Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Thunderhill 25 Hour 2007
This is a link to the start of the longest endurance race in NA, described as severe endurance racing. We finished 10th in class driving car # 09, Wheels America 2.
What has this got to do with Integrated Marketing a gentle reader may ask.
Nothing would be the truthful answer. But I have always like the metaphor of racing for integrated activities in that it is not the driver that wins but the team. The Integrated team that does each of it's jobs well and when integrated by a great manager has the best chance of winning.
Here is the report on the NASA race written by official VSCCA scribe Jim Donick, one of our co-drivers.
25 Hours of Thunderhill:
A not quite Vintage Adventure
By jpd
Editor’s note: There is a concept in our family called the “yup bag.” Part of life’s adventure is to fill it up. One fills it with experiences so if anyone ever asks if you’ve driven a Ferrari, for intance, or flown an Aeronca, or fished the Battenkill, you can respond with a quiet smile, “yup”.
Like many sporting motorists I’ve dreamed of taking part in a 24 hour endurance race. Mike Donick, Jeff Schur, and yrs trly took the opportunity this year to do that in the 25 Hours of Thunderhill out in California. Why 25 hours you might ask? Well, one could argue that 24 hours is ok for the French, maybe, or that there are enough 24 hour races that nearly anyone might try one of them. One could also simply suspect lunacy on the part of the organizers. You, gentle reader, may form your own opinion.
Thursday 29 November, ‘07:
Arrived at the track from San Francisco around 2:00pm.
It’s a test day for some cars. We should have done that.
Our truck not there
Recon laps are offered for street cars at 5:00 for an hour - Much Help. Thunderhill’s a three mile circuit with fifteen corners. Several of them are blind and off-camber. The recon laps were after dark but at least we have an idea which way the course goes..
Still no truck
Called - finally - truck broken along side of road ten or more hours away.
COLD evening
Friday 30 November, ‘07:
Truck waiting in line ahead of us when we arrived at 06:45. They had been alongside the road somewhere between here and Texas for 12 hours with a broken fuel pump. Very nice guys but looking a little tired.
Walking to the car, Jeff and I wonder if this is really about the stupidest thing we’ve ever done or maybe a grand adventure. Time will tell.
Our team is Wheels America from Dallas, Texas. There are two cars. We are in the 09 car and are sponsored by TireShoppe.com. Our teammates are in 05. I’ve bought some last minute team baseball caps for our four drivers. Bought ‘em in San Francisco on Wednesday (limited selection available) and they say “Property of Alcatraz.” Hence, we in the 09 car are now unofficially “Team Alcatraz.”
Looks like 71 or so cars here for the race.
Class E2 contains our Spec-Miata, the ITA Mazdas, the RX7s and a few others. This is the slowest class. Fastest will be the Daytona Protypes. There are a fair number in the middle as well.
Morning session is COLD and very very windy. Cold continues through the day - wind dies down.
Early practice unpleasant due to mixed traffic. Also difference between driving an Allard for 26 years and driving a “momentum” car that works rather differently.
It’s quite a ways from vintage racing, where we are happy to let the faster guys have the line, to the cut and thrust of endurance racing. There will be much to learn.
As time progressed I got a little quicker but Mike and Jeff were well ahead of me. Finished the day with a short stint at night. It will prove interesting.
Still awaiting the arrival of our fourth driver.
Got closer to the groove.
New Driver for “Team Alcatraz” - Bobby Carter - arrives, a HOT shoe and very experienced at Thunderhill.. He came in and qualified the car - cold and in the dark - 3rd in E2 with a 2’09” The 05 car, with team owner Bob Stretch at the wheel, is first in E2.
Drivers all pleasant.
Car had a few prep issues. Bad wire to the Cam Sensor cost us some time.
Jeff more uncomfortable at night than I am, I think. Him faster overall by a fair bit, though.
Bobby gave us a chalk talk in the trailer after practice. It should help.
Tomorrow, per schedule, I don’t get into the car ‘til after 3:00 PM. Bobby starts and runs a single stint. Then Mike, then Jeff then me to do the twilight shift. Then we each do a single up to nearly midnight then Bobby does a Double. Then Mike and Jeff do singles and I come in to do the dawn patrol. We shall see how this plan holds up.
