2020 Alabama Grand Prix - Barber Motorsports Park Double 8+7-Hour enduro results

[Bill Strong]

Official race results
https://speedhive.mylaps.com/Events/1830639

 

ChampCar.live show links

Saturday race 1 - 

 

Sunday race 2 - 

 

 

We had a bunch of photographers. They display their images on the facebook ChampCar Garage Group.
Images
https://www.scottiee.com/TireRackcom-ChampCar-Endurance-Series-Barber-Motorsports-Par?fbclid=IwAR2Dm1CvwaKefE_96OIN7O27WFGU2Sg0LSK1mSj7EYVZEBsmt5oMdhvUiOI

 

Bill Strong out of focus images 
https://photos.app.goo.gl/wVbJwMhfTbRYJ43H9

 

 

 

[wvumtnbkr]

Gallant Mystical Sh...  Racing had a pretty good weekend!  (GMS Racing)

 

No spins.  No real offs.  No contact.

 

Day 1....  Well, apparently the new build is maximized for dry running....  Could not lay down laptimes.  Car was all over the track.  Couldn't decide when it was gonna push or slide the rear, or both....  Fun.

 

Then, the quite expensive AN fitting I used for the GM fuel rail decided to just, ya know, say a few words and depart the vehicle....  The fuel pump did its best to coat the entire car with fuel.  It did a damn good job.  Fuel literally dripping EVERYWHERE.  Fun.

 

Thanks to @55mini for having the factory nylon part that we were able to run the fuel line to and resolve the issue before the end of the day.  I went to a couple of parts stores to find the right thing and when I got back, Mark had provided a smorgasbord of different things to try!  I never did catch up with you after that.  Hit me up on PM please, I would like to repay the favor in some way!

 

Day 2.... MUCH better!  No changes made to the car.  It was GOOD!!! the wet weather at the beginning of the day hindered @MA506 a bit.  He had never driven the track before and only had the full wet Saturday to get his bearings.  Variable conditions is tough for your first time at a track! 

 

Once it was dry, we were able to run within a couple seconds of fast lap.  Car felt good.  @NigelStu was wheeling the crap out of the car.  He was passing everybody during the 30 minutes before the quiet hour and the 1 hour after the quiet hour.  Just straight grabbing that fresh meat and shoving it behind him.  It was fun to watch him climb from like 20th to the top ten.

 

@E. Tyler Pedersen drove next and basically maintained the position and had some discomfort with the "office" in the car - Will be corrected...

 

I went last and wasnt sure if I was going to be the hero or the goat....  I was actually talking to Ben to have him coach me using the live video if I was off pace.....  

 

I set fast lap (for our car) and just generally had a great stint.  It was really fun to just huck this beast around and trust the aero and the engine!  I am thinking there was a 1:42 in the car with more attention to alignment and tire pressure for this track specifically.  

 

We made our goal of P5 at the end of the day.

 

Big Shoutout to Kip!  He came the entire way to Barber from Indiana just to wrench on the car and hang out with us

Big Shoutout to Thomas!  Thanks for doing Tech and helping everyone on pit lane with updates and whatnot throughout the weekend.

Big Shoutout to Champcar!  There are some weird logisitics with this race and everything turned out VERY well!

 

 

I will be exploring some "alternate tires" for other races.  Our tires came off the car looking like they were literally brand new.  Like totally brand new.  (245 40 15 RS4)

 

 

Nice Win Burningham!  The food and event on Friday were awesome!  Next year (without Covid) could be even better (You MUST do it now...)

Nice Win Visceral!

 

 

Edited December 15, 2020 by wvumtnbkr

[JDChristianson]

We came, we raced, we got bumped and run into some, and we had fun.    

[cowboys647]

We ran into two different walls and got the coolant temp up to 300 before it blew a coolant hose. Not the greatest weekend for Love Racing...

 

Oh had a wheel fall off on track too. Forgot about that one.

Edited December 15, 2020 by cowboys647
Too many things broke

[Bill Strong]

2 gallons of Dawn dish soap was used in the making of this race.
Crash damage excluded; Let's make certain oil drain plugs are tightened down, and safety wired. lol

[Jab31169]

I watched you guys move in from the skidpad/proving grounds.  I heard you guys run sat and Sunday from the house.  Hope everyone had a great time!  Was glad to see local boys @Burningham take home the top spot Saturday.  Looked like Sunday turned into a pretty day. 

