Hallett Race Review & Thank You

[Guest The Stig]

So I'm sure a lot of "noobs" post up asking for advice on where/how to start, a few may even post up looking for drives, even fewer probably actually come out to race...

Well I'm proud to say this past weekend, with the help, advice, poking, sarcasm, etc I was able to buy the right gear, and pair up with a neat team and actually complete my "first" race weekend!

I raced with the #28 K H Motorsports (66' Mustang). On Saturday I drove as driver 1 and had butterflies in my stomach exiting the pit lane CCW - with the objective being to bring the car back safely and in one peice I tried my best to stay out of everyone's (cough cough 4 BMWs and 1 RX7)'s way and managed to turn in a best laptime of 1:37-8, excitedly getting out of the car to hand it over to driver 2.... to only to be saddened to learn from driver 3 that we had a mechanical issue later on in the race... we had a DNF.

It turned out to be two broken valve springs - the team owner/captain/fast driver (Ronnie) spent most of the next few hours putting it back together. Huge thanks to Looney Tunes (Richard?) for lending us the valve spring compressor and Metro Sexual for the sand paper! Both had no hesitation in offering the parts or hand to help a complete stranger out (I was asking for parts). Says a lot about the teams that partake in ChumpCar!

Sunday's race I was to go as driver 4, Ronnie went first and got us a great start from 14th spot to get us up to 10th but then came the mechanical issues again - this time a very simple fix, but we ended up sending driver 2 next anyways. This unexpected pit stop put us quite a few positions back and we slowly started working our way back up - by the time my turn came our drivers 2 and 3 had done a great job from getting us from 31-32nd to 22-23rd position. I went in with much more confidence (compared to Saturday) knowing the car better and having raced motorcycles CW! Had constant communicaton with the crew chief as I worked my way up to 15th spot - I was able to run a 1:40 I believe while it was drizzling, it seemed the back part of the track was fairly wet compared to the home straight - I enjoy such conditions and felt like I was passing cars every other corner. The more it poured, the longer it took the BMWs to make passes...I believe twice they made the pass on the brakes only to have the front wheels (turned) and in full lock as they ran wide, I gringly passed again - only to have them pass a few turns later. I don't think I was being difficult, but just enjoying watching them struggle a little... hehe.

For the most part everyone in the race kept it clean, gave distance (or racing room as you guys call it), and I sure had a neat time with the car, the team, the organizers and the competition! I'd like to thank Ronnie and Alan (K H MotorSports) for trusting/letting me rent their car, I'd like to thank Jason (crew chief) for giving me data while I was on the track, and I'd like to thank my co-drivers Ronnie, Jerry and Jerry's Brother for their words of confidence, tips and putting up with my noobness!

Here's a few things I took away from my first race (that's not obviously stated above):

- BMWs are fast. A "below" average driver in a BMW > A "above" average driver in 75% of the cars out there!

- Miatas surprisingly, were slow. I expected them to be a lot quicker. Could be drivers, but I doubt if they even made it to top 5 in either of the races.

- An "American V8" in CCWS is the way to go "if" your car weighs NORTH of 2000lbs (hehe). Look at the laptimes of Sunday's winner (RX7 with Ford 302), if your going to argue and say it's endurance racing and laptimes don't mean anything if you don't finish - then please look at the laptimes of SHOtime (Ford Taurus? with Ford V8?).

- You chumps (at least in SOUTH) are way to clean in racing. Holes going into braking corners were often left too wide, I barely saw any blocks or "real racing" as they say... I'm not saying this in a BAD way... or GOOD way... just an observation. Take it with a "jar" of salt.

- The BMWs really need to be in their own class. I "feel" if this is NOT done, than "slowly" people will start jumping on the bandwagon of.... the BMWs. This may or may NOT be good for the series - but hey again, what do I know? , it was my first weekend.

- The teams/competitors I dealt with were all SUPER nice! I'm not just saying it, I really do mean it. People were willing to lend tools, advice, etc.

- It may not seem like it from the forums, but BMW drivers - once they are out of their cars are "just as nice" as everyone else. Don't hate on them (hehe), either beat them with big V8s in light weight cars (like Sunday's RX7 winner) OR join them... (this may be the easier way out).

- The CCWS crew was laid back, easy to approach and rather nice compared to some other race officials I've dealt with (in other organizations).

- Double lane starts are a heck lot more entertaining than "random flag drop starts".

- An endurance race "will not" and "can not" be won in T1 on L1 ... reliability, fast car, reliability, fast drivers, reliability, quick pit stops, reliability, consistent drivers, reliability is the "forumla" to winning ... Oh did I mention reliability?

