Thursday, July 10, 2008
Still Plays With Cars (Sunday Race at Roebling Road)
The weather for race day dawned...iffy. In keeping with the weather throughout the weekend it looked like we were in for a day of random weather patterns. True to form, the first race was run under a beautiful Georgia sky only to have some of the day's later races take place during a deluge. The weather for our Formula First Challenge Cup race was clear with overcast skies. It appeared that it would rain shortly after our race but we thought we could sneak our race in under the wire.
I rolled off the grid fourth and proceeded to get a great start. I powered down the front straightaway literally inches from my 2nd place teammate's gearbox. Unfortunately, all of the top six cars got amazing starts and we rolled through turns 1 and 2 nearly in pace lap formation. That was difficult on those of us who started on the outside (2nd, 4th, and 6th) and I briefly settled in at the back of the lead pack.
I was running seventh at that point but you could have laid a blanket over the 4th through 7th place cars. By the halfway point the 4th and 5th place cars had spun off the track and left a two-way battle between myself and Dmitri Mariutto (in my old BRD chassis). We both had places on the track where we were faster (and slower) than the other one. As you might imagine, that led to a race that the fans said they enjoyed watching - but they didn't enjoy it half as much as Dmitri and I did sitting behind the wheel. We traded 4th position several times throughout the race. Unfortunately, my Nicci Gilland Photography Evolution wouldn't get down the straightaway as well as I would have liked. While that led into some exciting dices down the front straightaway, it was frustrating to be able to pull a gap, albeit small, in some sections of the track and then give it away down the straightaway.
After losing the battle down the front straightaway, I slipped back to 5th with about 4 laps to go. However, on the next lap I was able to slip past Dmitri using a lapped car as a pick in the twisty bits on the back side of the course. While the fans enjoyed my pass, I yielded fourth yet again down the front straightaway. I begin plotting my final move for the final turn on the last lap so I could prevent Dmitri from returning the favor!
I ran a solid last lap and could see that Dmitri's car was struggling with grip as we neared the last two corners. Unfortuately, as I tried to coax every ounce of speed out of my Evolution I put the left side tires in the marbles on the left edge of the track. The car began to fishtail and, while I nearly kept the car on track, I made a fairly dramatic 90 MPH slide through an enormous mud puddle on driver's right. I immediately straightened the car out and motored to the flag with a solid fifth place, despite the fact that mud had invaded every corner of the car, the cockpit and my firesuit.
Everyone in attendance got a big kick out of my dramatic, muddy finish but what mattered is that I landed a solid top five finish at a track that I had never been to in my life. That weekend gave Jaygo Racing a solid start to a (hopefully) championship season. Check back in soon for more updates on Jaygo Racing's 2008 season!
I rolled off the grid fourth and proceeded to get a great start. I powered down the front straightaway literally inches from my 2nd place teammate's gearbox. Unfortunately, all of the top six cars got amazing starts and we rolled through turns 1 and 2 nearly in pace lap formation. That was difficult on those of us who started on the outside (2nd, 4th, and 6th) and I briefly settled in at the back of the lead pack.
I was running seventh at that point but you could have laid a blanket over the 4th through 7th place cars. By the halfway point the 4th and 5th place cars had spun off the track and left a two-way battle between myself and Dmitri Mariutto (in my old BRD chassis). We both had places on the track where we were faster (and slower) than the other one. As you might imagine, that led to a race that the fans said they enjoyed watching - but they didn't enjoy it half as much as Dmitri and I did sitting behind the wheel. We traded 4th position several times throughout the race. Unfortunately, my Nicci Gilland Photography Evolution wouldn't get down the straightaway as well as I would have liked. While that led into some exciting dices down the front straightaway, it was frustrating to be able to pull a gap, albeit small, in some sections of the track and then give it away down the straightaway.
After losing the battle down the front straightaway, I slipped back to 5th with about 4 laps to go. However, on the next lap I was able to slip past Dmitri using a lapped car as a pick in the twisty bits on the back side of the course. While the fans enjoyed my pass, I yielded fourth yet again down the front straightaway. I begin plotting my final move for the final turn on the last lap so I could prevent Dmitri from returning the favor!
I ran a solid last lap and could see that Dmitri's car was struggling with grip as we neared the last two corners. Unfortuately, as I tried to coax every ounce of speed out of my Evolution I put the left side tires in the marbles on the left edge of the track. The car began to fishtail and, while I nearly kept the car on track, I made a fairly dramatic 90 MPH slide through an enormous mud puddle on driver's right. I immediately straightened the car out and motored to the flag with a solid fifth place, despite the fact that mud had invaded every corner of the car, the cockpit and my firesuit.
Everyone in attendance got a big kick out of my dramatic, muddy finish but what mattered is that I landed a solid top five finish at a track that I had never been to in my life. That weekend gave Jaygo Racing a solid start to a (hopefully) championship season. Check back in soon for more updates on Jaygo Racing's 2008 season!
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Rain, Rain Go Away (April 4th/5th @ Roebling Road)...
Our weekend started Friday morning with the first of three test sessions on the day. Unfortunately, the morning got a late start due to a fog delay that kept cars off the track for over an hour. As you might imagine, it is helpful to be able to see down the track as you're traveling at over 100 MPH!
Once the fog burned off, however, we were able to hit the track for our first session. While the track was slick with moisture, the abbreviated session did allow me to get the lay of the land a bit. Even though we just got two or three laps in, it was easy to tell that the track was going to be a lot of fun once we got a full, clean session on the track.
That last two test sessions on Friday were mostly uneventful. I spun two or three times across the two sessions but I was able to knock several seconds off my times throughout the day and I was within shouting distance of the fast times by the end of Friday.
Saturday morning it started raining and the rain did not stop before we all hit the track in our Formula Firsts. Since the track was fully soaked, we ran the session on our fully-treaded rain tires. It was an adventure for everyone but I was able to post the fourth fastest time of the session. I wasn't thrilled with that, but after a couple of off-course excursions during the session, I felt like being in the top half of the field was a solid effort.
The rain continued off and on throughout the late morning and early afternoon before stopping near the end of the lunch break. The combination of no rain and a bit of sun and wind meant the track had dried out too much to use rain tires. That meant that the entire Formula First field qualified on a wet, but drying, track on our slick tires. As you might imagine, the conditions created very slick track conditions that were entertaining...for everyone watching. I'm not sure that any of the drivers would use the word entertaining to describe the track conditions that we experienced. When I returned to the trailer after the session (and three off-course excursions) I was frustrated and quite sure that I would be near the back of the Formula First grid.
After a few conversations, however, I realized that the track conditions were frustrating for everybody. Following some of those conversations I got a look at the grid sheet and realized that I had qualified fourth for Sunday's race. I am pretty pleased to be able to roll off fourth on Sunday. The weather forecast is clear for now, but we'll race in the afternoon...and afternoons in the south often mean thunderstorms. Anything can happen tomorrow, so keep checking back for all the latest. Thanks to everybody for their support!
Once the fog burned off, however, we were able to hit the track for our first session. While the track was slick with moisture, the abbreviated session did allow me to get the lay of the land a bit. Even though we just got two or three laps in, it was easy to tell that the track was going to be a lot of fun once we got a full, clean session on the track.
That last two test sessions on Friday were mostly uneventful. I spun two or three times across the two sessions but I was able to knock several seconds off my times throughout the day and I was within shouting distance of the fast times by the end of Friday.
Saturday morning it started raining and the rain did not stop before we all hit the track in our Formula Firsts. Since the track was fully soaked, we ran the session on our fully-treaded rain tires. It was an adventure for everyone but I was able to post the fourth fastest time of the session. I wasn't thrilled with that, but after a couple of off-course excursions during the session, I felt like being in the top half of the field was a solid effort.
