Pro IT Series (NE) - Round 1 at Pocono

If i were the New Jersey Region I'd be damanding 1/2 of my money back from the Pocono Raceway. The shape they left the track in was deplorable! I'm amazed there weren't more accidents caused by the pavement change from the infield onto the tunnel straight! Turn 1 was destroyed as a good racing turn. I want to ask them (Pocono Track) one question...WOULD NASCAR HAVE RACED ON THAT SURFACE??? I know what the answer would be, they why should we be made to accept this kind of BS!
The event & organizers were great, other than the track. It was nice to see a lot of the competitors I haven't seen for some time. My congrats goes to Ben for his win in the ProIT ITR & Rob in ITS. Ben made his Porsche mighty wide but did it cleanly. A $3.87 valve spring retainer broke on my car and I'm happy to report not other major damage other than a bent valve.
Thank God the people make the event not the track.
To New Jersey Region, Bob and the ProIT people, Thanks, I hope to see you at the next event.
 
Great weekend of racing at Pocono - the NNJR folks did a great job as did all the volunteers. I'm probably the only guy who really likes Pocono but I must agree with Dan, the condition of the track was really pretty poor. When we went out to qualify on Sat morning there was so much dirt on the surface cars were all over. An attempt at repaving was made for the transition at Devils Elbow and at the Chicane - these guys need to go back to paving school - mill that flat please! On my good video I can see Dan's rear tires airborn. I know my car was airborn a few times at the elbow.

Good clean racing, no bad crashes that I know of. The only bummer was half the ITR guys broke! Looked like a big field but it diminished fast.

Great to see some new cars out there - Ken Hubbard will be fast in his new ITR BMW - Ken, I still have that hex driver you loaned me.

The Pro IT race was wild - 20 minutes in there was a major downpour and by the end you couldn't see the cars at the end of the straight.

Thanks to Timing and Scoring and their patience with me getting my number straightened out.

Always a big shout out to Darrel, Terry and Bob who work so hard to make Pro IT the series to run!

Best IT time of the weekend was Jeff Henderson with a 1:48.6 (?) in his ITS BMW - nice!

I gotta make one request - please move that T1 apex cone in and let us run that turn in fourth!!! Somebody will go off but hey, that's racing. No track records coming anytime soon with that apex...

Fantastic start to the season!
 
Greg Amy said:
You guys suck.
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Oops I don't have results with me. All I know is we had a great weekend Ran all Pro-it events outings and our double regional Group.. I think it was more track time than we got all last Year!! So it was good for us I eagerly await the printed results. We had working wipers which at about 27 minutes in the Group experienced a "Weather Event" consisting of rain, Hail and a Hint of snow came in handy to say the least. Lots of debris on track no jet dryer just a tractor with a bromme and very low speed blower. Now attention all group 5 drivers!! We will be accepting contributions to repair our spoiler as Bill was sucessfull in clearing the apex Tire that had been punted in the turn 1 line. Carls Edward's spoiler supports(last years Sprint cup parts) kept it on the car instead of being deposited on track. The other good thing was it did not damage our car. :026: I was not sure how the weekend would go when were east Bound on NY 17 and Blew a trailer Tire:(. Had a spare put that on and found 2 new tires in next town and got back on the Road with only about 2 hrs behind schedule. :eclipsee_steering:
 
benspeed said:
An attempt at repaving was made for the transition at Devils Elbow and at the Chicane - these guys need to go back to paving school - mill that flat please! On my good video I can see Dan's rear tires airborn. I know my car was airborn a few times at the elbow.
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I'm glad it wasn't just me and I wasn't having a bad dream. Ben I'd like to see that clip if you would share it. If i was informed about the track I would have put my baja 500 suspension on! I'm glad I only signed up for one race. I would check your suspension very well before you take the car out again, something could be bent.:)
 
benspeed said:
I gotta make one request - please move that T1 apex cone in and let us run that turn in fourth!!! Somebody will go off but hey, that's racing. No track records coming anytime soon with that apex...

Fantastic start to the season!
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Can you explain? Post a picture?? (Sounds like I'm REALLY glad I have sworn off pocono....)
 
Round 1 Results

Pro IT Round 1 Results
Pocono International Raceway

ITR

Ben Phillps - 24 laps
Robert Thiele - 24 laps
Ken Hubbard - 23 laps

ITS

Rob Driscoll - 24 laps (overall winner)
Jeff Henderson - 24 laps
Matt Rooke - 24 laps

ITA

Christian Chandler - 22 laps
Doug Case - 21 laps

ITB

Rob Foley - 21 laps
Steve Noake - 21 laps

ITC

none

SM

Marc Cefalo - 23 laps
Ron Jesberger - 23 laps
Robert Karl Jr - 23 laps

Fast lap - Jeff Henderson

The race started in dry, overcast conditions with the last 16-18 minutes in the rain

Terry
 
tdw6974 said:
. Now attention all group 5 drivers!! We will be accepting contributions to repair our spoiler as Bill was sucessfull in clearing the apex Tire that had been punted in the turn 1 line. Carls Edward's spoiler supports(last years Sprint cup parts) kept it on the car instead of being deposited on track. The other good thing was it did not damage our car. :026:
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We were wondering who did that. Because it was a low tire I figured someone would go up on top of it and get airborn. Glad everything was OK with the car but it did make turn one all the more interesting with it RIGHT ON THE RACING LINE!! LOL
 
Well, this was my first time driving at Pocono, and about the only good thing I can say about the place is it’s close enough at an hour away to be able to commute to and sleep in my own bed.