Okay - I know it's long, but figured I'd post a race review for "my" first race...

[Tubby]

Thanks for sharing! The KH folks are a great group and I enjoyed meeting and racing with them at HPT.

Sounds like its time to build a car and start a team! Glad to hear you had a good experience.

[skierman64]

- You chumps (at least in SOUTH) are way to clean in racing. Holes going into braking corners were often left too wide, I barely saw any blocks or "real racing" as they say... I'm not saying this in a BAD way... or GOOD way... just an observation. Take it with a "jar" of salt.

Part of the reason is because the passing rules in Chump give the line to the slower car until the faster car is all the way around and back on line. (there is no a pillar or front fender rule in chump) Dive bombing apexes is frowned upon, this is endurance racing.

Welcome to Chump.

[cleave]

- Miatas surprisingly, were slow. I expected them to be a lot quicker. Could be drivers, but I doubt if they even made it to top 5 in either of the races.

Must have been drivers/car prep. I think the track suited our Miata better on Sunday. We had the 11th fastest lap Sunday and the 22nd fastest lap Saturday. While I consider myself a quick clean driver, really good drivers are often 2-3 seconds a lap quicker than me, so our Miata likely had a 1:34 lap time in it on Sunday, which would have put it near the top 5 as far as lap times go. We did finish 6th on Sunday, technically a top-5 if you take EC into the equation. The fastest Miata teams didn't make this race. In the right hands they are very capable of winning a race.

- You chumps (at least in SOUTH) are way to clean in racing. Holes going into braking corners were often left too wide, I barely saw any blocks or "real racing" as they say... I'm not saying this in a BAD way... or GOOD way... just an observation. Take it with a "jar" of salt.

I did notice a bit of that as well. I saw people giving 2-3 car widths when passing, which makes it that much more difficult to pass cleanly since you are taking your own line away by doing that. Part of it is just experience. As long as someone gives me my car width's worth of room, I'm a happy camper.

As far as blocking goes, it's pretty frowned upon. There's no need for it in endurance racing. I'm not saying it's necessary to move over out of the way and lift off to let another car pass, but trying to keep a faster car behind you is pointless. I will make my car a bit wider when I am caught in traffic and a slower car (in lap time, that I have already caught and passed) with more horsepower is trying to pass me on a straightaway. Other than that I'm happy to leave room for a faster car to get around.

[Craig]

- Miatas surprisingly, were slow. I expected them to be a lot quicker. Could be drivers, but I doubt if they even made it to top 5 in either of the races.

The usual podium Miatas from Texas don't appear to have made it up. I note that Miagra (who have won on laps in LeMons) turned a 1:34 fast lap on Saturday, which is competitive with the podium cars.

SHOtime (Ford Taurus? with Ford V8?).

SHOtime runs the V6 SHO with the Yamaha 3.0L or 3.2L engine. It's a sweet engine that seems to be quite temperamental when you try to push it.

As far as blocking goes, it's pretty frowned upon.

It's more than frowned upon, outright blocking is against the rules and will draw a black flag.

[kent merkle]

Thank you for the report Stig, And It sounds like you have been chumpified!

You got 1 thing ab so lutely right... relability. And you picked a great team to start with Ronnie and Allen are top notch!

Sounds to me like we will see you again

[Rumrunner]

LOL..."Miatas are slow"...LOL

TWS last year had Miatas on the Podium 1,2,3...

[Guest Wildstar]

Yep. SHOTime is a 1992 Ford Taurus SHO with a 3.0 litre DOHC V-6. If you keep oil in them, they work pretty well. We won't go into why our team knows that... Of course, many other parts on that car were not designed to do anything like we are doing with them. Front strut rod bushings and wheel bearings come to mind...

[cleave]

It's more than frowned upon, outright blocking is against the rules and will draw a black flag.

Yes, but beyond the rules, blocking will also earn you a reputation in the paddock which might be worse than the black flag. That's what I was getting at.

[Jason B]

Great race report, thanks for posting.

[mender]

There's a huge difference between racing someone hard and blocking. If the only way to stay ahead of someone is to get in their way, you're not racing anymore, you're blocking. Don't do it!

Instead, tuck in behind and follow them for awhile, they might show you what you need to know in order to pick up enough speed to pass and run away from them!

[Guest The Stig]

Thank you for the report Stig, And It sounds like you have been chumpified!

You got 1 thing ab so lutely right... relability. And you picked a great team to start with Ronnie and Allen are top notch!

