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2019 Lifeline 24-Hour Classic Results


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Congrats to Pinkies Out for the win on Saturday.

 

Here are the Speedhive results:

https://speedhive.mylaps.com/Sessions/5527794

 

EC results:

https://speedhive.mylaps.com/Sessions/5527795

 

Please share stories, videos and pictures here.

 

2019 Lifeline 24-hour Classic at Virginia International Raceway by F&S Enterprises
https://photos.app.goo.gl/rNc4AA7SnrnNDN1dA

https://www.fandsenterprises.com/index.php?do=photocart&viewGallery=21371#page=thumbs
 

2019 ChampCar Endurance Series LifeLine 24-Hour Classic by Ian Strong & Bill Strong
https://photos.app.goo.gl/qm98A1GHAbGtQuAS6

 

2019 ChampCar Endurance Series LifeLine 24-Hour Classic awards images by Conner Franck
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Swtvj7oXq3TUFhKe8

 

 

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I will post a full recap for our team when I gather all the pictures from our members, but thank you once again to ChampCar and VIR for hosting another memorable weekend. This is the third time we've run the race, and our most arduous yet. An accident in the Friday test session caused us to miss the start due to substantial repairs, and ongoing effects from that saw us in the paddock for various repairs - we replaced a diff casing, a rear main seal (engine out), clutch slave, and a rear axle throughout the weekend. Despite this we soldiered on, setting good lap times and took the flag in 33rd overall. Given that we were in the paddock for maybe 2.5 hours of the 24, we feel this is a respectable performance. 

 

As ever, the camaraderie and support in the paddock among teams was what makes ChampCar so special - we were able to source parts and equipment from teams who were happy to help, and we were able to reciprocate in kind. The action on track was always exciting and there was a lot of good and respectful driving out there. We're proud to be part of this series, and look forward to coming back next year to improve our performance again. 

 

I believe we got a shout-out at the prizegiving for our troubles, and we're grateful for the acknowledgement. Unfortunately we didn't have many members left in the paddock for the ceremony - I'd already left with a flight to catch and the rest of the team we're packing up to hit the road. 

 

Looking forward to hearing all the stories from other teams!

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We borrowed a radiator funnel from a miata team across from the garages.  We returned that to someone who believed it was their teams.  However if the person who loaned it to us didn't get it back, please let me know via PM and I will drop ship you a new one.  And thank you again for the help!!

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7 minutes ago, LuckyKid said:

We borrowed a radiator funnel from a miata team across from the garages.  We returned that to someone who believed it was their teams.  However if the person who loaned it to us didn't get it back, please let me know via PM and I will drop ship you a new one.  And thank you again for the help!!

What happened to you guys?  I expected you to be a contender this weekend but if i remember correctly i saw you guys working on the car a bunch?

 

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Congrats to the Huggy squad for the win, well earned!

 

Not sure who the lady on the live broadcast is but thanks to her for picking us and sticking with us, sorry for letting you down 😞. This event is all about staying clean and avoiding contact. We had contact in our first night stint that pushed our right rear tire to 1 1/8” toe out and slowed us about 2 seconds a lap. In the next stint our shifter selector rod sheared off and we had to get a flat tow back to the paddock costing us 20. Considering those occurrences we are very pleased with finishing 3rd overall. 

The last half of the event was all about disappointment and regret but this is a team event and, while a large part of it is results, the performance of the team is something to be happy about. Our crew was 100 out of 100 executing perfect pit stops, miraculous fixes and doing the little things perfectly. That’s how we made the podium and that’s why I feel better today looking back at the race. 

We want this race so bad, it’s brutal and requires flawless execution to win. Bimmerworld pitched a perfect game last year and Huggy pitched one this year. That’s what it takes overall all other things (especially speed), 11 stops, no contact. We look forward to trying again next year. 

 

 

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32 minutes ago, JCrist said:

Congrats to the Huggy squad for the win, well earned!

 

Not sure who the lady on the live broadcast is but thanks to her for picking us and sticking with us, sorry for letting you down 😞. This event is all about staying clean and avoiding contact. We had contact in our first night stint that pushed our right rear tire to 1 1/8” toe out and slowed us about 2 seconds a lap. In the next stint our shifter selector rod sheared off and we had to get a flat tow back to the paddock costing us 20. Considering those occurrences we are very pleased with finishing 3rd overall. 

The last half of the event was all about disappointment and regret but this is a team event and, while a large part of it is results, the performance of the team is something to be happy about. Our crew was 100 out of 100 executing perfect pit stops, miraculous fixes and doing the little things perfectly. That’s how we made the podium and that’s why I feel better today looking back at the race. 

