SIP 2018 Final Thoughts

[Racing Bandit]

Team Bandit is happy with the results and as to getting taken out........Sure as heck isn't the first time the Bandit has been taken out by hard charging opponents! When I told Mrs Bandit the results she replied "as least it isn't going to cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars to fix the car.......or your sorry butt! " Also the Bandit has been known to ride the cushion alittle too close at times and go off in one of the corners. :lol: :auto-driving:

[Dewman51]

Thanks to all who helped run this round and congrats to the podium finishers. My drivers seemed to agree with D&D MOTORS drivers that some people were paying more attention to the passing scenery than driving their car but we are used to that and will adjust to it. We will be ready for the next round !!

[Pepsi62]

good point DW :?
the team boss will be having some very stern words to our drivers before the next round

[dw5555]

Any updates on when the next round might take place?
Boss Dave

[TuscoTodd]

Next round has been completed!
Summary action report to follow hopefully later this evening!
:banana-dance:

[TuscoTodd]

The air was cool and dense as the cars rolled onto the field at the Palmer Beach road course - conditions that promised big horse power would be on hand from all of the cars in the field!
With the delay between runs, the teams had plenty of time to think about their strategy for tackling the tight technical portions of The Beach. Some of the teams used the time to make suspension tweaks, others to address braking capabilities - while all of the teams seemed to find excuses to hang out at the beach and soak up some sun!
As the cars rolled on to the grid though, one thing was for sure - the teams were ready to make some noise!
:D





Dr.Choice, a potential sponsor for the track, was on hand for the days events. Their people supplied promo refreshments for all teams, and as a gesture of gratitude, they were given the honor of performing the coin flip to determine whether the field would race Segment 1 on the inner or outer lanes...



With the flip, Segment 1 was locked in to start with the quicker flowing inner lanes!
Would running the easier lines of the inner lanes be beneficial in helping the drivers nail down their braking points - or would it result in overconfidence and brake fade when they were faced with the tighter corners of the outside lanes in Segment 2?
:think:

The first two teams to mix it up in Segment 1 were:
Slothead Racing's Blue Firebird


VS.

The Oregon Donors' Studebaker Hawk


Off the line, the explosive power of the Oregon Donor's Hawk was impressive! The Slothead Racing Firebird spent the first couple corners getting a good look at a fading set of tail lights, however, as the cars entered into the back half of the track, the gap between the two quickly started to erode and by the entry onto the front stretch it was the Hawk that was chasing the Firebird! These two teams played cat and mouse like this through the entire heat! The Hawk laying down big speed on the open corners and straights, with the Firebird carving up the technical bits to answer right back!

As the laps wore on, the Oregon Donor's Hawk was being pushed so hard to take maximum advantage of their power on the straights, that the driver was actually getting a bit of daylight(!) to show under the inside tires on the tricky lead on to the long front straight! Unfortunately, after doing this for multiple laps, the driver pushed just a bit too far and came out of his lane resulting in a costly off track excursion! The Slothead Racing Firebird's driver pushed it a couple times, swinging the tail wide and nearly spinning out, but for the most part, kept composure and focused on consistency that at the end of the heat resulted in the lap count being:

Slothead Racing: 34.10
to
Oregon Donors: 33.21


The next two cars to the line were:
Racing Bandit's silver Torino


VS.

CAT Racing's Challenger



Off the line it was an out and out drag race!
Through the big sweeping corner and the first three corners these two racers couldn't even get a car length separation! :o
The gap opened slightly in the second set of tight corners, with the Challenger getting the advantage...
For FIVE laps straight, each driver improved his lap times with never more than a corner separating the Racing Bandit's car from the CAT Racing machine! :o The continued pushing for faster and faster laps eventually took its toll with the Torino going in too hot at the end of the front stretch and ending up in the sand!
After a few cautious corners to scuff the tires back in, the Racing Bandit's driver was picking them up and laying them down in quick fashion! The CAT Racing driver, in an effort to take advantage of the situation continued pushing hard, but eventually pushed a bit too far, making an off track excursion on the lead on to the front stretch! Unfortunately, in trying to make up time for the off, they ran too hot into the very next corner, resulting in another off track run! :?
The Racing Bandit team took advantage and at the end of the heat, it was:

Racing Bandit 31.23
to
CAT Racing 30.27


Next to the line it was:
D & D Motor's orange Camaro


VS.

DMS Racing's white Mustang


Both of these pony cars were chomping at the bit to tear into the twisty turns of the Palmer Beach road course and the start of the race definitely showed their resolve! The DMS Racing team apparently adjusted the balance of their brakes to a much more controllable level, managing to keep the rear end of the Mustang in the groove on corner entry and only hanging it out while powering out! The D&D Motor's Camaro was running fast and loose, more than once nearly spinning out from hanging the tail out through the tighter corners!
The more controlled line held by DMS Racing's machine proved advantageous though with the tally at the drop of the flag being:

DMS Racing - 34.26
to
D&D Motors - 33.27


The final two teams to hit the starting grid for Segment 1 were:
Downundathunda's purple drop top GTO:


VS.

