Pocono North PCA Club Race

NNJR PCA

June 3-4 2000

So, suitably armed with a well worn set of Kumho V700’s on Turbo Cup Phone dials, Hoosier R3S03 road race tires on BBS wheels, and a set of Bridgestone RE71 rain tires on stock turbo S wheels, I headed out for Pocono on Friday night. The trip out was interesting. Read about it here.

Saturday morning. Check in, unload car, check tires, put driving gear in car, check schedule. I’m in race group 3, made up of stock cars in class E and F. Good, I know most of the guys, include fellow Rennlister’s Mike Piera and Tony Nuzzo.

 

I head onto the track for the first practice session. The car feels great, the weather is wonderful, and I’m putting my RV troubles behind me. Drive easy, re-aquant myself with the track. Pass some people, no problems. The session ends and I head into the paddock. Lap times were in the 1:02 range, best was 1:02.393. That put me in 11^th place out of 22, and 6^th in class. So far so good.

Next practice session, no real changes, I remember the track a little better, and use more throttle and more brakes. Lap times drop to 1:01.61. Excellent. Last year I qualified at 1:01.8, so on old tires, with only 40 minutes of driving, I’m faster than last year. The suspension is working great, the car feels very good, practically no lean at all. It understeers a little in the fast corners, like turn 1 and turn 4, and oversteers a little coming out of the slower corners. I’m very happy.

I skipped the third run to head back to the RV to see if I could fix it (I couldn’t) and to pick up more gear, including my race tires. That was a mistake, as the times from the third session were used to grid you for the practice starts and the fun race. That meant I started dead last, 25^th. It did make for exciting video, as I passed a lot of people in each of the practice starts. I was picking up 3-4 spots with each of the starts. The fun race was good too. I passed a few people, then working into open track and I was unable to make up ground on the group of cars in front of me. I wasn’t worried, because I expected that the race tires would make a big difference. So Saturday ended with me and my family (my wife and kids came out in the afternoon) staying at the Mt. Pocono roach motel.

Sunday, race day. Another beautiful day, very un-pocono like for me (usually it rains when I’m there). The Hoosier tires were on, and I was psyched for the practice session. Again, I was gridded at the back of the pack, because the 3^rd session, the one I missed, was used to grid you for that session. Memo to myself, don’t miss the 3^rd practice!

First time on the Hoosiers, and I wanted to be careful about them. Drive easy, then harder, then harder. WOW, is all I can say. Those tires are very impressive. Much more grip everywhere. I could brake later, and accelerate earlier. My lap times dropped to the low 1:01 range. I’m very happy. Next up is qualifying.

I was gridded towards the front for qualifying, right ahead of Harry Kintzi and Eric Ravid, both in 944 turbos. One disadvantage of spending all that time at the back of the pack, is that I hadn’t driven against Eric or Harry since last year. Anyway, once qualifying started, they both passed me. When I was ready to pick up the pace, they were in my way, and I couldn’t get by. OK, time to think. I need to get some clear track space. I know the solution, back off, let them get ahead, then turn some quick, smooth laps. I slowed down until I saw a car approaching me, then I pushed it. It worked, and even though I never passed those guys, I turned a 1:00.438, good enough for 6^th overall, and 4^th in class. I would start the race on the outside of row three, right next to Ron Savenor in his E class 87 Carrera. Directly in front of me was Greg Merril (78 911, F class), right behind were Tim Rosengrant (90 911, E class) and Mark Forrester (82 911, F class).

Here's a shot from qualifying, credit Vince Ponzo. Note that the race wheels are on.

Race time, time to work. The race was going to be 25 laps. My strategy was simple, drive every lap as hard as I could. I didn’t think I would be able to pass any of the guys in front of me –they are very fast, and I’m not there – yet! I figured that most likely I would get passed by the two guys behind me, they’ve been faster than me before. However, I wasn’t going to give anything to anyone. If they were going to pass me, they’d have to earn it!

Out on the track, follow the pace car around, warm the tires and brakes. We're back onto the front straight, in second gear, approaching the starter. Look for the green, right foot just about trembling as I wait for the green flag. There it is, green flag! Go go go! It sounds like the world is going to explode as 25 race engines, most of them unmuffled, go to full throttle. I get a great start, and the extra power of the turbo S motor gives me an advantage. Greg Merril, in front of me, pulls down low to block Ron from passing on the inside. I go left, to the high side. His SC doesn’t have the muscle of a turbo S, and I pass him as we approach T1. You can’t win a race in T1, but you certainly can lose it. I know that Greg is aggressive, and I see that he stays to my right as we approach T1. He’s not going to let me get to the apex. Fine, I’ll let him have the corner, plenty of time to race. T1 is bedlam, cars are going everywhich way looking for an advantage. I just want to stay out of trouble for the first lap. So Gregg leads me to T2. Next corner and Ron S gets by me. No problem, I’m just becoming comfortable. We get onto the front straight, and Ronny is after Greg. I let them fight, then I move low. Sorry Ronny, you don’t have the HP to run with a turbo S. I pass him and head to T1. I tap the brakes, move low to protect my line, and make the turn. I give a short burst of full throttle at the track out, then I have to brake hard for T2. I check my mirrors, and there’s Ron, staying on my left, trying to out brake me, and screwing up my line though T2.

While the 944 turbos have a HP advantage over the other E (and F) class 911’s, the 911’s are significantly lighter, and that’s a very big advantage under braking. Since most people are running the same size wheels and tires, the lighter cars have the advantage under braking. Back on the track, I’m trying to keep Ron behind me until we get on the straight and I can use my power to gain some space. I throw a lousy downshift to 3^rd, and prepare to turn right for T2. The car gets a little loose, and starts to rotate to the left. Oh no! I don’t want to get out of the throttle, because the guys behind will catch me. I think I can save it. Back on the power, quick hands to correct the slide. The car is drifting, drifting, drifting to the left. I’m now on the marbles (and still on the power) and I suddenly realize that I’m not going to save it, I’m going off track!