The rain continued off and on throughout the late morning and early afternoon before stopping near the end of the lunch break. The combination of no rain and a bit of sun and wind meant the track had dried out too much to use rain tires. That meant that the entire Formula First field qualified on a wet, but drying, track on our slick tires. As you might imagine, the conditions created very slick track conditions that were entertaining...for everyone watching. I'm not sure that any of the drivers would use the word entertaining to describe the track conditions that we experienced. When I returned to the trailer after the session (and three off-course excursions) I was frustrated and quite sure that I would be near the back of the Formula First grid.
After a few conversations, however, I realized that the track conditions were frustrating for everybody. Following some of those conversations I got a look at the grid sheet and realized that I had qualified fourth for Sunday's race. I am pretty pleased to be able to roll off fourth on Sunday. The weather forecast is clear for now, but we'll race in the afternoon...and afternoons in the south often mean thunderstorms. Anything can happen tomorrow, so keep checking back for all the latest. Thanks to everybody for their support!
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Opening Day - 2008 Racing Season Begins April 4
In the morning, the #25 Evolution will take the track for testing prior to Saturday's opening round of the FormulaCar Magazine Formula First Challenge Cup. Please check eformulacarnews.com and JaygoRacing.com for updates throughout the weekend.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Grattan - Memorial Day 2007 - Race 1 & 2
This will be a short post because there is not much good to say about how this weekend went. A short summary is below.
Qualifying 1 - Carb float problem caused the car to bog down coming out of most corners. This qualified me in the middle of the overall pack but behind most of the Formula Firsts.
Race 1 - The brake pedal got progressively longer as the race went on. We discovered leaking master cylinder after the race. I finished 8th of the 11 Formula Firsts in the race.
Qualifying 2 - This was a qualifying race (rather than an open qualifying session). That would have been a lot of fun had all four spark plug wires stayed attached. Unfortunately, only three of them stayed attached and I was the last car running on the track. This stuck me near the back of Sunday's field.
Race 2 - I was looking forward to charging up through the field to join my fellow FST drivers near the front. Unfortunately, the set screws in the front of the car had other ideas. After I spent almost three laps trying to figure out why the handling was so all over the place, the set screws finally worked themselves out of the grooves they sit in and the car pitched left coming up the hill towards the esses. I kept it straight and pulled into the pits, but we could not repair it in time and my race was over after four laps.
This weekend is Road America. I finished 2nd here last year and hopefully all of our bad luck is out of the way for the year.
Qualifying 1 - Carb float problem caused the car to bog down coming out of most corners. This qualified me in the middle of the overall pack but behind most of the Formula Firsts.
Race 1 - The brake pedal got progressively longer as the race went on. We discovered leaking master cylinder after the race. I finished 8th of the 11 Formula Firsts in the race.
Qualifying 2 - This was a qualifying race (rather than an open qualifying session). That would have been a lot of fun had all four spark plug wires stayed attached. Unfortunately, only three of them stayed attached and I was the last car running on the track. This stuck me near the back of Sunday's field.
Race 2 - I was looking forward to charging up through the field to join my fellow FST drivers near the front. Unfortunately, the set screws in the front of the car had other ideas. After I spent almost three laps trying to figure out why the handling was so all over the place, the set screws finally worked themselves out of the grooves they sit in and the car pitched left coming up the hill towards the esses. I kept it straight and pulled into the pits, but we could not repair it in time and my race was over after four laps.
This weekend is Road America. I finished 2nd here last year and hopefully all of our bad luck is out of the way for the year.
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Website Updates for 2007
Happy New Year! 'Tis the season for racing sponsorship discussions and website updates, and Jaygo Racing is no different. We've updated our website and our press kit for 2007 and are currently in discussions with current and future marketing partners regarding our 2007 campaign. We look forward to making some announcements in the very near future. Thanks for your support and keep checking back here and at www.jaygoracing.com for updates.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Qualifying 2 - 9/24/06 - Nelson Ledges
As you'll note, the title of this post is shorter than usual. Unfortunately, the last time I crossed the finish line in this qualifying session was the last time I would cross the finish line during the weekend.
