Big thanks to Ben, Paul, Todd, et. al. from Stasis, I had a great weekend @ St. Pete!
04-02-2006, 01:31 PM
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Big thanks to Ben, Paul, Todd, et. al. from Stasis, I had a great weekend @ St. Pete!
I enjoyed getting to hang out behind the scenes of a World Challenge Touring Car team, it was very interesting watching how professionals tackle a race weekend. I enjoyed meeting Justin (sfourteen), John (AudiJohn) and others.
Of course the regular work of preparing the cars for the race was broken up by evenings of dubachery worthy of being associated with a race weekend. I especially enjoyed the trips to the cabaret across the street from the Motel
All three Audi drivers did extremely well today. There is some serious talent behind the wheels of the Stasis Engineering cars. If you guys haven't been following their progress so far this season, it's going to be worth-while to get caught up and watch them duke it out with the factory efforts of Acura, Mazda and Honda.
Some pics from this weekend:
<img src="http://images17.fotki.com/v297/photos/6/681510/3399445/DSC00430-vi.jpg">
Jeff Courtney's car: Jeff is a serious contender. He comes from racing chassis cars (Panoz) and it was really impressive watching his car control and the way he sifted through traffic; there were a couple times he had a nose in on the car in front of him, but he was very patient and waited for the right time to make his move.
<img src="http://images16.fotki.com/v288/photos/6/681510/3399445/DSC00431-vi.jpg">
<img src="http://images1.fotki.com/v8/photos/6/681510/3399445/DSC00432-vi.jpg">
<img src="http://images4.fotki.com/v38/photos/6/681510/3399445/DSC00433-vi.jpg">
Christian Miller's Auto... very unpimped, but fast.
<img src="http://images1.fotki.com/v4/photos/6/681510/3399445/DSC00434-vi.jpg">
Paul reviewing data with Chip and Freddy
<img src="http://images2.fotki.com/v23/photos/6/681510/3399445/DSC00435-vi.jpg">
Nice Line-Up!
<img src="http://images1.fotki.com/v290/photos/6/681510/3399445/DSC00436-vi.jpg">
Chip ready to rock and roll.
<img src="http://images16.fotki.com/v287/photos/6/681510/3399445/DSC00437-vi.jpg">
FROM THE RACE:
The start of the race was pretty "interesting". I won't spoil it for anyone, but an SRT4 backed into the wall right in front of where I was standing. The car still had the back glass and it shattered upon impact, sprinkling me with little bits of factory Mopar goodness.
<img src="http://images16.fotki.com/v278/photos/6/681510/3399445/DSC00438-vi.jpg">
Repairing the wall - I helped move the second chain-link fence so the guys could get the forklift down the narrow corridor... obviously the impact was significant, but the driver wasn't hurt at all, just pissed.
<img src="http://images9.fotki.com/v190/photos/6/681510/3399445/DSC00439-vi.jpg">
Chip driving by:
<img src="http://images1.fotki.com/v4/photos/6/681510/3399445/DSC00440-vi.jpg">
When the wall got moved back, it ran over some t.v. cables, severing them.
<img src="http://images2.fotki.com/v23/photos/6/681510/3399445/DSC00441-vi.jpg">
That's it... Stasis will have a press release for our reading pleasure. They have a lot to be proud of this weekend.
Of course the regular work of preparing the cars for the race was broken up by evenings of dubachery worthy of being associated with a race weekend. I especially enjoyed the trips to the cabaret across the street from the Motel
All three Audi drivers did extremely well today. There is some serious talent behind the wheels of the Stasis Engineering cars. If you guys haven't been following their progress so far this season, it's going to be worth-while to get caught up and watch them duke it out with the factory efforts of Acura, Mazda and Honda.
Some pics from this weekend:
<img src="http://images17.fotki.com/v297/photos/6/681510/3399445/DSC00430-vi.jpg">
Jeff Courtney's car: Jeff is a serious contender. He comes from racing chassis cars (Panoz) and it was really impressive watching his car control and the way he sifted through traffic; there were a couple times he had a nose in on the car in front of him, but he was very patient and waited for the right time to make his move.
<img src="http://images16.fotki.com/v288/photos/6/681510/3399445/DSC00431-vi.jpg">
<img src="http://images1.fotki.com/v8/photos/6/681510/3399445/DSC00432-vi.jpg">
<img src="http://images4.fotki.com/v38/photos/6/681510/3399445/DSC00433-vi.jpg">
Christian Miller's Auto... very unpimped, but fast.
<img src="http://images1.fotki.com/v4/photos/6/681510/3399445/DSC00434-vi.jpg">
Paul reviewing data with Chip and Freddy
<img src="http://images2.fotki.com/v23/photos/6/681510/3399445/DSC00435-vi.jpg">
Nice Line-Up!
<img src="http://images1.fotki.com/v290/photos/6/681510/3399445/DSC00436-vi.jpg">
Chip ready to rock and roll.
<img src="http://images16.fotki.com/v287/photos/6/681510/3399445/DSC00437-vi.jpg">
FROM THE RACE:
The start of the race was pretty "interesting". I won't spoil it for anyone, but an SRT4 backed into the wall right in front of where I was standing. The car still had the back glass and it shattered upon impact, sprinkling me with little bits of factory Mopar goodness.