[wvumtnbkr]

1 hour ago, Bill Strong said:

2 gallons of Dawn dish soap was used in the making of this race.
Crash damage excluded; Let's make certain oil drain plugs are tightened down, and safety wired. lol

2 gallons?

 

Looked like 200 gallons.

 

Everytime that thing went out, I called it the "Damn Willy Wonka thing".  Just bubbles and stuff flying everywhere with the guy on the back looking like he was having a good ole time!

[Indysupra]

Subliminal Racing had a great time at Barber and plan to return next year. The corvette is tough to drive in the rain but we managed decent pace in the first stint. Second stint the window started to fog and with it spinning the tires/hydroplaning on the main straight we decided to park it. Sunday we started 5th from last and managed to climb or way to top 5 for a bit and eventually finished 6th overall and 1st in class. Fuel mileage is going to be an issue with the car but we have some ideas and problems to correct that will help us be able to make it to 2 hours we think. Thanks again to everyone who helped us this weekend. We only had two drivers and one pit guy and could not have ran this weekend without help! Want to say thanks to our friends at Harden Motorsports!! They are awesome and we look forward to running with them next year. 

[wvumtnbkr]

4 minutes ago, Indysupra said:

Subliminal Racing had a great time at Barber and plan to return next year. The corvette is tough to drive in the rain but we managed decent pace in the first stint. Second stint the window started to fog and with it spinning the tires/hydroplaning on the main straight we decided to park it. Sunday we started 5th from last and managed to climb or way to top 5 for a bit and eventually finished 6th overall and 1st in class. Fuel mileage is going to be an issue with the car but we have some ideas and problems to correct that will help us be able to make it to 2 hours we think. Thanks again to everyone who helped us this weekend. We only had two drivers and one pit guy and could not have ran this weekend without help! Want to say thanks to our friends at Harden Motorsports!! They are awesome and we look forward to running with them next year. 

It was super fun "battling" with you all day Sunday.  Started side by side and almost ended side by side.  That car is pretty bad fast!

[Rodger Coan-Burningham]

16 minutes ago, Indysupra said:

Subliminal Racing had a great time at Barber and plan to return next year. The corvette is tough to drive in the rain but we managed decent pace in the first stint. Second stint the window started to fog and with it spinning the tires/hydroplaning on the main straight we decided to park it. Sunday we started 5th from last and managed to climb or way to top 5 for a bit and eventually finished 6th overall and 1st in class. Fuel mileage is going to be an issue with the car but we have some ideas and problems to correct that will help us be able to make it to 2 hours we think. Thanks again to everyone who helped us this weekend. We only had two drivers and one pit guy and could not have ran this weekend without help! Want to say thanks to our friends at Harden Motorsports!! They are awesome and we look forward to running with them next year. 

Just make sure you bring two kegs to the next one like this time and i will come hold the fire bottle for you when you fill that beast. 

[JDChristianson]

23 minutes ago, Indysupra said:

Subliminal Racing had a great time at Barber and plan to return next year. The corvette is tough to drive in the rain but we managed decent pace in the first stint. Second stint the window started to fog and with it spinning the tires/hydroplaning on the main straight we decided to park it. Sunday we started 5th from last and managed to climb or way to top 5 for a bit and eventually finished 6th overall and 1st in class. Fuel mileage is going to be an issue with the car but we have some ideas and problems to correct that will help us be able to make it to 2 hours we think. Thanks again to everyone who helped us this weekend. We only had two drivers and one pit guy and could not have ran this weekend without help! Want to say thanks to our friends at Harden Motorsports!! They are awesome and we look forward to running with them next year. 

Been thinking for a long time that there should be a fast C4 in the field.   Well done!   It was fun seeing it on track. 

[chip]

2 hours ago, wvumtnbkr said:

 

 

Once it was dry, we were able to run within a couple seconds of fast lap.  Car felt good.  @NigelStu was wheeling the crap out of the car.  He was passing everybody during the 30 minutes before the quiet hour and the 1 hour after the quiet hour.  Just straight grabbing that fresh meat and shoving it behind him.  It was fun to watch him climb from like 20th to the top ten.

 

 

 

I was out there after the break for about 45 minutes watching this beast in my rear view mirror the whole time- fun times....

[Indysupra]

20 minutes ago, Burningham said:

Just make sure you bring two kegs to the next one like this time and i will come hold the fire bottle for you when you fill that beast. 

Deal!! Lol

[Indysupra]

34 minutes ago, wvumtnbkr said:

It was super fun "battling" with you all day Sunday.  Started side by side and almost ended side by side.  That car is pretty bad fast!

Agree! I was trying sooooo hard to run you down in the last stint! Good driving!

16 minutes ago, JDChristianson said:

Been thinking for a long time that there should be a fast C4 in the field.   Well done!   It was fun seeing it on track. 

Thanks for the complement! It has not been an easy road to get it to this point. Several failed track days! 

[Bill Strong]

1 hour ago, wvumtnbkr said:

2 gallons?

 

Looked like 200 gallons.

 

Everytime that thing went out, I called it the "Damn Willy Wonka thing".  Just bubbles and stuff flying everywhere with the guy on the back looking like he was having a good ole time!

 

 

A little goes a long way... like 6 miles.

[Wink]

@Bill Strong did the borescope picture get posted for everyone? Just want to make sure everyone was happy with the findings 

[Ray Franck]

12 minutes ago, Wink said:

@Bill Strong did the borescope picture get posted for everyone? Just want to make sure everyone was happy with the findings 

  You mean the one without that big lumpy piston everybody was talkin about.

[thewheelerZ]

2 hours ago, Indysupra said:

It has not been an easy road to get it to this point. Several failed track days! 

 

Damn... this is considered a long hard road??!!  Maybe I should consider myself hard done by...! Just kidding of course, all the respect for when you finally get the thing working like it should.

[Indysupra]

1 hour ago, Ray Franck said:

  You mean the one without that big lumpy piston everybody was talkin about.

Do tell! I didn’t hear about this. 

[Indysupra]

51 minutes ago, thewheelerZ said:

 

Damn... this is considered a long hard road??!!  Maybe I should consider myself hard done by...! Just kidding of course, all the respect for when you finally get the thing working like it should.

Lol. It was two botched races as well. We have an e30 as well and that was easy in comparison. 

[revvhappy]

The Hong Norrth Supra had a bad day and a good day. First - Thanks to Burningham for the Friday night BBQ!!  Also thanks to the Champcar staff for a well-run event. 

 

Saturday we were running in the top 6 when an intermittent electrical problem caused us to be towed in 3 times. I apologize to everyone for taking your racing time away. Once the electrical problem went away I was turning laps in the afternoon and started feeling a "clunk" in the rear when I let off the throttle. I found a disintegrating left rear crossmember bushing and we spent an hour rebuilding it with any materials that we could find and some Window Weld and crossed our fingers that it would cure by Sunday morning.

 

The new "bushing" cured but unfortunately it wasn't the cause of the "clunk". At 7:30 we found a broken right rear hub and started a thrash to replace the control arm. We got our first driver in the car and to pit road just before they started sending cars out, and made it into the top 5 by Quiet Hour. At 1pm we got our 3rd driver in the car and 15 minutes later he radioed about a problem but then the radio died. He stayed on track and it turned out that the clutch stopped disengaging and he could only use one gear. 4th was the gear he chose which is the highest gear that we use at Barber. He was turning reasonable lap times but I guess he decided that 3rd might be better, so on a Code 35 lap he waited until just before pit-in to try changing to 3rd gear. From that point on he drove the rest the stint in 3rd gear only, turning laps between 1:43 and 1:47 depending on traffic. 

 

When it was time for a driver change we put the car in 3rd gear before starting it and sent him off down pit lane. The clutch must have worked enough for him to stop at pit-out for the timer. After that the final 1:45 was 3rd gear only, and Nabil set the car FTD 5 laps from the end (1:42.7).

 

Video of the final 50 minutes to the checkers:

 

Mike with a clutch problem around 1:15pm

 

 

 

Edited December 18, 2020 by revvhappy

[scracing]

7 hours ago, wvumtnbkr said:

Gallant Mystical Sh...  Racing had a pretty good weekend!  (GMS Racing)

 

No spins.  No real offs.  No contact.

