The Miatacage.com Endurance Racing Team has won the “21 Hours of Thunderhill” two years in a row – and there isn’t a trophy for that. The first week in December we will be heading south to do the 2009 result one better and win the bloody thing for a change.
2009 Post Race Photo - all fingers and toes intact...
Sean Hedrick (Mr. Miatacage.com) is a longtime supporter of amateur sports car racing, in general, and Spec Miata, specifically. “The White Car” was built by members of the team with the purpose of winning this race in 2008 – we blew it… up.
The short version (long version is in here somewhere) is that the throttle body broke while we were leading the ultra-competitive E2 class by what I recall being as much as 5 laps. By the time we found a replacement we were down 5 laps and not much interested in finishing second. While 2 laps down, we decided to skip an under hood check to add some oil to the motor which was consuming lots of it. We don’t know exactly how much oil came out of the four holes made in the block when the connecting rod separated itself from the piston – but it was most of the rest.
In 2009 we were again enjoying a comfortable 5 lap lead when a rear hub sheered itself in two – yes, that IS weird… the car was towed back to the paddock where drivers Ken Sutherland and Will Schrader made repairs which allowed us to finish – in 15th overall and 2nd place in class E2.
Putting on the pressure late in the 09 race.
During 2009, I had raced the car a couple of times – so it was already well sorted when it came time to do the Thunderhill preparations. It really is one of the best Spec Miata’s I have ever driven. It has a safe cage with a nice roomy cockpit; it’s easy to see out of and is generally comfortable to drive quickly.
In 2010, the team made The White Car available as a rental (to increase the 25 Hour budget) and it was returned molested to the extent that it needed some real “body shop” kind of attention. The shakedown that followed resulted in more damage (which was easily repaired) and then the fresh enduro motor nearly suffered a catastrophic failure which required a complete rebuild after just one lap.
Everything is okay now as the team packs for the trip to Willows, California. Hopefully the strange luck has played itself out and this 3rd time will be a charm. The team of previous years is mostly intact and the driver’s roster contains only Oregon Region Spec Miata Champions (amongst other substantial accomplishments) – all of them are championship and race winners.
As last year, drivers Sutherland and Schrader are joined by Jon Davies and newly crowned Oregon Region SM champ Bruce Wilson. Brian Clemons will again serve as Crew Chief and Carrie Sutherland as Den Mother.
The entire team has been through this exercise at least once. Jason Rawlins (the owner of my 2007 Championship winning car) and his wife Cheree will be with us again. Kevin “Big Hands” Clark and Josh McKinney are back for the second time – this time possibly with Josh’s wife Holli and their newly born daughter (start them young…).
Perfect Pit Stops in 2009 - The Team Returns
Sam Davies will be joined by her younger sister Claire (neither of them are strangers to race cars, and Dave Sutherland and Ed Pavone (both longtime crew members of team leader Ken Sutherland) will provide “over-the-wall” experience. In addition Ed brings financial support to the team – you might say he is fully committed to the program…
I’ll be there to fill in when needed, file and defend protests, annoy competitors and report here on the team’s progress. If there is any doubt that we race because it’s “hard”, the fact that we are returning again, should put that debate to rest.
There has been plenty happening lately (I am bicycle racing some and I’ve done some driver coaching), but I haven’t taken any time to write about it. This, however, was an important week that capped off an unusually strange year…
Last Sunday was my first visit to Alpenrose Dairy since I broke my femoral neck there, almost exactly a year ago. I managed this while previewing the opening race of the 2009 Cross Crusade bicycle racing series. Thursday, I strapped into a race car for the first time since before the cycling mishap.
Part of the fall-out of the cycling crash was the necessity to make some difficult decisions. The first was to yield my place as a driver in the Miatacage.com effort to win the 25 Hours of Thunderhill in December – it was the best thing for the team, but also put me on a path that lead away from being reliably effective as a race driver.
Working Out the Bugs at an Early Season Cross Race
The nice part was that it allowed me to focus on rehabilitating my injury and regaining some of my fitness more quickly. I was racing the bicycle again at Tucson in March (5 months after surgery) and I feel very healthy – that is a reasonable accomplishment with which I am very pleased.
Return to the Scene…:
Upon arriving at Alpenrose on Sunday, we walked toward the place on the course where I had fallen. There is a concrete stairway on the grounds that makes an interesting (but totally treacherous, in my view) feature for a cross race. As last year, the morning was a bit damp and at 9:30 (before the start of the second race) there was already lots of wet dirt on the black-top where riders must dismount their bicycles.
I stepped onto the course and ran my foot across the dirty surface where the racers would leave a grass area to make a 180 turn on the approach to the dismounting zone – F*** ME, it was super slick!!! I didn’t need this – let the two hour long freak-out session begin.
My race (Masters 50) would start at 11:40. We watched the start of the Clydesdale (200 plus pounders) and Cat C (like Cat 4 on the road) race and observed the carnage. Every third rider was hitting the ground – HARD. How smart would it be for me, knowing how dangerous this course can be, to race here?