We want this race so bad, it’s brutal and requires flawless execution to win. Bimmerworld pitched a perfect game last year and Huggy pitched one this year. That’s what it takes overall all other things (especially speed), 11 stops, no contact. We look forward to trying again next year. 

 

 

 

Yea you guys looked strong.  I was teaching a street survival school and was trying to keep up on T&S.  Looked like a race the last two hours for 2nd.

 

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30 minutes ago, JCrist said:

Congrats to the Huggy squad for the win, well earned!

 

Not sure who the lady on the live broadcast is but thanks to her for picking us and sticking with us, sorry for letting you down 😞. This event is all about staying clean and avoiding contact. We had contact in our first night stint that pushed our right rear tire to 1 1/8” toe out and slowed us about 2 seconds a lap. In the next stint our shifter selector rod sheared off and we had to get a flat tow back to the paddock costing us 20. Considering those occurrences we are very pleased with finishing 3rd overall. 

The last half of the event was all about disappointment and regret but this is a team event and, while a large part of it is results, the performance of the team is something to be happy about. Our crew was 100 out of 100 executing perfect pit stops, miraculous fixes and doing the little things perfectly. That’s how we made the podium and that’s why I feel better today looking back at the race. 

We want this race so bad, it’s brutal and requires flawless execution to win. Bimmerworld pitched a perfect game last year and Huggy pitched one this year. That’s what it takes overall all other things (especially speed), 11 stops, no contact. We look forward to trying again next year. 

 

 

Jason-

great meeting you this weekend-

We were both happy and disappointed to see you behind the wall Saturday night- we love a good fight and you guys know how to bring it on track.  Your podium finish was well earned and deserved after all you had to endure.  Congrats to you guys- Can't wait to mix it up again.

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Just now, Jab31169 said:

 

Yea you guys looked strong.  I was teaching a street survival school and was trying to keep up on T&S.  Looked like a race the last two hours for 2nd.

 

We thought it was but I’m not sure the Camaro did. Our guy said they could go an hour full out and they went an hour and a half or so. They got behind us and waited for a while but then passed us and put down some faster laps. If they were screwing with my mind they did it perfectly because I was thinking why would they pass us early and or run harder than they needed to after passing us if they were conserving? Maybe 2:15’s was conserving since they did get to 2:10 but if it were me I would’ve been doing 2:20’s. It was fun and we were really engaged in the race for P2

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5 minutes ago, chip said:

Jason-

great meeting you this weekend-

We were both happy and disappointed to see you behind the wall Saturday night- we love a good fight and you guys know how to bring it on track.  Your podium finish was well earned and deserved after all you had to endure.  Congrats to you guys- Can't wait to mix it up again.

Tha k you. 

The question is (if DSR can get another P1) do we tow to Sonoma? Package deal on sharing a tow for both cars? We don’t want to give up the Gold 1 and I know you guys want it! It would be a shame for it to run around California next year at 40 car events 🙄

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3 hours ago, JCrist said:

Congrats to the Huggy squad for the win, well earned!

 

Not sure who the lady on the live broadcast is but thanks to her for picking us and sticking with us, sorry for letting you down 😞

 

That would be Tiffany Alexander, one of your Board members. 

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1 hour ago, FlorahDorah said:

 

That would be Tiffany Alexander, one of your Board members. 

 

Too bad she felt too bad this weekend to drive, I took one of her stints in Doc’s car in addition to the one I drove in Huggy’s car.  I benefited from it by getting time on track but would rather see her out there giving it hell. 

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4 hours ago, JCrist said:

We thought it was but I’m not sure the Camaro did. Our guy said they could go an hour full out and they went an hour and a half or so. They got behind us and waited for a while but then passed us and put down some faster laps. If they were screwing with my mind they did it perfectly because I was thinking why would they pass us early and or run harder than they needed to after passing us if they were conserving? Maybe 2:15’s was conserving since they did get to 2:10 but if it were me I would’ve been doing 2:20’s. It was fun and we were really engaged in the race for P2

We watch Bill since we've raced against them and they're a D-class car. They ran 29 laps that last stint, which is pretty much inline with what they ran much of the race. Because of the FCY's in that last stint, I'm guessing they still had a little in reserve. 

Great race by you guys, congrats on the P2. 

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7 hours ago, Lethal Cliff said:

What happened to you guys?  I expected you to be a contender this weekend but if i remember correctly i saw you guys working on the car a bunch?

