Mustang Racing

[David Hester]

Rob
We should have run yours!
Roush looked...read-I was following online- good till driver's change around lap 24-25. Don't know what happened after that.
Dave

 

[TXPD]

Well, either they found a common part that was not up to it just yet and broke it or one broke something and the other two ran into each other. OR(not likely but not unheard of) they descretely parked the cars that were not legal far enough from the end of the race as to not mess up the points for anyone.

As for my car. All it needs is drivers. I am going to run it at CMP in a couple of weeks. Looking forward to that.

 

[David Hester]

LOL
We're doing the Buck Muse the end of March at CMP. We were at Nashville last weekend testing. New springs/ rear gears. Got it close. New gearset arrived yesterday, so we should be good to go everywhere except VIR. Need a usable 5th gear for it. Watch out next ARRC.. I should have enough speed to keep up down the back straight. ;^)

 

[TXPD]

Are you sure you really want to be racing that go kart with 3k lb race cars?

 

[David Hester]

LOL
I noticed you and Danner didn't always see Jim and I...
Thinking about getting an air horn or something. :thumbsup:

Jim Coman, Dave Hester, Rob Bodle

I've got some video of the 4 of us going through 7. Was a bit crowded. ;-)

 

[TXPD]

No. I could not see him at all. period. I could hear him. I was so close to the corvette in front and his driving a bit erratic that it was all I could do to not run into him. Watchin for a car below the level of my rear deck was pretty hard.

Video? Can I see?

 

[David Hester]

Sure. Anyone else wanna see?

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0O5kSz1kWs"]YouTube- ARRC 2009[/ame]

 

[TXPD]

more

 

[David Hester]

LOL
All I have for now. You all kinda pulled away after another couple of laps. We'll make more.

 

[gcassidy]

Damn Dave, you got the fastest little shoebox I ever did see!
That looks like you guys were having a blast. :thumbsup:

 

[03'Darin]

Rob
We should have run yours!
Roush looked...read-I was following online- good till driver's change around lap 24-25. Don't know what happened after that.
Dave

I thought maybe Tom would have already chimed in here as he has done such a good job of keeping this thread up to date.

The Roush car lost a rear brake caliper first and then had overheating problems.

The #15 Boss 302R car had a power steering problem that I believe ended up being a cracked or loose fitting.

The #16 Boss 302R car got rear end damage from an incident but I don't know what happened.

We finished 4th in the #37 JBS Boss 302R car..... which was all due to pit strategy that worked out in our favor. We had a stop and go on the second restart for juming the start which resulted in dropping us to last in the 75 car field (GS & ST), well behind the pack.

Not sure where the other Boss 302R car finshed

Dean ended up 9th in the #59 car and his #52 car finished 7th.

Positive notes are there were NO camaros or chalengers ahead of us AND the first two finishing cars which were the new V8 BMW's had their motors pulled and ECU's downloaded in post race tech.

 

[gcassidy]

Thanks for the update Darin...I can't wait till Feb 13th.

I've tried to find out at Grand-Am's website, but failed.:nonono:
Are cars required to run Continental tires, like the Koni requirement? And if so, what tire?

 

[David Hester]

Thanks for the update, Darin!
kONI is out of it from what I gathered.
Conti's name are on the tires, but they still smell like Mid America corn fields. ;-) Still made by Hoosier, I think.
Shoebox??? more like flipflops compared to all the BIG cars in that group. I had a blast, though. Good running with Rob. We've tried before and one of us....broke before our race.
Kinda like the good ole days at Daytona when all 4 classes ran at the same time. I remember 4 classes of cars on the banking out of 6 passing side by side by side by side. Oh, and no sissy infield lights, either.
Pitch dark in the middle of the night except for headlights, taillights, red hot rotors and exhaust flame.
Good times.
Play hard, but watch your mirrors.

 

[03'Darin]

Koni is still the required damper package they just aren't the series sponsor any more, Continental is. The tire deal is pretty funky. Continental doesn't build a tire for our series and isn't going to. Hoosier builds the tire with Continental labels. In fact the "Hoosier" that was embossed in the side of the tires is ground off. Hoosier has re-labeled their trucks to carry the Continental logos and colors plus their employees wear the continental garb. The teams were also told at Daytona we were not to wear ANYTHING with the Hoosier logo on it.

Amazing what money can do. :dancenana:

 

[David Hester]

No, serious. I'm with the Continetal tire guys......

Oh, yeah, All Right. Hoosier Daddy.

What? What did I say?

 

[gcassidy]

Can't even wear a Hoosier patch like this?

 

[03'Darin]

LOL at both of those.