<img src="http://images16.fotki.com/v278/photos/6/681510/3399445/DSC00438-vi.jpg">
Repairing the wall - I helped move the second chain-link fence so the guys could get the forklift down the narrow corridor... obviously the impact was significant, but the driver wasn't hurt at all, just pissed.
<img src="http://images9.fotki.com/v190/photos/6/681510/3399445/DSC00439-vi.jpg">
Chip driving by:
<img src="http://images1.fotki.com/v4/photos/6/681510/3399445/DSC00440-vi.jpg">
When the wall got moved back, it ran over some t.v. cables, severing them.
<img src="http://images2.fotki.com/v23/photos/6/681510/3399445/DSC00441-vi.jpg">
That's it... Stasis will have a press release for our reading pleasure. They have a lot to be proud of this weekend.
04-03-2006, 07:18 AM
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Yeah...that was a VERY weird crash. Watched it on Tivo yesterday. It looked like that SRT4's...
throttle was stuck in reverse????? How it got that way...who knows. But the car SHOT across the track and never slowed. Which I found VERY weird. Any input on that? Was a decent race, tho the track doesn't offer many passing points. I had fun also hanging out with the crew at Sebring. Maybe next year Ben will get me the all access specialties. You get that cover yet? Or have you not been to the west yet? Later
04-03-2006, 08:06 AM
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I haven't been back west yet... this coming weekend.
Can't wait to check it out!!!
Yeah, the wreck was crazy... really weird watching it take place in real life. I saw the carnage begin a ways down the track and as the cars started to make their way to where I was standing, I would have never guessed the mahem would have ran that far down. I think when the SRT spun it might have been pushed by one of the cars behind it, keeping the momentum going. When it started to turn towards the outside wall, I started getting nervous, not for my own safety, but for the safety of the driver; I thought for sure he was going to get t-boned and I didn't really wanna witness that. It wasn't until he miraculously cleared the entire width of the track without incident that I realized the *** end of that car was aimed directly for me - that's when I thought it might be a good idea to get away from the wall. Like I mentioned, upon impact the glass shattered out of the back and gave me a nice shower. Pretty exciting.
Oh and a little FYI, sometimes the hot pit is the worst place to watch the race Very glamorous though!
Yeah, the wreck was crazy... really weird watching it take place in real life. I saw the carnage begin a ways down the track and as the cars started to make their way to where I was standing, I would have never guessed the mahem would have ran that far down. I think when the SRT spun it might have been pushed by one of the cars behind it, keeping the momentum going. When it started to turn towards the outside wall, I started getting nervous, not for my own safety, but for the safety of the driver; I thought for sure he was going to get t-boned and I didn't really wanna witness that. It wasn't until he miraculously cleared the entire width of the track without incident that I realized the *** end of that car was aimed directly for me - that's when I thought it might be a good idea to get away from the wall. Like I mentioned, upon impact the glass shattered out of the back and gave me a nice shower. Pretty exciting.
Oh and a little FYI, sometimes the hot pit is the worst place to watch the race
Very glamorous though!
04-03-2006, 08:21 AM
#4
good writeup Pat!
Ben is a Jedi master..... trained in the art of swaying you to the Dark Side. Soon you will have all of the STaSIS goodies on your car - or better yet, you will own a B5 STaSIS Chassis MMMMMuuUUUuuUUAAAHAHAHAHAHAA! *evil villian voice*
04-03-2006, 09:35 AM
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Heh, jedi master... yes.
<Ben>"These aren't the flag girls you're looking for.."</Ben> LMAO
As far as me owning a B5 chassis... well, I've already got one of those, but let's see what we can put together for a rental.
And don't I have enough Stasis goodies on my car already!?!?
As far as me owning a B5 chassis... well, I've already got one of those, but let's see what we can put together for a rental.
And don't I have enough Stasis goodies on my car already!?!?
04-03-2006, 11:23 AM
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That crash was nuts. I watched it over and over on Tivo when I got home to see what happened.
It doesn't make any sense what happened to the SRT4 unless the driver somehow got the car into reverse and was trying to quickly spin it around and continue. He's lucky he didn't get hit hard, but if you watch the replay... as he shoots across the track, he peels the back bumper of a passing bmw right off and the bmw continues without even a wiggle.
That's the risk though when you toss 40 touring cars on a narrow front straight of a street course. As cool as the concept of street courses are, the inherent risk of racing is magnified. If you spin or drop wheels off track at Sebring or VIR or Laguna, there is a chance of recovering with only a damaged ego. On street courses, if you put a wheel wrong anywhere, there's guaranteed carnage.
That's the risk though when you toss 40 touring cars on a narrow front straight of a street course. As cool as the concept of street courses are, the inherent risk of racing is magnified. If you spin or drop wheels off track at Sebring or VIR or Laguna, there is a chance of recovering with only a damaged ego. On street courses, if you put a wheel wrong anywhere, there's guaranteed carnage.
04-03-2006, 12:16 PM
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Yeah, that SRT-4 didn't get T-boned...but another car did in that whole mayhem. Can't remember...
which car it was tho. Glad you had a good time and you didn't get jacked up from that.
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04-03-2006, 04:36 PM
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Ah, we followed the team onto the front straight, and into the pits just before the race...
Just tried to look like we were supposed to be there. I had my camera with my huge lens out and around my neck and my headset on. I just walked in the middle of a group of people and nobody said anything. We couldn't see much, but luckily there were TVs and screens showing the rest of the action.