'Dega Post Race

[blackcat77]

Fantastic wheel to wheel action with Bob and James tonight -- that was some of the best racing I've been a part of in a long time. And I've GOT to get some of that Weasel Juice -- 201 mph top speed for an LMP2?? Amazing!

And despite the speed differentials, everybody seemed to handle things very well. I think that was our best race of the season.

[blackcat77]

Oh, I forget to mention that I dedicate my class win to Miskatonic's number one cheerleader, Greg's daughter Sophia Haley, who is celebrating her first birthday today.

This one's for YOU, sweetie!

[forddude]

Woo-hoo! Back to back 3rd place finishes. How happy does that make me?? I'm not really a big fan of road racing at Daytona or Talladega because IMO too much of the tri oval is used but at least the infield portion of Talladega is interesting - more so than Daytona, anyway. My best ever lap in qual. got me a surprising 4th on the grid and everything went pretty smoothly from there. Managed to get into 3rd and was just trying not to make mistakes because there is no way I'd ever catch Sandy and/or Don. Then Sandy made a rare mistake and I'm in second! Brent had gotten off to a less than spectacular start but soon caught me and we had a really good dice for nearly the entire first half of the race. I tried to screw everything up on my pit stop because I didn't realize I had some damage - which I would not have fixed. That kept me in the pits for over a minute and then somehow or another I must have been speeding because I exited with a stop and go penalty showing! Bummer! After that I ended up 6th. The rest of the race was spent trying to get back some positions and with just a few laps left I finally caught my rookie brother for 3rd. Thought a minute about just following him and let him get his first podium.....no, it wasn't a minute, it was about 1/10th of a second :-)....and decided otherwise. Maybe next time, bro, but I had worked too hard to get back up there. Congrats to Don and Paul on their wins and to Jim for a really good race. And like Paul said, everyone did a great job again tonight. Y'all make this a really great league to be part of.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOPHIA!

[tvree]

Hi All---

I'm writing with an apology; I nudged Susan in the infield and into a spin. My error; you were driving well. I disconnected shortly after that, so my hope is that I didn't cause additional damage to your car (or race).

For me, this was the last event of the season, as I won't be able to make Long Beach. Sad, as it's my "local track"; I've been going annually and actually saw the ALMS event there last April.

Have fun, and happy holidays!

TVree

[Greg 'GP' Haley]

can't believe it's been a year since i became a daddy ;D thanks for the nice birthday wishes for sophia--she's a happy crumb cruncher.

went fuel only on my stop and just managed to stay ahead of bob's momo at the finish. i too was blown away by the pace of the weasel reynards on the straights-mega!! initially, after paul and then james both checked out; my goal was to try and keep signor roberson in sight and see what happened. glad the virtual mirrors were sorted out because we sure used them a lot tonite. anyone tried the latest daytona rc release in the lmps? these cars and this kindof track are a good mix--congrats to paul and don on their wins

[BCurtis]

Got off to a bad start from my P3 qual spot and settled into P5 following Tom and Rob....again....felt like Watkins Glen all over again. Worked past those 2 guys but noticed I was using more fuel than I bargained for leading the train so I backed off and slipped back to P5. Sandy had his off and Rob must have had a problem so it was Tom (P2) and I battling for the rest of the first half of the race, never more than a second between us...I'd close up a little then he'd stretch it out a little, and it went back and forth like that until pit stops at the halfway mark.
As Tom mentioned he had the pit stop problem so the second half of the race was me trying to make no mistakes and just maintain my 2nd place. Probably my best race of the season with consistent lap times and no mistakes.
Congrats to Don and Paul on their wins.
And big congrats to Jim, following up his P6 at Watkins with P4 at Dega, pretty sweet.