We made some adjustments to the car Saturday night to help it oversteer a little more. After reviewing Doug's video from the race, it appeared that my two brief offs during the race on Saturday were due to the understeer that the car had, rather than me taking incorrect lines through the corners. He and I appeared to take nearly the same line through the corners but my car would not turn-in like his car would. Thankfully, the handling changes at least made the car more comfortable to drive.
Sunday morning's session was somewhat uneventful until the last lap. I did spin out once trying an ambitious pass at T12 on a Formula 500 that was holding me up (despite the fact that I had slowed down and let him go ahead of me twice during the session). Given the differences between FST and F500 in cornering and straightaway speed it can be very difficult for an FST to pass an F500, even if the FST is faster, due to where the F500 has an advantage (the straightaways) over the FST. There was also an incident where an FV took to the grass in the kink to avoid a slowing FV. That happened right in front of me but I was able to bypass that excitement with no problem.
Apparently, shortly after I crossed start/finish for the last time, the checkered flag came out for that session. As I turned in for T1 I tried a little bit of a different line and hit a very large bump. That bump caused the back end of the car to step out a little bit. The car started sliding towards the inside but I had nearly straightened the car out (the wheel was pretty much straight in my hand with the car headed towards the grass) when I heard/felt a THWACK in the right-rear corner of the car. That impact knocked my head into the left side of the roll bar and jerked the car left towards the track so I steered my car to the right as best as I could, even though the steering was only connected to the LF wheel at this point. I pushed the brake and the clutch in (which was amusing in hindsight considering the impact ripped off the kill switch and shut off the engine) and the car stopped. I looked up to see the #01 Formula Vee 7-8 feet in the air. He came down on his nose and rolled a couple of times before coming to rest upside down.
Thankfully the track safety team was on the site after just a few seconds. They quickly identified the severity of the accident and set about taking care of Ryan (the driver of the #01 car) and I. They evaluated me for a concussion and other upper body injuries but proclaimed me OK (other than immense soreness and bruising). Ryan suffered a broken tibia and broken collarbone in the accident, and our thoughts and prayers are certainly with him as he recovers.
Unfortunately, my 2006 FormulaCar Magazine Formula First Challenge Cup season came to an end with my damaged car sitting in the grass after qualifying. The car could not be repaired before the race and so the Jaygo clan left the track early in search of a big lunch. Graciously, my dad paid for lunch since he felt badly about the big hit my wallet took as a result of the accident that morning.
I am somewhat pleased with my first season of racing. I finished 3rd out of 16 competitors in the championship, and the two drivers ahead of me both have national Formula Vee experience. Although, my championship placing was in part due to bad luck befalling some other drivers, I was also able to avoid some incidents this year that would have set me back in the points. As many people reminded me, luck is certainly part of racing. All things considered, it was a solid first season, but I'm definitely looking for bigger and better things in 2007.
Thanks again to everybody that supported and helped me this year. Jim, B.J., and Brandon of SR Racing prepared solid cars all season, Doug Seim and Robert Guhde were extremely helpful with in-car video, track tours, and advice, Bill Bonow worked his tail off to provide a fun series for Formula First racers to compete in, and Rob Howden ponied up the support of his magazine, FormulaCar Magazine, to sponsor the series. Go to http://www.formulacarmag.com to subscribe to the magazine and support Rob. Without FCM I would not have landed all of the sponsorship I needed this year, so many thanks to Rob.
Lastly, thanks to my wife for her support (and not freaking out when she saw me in a wrecked race car), and thanks to my Dad and brother for hanging out at the races as much as they could and offering advice as much as possible.
I'll post here periodically during the off-season to update everybody on my progress with marketing partnerships and things of that nature, but the racing updates will begin in earnest in 2007. Thanks again to everybody and I'll talk to you soon.
