2018 Sahlen's Champ Yard Dog at the Glen - results, images, videos

[Bill Strong 4,595]

Great photos added from Photo by Ed Palaszynski; edpalphotography.photoshelter.com

 

 

Also, if there is a particular car needed let him know and he can survey his images to see if I got that car. I was primarily shooting for Bull Dog Racing, but did capture quite a few other teams on Friday and Saturday.

 

https://champcar.org/mainweb/champcar-official-photo-albums/?album=6562117674562435393

 

 

[Rapido 131]

Our final post-race recap, we are very lucky to have such a dedicated team of enthusiastic racers, all of whom have come together in the virtual racing world before making this leap to real-world competition. Thank you to all at ChampCar for making it possible for a group of amateurs to go racing at such great tracks!

 

https://imgur.com/a/MombnX5

Edited June 4 by Rapido

[Racer28173 882]

On 6/4/2018 at 12:20 AM, Rapido said:

Our final post-race recap, we are very lucky to have such a dedicated team of enthusiastic racers, all of whom have come together in the virtual racing world before making this leap to real-world competition. Thank you to all at ChampCar for making it possible for a group of amateurs to go racing at such great tracks!

 

https://imgur.com/a/MombnX5

Nice montage!  Glad you saw the GWR car in your mirror down at the toe there - that was a tight space he put that car through.  Also glad you survived your moment in the laces - hard to tell where the black BMW was, but it looked like you may have slid right into his path (or maybe you slid out of his way - hard to say).  You guys get the award for the best pit setup (in the way that counts) - I looked over and saw the F1 race, the Indy 500, and Chumpcast (I think) on your monitors.  Impressive!!

[Racer28173 882]

This thread is awfully quiet.  Does anyone have any awesome rain footage to share?  

[thewheelerZ 1,131]

Here's my opening stint.  Got to start P3 which was awesome, but the neon on old tires had a lot of trouble keeping up. Pretty clean stint aside from a few moments like this one going into T1.  I flat out missed the brake marker in all the spray and just blew the brake zone, locked em up and it was over.

 

There were some points with SOOO much spray.  Blind faith that cars were still moving in front of me and relief when brake lights would pop out of the spray to let me know cars were still there and entering the braking zone!

 

 

Note, before anyone jumps on me: 5th gear was popping out so we had to hold it in, I certainly would have appreciated a 2nd hand on the wheel at times!

[cbhaywood 15]

It was an exhausting and memorable first wheel-to-wheel racing event for the Haywood (You Hurry Up) Racing Team. As team captain and the person responsible for our first build, I started the weekend totally overwhelmed by the knowledge and ability gap between ourselves and... everyone else. Ended the weekend overwhelmed by the friendliness of everyone we ran into, and the satisfaction in having our Miata see both checkered flags.

 

I targeted this race when I picked up a well travelled Miata off these classifieds last June. With no inherent skills and countless hours on youtube and these boards, the build took shape over the course of the winter. Our team for this event is all family, and spanning three generations. Dad gave up racing cars to chase me around hockey rinks in 1979, and having the chance to complete a race weekend with him has been a dream of mine for almost as long. But the preparations were all mine. Dad and my brother flew out from Kamloops, BC Canada, for the race, along with my aunt, and my nineteen year old son Tyler rounded out the team. Dad was hoping to drive, but after running 5 laps on the Friday test, didn't feel like he was still up to the challenge. He took over crew chief duties for the weekend, leaving driving duties to three wannabees that had never driven wheel-to-wheel before.

 

Let me please apologize to all the drivers that we probably infuriated over the weekend. We did our best to be predictable and run a proper line, but I'm sure our inexperience and general slowness put some of you out. We didn't get out of the way fast enough for a few of the quicker cars on Saturday, and some contact dislodged the undertray that we started the weekend with. My son left it as an additional obstacle on track for everyone to contend with for several laps. Turns out we were faster without it. Radios didn't work, pit stops were the opposite of well oiled, but we somehow found ourselves still running at 4PM on Saturday... with my son putting in our fastest laps of the weekend. Mission accomplished.

 

I'm sure many of the A-class guys were happy to see the rain on Sunday... a chance to level the playing field. We were not among them. I would politely label my mood as "nervous". That said, I ran the first 2 hour stint. About an hour in I felt more comfortable and started pushing. Promptly looped it in turn 1. Lucky all the guys behind me had their wits about them and were able to avoid me.

 

Got myself going again, and soon found myself myself in a pretty good run against the All Rhodes Racing BMW. Found a way past him going into the boot, and then he hounded me for the next couple of laps. I had a great time and thought it was a good battle. I hope they felt the same. Then I got a terrible exit onto the front straight, which opened the door for him to come back at me. I still had the line going into 1 and tried to make sure to give him room, but he got me in the door and I spun. My brother took over the duties at the 2hr mark, and joined under yellow. When the green flag dropped he found himself behind a spinning BMW, and made contact. Inexperience probably cost us there, as he made a split decision to go one way, and it didn't work out. Very slow lap back to the pits, and we took the car back to the paddock with the driver front pointed fully toe out.

 

I wish I knew what team helped us, but some very generous and experienced miata runner took a look at our wheel and supplied us with a replacement lower wishbone. I can't thank you enough. With the replacement finally made and a "quick" alignment, we were able to get back on track with two hours of running left. Brother and son both got stints on the now-drying track, and it is almost embarrassing how proud we were of our seventy-something placing. I could have done without the damage, but we all felt like the experience was richer because of it.