The Rum Bum team may be supporting their sponsor right now while they worry about what GA may find with their motor. :-D

 

[BlackBolt9]

I thought maybe Tom would have already chimed in here as he has done such a good job of keeping this thread up to date.

The Roush car lost a rear brake caliper first and then had overheating problems.

The #15 Boss 302R car had a power steering problem that I believe ended up being a cracked or loose fitting.

The #16 Boss 302R car got rear end damage from an incident but I don't know what happened.

We finished 4th in the #37 JBS Boss 302R car..... which was all due to pit strategy that worked out in our favor. We had a stop and go on the second restart for juming the start which resulted in dropping us to last in the 75 car field (GS & ST), well behind the pack.

Not sure where the other Boss 302R car finshed

Dean ended up 9th in the #59 car and his #52 car finished 7th.

Positive notes are there were NO camaros or chalengers ahead of us AND the first two finishing cars which were the new V8 BMW's had their motors pulled and ECU's downloaded in post race tech.

Sorry, just got home at 1am this morning. I stayed around for the 24 hours this year:thumbsup:

A couple revisions, I'm not sure about the rear caliper on the Roush car but their engine trouble was a spark plug closing the gap and therefore losing a cylinder. They decided to stop running after that to keep from ruining the engine since something was obviously somehow making contact.:??:

The 302R that lost the power steering hose went back out on track after they stole the necessary parts off from Jim Clicks 302R.:dw:

The other 302R's that went out I heard were due to ECU/programming issues related to drivability. Nothing major from the way that I understood it. Glad it didn't affect you guys!

I'm glad that you guys finished so well, that penalty was complete bullshit, our 52 car was assessed the same penalty for the same reason. Why the hell is it illegal to pass a lapped car on a restart?:shrug: Especially when they miss a shift and the only way to keep from passing them is to destroy them from behind at ramming speed.:nonono:

Glad to hear they pulled the BMW engines and ECU's. I saw a 5.0L on a pallet leaving the Mutlimatic garage while we were packing as well, so they may be looking closer at them as well, FYI. The thing that did surprise me was how far back the Turner cars finished. I really expected them to be the 2 cars at the front, either they pushed things too hard or were hiding what they have until later in the season so they don't get hit too hard with penalties, of course that may have gotten screwed up for them.

Unfortunately, we didn't do as well as we hoped. The 59 car started losing power somewhere around lap 3. We had really high hopes for Andrew and Ken but even though the car was handling awesome we just didn't have the power to keep up with anyone around the oval. We were just glad that it held together until the end so that we didn't get a DNF. Luckily we even finished in the top 10.

The surpise for us this weekend was an awesome drive by rookie Ryan Winchester. He drove in American Iron last year and we took care of his car for him. He wanted to move up to the next level and decided to drive a couple Continental Tire Challenge races this year. He started the race, his first in Grand Am and also his first time at Daytona, worked his way up to the front, and was driving so well that we left him in for the majority of the race instead of pulling him out at the first pit stop. He finished 7th in the number 60 car with Ray Mason. He is definitely an up and coming driver, hopefully his excellent driving this weekend will lead to him finding some sponsorship so that he can afford to drive the rest of the races this year.

Koni is still a contingency sponsor, just not the series sponsor this year. The Hoosier tire deal is pretty funny BTW. Test days was even better when you could still read the Hoosier logo through the white wrap on the trailer, now they have a proper wrap for Continental. I didn't get a chance to talk to the guys and see how they liked the new uniforms though :lol:

Oh yeah, and great meeting Shannon and his friend (Dave maybe?). Man am I terrible with names! Hope everyone who went enjoyed it:beer:

EDIT: Oh yeah, and catch the race on Speed Channel Feb. 13th at 7:00pm.

 

[03'Darin]

Sorry, just got home at 1am this morning. I stayed around for the 24 hours this year:thumbsup:

A couple revisions, I'm not sure about the rear caliper on the Roush car but their engine trouble was a spark plug closing the gap and therefore losing a cylinder. They decided to stop running after that to keep from ruining the engine since something was obviously somehow making contact.:??:

The 302R that lost the power steering hose went back out on track after they stole the necessary parts off from Jim Clicks 302R.:dw:

The other 302R's that went out I heard were due to ECU/programming issues related to drivability. Nothing major from the way that I understood it. Glad it didn't affect you guys!

