My First 944spec race with NASA in two weeks!
08-21-2012, 12:21 PM
#34
Rennlist Member
Just to close this thread out, below is the final race recap press release. Congrats again to Dan and Gary on nailing their first weekends!
[Lexington, OH -- 8/20/12] We had a record turnout for Great Lakes / Midwest 944 Spec at Mid Ohio August 11-12. Thirteen racers competed, with two new drivers receiving their competition licenses on Friday. A warm welcome to newcomers Dan Jauch, piloting the Martini #90 car, and Gary Barton, riding the red #10.
In typical Mid-Ohio fashion, the weather conditions were mixed, laying the groundwork for wild and exciting racing. Saturday saw on and off rain, but remained relatively dry and a little slick for the race. Sunday brought hot, bright and sunny skies. 944 Spec joined the P1 Cayman ITC and GTS series in a packed Storm Group, creating an amazing spectacle of 57 thundering German race cars on 2.1 miles of the finest track in North America. Well worth the price of admission.
Sprint Race #1 – Saturday, August 11
Sam Grant earned his first pole in race #1, impressively clearing the field by more than a second in the wet qualifier. He was followed on the grid by Neal Agran, Dan Pina, Dan Jauch, Sid Chhikara, and Shannon McCue in the first three rows. Agran and Pina got the jump at the flag, with Agran assuming the lead, followed by Pina and Grant. Further back, McCue leapt ahead of Chhikara to 5th and Kuhns, starting in back due to a pass under yellow in qualifying, began to climb through the 13 car field.
The order reshuffled in lap 2, when Pina spun over Madness on the still slick track, moving Grant to 2nd and Jauch to podium contention (in his first race!!). Grant subsequently ran down Agran, cleanly passing for the lead in turn 1 of lap 6. Pina, recovering from his mistake, assumed 2nd thereafter. Grant then managed a perfect spin and continue over a slick spot in turn 11 at the race midpoint, reshuffling himself to 4th behind a surging Kuhns and ahead of McCue and Jauch in a nose to tail battle. Unfortunately, Kuhns was the next victim of the unpredictable race surface, finding the gravel trap in turn 1 while following Pina and Agran nose to tail.
By the close of the race, a resurgent Grant moved to 2nd, finishing 1.2 seconds behind Pina. Agran finished 3rd, followed by McCue, Jauch, Chhikara, and a tightly packed John Armstrong, Michael Dalton, and Steve Brewster. Dalton and Brewster had the battle of the race – nose to tail throughout and separated by 0.3 seconds at the line. Gary Barton, Rick Briggs, and Kuhns rounded out the order, with Raum retiring with a holed radiator after an early surge.
Video of the opening laps from inside Agran’s #84 car can be seen here -> https://vimeo.com/47631454
Photos courtesy of Linda Kuhns -> http://sterlingdoc.smugmug.com/Cars/...4429&k=QzdnjR2
Sprint Race #2 – Sunday, August 12
Sunday race conditions were dry, clear, and fast. Agran took the pole with a lap below the longstanding track record set in 2007. Pina, Kuhns, Grant, Jauch, and Brewster followed in the first three rows. Agran and Pina stormed the first braking zone side by side, with Agran assuming the lead. Grant made it around Kuhns on the outside, seizing 3rd and subsequently challenging Pina for 2nd in the opening laps.
The race to watch was for 5th, where Jauch and McCue entered a nose to tail battle that had the crowd on its feet in Madness, trailed closely by Chhikara. McCue advanced past Chhikara to 6th in lap 2, and then moved by Jauch in lap 6. Jauch pursued for 20 minutes, when in his words: “white flag waving, I decided this was my last chance. At turn 2 I stuck right to his bumper until turn in and dropped inside; then it was a drag race down the back straight. I had the advantage of being on the right side of the track and raced him to the braking zone, taking the lead in turn 7. He didn’t give up easily and was on my bumper the rest of the way. I almost gave it up in the exit of Thunder Valley, putting two off in the dirt but recovering in time to maintain position. I slid around the Carousel and stayed just ahead to the checker.”
At the close of the race, Agran held the lead with Pina holding off Grant by a mere 2.4 seconds after a race long pursuit. Kuhns followed in 4th ahead of the Jauch-McCue-Chhikara triumvirate. Raum held off Brewster for 8th by 2 seconds, followed by Armstrong, Barton, and Briggs.
Steve Brewster deserves special recognition after gaining 3 seconds on his prior laps times following a ride along and coaching by Agran and Kuhns. The series shared an HPDE entry at this event and several drivers took advantage of the opportunity to review data, swap cars for checkout rides, and have a more experienced coach ride shotgun. The resulting close racing speaks for itself.
Video of the race start from Madness -> https://vimeo.com/47780398
Commentary on the weekend from a rookie’s perspective is here on Jauch’s excellent blog -> http://danj944spec.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/race-daddy/
Epilogue
Midwest / Great Lakes 944 Spec drivers took home over $1400 in TOYO and HAWK contingency dollars this weekend. A special thanks is due to Jim and Kelby Hartman of Pine Tree Motorsports, who again offered technical support to all competitors during the event, and Linda Kuhns for her photography and lunchtime catering.
The season championship remains wide open. Pina extended his lead by 5 points this weekend, but Agran and Kuhns both have realistic paths to the crown. There are too many close points battles beyond these three to recount.
If you’ve read this far and you’re not racing with us… why not? We’d love to have you out to an event and give you a ride, let you take a test drive, and get you involved. We believe 944 Spec is the best way to get racing fast and to get faster. Take us up on the offer to try it and find out!!
Neal Agran
NASA 944 Spec Midwest Region Series Director
944Spec@nasamidwest.com
Brad Raum
NASA 944 Spec Great Lakes Region Series Director
944Spec@nasagreatlakes.com
[Lexington, OH -- 8/20/12] We had a record turnout for Great Lakes / Midwest 944 Spec at Mid Ohio August 11-12. Thirteen racers competed, with two new drivers receiving their competition licenses on Friday. A warm welcome to newcomers Dan Jauch, piloting the Martini #90 car, and Gary Barton, riding the red #10.
In typical Mid-Ohio fashion, the weather conditions were mixed, laying the groundwork for wild and exciting racing. Saturday saw on and off rain, but remained relatively dry and a little slick for the race. Sunday brought hot, bright and sunny skies. 944 Spec joined the P1 Cayman ITC and GTS series in a packed Storm Group, creating an amazing spectacle of 57 thundering German race cars on 2.1 miles of the finest track in North America. Well worth the price of admission.
Sprint Race #1 – Saturday, August 11
Sam Grant earned his first pole in race #1, impressively clearing the field by more than a second in the wet qualifier. He was followed on the grid by Neal Agran, Dan Pina, Dan Jauch, Sid Chhikara, and Shannon McCue in the first three rows. Agran and Pina got the jump at the flag, with Agran assuming the lead, followed by Pina and Grant. Further back, McCue leapt ahead of Chhikara to 5th and Kuhns, starting in back due to a pass under yellow in qualifying, began to climb through the 13 car field.
The order reshuffled in lap 2, when Pina spun over Madness on the still slick track, moving Grant to 2nd and Jauch to podium contention (in his first race!!). Grant subsequently ran down Agran, cleanly passing for the lead in turn 1 of lap 6. Pina, recovering from his mistake, assumed 2nd thereafter. Grant then managed a perfect spin and continue over a slick spot in turn 11 at the race midpoint, reshuffling himself to 4th behind a surging Kuhns and ahead of McCue and Jauch in a nose to tail battle. Unfortunately, Kuhns was the next victim of the unpredictable race surface, finding the gravel trap in turn 1 while following Pina and Agran nose to tail.
By the close of the race, a resurgent Grant moved to 2nd, finishing 1.2 seconds behind Pina. Agran finished 3rd, followed by McCue, Jauch, Chhikara, and a tightly packed John Armstrong, Michael Dalton, and Steve Brewster. Dalton and Brewster had the battle of the race – nose to tail throughout and separated by 0.3 seconds at the line. Gary Barton, Rick Briggs, and Kuhns rounded out the order, with Raum retiring with a holed radiator after an early surge.