Sounds to me like we will see you again

Yep!

Currently looking for rides for HPT, Spokane, TWS and TMS (most likely with K H Motorsports).

[Guest The Stig]

LOL..."Miatas are slow"...LOL

TWS last year had Miatas on the Podium 1,2,3...

That was TWS. This post is about Hallett. Miatas were'nt near TOP 3 either day for Hallett.

[robertm]

It always amuses me when people blindly assume it’s the car alone that makes for the winning team. BMWs are no better than a lot of other makes racing this series. The difference between the BMWs in this race and a lot of the other teams comes down to two factors. First is car prep. The BMWS that ended up on top were extremely well prepped cars. They had zero mechanical issues and the teams ran start to finish without losing any time.

The second big factor to the BMW teams that did well this weekend is the drivers. Most of the BMW drivers are highly experienced racers with many years of racing under their belts. This factor alone gives the respective teams a big advantage. An experienced racer gets consistently fast laps out of a car while conserving consumables. He can negotiate traffic and avoid slow downs. He NEVER gets black flagged. He never goes 4 wheels off. He uses strategy to keep distance between him and his closest rival. He is always aware of his surroundings and the next person in position he needs to overtake. He doesn’t lose his cool when things go wrong and he immediately takes full advantage when opportunities present themselves.

I don’t think a lot of people realize just how much goes into making a winning team. Our team was two full seasons before we won a race – in a BMW. It didn’t happen because we are driving a BMW, it happened because we kept fixing and refining the car until it could make it start to finish without a hiccup. We’ve gained a massive amount of strategy and lessons learned in the three years we’ve been running Chump. We also bring with us a combined 30+ years of racing experience to every event.

Obviously you need to start with a chassis that theoretically has the chance to win a race. There are models out there that simply will not win a race regardless of who’s driving. The list of potential race winning vehicles is longer than people realize though.

A BMW alone does not win races. A team with great drivers and excellent car prep wins races!

[cleave]

A BMW alone does not win races. A team with great drivers and excellent car prep wins races!

Yup. Bad drivers with poor pit strategy who don't have time to prep their cars will always finish middle to the back.

BTW, The Stig, glad you made it through your first race. Hope you make it to many more. I highly recommend Team Carbon and their (not) slow Miata.

[samluke]

robertm

What a great summation. I couldn't agree more.

It always amuses me when people blindly assume it’s the car alone that makes for the winning team. BMWs are no better than a lot of other makes racing this series. The difference between the BMWs in this race and a lot of the other teams comes down to two factors. First is car prep. The BMWS that ended up on top were extremely well prepped cars. They had zero mechanical issues and the teams ran start to finish without losing any time.

The second big factor to the BMW teams that did well this weekend is the drivers. Most of the BMW drivers are highly experienced racers with many years of racing under their belts. This factor alone gives the respective teams a big advantage. An experienced racer gets consistently fast laps out of a car while conserving consumables. He can negotiate traffic and avoid slow downs. He NEVER gets black flagged. He never goes 4 wheels off. He uses strategy to keep distance between him and his closest rival. He is always aware of his surroundings and the next person in position he needs to overtake. He doesn’t lose his cool when things go wrong and he immediately takes full advantage when opportunities present themselves.

I don’t think a lot of people realize just how much goes into making a winning team. Our team was two full seasons before we won a race – in a BMW. It didn’t happen because we are driving a BMW, it happened because we kept fixing and refining the car until it could make it start to finish without a hiccup. We’ve gained a massive amount of strategy and lessons learned in the three years we’ve been running Chump. We also bring with us a combined 30+ years of racing experience to every event.

Obviously you need to start with a chassis that theoretically has the chance to win a race. There are models out there that simply will not win a race regardless of who’s driving. The list of potential race winning vehicles is longer than people realize though.

A BMW alone does not win races. A team with great drivers and excellent car prep wins races!

[Craig]

That was TWS. This post is about Hallett. Miatas were'nt near TOP 3 either day for Hallett.

Per above, none of the Miatas that swept the podium at TWS were at Hallett. Judging by Miagra's fast lap, it's at least conceivable that one of the TX Miatas would have landed on the podium had they been at Hallett. I'd consider the results of this race inconclusive on the Miata vs. BMW question.

[strebor]

A BMW alone does not win races. A team with great drivers and excellent car prep wins races!

Excellent post! The same words can be said of certain low HP cars that get an injection of power to make them competitive. Just bolting in more power or more handling or more brakes does not make you a winner (it does help). You still have to drive the thing for 7+ hours better than everyone else on the track at the same time.