Yes, that was a new personal best and track record. I ammtold though they don't count National's times though for Regional track records. Seems odd to me.

 

way to kick some as* guys!

 

Well, I sure thought I was flying the second session today! Ends up I wasn't. I got bumped to second by Bill, hell of a guy. It's pouring right now, no chance ofmmoving to first in the rain. I am behind be .030, tomorrow's morning session looks like it might be dry, hopefully I can move back into first.

 

Congrats to Ryan and David

Unofficial results have Ryan 2nd in ST-2 and David 3rd in ST-2; even more impressive was they both finished in the Top 5 of the entire run group which included SU and ST-1 .

EDIT Looks like Ryan was DQ'd for a punt so second goes to David. Will wait to hear what happened as they didn't show the incident on SpeedcastTV during coverage

Watched the race on SpeedcastTV and looked like Ryan took a good a hit to his front bumper and still managed to finish the race in 2nd...

Felt bad for Justin as he was running strong right with Ryan and David until the Suby died...

 

The a6's lasting?

 

Damn, nice!

 

I watched the entire ST2 race (skipped one of my TT sessions to watch it). It was awesome. I didn't see the issue that eventually let to Ryan's DQ - and had no idea. In my mind he finished 2nd; about 8 seconds ahead of Fazzino in 3rd (rough estimate from me watching in TV).

The 'punt' happened like on the 2nd lap - and the 'puntee' actually came to Ryan's side to prevent the protest but it was a no-go. Harsh...

OHHHH.... And it started to rain just before the ST2 race. Then it misted off and on during the 45 min race. After the checker, the real rain set in for maybe 20min. Then the sun came out! lol. My 2 afternoon sessions were wet so I set them out. Partially because I leapfrogged from 3rd into 1st in the morning fog session in TTA!

 

Congrats Dave! Sorry to hear about Ryans DQ. Im sure you guys have some stories to tell. Looking forward to the videos! It sounds like it rained a bit, which explains the overall slower lap times, but thats part of Nationals. I remember that it rained for like 2-3 days in a row when i was there for 2008 Nationals. And we also got hit with a part of Hurricane Ike on the last day, which practically destroyed the entire facility. That day was a bit scary.

One thing though, im surprised by the lack of competition in a couple classes, especially in ST2. We had around 26 cars at 2010 Nationals, although a couple of them broke down before the National Championship race. I figured since Nationals is back to Mid-O, ST2 would have had over 30 cars. SU and ST1 appears to have had a really poor showing. Slower than ST2? Thats silly. It also sucks that a couple of our fast Socal guys in ST2 canceled. Would have loved to see how they could have done in that weather. Because one things for sure, they dominate in the dry.

 

I think there was some attrition in ST prior to the championship race. I thought they had like 22 on the entry forms

 

Attrition is a given, especially for Nationals. I know the economy is hurting everyone but i still figured more people, especially seasoned racers, would be excited to come out for it since Mid-O is a local track out there. Hopefully we are all doing better next year so more drivers can participate. Btw, i see youre in 1st place in TTA. So, 2 more sessions today? Good luck!

 

Alright Apex! Second place in national race

101 David Fazzino 20 35:06.509 40.543 1:36.926 11 89.140

Did Ryan not qualify because of the "punt"?

 

I lost. I lost to a hell of a guy though, Bill Brees. The loss is a tough one to swallow for me though. Let me put a little story out there.

Each time anyone set a fast time they were taken from impound to the scales/tech. So anyone with any sense knew trying to cheat rules was stupid if you were going fast cause you were gonna get caught.

I set fast time twice. First time I was weighed I weighed in at 3556. My minimum weight was 3472. So I was WELL over the minimum. The next time I got tech'd is when I hit the 1:39.906. That time I was 3559. Very odd, I was 3 pounds heavier than the first time and I ran TWO sessions and never put gas in the car. So I pointed out to the tech guys, while I was on the scale that something wasn't right. They asked if I added fuel, I told them no, NOTHING is changed and you guys are saying I am 3 pounds heavier than the first time. So I was pulled off into a tech area and the car was gone over from top to bottom to make sure I claimed all my mods etc. I have 5 mod points left before I would get moved to TTC, BTW. This means if I wanted to take those points in weight, I could drop another 50 pounds taking my minimum weight to 3422 pounds. So while I was being tech'd I told them again the scales didn't make sense, two or three of the tech's walked over as I said to them maybe the scales were full of mud and rocks from all the rain. We all looked and the scales looked clean.