Saturday 1 December, ‘07:
Saturday Morning comes early.
We’ve got to get to track but I’ll not get into the car ‘til nearly dusk. Need to be there for the start, though.
11:00 Green Flag after Opening Ceremonies with Honour Guard from the Air Force
Bobby in our car at the start.
Full Course Yellow around noon
05 Car is leading the class; we are second.
13:05 Michael in car. We leading from 05 but only for about a lap while he pits.
13:10-ish Full Course RED
15:00-ish Michael into pits after a two hour stint. Schedule going out the window as stints are longer than anticipated - good gas mileage and yellow flags. Mike did a very good drive: turning mid-teens.
We sitting 3rd in class.
Traffic seems to already be getting lighter.
Temperature getting colder.
15:00-ish Jeff in car and going well.
15:20 Full course yellow for 15 min. (looks like there will be a lot of these and not worth logging all of ‘em)
16:50 Jeff comes in for my drive.
Beautiful partial moon rising in the east.
Our lights are on.
Looks like I’ll not get a stint in daylight today.
Everybody’s headlights and driving lights already on. Damn, but they’re bright.
Traffic fast. Closing speeds difficult to judge with simply bright lights in mirror. They look a lot closer than they actually are.
Car developing a bit of a miss similar to the one in practice. Comes in around 6500 rpm but is very intermittent.
Whacked by a passing car as I’m moving over for the apex on turn 9. Thankfully not much damage. Looks like it only knocked off a piece of bondo. Not pleasant, though.
It’s painfully slow driving while watching the mirror.
Chris Puskar in the 05 car had the drive train let go (differential) and stopped on the circuit - left hand of track - coming into Turn 9. This brought out a full course yellow and the pace car. While pace car was gathering up the cars behind me, I came around and pushed Chris back to the paddock. (Should anyone ask, we were “bump drafting.”) It was really kind of wild, the pace car was coming up about three cars behind with everyone in line behind him. There is no passing under yellow so, when I pulled over to push Chris, they all stopped and waited then followed us around. It was a hell of a neat parade! May not have been fast this stint but “ACE Towing” eased things for the entire team. We’ll talk about that one for awhile. I should have gotten his AAA card.
Finish the stint (1 hour and 45 minutes) after another yellow.
18:40 Handed over to Bobby. He promptly went out and the car died on his first lap.
Spent an hour behind the wall diagnosing the problem which was the same cam angle sensor plug wire as yesterday! An hour behind the wall is costly.
Once car is fixed Bobby puts in a set of blistering laps. He’s local and quite the Miata expert. His father is a racer and is with us as crew. His grandfather was Dick Carter, who raced Shelby Mustangs on the left coast when they were new. Both father and son are pleasant, helpful, and very hospitable - a great addition to the team.
21:32 Mike in car.
First time ever racing at night. He’s as fast as in daylight and is having a ball.
No significant issues.
23:14 Jeff takes car.
We have now been running for 12 hours. Only (?) 13 to go.
Jeff does a great job with the car but is dealing with a serious miss most of the time.
Closing traffic unpleasant for him - closing at unpredictable speeds and our engine off song - but he keeps us going and in the hunt. This ignition thing is intermittent but getting worse.
Jeff, the trooper, keeps on motoring.
SUNDAY 2 December, ‘07:
01:35 Jeff comes in and I take over.
The miss is getting very serious
Car becoming more than unpleasant to drive but hazardous.
Bring it behind the wall for a diagnosis.
It is the wiring to the damned cam angle sensor again.
They do some fixing and send me back out.
After another 20 laps or so it is getting very ugly again so back behind the wall and they take another shot at fixing it. This time it works but it’s, at best, jury rigged.
Once back out I’m having a ball - a moderately slow one, I regret to say - but a ball never-the-less and not off the pace.
03:25 Top up the petrol and send out Bobby.
Michael arrives back in pit from his rest at the hotel
Bobby sets fastest lap of the race for class E2 on this stint.