 

Thank you to all of the corner-workers, the Champcar Staff, and our fellow racers for a great, exhausting weekend... one that met every expectation I had. We learned a lot, hopefully will improve, and look forward to returning.

 

 

[mcoppola 1,628]

Nice looking car!! (the Miata)

Is that your dad in the lower picture?

Awesome story, glad you guys enjoyed your first race, with hopefully many more to come.

You've found out what champcar is all about - competitive, yet one of the most friendly and helpful groups you will ever race with.

Hopefully your dad will get back into the drivers seat at some point. There's nothing better that going racing with family, friends, and new friends met in this series.

Welcome - enjoy...

Edited June 8 by mcoppola

[cbhaywood 15]

That's Dad starting in his MG back in 1969. (Spokane I think) 

 

The sense I get from him is that the spirit of sportscar racing back then and through the 70's is very closely replicated by the Champcar experience. Grassroots. Shared camaraderie. It is a period of his life that he fondly remembers. I wanted to give him, my brother, and my son, who live on opposite sides of the continent, the opportunity to create some shared memories.

 

Selfishly I love it, and have as long as I can remember.

[mcoppola 1,628]

10 minutes ago, cbhaywood said:

The sense I get from him is that the spirit of sportscar racing back then and through the 70's is very closely replicated by the Champcar experience. Grassroots. Shared camaraderie. It is a period of his life that he fondly remembers. I wanted to give him, my brother, and my son, who live on opposite sides of the continent, the opportunity to create some shared memories.

 

Selfishly I love it, and have as long as I can remember.

Your dad is right, you've found the right place.

Your family is going to love you even more for getting them involved in this, and doing it together.

Let the memory making begin....

Edited June 8 by mcoppola

[JDChristianson 2,566]

23 minutes ago, cbhaywood said:

That's Dad starting in his MG back in 1969. (Spokane I think) 

 

The sense I get from him is that the spirit of sportscar racing back then and through the 70's is very closely replicated by the Champcar experience. Grassroots. Shared camaraderie. It is a period of his life that he fondly remembers. I wanted to give him, my brother, and my son, who live on opposite sides of the continent, the opportunity to create some shared memories.

 

Selfishly I love it, and have as long as I can remember.

Congratulations on the finish, and your team sounds like it is the absolute poster child for what our series needs to be.    

Carry on and enjoy !

[Rapido 131]

Welcome @cbhaywood, we were in your exact situation just over a year ago - newly purchased NA Miata, lots of enthusiasm, and a driving team with very little (non-virtual) experience. Any questions you have then please feel free to reach out to me or any member of the HJ crew.

 

We were out there with you at the Glen - glad you got through relatively unscathed and good luck for the next race!

Edited June 8 by Rapido

[thewheelerZ 1,131]

@cbhaywood That awesome.  Congrats on the first result!  Watkins is certainly a race to choose as a debut with 105 cars out there! Pretty busy for a first race!

 

I also race with my Dad/Family.  My Dad had knee surgery last so my mom even took his spot for a couple of races.  We got her out to some HDPEs and race school prior.  Slow?  yeah, really slow! but she got out there and had some fun and brought the car home in one piece without messing up someone else's race/day/car.  At 70 years old this year though she figures last year was enough and hung up the helmet.  Dad is raring to go this year as long as he can get his knees over the cage and into the car.

 

Long and short of that, find a less hectic race with less cars and convince your dad to get back out for a race!

Edited June 8 by thewheelerZ

[cbhaywood 15]

I appreciate the kind sentiments from everyone. They are reflective of the culture we encountered at WGI.

 

@thewheelerZ That's a great story about your parents. My mom ran a Cooper S in the old days, and Dad actually brought out her Novice Driving Log Book to give to me this trip. Smooth is fast, and I bet your mom would have no problem keeping the Haywood Miata in her rear view mirrors. Best of luck to you and your family.

 

Looking ahead, if Mosport 2019 is possibly on your radar, perhaps some dads can share stories and encouragement...

[thewheelerZ 1,131]

2 minutes ago, cbhaywood said:

I appreciate the kind sentiments from everyone. They are reflective of the culture we encountered at WGI.

 

@thewheelerZ That's a great story about your parents. My mom ran a Cooper S in the old days, and Dad actually brought out her Novice Driving Log Book to give to me this trip. Smooth is fast, and I bet your mom would have no problem keeping the Haywood Miata in her rear view mirrors. Best of luck to you and your family.

 

Looking ahead, if Mosport 2019 is possibly on your radar, perhaps some dads can share stories and encouragement...

 

Mosport is our home track.  As long as our car is running we should be there!  Come find us at Wheelhouse Racing.

[Gearhead_42 609]

I won't claim it's edge of your seat racing, but here's uncut final Sunday stint footage.  Although if you enjoy seeing faster cars flash by, this might just be your video 😉

 

This is a 1.6l SM legal car, and I'm (generally) our slowest but least drama prone driver

 

Part 1, starts with me ending my pit-out lap... track has just started drying at this point, but gets steadily faster.  Also, I start remembering how to drive.

 

 

Part 2... the camera dies 3 laps from the checkers, I could have cried