 

A little bit of everything.  We had a 10 week plan to get the car ready for the 24hrs at VIR but we had some major scheduling issues with our mechanic which left all ten weeks to the last three days before the race, putting us behind the 8-ball to start.   We did however get the car on the trailer and left on time with the list complete from a reliability perspective.  Unfortunately we were starting off tired as we drove 16 hours through the night to VIR and we were down a critical crew member.

 

At the test day we had overheating, AFR issues, brake issues and low power.  WTF!  We then lost a splitter in practice.  We installed a new radiator, uninstalled the thermostat, wired our backup O2 unit, retimed the motor and moved to a different brake combination.  Morning of the race everything was going great, car was fast and everything was dialed in. 

 

We then changed the oil, restarted the car and we had zero oil pressure.  We checked everything and had no idea how all of a sudden oil pressure would be gone.  We had a spare motor and decided to start pulling the motor about an hour before race start.  Unfortunately we didn't have time to prep the spare motor we brought(which we planned to fully dress) so we had to move over all the manifolds and accessories to the new engine.  (Thanks to Bill Riley crew for the cherry picker!)  We finally got out 34 minutes into the race and ran for about an hour and had to pit with low voltage.  The brand new alternator we put on the spare motor was bad and we had to replace it in the pits which was another 30 minutes.  

 

As I pulled out of the pit stall the end-plate on the wing hits our third stint driver in the head knocking him down and cutting his head pretty bad.  He was being treated by medics and had a possible concussion.  When I finished my stint, our emergency driver hopped in the car, put down a good time and then hit the wall in his second lap.  

 

The damage wasn't too bad but we lost the airdam and splitter which we had just built about 12 hours ago.  We started turning laps again but now the car was about 4 seconds slower with a lot of understeer.  Then the heat was getting to the drivers and we were taking short stints. 

 

We ran some concussion tests on our driver and sent him out for the 5th stint but he started to have brake issues.  The bolts started backing out of our caliper brackets since we didn't have the right hardware.  We swapped a bracket and did a night stint and a half.  Around 11pm, in our 7th stint, we were again having brake issues, and everyone but one driver was asleep.  The call was then made to pull the car in and go to sleep.  

 

We only had three crew and three drivers, with one of the crew planning to run a stint.  We ended up doing way to much work before the test day, during the test day and all the rest plans went out the window.  The heat was a major challenge for us as well.

 

I have so much respect for all the teams that finished that race, especially Huggy.  Its really a monumental challenge finishing, let alone as running as well as Huggy did.  

 

Its unfortunate that all of the things we've learned, documented, and planned for can so quickly go out the window once issues start happening.  It also reminded us of the importance to sticking with a schedule.  We are going to wait a while before trying another 24.

 

A big Congrats to Huggy, Bill Riley, and Damson Racing!

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Congrats To Chris and team for winning the 24 Hour, Its a hard race but they ran it perfect, Both with Prep and Driving. 

 

Congrats to Bill Riley and Damson for rounding out the podium, I wasnt expecting the camaro to last the whole race!

 

We will be back next year to try again hopefully with a more developed S2k! 

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2 hours ago, LuckyKid said:

 

The damage wasn't too bad but we lost the airdam and splitter which we had just built about 12 hours ago.  We started turning laps again but now the car was about 4 seconds slower with a lot of understeer.  Then the heat was getting to the drivers and we were taking short stints. 

 

I was surprised you guys didn't remove the wing after the splitter loss, that must have ruined the balance. Saw that crash from the top of The Lodge where I was staying.

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7 hours ago, the.cheat said:

 

I was surprised you guys didn't remove the wing after the splitter loss, that must have ruined the balance. Saw that crash from the top of The Lodge where I was staying.

We planned to put it at zero degrees and pull the gurney flap but we were just out of energy and time.  There were always higher priorities in the pits and no one was thinking 100% clearly even at race start.

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9 hours ago, the5 said:

Congrats To Chris and team for winning the 24 Hour, Its a hard race but they ran it perfect, Both with Prep and Driving. 

 

Congrats to Bill Riley and Damson for rounding out the podium, I wasnt expecting the camaro to last the whole race!

 

We will be back next year to try again hopefully with a more developed S2k! 

 

What happened with the S2K? Really sorry to hear about the integra, hopefully the S2k came out unscathed!

 

19 minutes ago, LuckyKid said:

We planned to put it at zero degrees and pull the gurney flap but we were just out of energy and time.  There were always higher priorities in the pits and no one was thinking 100% clearly even at race start.

 

Wow, way to exhibit some stick-to-it-ness, sounds like just about everything went wrong. Testing, preparation and execution is critical but unexpected issues can and do come up, and sounds like you dealt a bad hand of them.