Here's a shot from Mark Forrestor's in car camera.
That's me in the dirt (notice the power's still on, and the front wheels are aimed to the left as I try to catch the slide) and Ron S about to pass me.

The car drifts over the Dragons teeth, and I exit the track drivers left, pointed mostly straight ahead, actually in a slight power slide. DAMN DAMN DAMN DAMN. I stay on the power the entire time, and it’s like driving in snow. When I eventually regain control, I ease the wheel back to the right and charge back onto the track. Five guys passed me when I went off, and another one got by me in the next turn (I slowed down a little to clear the tires, and my head). Oh no, the last person to get by me was Eric Ravid. Eric is a good driver, a little slower than me (he qualified at 1:01.4) but very difficult to pass. I better get by him quickly if I want to have any chance of making up my positions. We get onto the front straight and Eric pulls away. He’s gaining on the guys in front of me, and I desperately want them to fight it out, so I can catch them. We go into T1, and I scream right up behind Eric. We get onto the short straight approaching T3, and I pull to the inside to pass Eric. I can’t pull alongside, and he closes the door at the apex. Same thing happens when we get onto the front straight. He pulls away, and I can’t pass. I make up the distance in T1 and T2, but I can’t get a good enough exit on T2 to pass. Time to think. OK, the only way to pass will be to get a great run out of T2 and to stick my car down on the inside of T3. However, we’re now approaching the trail end of the cars, and Eric does a better job of dealing with lapped cars. He always get past them at a better place, and I’m losing time and laps. Damn, why was I so aggressive at the start?
 

I lose a lot of ground to Eric, but now I have clear track. I drive some smooth fast laps (turning a best time of 1:00.353, faster than my qualifying time) and catch back up. Now it’s time to exercise the plan. I concentrate on not gaining on Eric too much into T2, so that I can go full throttle earlier. I go through T1, find my braking mark, make a nice smooth downshift, ease the steering wheel in, find my mark and go to full throttle. Let the car drift out to the left edge, and I’ve made an excellent corner. I am now rapidly gaining on Eric, and I know I can out brake him in T3. He leaves me racing room, and we go through the corner side by side. We go though the next corner side by side also, but that gives him a better line though the next corner. Again he leads me onto the front straight. However, this time I’m able to catch and pass him on the straight, he must have blown a shift or something. I lead into T1, and I know I’m clear.
 

The cars that passed me on lap two are far ahead, no chance of catching them. However, I see another E class 944 turbo ahead. Do I have enough time to catch him? It’s Derek Tietjen, a rookie in a turbo S. I remember him from qualifying, a good driver, but I think I can pass him if I can catch him. I’m making up ground for a lap or two, but I’m too far back to really mount an attack. We come through T1, and the yellow is out, a car has spun in T2, but pulls back on in front of Derek. If that car can hold up Derek, I think I can catch and pass him. We head onto the front straight, and it’s the white 911 that spun, then Derek, then me. The 911 makes good power, and Derek can’t pass. I catch right up to them in T1 and even closer in T2. Not close enough to try and pass in T3, but that’s ok. I’ll get them both next lap on the entrance to T1. I’ve got it all worked out. Draft them around the front straight, then pull off the slingshot on the approach to T1, and do a combo slingshot / late brake pass. It will be great, and will give me one position in the standings. As I’m working it all out in my mind, I see the cars on the front straight are going slow. Then I see that the checker is out. One lap short!
 

I ended up in 10^th place out of 25 cars, and 6^th in class of 15. It was a lot of fun. I’m a little disappointed  because I threw away a few positions, and never got to challenge. However, the car is good, I’m good, and the racing was great. I have to say that event was about the cleanest club race I’ve ever seen. I don’t think there was a single incident. Not one retirement in my group, all cars that started the event finished the race. Everyone behaved well, the racing was close and clean, and all drivers gave racing room. Very impressive.

That’s the end of my story. If anyone is still interested, here are some random notes:

I weighed my car after qualifying. With ¼ tank of fuel, it weighed 3002. The minimum weight for my car is 2998, so I was 4 lbs over! That’s too close for comfort, so for the 25 lap (~37 miles) race, I added 6 gallons of fuel. At the end of the race, I had just a touch more than ¼ tank, so I was comfortable. As it was, I wasn’t called to scrutineering, so it’s a moot point, but my car would have made weight.

At the end of the qualifying session, I pulled into the pit road hot, and got tire temps and pressures take. Here are the numbers:

       LF                    RF
188 182 185    182 175 163
       49psi                50 psi

       LR                    RR
187 194 191   158 163 149
       48 psi              47.5 psi

The temps are good, but the pressures were too high. I left the LF alone, but lowered the others by 1 psi each.

After the race, I went over the award ceremony. After munching on cheese and crackers, and drinking a nice cold beer, I saw Derek Tietjen. I told him (kidding if course) that if I had one more lap I would have passed him. He said that I would have passed him if I had one more turn! He’s a nice kid and is going to be a fast driver. At the award dinner I received a very nice picture of my car (the one you see above) and I won a bottle of champagne too! Thanks to the NNJR region for putting on the event, and extra special thanks to Bob Van Orden for being the event chairman.

Finally, I got some excellent video during the practice starts and the race. The best of those scenes will make it onto the movie I’m making. You can read about that here.

Next event: A 2 day driver ed event at Summit Point, WV. This is another joint Metro NY PCA – Rennlist event. Not too many cars signed up, so it should be good for lots of track time, and will be excellent practice for the October club race.