• From: Charleston
  • Registered: 2010-08-10
  • Posts: 1,030

Topic: Terminally Confused at CMP South Fall 2010

Holy crap we had a good time!

First race for all five of us - four of us had never so much as stepped onto a track before.  We were in the 157 yellow and black attempt at a school bus themed Civic.  We were slow and learned tons.  Thanks to everyone that didn't smack the crap out of us as we learned where we should and should not try to race.  I took the first shift Saturday morning and have never had so much fun in rush hour traffic.  Apologies to anyone I pissed off with crappy lines while I figured out how to get out of the way.
Sunday was incredible for us.  Turns out our tires were great in the rain and we were suddenly able to compete.  My Sunday drivers are still a bit high from the adrenaline.

Thanks to Mike with the Starfleet Dropouts.  They didn't run this race, but he helped me sort out some tech issues with the car a week prior to the race.
Special thanks to Tyler (not sure if I've got the name right - I kept coming up with various "T" names for him all weekend) with BoomPowSuprise who didn't hesitate to pull out the welder and redo our spreader plates to pass tech!
Big thanks to the Duff Beer guys - they saw us in the penalty area midday Sunday in dire need of an oil cap and offered their spare up.  Our "blowing oil" stop was faster than some of our driver changes!

At the end of the day, it was a failure to check the lug nuts that put us on the the trailer with 1.5 hours to go.  It's amazing the front driver tire stayed on as long as it did.  Car ran for over an hour with the lugs backing off.  I'm fairly certain the drivers now know the difference between "I think an engine mount is coming loose" and "the front tire will fall off soon and kill me".  Thank god my last driver caught a caution and noticed he was wandering all over the front straight.  Tire stayed on, but the wheel carrier was toast.

To the blue volvo we rear ended Sunday afternoon - sorry about that, beer is on us next time.

Stupid But Tough:  You guys are awesome and we can't wait to mix it up again.

And finally a request to the crowd:  Did anyone get video of me careening off the hairpin at 70 into the infield when our brakes went on Saturday?  I'd love to see it!

Thanks,
Craig Ledbetter
ill-advised team captain of Terminally Confused

Apparently my name is really "Craigers".  Who knew?
We might be yellow, but at least we are slow
I'm a WINNER!
  • From: Atlanta, GA
  • Registered: 2009-05-01
  • Posts: 102

Re: Terminally Confused at CMP South Fall 2010

Craig,
Good to race with you.  Hope to see you guys in the future.

Mike Rennick
#6 GRR Sports Space Shuttle Escort

http://grrsports.blogspot.com/
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  • From: Johns Island, SC
  • Registered: 2010-05-24
  • Posts: 77

Re: Terminally Confused at CMP South Fall 2010

I may be mistaken but I get the impression that FWD cars have an advantage in the rain.  Next race I will be hiring local cropdusters to seed the clouds the week before the race.

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  • From: Chapel Hill, NC
  • Registered: 2010-01-18
  • Posts: 66

Re: Terminally Confused at CMP South Fall 2010

Craig,
  No problem on the bump.. we didn't take much damage - Volvo bumpers are good like that.  Your driver came over and talked to my driver afterwards.  I'll have some amusing in-car footage of the hit posted once I sift through it all.  I had a good time racing w/ you guys when I was out there.  Hope to see you at the next race.

Swede Sixteen Racing - 85 Volvo 740 - Southern Discomfort '10, South Spring '10, South Fall '10,
Southern Discomfort '11 (GRM Most from the Least Winner), Shine Country Classic '11
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5 Reply by Junkyard Dog (edited by Junkyard Dog 2010-09-27 06:15 PM)

  • From: Columbia, South Cackalacke
  • Registered: 2009-05-02
  • Posts: 602

Re: Terminally Confused at CMP South Fall 2010

Glad you had fun, Craig! I kept looking at those spreader plates, thinking 'well they ain't perfect but they passed last year' and obviously I was wrong. sad Sorry about that.

Philosophy of life: old age and treachery will ALWAYS overcome youth, enthusiasm and cash. General smartass know it all beer swilling ne'er do well. Avoid eye contact with this person, best avoided completely. 2008 Animal House Racing CMP 'Most Likely To Leave In An Ambulance' 2009 Blind Rodent Racing CMP 2010 Team Galileo CMP 2011 Roundhouse Kick Racing CMP 2012 Road Kill Grill Racing CMP (x2)
  • From: Charleston
  • Registered: 2010-08-10
  • Posts: 1,030

Re: Terminally Confused at CMP South Fall 2010

Mike Rennick:  We enjoyed hanging out with y'all on pit lane, and really enjoyed running with you.  Y'all were faster than us on a dry track, but I seem to recall that some fun was had by my first Sunday driver during the rain with your car.

curlypaul924:  No kidding.  All the RWD folks that passed us all day Saturday were suddenly getting smaller in the rearview.  It was awesome!  We will be breaking out the cloud seeders, Indian rain dances, and alter sacrifices to get some rain at the next race...

vinzclortho:  My offending driver, who we call "ramming speed" or "whiplash" now, would love to see the in car for that hit.  I believe it was the most unintentional fun he has ever had.