T-County Lug Nuts' black Chevelle


These two GM A-bodies were cranked up and looking to put on a show! With the T-County boy's strong showing in round 1, they were looking to extend their lead - while the Downundatunda team after getting a stern talking to from team ownership after last round was on their toes!
Both teams were definitely running strong, with the Lug Nuts taking the early lead... But as the laps wore on, Downundathunda's GTO started closing the gap! In an apparent error of driving via the rear view mirror, the Chevelle pushed too hard into not one - but two back to back corners! :o
From there, all the Lug Nut's saw was the GTO's tail lights as the Downundathunda team went on to the checkered flag, notching the up to the top of the leader board in the process with a finish of:

Downundathunda - 36.23
to
T-County Lug Nuts - 35.26

At the end of Segment 1 the results were:



Segment 2 results to follow!
:auto-checkeredflag:

[dw5555]

Not to make excuses but we at D&D motors obviously spent too much time tuning our small block Chev to perfection and not enough time on the suspension. I will be the first to admit that I am ashamed of our team for losing out to that overrated Shelby in this segment. Everyone knows that a car designed by a guy with a girls name can't be good. :whistle: Still got some kinks to work out but we'll get there. 1st season teething issues.
Boss Dave

[kidvoltage]

Perhaps we chose poorly. Go little hawk!

[vonsirius]

We were over confident, last place!
Too much beer at the beach.
We gonna work hard to that never happens again

[TuscoTodd]

:auto-checkeredflag:
Segment 2 action!

The running order was reshuffled for the second half of the race, with the first two cars to tackle the tighter turns of the outside lanes being:

The Oregon Donors and their black Studebaker Hawk:


VS.

The T-County Lug Nuts with their black Chevelle:


The tight turns of the outer lanes, along with precious little drifting room before hanging one tire in the sand tried the abilities of both teams! True to form - off the line, the Oregon Donors Hawk was off like a shot, quickly showing the Chevelle it's tail lights! But once again in the twisties, the handling side of things came into play and the advantage of the straight line power of the Hawk eroded, allowing the Chevelle to overtake. Other than a few minor drifting issues here and there, it was a relatively clean run for both teams, with the results at the checkered flag being:

T-County Lug Nuts - 34.10
to
The Oregon Donors - 32.15


The next two teams to the line were:

DMS Racing's white & blue Mustang:


VS.

Downundathunda's purple GTO


Coming off of strong runs in Segment 1 - both teams were hot to get after it!
Traction was a bit illusive for both teams in the tight inside corners with each team managing to spin out at least once as they pushed hard to chase each other down. Mid-heat, the Downundathunda team seemed to find a rhythm to the twisties that proved to be both fast and smooth - leaving the DMS Mustang fighting to catch up.
When the cars crossed the line - it was:

Downundathunda - 33.0
to
DMS Racing - 31.24


Rolling up next - it was:
Racing Bandit's silver Torino:


VS.

Slothead Racing's blue Firebird:


Seeing the numbers the other teams put up - both teams knew they needed to bring their "A" game! And WOW - did they! The first half of this run was nothing short of impressive! (the track owner relayed "We need to get some video cameras to capture this type of racing!")
Lap after lap, the Torino would own the large radius curves, the Firebird would answer right back on the tight inside corners! At the lane switch - THIS was the distance between the two teams! :o



The next two minutes of the run started the same, but the differences in the lanes proved to be an advantage for the Slothead Racing team, as they found a way to nearly perfectly diamond two of the tightest inside corners lap after lap, making for a run that not only won them the heat - but also catapulted them to the top of the leader board for the segment! The Racing Bandit Team, didn't have have quite as strong of a run - BUT they were only the second team out the first six that had a better performance in Segment 2 than Segment 1 !
:handgestures-thumbup:

At the checkered flag it was:

Slothead Racing - 34.10
to
Racing Bandit - 32.09


The final two cars to hit the track were:

D & D Motor's orange Camaro:


VS.

CAT Racing's green Challenger:



This was another "film" worthy run! The CAT Racing Challenger pulled the lead going into the first big sweeper and then it was cat and mouse through the entire heat! D & D Motor's Camaro caught and overtook the Challenger five laps in - but then after getting loose in a couple corners, it was the CAT Racing machine to the lead! Thirteeen laps in the D & D Motor's Camaro got back around CAT Racing's machine - but then around lap twenty-nine hung the back end out hard in back to back corners to putting the nose of the CAT machine within inches of it's back bumper! Two laps later, another bit of drifting allowed the CAT Racing Challenger to pass and hold the lead to the flag - finishing just segments in front of the D & D Camaro!
What a way to finish out the racing!!!
:clap:

At the checkered flag it was:

CAT Racing Challenger - 32.06
to
D & D Motor's - 32.01


The results for Segment 2 shook out as:




Tallying the combined runs for both segments put the finishing order as:

[TuscoTodd]

After two races, this places the overall series standings as:



More great racing to come as the teams head off to Shelby-Hendrix Speedway!
:banana-dance:

[TuscoTodd]

Added pictures from the racing action!

[dw5555]

I've got no complaints here. Cat that was one hellava race. Did a little work on the suspension but not quite enough. Overall standings I can live with but trust me there will be improvements.
Boss Dave

[kidvoltage]

Thanks from the Oregon Donors. That was a great effort. A few less corners and we woulda been right there! Who's idea was it to have corners anyway?

[vonsirius]

We must to push ourselves beyond the limit to beat D&D !!!

Our poor performance on first segment means our last place at Palmer Beach.

We expect better results at Shelby-Hendrix and our HQ sent as a van of technical assistance to stay whith us all the Series.


Hope it concentred our drivers on race and not on the beach.

Congrats to podium teams , we were very pleased at Sand Pit / Palmer Beach facilities, see ya next round! :music-rockout: