TWS Super Tour - March 9-11
- Thread starter EPrill
- Start date
David Dewhurst
Well-known member
A new commer in E production from Spec Miata in Matt Reynolds. :applause:
JasonIsley99
Well-known member
EPrill":poprkjdl said:
The BFGoodrich Tires Surfing Tour?
hoffman900
Well-known member
David Dewhurst":16immvq5 said:
What car is he driving?
It should be interesting to see what one of the top dogs in Spec Miata can do in a prod car.
edit: I saw on the SCCA site that it's a Miata.
blamkin86
Well-known member
For Sunday's races the entries per class were:
in no particular order.
SM 29
STO 2
T2 3
GT2 1
SSB 3
AS 3
GT3 1
FM 8
CSR 1
FE 4
FA 2
S2 1
SRF 23
EP 9
STU 5
FP 5
HP 4
STL 4
SSC 2
FF 5
FV 11
F5 5
Invitational classes in bold green
Now for the elements that may have caused a skew in the data:
It was a combined super tour and major
The fair weather racers ran home crying to mommy.
So take all that for what it is worth
A giant THANK YOU to all the the drivers who stuck it out.
Workers, we could not have done it without you. Thank you just does not seem cut the mustard for what you all went through this weekend.
in no particular order.
SM 29
STO 2
T2 3
GT2 1
SSB 3
AS 3
GT3 1
FM 8
CSR 1
FE 4
FA 2
S2 1
SRF 23
EP 9
STU 5
FP 5
HP 4
STL 4
SSC 2
FF 5
FV 11
F5 5
Invitational classes in bold green
Now for the elements that may have caused a skew in the data:
It was a combined super tour and major
The fair weather racers ran home crying to mommy.
So take all that for what it is worth
A giant THANK YOU to all the the drivers who stuck it out.
Workers, we could not have done it without you. Thank you just does not seem cut the mustard for what you all went through this weekend.
Matt Blehm
Moderator
hoffman900":2xn4rqtu said:
Reynolds EP car looked just like his SM... It is my belief that he was simply double-entering his car. And yes, the rain will do some crazy stuff like put an SM at the front of small bore Prod & GT.. In the big bore class, Galerne in his STO Viper ran away with it both days, but Grahovec in his SSB Bimmer and a couple T2 cars took 2/3/4 each day. The GT1 and GT2 cars were being lapped by the [typically] slowest cars in the field. Rain is truly a freaky thing.
Man this weekend was rough for me. My car was just evil the entire weekend- never could get the rear end to stick. the damn car was sideways going in and coming out of just about every corner. (and sometimes exiting backwards..) My apologies to those I spun in front of. I was just trying to survive the weekend and stay out of the fast guys way. At least I finished on the lead lap Sunday- that at least made me feel better..
Just for grins, I took a few shots of the conditions while working T13. I REALLY wish I'd have had video of the Sat SM start. On lap one, we at least a dozen cars off on the outside of 12 plus a metal-to-metal on Reynolds after re-entry, but we only got numbers on about 9 of the offroaders. Fortunately all were able to continue.
David Dewhurst
Well-known member
Matt93SE":19mjaaz8 said:
Maybe he was just getting some easy early season E points. :wink:
EPrill
Well-known member
Got back yesterday afternoon, got unloaded, dried everything out, washed the grime off the car. Yuk!
Despite the conditions, it was still a fun weekend. Racing always is. Good bunch of folks down there in Texas. Too bad the weather kept most of us from wandering the paddock too much. Glad Walmart had big tall rubber boots. Those saved us in Lake Kansas, where we paddocked (won't do that again if rain is in the forecast).
I met Matt Reynolds about 5 years ago. He was probably about 18 at the time and had been running Spec Miata. He won the National (Nation-wide) points Championship a few years back. Good driver. Did some tire testing for SCCA a few years back as well. Smooth, safe and fast. He and his dad Dave have acquired Terry Jesk's 99 Miata EP car and it's sitting in Jesse Prather's shop getting finished up. I expect Matt to make a quick transition and be an immediate contender for the 2012 National Championship. He has been running his SM in EP the first 2 National weekends in SW Div to get some points. Expect to see him in that car at Hallett.
Matt is certainly a good driver and has many many laps around TWS. A SM running out front of the entire field may seem a bit crazy, but given the conditions, it really wasn't. He was on Hoosier's H2O, which is a really amazing rain tire. Also, as someone may have mentioned, the lower power actually serves a little like traction control and likely helped everywhere but on the oval part. He did a very good job on Saturday and Sunday. Jesse got him in the end on Sunday. It was probably just a matter of time as the track dried out. We all killed our rains in Sunday's race as a lot of the track had developed good grip.
Really looking forward to Hallett next month!
Despite the conditions, it was still a fun weekend. Racing always is. Good bunch of folks down there in Texas. Too bad the weather kept most of us from wandering the paddock too much. Glad Walmart had big tall rubber boots. Those saved us in Lake Kansas, where we paddocked (won't do that again if rain is in the forecast).
I met Matt Reynolds about 5 years ago. He was probably about 18 at the time and had been running Spec Miata. He won the National (Nation-wide) points Championship a few years back. Good driver. Did some tire testing for SCCA a few years back as well. Smooth, safe and fast. He and his dad Dave have acquired Terry Jesk's 99 Miata EP car and it's sitting in Jesse Prather's shop getting finished up. I expect Matt to make a quick transition and be an immediate contender for the 2012 National Championship. He has been running his SM in EP the first 2 National weekends in SW Div to get some points. Expect to see him in that car at Hallett.