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NLS Racing was just happy to have made it to the track. We initially thought our car was totaled after our Charlotte crash, but 6 weeks at the frame shop with the dude lollygagging on the repairs, left us with only 5 weeks to basically repair or replace everything firewall forward. Fast forward to the much needed test day. Car was great, but developed a fuel system venting issue that plagued us all day. 4 yrs of racing, never had this issue. Finally got it sorted near the end of practice. 

Just prior to the race start, I went to timing and scoring to verify our transponder was pinging, yup good to go. 15mins into the race, started dropping laps. Apparently transponder decided its wiring wasn't up to the task. Multiple sprints up and down pitroad to speak with Mike and timing, we just rented another transponder and made an unscheduled pitstop to mount it up. A big thank you to Mike for helping us sort this problem out and for giving us our laps back. We pressed on moving up to the top 5 or so. 

Somewhere during my 4-6pm stint I saw an open door that just wasn't there and unfortunately tagged the Brew Crew car. God I felt so bad, hoping I didn't end their day. I served my black flag. Totally my fault. Went to apologize to them after my stint and they were super cool about it. Sorry again @jakks and the whole Brew Crew. Pretty much uneventful from that point on, other than a bit of contact sometime late in the night that needed some of the RF fender cut off. 

We made it thru the darkness still running a solid 5th with the pace to maybe, just maybe work our way up to 3rd or 4th. No chance of catching @Huggy, damn you guys put together a good car and drive cleanly. I got back in the car for the 8-10am stint, and noticed a weird high rpm surging down the straights, but we ain't stopping now. Carried on until it got worse and worse. Forced to stop multiple times for diagnosis. Initially thought it was a contaminated crank position sensor from a slowly worsening oil leak. The car would die randomly, then fire back up. Pitted one last time to change the oil, thinking we had overfilled it compensating for the oil leak. Went back out and the car felt fasted than ever. Problem solved. Nope. Came out of Oak Tree and she died for the final time. A speedy tow from the awesome safety crew at VIR back to the pits. By the time it got back and cooled off, engine wouldn't even turn over. Race over just before the 10am mark. 

We suspect we had some unknown internal issue from our Charlotte crash that ultimately took out the engine. Further diagnosis to come. We ended up 22nd, nothing to hang our heads about. Everybody got in 2+ stints and had alot of fun. We'll be back in December for the VIR North race. Hats off to @Huggyand his crew for a dominant win, and really everybody else that put them selves thru this event. Thanks again to Mike, all the Champcar staff, volunteers, corner workers, safety crew, wives, girlfriends, and anybody else I forgot. Champcar is the best.

 

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Congrats to Huggy and team for their well-deserved win!  Great job guys.  A huge heartfelt thanks to all of you for your support for Antman and The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation at the Racebar BBQ.  Team Racebar was and is humbled by all of your generous donations of which 100% goes to the CF Foundation.  Hopefully all of you all enjoyed the BBQ as well 😁.  To ChampCar,  Thank You for taking Antman around the track in the Pace car.  That was a very generous gesture on your part and the little guy absolutely loved it.  All of this was a huge win for us so it's just icing on the cake with how well Redrocket did throughout the 24 hours.   

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9 hours ago, the5 said:

Congrats To Chris and team for winning the 24 Hour, Its a hard race but they ran it perfect, Both with Prep and Driving. 

 

Congrats to Bill Riley and Damson for rounding out the podium, I wasnt expecting the camaro to last the whole race!

 

We will be back next year to try again hopefully with a more developed S2k! 

Do you have video from the 8th hour stint? There’s a teaching opportunity for entering T7 that I’d like to highlight for the other event thread. You guys were coming up the bridge straight, I moved over and left 7/8 of a car width, you guys took it, we didn’t crash- transaction complete. I had the choice to go all the way over but didn’t want to give away that much of my turn in for one and didn’t think you’d take the 7/8 for two but either way it was a perfectly legit interaction, the type of which happen 100’s of time in a race. 

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1 hour ago, LuckyKid said:

We planned to put it at zero degrees and pull the gurney flap but we were just out of energy and time.  There were always higher priorities in the pits and no one was thinking 100% clearly even at race start.

I'm curious,  does your end plate extend beyond the body work of your car?

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11 minutes ago, DEE DEE said:

I'm curious,  does your end plate extend beyond the body work of your car?

No, but he was leaning his head in to the passenger window telling me to go.

 

 

20190810_161523.jpg

Edited by LuckyKid
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