Searching for Grip…
There was a break scheduled for after the Cat C race, so I returned to the car to get kitted up and prepare to have a look at the rest of it – but especially the stairs. Everybody and their brother (and sisters and all of their kids) was out there. It was mostly okay, but the course also utilizes the famous Alpenrose Velodrome which is concrete on the apron and is painted on the smooth banked concrete surface. So – lots of hard surface with dirt and / or mud on it (or wet paint). Perfect… Even better was that because of the slow movement of the preview caravan, I was diverted from the course before reaching the stairs. So, I wouldn’t have the peace of mind of some perspective and having done one low speed dismount there prior to lap 1 of the race.
I had, by now (and sensibly), managed to persuade myself that racing this day was a bad idea. Ken, Carrie and Emma Sutherland had come out to see about this sport that was filling the void left by auto racing, and I informed them that I would be able to explain it to them during my race, because I wasn’t going out there just to entertain the Portland hippies. Carrie was understanding, but Ken thought it would be good if I started at the back and just rode around – after all, I was entered and everything…
I did have a pretty good starting draw for riding around at the back – so, what the hell? My number in the “starting lottery” was picked seventh of ten. What that means is that everybody with a number that ends with a “2” would start together about two thirds deep in the field.
I’m glad that cross is popular, and eventually it all sorts out, but it can be frustrating (and a bit dangerous) when lots of guys that haven’t been on a race bike since last December are starting in front of you. No, I don’t have a plan that you would like and that would also solve the problem… But, what this means is that the faster guys starting at the back (like my friend Gregg Leion who drew the eighth number) would be blowing through the field at the start. Gregg is retired so he doesn’t have to bother with being at work Monday morning and therefore can take big risks…
It all turned out okay – some of the 130 Master B’s that started 2 minutes ahead of us ended up on the ground before reaching the first turn (or the actual start line), but we were fine. I had a good race and after starting somewhere around 60th of 84 old dudes, I not only stayed upright, but I also made it to 17th place – which gets me 2 points and a call-up for the next race in the series (meaning that I start nearer the pointy end).
That’s one demon slain.
And then, back at the race track…:
The Miatagace.com Race Team has been preparing for the 25 hours of Thunderhill pretty much since, for the second year in a row, we led most of the race only to have a mechanical failure within sight of the finish. Part of that preparation has included renting the car to other drivers so that the team budget can be supplemented – money fixes everything… Well, the car has been knocked around a bit as a result, and it would be useful to run it.
As this weekend is the final SCCA Regional Race of the year (two of them, actually) at Portland International Raceway. Race weekends always begin with an un-official test day, which would be Thursday. This would be the best last chance to do any testing before Thunderhill, and there were some new suspension bits to try and decisions to make.
Drivers Will Schrader and Jonny Davies would handle that task along with crew member Josh McKinney. Chuck Hall had made lots of changes to his Spec Miata for this season, but had only run it once. He was in town to evaluate any other changes to make over this winter. He invited me to come out and do some laps so that he could have a second opinion.
I suppose that driving a Spec Miata, for me, is a bit like riding a bike – it’s not a sure thing that I’ll do it properly… The car ran well earlier in the year, but we would have the challenge of running on two sets of questionable tires (a mostly used up set of R-888’s from last year, and some RA-1’s from 2003).
The good news for me is that I’ve spent a lot of time racing on tires that others would have thrown out (or had). We started on the 888’s which some guys didn’t care for, but I liked the couple of times I raced on them last year – they feel a bit more like “real” race tires. We did air pressure and ride height adjustments to get the balance right and the car was a comfortable “loose-ish” – just like we want it.
One of the coolest things I saw all day was an old (mid – late 1970’s) March Formula Atlantic car. In my first session, it passed me leaving the chicane and it was neat to see the massive rear tires (those cars were only low 200’s on horse power). All of that mechanical grip made them a blast to watch when there were fields of 50 of them “back in the day” – aerodynamics, schmerodynamics. Cool stuff.
The Business End of a March 76B Formula Atlantic
The first laps on the nearly eight year old RA-1’s felt like the dirty, damp concrete surface at Alpenrose. After a half dozen laps they began to gain some grip and the lap times started to come down. I ran a good series in the high 1:32’s and low 33’s with a handful of laps within 2/10ths of a second – I was pleased with the consistency and the behavior of the car, so we called it a day.
Perhaps the most interesting thing to me was that I was comfortable in that particular car. I’ve spent a fair amount of time in it over the years, and the driving position and mirror set-up have always been a challenge. Cyclists can think of this as a seat being too far forward, or handlebars that you don’t like the feel of – it makes a difference.
Today, however, everything was fine even though the car hadn’t changed. I think that not having the recent perspective of something that I was used to contributed to that. This makes me think that I could have done better adjusting to such changes in the past. I learn something every time I go to the race track.
