The first race weekend for IIRA is in the books. You could say that Subaru and MNSOC made a good showing would be accurate. First off, the Ziptie team finished every race. That is a BIG accomplishment for the first race for the car. All three drivers (Dan, Dave and Carl) found snow banks at least once. The reports were that Dave came the closest to rolling the car by getting up on the bicycle by pounding the bank entering the pit straight. Also, Carl found out if you go snow bank humping with the throttle wide open, you pack the air box full of snow and send the MAF into fits. After the learning curve leveled a bit, the Ziptie boys settled in and ran a good pace for the rest of the races. The did learn that they will need something that can deliver more fuel faster during the pit stop to change drivers in the enduro. The Mayhem Racing/Flatline Performance car of Brent Calson and Kevin Beck had a good weekend with a second in GTX and third OA in the endurance race. They battled with the number 21 AWD Passat for the entire 2+ hours of the endurance event. The cars were never more than 100 feet apart and usually less than a car length. The Passat had the legs on the straight but the Subaru boys made it up in the twisties. By the time Brent came in to hand off to Kevin, all four corners has new, minor damage. Kevin left the pits only to come onto the track right with the 21 car again. The battle resumed and for another 20 minutes the war raged on. Then, Kevin made a mistake and got into the bank and lost about 25 seconds. He was lucky to get it out of the bank at all but he continued on. I was talking to Kevin on the radio when out of nowhere, the Passat slowed. I told him to pick it up and get to the Passat before the problem cleared. Turns out, the Passat had also hit a bank but he earned a flat tire. Kevin caught the Passat and put a lap on them while they changed the flat in the pits. Next time by, Kevin got a furled black flag leaving us all wondering what Kevin had done wrong. Turns out, the chief steward witnessed him attempt a pass on a lap car that ended up with body contact that the steward felt was "overly optimistic" and ill advised. Kevin knows better now to make his passes of lap cars more cleanly. We were all glad that it wasn't anything that happened in the battle with the Passat. On to the Mayhem Racing lead car. The ice dust was very bad for the sprint races on Saturday and Dave Steen begged off the first two races and asked me to drive. Starting from the pole gave me a HUGE advantage and I was able to turn that into convincing wins in both races. Dave drove the third sprint race and missed a shift on the start and gave up the lead. After trying hard all race he was unable to recover from the mistake at the start and finished third OA in his race. That left Jay in the second row for the last sprint race. Jay got to second on the start but the ice dust made passing the leader difficult. He had his chances to pass but made mistakes that kept him in second. He also had a little metal to metal conversation with Dave driving the Ziptie car. Welcome to ice racing Dave! The Endurance race was a little more exciting for the Little Red Raisin. I started the race from the pole and slowly built a half lap lead on second place. About halfway through my stint, the second place car broke and dropped out. The new second place car was a little farther back and I had just caught them when the pitted for their driver change. We put a lap on them during the change. I was about ready to come in when we had what amounted to a full course yellow and of course, I was behind a car that was going too slow and the second place car got most of their lap back. I came in and handed the car off to Jay. We had maybe the best driver change we have ever done. Quick and efficient with no wasted time. Jay got out right in front of the second place car. By our figuring, we were now on the same lap and this was now a race for the OA win. Jay had to deal with a couple charges from second place but held on for the win. In-car video can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/user/29mustang . I will be posting more today. Thanks to everyone that helped all three cars. The next race is next weekend in Garrison MN. Come out and cheer on your fellow MNSOC enthusiasts.
It was a great time....but no, I didn't come close to rolling it, just put two tires wayyyy up on the bank. I was merely trying to widen the corner exit section. :laugh: Seriously though, I've never had that much fun behind the wheel of a car. Pitching it sideways 30-40 feet before a corner AND at speed is incredible....add the wheel to wheel aspect of the racing and it's an rush I've never felt before. During my first race saturday that VW Fox was a pain in the ass. I stayed on him for at least 8 or 9 laps before he finally made a mistake and I was able to squeeze by. Fighting with cars within a few feet, especially around corners sideways is a ton of fun!!!!!! The ice dust is pretty freaky though, especially on the straight section when were hitting some incredible speeds and you know you're less than a few feet away from another car...yet you can't see them because of all the spray flying in the air. :eek3: I cannot wait until next weekend at Garrison!!!:banana:
This was a very good time and the amount of seat-time per dollar cannot be beat! wheel-to-wheel driving is very intense and going through traffic adds so many other aspects to consider other than your own driving - it gets challenging quick! I learned my lesson on snowbank + already torn fender liner + MAF + hot engine bay = no power. We need to pick up some spare airfilters and keep her out of the snow. I was worried when Dan got in the bank toward the end of the enduro that the problem would repeat but it seemed ok although he reported it never got back to full power. Dan built a very good car for this - nice job Dan and thanks for letting Dave and I drive! See everyone next weekend!
Congrats to everyone. I really like the YouTube video in-car video. It makes me excited for this weekend.
I'm pretty sure that means a standalone when it comes to a 91 legacy. and this is being done on a shoestring budget.
You should have seen it from outside the car. The passenger side tires were not on the bank, they were in the air.:eek4: I think all of the ZTR team had a blast this weekend. Thanks Dave and Carl for all your hard work. Thanks to the Mayhem crew as well. We wouldn't be out racing if we didn't have your support. Oh and for those wondering THIS is the ZTR ice race car.
Congrats everyone. That looks like an absolute blast... I'm a little jealous, I'd love to do door to door ice racing.
go for it joel! it's pretty damn cheap (aside from the trailer and tow rig). 1 day of IIRA split between dave, dan and myself was $50/person and we got as much seat time as several seasons of rallyx lol. I know there are events Dave and I can't make because of Rally America - Dan may need fill in driver's for those races.
Yeah, it looks like a ton of seat time. I should at least get out and watch an event. Is this the schedule? http://iira-icerace.org/calendar-of-events
yes that's it! the lindstrom event will be sparce. Dave and I are at sno*drift and the mayhem team is in vegas for the scca convention
Actually, Kevin, Dave and Jay will be there representing Mayhem Racing but the Red Raisin will only run on Saturday. Also, the last three batches of incar are uploading as we speak. Check them out on You Tube. Sorry about no sound. Here's an example; [YOUTUBE]<object width="853" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oznIHIMz910&hl=en_US&fs=1&hd=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oznIHIMz910&hl=en_US&fs=1&hd=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="853" height="505"></embed></object>[/YOUTUBE]