We made some adjustments to the car Saturday night to help it oversteer a little more. After reviewing Doug's video from the race, it appeared that my two brief offs during the race on Saturday were due to the understeer that the car had, rather than me taking incorrect lines through the corners. He and I appeared to take nearly the same line through the corners but my car would not turn-in like his car would. Thankfully, the handling changes at least made the car more comfortable to drive.
Sunday morning's session was somewhat uneventful until the last lap. I did spin out once trying an ambitious pass at T12 on a Formula 500 that was holding me up (despite the fact that I had slowed down and let him go ahead of me twice during the session). Given the differences between FST and F500 in cornering and straightaway speed it can be very difficult for an FST to pass an F500, even if the FST is faster, due to where the F500 has an advantage (the straightaways) over the FST. There was also an incident where an FV took to the grass in the kink to avoid a slowing FV. That happened right in front of me but I was able to bypass that excitement with no problem.
Apparently, shortly after I crossed start/finish for the last time, the checkered flag came out for that session. As I turned in for T1 I tried a little bit of a different line and hit a very large bump. That bump caused the back end of the car to step out a little bit. The car started sliding towards the inside but I had nearly straightened the car out (the wheel was pretty much straight in my hand with the car headed towards the grass) when I heard/felt a THWACK in the right-rear corner of the car. That impact knocked my head into the left side of the roll bar and jerked the car left towards the track so I steered my car to the right as best as I could, even though the steering was only connected to the LF wheel at this point. I pushed the brake and the clutch in (which was amusing in hindsight considering the impact ripped off the kill switch and shut off the engine) and the car stopped. I looked up to see the #01 Formula Vee 7-8 feet in the air. He came down on his nose and rolled a couple of times before coming to rest upside down.
Thankfully the track safety team was on the site after just a few seconds. They quickly identified the severity of the accident and set about taking care of Ryan (the driver of the #01 car) and I. They evaluated me for a concussion and other upper body injuries but proclaimed me OK (other than immense soreness and bruising). Ryan suffered a broken tibia and broken collarbone in the accident, and our thoughts and prayers are certainly with him as he recovers.
Unfortunately, my 2006 FormulaCar Magazine Formula First Challenge Cup season came to an end with my damaged car sitting in the grass after qualifying. The car could not be repaired before the race and so the Jaygo clan left the track early in search of a big lunch. Graciously, my dad paid for lunch since he felt badly about the big hit my wallet took as a result of the accident that morning.
I am somewhat pleased with my first season of racing. I finished 3rd out of 16 competitors in the championship, and the two drivers ahead of me both have national Formula Vee experience. Although, my championship placing was in part due to bad luck befalling some other drivers, I was also able to avoid some incidents this year that would have set me back in the points. As many people reminded me, luck is certainly part of racing. All things considered, it was a solid first season, but I'm definitely looking for bigger and better things in 2007.
Thanks again to everybody that supported and helped me this year. Jim, B.J., and Brandon of SR Racing prepared solid cars all season, Doug Seim and Robert Guhde were extremely helpful with in-car video, track tours, and advice, Bill Bonow worked his tail off to provide a fun series for Formula First racers to compete in, and Rob Howden ponied up the support of his magazine, FormulaCar Magazine, to sponsor the series. Go to http://www.formulacarmag.com to subscribe to the magazine and support Rob. Without FCM I would not have landed all of the sponsorship I needed this year, so many thanks to Rob.
Lastly, thanks to my wife for her support (and not freaking out when she saw me in a wrecked race car), and thanks to my Dad and brother for hanging out at the races as much as they could and offering advice as much as possible.
I'll post here periodically during the off-season to update everybody on my progress with marketing partnerships and things of that nature, but the racing updates will begin in earnest in 2007. Thanks again to everybody and I'll talk to you soon.
Qualifying 1/Race 1 - 9/23/06 - Nelson Ledges
Saturday's first qualifying session at Nelson Ledges started under gray skies. The track was pretty much dry (though there appeared to be a few wet spots off of the racing line). Following an early morning discussion/infield tour with Doug Seim, I was prepared to tackle the fast, bumpy 2-mile circuit.