Junkyard Dog:  I think the cage welds would have passed if it wasn't for the craptacular rear strut bar we let my family member weld up (you how that goes sometimes).  The farm tractor quality welds on that piece drew the tech inspectors attention to all the welds.  It was after banging on that bar that they started calling over the senior guys for another look.  Lesson learned - make EVERY visible weld high quality, just to avoid the closer look.
You might appreciate that my dad's fastest lap was 2 laps before we discovered the front wheel was about to fall off.  I seem to recall a declaration to us that he wasn't going to push very hard at all...

All in all it was a great weekend.  I can't wait to see all the online footage people are starting to post to find small bits of us racing.  We will definitely get our own camera rig running for the next race (ran out of time and desire to get it going this time)

Apparently my name is really "Craigers".  Who knew?
We might be yellow, but at least we are slow
I'm a WINNER!
  • Registered: 2009-07-19
  • Posts: 1,585

Re: Terminally Confused at CMP South Fall 2010

solman244 wrote:

The farm tractor quality welds on that piece drew the tech inspectors attention to all the welds.

We noticed that as well, one borderline safety issue brings extra attention to everything else, to the point where we've got the inspectors crawling over everything and busting us for making the changes that they told us to make at the previous inspection. This time we spent some extra time/effort/$ on the cage, seat bracing, harness bar, and a couple of other things so that everything was 100% solid/legit at first glance and we breezed through tech.

Everybody grab your brooms, it's shenanigans!
  • From: Brandywine, MD
  • Registered: 2009-07-15
  • Posts: 4,528

Re: Terminally Confused at CMP South Fall 2010

curlypaul924 wrote:

I may be mistaken but I get the impression that FWD cars have an advantage in the rain.  Next race I will be hiring local cropdusters to seed the clouds the week before the race.

Considering my overpowered light-in-the-ass-end Mark VIII-based Lowes roofing-sided beast was spinning the length of the front straight, I'd say you're right. I went from passing to being passed by almost everything in one minute.

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  • Registered: 2009-07-19
  • Posts: 1,585

Re: Terminally Confused at CMP South Fall 2010

I know that my brother was very excited about driving in the rain in the Civic, said he was passing people right and left, and that was with no VTEC due to something wrong with the motor that we haven't figured out yet.

Everybody grab your brooms, it's shenanigans!
  • Registered: 2010-09-28
  • Posts: 2

Re: Terminally Confused at CMP South Fall 2010

Speedycop wrote:
curlypaul924 wrote:

I may be mistaken but I get the impression that FWD cars have an advantage in the rain.  Next race I will be hiring local cropdusters to seed the clouds the week before the race.

Considering my overpowered light-in-the-ass-end Mark VIII-based Lowes roofing-sided beast was spinning the length of the front straight, I'd say you're right. I went from passing to being passed by almost everything in one minute.

The rear-drive Skank Tank was a dream to drive in the rain on Sunday. All that lack of power and tremendous weight really worked in its favor. Not sure I would have passed anyone in the dry but there were a few cars I lapped in the rain.

Mad props to the East Bound and Down Z. I had a blast racing with you during that stint.

  • From: Oldtown, NC
  • Registered: 2010-09-01
  • Posts: 45

Re: Terminally Confused at CMP South Fall 2010

It was our first race as well and we had a blast! We made it as high as 30th before our driver missed a yellow flag and passed 2 people... a 3 hour penalty with 2 hours left kind of hurts.
We know what you mean Speedy Cop, we had little trouble dispatching most 4 cylinder FWD on dry but the rain (Combined with the fact that our last Saturday driver had pitted nickel size chunks out of all four tires) and we felt like we were driving on snow. I think the bug could have passed us on Sunday!
Alfa gave us our first real race dent on a backed up yellow and the good thing about heavy american cars against tiny euro-tin is that our driver thought is was wheel hop and didn't know he had been hit. A big "Sorry" to whoever we came into their line and they crushed in our door... it was our fault.
See you February.

82 Oldsmobile Cutless SUPREME - 40 somethingplace at Lemons South Fall 2010- 17th place Lemons Southern Discomfort 2011-15th Place Lemons South Spring 2011 - somewhere between 20-25th Where The Elite Meet To Cheat, Charlotte 2011
93 Subaru Impreza - 16th overall, 3rd in class Lemons South Fall 2013
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12 Reply by JElrod (edited by JElrod 2010-09-28 06:43 PM)

  • From: Mt. Airy, Ga.
  • Registered: 2010-09-27
  • Posts: 78

Re: Terminally Confused at CMP South Fall 2010

awpuddin wrote:
Speedycop wrote:
curlypaul924 wrote:

I may be mistaken but I get the impression that FWD cars have an advantage in the rain.  Next race I will be hiring local cropdusters to seed the clouds the week before the race.

Considering my overpowered light-in-the-ass-end Mark VIII-based Lowes roofing-sided beast was spinning the length of the front straight, I'd say you're right. I went from passing to being passed by almost everything in one minute.

The rear-drive Skank Tank was a dream to drive in the rain on Sunday. All that lack of power and tremendous weight really worked in its favor. Not sure I would have passed anyone in the dry but there were a few cars I lapped in the rain.

Mad props to the East Bound and Down Z. I had a blast racing with you during that stint.

I had a blast out there with everyone. At one point i was in a sandwich of the skank tank and the beast USS ENT. I was doing my best to get out of there. Then the sksnk tant just walk off and left me. i guess i can drift now.

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