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Nelson 24-Hour Race Results, Pictures, and Video


Bill Strong

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At the very end of the Live Stream, or the post race interviews - I forget which clip it was  - there looked to be a Miata making a dyno run, but there was no narrative or anything to read about it.

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Many thanks to ChampCar for putting on this event, and many thanks to Nelson Ledges for being a good host.  The portable light towers were awesome, and people did appreciate the live music that was there.  The weather was absolutely fantastic!  

 

The car count was fairly low but the attrition rate was fairly low as well.  My general impression was that most of the teams that showed up had solid programs that could go 24 hours. 

 

For the first almost two hours we were in podium spots as the car and our driver were running good.  After that we experienced several issues (ran out of gas, exhaust clamps slipping, new driver worries, electrical problem, cut fuel line) which moved us back to 10th during the night.  From there we rallied back to fifth despite monster brake pulse (a brake duct had slipped off), grinding third gear and slipping out of fifth.  Post race analysis uncovered the fact that running the 60+ minutes we lost with the big problems would only have moved us up one position!  Due to all the repairs after Indy we just were not prepared as usual and that also cost us some laps. 

 

I was fairly optimistic this was our best chance to win a race with this car, but it would depend if Team Sahlen had a mistake or mechanical problem, which they did not.  I met Will from their team and his post race interview really tells the importance of winning this race to him.  Our P2 and P3 finishers were also quite stout so hats off to them for their efforts.

 

All the drivers had a great time.  My two newer drivers were really amped up after their stints!  For the first time I did only night stints - for whatever reason I am kind of a night racing junkie.  We did have a few issues with contact, two (909 and 30) we apologized for, and we had a slight contact with a red Miata that I did not find out about til later so we missed that one. 

 

This event was the fifth time the Saturn raced at Nelson Ledges, and the fifth 24 hour race.  We ran 889 laps, which is 29 laps less than we ran last year, and is the second most miles we have traveled with the car in a single event.  We now have over 14000 miles of racing on this car.

 

I hope this is not the last 24 hour race at Nelson Ledges, but it seems like it may be the last for a while. 

 

Edits: 

After watching the live coverage I have to make some corrections and clarifications:

* We did not lose 3rd gear, just the syncros - so we chose not to use it in order to finish

* There was no blinding fog at night, and visibility was pretty good with all the light towers

* We did not replace the fuel line.  We have a patch kit and used that to fix the leak

* We are still on our original Saturn SC chassis

* Thanks for the info on the other Saturn teams Doc and Paulie - we have been in contact with TSR Racing they will be back

Couple other points:

* We ran out of gas three times.  We changed the nose on the car after Indy crash, which between that and the cooler temps made the car run cooler and eat more gas.  Car is designed to be able to limp along at 40-50 mph for a while when it is really low on gas

* During the night we also had a problem with a loose wire blowing fuses.  It happened just as we were about to leave pits. We borrowed a fuse from the RX-7 team from their RV.  they said they might need a tire and we offered if they needed one but we did not hear from them after so they must have figured it out

* One of our brake ducts came loose.  I duct taped it back together but by then we had overheated a rotor creating a big brake pulse

* between 2-4 AM someone on the front stretch had a fire going that smelled like burnt brake pads.

 

IMG_8090.jpg

Edited by mostmint
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16 minutes ago, red0 said:

 

Well...... if we are going to talk about it, what car and what did it make?

The 248 (2000 Miata) and 942 (1999 Boxster) were taken from impound for dyno testing.

 

I thought I overheard some talk that the Miata was at 130hp and the Boxster was within 2-3 HP of spec, but this was after a 24 hour race and 1.5 hours of sleep so my memory might be a bit foggy!

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33 minutes ago, wvumtnbkr said:

I heard around 280 on the boxster, but that have been fake news....

That would take some work to get a 205 hp Boxster up to 280 whp.  Even if it was an S that would be a lot more than a tune and air cleaners could provide.  They must have been real smooth to make the impression that someone thought they had excess power.

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I have no idea what number "spec" would be based on since you can change intake, exhaust, ECU etc not to mention whatever they could add with their 50 extra points.  Maybe it was the number the engine was at before the race, not factory spec.  Anything north of 250 HP with a 2500 lb car would make most cars amazing in ChampCar. 

