924RACR
Joined: 29 Jul 2001
Posts: 9075
Location: Royal Oak, MI, USA
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 Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 12:26 am Post subject: 4M/Munk's/PUB Racing 2009 Season End Report |
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4M/Munk's Motors/PUB Racing Race 6 report
This past weekend the 4M Industries/Munk's Motors/PUB Racing team finished the 2009 Waterford Hills Race season in great form!
Not much needed to be done to prep the cars for the final weekend of racing this season; the #55 got a fresh alignment, where we determined the settings had in fact wandered a bit since the previous alignment; #77 got little more than a bath!
This weekend, all three drivers were scheduled to get some seat time: Chris Marsh, in the #55, was looking to close the deal on his first ITB Championship, coming into the weekend with a slim 7-point lead over the Mustang of John Ahoe; Merritt Collins was looking to finish out a solid rookie season in the #77, and Vaughan Scott was jumping back into the #77 for some fun laps in the co-driver race group. In addition to locking up the ITB Championship, Marsh was also looking forward to an opportunity to jump up in the overall Waterford Hills Driver Championship; coming into the weekend, he was just out of the Top Ten ranking by only a win, tied for points with 10th place - a solid performance this weekend would maximize his opportunites to leafrog anyone less fortunate in front of him.
As Friday practice unfolded, the weather pattern for the weekend was set; mixed periods of rain and drying. In fact, it turned out to be a very unpredictable weekend, with everything from sun and drying track to solid downpours, and cold throughout! Tire selection was clearly going to be a significant factor in many races, and the undoing of a number of races.
Saturday morning qualifying: Though the skies had already opened up that morning, the rain had ceased and the track had drained somewhat; though it was still damp, both drivers (Chris and Merritt) went out on drys, as the conditions didn't really seem to require rain tires. After a few laps in traffic, stuck behind less confident drivers, Chris was able to work his way free to clear track and establish a good pace. Only one car caught and passed him, an ITB Omni which went on to take the pole - with a rookie driver! This put Chris 2nd on grid, but still in fine shape. Merritt was not so lucky, being stuck the whole time in a train behind a very slow and discourteous Ahoe, who turned out to not like the damp conditions at all. Despite this very frustrating session, Merritt was able to log her best-ever qualifying session, coming in at 4th on the grid! Meanwhile Al Stephenson, who drove the VW that was on fire last race weekend, and Dave Cordier, who blew up his daughter's Mustang's motor last weekend (in front of Merritt!) were both no-shows at qualifying; they were placed 3rd and 4th in the championship at the beginning of the weekend, and their absence showed that it was down to Marsh and Ahoe to slug it out for the win. Ahoe wasn't helped by his slow pace in qualifying, ending up something like 7th on the grid, well astern of Marsh.
Saturday afternoon Class Race - once again, damp but drying conditions, resulting on the whole field pretty much on dry tires, but our team had horrible luck getting the cars ready to take the green. At the last minute before gridding, we noticed the #55's exhaust had fallen off with a broken weld at the header, after a hangar had failed! Much last-minute scrambling gave us a weak fix, with hose clamps holiding the pipes in place, but not sealed at all; Chris was under strict instructions to take it easy on track, not try too hard to win the race, and soft-pedal on the straights to not blow sound. Thankfully a major wreck in the preceding group had led to a delay for our session, allowing Chris to make it to his spot on grid.
However, with the confusion in the #55 paddock, Merritt in #77 was not noticed having problems starting the car, and by the time the car was successfully started, the grid was already rolling off, and Merritt was forced to start all the way in the back, completely losing all those spots she'd made up in qualifying. A very disappointing beginning to the race, and the confusion of the push-starting did nothing to help her settle down and get focused for the race.
The race starts, and the battle for the ITB lead is a real 3-way battle; at the same time that Marsh is working to pass the Omni (which is slower in the dry), Chris Tumpkin in his Mercury Capri is working to pass them both too! The Omni isn't helping matters by driving down the middle of the track, leaving no room to safely pass. Marsh and Tumpkin end up splitting the Omni through Paddock turn, with Marsh going around the outside (left) and Tumpkin on the inside. This leaves Marsh on the inside going into the Esses, but he loses grip on the damp concrete, slides wide, and Tumpkin has to bail off-track into the grass to avoid contact. Marsh is left in the lead, and Tumpkin rejoins a few spots further back.
