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2005 Revew |
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Year End Woes - CCR #9 |
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I didn't dri=
ve
well, and I "missed" the setup with my suspension - totally. I =
was embarrised, as I had a co-driver for this event who
deserved a better car. Nontheless, I was hono=
red to
have SCCA STXL National Runner-Up, With that be=
ing
said, Pat Smith had another great event today and won ASP going away. Gre=
at
events are becoming common place for the South Carolina Corvette Z06 driv=
er. Joe Elliot p=
laced
second in his Porsche 911, while Charles Bifano
drove to an incredible 3rd place fininsh on <=
/span> Charles is <=
span
class=3DSpellE>comming on strong at the end of the year, and next =
year
should be quite interesting for ASP. In other BMW
notes: Chuck Palmer=
did
not compete in this event, but has sown up the CCR/SCCA B Stock champions=
hip
with his M Coupe. I will have more on the 2005 season in my year-end upda=
te
which sould be up in the next few weeks. More later-Thank you. |
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Thomas Wolfe Drove a Z3? - SCAC #9 |
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Autocrossing=
is a
strange sport. On one hand, it stirs the emotions while bringing exciteme=
nt,
but on the other hand it must be performed in a cold and concentrated man=
ner.
In other wor=
ds,
when you push too hard, you're going to pay for it with a bad performance.
Obviously, when I take one of the Z3s back to its Today, I wen=
t back
"home" to BMW US Manufacturing for my sixth autocross there in =
the
last year, but for all of the successeses I'v=
e had
during this past year, I simply can't seem to "buy one" in Spar=
tanburg.
Saturday's <=
span
class=3DSpellE>Eurofest Charity Autocross for the Red Cross was fu=
n as I
got to thrash a Z4 through the course, but the SCAC main event on Sunday =
was
torture. I was entere=
d in
ASP with the 2.8, and was excited to be on R compound tires for the first=
time
since the addition of the Koni Coilover suspe=
nsion,
but my head was not in the game. What's really bad about it was the car d=
rove
great - I really think it's coming together, but I simply couldn't drive =
well
enough to prove it. I pushed too hard, and drove pitifully. Mike Hall, 2=
004
SCAC Champion in an RX7 beat me by a good half second on a day I thought =
my
car was working great. I simply was not up to the task of performing on t=
he
same level as my car. I will update
later when the official standings are published, but in other BMW notes
Stuart Kestenbaum won again with his 330ia, an=
d Per
Ezelius had the fastest PAX time of the day with his Mini. |
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Good day on Goodyears - CCR #8=
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The things I
learned last month in On the way h=
ome, I
had an accident in Anyway, I won
(uncontested), and am looking forward to the next 2 events - which aren't=
3
hour drives like the last 2. The logistics of getting the Hoosier tires to
the next couple of events are much more simple=
. Other BMW no=
te:
Chuck Palmer has new Kumho V710s on the M Coupe, and he blistered the B S=
tock
field. In fact, he nearly took FTD. Shane Eudy contines to "rock n roll" in BSP with his=
M3.
That is one beautiful car. Later, thanks for looking in. |
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Back to The Future - SCAC #8 |
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September 11, 2005 (Florence, SC) Upon seeing a section of=
the
uncompleted course which would later contain a series of "s"
curves, DeLorean driver Jeff Dickey commented,
"If we don't do something to slow this part of the course down, I'll
leap back to 1855!" This was a t=
est
session for me. With E Stock SCAC points sewed up, I decided to run my 2.=
8 in
ASP against Jim Orr, and the rest of the Corvette contingent. Only this t=
ime,
I was on Goodyear F1 street tires for the first time in ASP. After studyi=
ng the
results, I am pleased. I was about =
105%
of Pat's winning time, and although I have no real street tire data on the
2.8, I believe the combination of the new Koni suspension enabled me to be
faster than I would have otherwise normally been. Ty=
ically,
I have been about 4 1/2% slower on Goodyears =
that
Hoosiers with the 1.9. If that's the case, I feel the effort was successf=
ul. Other BMW no=
tes:
In the G Stock battle for Mini supremacy, Joe Olivie=
ra
edged out I look forwa=
rd to
tuning in the supension and my return to
competition tires. |
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BMW Roadster Homecoming 2005 |
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I really wan=
ted a
podium finish (top 3) in the driving event at the When the dus=
t had
settled (and I mean that literally), I had pulled it off. Third place in =
the
Saturday event, which included the darn-dest =
off
course spin I have ever had. There's still grass and dust inside my car a=
fter
that one! However, I h=
ad
already turned a 22.97 - good enough for third. One of the g=
reat
things about this year was the recent installation of a TC Kline Koni For this rea=
son, I
may compete at the CCR event #8 in |
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2005 NCAC at |
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I would have
rather competed and lost than to have won the event this way. Other BMW no=
tes:
Shane Eudy drove his beautifully prepared M3 =
to a
BSP victory. Chuck Tegeler got a podium finish by hammering out a 2nd pla=
ce finish
in SM with his gorgeous e30 M3, while daughter Catherine won SML as she
continues to learn. Catherine is getting very good quickly.