My laps on Saturday confirmed that Nelson was indeed both fast and bumpy. As I noted after the session, it sure would be a ton of fun if they paved it more often and it was in a warmer climate! That being said, it was still a very enjoyable track. I completed the full qualifying session and my fastest lap was a 1:17.879, just a shade over two seconds off the pole time set by Nelson veteran (and championship leader) Greg Rice. I was pretty pleased with that time and was greatly looking forward to the afternoon's race.
As a side note, I was called to impound after the qualifying session so the tech folks could have a look at my seating position in the car. After measuring it, they determined that I was probably sitting an inch or two too high in the car. We spent most of the afternoon repositioning the seat padding and the lead in the cockpit so that I would sit lower in the car. We determined that I was probably sitting a little over two inches lower after all of our work that afternoon. That would prove useful on Sunday.
Anyhow, back to Saturday's events. The race started on Saturday and I got a very competitive start and briefly looked at 4th headed into Turn 1. Given the intimidating nature of Turn 1 I did not try the low-percentage pass and as the field left T1 I assumed the fifth spot (my starting position). I was able to hang with the lead pack for the first several laps but a couple of brief offs coming out of the Carousel and out of the kink set me back several seconds and I rode home with a decent fifth-place finish. It was not what I needed points-wise but I was not disappointed with my finish considering it was my first time there. Also, I was able to knock nearly a second and a quarter off my fastest time in the morning, so all in all I was pleased. Bill Bonow brought home the victory in Doug Dale's Evo and that ensured that the championship chase would carry on into Sunday.
After a trip back to my little brother's place in Akron, some delicious chili prepared by Mrs. little brother, and some football on the tube, I was ready for Sunday morning prepared to hang with the lead pack on only my 2nd day at the track. Check out the next post for Sunday's details...
My laps on Saturday confirmed that Nelson was indeed both fast and bumpy. As I noted after the session, it sure would be a ton of fun if they paved it more often and it was in a warmer climate! That being said, it was still a very enjoyable track. I completed the full qualifying session and my fastest lap was a 1:17.879, just a shade over two seconds off the pole time set by Nelson veteran (and championship leader) Greg Rice. I was pretty pleased with that time and was greatly looking forward to the afternoon's race.
As a side note, I was called to impound after the qualifying session so the tech folks could have a look at my seating position in the car. After measuring it, they determined that I was probably sitting an inch or two too high in the car. We spent most of the afternoon repositioning the seat padding and the lead in the cockpit so that I would sit lower in the car. We determined that I was probably sitting a little over two inches lower after all of our work that afternoon. That would prove useful on Sunday.
Anyhow, back to Saturday's events. The race started on Saturday and I got a very competitive start and briefly looked at 4th headed into Turn 1. Given the intimidating nature of Turn 1 I did not try the low-percentage pass and as the field left T1 I assumed the fifth spot (my starting position). I was able to hang with the lead pack for the first several laps but a couple of brief offs coming out of the Carousel and out of the kink set me back several seconds and I rode home with a decent fifth-place finish. It was not what I needed points-wise but I was not disappointed with my finish considering it was my first time there. Also, I was able to knock nearly a second and a quarter off my fastest time in the morning, so all in all I was pleased. Bill Bonow brought home the victory in Doug Dale's Evo and that ensured that the championship chase would carry on into Sunday.
After a trip back to my little brother's place in Akron, some delicious chili prepared by Mrs. little brother, and some football on the tube, I was ready for Sunday morning prepared to hang with the lead pack on only my 2nd day at the track. Check out the next post for Sunday's details...
Monday, September 25, 2006
Update coming soon...
Good afternoon everybody. I wanted to post here quickly to let you know that I will be updating this blog tomorrow (Tuesday the 26th). As far as the reason for the delay, when I post the blog you will understand...
I'll talk to everybody tomorrow.
I'll talk to everybody tomorrow.