You wouldn’t think of the Mid-Columbia region as motorsports hot bed, but we have quite a bit going on here (drag racers, circle track, speed record and lots of road racers). At one time there were six Spec Miatas living within several miles of my home in Hood River (I think there was one for every 1,000 people that live in town)… And living in Hood River makes us the closest active road racers to ORP. Several years ago Jonny Davies and I drove out to the field in Grass Valley, Oregon where a race track now exists – If you build it they will come…
the view of Oregon Raceway Park from the road outside of Turn 2
Back then ORP was merely an inspired field of dreams, but nobody was sure how the venture would turn out – they have now held a sanctioned sports car race. That is a massive accomplishment.
activity around the registration trailer
I had planned to drive out to the track on Sunday of the Founders Grand Prix to see how it had all worked out, when I received a phone call. Holly Remington, who seemingly has had every responsibility at every car club in the Northwest, called to ask if I would drive the Pace Car… Really? Wasn’t I recently, banned, fined and then un-banned and then un-fined for some sort of unacceptable behavior..? …never mind that, and could I also bring a Pace Car? As it was Holly that had asked, I said yes.
My first thought was to call Tim Urness at the Chrysler / Dodge dealership in The Dalles to ask if he was interested in being the “communications” guy (and if HE could bring a Pace Car). Tim is an easily certifiable motorhead and is also the guy who organizes the summer drag races that happen at the Dallesport airport (which is also the location of the top secret Team Hoodwinked test facility). We’ve been talking about a trip out to Grass Valley, and this seemed like a perfect excuse to go. Tim called me back from the veranda of a beach house in Virginia to tell me about the 80 degree weather he was enjoying, and the appropriately cooler temperature of the cocktail he was sipping – and, to tell me that he would arrange for the Pace Car.
The Urness Motors supplied pace car
Tim and Mike (Tim’s brother) had recently taken a 2010 Dodge Challenger R/T with a six speed transmission on trade – he thought that car could handle whatever pacing might be necessary. And it did.
There were a couple of notable highlights for me over the course of the weekend. Importantly, nothing bad happened – although I was “Red Flagged” while giving rides to the Medivac crew. I, of course, ignored the flag because the man holding it was not displaying it from the proper location… there are rules about these things and I know better than to disregard rules at a Conference race.
the medivac paramedic about to go for a ride
It was an honor to be asked to drive the pace car at such an historic event. And, it was a huge privilege to be able to drive a couple of laps with Bob Caspell (the man who shepherded the track into existence).
It was fun to take the crew members of the Medivac Chopper on tours of the track and I enjoyed spending some time with Bill Harris (who I know from working at ProDrive) who shared the Pace Car work load by handling communications.
one of Sunday's races entering the track
ORP will be a great Drivers School / HPDE track. Not having raced there, I’m not sure how I feel about it as a race track yet. It is very “turny” with a lot of elevation change – it is certainly technically challenging. Some tracks are very “racey” (meaning that they practically beg for you to attempt passes) – ORP is not one of those places. It may be nearly impossible to pass a skilled driver with a “wide” car – we’ll see.
The setting is spectacular and the weather in that part of Oregon is much drier than on the west side of the state. It is little more than a two hour drive from Portland – a small price to pay for access to a very interesting race track.
Todd Butler, the former Oregon Region SCCA Road Race Director, called me a few months ago and asked if I would again “help” with the Driver Licensing School. I, against my better judgment, agreed to show up and take credit for anything good that happened under the condition that Bruce Wilson did all of the work. I knew, under any circumstance, that if anything went wrong I could, with a clear conscience, blame it on Todd.
So, the 2010 Oregon SCCA Driver’s School is history and nothing went horribly wrong – Todd is seemingly safe. As a matter of fact, contrary to thinly veiled concerns by almost everybody else involved, I think that when all was said and done, even the Stewards and Chief Officials were happy with the result.
A clue to the problem with having me run something like this is that I left the corporate world some 20 years ago. The reason I left was that I just don’t always get along with the other kids – even then it was obvious that it would be best if I just worked alone… And this isn’t really one of those “work alone” deals.
So, Bruce organized the instructor corps and then (because, I think, Bruce doesn’t need the grief), he just let me do my own thing. He brilliantly had managed to get us a bunch of guys (and a girl) that I could work with (read, would put up with my crap). This became important when I decided that “the way we always do it” wasn’t the way we would be doing it this time.
Student Russ Seewald in his BMW - http://camdenthrasher.com/
For example, in the past we’ve assigned one “instructor” to one or two students with whom they would work independently for the entirety of the school. This kind of worked sometimes, but I had concluded that this was mostly by accident. I wanted a system in which nobody could slip through the cracks. The solution was to have the entire instructor staff available to work with any (and all) of the students from the first session. For this to succeed I needed eyeballs outside of the cars observing the entire process – so, that’s what we did.
Admittedly, the first “On Track, Lead / Follow” session started in a way that didn’t appear to make sense to anybody but me – I knew exactly what I wanted, though. Grid Goddess, Julie Winslow, can be forgiven for spending the half hour following the first release of cars from grid searching for a guillotine. Don’t deny it Julie – I speak a small amount of French and still have friends at the local shops that secretly sell such things… Trust me, when I say to you that my plan made quite a bit of sense to me…
Mark Whyman fast and safe in the 996 - http://camdenthrasher.com/
Anyway, everybody got out (mostly with instructors that know what lead / follow means), and the observation crew got on with the observing part. Jonny Davies was planning on being an instructor to his Crew Chief (mine too) Garth “Crusher” Levin, anyway. 2009 success story, Mieko Doi-Olson had agreed to come down the night before to talk to the new racers about what had helped her obtain her racing license last year. And Fenn Bourland, the Spec Miata equivalent of Evil Knievil (could try to jump a Miata over the Snake River Canyon and live to tell) also skipped his regular tee time to pitch in.
