FormerFF
1st October 2011, 03:53
The day started with a thin, high overcast, then turned clear and breezy with pleasant temps. I arrived a little after nine, and so missed the MX-5 cup race. The IMSA Lites race started clean, then quickly deteriorated when one of the competitors burst a fuel or oil line, and a carbeque resulted. It took the safety crew about 20 minutes to extinguish it and clean it up. When the race went green, a very entertaining battle between Sean Rayhall and Tristan Nunez broke out, with Rayhall prevailing. I didn't realize that IMSA Lites was a training ground series, but apparently it is, because as the track announcer noted, the combined ages of the podium drivers added up to 50.
Next up was practice for the Petit. The big incident for the session took place after the Intersport LMPC car spun, then tried to restart. In the process of getting going, it blocked the racetrack just as David Murry was approaching in the Robertson GT40. A big crash ensued, and Intersport wound up going to a backup car for qualifying, while I believe the Robertson is trying to get the car ready for tomorrow.
In the GT3 race, an early crash brought out a quick yellow. Once things got going, Carlos Kauffmann took the lead and never relinquished it, but never got much in the way of breathing room either. There was good racing a little farther back in the pack, with 15 year old Madison Snow winning the Gold class. He spent a good bit of the race duking it out with his mother, Melanie Snow.
After lunch, the World Challenge race was on tap. Once again, there was an early yellow. When things got going again, Johnny O'Connell took charge and was never bested, although I don't think he got more than a two second lead. There was lots of action in the other classes and also in the top class a little farther back in the pack. There was a late yellow when Sonny Whelen got sideways under the bridge and Randy Pobst collected him. With only a couple of minutes to go, the race ended under yellow. I didn't think it was much of an issue as Johnny O had things under control and certainly earned the win. I don't think that the win for the other two classes was in question, either.
The Petit qualifying went off without any issues. Robertson was not able to qualify, we'll see tomorrow if they are ready to race. It would be a personal tragedy for them to not race, but let's face it, from a competitive standpoint they wouldn't be noticed.
Last up for the day was the Trans-Am. 31 cars started, most of which were Camaros, Mustangs, and Corvettes, but a few non US makes were scattered in. Tony Ave was the class of the field and walked away from the beginning, but ultimately suffered a mechanical failure. Mike Lewis was the next on point, and held it until the last restart from a yellow, of which there were many. On that last restart, Amy Ruman pipped him for the lead during the few seconds of green until the next yellow, and the time limit ran out while under yellow.
Overall impression of the day: Terrific. The crowd was huge, the weather was perfect, and the racing mostly very good. I used to say that at the Petit that the Friday crowd was about the size of the raceday crowd five years earlier. I think I'd like to revise that to three years earlier now. Today, there were spots where it was hard to find a spot along the fence, spectator hill was about half occupied, and there was no space left on the terrace on the inside of the chicane. I watched the World Challenge race from the outside of the chicane, and I haven't seen that many people there before with the possible exception of raceday last year. I've been to all the Petits except the first one. (We were off to visit my (then) new bride's grandmother. When she saw the signs for the Petit she apologized for taking me away from the race. At the time I had just stopped racing my own car and wasn't that worried about a spectator race anyway.) The following year, I had broken a bone in my arm and leg in a motorcycle crash, and wasn't sure if I should have gone, but did anyway. I showed up late, got a parking pass, parked by the then new chicane, pulled out a folding chair, and watched the remaining race. I kept getting parking passes until about five years ago, because I don't generally get there early enough to get a space. These last few years, there hasn't been enough room on Friday to park anywhere but between turns 5 and 6. This year, Road Atlanta added more parking space, and the new space near turn 3 looked to be full - on Friday. That's how much the Friday crowd has grown.
Oddest sight of the day: a Chihuahua wearing hearing protectors.
The Delta Wing mockup put in an appearance today. I still don't see how they'll get it to turn with those skinny front tires and narrow track.
<SOAPBOX>
When my father started club racing back in the 70's, he raced in a sedan class. Mixed in with his class were the big bore sedans, mostly Camaros and Mustangs. It seemed that these cars were generally poorly prepared and not particularly well driven. Quite often they would affect the results of the smaller sedan races by getting into their traffic. They were slow in the corners and not as fast on the straights as they should have been, and not particularly reliable. I never understood why this was, as the circle track guys raced the same basic equipment to good effect. Today in the "Trans-Am " race, 31 cars started and 15 finished in a 75 minute race. What's going on? There were something like six yellows. When the race was green, I don't think I saw a single contested pass.
What am I getting at? Why do these people want to revive the Trans-Am? Especially, why do they want to revive it as a motley collection of club racing cars, old stock cars, and a few new imports? What I saw today was an embarrassment. Cars either broke or ran into each other. I saw a few Trans-Am races during its second golden age, when Scott Pruitt and Willy T. Ribbs were in the series, and it was damn good racing. But, that was then. The era of the V8 front engined, rear drive car is coming to an end, Sure, there will be luxury and performance cars that still use that setup, but for most of us those days are gone, and the new fuel economy requirements demanded by the realities of today will push even those applications to extinction.