04:00 Bobby in for a deflating rear tyre (left) and a loose rear axle locating bolt.
04:15 Starting to rain! That wasn’t in the forecast. Where did THAT come from?
04:48 Bobby hands over to Mike.
He comes into the paddock pushing the 05 car that has run out of gas this time as we had a long full course yellow right about then.
Mike has a great stint and runs a bit faster than the 05 car for part of it.
Rainy and wet for most of the stint.
The kid can drive.
Dry line emerging again near the end of the stint.
06:55 Mike hands over to Bobby who sets another fastest lap for the class. (This one holds to the end of the race) Mike’s stints now over
07:30 Sun is up and we are still running!
07:52 Bobby comes in and hands over to Jeff.
Bobby’s race is over.
Now Jeff and I need to bring the car home in one piece.
Jeff turns in competitive lap times and makes no mistakes.
He’s happy when he brings it in.
09:00 Amazing number of street cars in the paddock up on jack stands with pieces missing off of them. It’s been a long night.
09:24 Jeff comes in and hands over to me.
Jeff’s stints are done.
We’ve now got 2.5 hours or so to go.
Car running well.
Do my best with it for first hour and forty five minutes and am enjoying the track.
Rain for part of the time.
11:00-ish In for a “splash and dash” then back out.
If this was LeMans we’d be done!
Ratchet it down a bit more to ensure we finish.
Giving faster traffic the old “Lime Rock point by” and most respond well.
One guy in the #6 Miata helps me down the straight a couple of times with a bump draft. It was fun - not something one does often in an Allard - and enhanced the camaraderie.
11:30 Half an hour to go. Don’t do anything dumb.
11:40-ish Full course yellow for maybe ten minutes. Somebody must feel foolish.
11:58 The leader is coming up behind me.
He sits on my tail at reduced speed from turn 8 around to the front straight. I try to point him by but he’s having none of it.
Will it be noon when we come around? My calculations suggest not but as we come onto the straight I see the checker furled in the starter’s hand.
I pull a tad left and brush the brakes to make sure the leader’s nose comes by ahead of me. Not planning to go around again.
We take the checker together.
NOON: “Ever finish a 25 hour motor race?”
“Yup.”
What has this got to do with Integrated Marketing a gentle reader may ask.
Nothing would be the truthful answer. But I have always like the metaphor of racing for integrated activities in that it is not the driver that wins but the team. The Integrated team that does each of it's jobs well and when integrated by a great manager has the best chance of winning.
Here is the report on the NASA race written by official VSCCA scribe Jim Donick, one of our co-drivers.
25 Hours of Thunderhill:
A not quite Vintage Adventure
By jpd
Editor’s note: There is a concept in our family called the “yup bag.” Part of life’s adventure is to fill it up. One fills it with experiences so if anyone ever asks if you’ve driven a Ferrari, for intance, or flown an Aeronca, or fished the Battenkill, you can respond with a quiet smile, “yup”.
Like many sporting motorists I’ve dreamed of taking part in a 24 hour endurance race. Mike Donick, Jeff Schur, and yrs trly took the opportunity this year to do that in the 25 Hours of Thunderhill out in California. Why 25 hours you might ask? Well, one could argue that 24 hours is ok for the French, maybe, or that there are enough 24 hour races that nearly anyone might try one of them. One could also simply suspect lunacy on the part of the organizers. You, gentle reader, may form your own opinion.
Thursday 29 November, ‘07:
Arrived at the track from San Francisco around 2:00pm.
It’s a test day for some cars. We should have done that.
Our truck not there
Recon laps are offered for street cars at 5:00 for an hour - Much Help. Thunderhill’s a three mile circuit with fifteen corners. Several of them are blind and off-camber. The recon laps were after dark but at least we have an idea which way the course goes..
Still no truck
Called - finally - truck broken along side of road ten or more hours away.
COLD evening
Friday 30 November, ‘07:
Truck waiting in line ahead of us when we arrived at 06:45. They had been alongside the road somewhere between here and Texas for 12 hours with a broken fuel pump. Very nice guys but looking a little tired.
Walking to the car, Jeff and I wonder if this is really about the stupidest thing we’ve ever done or maybe a grand adventure. Time will tell.
Our team is Wheels America from Dallas, Texas. There are two cars. We are in the 09 car and are sponsored by TireShoppe.com. Our teammates are in 05. I’ve bought some last minute team baseball caps for our four drivers. Bought ‘em in San Francisco on Wednesday (limited selection available) and they say “Property of Alcatraz.” Hence, we in the 09 car are now unofficially “Team Alcatraz.”
Looks like 71 or so cars here for the race.
Class E2 contains our Spec-Miata, the ITA Mazdas, the RX7s and a few others. This is the slowest class. Fastest will be the Daytona Protypes. There are a fair number in the middle as well.
Morning session is COLD and very very windy. Cold continues through the day - wind dies down.
Early practice unpleasant due to mixed traffic. Also difference between driving an Allard for 26 years and driving a “momentum” car that works rather differently.
It’s quite a ways from vintage racing, where we are happy to let the faster guys have the line, to the cut and thrust of endurance racing. There will be much to learn.
As time progressed I got a little quicker but Mike and Jeff were well ahead of me. Finished the day with a short stint at night. It will prove interesting.
Still awaiting the arrival of our fourth driver.
Got closer to the groove.
New Driver for “Team Alcatraz” - Bobby Carter - arrives, a HOT shoe and very experienced at Thunderhill.. He came in and qualified the car - cold and in the dark - 3rd in E2 with a 2’09” The 05 car, with team owner Bob Stretch at the wheel, is first in E2.
Drivers all pleasant.
Car had a few prep issues. Bad wire to the Cam Sensor cost us some time.
Jeff more uncomfortable at night than I am, I think. Him faster overall by a fair bit, though.
Bobby gave us a chalk talk in the trailer after practice. It should help.
Tomorrow, per schedule, I don’t get into the car ‘til after 3:00 PM. Bobby starts and runs a single stint. Then Mike, then Jeff then me to do the twilight shift. Then we each do a single up to nearly midnight then Bobby does a Double. Then Mike and Jeff do singles and I come in to do the dawn patrol. We shall see how this plan holds up.
Saturday 1 December, ‘07:
Saturday Morning comes early.
We’ve got to get to track but I’ll not get into the car ‘til nearly dusk. Need to be there for the start, though.
11:00 Green Flag after Opening Ceremonies with Honour Guard from the Air Force
Bobby in our car at the start.
Full Course Yellow around noon
05 Car is leading the class; we are second.
13:05 Michael in car. We leading from 05 but only for about a lap while he pits.
13:10-ish Full Course RED
15:00-ish Michael into pits after a two hour stint. Schedule going out the window as stints are longer than anticipated - good gas mileage and yellow flags. Mike did a very good drive: turning mid-teens.
We sitting 3rd in class.
Traffic seems to already be getting lighter.
Temperature getting colder.
15:00-ish Jeff in car and going well.
15:20 Full course yellow for 15 min. (looks like there will be a lot of these and not worth logging all of ‘em)
16:50 Jeff comes in for my drive.
Beautiful partial moon rising in the east.
Our lights are on.
Looks like I’ll not get a stint in daylight today.
Everybody’s headlights and driving lights already on. Damn, but they’re bright.
Traffic fast. Closing speeds difficult to judge with simply bright lights in mirror. They look a lot closer than they actually are.
Car developing a bit of a miss similar to the one in practice. Comes in around 6500 rpm but is very intermittent.
Whacked by a passing car as I’m moving over for the apex on turn 9. Thankfully not much damage. Looks like it only knocked off a piece of bondo. Not pleasant, though.
It’s painfully slow driving while watching the mirror.
Chris Puskar in the 05 car had the drive train let go (differential) and stopped on the circuit - left hand of track - coming into Turn 9. This brought out a full course yellow and the pace car. While pace car was gathering up the cars behind me, I came around and pushed Chris back to the paddock. (Should anyone ask, we were “bump drafting.”) It was really kind of wild, the pace car was coming up about three cars behind with everyone in line behind him. There is no passing under yellow so, when I pulled over to push Chris, they all stopped and waited then followed us around. It was a hell of a neat parade! May not have been fast this stint but “ACE Towing” eased things for the entire team. We’ll talk about that one for awhile. I should have gotten his AAA card.
