The month of May has seen virtually all of our clients race at least once.  There have been some very impressive performances.  And there have been a few happenings we could have done without.  The length of this newsletter is a reflection on how busy Kryderacing and our clients have been.
 

GRATTAN NATIONAL

Matt Carson traveled to Grattan to help John Buttermore with his T-1 Corvette program  John finished second at the SCCA National Championships last Fall and is looking to improve on that result this year.  The T-1 class was combined with the faster GT-1 cars.  John found himself behind a few of them after qualifying.  Everyone started the race on dry tires but there was a light rain coming down.  The amount of rain never changed dramatically.  It made the track damp and slippery for the entire race.  John lapped the entire field as the GT-1 cars struggled with these damp conditions.  One of the GT-1 cars actually stopped for rain tires and was running quickly afterwards, but the stop cost him a lap to John.

Gary Martz qualified his E-Production Mazda RX-7 on the pole.  His race followed John‘s and the track was still wet.  Gary had his rain tires on and ran well.  But another competitor had fresher wets and relegated Gary to a second place finish.

Reed traveled with Matt Carson to Grattan but he had a weak reason for going.  Grattan was one of the few tracks in the USA he had never visited.
 

SUMMIT POINT NATIONAL

Matt Miller traveled to Summit Point to help David Pintaric with his T-1 Viper efforts.  Summit Point has always been a good track to David and he left with a his first SCCA victory of the season.

Joe Gaudette was in attendance with is T-1 Corvette.  Joe has been a friend of Kryderacing for over a year now.  As previously reported he rebuilt his Corvette after a very bad accident last year at Pocono.  Its first return to the track was May 4th at New Hampshire International Speedway where he was victorious in the rain.  He used to be worried about his rain driving skills, but not any longer.  Nothing helps confidence like a win.  At Summit Point the conditions were dry and the entries were more numerous.  He still came away with a strong fourth place finish.
 

NELSON LEDGES DUAL NATIONAL

Something new was tried during the Memorial Day weekend at Nelson Ledges Road Course.  While Double Nationals have been held at several venues in the past, both halves of the event have been for points in the same SCCA Division.  And usually both halves of a double are put on by the same SCCA Region.  Nelson Ledges sits on the border between the North East Division and the Great Lakes Division.  The “DUAL” featured a NeDiv National put on by the Mahoning Valley Region while the Neohio Region hosted the Great Lakes Event.  Overall the event was a success.  There were a few problems but most of them centered around the four day length of the event (too long) and differences of opinion on how to organize the running of the event.  The length of the event was somewhat dictated by SCCA National rules.   A DOUBLE can be done in three days but small differences in the rules makes this shorter event impossible for a DUAL.

These rules differences also led to the other problems.  One of the premises behind the DUAL is that they must be two totally separate events.  That’s partly because they are being hosted by two different Regions and their respective Divisions.  For example: how do you honor annually reserved car numbers for competitors if they are from different Divisions but have reserved the same number?  Do you honor it for one half of the DUAL, but require a change for the other?  That particular problem was handled by not honoring any numbers, but several other issues were not as easily addressed.  Most people involved with the running were split in their beliefs on how to approach these issues.  One faction wanted as much commonality as possible.  The other group felt each event should have its own personality.  The faction for unity controlled this year’s event, but if the other faction does not get some concessions for 2009, the DUAL may have made its first and last appearance on the SCCA calendar.  That would be a shame, because the idea is unique and the event has great potential.

Regarding Kryderacing participation in the DUAL it was a weekend of incredible highs and disastrous lows.  During Friday’s qualifying session David Pintaric posted a time equal to the lap record in T-1.  With a new set of tires on for Saturday’s session we all had high hopes.  But things did not go as planned and the Viper ended up crashing badly.  Fortunately no one was hurt.  The Viper, at first thought to be totaled, has been found to be still solid underneath all the damaged body parts and is currently being rebuilt.

Bill Pintaric qualified his Nissan GTL car third for Sunday‘s event and on the pole for Monday‘s race.  The pole sitter for Sunday was the track record holder.  Bill moved up to second during the initial lap and passed for the lead a couple of laps later.  The battle was intense and the announcers were talking about the two drivers looking as if their cars were slot cars.  They could not believe how quickly they could get through the turns and pass slower traffic anywhere they wanted.  It was quite a show until Bill started to have an oil leak and dropped to a second place finish later in the race.  Both cars were under the lap record, but Bill’s name will go into the books since his best lap was .08 faster than the other driver.

By Monday the oil leak in Bill’s car was fixed and he led during the early portions of the race, but a transmission problem dropped him to a fourth place finish.

Gary Martz had similar luck to Bill.  Gary drove his E-Production RX-7 to a win on Sunday.  He was cruising to another victory on Monday when electrical gremlins dropped him to third.