 

I would have loved a free dyno pull there on the mighty Saturn

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@Doc WARNING: Math follows.....

 

Stock fuel capacity for a 1999 Porsche Boxster is 17 gallons. So with a fuel cell they can run 19 gallons.

 

They pitted 11 times {reference: Post race interview}, that means they ran 2 hour stints.

 

The 205 HP would make sense to be able to run 2 hour stints. At 280 HP, they would get somewhere around 1.4 Hours from 19 gallons.

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Thanks to Champ for a great event - and the the Nelson Ledges team for working hard to continue to improve the facility and to promote this event.  First off, it was GREAT to have Lake Erie Communications on site for flagging.  Consistent, professional first class group.  The "light boards" for yellows at night - not so much (need to be bigger & brighter - or back to lights on the flags themselves).  The portable lighting in the pits and around the course - great!

 

The Hounddogs BMW had good pace and up until a lost rear wheel bearing and later a half shaft, we were looking at making our first overall podium.  Granted the race was lightly attended, but the driving by and large was very good, the new curbing was great and you could not have asked for better weather.

 

It would be a shame to see this venue / event fall from the schedule.  The track is fast and challenging and the history for this type of racing is extensive.  I have been attending 24 hour races at Nelson since the early '80's as crew and driver and the new track management is working to steadily improve the facility.  This year had spectators, live bands and more food vendors as they promoted the event. 

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2 hours ago, thewheelerZ said:

Did I hear it on the interviews correctly that Sahlens changed 4 RE71s EVERY (11) pit-stop???  Wholly tire budget batman.

 

Heard they changed them a lot but didn't hear the total used.  Changing them out often because they were starting out shaved.

 

Arms race is on, hope no one was thinking this would stay as cheap(er) racing for long. 

 

130hp from a me-otter is about right.

 

Looks like the 995 laps turned in 2008 Longest Night still stands as a record.

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197 at the crank is stock, Porsche underrates their engines.  180-190 at the wheels is about right. They definitely don’t have 280, they were only .2s faster then our fastest time last year with our 200hp engine.  If they podium at Pitt. I’ll be sure to give it a look over. 

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If they had 280 hp available, they weren't using it all.  Our BMW is far from the fastest of E30/E36's that run and while the Boxster could pull away on the straights (depending on who was in our car/exit speed/etc), it wasn't a runaway on acceleration (or no more so than other teams we have run against at other tracks).  Could they have been holding back???   From watching the race unfold, it didn't seem so - but they did change quite a few tires....

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1 minute ago, bendawson3 said:

we're shaving tires now to win in this series?? Super. I'm not gonna do a flamboyant flounce and say I'll never run with you people again, but daaaaamn

They have been shaving tires for years. 

 

There are no rules against shaving tires, let alone showing up with multiple semi rigs, 10 guys on the crew, nitrogen tanks for air impact guns, and a huge pit stand with clear plastic walls for bad weather, and look at that shifter that's not factory. 

 

I think they are an exception and not indicative of a future norm.

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They have been shaving tires for a looonnngggg time.  

 

Keep in mind, these aren't new tires.  They are used tires that they are shaving to get more life out of.

 

They have always changed tires a bunch during a race.  I believe they do it to make sure they fully use the tires and not let them degrade too far.

 

I am skeptical about the number I heard.  That thing would have been an insane rocketship if it had 280 hp.

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The 2019 Nelson 24 was a great event, Thanks to ChampCar, Tire Rack, Nelson Ledges Road Course and all the track volunteers for putting on such a great event.  It has been a dream of our family for 39 years, since we 1st ran this event in 1980, to win the the Nelson 24.  To notate on tires, yes we have in the past shaved our tires and did so for this event.  Not shaving should get us more life and we plan to try this in the future.  The reason for shaving is to avoid blistering, which we have experienced in the past.  As it was, we were getting 6 hours out of a shaved set, and probably could have went 8 hours between changes, but again we wanted to minimize risks.  Most likely, in the future if we don't shave, we should be able to get 10-12 hours out of a set. which would be around 2  1/4 sets for a 24 hour race, which seems most logical.

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