Gateway July 31/August 1

[brprok81]

Hey all, we are two weeks away from this event and we only have 9 IT cars registered. Who else is coming? We are running the DASH again, which is always a good time. Hope to see you at the track.

 

[Gary L]

I'm hoping to be there... I haven't actually entered yet, as the Volvo is currently scattered over what looks like a couple of counties, fixing engine and tranny problems.

FWIW, I certainly enjoyed my last race weekend at St. Louis, you guys know how to execute!

 

[brprok81]

Thanks Gary. I hope you can get the car together in time. Who else is coming? Is Chris not going to make this race? What about you Scott? Mark? How about it guys?

 

[brprok81]

Ok, we are up to 15 IT cars for this weekend. Anybody else coming out?

Don't forget about the Sunoco sponsorship of the Midwest Division Club Racing program. Details can be found at http://www.midiv.org/Code/sunoco-sponsorship.htm We will have the registration forms and decals at registration.

 

[brprok81]

Results from Saturday are on mylaps.

http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=571593

I hope everybody had a good time today. We get to come back and do it all over tomorrow.

 

[brprok81]

Results from Sunday are on mylaps.

http://www.mylaps.com/results/showevent.jsp?id=572858

Thank you to everybody who came out. I hope everybody had as much fun as I did.

 

[brprok81]

The ITB race on Saturday was a blast to watch. A couple of cars got between Chris and Gary in the first few laps but once these cars cleared this battle, then the fun began. The two raced each other hard swapping the position a couple of times with Gary using his power advantage to take the win. As Chris does so often, he came back Sunday even more determined. He got a great start and was able to hold Gary off for the entire race.

Brian Laughlin dominated ITA both days. That Miata is FAST!

Mark Andrews won ITS both days. Jonathan Jones hounded his every move on Sunday but just couldn't find a way by.

Bud Scott took IT7 both days that included a nice late race battle with Don Stringfellow in his ITA Miata on Saturday.

Ralph Woodard took ITR on Saturday, while Don Melvin took the uncontested win on Sunday.

Rob Jones (ITE) and Curt Weilandich (ITC) both took uncontested class wins both days.

On a personal side note, this was my dads last race. The rumor mill is already going crazy with who might be in the car next year. Stay tuned for late breaking developments.

 

[Gary L]

Chris and I did indeed have a good battle on Saturday. But from my view, the final pass for the win had little to do with power. It really took place under braking into turns 1 & 2 on the next-to-last lap, where Mr. Albin made an uncharacteristic mistake, allowing me to get under him for the entry to 3. Previous to this, I had been following him through 3 to 7, then pulling even with him through NASCAR 3 & 4, but couldn't stay in front of him down the straight. Actually, the race was actually a "battle of the sickies"... Chris' VW was just a tad down on power overall, while the Volvo was suffering from a 6800 rpm "rev limiter", the cause of which I have yet to track down. In fact, in the course of tinkering with a lot of stuff Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, we managed to move the limiting rpm down to 6600 for Sunday's race. Wunnerful! This meant I was stuck at 103 mph for the last 800-1000 feet of the front straight, knowing the car is capable of about 109 when it's right. Meanwhile, Chris did some tuning (I think he said he leaned it out a bit) and ran faster than he did on Saturday. Bottom line - I just couldn't stay with him on Sunday at all, finishing 6 or 7 seconds back in the 20 lap race.

I was certainly disappointed to hear that Gateway may be going away. Despite the longish tow for me (>400 miles), I have enjoyed racing there immensely, and that has been in no small part due to the efforts of the organizers and workers.