Matt is certainly a good driver and has many many laps around TWS. A SM running out front of the entire field may seem a bit crazy, but given the conditions, it really wasn't. He was on Hoosier's H2O, which is a really amazing rain tire. Also, as someone may have mentioned, the lower power actually serves a little like traction control and likely helped everywhere but on the oval part. He did a very good job on Saturday and Sunday. Jesse got him in the end on Sunday. It was probably just a matter of time as the track dried out. We all killed our rains in Sunday's race as a lot of the track had developed good grip.
Really looking forward to Hallett next month!
Most certainly Matt will be a contender. He is very good and one of the smoothest drivers out there in SM. I was wandering where he would end up because I had talked to them last year about buying my car to run in F Production.
Good Luck to Matt and welcome to Production.
Good Luck to Matt and welcome to Production.
James Rogerson
Well-known member
I'll concur on Matt's driving. The '99 SM is a good car and in the rain with both bars undone and the Hoosier H2O tire it is much better than any Prod car with stiff suspension even with soft settings on the shocks and bars loose. Matt is very fast, always up front, and almost always comes in with a clean car. He's a real contender and someone that'll get my vote in 2012 to reach the podium.
Now that I've run on rain tires, I'll have to admit that I made the wrong choice at the runoffs last year. Hindsight always being the best. :roll:
The Honda was just cooking this past weekend and I was just along for the ride. I'll try to find time to post some video as I got to run mid pack EP/FP both days. Got to watch some pretty good racing and tried my best to let the FP and EP guys have their own race and just tag along right behind them.
The HP camp just had a series of misfortune this weekend. RH lost his clutch early Sat or Friday and did an engine pull and replace in 6" of water. RWeber lost some valves in an off Saturday and Jr. and Sr. Trenery were fighting the rain gods all weekend. I slept in the truck most of the weekend and the Over 50 guys just woke me up and said, "Get on track." Somehow I was fast. Even with all the rain it was a good race weekend. STU is getting some really fast cars in it.
James
Now that I've run on rain tires, I'll have to admit that I made the wrong choice at the runoffs last year. Hindsight always being the best. :roll:
The Honda was just cooking this past weekend and I was just along for the ride. I'll try to find time to post some video as I got to run mid pack EP/FP both days. Got to watch some pretty good racing and tried my best to let the FP and EP guys have their own race and just tag along right behind them.
The HP camp just had a series of misfortune this weekend. RH lost his clutch early Sat or Friday and did an engine pull and replace in 6" of water. RWeber lost some valves in an off Saturday and Jr. and Sr. Trenery were fighting the rain gods all weekend. I slept in the truck most of the weekend and the Over 50 guys just woke me up and said, "Get on track." Somehow I was fast. Even with all the rain it was a good race weekend. STU is getting some really fast cars in it.
James
James Rogerson
Well-known member
Here are my race videos:
Saturday: Saturday lots of rain!
Sunday: Started out wet and then dried out.
Saturday is probably boring as hell after the start. Sunday is pretty busy from start to finish as I got accustomed to the rain tires and could run with the EP and FP guys.
James -R
Saturday: Saturday lots of rain!
Sunday: Started out wet and then dried out.
Saturday is probably boring as hell after the start. Sunday is pretty busy from start to finish as I got accustomed to the rain tires and could run with the EP and FP guys.
James -R
Paul Pineider
Well-known member
Nice job James! That was fun for sure. That little Honda sure can go. The battle of the E cars in front of James was for 3rd as it turned out. I definitely need to work on tightening up my line 
The track was pretty damp up until the end. While I run Goodyear slicks, I have to say the Hoosier rains were without a doubt the must have tire. I'm a believer!
I have never had it rain so much at any event I've ever been to, so to end the weekend on a positive like that was huge. It was nice to see all the out of town folks come down for the race Jesse, Eric, Bill and others.
The track was pretty damp up until the end. While I run Goodyear slicks, I have to say the Hoosier rains were without a doubt the must have tire. I'm a believer! I have never had it rain so much at any event I've ever been to, so to end the weekend on a positive like that was huge. It was nice to see all the out of town folks come down for the race Jesse, Eric, Bill and others.
EPrill
Well-known member
Here's some video from Sunday. Missed the last 2 laps because the battery died in the GoPro. The stock box killed me at the start and the Pontiac didn't go so I got to watch everyone drive by!
http://youtu.be/Dd7FAJCixts
http://youtu.be/Dd7FAJCixts
James Rogerson
Well-known member
Ahh! STU Hell, I know it well.
EPrill
Well-known member
James Rogerson":tas4vj4h said:
yea, it was okay as I had built up a good cushion to the next F car. McClughan probably wanted me between he and Koller and I didn't want to mess with their race so I let David by. Once I got comfortable with where the grip was, I suspected I was the fastest car on the track but there was no sense in trying something risky with the STU cars, so I just held back.
I did try to pass Joe on the last lap but I was dealing with a poor throttle response. Think something in the electronics didn't like all the rain. Got next to Joe in the final series of corners, but when I went to the gas in 2nd gear nothing happened and he drove off. No big deal. He was entertaining to watch slide that old WCTC car! Between Joe and Austin's worn out tires, there was some good entertainment out there, watching cars slide around.