Memphis May 26-27 Regional/National/IT Tour
- Thread starter FireballPhil
- Start date
Wow, what a weekend.
As usual, the Memphis SCCA Officals put on as good an event as possible from a customer service aspect. No doubt they are the friendliest and most service oriented bunch in the club. You have a problem... they find a way to help you solve it.
Great bunch of Folks!
The racing was way fun. I fought overheating Friday and Saturday but got it fixed Sunday morning (which made the Sunday race less stresssful.) Cooler plugs and no thermostat did the trick.
The Friday afternoon "Dixie Austrailian Pursuit Race was a blast.
They ran it like Bracket racing at the drag strip using about 3/4ths of the track.
Jim Drago won the "winners bracket" and I won the "losers bracket".
I challenged him to a race for the entire pot and we had a heckuva race.
Drago is a close friend (I stayed in his RV at the track) and is really really fast in his 99 SM at Memphis (and other places.) This format is somewhat like "PINKS". Drago got a better start, but I was able to pass him on the dragstrip straight and hold it throught the Carousel. At the entry into the Ms (R/L/R) Drago made his "move of the race" going left through the grass, as I turned right then setup for the left I saw him and countered his move by going throught the grass on the right side. Both cras are sliding through the grass on opposite sides of the track with me gathering it up just a little quicker and crossing the line first. Everybody watching was dying laughing as was Drago and myself. Really a fun deal.
Saturdays IT race for me was just managing my heat problem by shifting early and keeping some cars between myself and the next A car. I was lucky to hold on as my temps got pretty high.
Sundays race had the usual drama for me as I made some airdam repairs, took out the thermostat, and changed to cooler plugs. I took off my air intake doing the thermostat change and was lucky to remember (on grid) that I had not plugged the AFM wires back in. (I thought I had a screwed up plug wire.) Roger Johnson and I didn't qualify so we started from the back and got great starts up the outside. With my engine running cool I was able to hang around the back of the ITS pack and finally got in front of one ITS car that helped keep Roger busy until the last couple of laps. With my tires going away (along with my concentration, Roger closed in. I was able to get by my friend charrbq (who I think won twice in ITC) and keep it together to stay ahead. Another lap or two and Roger would have gotten me. It was a fun race and the car and driver are progressing. Look forward to more Memphis BBQ next year.
As usual, the Memphis SCCA Officals put on as good an event as possible from a customer service aspect. No doubt they are the friendliest and most service oriented bunch in the club. You have a problem... they find a way to help you solve it.
Great bunch of Folks!
The racing was way fun. I fought overheating Friday and Saturday but got it fixed Sunday morning (which made the Sunday race less stresssful.) Cooler plugs and no thermostat did the trick.
The Friday afternoon "Dixie Austrailian Pursuit Race was a blast.
They ran it like Bracket racing at the drag strip using about 3/4ths of the track.
Jim Drago won the "winners bracket" and I won the "losers bracket".
I challenged him to a race for the entire pot and we had a heckuva race.
Drago is a close friend (I stayed in his RV at the track) and is really really fast in his 99 SM at Memphis (and other places.) This format is somewhat like "PINKS". Drago got a better start, but I was able to pass him on the dragstrip straight and hold it throught the Carousel. At the entry into the Ms (R/L/R) Drago made his "move of the race" going left through the grass, as I turned right then setup for the left I saw him and countered his move by going throught the grass on the right side. Both cras are sliding through the grass on opposite sides of the track with me gathering it up just a little quicker and crossing the line first. Everybody watching was dying laughing as was Drago and myself. Really a fun deal.
Saturdays IT race for me was just managing my heat problem by shifting early and keeping some cars between myself and the next A car. I was lucky to hold on as my temps got pretty high.
Sundays race had the usual drama for me as I made some airdam repairs, took out the thermostat, and changed to cooler plugs. I took off my air intake doing the thermostat change and was lucky to remember (on grid) that I had not plugged the AFM wires back in. (I thought I had a screwed up plug wire.) Roger Johnson and I didn't qualify so we started from the back and got great starts up the outside. With my engine running cool I was able to hang around the back of the ITS pack and finally got in front of one ITS car that helped keep Roger busy until the last couple of laps. With my tires going away (along with my concentration, Roger closed in. I was able to get by my friend charrbq (who I think won twice in ITC) and keep it together to stay ahead. Another lap or two and Roger would have gotten me. It was a fun race and the car and driver are progressing. Look forward to more Memphis BBQ next year.
C
CDS
Guest
Great weekend as always in Memphis. You guys are the best! 
Car ran fine Saturday except for the usual stumble coming out of the double 90's. I qualified a few tenths behind charrbq and ahead of the other ITC car and was happy with that. I got a terrible start for the Saturday race and lost 3 or 4 positions right off the bat. I got brake-checked by the car in front of me and got completely caught out. My inexperience really shows. I got by the other ITC CRX on the next lap and spent the rest of the race trying to reel in charrbq. I caught him with a lap to go but couldn't pass him and finished on his bumper. It was a really fun race anyway.
Sunday was a different story. The car seemed to run fine during qualifying, but right as I took the checker it lost power completely. We thrashed on it and thought we had it fixed for the race, but it shut down again as soon as I left the grid for the pace lap. I managed to get it refired and off the track, but not before forcing the pack to make a second pace lap. Sorry about that guys.
Not sure what the problem is yet, but it seems to be carb-related. It will start and idle, but stumbles and dies if any load is put on it. Timing is correct, spark looks good, fuel is getting to the carb. I'll look at it more closely this week.
Car ran fine Saturday except for the usual stumble coming out of the double 90's. I qualified a few tenths behind charrbq and ahead of the other ITC car and was happy with that. I got a terrible start for the Saturday race and lost 3 or 4 positions right off the bat. I got brake-checked by the car in front of me and got completely caught out. My inexperience really shows. I got by the other ITC CRX on the next lap and spent the rest of the race trying to reel in charrbq. I caught him with a lap to go but couldn't pass him and finished on his bumper. It was a really fun race anyway.
Sunday was a different story. The car seemed to run fine during qualifying, but right as I took the checker it lost power completely. We thrashed on it and thought we had it fixed for the race, but it shut down again as soon as I left the grid for the pace lap. I managed to get it refired and off the track, but not before forcing the pack to make a second pace lap. Sorry about that guys.
Not sure what the problem is yet, but it seems to be carb-related. It will start and idle, but stumbles and dies if any load is put on it. Timing is correct, spark looks good, fuel is getting to the carb. I'll look at it more closely this week.