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Magic in |
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However, Kurt
decided to do other things this year, and has been competing in STU with a
Mazda RX-8. This left E Stock wide open, and ironically, left me at the t=
op
of the standings. |
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CROP CIRCLES - CCR #6 |
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A pair of
"figure eight" loops linked by a 300 foot kinked straight chute
gave competitors a taste of a national level competition course. The Rob =
Falkner designed course sqeeze=
d
about as much speed out of Knights Castle as could have been found, and w=
as quite
fun for competitors. The greatest=
chalenge - as I saw it - was keeping it "flat
out" on the straight chute without backing off for the right-hand ki=
nk,
and one of my competitors, Pat Smith, did that quite well in his Z06
Corvette. Pat drove th=
e best
event I have seen him drive yet, and left "arch nemesis" Walter
Stone and I fighting it out for 2nd place. Charles B=
ifano
was fourth, as he continues to perform well on street tires. Today's event
was tough on street tire competitors, as the heat build up with tires on =
this
hot day was tremendous. I was fortun=
ate to
finish in second place, about six tenths of a second behind Pat. Race Results I don't know =
if
there was anything I could have done to make up for the horsepower defici=
t I
was giving up to the Z06 - especially the way Pat was driving. He was sim=
ply
"on his game today." Other BMW No=
tes:
Course designer Falkner drove his Porsche 968=
to a
hard fought B Stock Victory over Michael Bright and Chuck Palmer, but I
believe Chuck has his M Coupe positioned well in the point standings. Bot=
h
Chuck and Michael are putting more and more pressure on Rob. Special
congratulations to both Nicole and Pat - more later.
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Lucky Win at Knight's Castle - CCR #5 |
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My third run=
out
of 5 today at Knights Stadium resembled more of a drifting exhibition tha=
n an
autocross run, and at first I didn't know why. All I really knew was the
traction had gone away in the rear end, and I was spinning. However, an
examination of my tire pressure on this hot day revealed the rear pressure
had increased by 11 pounds (from 38 psi to 49=
psi) after my second run due to the heat build up i=
n my
Hoosier tires. Things returned to normal after I lowered the pressure, bu=
t I
was never able to top my 31.048 fast lap on my
second run. Fortunately,=
my
competitors were also struggling in the 90 degree heat, and I was able to
barely edge out my ASP "arch nemesis" Walter Stone in his Porsc=
he
911, and Donna Littlejohn from Less than fo=
ur
tenths of a second separated Donna, Walter and I, and unlike the last eve=
nt,
there didn't seem to be a lot of position "jockeying" among us.=
Race Results The Corvetts of Charles Bifano and
Pat Smith were only about a second behind the 3 of us. It simply seemed t=
hat
no one could find the "edge" we were looking for. Other BMW no=
tes:
Chuck Palmer's winning streak came to an end as Rob =
Falkner
won B Stock with his Porsche. He, Falkner and
second place finisher Scott Grumbles were turning some incredible times.
Also, Joe Oliviera won his 3rd event in 7 day=
s with
his new Mini Cooper S. Per Olof is going to have quite a battle when he
returns. |
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Mixed Emotions - SCAC #5 |
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More good ne=
ws
came when my friend and "arch nemesis" (yes, I know those are
counter terms, but the nemesis part is just poking fun)Mark
Seilor won his first SC Autocross Championship
event - ever. I really felt good for him, and his wife Sue. Any one who =
knows
me can verify I incessently talk about how ma=
ny
good people are in the sport of autcrossing i=
n the Mark did an
outstanding job of driving, as did second place finisher John Hornsby who=
was
also driving a Miata. There were more entries in E Stock at Less than a =
second
separated the top 3 positions Race Results, and I hope w=
e will
see John H, Jeff, and Frank come out more in the future. Later, and
congratulations, Mark.
