Steve's Runoff's 2019

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hardingfv32
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Joined: June 9th, 2015, 8:04 pm

Steve's Runoff's 2019

Post by hardingfv32 »

Steve

So how was this years Runoff event for you? Was the track bad for the race compared to how it was for Qual? Would you say this was out of character for VIR?

You were in a Vortech, how did/does it compare to the car you used for many decades? Is there a noticeable difference in 'feel' if they are both setup perfectly for a given track and conditions?

Brian
FV80
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Re: Steve's Runoff's 2019

Post by FV80 »

Brian,
I'd say this year's event pretty much SUCKED for me - 99.9% because of the T1 crash that took my car out of play and is going to cost me an additional chunk of $$$ to repair beyond the $$$ that it cost to register and buy a test day and paddock spot... and, of course the towing costs to get there and back. Let's see.. that's about $2500 - not counting engine, race fuel, and tire costs - for about 25 seconds of racing... so .. what? ~$5000+ per minute? - sheesh!

On the good side, the damage could have been much worse and, although I had a pretty pitiful test day and Q1, I'm quite please with 'Vicki' the Vortech's first outing. It was a tough call to decide to bring her to the show in lieu of Bullet and I was regretting it until we changed the engine after Q1 and found that we actually DID have some speed stored up for Q2.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to really 'see' the track under race conditions, but looking at the lead pack times, I'd say it was pretty good - at least as good as any other day that we were there.. and better than Q3. Q3 was pretty much hosed because of debris in T14 - end of back straight going into the 'roller coaster'. It was there on our out lap and someone spun on lap3 and added to it just about the time we had almost gotten it cleared off - then the session was over.

I was pleasantly surprised that FV had NO BLACK FLAG ALL during the entire week.. including the race .. no BFA and no FCY either. The only BIG 'schmozzle' was T1 on Race Lap1 and I think EVERY car managed to DRIVE away under their own power - although some didn't go quite as far as others - so the race continued under green.

How does one know if his car is "perfectly set up"?? :mrgreen: . I felt that the Vortech was a near equal to Bullet in the turns and slightly slower on the straights. It's pretty hard to beat Bullet in a straight line, but I was trying to compare the HANDLING aspects of the 2 cars. Obviously, it handles very poorly with 4" of toe-out on the front and 20 degrees of free play in the steering wheel, but she felt pretty good during Q2 and Q3 :mrgreen: .

Steve, FV80
The Racer's Wedge and now a Vortech, FV80
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Re: Steve's Runoff's 2019

Post by BLS »

Ouch. I'm sorry you had such poor luck. I had to watch on my phone while driving :) But very light traffic so not so bad. Just not a large enough picture. Saw the turn one smashup and was praying you'd get through unscathed. Not to be. Hope the next one goes better.
Barry
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Re: Steve's Runoff's 2019

Post by BLS »

Well, one year later, Road America Runoffs 2020, and Steve made it through turn one and went on to a top ten finish at #10.

Congratulations!

Pretty solid for someone as young as you I think :)
Barry
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'87 Citation
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