Varkwso Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 So how many CMC guys have turned pro? Spec E30 has at least one. Their is a TT guy who. Is pro now also. lindsey.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor57 Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 So how many CMC guys have turned pro? Spec E30 has at least one. Their is a TT guy who. Is pro now also. lindsey.. Not that it is relevant to the thread, but I know of one CMC driver that has raced professionally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Varkwso Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 So how many CMC guys have turned pro? Spec E30 has at least one. Their is a TT guy who. Is pro now also. lindsey.. Not that it is relevant to the thread, but I know of one CMC driver that has raced professionally. He probably started in TT then.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sperkins Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I love qualifying against racers who never went through TT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PushinTheLimit Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I love qualifying against racers who never went through TT. All I can say is just bring it... I'll be ready the next time I'm out there with the C5 Mafia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drivinhardz06 Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 All I can say is just bring it... I'll be ready the next time I'm out there with the C5 Mafia Scott, called out 2x in one thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sperkins Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 All I can say is just bring it... I'll be ready the next time I'm out there with the C5 Mafia I see your Aero and raise you 1,000 horsepower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Varkwso Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I love qualifying against racers who never went through TT. All I can say is just bring it... I'll be ready the next time I'm out there with the C5 Mafia I am trying to think how many C5 racers did not start in TT in SE. Not a whole lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clydesdale Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 So how many CMC guys have turned pro? Spec E30 has at least one. Their is a TT guy who. Is pro now also. lindsey.. Not that it is relevant to the thread, but I know of one CMC driver that has raced professionally. If this kind of talk is going to continue, we'll need to define professional. Especially considering that at least half of Grand-Am drivers pay to drive. http://www.goaheadtakethewheel.com/blog/secrets-professional-racing/, "The true numbers are tough to uncover but it’s estimated that approximately 45% of the professional drivers in GRAND-AM’s Rolex series, 55% of the Continental series, and 55% of the SCCA’s World Challenge series are paying to race." If you pay to race then the line between professional and participant is a little murky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Varkwso Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 So how many CMC guys have turned pro? Spec E30 has at least one. Their is a TT guy who. Is pro now also. lindsey.. Not that it is relevant to the thread, but I know of one CMC driver that has raced professionally. If this kind of talk is going to continue, we'll need to define professional. Especially considering that at least half of Grand-Am drivers pay to drive. http://www.goaheadtakethewheel.com/blog/secrets-professional-racing/, "The true numbers are tough to uncover but it’s estimated that approximately 45% of the professional drivers in GRAND-AM’s Rolex series, 55% of the Continental series, and 55% of the SCCA’s World Challenge series are paying to race." If you pay to race then the line between professional and participant is a little murky. I am pretty sure Mike Skeen does not pay for his rides. His sponsors might, but he doesn't. Most others who have moved up from NASA probably buy their seat with their or their companies money. It is not hard to get offered a seat in the 24 hour at Daytona if you have $50,000 to "invest". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bukit Posted March 9, 2012 Share Posted March 9, 2012 buy their seat with their companies money I wonder if I can use ANG money to race? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Varkwso Posted March 10, 2012 Share Posted March 10, 2012 buy their seat with their companies money I wonder if I can use ANG money to race? Use your govt credit card.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z06 Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Winning or just running a good lap in TT is not all that easy. A few years ago in TX, when the TT field wasn't so crowded, it was easy to go out with no strategy and run a fast lap. That's no longer the case. It's no longer boring. The past few events and seasons have held nothing but personal frustration. It's either car issues or catching the guy in front too quickly causing a blown lap. And in some cases my own lack of concentration, such as not managing my tires correctly costing me 3rd place at Nationals in '09. This past weekend was no different. This weekend was the first time I have lost my temper in a few years due to frustrations. Yes, I know racing is just a fun hobby and it is fun! But sometimes the desire to succeed is greater than just wanting to have fun. TT in TX is competitive and winning is the difference of tenths, hundreds, or thousands of a second. All measured by an early lift of the throttle or blink of an eye. Now that TX heat is upon us, we essentially have two session a day to post a fast lap. You can basically forget about the afternoon sessions. That doesn't leave much slack to for mistakes. Overcoming these challenges, along with the thrill of competing, are what bring me back each event. I can't wait for the next event and a chance to improve. I can't wait to get back on the track! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbrew8991 Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 this past event at Texas World Speedway TTB on Saturday was decided by 0.001 - difference between 2 Hoosiers and 1 to boot. And thats on a 1.55.XXX, 2.9 mile long lap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drivinhardz06 Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 this past event at Texas World Speedway TTB on Saturday was decided by 0.001 - difference between 2 Hoosiers and 1 to boot. that's awesome. a good dump before that session would have made the difference Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yakisoba Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 I posted Sunday's TTA fast time late in the day (session 4). My incentive was three Evos that were catching me up! Late day runs are tricky, and David is right, most of the time. If you get lucky, and the clouds cool things off a bit, afternoon runs can be good. However, I was burning up tires to do it. Hoosier R should have time to come up to temp. If you drop pressure and just hit them hard in the first lap, it's possible to do well right then, at the cost of longevity. Of course, if you win, you get more tires so it don't matter. The field is crowded and we had at least one mid packer (fast in class but place 9 or so overall?) decide to lag WAY back in at least two sessions. That makes the trail really long and the TTU guys catch up after 1.5 laps. That's no good. I'd support splitting TT up a bit. Maybe put SUR in another group, so they have a chance to run. TTA and B are really close, most days, and the rest of the field is not too badly spread out. Maybe a group for