Lunatick Racing

2018 has been a very good year for Lunatick Racing, as I finished the requirements for my novice license with a pair of races at Watkins Glen and Pitt Race, followed by my first races on the Full Comp license at Watkins Glen and Thompson Speedway.   This report is for the latter race, which was also my first solo event, without my usual paddock mates to help with the inevitable problems and issues that arise.

Since this was the last event of the season, I decided to double dip and run in both Group 2 (SM) and Group 8 (SM2).   The Thursday test day gave us five short sessions on track, every hour on the hour from 9AM to 1PM, since there was an SCCA Track Night in America event immediately after wards.   The only thing bad about this was that it made calculating and measuring tire pressure a bit tedious, because the turn around was so quick, they didn’t fully cool between sessions.   The car ran flawlessly all day, and I was able to reliably replicate some good low 1:27 lap times, which would only improve throughout the event.

Running in two classes meant four sessions each day.  On Friday, there were a pair of qualifying sessions in the morning, with a pair of races in the afternoon, and Saturday had four races, two in the morning, two in the afternoon.   I ended up running in five out of the six, and bailed on the final SM2 race, in order to avoid getting home exhausted at 2AM.   It turns out the tow home is almost all freeways (well…    they aren’t really *free* in the Northeast, but when you roll through all those toll gates using an EZ-Pass, it’s easy to forget how much $$$ is being sucked out of your bank account), and only took about 3.5 hours, including a pit stop for fuel and snacks.

This course had one very unusual hazard we were warned about during the driver’s meeting: turtles, and big ones that can end your event, or your year, in a very expensive manner.   Apparently, when it’s warm, they like to run across the track for reasons known only to them, in the T9 to T11 section.   In a Miata, you are flat out in 3rd gear going through T10, hanging on for dear life on the edge, and now you have to look for misguided, suicidal terrapins making a mad dash in front of you.   Last year, at a vintage race, a big one (as in, a shell 2-3 feet in diameter) ran in front of a ‘vette, and all they found was the front legs, and a lot of shell parts.   That means the rest of it was attached to the undercarriage of the destroyed race car, and someone, somewhere, has some truly disgusting photos of the post-event repair session that must have been required.

I am shocked to say that I was actually happy that it was a bit cold all three days.  I never saw a single turtle, but I never stopped looking for the bastards when I turned into T9.

I am personally thrilled with how the weekend unfolded, as I never even put two wheels off track all weekend, ran consistent lap times, and got incrementally faster as the event went on.  Plus, I managed to not hit or get hit by anyone or anything, which is always a bonus.  By the end of the last race, I was able to put down mid 1:26s pretty reliably.   I had the inevitable mechanical challenge, but it was minor compared to the headaches that tried to throw me off earlier in the year.   The rear mounting bracket on the exhaust snapped off (failed weld), and I had to perform a guerrilla repair job using a pair of hose clamps.   Worked perfectly, and I didn’t miss a single lap.

The races were, as they almost always are, a ton of fun, although I didn’t get into the heated battles like I had at some of the other races this year.   Not every event is going to be a dog fight, though, so you take what you get.    I was quite happy to get through T1 on the starting lap of every race, because somebody got punted and spun, sometimes a group of cars, every single race.   Part of this sport is driving smart and avoiding the carnage, and I managed to do just that.   Two of the five races were run under double yellow after the starting chaos, but both of them did get restarted and at least finished under green.   All of those experiences are worth something, and I learned from all of them.

The first SM race was somewhat uneventful, but the first SM2 race was a lot of fun as I chased a pair of slightly faster drivers and had a front row seat to the battle they were involved in.   I just couldn’t quite catch them to get into the mix, but they knew I was back there.   Watch G8-R1 to see #33 Rebecca Harvey and #06 Jeff Longo battle it out less than a second in front of me.    That race was also run late in the day with the sun very low on the horizon, creating a special hazard as it was right in your eyes when you were at the apex of T10.   And remember, that’s the turn that was the turtle hazard, so now, you weren’t going to be able to see the damn things until you hit a living speed bump and got an up close and personal view of the wall.

Saturday’s morning races were both run under full course caution for about half the allotted time, but both were restarted, for short sprints to the finish.  That was the first time I had experienced a restart, as well.    I only ran the first afternoon SM race, which was green from start to finish, and perhaps a slightly frustrating result.   So many cars spun out in the morning SM race, that I wound up with a great starting position in the last one.   However, that just means I was gridding in front of a bunch of faster drivers, and sure enough, I got picked off by the lot of them, one by one.

As I loaded up the car and got ready to head home, I was reflecting on what an fantastic event this was, and also reflecting on the year I had, and at that point, I realized that 2018 was the year I truly become a race car driver.   Next year, I plan to run in enough of the NE Division races to qualify for the SM2 championship, and will almost certainly double dip at every event where SM and SM2 aren’t put into the same group (or, consider possibly running in non-SM classes as well).

I’m ending the season by running in my first endurance race, at the Devil in the Dark at NJMP on October 26-27, but not in my car.   That’s less than 2 weeks from now, and I have never been more excited about a track event than this.   It’s a 12 hour race, and we have a team of five driver’s and three crew (one of whom happens to be my son, who will be getting his first taste of road racing culture — I’m hoping he gets hooked :-), and we think we have a shot at a podium finish in E5 if we get our act together.

I’ll be sure to post video from that event, and a full write up on it, as it promises to be extremely fun and exciting, and will include a long list of racing firsts for me.  In the meantime, here are the videos from all five races at Thompson, in both standard and 360 video formats.   Watch the starts of races G2-R2 and G8-R2 to see all the lap one carnage, and G8-R1 to watch the #33/#06 battle.

Race Videos: Standard HD

• SCCA@TSMP 2018-10-05 Group2 Race1
• SCCA@TSMP 2018-10-05 Group8 Race1
• SCCA@TSMP 2018-10-06 Group2 Race2
• SCCA@TSMP 2018-10-06 Group8 Race2
• SCCA@TSMP 2018-10-06 Group2 Race3

Race Videos: 360 Panoramic

• SCCA@TSMP 2018-10-05 Group2 Race1
• SCCA@TSMP 2018-10-05 Group8 Race1
• SCCA@TSMP 2018-10-06 Group2 Race2
• SCCA@TSMP 2018-10-06 Group8 Race2
• SCCA@TSMP 2018-10-06 Group2 Race3