Bill ran a 1:39.876, beating me by .030 seconds. The next session I rotated the A6's on the car and unbolted one of the 50 pound ballast bars I had in the back of the car. I changed the tire pressures and decided I was going for it the next session. Well it rained Saturday afternoon and I didn't go out.

That brings us to this morning. First session I had my mind in the game and drove hard, I do not like driving a car loose but knew that was the key to going faster, I set it up loose and drove it for all I had. Lap #2, I ran a new best of 1:39.807. This put me back in first. I was told to go to the scales.

As I was driving there I started getting nervous as I didn't notice the fuel was down to a half tank. In my head I start doing the math, 3559-50-20/30 pounds in the fuel I was down, I knew it would be close but figured I'd be around 3482 or so. I got on the scale and was told I was 3462, 10 pounds under weight. I couldn't believe it. Greg Greenbaum asked what I weighed the time before, I told him, that's what makes no sense I was 3559. So he looks it up and says, "No Dave you were 3539." I said, "That's not what I was told and told you guys my weight last time made no sense, Joe Sullivan (who was standing there) remembers I was complaining about how the car was heavier after running two sessions and never adding fuel. Joe said he remembered but couldn't remember exactly what the weight was I was told. I said well look at the first weigh in and it was 3 pounds heavier than that or for that matter go off the first weigh in." Nope, bottom line was I was 10 pounds under and that was the end of that and my time was DQ'd. I told them I guess I'd have to go faster the next round and it was what it was. No argument but I was not happy. Then I thought of the extra 50 pounds I could remove from the 5 points that were left........added to my disgust. Last session was a mess, I filled the tank and the traffic and stupidity were out of control. Guys in TTC/TTB doing slow laps on lap 2-3-4 for no apparent reason.

I congratulated Bill on his win and he told me it was bull****, 10 pounds isn't going to make a difference and he didn't like winning like that. This is his 4th National win, great driver, great guy. Someone I could be friends with a drink beers with.

My first National event after just 3 or 4 years of road racing a few times a year and I got the "First loser" trophy, 2nd Place. It was very close, with my DQ'd time I'd have won by .07, with my time that wasn't Bill won by .03 and it all came down to the last run of the week.

I had an absolute blast this week, really enjoyed myself and that's what counts. I'd sure have liked to taken that 1st Place home but..................

I was going to quit after this year, I may have to rethink that and give it another shot next year.

BTW, someone asked how the A6's were. Honestly, I do not like them. My fast time was set in lap #2 nearly every time. This left me with 10 minutes of driving that was not optimal and I get better as the laps keep coming. I will not use them again. I want to switch to and try the R6's.

 

Wow. Had I known that there were other issues at the scales I would have made more of a fuss and maybe something would have been done.

My rain setup is different from my dry so I visited the scales often. First time I went over I was over 100 lbs heavier than the scales at IAG said. So I was like sweet, I can ditch a bunch of my balast.

I weighed 3352 lbs with 115 lbs bolted in my trunk. I returned to my spot in the paddock, removed the 115 lbs from my trunk and went to reweigh no more than 15 minutes later. The only changes being the 115 lbs of balast, and the spit of fuel I used to get back over there. I came in at 3205 lbs

Scratched my head for a second, then it was at this point I realized the guy wasn't even going off one number. He was using a calculator to add up the corner weights. I asked him to check again, 3205 lbs. I told him either his scales were messed up or he miscalculated the first time. He assured me everything was done properly, and acted like he hadn't weighed me 20 minutes before.

 

My issue wasn't the scales, it was the operator/techs who told me 3559, when the actual weight was 3539 and that is what was written down. Had they checked when I complained my DQ wouldn't have happened.

 

I don't think my issue was scale related either. I think the guy simply punched in a wrong number on his calculator the first time. Pretty stupid mistake, along with yours. Sounds like a bunch of amateurs running the scales.