It's all well and good to occasionally look to racing's past, but the Trans Am isn't supposed to be vintage racing. Racing needs to happen in the here and now, not what was 20 years ago. While his car was running, Tony Ave put on a fine performance, but even at his fastest was only a couple of seconds quicker than was Johnny O'Connell's best time.
Sorry, guys, let the name rest. It was fun while it lasted, but a pro racing series needs to be more relevant.
</ END SOAPBOX>
Next up was practice for the Petit. The big incident for the session took place after the Intersport LMPC car spun, then tried to restart. In the process of getting going, it blocked the racetrack just as David Murry was approaching in the Robertson GT40. A big crash ensued, and Intersport wound up going to a backup car for qualifying, while I believe the Robertson is trying to get the car ready for tomorrow.
In the GT3 race, an early crash brought out a quick yellow. Once things got going, Carlos Kauffmann took the lead and never relinquished it, but never got much in the way of breathing room either. There was good racing a little farther back in the pack, with 15 year old Madison Snow winning the Gold class. He spent a good bit of the race duking it out with his mother, Melanie Snow.
After lunch, the World Challenge race was on tap. Once again, there was an early yellow. When things got going again, Johnny O'Connell took charge and was never bested, although I don't think he got more than a two second lead. There was lots of action in the other classes and also in the top class a little farther back in the pack. There was a late yellow when Sonny Whelen got sideways under the bridge and Randy Pobst collected him. With only a couple of minutes to go, the race ended under yellow. I didn't think it was much of an issue as Johnny O had things under control and certainly earned the win. I don't think that the win for the other two classes was in question, either.
The Petit qualifying went off without any issues. Robertson was not able to qualify, we'll see tomorrow if they are ready to race. It would be a personal tragedy for them to not race, but let's face it, from a competitive standpoint they wouldn't be noticed.
Last up for the day was the Trans-Am. 31 cars started, most of which were Camaros, Mustangs, and Corvettes, but a few non US makes were scattered in. Tony Ave was the class of the field and walked away from the beginning, but ultimately suffered a mechanical failure. Mike Lewis was the next on point, and held it until the last restart from a yellow, of which there were many. On that last restart, Amy Ruman pipped him for the lead during the few seconds of green until the next yellow, and the time limit ran out while under yellow.
Overall impression of the day: Terrific. The crowd was huge, the weather was perfect, and the racing mostly very good. I used to say that at the Petit that the Friday crowd was about the size of the raceday crowd five years earlier. I think I'd like to revise that to three years earlier now. Today, there were spots where it was hard to find a spot along the fence, spectator hill was about half occupied, and there was no space left on the terrace on the inside of the chicane. I watched the World Challenge race from the outside of the chicane, and I haven't seen that many people there before with the possible exception of raceday last year. I've been to all the Petits except the first one. (We were off to visit my (then) new bride's grandmother. When she saw the signs for the Petit she apologized for taking me away from the race. At the time I had just stopped racing my own car and wasn't that worried about a spectator race anyway.) The following year, I had broken a bone in my arm and leg in a motorcycle crash, and wasn't sure if I should have gone, but did anyway. I showed up late, got a parking pass, parked by the then new chicane, pulled out a folding chair, and watched the remaining race. I kept getting parking passes until about five years ago, because I don't generally get there early enough to get a space. These last few years, there hasn't been enough room on Friday to park anywhere but between turns 5 and 6. This year, Road Atlanta added more parking space, and the new space near turn 3 looked to be full - on Friday. That's how much the Friday crowd has grown.
Oddest sight of the day: a Chihuahua wearing hearing protectors.
The Delta Wing mockup put in an appearance today. I still don't see how they'll get it to turn with those skinny front tires and narrow track.
<SOAPBOX>
When my father started club racing back in the 70's, he raced in a sedan class. Mixed in with his class were the big bore sedans, mostly Camaros and Mustangs. It seemed that these cars were generally poorly prepared and not particularly well driven. Quite often they would affect the results of the smaller sedan races by getting into their traffic. They were slow in the corners and not as fast on the straights as they should have been, and not particularly reliable. I never understood why this was, as the circle track guys raced the same basic equipment to good effect. Today in the "Trans-Am " race, 31 cars started and 15 finished in a 75 minute race. What's going on? There were something like six yellows. When the race was green, I don't think I saw a single contested pass.
What am I getting at? Why do these people want to revive the Trans-Am? Especially, why do they want to revive it as a motley collection of club racing cars, old stock cars, and a few new imports? What I saw today was an embarrassment. Cars either broke or ran into each other. I saw a few Trans-Am races during its second golden age, when Scott Pruitt and Willy T. Ribbs were in the series, and it was damn good racing. But, that was then. The era of the V8 front engined, rear drive car is coming to an end, Sure, there will be luxury and performance cars that still use that setup, but for most of us those days are gone, and the new fuel economy requirements demanded by the realities of today will push even those applications to extinction.
It's all well and good to occasionally look to racing's past, but the Trans Am isn't supposed to be vintage racing. Racing needs to happen in the here and now, not what was 20 years ago. While his car was running, Tony Ave put on a fine performance, but even at his fastest was only a couple of seconds quicker than was Johnny O'Connell's best time.
Sorry, guys, let the name rest. It was fun while it lasted, but a pro racing series needs to be more relevant.
</ END SOAPBOX>