 

Day 1....  Well, apparently the new build is maximized for dry running....  Could not lay down laptimes.  Car was all over the track.  Couldn't decide when it was gonna push or slide the rear, or both....  Fun.

 

Then, the quite expensive AN fitting I used for the GM fuel rail decided to just, ya know, say a few words and depart the vehicle....  The fuel pump did its best to coat the entire car with fuel.  It did a damn good job.  Fuel literally dripping EVERYWHERE.  Fun.

 

Thanks to @55mini for having the factory nylon part that we were able to run the fuel line to and resolve the issue before the end of the day.  I went to a couple of parts stores to find the right thing and when I got back, Mark had provided a smorgasbord of different things to try!  I never did catch up with you after that.  Hit me up on PM please, I would like to repay the favor in some way!

 

Day 2.... MUCH better!  No changes made to the car.  It was GOOD!!! the wet weather at the beginning of the day hindered @MA506 a bit.  He had never driven the track before and only had the full wet Saturday to get his bearings.  Variable conditions is tough for your first time at a track! 

 

Once it was dry, we were able to run within a couple seconds of fast lap.  Car felt good.  @NigelStu was wheeling the crap out of the car.  He was passing everybody during the 30 minutes before the quiet hour and the 1 hour after the quiet hour.  Just straight grabbing that fresh meat and shoving it behind him.  It was fun to watch him climb from like 20th to the top ten.

 

@E. Tyler Pedersen drove next and basically maintained the position and had some discomfort with the "office" in the car - Will be corrected...

 

I went last and wasnt sure if I was going to be the hero or the goat....  I was actually talking to Ben to have him coach me using the live video if I was off pace.....  

 

I set fast lap (for our car) and just generally had a great stint.  It was really fun to just huck this beast around and trust the aero and the engine!  I am thinking there was a 1:42 in the car with more attention to alignment and tire pressure for this track specifically.  

 

We made our goal of P5 at the end of the day.

 

Big Shoutout to Kip!  He came the entire way to Barber from Indiana just to wrench on the car and hang out with us

Big Shoutout to Thomas!  Thanks for doing Tech and helping everyone on pit lane with updates and whatnot throughout the weekend.

Big Shoutout to Champcar!  There are some weird logisitics with this race and everything turned out VERY well!

 

 

I will be exploring some "alternate tires" for other races.  Our tires came off the car looking like they were literally brand new.  Like totally brand new.  (245 40 15 RS4)

 

 

Nice Win Burningham!  The food and event on Friday were awesome!  Next year (without Covid) could be even better (You MUST do it now...)

Nice Win Visceral!

 

 

 

@wvumtnbkr its always fun. Barber was a good end of year minus all that rain Saturday. 

@Bill Strong did you only see like 2 seconds of that thing out there? or miss a couple 0s after the 2 

[wvumtnbkr]

53 minutes ago, revvhappy said:

The Hong Norrth Supra had a bad day and a good day. First - Thanks to Burningham for the Friday night BBQ!!  Also thanks to the Champcar staff for a well-run event. 

 

Saturday we were running in the top 6 when an intermittent electrical problem caused us to be towed in 3 times. I apologize to everyone for taking your racing time away. Once the electrical problem went away I was turning laps in the afternoon and started feeling a "clunk" in the rear when I let off the throttle. I found a disintegrating left rear crossmember bushing and we spent an hour rebuilding it with any materials that we could find and some Window Weld and crossed our fingers that it would cure by Sunday morning.

 

The new "bushing" cured but unfortunately it wasn't the cause of the "clunk". At 7:30 we found a broken right rear hub and started a thrash to replace the control arm. We got our first driver in the car and to pit road just before they started sending cars out, and made it into the top 5 by Quiet Hour. At 1pm we got our 3rd driver in the car and 15 minutes later he radioed about a problem but then the radio died. He stayed on track and it turned out that the clutch stopped disengaging and he could only use one gear. 4th was the gear he chose which is the highest gear that we use at Barber. He was turning reasonable lap times but I guess he decided that 3rd might be better, so on a Code 35 lap he waited until just before pit-in to try changing to 3rd gear. From that point on he drove the rest the stint in 3rd gear only, turning laps between 1:43 and 1:47 depending on traffic. 