DE4 and SUR? Maybe ASUR? ABSUR? The acronym possibilities are tantalizing, eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbrew8991 Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 when signups support it, the group splits will happen TWS was a bit too light to command two groups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvetthead Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 The field is crowded and we had at least one mid packer (fast in class but place 9 or so overall?) decide to lag WAY back in at least two sessions. That makes the trail really long and the TTU guys catch up after 1.5 laps. That's no good. The "mid-packer" now understands the effect his actions have on EVERYONE... Hopefully this will not be a problem in the future. I allso think warmup lap etiquette should be discussed in morning meetings, so my testosterone supplements effect stays focused on the task at hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PoBoyR6 Posted May 4, 2012 Share Posted May 4, 2012 I was the "mid packer" causing chaos on Sunday morning. My extreme gapping tactics were mostly bourne out of frustration on Saturday because I was running A6s and got held up on every one of my hot laps on Saturday either from faster cars not yet up to speed/blowing early laps, late joiners, etc. with the expception of the last session where there was virtually no cars on the track (and I finally set my best time). As Joe mentioned, we spoke about it afterwards on Sunday and I then realized that my actions had implications beyond just a few cars behind me (whose drivers I had spoken with before the sessions to make sure they didn't mind me leaving a gap ahead). I'm still new to this TT thing so bear with me...it won't happen again. Also, I'm taking some mods off my car so I can run wider R6s and can actually enjoy driving the car again instead of needing all the planets to align to get that hot lap put down right out of the gate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z06 Posted May 5, 2012 Share Posted May 5, 2012 The white M3 never caused an issue for me. He gave me plenty of room to pass and stayed off line while i passed. The super slow double yellow warmup lap in the 1st session on Sunday screwed me. Sean and I caught the slow cars on the 3rd lap. That was my only session that day due to clutch failure at the start of session 2. When we hit traffic, I just headed for the pits. I saw the train of cars and it wasn't worth beating on my car to pass people. If your part of the grid in back, please pickup the pace getting out on track. Get around track under the double yellow at a decent pace. Passing on the first lap used to exist after a few corners. Maybe that should come back into practice. It would eliminate the train of cars. Mixing DE cars with a competitive group doesn't really work IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yakisoba Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 Most of the time, we have only a couple DE cars, so it's not a big deal. Most of the racers who come play from time to time have been given the stink eye about it being a TT not a race, so they tend to be well behaved. Somewhat. The big thing is the speed differential between the really fast cars and the end of the field. Hopefully we can solve that problem with two groups, but a decent solution seems to be solid warmup lap process. I'm glad we have the problem, since it means we have more folks in TT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbrew8991 Posted May 7, 2012 Share Posted May 7, 2012 The reason you caught traffic so fast in Session 1 on Sunday was exactly BECAUSE of the big gap that the white M3 left. Put a big quarter mile gap in the middle of the field and thats at least one lap (if not more) of clear track the top of the field loses. The odd cars towards the back of the car with lots of straightaway talent but no handling (or was it line/driver issues?) caused some issues for the TTD/E/F cars, but we've got some solutions to try the next time it happens. And there really weren't any DE4s this past event, esp since we're starting to require transponders for this run group and that's usually the only thing that stops them from being a TTer... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Element Tuning Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 (edited) Have your director talk to ours in the mid-Atlantic as we have TT dialed. I used to not even get one clean lap before lapping some of the field. Then they adopted this: pace car leads at 45 mph and the field must maintain this and stay within a few lengths of the car they are following. A few turns prior to the main straight the field maintains 45 mph but the pace car takes off and leaves the field. You can absolutely be full bore at the last turn prior to the start finish. This way You have a chance to make your first lap your fast lap if you scrub adequately. I can now typically get 2 flat out laps before lapping the field at most tracks. Now for this to work for practice and session one egos need to be in check and the field needs to line up so the fastest are first. We don't have a problem with that here as far as I can tell. Now late comers get screwed but too bad. If you are late to line up, the entire field gets one hot lap before you can enter the track. It works like a charm! Thanks, Phil Grabow Edited May 8, 2012 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedengineer Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 pace car leads at 45 mph and the field must maintain this and stay within a few lengths of the car they are following. A few turns prior to the main straight the field maintains 45 mph but the pace car takes off and leaves the field. You can absolutely be full bore at the last turn prior to the start finish. That is the ideal way to do it, and I'm pretty sure that's what most regions attempt to accomplish. Although in practice it doesn't always work as smoothly as planned... The whole process takes a lot of cooperation between everyone to get right. When it goes wrong, I typically notice one of the following issues: 1) The leader waits until the absolute last corner before picking up speed, thus ruining the first lap for everyone else behind him (traffic jam chain reaction style...gotta go through that last corner hot or you just wasted a lap) 2) Someone thought they were entitled to 18 car lengths instead of the standard two second gap 3) The leader went out too fast, and the group didn't get a chance to compress enough, so the front guys catch the slow guys quickly 4) Someone fast didn't go out the first few sessions of the day, and so doesn't have a grid position, starts from the back and passes 18 people on the way through the field, hurting lap times for lots of people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Element Tuning Posted May 8, 2012 Share Posted May 8, 2012 Infractions and non compliance need to be dealt with after each session. Most of the guys/gals in our region are pretty aware who needs to be where. I often skip session 1 on Sunday but I'll get waived up front because as you've mentioned the fast guys will hurt a slower cars lap also if they have to pass. Sometimes it goes all wrong but it's rare for us. The biggest problem is a late to grid driver who then takes a very slow warm up lap. W2W vs. TT is really about how you quantify fun or a challenge. If passing the person in front of you is what floats your boat great. If the quest of improving your car and your skill to eek out every last 100th of a second is your challenge then so be it. The best in the world are exceptional at both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.