Da Groj

This was a very interesting day. Early morning a spitting of rain here and there. Leaving clouds which was keeping it cooler until the sun poked thru and we got a normal FL summer day. Hot. Les checked his smart phone and it ended up being 96 and heat index of 112F I think he said. I was so glad I let hired gun Joe B drive my car and he worked as starter all day long. I sipped iced water and Gatorade while sitting on my comfy chair all day. The sandwich I had was really good!! Even when I volunteered to keep the pencil record of the finishes in the afternoon I sat in my chair under an umbrella. The guy I picked to win the whole thing Ken Marion won the coveted glove. Slap. Duel. He was very very closely contested by a white Cayman (or 911) with and automatic (I think.) but he beat him twice so he's the faster of the two. Mike Lawson won the second session (no surprise to me as my pick).

The real surprise for me was Ron Rice ending up in the final runoff against Ken and only losing heads up by a couple car lengths!! Ron always seems to do well in these special events. Ben did very well in his trusty miata too which he shared with Steve.

I really enjoyed watching Joe B race my Vette. Stock car with big tires/rims only goes so far. Ken nipped him by a car length or so first run. The Evo (evil?) mod car given 50Ft beat him by probably a foot. Close race and I know Joe was flying. I think I saw the pavement slab lift under the AWD launch 1/2". Goes to prove the Mod cars are always going to be tough to beat. Especially when they get a handicap. If he would have gotten a 49ft handicap it would have been a tie. Sort of proves Loren's loose estimate was pretty close in most cases. Actually Loren in his newer 3 banger Misterbitchi did very well. He actually beat someone and moved ahead on the crappiest skinniest tires I've ever seen. Sadly even with 100ft lead he couldn't handle a well driven S2K by Todd.

There will be 30 more personal stories of interest of all today's festivities. I really enjoyed being a part of it.

The results will eventually be posted but probably have to be scanned or typed into a chart as there were no times. You all ready know who won the glove.

Thanks for keeping this event alive for yet another year.

Thanks for the recap, Doug! It was an excellent day all around.

I'll get the results typed up soon...

Great report Doug Perfect summary for those of us that couldn't make it.

I'm looking forward to seeing the full results (and pictures and videos hopefully).
Dan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIC5QpMdilc

Now some really poorly shot video.

EDIT:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiC0GOD9ZvQ
The S4 final.

twistedwankel wrote: I really enjoyed watching Joe B race my Vette. Stock car with big tires/rims only goes so far. Ken nipped him by a car length or so first run. The Evo (evil?) mod car given 50Ft beat him by probably a foot. Close race and I know Joe was flying. I think I saw the pavement slab lift under the AWD launch 1/2". Goes to prove the Mod cars are always going to be tough to beat.

It's not that modded compared to others. I'm surprised I won that one even with a big screw up on the last half due to me over driving it(See in vid). Maybe next year Doug . Curious on how Les could've done with a clutch that wasn't slipping.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN9NFfvT_LI

CaptainSquirts wrote:Curious on how Les could've done with a clutch that wasn't slipping.

Actually, Les shot himself in the foot. He had a four car lead and punted 3 or 4 cones along the way and got a DSQ. He would have definitely been in the finale otherwise with no handicap!! I think he got a piece of the banana peel stuck in his clutch is all. When you are making his kind of HP a clutch won't last long for sure.

True confessions of an old autocrosser. After talking to Steve and Loren at the event I came to realize that you don't have to put an expensive roll bar into a convertible with DOT R tires. Only real race slicks. DOH. Never needed to know that in my life before. So my 100wear R888R drive to the track and back Toyo's weren't quite a quick as the 40wear used 305's I was originally going to buy used. Oh well. At least I'm older once again. I'm sure Joe would have gotten a couple more feet at the finish with actual heat cycled R tires. I should have asked. Would have spoiled the surprise. At least I'm safe in the rain driving to and from the events. It does rain in FL sometimes.

Duels are fun! Fun to race, fun to watch!

Thank you very much, Ben, and Matt too, for letting me drive your cars... I miss the Miata. One day I'll get mine ready...

I'm sorry Ben. Philip was driving like my Grandmother in the practice runs until I called him a "right wing - Ultra Conservative". Then he regained his usual insanity. At least he takes good pix/videos. Go Ben, Go Philip.

[quote="CaptainSquirts
It's not that modded compared to others. I'm surprised I won that one even with a big screw up on the last half due to me over driving it(See in vid). Maybe next year Doug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN9NFfvT_LI[/quote]

Dan,
I counted eight kaka's (shits) before you launched. You won't have to wait until the next Duel. I have plans. M2 is an open sheet without Joe there. Options remain open for my cars. I'm once again seeing two competitions irrelevant to the new scoring system where no one can break away You can run but you cannot hide. kaka

twistedwankel wrote: Wed Aug 16, 2017 9:22 pm Dan,
I counted eight kaka's (shits) before you launched. You won't have to wait until the next Duel. I have plans. M2 is an open sheet without Joe there. Options remain open for my cars. I'm once again seeing two competitions irrelevant to the new scoring system where no one can break away You can run but you cannot hide. kaka

But I am, in M1 I am hiding in. Come to M1 if you want, but I'm not the one you will have to worry about

twistedwankel wrote:

CaptainSquirts wrote:Curious on how Les could've done with a clutch that wasn't slipping.

Actually, Les shot himself in the foot. He had a four car lead and punted 3 or 4 cones along the way and got a DSQ. He would have definitely been in the finale otherwise with no handicap!! I think he got a piece of the banana peel stuck in his clutch is all. When you are making his kind of HP a clutch won't last long for sure.

Yes, I did indeed beat myself.. story of my life.. Either way though the Duel was great fun as usual and the car made it to/from as actual transportation without a need to call AAA, that is in and of itself unusual. One of these months I'll get around to putting a new clutch and brake booster in the car and maybe it will actually be fully functional again, at least temporarily. LOL Anyone have an air-conditioned shop with a lift I can borrow for a few weekends? :-)

twistedwankel wrote:I'm sorry Ben. Philip was driving like my Grandmother in the practice runs until I called him a "right wing - Ultra Conservative". Then he regained his usual insanity. At least he takes good pix/videos. Go Ben, Go Philip.

I was driving the course in my head, not the one actually in front of me. Once I fixed that I liked the event a lot more

CaptainSquirts wrote:But I am, in M1 I am hiding in. Come to M1 if you want, but I'm not the one you will have to worry about

Good thing you mentioned that. I just read the 2018 list Loren put up and whoa CS runs in S1 and M1. Thanks for the info. I forgot about M1 and M2 being affected. I will see if I can find a 3 rotor out of a sedan. I need another 100HP and some more torque. Might as well roll the fenders and run some 275 tires while I'm at it. This might get expensive.

Yes there will be more competition in m1 for my big bad stock s2000 with worn out lowering springs and 245 street tires!
Chris is the reining champion now though, vacations interrupted my racing schedule more than they did my work schedule

Mark you are quick. As are all others in M1. But. I will eventually show up with a car that is 110% faster than I can drive it. I found another old guy maybe 50 who can drive my cars 10% faster than I can repeatedly. He can also drive his car 10% faster than I can his. (We tried.) That equates to 3-4 seconds faster than I can drive on all FAST courses. So since I cannot afford a 3 rotor/turbo + coilovers + yet another set of larger wheels and rolling fenders. I'll let it go at that. If you guys cannot beat me by 10% you probably suck. All I've got is 9" rims and 255 tires on a stock CS car. We'll see come September or October. M1 and R1 will be my new stomping grounds. I'll make the best of it with the new rules. I'll probably get my friend to co-drive during the season with my lame ass S1/M1 car. How do you wear out a set of coilovers? Do they unscrew themselves?

Doug

Haha sounds like a plan. I just have lowering springs on stock shocks. I bought them very used for $60 and after a couple seasons of my driving they've completely collapsed on the rear. I'd like to get some real suspension but I'm so cheap who knows when that will ever happen. Maybe when I start getting my ass kicked on a consistent basis