I could go on and on about these three (not a stooge amongst them). Jonny has an eye for minute detail that still boggles my mind. Mieko is so enthusiastic about the sport that she has developed an ability to see important things that most seasoned veterans miss. Fenn is not only a great communicator, but has an uncanny ability to make people feel (and look) fabulous.
We took notes and discussed plans of attack for our crop of prospective racers. Very early on we were able to focus specific attention on those that could benefit. The “on track” instructors responded well to the new format, as well. Bruce had secured the services of Jim Murray (the new Road Race Director) who brilliantly shepherded the two “open wheel” students. The numerous closed wheel students were attended to by Ken Sutherland, Gary Bockman, Will Schrader, Ken Olson (Mieko’s husband), David Conover, Tim Scott (Vintage expert) and Geoff Cochran.
The only guy I hadn’t met previously was David Conover, the NW Region Head Driving Instructor, (so he was likely pretty good). The only other I hadn’t really “worked with” was Ken Olson. I knew Ken from Mieko’s experience last year and was massively confident that he knows how (and when) to communicate – he never once interfered with an instructor that was working with his then fiancé. Clever dude.
We put the best guys on track with those that needed visual feedback (like more lead / follow), and good examples to emulate. We had mandatory post session de-briefs – Jonny, Mieko and Fenn all made that work. By lunch time the first day we had a firm grasp of everybody’s capabilities, and some good ideas for how maybe to turn them into reasonable facsimiles of race car drivers.
Some of the students had come with cars equipped to accommodate an instructor as passenger. The Road Race Director and Stewards had worked it out so that we could put an instructor in those cars during some sessions. Jeff Gamroth (local Porsche guru and a pretty good wheel man) had a couple of customers out as students and asked to assist one of them as an instructor – no brainer.
Barrett Smith with Gamroth in the Porsche - http://camdenthrasher.com/
I did become a bit nostalgic when two of the Stewards (Gary Van Horn and Jeff Neiss) approached me to ask (more or less) “What the hell are we doing?” “We are building race car drivers, sirs….”
The end result was a bunch of Driving School students with big smiles and Permits to race – most took advantage of the opportunity. I think the reason I say yes to “The School” is that I get a huge kick out of sharing one of the most important things I’ve enjoyed in my life. It really is a privilege to drive a race car – and for many of us, it is a great challenge. I have been able to enjoy racing experiences with family and shared successes and failures with some great friends. So racing is also a kind of sacred thing for me – I suppose this makes us some sort of missionaries’… It makes me happy to see others have the success I have enjoyed.
There are some great individual stories to tell that I hope to get to. I am thankful to all that participated and especially those who helped some new ideas turn into racing dreams.
As we prepare for the 2009 25 Hours of Thunderhill, I thought it would be good to tell a little bit of the story about how this race became particularly important to us.
25 Hours of Thunderhill Grid
In 2008 The Miatacage.com team traveled to Willows, California with a car that hadn’t existed 2 months earlier. In fact, there had been no plan to do “The 25”, at all. If it hadn’t been for our success at the ICSCC 12 Hours of the Cascades, at Portland, just over a month earlier, nobody would have ever thought of it.
The Miatacage.com Team - Version 08
The drivers for Portland were Jon Davies, Chuck Hall, Will Schrader and me. We had built the car with Sean Hedrick at Miatacage.com in less than 2 weeks and installed Chuck’s “special project” Miata motor. For the Cascade enduro the classes are “displacement based”, meaning that the only concern is how big the motor is. We had a small motor with some special parts in it and it was a rocket. We won our class by 12 laps and finished 4th overall.
Bruce Wilson, Jonny Davies, Ken Sutherland and Brian Towey
Two of our regular Miatacage.com teammates were not with us for the race, however. Ken Sutherland and Bruce Wilson, having missed all the fun, were now itching to do an enduro. We had over a month to prepare for the longest endurance race in the world – no problem. Sean offered to provide the car and lots of support – so the thrash began.
Thunderhill is a NASA (National Auto Sport Association) race. That meant we had to deal with yet another set of unfamiliar rules. Cars are “mapped” into an endurance racing class based on their performance (SM and ITA cars are E2, for example) – but our car wasn’t exactly either of those. After some discussion with NASA officials it was decided that we would re-prepare the car to be classified as PTE (Performance Touring E) which NASA also maps into class E2.
Bruce Wilson after a very busy first stint
Performance Touring is interesting as it uses a points system to make it possible for nearly any type of car to go racing. We considered the parts available to us and did some math to come up with what we thought could be a competitive car. We knew that a Miata with a 1.8 liter motor would be preferable (on sheer speed, anyway) as an ITA car, but we have a 1.6 liter and what we believe was the best driver line-up on the E2 grid.