Video of the opening laps from inside Agran’s #84 car can be seen here -> https://vimeo.com/47631454
Photos courtesy of Linda Kuhns -> http://sterlingdoc.smugmug.com/Cars/...4429&k=QzdnjR2
Sprint Race #2 – Sunday, August 12
Sunday race conditions were dry, clear, and fast. Agran took the pole with a lap below the longstanding track record set in 2007. Pina, Kuhns, Grant, Jauch, and Brewster followed in the first three rows. Agran and Pina stormed the first braking zone side by side, with Agran assuming the lead. Grant made it around Kuhns on the outside, seizing 3rd and subsequently challenging Pina for 2nd in the opening laps.
The race to watch was for 5th, where Jauch and McCue entered a nose to tail battle that had the crowd on its feet in Madness, trailed closely by Chhikara. McCue advanced past Chhikara to 6th in lap 2, and then moved by Jauch in lap 6. Jauch pursued for 20 minutes, when in his words: “white flag waving, I decided this was my last chance. At turn 2 I stuck right to his bumper until turn in and dropped inside; then it was a drag race down the back straight. I had the advantage of being on the right side of the track and raced him to the braking zone, taking the lead in turn 7. He didn’t give up easily and was on my bumper the rest of the way. I almost gave it up in the exit of Thunder Valley, putting two off in the dirt but recovering in time to maintain position. I slid around the Carousel and stayed just ahead to the checker.”
At the close of the race, Agran held the lead with Pina holding off Grant by a mere 2.4 seconds after a race long pursuit. Kuhns followed in 4th ahead of the Jauch-McCue-Chhikara triumvirate. Raum held off Brewster for 8th by 2 seconds, followed by Armstrong, Barton, and Briggs.
Steve Brewster deserves special recognition after gaining 3 seconds on his prior laps times following a ride along and coaching by Agran and Kuhns. The series shared an HPDE entry at this event and several drivers took advantage of the opportunity to review data, swap cars for checkout rides, and have a more experienced coach ride shotgun. The resulting close racing speaks for itself.
Video of the race start from Madness -> https://vimeo.com/47780398
Commentary on the weekend from a rookie’s perspective is here on Jauch’s excellent blog -> http://danj944spec.wordpress.com/2012/08/19/race-daddy/
Epilogue
Midwest / Great Lakes 944 Spec drivers took home over $1400 in TOYO and HAWK contingency dollars this weekend. A special thanks is due to Jim and Kelby Hartman of Pine Tree Motorsports, who again offered technical support to all competitors during the event, and Linda Kuhns for her photography and lunchtime catering.
The season championship remains wide open. Pina extended his lead by 5 points this weekend, but Agran and Kuhns both have realistic paths to the crown. There are too many close points battles beyond these three to recount.
If you’ve read this far and you’re not racing with us… why not? We’d love to have you out to an event and give you a ride, let you take a test drive, and get you involved. We believe 944 Spec is the best way to get racing fast and to get faster. Take us up on the offer to try it and find out!!
Neal Agran
NASA 944 Spec Midwest Region Series Director
944Spec@nasamidwest.com
Brad Raum
NASA 944 Spec Great Lakes Region Series Director
944Spec@nasagreatlakes.com
08-21-2012, 01:23 PM
#35
Rennlist Member
Great stuff! It was nice to the new guys make so much progress. With everyone sharing data the whole group has become damn fast!
1:42.1 in a Spec car on Toyos at Mid-O is damn fast - as fast as the GTS-1 944's were doing with aero & Hoosiers. Again shows driving instruction/prowess>>money on mods!
1:42.1 in a Spec car on Toyos at Mid-O is damn fast - as fast as the GTS-1 944's were doing with aero & Hoosiers. Again shows driving instruction/prowess>>money on mods!
08-22-2012, 05:27 PM
#37
Race Director
Nice work guys!
Arizona is just coming near end of our long summer break. One more warm up event before we start back up in earnest in a little over a month.
I going to need to get my car back running again.
Arizona is just coming near end of our long summer break. One more warm up event before we start back up in earnest in a little over a month.
I going to need to get my car back running again.
08-24-2012, 10:39 AM
#39
Race Director
08-24-2012, 01:45 PM
#40
Three Wheelin'
