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Re: June 26th ButtonWillow (new date and track edit)


horsewidower

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My buddy Roger Henry and I are going to give the WEC a whirl this year. We'll run an E0 class Mustang. We're based out of Sacramento, Ca.

 

Can anyone tell me which configuration is run at Buttonwillow for the endurance event? Neither of us has ever run there, so it would be helpful to at least look at a track map and a couple of videos. Maybe trailer down for the open test in March if its the right configuration.

 

Thanks

 

Bob Holmes

Grabaldi Racing

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  • National Staff

Since the registration page hasn't been posted yet, we don't know. We run #13 and #1, both CW and CCW. We usually don't run the same one twice in a year. If you want to find out now, you may need to e-mail Ryan Flaherty.

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Bob,

Welcome aboard! Glad to see another team come over to the fun and excitement of endurance racing! You are more than welcome to come and pit next to us, but be prepared to have "too much fun"! Since you are first timer, we can help teach you all you need to know! WERC is the BEST!

 

Richard

PDG4.com

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  • 3 weeks later...

Thanks, we are really looking forward to this. If testing goes well next week, up at Thunderhill, we'll absolutely make it.

 

Can anyone gives us an idea what a typical day entails for enduro? Practice, qualifying, when they usually start the race? Car count?

 

Thanks again for the help.

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Sorry guys, I'm really a newb to this. When I register, where do we designate the second driver? I assumed the $349 was for the team, is that per driver? I might have to rethink this if it is.

 

Didn't expect a 7:00 pm start either. Interesting.

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Yeah, unfortunately after discussing it with Roger, looks like we'll have to make our first appearance at Thunderhill. New car, new track for us, in the dark, doesn't add up to a wise choice. We were really looking forward to this but that combination of factors is too fraught with the potential for disaster for us.

 

We'll see you at Thunderhill.

 

Bob

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That's nothing! We did our second race weekend ever, first enduro, first time at BW, first night race, and (just to make things interesting) first rain race--all at the same time. Placed 5th in class.

 

If you're worried about getting enough track time, run TT on Saturday. And if you want aux lights, get in touch with John Mueller at www.weekend-racer.com. Tell him I sent you.

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Rob- was that BRP, april ish 07?

If that was the rain race that year, I loved that race... we finished 3rd overall, won our class by 3 laps

 

If it was the August race, blech. 3rd in class, lost to Dean and Dan (our teammates)

 

Bob, send dyno plots

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Good memory Marcus! Back in the day of 4 minute pit stops. I remember my brother asking me if I wanted to start the race. "Um, yes?". I still think he knew the rain would clear up by the end of my stint.

 

We drove home that night to catch the Long Beach Grand Prix the next day--dead tired. That was our only mistake of the weekend.

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  • 3 weeks later...

My favorite race was the April enduro a year later. We raced PTE earlier in the day on Saturday and a car spun in front of us leaving nowhere to go but into the side of him with our RF corner. Cut the tire and bent the UCA. The enduro was in 2 hours. But the UCA bolt just would not budge. With no time left, we got toe as close to zero as possible, which left us with -4.5 degrees of camber on the RF.

 

I started the race and it was a very interesting seminar on the effect of camber changes. But we weren't TOO far off our normal pace. John got in the car at the pitstop. With 10 laps to go, we were in 1st, VERY tight on fuel and in serious fuel saving mode. An H4 CRX was about 15 seconds behind, closing at about 3 seconds a lap. But I knew he wasn't pushing 100% because they had been 3 seconds a lap faster than us earlier that day even WITHOUT our bent UCA. So I took John off the leash, hoping to either maintain the gap or force the CRX to push harder. Screw the fuel. I'm not going to lose a race in fuel conservation mode.

 

The CRX saw us increase the gap, turned up the pace, and 5 laps later their axle broke. The next E2 car was 2 laps behind. We went back into fuel conserve mode. The race was extended beyond 3 hours for unknown reasons. So we had to pit for a splash. Checkers came out during fueling and we crossed the finish line in pitlane.

 

That was our first win. And to make it even sweeter, Mazda had a contingency for that race only.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Anyone know if the race at Thunderhill on May 22nd is a night race?

 

We intend to make it regardless, just want to be prepared.

 

Bob

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T hill is a 2 hour daytime race in counter-clock ( normal) format.

 

I was at button this weekend and it was my first race in the WERC. I have done a 25hr. i figure this couldn't be as hard since its only 3hrs. I really like the night time at thill but this time at button I was not feeling it at all.. Im sorry if I kinda annoyed anyone outthere....I haven't been to buttonwillow in 2years and just not too familiar yet. I was driving a car that I never driven before and I didn't want to break the thing. I really liked the reflectors, they did an awesome job with those!! I will be better the next time i'm out there!!! Great job to everyone for keeping it clean out there. NO ACCIDENTS!! Yippy!!

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Thanks for the reply.

 

We finally cured our ignition miss on the car, so unless we break it on the dyno or a test day we will be there for the May race.

 

Bob

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  • 2 weeks later...
Rob- was that BRP, april ish 07?

If that was the rain race that year, I loved that race... we finished 3rd overall, won our class by 3 laps

 

That was a heck of a race, wasn't it? Two laps were never the same. I drove off the track a few times at night just because I couldn't quite see where the track was. Shawn decided he didn't want to "interrupt my rhythm" at the halfway mark, so I ended up in the car for the entire 3 hours. But we finished with an E0 win and on the overall podium as well. Would have been better with rain tires!

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm looking for a schedule for May 22nd. I need to know when the Enduro group gets there warm-up.

 

Can you guys tell me when you usually go out for warm-up?

 

Bob

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Looks like warm-up is 11:00 am Saturday with Group A.

 

Another question:

 

Do crew members need credentials?

 

Bob

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thank you guys for a great race! Our shakedown went great.

 

The car ran flawless all day. Erick took the car out for the warm up session. He got a feel for the track and put some heat in our old Kuhmo's donated by Freddy. Only mishap was on the cool down lap when Erick decided to try the Ivan Stewart line. Overall successful first session on track. Following the session we nut and bolted the car. Everything was tight and ready for the Enduro. Rain came in around noon and lasted an hour. We made the decision to have me start the race. I started at the very back so I could stay out of everyones way and get a few laps without cars around me. I ran for approx 1 hour. It took about 20-30 minutes before I felt comfortable with the line and the car. It's amazing how rusty you become when you haven't raced in 8 years and get thrown back in. By the end of my stint I was able to really start pushing the car, and really slide it around. The car is amazingly wall balanced. It handles better than anything I have ever driven. I managed to get down to a 2:13 which was 7 seconds faster than Ericks warm up. The pitstop was slow, but we weren't really racing. Just getting time on the car and time for us in the car. We took our time and made sure everything was right before sending Erick out. Erick really picked up the pace. He looked really racey and had a great stint. He even managed to pass cars! He was able to get his time down to a 2:11. I was hoping to be within 3 seconds of him for my first time out. I met my personal goal and the team met the goal of getting the car on track with no major problems. In fact we did not have to work on the car at all besides applying decals and a transponder. We could have never done that with the Camaro. It's great to be back racing, especially in a Mazda! ZOOM ZOOM

 

lilrednut068.jpg

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