We had to throw together another “less aggressive” motor to make the car E2 legal and capable of 25 hours. The rest of the parts which were “mostly” SM legal (and importantly, SM based) stayed with the car. Ken Sutherland organized the preparation. We installed a new transmission, micro-finished hubs, specially made brake pads that would last the entire 25 hours, an improved radio system and away we went.
Nap Time
The race was red flagged for fog in the middle of the night. We had taken the lead during my stint (and not because of anything, in particular, that I had done) and had a substantial lead when the race was stopped.
As the race resumed, we slowly extended our lead
As the race resumed, we settled into a solid rhythm and extended our lead to 5 laps when a part that never breaks, broke – and, we didn’t have a spare.
Ken Sutherland was able to scavenge a part and get the car running again in just over 20 minutes. The culprit was the throttle body – the shaft that controls the butterfly had snapped because of a small amount of corrosion that was hidden from view. That’s the kind of thing that can ruin your day.
Jonny Davies and Sean Hedrick - About to get some laps back
We now had a choice to make – the only choice. The car was running on pace again, but instead of being 5 laps up, we were 5 down. We made a plan. We would go at “sprint pace” for as long as the car would last – betting that somebody (everybody) else would have at least a small problem in the meantime.
The Miatacage.com crew performed flawless pit-stops
There are other choices to make when one makes choices… Our decision was to streamline our pit stops and only check under the hood (for oil level, as an example) when we were also changing a tire (this could gain us a full lap by the finish). Our motor was using a little bit of oil and this was a concern – not as big a concern as not winning, however.
We were running in second place (and gaining) with Ken in the car, running a scorching pace, when we developed a ventilation problem with the block. The problem was that you could see from one side of it through to the other and all of the oil had fallen out. That’s bad. And, it’s also why we must return.
I'll return this year in a different role - here with Ken Sutherland and Brian Clemons
The Miatacage.com travel team this year is mostly the same. The crew is missing two key members, Peter Lovejoy (to Fire Chief duties) and Garth “Crusher” Levin to his job making cruise ships beautiful for vacationers everywhere (I’m thinking tanned college co-eds and seriously considered joining him). The driving team this year includes Will Schrader (replacing me as I continue my recovery from the cycling injury). Will is the current Spec Miata lap record holder at Thunderhill and a great guy to race with. I can’t think of anybody I’d rather have take my place. I’ll be there as member of the Miatacage.com braintrust making sure that Peter and Garth aren’t too badly missed.
Live blogging on the race should happen in this space – Thunderhill is known for intermittent (read: poor) data access. We will do our best to circumnavigate the challenges.
I will get even (even though it looks like God already took the first shot at it). I learned watching “Flipper”, as a kid, that sharks are sensitive around the head area – remember Flipper ramming rogue sharks..?
speechless - I think my karma caught up with your dog-ma fish...
“There is a difference between an “activity” and a “race”, and it is important to understand what those differences might be. If Lemons and Chump Car were really races, then the primary purpose would be to have a race – but, that’s not the primary purpose and everybody knows it.”
I wrote that passage a couple of days ago in my post Chump Car!!!, about this weekends event at Portland International Raceway. It turns out that not everybody “knows it”.
Here’s an example from a 24 Hours of Lemons race:
Recently, I made a number of inquires to friends and acquaintances asking for photos of their Chump Cars and descriptions of their driver line-ups. I didn’t get many takers. The reason, it seems, is that they don’t want anybody to know what they’re up to…
Why not – you may ask? I think they figure that if they hide until just before the race (that would be now), the officials won’t notice that they’ve grossly exceeded their budgets. The rules clearly state that cars will be assigned penalty laps if they run afoul of the $500 prep rule. Actually, maybe not so clearly, but they do say this:
“If you screw-up… you’ll either be docked laps or you’ll have to face “The Wrecking Crew.” We hope that you’re as good at fixin’ cars as they are at dismantling them.”
If we apply just a little bit of logic we can deduce that since this is specifically supposed to be affordable racing ($500 cars), that the powers that be will vigorously protect this idea (crap-can racing commandment) by imposing “penalties” on those that “screw-up”. After all (dare I say it), if we just want to do laps in $2000 cars we can do that at a Conference event.
I've never seen one of these before
Anyway, I did receive some photos of a mobile Italian restaurant, which is really cool and I wouldn’t think counts toward the $500. But, they have no pictures of the race car? – Suspicious indeed… I’m told it’s a Fiat X 1/9, well actually (counting the pasta cooker) it’s a Fiat X 1.5/9 which (if you take the time to do the math) is really a Fiat X 1/6.
Antonio, where is the wine opener!?!?
In any case, I’m not so worried about this one because the vital bits of the motor in an old Italian car like that will be organized much like a bowl of seafood linguine by the time the second bottle of Chianti is gone… Ask me how I know sometime.
Then there are a couple of teams with reclaimed Spec Miatas that they think nobody knows the cost of parts for. Excuse me – hey look over here, there are some guys that have built a couple of these things.