Yes, the traffic calming yumps sure were interesting anytime one transitioned on and off the oval. I know I was catching air at Devil’s Elbow, along with big-time metal-to-metal in the LF corner as the car came down hard twice, once when it would bottom on the crest and the other when it would bottom again on the way down. I’m amazed my LF outer CV is still intact; every session the knuckle and inside of the wheel was coated with grease that had spewed from the boot vent hole. Can’t imagine why……..

The chicane beyond edge of pavement was a mine field. Once it started raining during the Pro IT race, it became slicker than snot, no surprise considering the fresh oily pavement, mud, running water, and recently cured SAFER Barrier concrete foundation. About the T1 Apex marker, a white tire with 3 cones on top is a novel idea, but it never made though any of the sessions I was out there, and for a few laps it got punted a solid 15’ right into the middle of the bestest of the bad lines one had to take through there. And finding it in the rain made for a nice eye exam too. I was running the thinnest of thin tread Ho-Ho’s on the back of an 86” wheelbase CRX. That made for several interesting experiences once it got wet.

Still, I survived and picked up the ITB win in the Pro IT race, definitely not on outright speed. The Regional races for me were meh; apparently all the Pocono beating and banging made the bitch pin fall out of the shift linkage on my first real lap during qualifying. That meant hasty lunchtime bandaids, with big thanks to Tim Mullen and his bucket of bolts, to get out for the Pro IT, but left me starting DFL for the first two Regional races. For race 3, I was gridded 4th in ITB and mid-pack in Group 5, but the Pocono pounding caused an intermittent injector harness short that meant 3 cylinders for a good part of laps 2-3-4. There was some attrition in the class, so I ended up 3rd at the end.

My home region, NNJR, did a great job under all the circumstances with the track.
 
Pocono.....

On behalf of the NNJR board I would like to thank all who attended this event and supported our region. I know the track was in bad shape and many drivers were upset by this. We have a board meeting tonight and I am sure we will be addressing this. I am sure that this will be the last time that NNJR will run at Pocono unless things change for the future.

This event was in honor of Joe and Linda and we try to keep them in our memories and hearts........Lets see what we can do for the future!

Thanks to all and especially the workers!

Sincerely,
Bob Zecca
 
Say it ain't so! I like this track - just needs some willingness by track management to get it prepared better.[/QUOTE]

I like it too Ben but it's obvious that Pocono Raceway Management could care less if SCCA race's there or not by the condition they left the track. If you have video of me with my rear wheels off the track at the tunnel turn that should tell you something.

See ya in Jorsey!
 
benspeed said:
Robert Zecca said:
I am sure that this will be the last time that NNJR will run at Pocono unless things change for the future.


Say it ain't so! I like this track - just needs some willingness by track management to get it prepared better.
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Don't hold your breath. They 'accept' Clubs and take the money, but it's obvious in the 15 years I've been going there, that they have little interest in extending more then the minimum effort ....

The roadcourse portion of the track blows...always has. Even if it was in decent shape it would still be lame....and they have a ways to go before it's decent. IMO, of course. ;)
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benspeed said:
The only bummer was half the ITR guys broke! Looked like a big field but it diminished fast.
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Clutch started slipping after only a few laps of qualifying! Why couldn't it do that in the last laps of the last race last year?! I could have easily changed it out over the winter. Oh well, time to get it changed before NJMP.
 
Just remember Round 5 will be at Pocono on August 13 & 14. There will be 2 NASCAR car events at Pocono between now and then. I'm sure we will have a much cleaner playground to play on.

See you all at NJMP in June.

Get me you W9 if I don't have your information. My Mazda is almost back running so I'll use the non-claimed prize money for beer and tires if you don't get me your information.

There was some great racing at Pocono, looks like 2011 will be a great year for Pro IT! More news to follow soon.
 
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Fred Fox said:
Clutch started slipping after only a few laps of qualifying! Why couldn't it do that in the last laps of the last race last year?! I could have easily changed it out over the winter. Oh well, time to get it changed before NJMP.
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I was wondering what happened Fred. I'm also sorry i didn't get to say hello to you, I didn't know where you were paddocked.
Your clutch and my valve spring retainer...gheez, what a way to start a series. Lets try and touch base in Jorsey.
 
It looks like lots of ITR participation in the TeamDI Pro-IT series! How many, and what type of cars showed up? IT sounds like the class is going to be pretty strong for participation here in the North East!

Stephen
 
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