[Bob"oldnslo"Roberson]

I agree with Paul. What a race. At least for us LMP2ers. We had one of our best fields and some of the closest racing all year.
I've had better finishes but never as much fun. Usually you don't see your competition and for lap after lap you just motor along but not last night.
I had a terrific race with Paul for lap after lap. He was a tad faster than I but I almost collided with him on a couple of occasions. I decided to follow him and hope he made a mistake. Fat chance................ Paul is too good for that to work. Instead I nudged into the wall and had small damage but big repair time. That effectively took me out of the race.
After the aborted pit stop I had a great time chasing down Haley but ran out of time. Had I caught him I don't if I could have passed him because like Paul he ,too, is a heck of a driver.
On the other side, the Weasel cars were unbelievably fast at this venue. And Susan is really getting to be a challenge.
Wow, 200 mph ? I know that one time I drafted Susan and raised my normal top speed from 184 to over 190. What a ride.
The LMP1 drivers were very careful while lapping us and were patient to wait for the banks to make their move.
Man, I loved last night. thanks to all for a great race.

[nasty13]

Thanks much Tom and Brent ... must be the Sun. morning practice sessions ... and, Tom, even though the thought was nice I am soooooo glad you didn't lay back and did catch and blow by me.

On the other hand, however, at the next family get together .. ur toast ... hahahahahaha...

Good, fun race.

[RobGuru]

Not quite the result I was hoping for, but fun nonetheless...

Qualified P5 and got a good start, edging by Brent on the exit of T1. He got by me a couple laps later, and Brent and I ended up hot on Tom's tail. Many good laps were had then, but I made a big mistake on L10 or so and clocked the invisible wall. Tore off the rear cowling, and that and a punctured right rear made the car literally undriveable.

Finally made it back to the pits for repairs, but came out in P18. Drove pretty hard through the middle portion of the race, and was able to get back to P8 or P9 overall. I knew I was going to be a couple laps short of fuel, so was preparing to stop with 2 or so to go for fuel only. But, a quick two tires off resulted in a tank slapper and I collected an actual wall this time. Tore the front cowling off. So, back to the pits for more repairs, and am lucky to salvage a P10 or P11 or so.

I must say that Tally RC is a really fun track for these cars... just wish I had taken a wee bit more of the twitchiness out of the setup for the race.

Cyall in for the next one!!

Rob

[Ced Collins]

Wow...where to start....FIRST OFF...HAPPY B-Day SOPHIA.

Post race inspection showed that Red Weasel Racing had a foreign substance in their fuel tanks but was not of this planet so their was no way to enforce a penalty because we could not identify the substance.

Echo Paul, et all. Excellent race.

Problem. Myself as an owner is still arguing with myself as a driver and the "Fired" clause has happened more than once over the last two days. The first 35 minutes were flawless. Best race of the season and seeing myself in 4th at that point. Figured I'd be around 6th after the pit stop and looking good for a top 5.

Ohhhh I'm driving down the back straight in laa laa land and realize there be cones up ahead. Oh crap need to turn. That turn ended up putting me into the inside wall in the chicane and having major rear end damage and limping back to the pits. I spent so much time on repairs I could walk to the bathroom...relieve myself, wash my hands and get back in the cockpit and have 20 seconds to spare.....UUUUGGGGGHHHH.

So a top 5 turned into I think P14.

Not a happy camper.

Other than that everyone did well and it was a Helluva Race.

Kudos to all.

Addendum: WeaselGate - The Weasels were allegedly caught with Audi engine tuning plans that fit their engines to a remarkably well tune.....Investigation Pending

[JABowders]

Red Weasel Reports:

As the Red Weasel Racing Reynards were pulled off the hauler in the morning, a lot of time (at least seven whole minutes) went into the analysis of the test race and that information went into the revision of the race day setup. Well, OK the shop guys put their Guinness down long enough to flip trough the half page of legible comments written on the back of the cocktail napkin and tweak the setup a bit. As most of you may have observed the Head Weasel was a little fast in the draft, tucking in behind a passing LMP1 car I was able to run as fast as 201 and even pull out from behind and up along side the car to avoid tapping the brake. And even Bob and Paul saw the Weasel Rocket past them as they jockeyed for position after breaking out from the draft they created. Initial race predictions were very favorable as I climbed into P6 over all and began to gain on P5. At the end of my fuel run it was time to pit, being one of the first in and off pit road without incident and rejoining in P8 it was just a matter of time that others would cycle through the pits and my position would be greatly improved. The Weasel conquest is taking shape as Paul and I readdress our battle he was quicker in the turns of the infield and I had the legs to walk away from him on the straights we ran several laps were we traded position back and forth as one’s advantage won out over the other driver, then tragically the Head Weasel makes a mistake. In an attempt to shave yet another full second off my lap time I started looking at improving my chicane path and I was bitten by the curbing on an exit and was instantaneously converted into a physics experiment where two objects of positive mass were trying to share the same space in time as I merged with the outside wall. Even now the heart wrenching sounds of bending metal and shattering carbon fiber echo in my ears as the team’s vision of a class win go up in smoke like the vaporizing atoms of paint from the wall as the Head Weasel decorates the pristine white surface with the team’s distinctive yellow. I limped the car back into the pits to face minutes of lathering verbiage from the Team Director as the Weasel Service Crew performed what magic they could with new fiber and duct tape in their 78 second repair. I think, I like Ced heard the word “Fired” a few times to many in that eternally long pit stop.

Taped up and stunned, not from the impact of the wall but from the choice verbal expressivities used by the Team Director, I had never heard Sister Ellen Mary talk like that before. Back on track, all I could do is knuckle down and drive an exacting race to make up time and positions. After it is all said and done I think the Weasels finished with a few lessons learned.

Bob, asked for my setup and I’ll send it off. I understand the Race Stewarts have a few questions to ask me…I’m heading to the trailer.

James
Head Weasel

[Bob"oldnslo"Roberson]

Team MOMO has talked to Ferrari about doing some tweaking to their powerplant after the drubbing at Dega.
In spite of the showing of the speed displayed by the Reynards of the "Weasels" we at MOMO are not about to jump ship by this one display of strength.
Although I warned my team after seeing how fast the Reynards were at Riverside that they were a force to be reckoned with.
Hopefully we can learn to drive and stay off the wall in our next outing too.
I think that the Reynard's speed only makes this series more competitive. And having tried the Reynard, I have to give both James and Susan a thumbs up for doing so well with such a crude handling machine. If there is one redeeming factor for the Dome is it's impeccable handling. That's the only way I could have ever won a race. That and a whole washtub of luck.
So bring on Long Beach.
Oh, btw I hope everyone noticed that Larry Hansen has joined "Team MOMO". We are going to cover the field with red.

Bob Roberson
Racing Director
MOMO Racing Division

[blackcat77]

James was spying on me! What? He wasn't?
James' fuel was too cold! You say it's wintertime? Okay...
Hang on, I'll think of something...

[Ced Collins]

Weaselgate

After further review the Weasels were fined two Rum Jumbies (To be immediately shipped to the sanctioning bodies HQ), They must now be house broken whenever anyone wants one as a pet. And must give up the secret recipe that makes them Red (Wanted for a Secret Government Project).....He He He. ;D

[JABowders]

Weaselgate –

Red Weasel Racing Responds

The Weasels are fined two Rum Jumbies (To be immediately shipped to the sanctioning bodies HQ)? OUCH!

That is a pretty steep fine for just being fast. After consideration the findings are being appealed.

Red Weasel Racing will take the following steps to ensure that these issues will not be repeated;
- 6th gear will be removed from the transmission housing.
- Two cylinders will be replaced with Beanie Babies.
- The Tyres will be mounted with the Directional Tread in the reversed direction.
- The cars will have the Brakes adjusted so that there is 20% pressure permanently applied.
- The Rear Wing will be replaced with large blocks of Styrofoam shaped to resemble an Armored Flying Squirrel.
- Drivers will face mandatory Alcohol testing, it the must be at least a positive .10 for competitive racing. (But this policy has already been in effect)
- The driver’s Nomex suits will be replaced with cute and cuddly Weasel Costumes that have a long soft fluffy tail.
- And all future races will be driven backwards.

With these preventive steps we are insured to never have to surrender any of our precious Weasel Juice. Coincidently, the Weasel Juice is the very same reason why the Weasels are Red.


James
Head Weasel