Finish the stint (1 hour and 45 minutes) after another yellow.
18:40 Handed over to Bobby. He promptly went out and the car died on his first lap.
Spent an hour behind the wall diagnosing the problem which was the same cam angle sensor plug wire as yesterday! An hour behind the wall is costly.
Once car is fixed Bobby puts in a set of blistering laps. He’s local and quite the Miata expert. His father is a racer and is with us as crew. His grandfather was Dick Carter, who raced Shelby Mustangs on the left coast when they were new. Both father and son are pleasant, helpful, and very hospitable - a great addition to the team.
21:32 Mike in car.
First time ever racing at night. He’s as fast as in daylight and is having a ball.
No significant issues.
23:14 Jeff takes car.
We have now been running for 12 hours. Only (?) 13 to go.
Jeff does a great job with the car but is dealing with a serious miss most of the time.
Closing traffic unpleasant for him - closing at unpredictable speeds and our engine off song - but he keeps us going and in the hunt. This ignition thing is intermittent but getting worse.
Jeff, the trooper, keeps on motoring.
SUNDAY 2 December, ‘07:
01:35 Jeff comes in and I take over.
The miss is getting very serious
Car becoming more than unpleasant to drive but hazardous.
Bring it behind the wall for a diagnosis.
It is the wiring to the damned cam angle sensor again.
They do some fixing and send me back out.
After another 20 laps or so it is getting very ugly again so back behind the wall and they take another shot at fixing it. This time it works but it’s, at best, jury rigged.
Once back out I’m having a ball - a moderately slow one, I regret to say - but a ball never-the-less and not off the pace.
03:25 Top up the petrol and send out Bobby.
Michael arrives back in pit from his rest at the hotel
Bobby sets fastest lap of the race for class E2 on this stint.
04:00 Bobby in for a deflating rear tyre (left) and a loose rear axle locating bolt.
04:15 Starting to rain! That wasn’t in the forecast. Where did THAT come from?
04:48 Bobby hands over to Mike.
He comes into the paddock pushing the 05 car that has run out of gas this time as we had a long full course yellow right about then.
Mike has a great stint and runs a bit faster than the 05 car for part of it.
Rainy and wet for most of the stint.
The kid can drive.
Dry line emerging again near the end of the stint.
06:55 Mike hands over to Bobby who sets another fastest lap for the class. (This one holds to the end of the race) Mike’s stints now over
07:30 Sun is up and we are still running!
07:52 Bobby comes in and hands over to Jeff.
Bobby’s race is over.
Now Jeff and I need to bring the car home in one piece.
Jeff turns in competitive lap times and makes no mistakes.
He’s happy when he brings it in.
09:00 Amazing number of street cars in the paddock up on jack stands with pieces missing off of them. It’s been a long night.
09:24 Jeff comes in and hands over to me.
Jeff’s stints are done.
We’ve now got 2.5 hours or so to go.
Car running well.
Do my best with it for first hour and forty five minutes and am enjoying the track.
Rain for part of the time.
11:00-ish In for a “splash and dash” then back out.
If this was LeMans we’d be done!
Ratchet it down a bit more to ensure we finish.
Giving faster traffic the old “Lime Rock point by” and most respond well.
One guy in the #6 Miata helps me down the straight a couple of times with a bump draft. It was fun - not something one does often in an Allard - and enhanced the camaraderie.
11:30 Half an hour to go. Don’t do anything dumb.
11:40-ish Full course yellow for maybe ten minutes. Somebody must feel foolish.
11:58 The leader is coming up behind me.
He sits on my tail at reduced speed from turn 8 around to the front straight. I try to point him by but he’s having none of it.
Will it be noon when we come around? My calculations suggest not but as we come onto the straight I see the checker furled in the starter’s hand.
I pull a tad left and brush the brakes to make sure the leader’s nose comes by ahead of me. Not planning to go around again.
We take the checker together.
NOON: “Ever finish a 25 hour motor race?”
“Yup.”
