NASA Jim Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 I was up in the Omega for Saturday's race... a great battle for first. Is that Tim's new car? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeanutinCA Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 It is a new car for Tim, but not sure of it's complete purpose? For rental, to replace the 924S which becomes a rental? His Enduro car but rental on other weekends? Not sure of his Evil Master plans but yes, that is a newly acquired car for Tim. P.Dilly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spec-944#70 Posted July 12, 2004 Share Posted July 12, 2004 This quiet is getting on me!! How was Sunday!!! Did you all have a 944 pile up and go home on the trailers! It's just too queit!! Dylan, Jason, TC? I had great fun at the enduro but we only had one 944 in it and Tim did well. Inquiring minds want to know!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeanutinCA Posted July 13, 2004 Share Posted July 13, 2004 OK. A quick update now I have a little time. Sat. Dwain and Tim battled up front for first and second. I hung on to the back of Tim for a few laps until Freight Train Pete Yousko joined the party and I had to go into defense mode. Well, that only lasted a couple laps, allowing Tim to pull away to chase Dwain. Pete and I went side by side a few times until Pete became the victor. Jason's window net came lose on the out lap and he frantically tried to hold it for a few laps before the black flag came out for him. As for qualifying Sat, there were at least 5 of us within half a second of each other in the 1:38 range. It was 1. Dwain, 2. Jason, 3. Tim, 4. either Pete or myself and 5. vice versa 4. And it was hot baby, real freakin' hot too! Oh, Dwain 1st, Tim 2nd, Pete 3rd, Me 4th, Dennis 5th, Jason 6th and Tom 7th. Sun. Sunday was a different story. Tim qualified on pole, then Dwain in the 38's, then 3rd was myself with a 39.3?, Pete 39.6? and Jason a 39.8 from memory. Dennis was right in there after sleeping in and missing the mornings practice. Off the start and I went down the inside of Tim, Dwain down the outside, by turn 1, I had a faster car inside me, putting us 4 wide through turn 1. Tim and I got squeezed hard as I watched (and said to myself 'bastard') Dwain went flying around the outside of all of us through 1. I made the better of Tim into 2 and pulled into second, with a car or two between Dwain and myself and a car or two back to Tim. You can see from Dennis' video that Tim and I come within inches of hitting each other in 1. I put the head down in search of Dwain but a Sentra I think it was in front was fast in the straights, but slowing me in the corners. Giving Tim the op to catch me after a couple laps. Tim put a "big" braking move on me into 1 that I honestly was expecting from that far back. I tried to squeeze him into 2 but was short by a couple feet. So I nestled in behind and chased for a couple. He would open a little, I would close on exit of 9 and lock onto his back bumper. I just couldn't get the run on him in the draft. DOH. So I hung for a few laps. Finally I think the tires got a little hot (came in at 46 all round). Tim pulled away and hung on for second, Dwain first, myself third, Yousko 4th. Dennis end up in 5th and Jason 6th after a great tussle between those two. I watched the video from Dennis' car and they passed each other about 5 times. Jason got a little hot into 3 and the greasy track got the better of him after a tank slapper up the hill. Personally. I think to finish 4th and 3rd, whilst not wins were a huge improvement as the car finally seems to be running well. I made a single sway bar adjustment on Friday, along with the new tires got the car to a manageable handling. Oh I did move the rear bar at home so I guess two adjustments over BW. It was too hot without shade on Friday to do anything else that involved sitting in the sun working on the car. The fact that several of us (5 or 6) ran 38's Sat in that heat was great. Even more so that we were spread out on the track in qualifying so it's not like we leached off each other. We set those times in our own space. So watch out fella's, there's no room for mistakes anymore. You've got several fast cars now. YOWSA!!!! P.Dilly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Comeau Posted July 13, 2004 Share Posted July 13, 2004 (edited) Eric, and the rest of the 944-spec drivers, Sorry for the delay in what is usually a prompt "Race Report." I'm still a little pissed. The weekend ended on one hell of a downer, sour note.......... I don't care to lengthen the drama further, but I feel like you drivers deserve to know what transpired and the reasons behind my actions. I'll get through this as quickly as possible. It isn't meant to be a character assassination. Dyan filled you in on the Sat qual's. Nice tight field! There was me, Tom, Pete, Dylan, Jason, Dennis, and Dwain Dement. My buddy, John Chambers was renting my 924S for the HPDE group 4. I spun off turn 5 on Sat morning? still getting used to the car. Old tires? Car seemed like it wanted to roll up and grip, but kept sliding. High speed understeer, low speed oversteer.... Put on some fresh tires, loosened the front bar 1/2 inch, and she was right as rain. Dwain and I had a good dice going. I caught up to him and was running just off his bumper. Halfway between turns 2 and 3 he hit the brakes hard. I very nearly rear-ended him. We then continued down the short straight and into the braking zone. I thought, "Man, that was dirty!" I got back up on his bumper going into turn 8, and halfway through the turn, he deliberately turns tighter and puts 2 wheels off, showering my car with rocks. Dirty driving again. He did the same again elsewhere. He cracked my new windshield and broke one of my driving lights. There goes a couple hundred dollars needlessly. I wish my camera was installed! We continued dicing, swapping the class lead. I missed the white flag and let him get under me going into 9. If I'd known it was the last lap, I'd have defended my position. So Dwain won on Sat. I told him how dirty his driving was and he blew it off. He made some stupid, dangerous moves on the track that cost me a lot of money. I considered taking action as Series Director, but didn't want my actions to be seen as biased, since I'm competing for points and TOYO TIRES bucks in the same class. So I paid my $25 to NASA, filled out a "request for action" form, and gave it to the next higher official, Mike Ward, the Race Director. The corner worker at turn 3 supported my story that Dwain had "brake checked" me. My complaint about Dwain's conduct on track was upheld, my $25 returned, and Dwain was placed on a 4 race probation period. The Enduro on sat night was great. If I can race for 3 hours, any of our regular drivers can too! On Sunday, I was pretty used to the car and started pushing it harder. Qual'd on pole, starting 4th in Group C, behind 3 RSR's. I got royally screwed on the start. It was really funny. They put a group of Sentra SE-R's behind us. They're faster down the straights and were in between our 944's going into turn 1. That was exciting! They were slower in the turns and really held a few of us up. I looked inside, outside, nothing but SE-R rear bumpers when I wanted to get on the throttle! Found myself in 3rd place before the first lap was over........with cars in between us! I drove hard, caught up to Dilly and passed him. He stayed right with me for some laps! That was a really pleasant surprise! The little biter even pulled along side a few times! Good stuff........Then, based on distances between our cars after each turn, I think I was just a smidge better in some turns, and I started walking away to work on Dwain. I really tried hard, and closed the gap considerably, setting fastest race lap, but just didn't have enough time to catch Dwain. His car ran out of gas and died in the hot pit lane after the race. Because of that and his past history of not playing by the rules, ( welding the cage to the body, solid motor mounts, non-stock shifter) I asked politely that the car go to the scales. I even said, "Please." Instead of going straight to the scales, the car was towed to a spot in front of the Vision pits, and they started putting fuel in the car with a 5 gallon can! I yelled at them to stop and they did. I don't honestly know how much they were intending to put in. Dwain made it sound like it would be just enough to start the car and drive it to the scales, a scant 100 feet away. I could have DQ'd him right there, but again asked that the car be weighed as is. While we were waiting for the scales to clear, Dwain and I were involved in another discussion, during which he intentionally poured Gatoraid on my driving suit. I told him calmly, "That was not a good move." He started with some insults a few moments later and I told him, "I think you're just about done with the 944-spec class." His car weighed in at 2643. I went to the Race Director again, told him of my intention to ban Dwain from the 944-spec class, and he understood and agreed with my decision. I then went to the Event Director, Ryan, and explained what had transpired. To his credit, Ryan tried hard to smooth things over. I assured him this was not a personality conflict between Dwain and I, and that my decisions and actions were based on Dwain's conduct both on and off the track that weekend. Ryan finally accepted my decision and said he would inform Dwain himself. This whole thing was unfortunate and unnecessary. I hate to lose even one driver. We could have had some great dicing in the future. But if you can't play by the rules and race cleanly, you should choose another class. I work my butt off to build this class into something GOOD. I can't do that and at the same time look forward to a management headache every event. On top of that, Dwain's blatant show of disrespect to me as a person, as the Series Director, as a NASA official doing my job of ensuring weight compliance, by dumping his drink on me was completely unacceptable. Bad conduct on and off the track were the reasons for him being banned from the 944-spec class. That's it. Edited July 13, 2004 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeanutinCA Posted July 13, 2004 Share Posted July 13, 2004 Not sure this is a good idea mate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nkwright Posted July 13, 2004 Share Posted July 13, 2004 Wow! Banned from the series!!!??? I can see the brake check being not so cool. Two wheels off?? I've been behind Rick White several times when he did the same thing. I never thought it was intentional or dirty. He just got a little too low in trying to pinch the bottom. This was in turn 2. I can see how the same thing can happen in turn 8. Hate to see an experienced driver & shop owner with the ability to bring more cars into the series be booted. Not to mention the fact that he does raise the bar as far as skill goes. Not condoning the actions of Dwain based on Tim's side of the story. It seems there were personal issues involved, especially after the race. I just hate to see a guy come out, win, be legal when challenged (weight anyway), and be booted!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NASA Jim Posted July 13, 2004 Author Share Posted July 13, 2004 I just hate to see a guy come out, win, be legal when challenged (weight anyway), and be booted!!! I hate to be Capt. Obvious, but it doesn't sound like weight caused him to be booted. But, boy, little did I know what I was asking when I started this thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Comeau Posted July 13, 2004 Share Posted July 13, 2004 Jim, It's not your fault at all. You started a topic regarding the weekend's racing, so I just added to it. We love to have outside observers enjoy our racing as much as we do. Then, to have it mentioned as fun to watch, that's great! Neal, I enjoyed the new racing challenge. I had to work hard and that was fun. Dwain's dirty driving was intentional. I wish I had video of it. Then, there would be no question as to his intentions. He went out of his way to put 2 wheels off. He could do the same to you or any other driver. It would never cross my mind to race like that! Hitting the brakes like he did could have caused a wreck! Believe me, and I've told all the drivers in our series this, I don't mind finishing second or even third, if I got a great dice in. Joe Paluch has beat me every time we've raced at Willow. 4 times. But he gets a big bear hug and a smile from me. Why? Mutual respect. As far as "raising the bar" is concerned, I've tried to get Rick White into our class a number of times. Probably to the point of being a nuisance to him! I'm sure he'd kick my butt for a while, but I'd learn more, and eventually come up to his speed. That's the good stuff. Great, clean racing. That's the product I'm selling with this series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nkwright Posted July 13, 2004 Share Posted July 13, 2004 NASA Jim, I know weight did not get him booted. It was obviously what happened on track and afterwards. My point was it appeared to be a fast legal car. Tim, I agree that the brake check thing is wrong. I see where you're coming from with the "intentional" dropping of wheels, that's wrong too if it was intentional. Only Dwain knows. Video is a great tool. I just hope the punishment fit the crime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ryan F. Posted July 13, 2004 Members Share Posted July 13, 2004 Folks, All the 944 drivers are doing a great job and putting on a good show. Lets keep the "he said she said" off the public forums and deal with them in via the proper channels. As was pointed out there is always 2 sides to every story and remember that many things happen on the race track that are a result of a mistake or poor decision but that is a part of racing we must deal with from time to time. I hope the series will continue to grow and we can all learn to deal with the different personalities that exist when more and more drivers join the field. At the present, lets just drop anything to do with the negative issues and let that get worked out in the background. There is too much good stuff with the group not to keep focused on the positive. Thanks, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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