Joe Gaudette continued his successful season with his rebuilt T-1 Corvette by recording seconds on both Sunday and Monday.  Joe could end up winning the Division.  He currently has a win, two seconds and a fourth.

Kryderacing would also like to thank Jonathan Keillor for his help with our Nelson Ledges fuel concession.  And Jerry Palmer and Bruce Keillor deserve thanks for assisting Matt Miller in making sure our clients vehicles were ready to perform.

We would also like to thank Rob Piekarcyzk for his assistance.  Rob wasn‘t able to run his Kryderacing assisted T-3 RX-8, but he did arrange for the Mazda Speed3 pace car (supplied by Park Mazda in Wooster) which was used by both Regions during the DUAL.

And we cannot forget one other person’s contribution to the successful weekend.  Sandi Kryder not only was overseeing all the Kryderacing personnel and projects, she was also the Race Chairman for the Mahoning Valley National.
 

MID-OHIO NATIONAL/REGIONAL

One week after the DUAL most of our clients and employees were racing at Mid-Ohio.  It was another weekend of highs and lows. John Buttermore showed he not only was good in the wet (by lapping the field at Grattan early in May) but he could put on a good driving clinic in dry conditions.  He qualified his Corvette on the T-1 pole, lead all 19 laps of the nearly two and a half hour race, and set a lap record (besting that of John Heinracy) along the way.  He was assisted throughout the weekend by Matt Carson.

If you read the previous paragraph closely you may have wondered about the fact it took almost 150 minutes to run 19 laps.  The official average speed was 18 MPH!  Part of the reason for the slow average speed was the lunch break wedged between laps 9 and 10.  All this was precipitated by two accidents.  The first accident occurred when a single car hit the cement barrier (no tire wall protection?) with its side.  The driver’s head reportedly made contact with either the wall or roll cage and he was transported to a hospital (we have heard he will be okay).  Shortly after that incident and several turns further around the circuit two other cars crashed heavily and the resulting debris created course blockage.  The race was red flagged.  Because of the time being taken to safely remove the injured driver from the first accident and the projected lengthy clean-up required for the second (no injuries in this one), the officials decided it was a good time to let all the workers take their lunch break.

Rob Piekarcyzk was also in the above mentioned “enduro”.  He placed fourth in T-3 driving his Mazda RX-8.

In the fifth race of the day Bill Pintaric continued his winning ways with his GTL Nissan.  He didn’t set a lap record this time, perhaps because the engine in the car is getting tired.  The other engine has been delayed in its rebuilding program and we all eager for its return.  Matt Miller was the Chief Mechanic for Bill during the weekend.

Brett Mars had entered his T-2 Nissan 350Z in what was to be his National debut with the car.  But the differential broke during the  Friday test sessions and he did not have a spare.  The debut should now be June 14-15 at BeaveRun.  But his second child is due around then, so we will have to wait and see.

The above races were all National events.  But the weekend included several Regional races.  The Improved Touring race had six Kryderacing associated cars.  Employees Matt Carson and Matt Miller finished 4th and 5th respectively on Sunday in their ITS Nissan 240Z and Mazda RX-7.  Jonathan Keillor ran well in his debut SCCA race and finished 4th in the Nissan NX2000 which used to be a Kryderacing rental vehicle until Jonathan purchased it last Winter.  Brent Walton was running well in his ITS Nissan but pitted early for an unknown reason.

The other two drivers, Mike Olivier and Eddy Eckert, had a “metal to metal”.  And it was nasty.  Mike’s ITA Honda Civic and Eddy’s Spec Miata always run similar lap times and they enjoy racing with each other.  But this time another competitor started a chain reaction which ended with Mike hitting Eddy nose to nose.  Both driver’s were okay but sore (especially the next day).  Both cars are headed to the frame machine and body shop.

Mid-Ohio was a very busy weekend for Kryderacing.  Besides racing their own cars, Matt Miller and Matt Carson attended to Buttermore and Pintaric vehicles respectively.  Jerry Palmer was watching after Mike Olivier.  And we had two new helpers, R. J. LeClair and Jordan Perez, who turned out to be big assets. We expect we be inviting them for a return engagement.
 

LIME ROCK KONI ST

Reed and Matt Carson missed part of the Nelson Ledges National “DUAL” weekend as they were busy assisting Team Sahlen at Lime Rock Park.  Will Nonnamaker and Joe Sahlen had entered the Grand Am Koni Challenge ST event and the two Kryderacing members would maintain their Mazda RX-8 along with some guys from the University of Northwestern Ohio technical program.  Initially it was a good weekend with very few problems in practice and qualifying.  The two and a half hour enduro was another story.

The race started out good with Joe slowly working his way from the midpack of the almost 50-car field (on a 1.5 mile track!) towards the front.  At around the hour mark Joe was knocked off course and the time spent regaining pavement dropped him from the lead lap.  Opportunities to regain the lead lap under yellow flag conditions never materialized.  Shortly after midway we pitted for fuel and a drivers change during a full course caution.  Everything went quickly and we even managed a little body repair necessitated by Joe’s earlier incident.  Although a lap down to the leader we still felt we were in the running for a good finish.  Will never got a chance to find his pace as a couple of laps after the green flag waved he was caught up in an accident which ended with the RX-8 being backed hard into the pit entrance guardrail.  Needless to say, our day was done.  The damage was extensive but the car is expected to be repaired in time for the June 22 Mid-Ohio Grand Am race.
 

TECH TIP

There is a old saying which goes “The things we tend to forget are those we learned earliest and think we know best“.  From time to time we come across some old notes regarding race preparation and rediscover some perhaps forgotten knowledge.  We will try to occasionally include these types of tips in future issues.

This issue we want to discuss brake pads.  While we haven’t heard it said as frequently as in years past, there is occasionally the promotion made by a brake pad manufacturer saying their pads run cooler then their competition‘s pads.  This statement always bothered us because the process of braking the car consists mainly of transferring the energy of a moving object into heat.  Any improvement in braking friction between the brake pads and rotors should create an increase in heat, not a reduction.

Some pads handle higher temperatures better than others and some have different characteristics regarding how the heat is conducted out of the pad.  It is also believable that certain pads sacrifice wear in order to reduce heat.  In other words, some of the energy of the moving vehicle is used to wear material off of the pads.  Obviously, a lot of variables can come into play.  But the bottom line is:  If someone is advertising a cooler running brake pad that offers better braking performance you should ask them how this magic is performed.  If the answer is better heat transfer characteristics, they may have something.  But if that is the case, ask yourself where the heat is being transferred.  If you use these “cooler” pads, will you need a better brake fluid because of increased heat transfer rates through the pads and into the caliper.  Or perhaps the pads themselves transfer less heat and thus most of the heat ends up contained to the pads and rotors.  Your brake fluid may be less likely to boil in this case, but will the rotors run hotter and be more susceptible to cracking and “record” type wear?

Kryderacing has worked with several brake pad manufacturers in the past and we have found all of them very helpful in making sure we use their products in the best manner possible.  We have also found most of their trackside representatives to be more technically orientated than your regular sales person.  Call them if you have questions.
 

MISC

* The first event of the 2008 Kryderacing Regional Championship Series at Nelson Ledges Road Course will take place June 28-29.
* We are still selling HANS devices and wish to thank those of you who have referred your friends.  Remember we offer free post installations when you purchase your HANS from Kryderacing.
* The first event for Mike Solley since we took over maintaining his Viper will be June 6-8 at Barber Motorsports Park.  Matt Carson will be taking care of everything trackside.  At one time Reed and Sandi thought they might travel along and take a good look at the facility, but there is too much to do at the shop.
* The conversion of our Nissan 240SX from ITS class configuration to E-Production is taking longer than planned.  The basic hold-up is the engine.  No one has ever built this particular one to the E-Prod specs.  We have purchased another stock engine and will use it to do some initial testing of other vehicle revisions.  Hopefully the car will be tested by Reed at Nelson Ledges before the end of June.
* Our 2-wheel dolly disappeared while we were at the Mid-Ohio National.  It isn’t worth much, but it goes back to our IMSA days and has some sentimental value.  If you see it please contact us.  It is green with a modification which allows hauling of tires when a metal hoop is lowered.
* Bill Pintaric’s next race in his GTL Nissan will be the BeaveRun National on June 14-15.  The prime engine, which had a problem in it’s first few laps at last year’s National Run-Offs has been rebuilt by Rebello and returned for installation.  We plan on using it at  the BeaveRun event.
* John Buttermore will be going for his third win in a row when he races at Elkhart Lake’s Road America June Sprints on June 19-22.  This is historically the biggest National of the year and part of SCCA’s club racing Triple Crown (June Sprints win, Division title, and National Championship).  Matt Carson will be making the trip to help in John’s pursuits.
* Gary Martz will also have his E-Prod Mazda back in action at the June Sprints.
* It looks like the Fourth of July Weekend (4th through 6th) will be an “off” weekend for the entire Kryderacing crew.  Whether this actually happens remains to be seen.  The rest of July is busy and hopefully will also see the return of David Pintaric’s Viper, Mike Olivier’s Honda, and Eddy Eckert’s Mazda.
 
 
 

Check www.kryderacing.com for weekly updates.