywhere in the rules it is therefore illegal. I don't see anyway around this. In any case the SCCA Court of Appeals is going to get a chance to render a final ruling before long. After that either I will cut out said panel or all other FP 914s will reinstall it.

Anyone care to bet on the outcome of this?