Spec Miata masquerading as a.... Spec Miata - crew chief disguised to protect the innocent?
For example: the hard top on your $500 car is worth $800 all day long on Craigslist – “but we only paid $200 for the car, from my co-driver…” These guys must think that the officials are Ferrari F1 fans.
And, if we put some fins on this one then maybe everybody will think its a fish and not a real race car..? Until they start falling off of the poor thing – but that’s okay because the corner workers (both of them) will be looking for something to do around midnight…
this one's been swimming round the bait tank for a while...
It’s no secret that this was (very recently) a real race car. Again, we know stuff and we’re not afraid to prove it. Lest you think that this is sour grapes or garden variety whining – reconsider. Mostly I’m just bored, but there’s nothing gardeny about it and I am not telling you what to think of any of this, anyway – that’s all up to you (and those who would judge you). I just shine the light of righteousness on those of sinister intentions – yes, I’m talking to you Schrader.
I had a little bit of time this morning and wanted to fill in some of the details of how the ICSCC officers have handled the disagreement they have with me. My race weekend with them has been reasonably well documented and most of you know the story. I had a good time and wrote about the experience – it was a pretty good story. This explanation is so that members of Conference can have a better understanding of how their club works.
First, I have many very good friends that race in Conference. I like most of the people there, and in some cases the feeling is mutual. The people that do most of the work that make the racing possible are awesome. As a matter of fact, I went into the last race weekend with a favorable attitude regarding the current crop of upper level Conference Officials, as well. That attitude would be short lived, however. The problem still is that some people that aspire to the “top of the club” act like a bunch of 8th grade bullies once they get there.
The analogy is that at a middle school the 8th graders are the “big kids” and there are always a few that have to show the new kids who is boss. It’s just the way life is, I suppose – some kids are just mean and pick on the smaller kids. Sometimes they grow out of it… Sometimes they become Conference Stewards.
My original story about my experience racing Conference included a description of a Conference Official that, in my view, is likely a serial bully. That description is what the Conference License Director took offense to, and is the original source of Conference’s problem with me. A problem that the License Director believed warranted a removal of my racing privileges. I was “banned” for writing a story.
This is the passage from an email I received from the I.C.S.C.C. License Director dated August 19 that explains his position:
Per E 404., all non-ICSCC licensed entries are subject to my approval as License Director. There are no qualifiers on this approval. Sportsmanship is one of the criteria that I apply when making approval decisions. I find both your conduct, and demeanor, to be unsportsmanlike, and therefore I do not approve of your entry, in any future ICSCC sanctioned event.
There was a phone call and several emails that went back and forth related to this passage, but that is the important paragraph. There was a demand that I apologize without an offer of an apology for the way I had been treated by their bully – WTF, is this some kind of a joke..? I did ask for a clarification regarding specifically what the issue was and I received this – an excerpt from my story:
“Captain Rule Book” then rode away on his motorcycle (sans helmet) his shirt flapping around his over the shoulder walkie-talkie holster like a moo-moo worn by a Hawaiian grandmother on a breezy Maui evening. I wonder if Adolf knows that Portland is a city park and is therefore not exempt from the Oregon motorcycle helmet law..? This guy is serious Mall Cop material.
From my perspective, this is what the issues are:
I was “banned” from racing with Conference until I apologized to a bully (not going to happen).
The License Director had quoted the ICSCC rule book to affirm his position that he has the final say.
Most importantly, the banishment was for an issue that may fall under “freedom of press” protections.
My response was to suggest that the License Director (and Conference) get his story straight and engage in some CYA (cover your ass).
“Power corrupts”, but usually there is a place within a racing organization to air grievances. An example is that I was racing in an SCCA Pro Racing series where the Series Steward often behaved like an unreasonable jerk. He had the “final say”, but there was a series sponsor (with a representative) that was interested in resolving differences – we could go to him. The jerk was eventually replaced. In Conference, Per E 404 (see above) there is no higher authority. I went to the rule book and the License Director is correct – he has the final say should he choose to use it. And he did – “absolute power corrupts, absolutely.”
I continue to believe that ridicule is a useful tool when dealing with bullies. I also believe that what happens away from the track (provided it is within the law) should have no bearing on the approval of things like racing licenses. To this day, I have not received an apology or a retraction of the License Directors invocation of ICSCC Rule E 404. I have submitted an entry for the ICSCC race that takes place this weekend, and the registrar indicated that a resolution would be forthcoming (to save me the trouble of preparing a car and making the tow for nothing).
I believe this really is the case of one bad apple spoiling the bunch. I think that the License Director is probably a pretty good guy that has simply been immersed in a culture that protects its own – no matter the reason… The 8th graders are going to show me who is boss. They know that E 404 was a lame call, but now they won’t do the right thing and correct the mistake. I wonder what’s going to happen walking home from school on Friday…
I will continue to push back on this – because I do have friends that race in Conference and I think it is time for somebody to finally call BS on this crap. There is also Oregon case law that makes clear the responsibilities of organizations that conduct events on public property (like PIR for example). Conference doesn’t care about little guys like me, but they (and the clubs that make them up) are on the wrong side of that law – maybe they care about that…
Racing has rules and that’s good. In my view the primary focus of rules should be safety and after that fun and fairness. Fun and fairness are very closely related as you really won’t have much of one without the other. But sometimes, you just need to use your head – That’s why it’s called Racing instead of Ruling.
Except for the 12 Hours of the Cascades Enduro, the last time I entered a International Conference of Sports Car Clubs race (Conference) was 1987. The reason is that they’re kind of goofy – not the people so much, I really enjoy most of them, but the club / event dynamics are just different from anything I’m used to. It often starts well, and then one of them comes along and sucks all the fun right out of it, like a chaperon at an all night party – don’t you guys have something better to do?
The beginning: When Kirk Knestis and I showed up for my first Conference race in late summer of 1984 they needed to classify our current IMSA Renault Cup car. So, we brought all of the required documentation and based upon the weight and listed horsepower it would be placed in I Production (the slowest of the slow, but it would have qualified for J Production, had it existed – it was that slow). The Tech Steward, of course, declared that a 55 horsepower 1984 Renault Alliance would be H Production (one class faster) because it was a “Pro” car. Seriously? They hadn’t even invented crack yet back then… The conversation that followed nearly got me banned for life – in hindsight, that would have been okay.
Now I know that I’m a bit tightly wound and that I’m not particularly shy about sharing my views – this can be problematic when you have a rigorously vigilant “ruling” class. But, if I’m at a Conference race it’s because I’m simply trying to have a good time. There is no pressure at one of these deals – sometimes the racing is fun and the people are mostly awesome. But, “up one class because of the IMSA sticker?”
Despite the initial experience, for a few years we would occasionally show up at a Conference race. They raced at Westwood, for example, and that was a spectacular place to be. Its fun to be able to say that we raced there, Westwood is racing history and it’s one of the neat things that have happened to me that might not have happened without Conference.
But, something weird would always happen. I’ll never forget the guy that stormed into my pit to admonish me for causing him to shunt himself at the end of the front straight at Westwood. I was driving a borrowed old formula ford and one of the self proclaimed Conference heroes misjudged his braking trying to follow me through turn one. We discussed the fact that I was indeed on the racing line and that no I hadn’t blocked him, the issue was… well, I’m not so sure what it was exactly. The advantage of learning to race in cars with tired old motors is that you get used to not using the brakes so much (in Renault Cup the middle pedal meant a quick and certain relegation to the back of the pack) – this is sometimes confusing to the other guys and they crash. So, Kirk and I patiently listened to his story about how I had caused his crash and then proceeded to laugh so hard that we nearly pissed ourselves. I am certain that one of the 135 pages of the Conference rule book addresses that, too. Chapter 8, Section D, Paragraph 2 “You have dribbled down your leg – START AT THE BACK!!!”
One night at Portland, while sleeping in our tent next to the cars (the tent met the constraints of our lodging budget), we were awakened by a noise. There was a drunk either sleeping in or trying to steel our race car – we never worked out which, for sure… I’ve been blatantly “brake checked” twice – yeah, Conference license holders… Now, I know that stuff like this happens at other places, it’s just that it usually happens to me at Conference races.
I have a lot of very good friends that race now or have a history in Conference – they are all a bit easier going than I am, but I like hanging out and racing with them anyway. One of my old racing friends, Hal Hilton, was the Chief Steward or Grand Poo-Bah (whatever they call them) recently, and Hal is an extremely smart and fair guy – maybe things have changed there, I hoped.
Because of the approaching endurance racing season and the availability of a car for me to drive, this past weekend was the best opportunity for some seat time and fun in preparation. This was a chance to pit and hang out with my friend Ted Rees, his father Phil and their families. They have a great laid back approach and fun attitude that would be nice for a change. The Miatacage.com enduro car just needed a shake down to make sure all of the systems and a few new parts were working properly. They’re not.
The car started showing signs of a possible switching / starting problem at Rose Cup – it wouldn’t start hot. We thought it was a bad connection somewhere and checked and cleaned the usual culprits. We would chase the worsening problem for the rest of the weekend and eventually get to learn about some special Conference racing rules – here we go again…
For example, while leaving the track after ITA qualifying on Saturday a Tech Steward approached the car and in a rather nasty tone asked “where are your gloves?” I showed him that I owned some as he barked back at me about leaving them on until I was back inside the paddock.
Understand, the track was in a red flag condition (closed) and I was traveling at about 5 mph. If I had stopped the car in the hot pits during the session and got out, I surely would not have put a helmet or gloves on to move it back to the paddock after the checkered flag. Isn’t there really something better to be spending our energy on? “Captain Rule Book” then rode away on his motorcycle (sans helmet) his shirt flapping around his over the shoulder walkie-talkie holster like a moo-moo worn by a Hawaiian grandmother on a breezy Maui evening. I wonder if Adolf knows that Portland is a city park and is therefore not exempt from the Oregon motorcycle helmet law..? This guy is serious Mall Cop material.
Ted, Phil, Roger (Phil’s pit lackey) and pit guru Garth “Crusher” Levin all had to listen to me go on about how it had started all over again with these “Conference guys”. I mean, it’s like they want you to fail – I imagine them in their trailers at night working out ways to “trick” the new guys. “Let’s give the 5 minute warning at 8 minutes to go – we can put it at the bottom of the supps and maybe some of them will miss it…”
Ted and I had a great time in practice and qualifying on Saturday. We drove around playing race car dodge ball with the rest of the kids. Most of the drivers are pretty attentive, but there are a handful that either don’t have mirrors on their cars or just haven’t worked out the details of how to best utilize them. Qualifying went well for me. Ted and I were first and second in ITA and I managed to out-qualify my Miatacage.com team mate / rivals Will Schrader and Gary Bockman for the provisional pole in Spec Miata.
Qualifying on Sunday was uneventful as Garth, Ken Sutherland and I spent most of the morning chasing the electrical problem. I didn’t improve my times but kept the ITA pole and was bumped to the outside of the front row for SM by Will Schrader. I was really looking forward to the race with Gary and Will, those guys are gladiators – it would be one hell of a show…
We had come up with a solution to the electrical problem. The battery was taking a charge and the car was starting afterward. We would simply keep the car on the charger until it was time to roll up and then we would go to grid, start and race. This worked well for ITA – the car started and the race was a yawner. I started on the 3rd row behind several cars in faster classes – I survived the chicane and drove away from everyone behind me – no drama. Conference allows a crew member to ride in the car on the victory lap – Garth rode with me. I suppose it’s safer to have somebody besides the driver hold the checkered flag one receives to commemorate a victory. Garth wasn’t wearing gloves (or helmet, suit, ass in seat, seat belts)… Safety first, Colonel Klink – “ATTENTION SECURITY – THERE IS A SKATEBOARDER NEAR THE ELEVATORS BY VICTORIA’S SECRET…”
Anyhow, we tried to start the car to go to grid for SM and it refused. So our impromptu plan was to roll up before the five minute warning and let the car run. There are a couple of options in SCCA to deal with a problematic starter – neither work in Conference. If you are not on grid by the 5 minute warning (8 minutes before the start of the race, as it turns out) you start at the back. AND, you cannot bump start the car on the grid – especially after the one minute warning, and double especially if you were in the process of negotiating with the officials regarding the first offense. “YOU WILL START AT THE BACK!!!” TIMES TWO!!!
I was in violation of a rule – I get that. Okay, two rules. Here’s the thing, Conference makes the outsiders run 3 digit numbers that begin with a 7. I don’t know or care why, but I do know that this makes it possible for them to easily and immediately identify non-Conference drivers. They have a rule that they very well know is in conflict with what anybody with a 700 series number on their car is used to. It’s a simple procedural violation and a matter of a steward’s discretion. If I were in charge (God forbid), I Would make a point of helping these easily identified ”customers” understand the differences in the rules rather than berate them with snarky remarks, regarding gloves for example, and race ruining penalties – but that’s just me. The amateur anthropologist in me has come up with a solution to this “Conference Problem” – try something a little bit more predictable, like vodka.
Mike Blaszczak, the steward in question regarding the grid issues, knows how I feel about this. We discussed it twice and my parting remark was essentially – I’m not coming back (it was a little bit stronger than that the second time, and I apologize if he was offended by my language). I’ll probably back off on that eventually, but not very soon unless somebody else is paying the bills.
My pit-mate for the weekend, Ted, had an interesting Sunday, as well. He had to work his way from the back of the field in the ITA race after a first lap spin and was then taken out along with Chris Heinrich (the CSM points leader) by another dive bombing Miata on the second lap of the race. Mike, the aforementioned Steward, had declared that event to be a “racing incident” as it was due to brake failure. I queried him as to whether Conference had any rules about maintaining incidental equipment (like brakes) – he said that those things are ”up to the driver”. Oki-doki.
These stiff car-prep requirements also shed light on the 5 laps it took to black flag the car with the bar-b-que in its trunk during the ITA race. The stewards were looking at the car carefully (I could see them as I motioned that maybe something might be wrong…”SHE’S ON FIRE, FRED!!!). It turns out they were working out whether it was chicken or ribs. It must have been ribs – the chicken would have taken at least 8 laps. I have no idea how these guys keep their 5’s and 8’s sorted out…
In the final analysis, I had some fun. It was great to talk to and meet a lot of the Spec Miata drivers I hadn’t seen for a while. Importantly, the car came back without a single new mark on it, I’ve got some fun video to share and I confirmed that neither Conference nor I have changed – I’ll take that deal 5,000 (8,000) times.
The thing that finally turned the weekend around for the better is when a group of workers drove by (as we were debriefing with some frosty cold beverages), to say how much they had enjoyed the DFL to 3rd drive (it was a bit more colorful than that). Those guys get drenched, frozen, sun burnt and risk their lives because they love the sport. I’ll start from the rear every time if it makes them want to come back. Other than the time John Bradshaw told me he had just watched me win the best race he’d seen in over 10 years, that’s about the best compliment a guy like me can receive.