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Goodyear at Summerville - SCAC #4 |
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My first
impressions? WOW!!! After examin=
ing
the results, it appears on average I am about 3-4% faster on the Goodyears than I had been on the Kumho V712s.
Additionally, I believe the Goodyears may be =
an
excellent choice in the rain. Ironically, my usual measuring stick, Jake
Hester in his C Stock Miata, showed up on street tires as well. I was wit=
hin
a second of Jake, and I considered this to be a very successfull
event. View Results The Goodyears make me think about the possibility of ru=
nning
in STS2 (street tires) next year, as it is a pleasure to run on street ti=
res
when they are autox capable. The previous set of Kumhos had simply been
difficult to drive competitively. David Miller=
in a
Miata was second to me followed by David Gillam in a Porche
944. Gillam has b=
een a
fairly regular competitor in SCR, and was at SCAC round one in It's really =
neat
competing in SCR against David, and in CCR aga=
inst
Joe Elliot (See Below - CCR Round 2), both of whom have such well cared f=
or
classic Porsches. David has mo=
ved
into second place behind me in the SCAC points=
race,
and I hope he will come out for more events. Other BMW ho=
nors
went to Greg Lipscomb who won G Stock with his Mini Cooper, and a special
note - Jim Wilson won Novice Class in his Miata with a new set of BF Good=
rich
T/As. This time, as I had hoped for, his times were faster than mine.
Congratulations, Jim, you're progressing rapidly. |
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Corvette Attack!!! - CCR Event #4 |
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Dale Earnhardt would have been proud. In his hometown, o=
n real
estate he owned, and in a stadium of a team named after him, a black Corv=
ette
Z06 was driven hard and well. A Z06 is som=
ething
to behold with its 400 plus horsepower and sweeping lines - and when you =
see
one "get the power to the road" in the hands of a good driver, =
it's
just plain fun to watch. Fun that is =
- if
you're not the one having to try and catch it. That's what happened today=
at
Intimidators Stadium in Defending CCR
champ Walter Stone was back in his Porsche 911E, and I was expecting (or
hoping for) a competitive event, but Donna Littlejohn came from Columbia =
in
her Z06 Vette, and we all had quite a battle.=
This was Fun
Stuff! There were 5 runs in the event, and I believe the lead changed han=
ds
practically every time each one of us ran for the first 4 runs. Then on t=
he
5th run Walter faded, and I DNF'd after losing
control on a "flaming" lap. After that, Donna ripped off a 45.5
lap, and beat us like we had stolen money from her. Actually, I =
was
happy with second place. For the first time, I feel I was able to get the=
6
cylinder Z up to speed, and also for the first time, I left the event not
thinking I could have gone faster with the 1.9 Z. Walter strug=
gled
on his last 2 runs with a car which had had an engine swap on Saturday, a=
nd
shifter problems plagued him. Chuck Palmer=
won
his 4th in row in B Stock driving his M Coupe after a tough fight from a
resurgent Michael Bright, and |
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Palmetto Motorsports Festival Victory - SCAC #2 & 3 |
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Despite a la=
ck of
competition in E Stock, I proceeded as if this was a highly competitive
event. I competed in the same run group as C Stock, where a quality field=
was
on hand, led by Jake Hester from Greer, and Donna and Charles Frank from =
In the South Carolina Region/SCCA, if there is a single car in a class, i= t is combined with all other single cars from single classes, and an indexed t= ime is figured for each car based on the SCCA's PAX index system. My "PAX CLASS" included one each car from Super Stock, E Stock, E Prepared, = STU, and SM2. I was fortunate to win this group as I narrowly edged out Chuck = Pyanowski in his SM2 Nissan 350Z. jbyrdmba<= /span> |
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Bayer Aspirin and Ora-Gel - CC=
R #3 |
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After having=
For that rea=
son, I
was happy yesterday when none of my fellow competitors showed up to run in
ASP, and I will be happy on Monday afternoon to see the dentist. Anyone who k=
nows
me - knows I'm normally not happy with either of the above conditions, but
yesterday it was fine. I didn't even unload the Hoosiers from the Mercede=
s,
and I ran the event on Continental All Season Radials. Meantime, I =
will
update this newsletter post on Monday night after the "pain
deadening" wears off, and feeling has returned to my face....Maybe. =
Update:The dentist put=
in a
temporary filling, and now, I have to have a root canal done in 2 weeks. =
Which is wor=
se?
