Live thread: 2023 SCCA Runoffs at VIR

Is anybody here on their way to VIR?

In reply to Colin Wood :

I'll be down there with some friends Saturday (9/30)

May Show Up Sat   My Ex-Boss is engineering on a GT3 car

Today, September 26, is the first of three qualifying sessions.

Results can be viewed here: 2023 Runoffs Qualifying Days – Qual 1

I am here racing this week - if you're in the area stop by & say hi.  HP #80, green & yellow spridget. 

For some reason I'm working from home on Friday.....I love watching it on the computer 

Mike Ogren and family are there with the Red #99 HP Scirocco.

I'm here as well racing in my first runoffs after racing regional for years. 

STL #65 - 2nd gen rx7 white with black and green stripes. 

I'm paddocked just outside the Mazda area if anyone wants to stop by. Always good to meet GRMers in person. 

It's almost race day. Anybody else getting excited?

I don't know how much I'll be able to watch while I'm working, but I'm hoping to tune in for a least a few minutes.

It's really cool that the video's are available, I hope they bring it back in 2026 to Mid-O. Good luck to everyone involved this year. 

A few updates from the SCCA:

Decisive Tire Rack Pole Day

The last day of Runoffs qualifying each year is today: Tire Rack Pole Day. By day’s end, we’ll know starting grids for the three upcoming Hagerty Race Days, and we’ll know the 24 Tire Rack Pole Award winners, each of which gets $500 to spend at Tire Rack, as well as some prestigious swag.

Starting on pole can have both a competitive and psychological advantage as racers take to the track for their 15-lap or 40-minute contests that decide SCCA National Champions for the year. History shows things can sometimes get “interesting” through the first couple turns during race starts at VIR. When the green flag flies, drivers on pole may have a cleaner run through those opening corners, and that can make all the difference.

Tire Rack, the Official Tire Retailer of SCCA since 1995, was established more than 40 years ago by an SCCA member with a passion to find the right tires, wheels, and now brakes and suspension products for racers and enthusiasts. Along with the Runoffs Pole Award, Tire Rack also supports SCCA’s National Solo program, Time Trials Nationals and National Tour, and Track Night in America.

Tire Rack Pole Award winners will be celebrated at the end of the day in victory circle. First, however, all the SCCA volunteers making the Runoffs happen behind the scenes will be treated to lunch Thursday thanks to Tire Rack.

Bringing a Cadillac to a Gunfight

It’s not really “knife to a gunfight” territory, but John Heinricy’s run to a 17th National Championship comes with more question marks than his past efforts.

While Touring 2 is full of proven monsters – the 996 and 997 generations Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars, the power of the Dodge Viper, the BMW M2, the Ford Mustang, and the C5 Corvette, to name a few – Heinricy is bringing a Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing that was released as a street car for the first time in 2022. And it’s in a class loaded with names that could start a Who’s Who discussion of SCCA road racers – Mark Boden, Kurt Rezzetano, and Scotty B. White are all annual contenders for the podium.

So can the Cadillac, sporting a bevy of stock parts, compete? If anyone can make it happen, it’s Heinricy. Though the 75-year-old veteran would become the second-oldest to claim a crown if he won this year, he’s just two years removed from his last title. And as one of the engineers on the team that launched Cadillac’s V-Series line in the early 2000s, he knows his way around the car. We’re not going to count the “Heinrocket” out yet.

Heard Heinricy say yesterday in a SCCA inteview that he is 77!

Interested in the GT3 race

By Ex boss and his team are Q2 for the Race

Thanks

In reply to MauryH :

John  and I rook part in  the Same Driving School in 19 0- E36 M3 at Nelson's Ledges.  

FWIW, I beat him in the race at the end of the school,  Pass him coming out of the last Turn (Carousel)  heading on to te the Front Straight to the Start Finish Line.

Glorious Day for the 1983 Shelby Charger

John want to Gm and Road Racing I went to NASCAB

What might have been

LOL

RacingComputers said:

Interested in the GT3 race

 

By Ex boss and his team are Q2 for the Race

 

 

Thanks

I assume you're talking about Barry and Jeff?

It's race day No. 1, and the action should be kicking off shortly.

In reply to grafmiata :

Yellow GT3 Toyoya

Hoyt Overbaugh engineering

Spec Pinãta started at 1 and we're already under a black flag! Shocking!

In reply to hobiercr :

Looked a bit nasty hope everyone is OK.

Miatas are not supposed to fly that high.  

In reply to Tom1200 :

Yep, but thankfully no one hit the car that spun back into traffic. The flip looked pretty impressive. Hope they had their HANS device properly attached.

Yeah, just saw the carnage from Spec Miata. I heard that the barrier has to be replaced. 

Screen grab from FB:

Also, no GT1 race due to low car count? That’s a bummer to hear. 

In reply to hobiercr :

It's an awfully long delay; I'm not getting a good vibe.

EDIT: I posted before the barrier comment so hopefully the driver is fine.

The chat comments... "BTW, congrats to Rob Hines for taking out a 14 yo kid!

SMH

5 min warning for restart.

So, quick Runoffs story.

I went to University of Georgia, so not far at all from Road Atlanta.

There was an insert in the school paper* promoting the Runoffs!

* Technically we didn’t have a school paper; instead, we had an independent paper that served the school community. 

Update from Rupert, our man on the scene. 

supposedly someone drew a phallus on the whiteboard and walked down the grid...

^ Best thing that's happened so far

This class does NOT disappoint. Some amazing driving.

David S. Wallens said:

Also, no GT1 race due to low car count? That’s a bummer to hear. 

Apparently only 2 cars were left for Tuesday's qualifying.  I also heard that the Formula Atlantic race was dropped for low car count.

Any update on the GT3 Race?

Thanks

GT3 results in order of finish:
44 Ave
63 Dernehl
37 Montague
56 Hollingshead
7 Stephenson
98 Proctor
3 cars (26/32/41) out with mechanicals.
Relatively spread out field. 5/6 race was close.

Love the P2 cars.............seeing as they are the new version of D-sports Racer.

I drove a Stohr some 20 years ago and what phenomenal cars.

In reply to hobiercr :

Thank you for the GT3 Race Update

And the day 2 live feed is...live:

Not a great showcase for smx. Let's hope tomorrow is better.

Tough break for the RX7 in EP. Looked like his left front locked up when he got it in the grass. Not sure what happened.

STL starting now. Hong Norr Integra starting in 3rd.

FV Rallycross!

One complaint I have about the live feed coverage I've watched (admittedly sporadically): there's never a real explanation of a class in terms of HP or weight. Just, using GT3 as an example, "these cars make less power than the GT2, but are lighter, as well." Are the rules for classes too complex to reduce down to either a HP/weight ratio and/or max HP, min weight, etc? Do they assume if you're watching, you already know? 

And second, why don't they display lap time for anyone? They just show delta off of P1, and occasionally discuss a fast lap time in the commentary, but never actually have anyone's lap time on screen.

Sunday coverage is now live:

What a great Formula Ford race!

STU race is a must see. Holy crap!

Absolutely! What a wild ride.

In reply to Racebrick :

I only wish they could have more camera feeds. A couple of missed bits and pretty much all of Herr's drive. What an emotional race.

Winning HP car brings the GRM love.

The hp winner is a good friend of mine, and i would have been there crewing if i had not been sick this week. Glad to see a win for him.

In reply to Racebrick :

He walked away from the field. Perfect setup for the conditions. He had a super smooth run.

The F600 race was an absolute barn burner........

Tom1200 said:

The F600 race was an absolute barn burner........

Agreed, the front three put on a great show. Too bad this class, and several others can't get 20+ grids though.

Racebrick said:

The hp winner is a good friend of mine, and i would have been there crewing if i had not been sick this week. Glad to see a win for him.

Is this Schaafsma the same guy who ran HP in the 90s?

In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :

Once upon a time F500/F600 had 25 car grids.

Most of the formula car classes are down........cuz Miatas.

Tom1200 said:

The F600 race was an absolute barn burner........

Yeah, I don't know if there was a single lap without a lead change and that period where it was a 3 way gunfight for the lead....  I need to get out of the parking lots and out on the track... Really really good race.

In reply to Apexcarver :

highly recommend it, I'm having a ton of fun this year with it, even though I've been struggling with reliability (mostly due to my stupidity)

In reply to Tom1200 :

If we keep putting up races like that then we will have bigger fields.  Within 2 hours of that race there were 2 posts on the F600 FB page looking for 3 cars.

L5wolvesf said:

Racebrick said:

The hp winner is a good friend of mine, and i would have been there crewing if i had not been sick this week. Glad to see a win for him.

Is this Schaafsma the same guy who ran HP in the 90s?

No he started in IT in the 00's

In reply to triumph7 :

I was seriously considering Jason Martin's old car but needed to finish the Rotax conversion in my 87 Novakar and so I didn't pull the trigger.

In reply to Tom1200 :

I'm just dumb enough of an engineer to think that after I campaign my KBSmk7 494 for awhile it would be fun to scratch build a motorcycle powered car for the class...

In reply to Apexcarver :

We've talked upgrading my car so it can be SCCA legal again but it's easier to just buy a newer car. 

Note I want a newer F600 and after the kitchen is done next year I may buy one...............we'll see.

In the meantime I will continue autocrossing and vintage racing the Novakar. The less than well grounded me hopes that more F500s will get vintage raced.  Mine is the 3rd Novakar built so I'm hoping that will give it more value at some point.

For those folks who've never driven a F600/F-mod you're missing out.  As Jason Martin demonstrated you can chuck these cars into corners and sliding them around is actually fast which makes them fantastic to drive.

In reply to Tom1200 :

The motorcycle powered ones are also the best sounding cars on the track, imo. 15k redline ftw

In reply to gixxeropa :

Plus EFI, no jetting, no choke to start and flooding,  no clutching adjustments...

The CVT is fun, but the bike motor looks to be pretty easygoing for setup and such.

In reply to Apexcarver :

Since the engine has to remain stock and a power commander is the about only thing you can do to the tune, there's not much to worry about as far as the engine goes, and changing sprockets for gearing is easier to wrap my head around than cvt tuning 

In reply to gixxeropa :

On my car I used the CVT set up is fromthe now defunct F500 forum; it covers 95% of most courses. For the level I run at, it works fine.

If I were attempting to do the RunOffs I'd likely go with a bike engined car. Mostly becuase I am the crew chief and the driver.

James Wieda continues to prove 2-strokes can be competitve.

So far, I've watched the Sunday races and most of Saturday.  I've never seen so much bad racing.  Don't get me wrong, there has been some good racing, and a few good finishes, but overall, the racing skills and etiquette on the track is sub-par.  Lots of 'I have 1/8th " of overlap, he should give me room' mentality on display.

Lots of drivers out there, but not many RACERS.

Jason Martin just posted his in-car video, enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHdQcV3HBUA

In reply to triumph7 :

Awesome stuff and WOW didn't realize they clanged together that hard on the last lap.

This is why I love racing this class of car........utterly fantastic to drive.

racerfink said:

So far, I've watched the Sunday races and most of Saturday.  I've never seen so much bad racing.  Don't get me wrong, there has been some good racing, and a few good finishes, but overall, the racing skills and etiquette on the track is sub-par.  Lots of 'I have 1/8th " of overlap, he should give me room' mentality on display.

Lots of drivers out there, but not many RACERS.

Well, it is amateur racing.  Most are amateurs & thats what you get.

Posted elsewhere but here's my summary:

Post runoffs notes / ramble -

Monday Dinner - tasty food trucks but kinda bummed it was extra $$. Beer was free as well as the cool SCCA 60th anniversary plastic cups - I balanced it out to my advantage (8 pints of Yuenling > food truck cost)

Weds Block party - more beer than last year but less food. Party started at 6 and all spots were out of food by 7. Beer lasted all night (9 ish).

All participants dinner - great food and more free beer.

Qualifying - I almost wish they could combine classes and shorten others. Would prefer to have a practice and qual session as part of the tuesday / weds / thursday schedule (2 sessions a day would be sweet). There were a lot of sessions with only a few cars out there.

Vendors, or lack of - whats up with that? barely any and no racing parts vendor. I had people asking me for oil, hose clamps, etc. And no Dyno? At a power track?

I was a bit bummed at my finish but overall I'm pleased. No real changes to the car aside from shocks & down on power - yet 6 seconds faster than last runoffs. Still down another 7 seconds & 10 MPH off the front cars; I'm not sure this will do any better at Road America. However I think I have a lot to learn on how to drive VIR - I know I left time on the table.

SCCA did put a data logger in my car for the race. Not sure what an Aim Solo 2 gathers by itself but now the SCCA knows.

If anyone wants to see what its like to bring a knife to a gunfight -

I zinged my engine a few times as it popped out of 2nd. I got almost to the end of the race and the rear EGT went from 1400 to 200. I also found that I could get a good launch at oak tree if I lightly hopped the inside corner - this would put the right side up in the air and I had a snap spin around lap 10.

Overall 8/10 - good times.

In reply to Kendall_Jones :

How many H-Prod cars were there? I still have my HP 850 (in pieces).

In reply to L5wolvesf :

You need to put it back together and come vintage racing with us.