With the clear track, and only faster ITS cars in front, Marsh gets to work and quickly builds a dominating lead in the mixed conditions, despite having to soft-pedal on the straights - fast enough that the crew is on pins and needles hoping not to get black-flagged for sound! But it's helped by the fact that the rest of the ITB field is bottled up further back fighting for 2nd and 3rd; the Omni eventually moves back a number of spots, and Tumpkin drops a plug wire late in the race, losing many spots and having to eventually retire. Additionally, John Ahoe is still mired well back in 6th, unable to pick up the pace due to the damp conditions. As a result, while Marsh picks up another 12 points for the win, Ahoe gets only 4 points for 6th. Added to his 7 point lead, this give Marsh 15 points on Ahoe after only the first race, and securing the ITB Championship!
One more race is left for Saturday - the Co-driver race, with Vaughan Scott at the wheel. This is a mixed group of any closed-wheel car with a second driver; there are a handful of (V8 ) Camaros, a 302 Boss Mustang, a Production Spitfire, and a fellow ITB GTI. Earlier in qualifying, which ended up nearly a dry session, Vaughan was able to secure pole by about 2 seconds over the 2nd place 302 Mustang. The race turned out to be much damper, with a dry line only just beginning to show, yet again improving to about 80% dry by the end of the race. Vaughan got good timing on the start, but the Mustang was significantly hampered by the damp, and so while he was able to pull ahead into the first turn, it wasn't enough to close on the position, and Vaughan was able to continue on the inside, with a drier line, and pull clear by turn 3. The following Spitfire also followed through, and Vaughan was able to pull well clear of the remainder of the field, leading all the way to the checkers with a win margin of 36 seconds!
Sunday morning opens up, and the clouds are back, with rain threatening. Marsh's exhaust got fixed Saturday night, between the beers - oddly enough, our next-door neighbor and former archrival Doug Spencer had the same problem happen with his ITA Nissan 240SX! So the welder was on hand already. The Sunday Class Race goes off dry, with Marsh now facing no significant challenge from the ITB field, able to run without worry about sound restrictions. Chris once again easily pulls clear and spends the race amusing himself by harassing the slower ITS 944's of Greg Steen and Christian Cook! Merritt is again stuck in the back, but once she pulls clear of her old friend in the Festiva, she's got clear track for a few laps and shows an impressive pace, logging a string of fast laps in the 1:25's before lap traffic catches her on the last lap and she's forced to disrupt her pace to let them by cleanly.
Sunday Feature Race - Chris is again on ITB pole, but though conditions are dry, some very ominous clouds are moving in and threatening to change the conditions. However the big one happens 2 laps in; a VW GTI just in front of Merritt loses control over Hilltop, spins off track down the hill, barrel rolls twice, catches the outside tire wall, and then goes end-over-end twice! Sorry, no video; it wasn't working! Driver is OK, if shaken; the race is black-flagged and all are pulled in to the pits while the mess is cleaned up and the tire wall restored.
After sorting out a discombobulated mess in the pits, the field goes back out behind the pace car for a single-file restart, as the clouds open up and start to wet down the track. Marsh again quickly opens the gap on Ahoe and the rest of the field, once again pestering the slower ITS 944s all the way to the checker; Merritt has a good restart, but isn't quite able to hold the pace after getting a ringside seat to the biggest, most spectacular crash of the weekend! But she holds her pace, the rain helps her maintain her position, and she brings the #77 home in one piece to race again next year!
Final tally for the weekend - Chris sweeps all 3 races (a first for him!), wins his championship, and we believe also has jumped up to 6th in the 2009 Driver's Championship/Top Ten! We'll be proudly passing the ITB Championship trophy along from Vaughan to Chris in two weeks at the Awards Banquet - congratulations Chris, and Crew Chief Angela!
Thanks again to all our crew for making this season possible and so successful: Angela Grooters (Chris's Crew Chief), Erik Orhnberger (Merritt's Crew Chief in training), Gregg Grooters (Vaughan's Crew Chief), Todd Quenneville our Fabricator, and Greg Luckinbill.
Thanks also to our sponsors 4M Industries and Munk's Motors, and a special thanks to Mazuro Motors for building a winning motor for the #55 car!
Now to get cracking on that D Sports Racer... 
_________________
Vaughan Scott
Webmeister
'79 924 #77 SCCA H Prod racecar
'82 931 Plat. Silver
#25 Hidari Firefly P2 sports prototype |
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