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Great Lakes and East Coast
FFR's Battle at Mid-Ohio
Wow, 12 FFR Challenge series
cars at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course felt like the Nationals (almost) –
and we had the opportunity to race together with a rolling start.
Almost like being in FFR heaven! Brian Sanders did a SUPERB job in
getting the gang together for some REALLY close racing in beautiful
weather – we dodged the bullet on Saturday with a “gully washer”
in-between qualifying and the race. Andrew Switlyk came up from
Florida, Jim Schenck, John George, Wayne Patterson and Carl Thompson
came West , and Brian Sanders, Lyle Riggen, Gregory and Gregg
Wellinghoff, Peter LaRose and Mike Dziurgalski (locals) made up the rest
of the field. Wes Holiday ran his Challenge Car in HPDE 4.
The Great Lakes Region
introduced a new procedure and used the practice times to grid people up
for the qualifying session – it really worked well and they decided to
make it a standard procedure. It sure encourages everyone to get out
for practice and in qualifying everyone is close to folks with
equivalent times.
Saturdays qualifying saw Jim
Schenck with the best time of 1:42.013. Andrew Switlyk and John George
were right behind him in the 1:42’s. Carl and Brian were next in the
1:43’s, Lyle in the 1:44’s, Peter and Mike in the 46’s, with Wayne,
Gregg, and Gregory in the 1:47’s. So the stage was set and it was
supposed to RAIN for the race. Well, the storm blew through with a
couple of inches of water and it actually dried before the race. We did
get a scare as there were “sprinkles” during the warm up lap, but it
stayed dry.
 
When the Green Flag dropped on
the rolling start on the back straight it was a mad dash for turn 3.
For the next 4-5 laps there were multiple lead changes with Andrew,
John, Jim, and Carl swapping back and forth – boy was it close- and the
competition was fierce. Eventually Andrew ended up sideways after the
fast left hander past “madness” right in front of Jim. Jim then broke
away from the rest of us and established a lead over John and then a gap
to Carl. Each of us tried to catch the one in front, but threading
through traffic didn’t allow it to happen. At the end, Jim was about 5
seconds ahead of John and then another 7 seconds back to Carl. Jim
turned a best time of 1:42.485. Brian came in 4th, Lyle 5th
and Gregg and Peter were next, separate by only .35 seconds. Then it
was Wayne, Gregory, Mike and Andrew.
After the Saturday race – it
started at 1:25, Carl fired up the grille and it was time for some BBQ
Chicken, veggies, crackers, cheese – and some fantastic home-made pies
(apple and peach) made by Julie Riggen – they were yummy. Oh, and maybe
some liquid refreshment too. Then it was time to take care of the cars.
Brian had a major brake issue and no spares. However, John offered up a
set of rotors and pads. Brake issues also plagued Peter as he replaced
everything. Lyle mad a spring change. Others tinkered and made sure
everything was in order. Wrapping up repairs the drivers headed over for
the NASA dinner and awards.
 
Sunday dawned bright and sunny
and the gang was back for more practice and qualifying. The times got
faster and Jim turned a 1:41.000, Carl a 1:41.537, Brian, Andrew, and
John turned in the 1:42s, Gregory and Lyle in the 1:43s, Gregg and Wayne
in the 1:44, and Peter in the 1:45s. After qualifying it was grill time
with fried egg and bacon sandwiches – everyone had to keep their
strength up! As John went to change wheels he found a stud that simply
spun in the rotor.
 
Another rolling start had a dash
for the corner again and essentially Jim, John, and Carl ran away from
the rest of the folks. John had a fuse problem with his injectors that
took him out. Carl tried to chase down Jim, but his was just too fast.
Jim turned a best lap of 1:41.756, Carl at 1:41.869, and Brian at
1:41.903. Brian, Andrew, and Lyle swapped position a number of times
and finished in that order. Then it was Gregory, Gregg, Peter, Wayne,
Mike and John out early. Once again it was fantastic racing and
everyone had tons of fun, lots to eat, and a great time. Let’s do it
again soon!
Carl Thompson
NASA Mid-Atlantic Series Director
Brian Sanders
NASA Great Lakes - Midwest Series Director
Photos Courtesy of Julie Riggen
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