Fiats or Root Canals? |
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Be It Ever So Humble - SCAC #1 |
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This event w=
as the
third autocross held there since October, but it may have been the most
special of them all to me. For the first time ever, I finished in a trophy
position in a South Carolina Region/SCCA event, and I am starting to get =
some
of the feel back in the steering wheel that I have been searching for. Additionally=
, this
was the 1.9's first event since the SCCA re-classified it to E Stock for
2005, and former CCR C Stock Champ Ed Brackney (in a re-classified Miata)=
was
on hand to ensure this would be a competitive E Stock field. Brackney, wh=
o has
started his new E Stock career off with a "bang," continued his
winning ways by driving to his second straight victory in his first 2 eve=
nts
of 2005. I was very
fortunate to finish second as I sporadically lost power steering (during
left-hand corners) on my 3rd and 4th runs, but somehow I was able to hold=
off
my new "Arch Nemesis" Mark Seiler, as he uncharacteristically
struggled with the course in his Miata. David Gillam was 4th in a Porsche
944. (View Race Results) I am excited,
because I am starting to develop better judgement
and feel as a driver. Since the last CCR event, where every driving decis=
ion
I made was incorrect, I have spent a lot of time in self-examination of my
driving judgement and skills. I believe the p=
oor
performance at Ed Brackney =
has
told me he plans on running a limited number of SCR events this year, but=
I
am looking forward to doing battle with Mark, and the rest of the E Stock
Guys who run in SCR. |
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Worst Fear!!! - CCR #2 |
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March 6, 2005 (Fort Mill, SC) But that is =
the
nature of the sport, and even though I am experienced autocrosser, I am s=
till
somewhat of a "rookie" when you consider my 25 year absence from
competition. Adaptability and judgement are t=
hings
I must re-learn as a driver. By downsizin=
g the
wheels to minus ones, and by using a lower profile tire, I have effective=
ly
done the same thing as changing the rear end gear ratio from the stock 3.=
15
to a lower equivalent of 3.41. That means, as a driver, I "run out&q=
uot;
of 1st gear awfully fast, and the rpm band on the engine is very tight,
Today, I simply "did it" wrong, and should have used 2nd gear m=
ore
- while trusting the low-end torque curve of the BMW 2.8 engine. Two time defending CCR ASP Champ Walter Stone returned to
competition today, and as I expected at this point, he beat me. What I was
not expecting was the entry of Joseph Elliot in his "legendary"
beautifully prepared Porsche 911 which he has owned for 30 years. Short s=
tory
- he beat both of us. View Race Results Another plea=
sant
surprise was the return to ASP competition of Norman Bonnette
of Chuck Palmer=
held
up BMW honors by taking his 2nd straight B Stock victory. |
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Super Sunday Victory!!! - CCR #1 |
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Someone did
something nice for me this morning, and it turned my day around. Having
fought the flu all week, and after pulling into Knig=
nts
Castle parking lot an hour and a half behind schedule because of a debacl=
e-filled
early morning that included a traffic mishap for both the Z3 and my Merce=
des
support vehicle, it seemed like one of those days I should have stayed in
bed. But then After that,
members of my favorite car club - the Charlotte Area Roadster Zs - started
arriving to support I could have=
taken
anything that happened after that, but what happened was Magic. Fo=
r the
first time in 25 years and 5 months, I carried a first-place trophy home =
from
a CCR event, and it felt Good!!! I was very l=
ucky
to win as I narrowly beat out Aaron V Winaw a=
nd J.
Keith Walters in Porsches, and adding to that luck was the fact that defe=
nding
class champion Walter Stone was a "no-show" for this event. (View Full Event Results) <= o:p> On my final = run, which was certainly my fastest, there was a timing clock problem, and I w= as given a extra run. But when I drove up to the = line for the start, I forgot to turn off the Z3's traction control, which is an acceleration killer. Traction control is still a new concept to my 54 year old mind, but... "live and learn!" <= o:p> I owe a grea=
t deal
of gratitude to my CARZ family for their support, and of course, to my
"favorite Clemson guy," Next Event -=
March
6, CCR/SCCA #2, Knights Castle, Fort Mill, SC |
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