I finally put mine up.

Part 1 of 2, which includes the start and first two laps.

Part 2 of 2, which includes my battle with the #71 Celica...right up until I hit debris and blow my right two tires on lap 8.

If by safety you mean the 125lbs of ballast, spare tire, full door panels with power windows, cool suit and two fire systems required to make the ridiculous minimum weight, then yes, I think it could be a little quicker.

Larry, that was a very fun race. I tried everything I had to get around you. That Celica is just as fast with two tires in the dirt then with all four on the track. Pretty amazing.

So what happened to Daly in the VW? Why did he get moved back?

Uhh that is this years champ car that Larry rented. Ya know same car that was in the top 6 the past 2 years. Same car Van Cleef borrowed and quallied on the podium then broke during the race running in like 2nd place. Ya know the old model car before the GTS model was reclassified into SSC to apparently replace the "not competitive enough as classified" car that Larry drove [:P] Worth noting same 140 HP SSC car that has won the division in the SE at least 2 years, and one that the Mazda 3's couldn't hardly keep up with :) Yeah that 140 HP "best one you have ever seen" one [:O] That car was already formidible in SSC but Mark is a smart guy when the GTS was re-classed (duh) [:D]

BTW Mark drove the snot out of that GTS, maybe I am the only one that noticed but I think Mark was still turning laps on lap 11 (of 13) faster than 2nd place Joel's fastest lap of the race.

Philip,

It really was a very fun race. I was amazed that you caught me based on what I knew from qualifying, I had thought I had a great opportunity to pass Tom in the VW, especially because I raced well with him last year and finished on top. Of course, you and I slowed each other as Tom got away...but it sure it was fun! Regardless of what He Who Makes The Rules might think, it was a classic case of big HP heavy car vs low HP light car, and the end result was a pretty even race....with some good racing by both drivers.... I would guess that your car could be top 3 with a lot of time at RA, what do you think? A little different set-up for the Celica would have moved us closer to the front too, but not surprising given that it was my first race in the car.

One of my friends who saw your video thought you would have been justified in punting me, thanks for not doing that! From my own perspective, I had to keep in mind the car was a rental I never raced before, and there was a big deposit check (mine) keeping me in line! :-) Could I have driven harder? [:#] I'm sure it was frustrating trying to get by, but the different strengths of these two cars showed well in your video. When we hear the CRB plan for the future as hinted at the tent meeting, I hope the rules can get as close to parity as we have with these cars. BTW, I think the VW has plenty of speed (JCE and I differ on this one) based on watching TD's car get smaller ahead as we drove up the straights...if they ever fully solve the brake issues that car can win for sure.

Here's what I know about the impound, to answer both Jim & Philip's question, surely the top 3 can fill in more of the blanks.... it seemed to be a pretty thorough teardown, althoutgh they did not remove the heads. Tech seemed to be pretty well prepared and checked lots of stuff on the top 3...exactly what I'm not sure. On 4th-6th, they checked gas, power steering, wheels, and some other stuff I can't remember. We left when results were called 'official', and Mark was certified as the winner. I figured I was 6th and had a great time and congratulated Tom Daley on reversing our results from last year.

Next day I heard a reliable story that I had been moved up to 5th--but online the results showed me as 6th and they were labeled 'Final'. Last Monday the Club Racing staff let me know I was actually 5th, and today the results are updated on SCCA.com. The story I have heard (but no confirmation) is that wheels were an issue.... offical results are noted "Car 02 - Move to last finishing position in class per SOM - GCR 9.1.7.E.8", not sure what this part of the rulebook says.

It was a great Runoffs, looking forward to fun racing in 2011 and good plans for SSC in 2012 & beyond!

LD71 [:D]

9.1.7.E.8 is the "stock wheel rule".

The issue with the Sentra - Philip and I built it and I ran it last year so I have some idea - is the brakes. It only took two+ years of letters to get the CRB to correct the spec line for the non-Brembo car, they were crediting us with bigger brakes than we had. At 3100lbs the car just melts the brakes.

Chances are excellent that had Philip not gotten the flats, and was able to carry on, he would have had to back off or gone off. Even with his shortened race the pedal was on the floor when he pulled in. The car has always been hard on brakes, but none of the west coast tracks are that hard on brakes, so we did not know how bad it would be until he got out there.

It is doubtful that we would run the Sentra in its current configuration at RA again.

I have a photo that one of the SCCA guys at pregrid took of me, Tom Daly, and Stephen Christopher standing next to Tom's Rabbit. I then Googled the VW Rabbit, and of 3 different styles of wheels were shown on the VW Rabbits in official VW pictures.

One of those sets of wheels looked exactly like the wheels on Tom's car in the picture taken in pre-grid. How does the SCCA determine which VW wheels fit the "stock wheel rule", when the official VW site shows 3 different styles.

Bill

Larry, that was my first time at Road America, and I didn't even do a practice session, so I think I was going faster all the time. My qualifying position was also a little misleading because most of us sat on our first qualifying times, but in the second and third qualifying sessions I had the 6th fastest time...but those sessions were slower overall. Not that it would have mattered much, since I think 3 or 4 cars got past me in Turn 1 at the start.

I don't know if the Sentra has much more in it -- it's certainly not a winner at a track like Road America. As Jason noted, the brakes are to the floor right now, and that's after only 8 laps. I'm not sure if I could have kept up that pace for much longer. During the race I thought I was faster than you and the VW, so my plan was to get past you guys as fast as possible, put some gap on you, and then dial it back a little. But that didn't happen.

Winners had head removed and many more items checked. The rest had other less invasive scrutiny. If winner got bounced, more scrutiny for 2nd...

Head removal for winner was in Supps.

I believe 3 legal stock wheels are listed on Spec line:

15 x 6

16 x 6.5

17 x 7 Alum

Paul,

are you sure this was done (would it be the first time supps not followed exactly [:$] ) ?

With your connections, it would be interesting for you to let us know the extent of the teardown, I believe it was considerable, but I wonder if heads were removed from B/C winners.

LD71 [:D]