 

When it was time for a driver change we put the car in 3rd gear before starting it and sent him off down pit lane. The clutch must have worked enough for him to stop at pit-out for the timer. After that the final 1:45 was 3rd gear only, and Nabil set the car FTD 5 laps from the end (1:42.7).

 

Video of the final 50 minutes to the checkers:

 

 

I loved seeing that thing turn amazing laptimes!  Good work on getting it sorted!

[jpm71]

SUBLIMINAL RACING CLOSE CALL

 

This one could have been ugly.  Glad it turned out the way it did.  Coming out of first S turn, had a car closing with a run - the headlights made it easy to see in the mirror.  I glanced ahead to no traffic and started watching mirrors and giving a point by to make it known I wouldn't challenge at entry to next S.  This resulted in realizing way too late there was a stopped car on track.  Knowing I just had a car pull up on my left, my only out, if any, was to the right in the grass.  Locked up the fronts, let off just in time so it would turn and miss the parked car, turned back left and started sliding to an imminent contact with the guard rail.  Somehow missed it and came out the other side.

 

There was no yellow at the last flag station prior.  I believe HoChunk was full tilt racing and so was I short of the lift to make sure I could turn in behind them and not beside (video shows car top out at 97 mph, I've seen it as high as 109 in this brake zone).  Really can't say if I saw the car on an early glance and assumed it would be gone, or simply didn't see it until it was an emergency.

 

The Champcar live feed picks up on this car as it is slowing to a stop, so we can see how many seconds pass by before I get there.  When Tiffany A. mentions tire smoke, that is me going by, followed by dust and grass floating through the camera view.  You can then notice next wide camera view shows new skid marks behind the stopped car, and some tire marks through the grass.  This video starts at 5:32:50 in the Champcar feed.

 

Our live stream is poor video, but is a little wider view and shows my point by efforts - go to 5:51:45.

 

Blue Shells driver, were you watching your mirrors?  Curious what you saw/thought...

 

Barber close call - YouTube

 

TireRack.com ChampCar Endurance Series® Alabama Grand Prix 2020 Day2 - YouTube

 

Subliminal Racing Barber Champcar 12-13-20 - YouTube

[55mini]

29 minutes ago, jpm71 said:

SUBLIMINAL RACING CLOSE CALL

 

This one could have been ugly.  Glad it turned out the way it did.  Coming out of first S turn, had a car closing with a run - the headlights made it easy to see in the mirror.  I glanced ahead to no traffic and started watching mirrors and giving a point by to make it known I wouldn't challenge at entry to next S.  This resulted in realizing way too late there was a stopped car on track.  Knowing I just had a car pull up on my left, my only out, if any, was to the right in the grass.  Locked up the fronts, let off just in time so it would turn and miss the parked car, turned back left and started sliding to an imminent contact with the guard rail.  Somehow missed it and came out the other side.

 

There was no yellow at the last flag station prior.  I believe HoChunk was full tilt racing and so was I short of the lift to make sure I could turn in behind them and not beside (video shows car top out at 97 mph, I've seen it as high as 109 in this brake zone).  Really can't say if I saw the car on an early glance and assumed it would be gone, or simply didn't see it until it was an emergency.

 

The Champcar live feed picks up on this car as it is slowing to a stop, so we can see how many seconds pass by before I get there.  When Tiffany A. mentions tire smoke, that is me going by, followed by dust and grass floating through the camera view.  You can then notice next wide camera view shows new skid marks behind the stopped car, and some tire marks through the grass.  This video starts at 5:32:50 in the Champcar feed.

 

Our live stream is poor video, but is a little wider view and shows my point by efforts - go to 5:51:45.

 

Blue Shells driver, were you watching your mirrors?  Curious what you saw/thought...

 

Barber close call - YouTube

 

TireRack.com ChampCar Endurance Series® Alabama Grand Prix 2020 Day2 - YouTube

 

Subliminal Racing Barber Champcar 12-13-20 - YouTube

My son Patrick was in the MiElan that you had just passed and we had a long talk about this "close call"

He was glad you came out OK and shocked the flag station only showed the pink 35, I am sending a long email to the BOD and All others with my thoughts and concerns on the issues we saw over the weekend......this could have ended very bad!