I'm glad that you guys finished so well, that penalty was complete bullshit, our 52 car was assessed the same penalty for the same reason. Why the hell is it illegal to pass a lapped car on a restart?:shrug: Especially when they miss a shift and the only way to keep from passing them is to destroy them from behind at ramming speed.:nonono:

Glad to hear they pulled the BMW engines and ECU's. I saw a 5.0L on a pallet leaving the Mutlimatic garage while we were packing as well, so they may be looking closer at them as well, FYI. The thing that did surprise me was how far back the Turner cars finished. I really expected them to be the 2 cars at the front, either they pushed things too hard or were hiding what they have until later in the season so they don't get hit too hard with penalties, of course that may have gotten screwed up for them.

Unfortunately, we didn't do as well as we hoped. The 59 car started losing power somewhere around lap 3. We had really high hopes for Andrew and Ken but even though the car was handling awesome we just didn't have the power to keep up with anyone around the oval. We were just glad that it held together until the end so that we didn't get a DNF. Luckily we even finished in the top 10.

The surpise for us this weekend was an awesome drive by rookie Ryan Winchester. He drove in American Iron last year and we took care of his car for him. He wanted to move up to the next level and decided to drive a couple Continental Tire Challenge races this year. He started the race, his first in Grand Am and also his first time at Daytona, worked his way up to the front, and was driving so well that we left him in for the majority of the race instead of pulling him out at the first pit stop. He finished 7th in the number 60 car with Ray Mason. He is definitely an up and coming driver, hopefully his excellent driving this weekend will lead to him finding some sponsorship so that he can afford to drive the rest of the races this year.

Koni is still a contingency sponsor, just not the series sponsor this year. The Hoosier tire deal is pretty funny BTW. Test days was even better when you could still read the Hoosier logo through the white wrap on the trailer, now they have a proper wrap for Continental. I didn't get a chance to talk to the guys and see how they liked the new uniforms though :lol:

Oh yeah, and great meeting Shannon and his friend (Dave maybe?). Man am I terrible with names! Hope everyone who went enjoyed it:beer:

EDIT: Oh yeah, and catch the race on Speed Channel Feb. 13th at 7:00pm.

I was told Roush first lost a rear caliper or caliper bolt and then had overheating issues. If the over heating thing wasn't correct maybe the caliper deal wasn't either. I did see the right side of their car up on jack stands for a while though.

We had the "driveability issue" also. Right after we got the stop and go penalty we picked up a pretty good engine miss. It was intermittent but that's why we had to pass the 52 car like 3 times. It would run fine for a while and then miss for a little and so on. It finally went away then.

As far as our stop and go penalty I did see that BMW appear to slow quickly but when we radioed Bret about the penalty he basically said he did have a good jump and was afraid they would penalize him. So I don't know I can argue about that call on us.

You may not have noticed but one of the Turner cars went out very early in the race. I was watching the TV feed and the car just slowed and pulled off course. The other Turner car had a flat under green and had to limp back to the pits, dropping him back pretty far. Turner also expanded to the Rolex series this year so I wonder if his team may be spread a bit thin.

I went out Friday night with the Ford guys and nobody said anything about one of the new 5.0's being pulled. I wonder if GA took it or it was just headed somewhere else for some testing?

We were at the Wing House for dinner after the race saturday night and Ray came stumbling in to our table. Needless to say he was pretty excited about finishing 7th. Good for him. It's also good to hear your 59 car finished so well even with engine trouble. I didn't even realize until I was talking with Jim last night that Dean wasn't driving the car this year.

I did talk with the undercover Hoosier employess and they seemed totally fine with the deal. Apparently everyone's happy with that arrangement.

 

[gcassidy]

I'm not sure, but I think I have a bit of a problem with Continental putting forth the Hoosier tires as theirs.

If Continental wants to sponsor the series, that's great! I applaud any company that wants to get into putting money toward motorsports, from Kellogg's to Enzyte. But to disguise the tires and trailer to make it look as if Continental made the tires, is in my opinion fraud.

In this video GRAND-AM Road Racing - Official Web Site from Continental Tire Marketing Director Travis Roffler, he talks about Continental being excited to sponsor the series, which as I say, is wonderful. But I don't think buying a truckload of Hoosiers, some shrinkwrap and a sander to grind the names off the tires gives him the right to say "There's no better venue to prove the performance of a tire than roadracing" and "...Continental Tire's a brand that has the performance you need to perform on any vehicle no matter what you drive".

They didn't engineer or build the tires, they don't sell the tires, so how can the racer's be racing on "their" tires?

Maybe it's a mountain out of a molehill, but look at the flaming an outfit like Granatelli gets over on cc.com just for copying a design and building/selling it. Can you imagine the outcry if he bought MM parts, peeled off their sticker and replaced it with his own? I don't really see how this is different.

But I might be wrong. :shrug: