Day Seven Wrap Up

Pittsburg International Race Complex is in our rear view mirrors and a fading memory.  We had a another good day at this track as we did nothing to hurt us.  We brought the car out of the serious competition events shiny side up and undented.  I ran the afternoon in dry track conditions and finished 22nd fastest. With the effort we maintained our 17th over all position in the standings and we locked up third in the luxury sedan class.  That is a one, two, three finish for the BMW marque in luxury sedan in the 2013 Tire Rack One Lap of America.  Where's our check BMW NA?

After leaving the track a large group of us headed to Fat Head Brewery in North Omsted, OH.  If you ever find yourself in the area and want a great selection of hand crafted beers and some good food, stop by.  The atmosphere is also fun and the wait staff attentive.  Thanks Dick Clark and Woody Hair for finding a wonderful spot to sit and rest for an hour before continuing on to South Bend.

Currently, we are 50 miles from South Bend - we can smell the barn from here.  The weather has turned decidedly cold and nasty.  It's 49 degrees according to the car temp gauge and misting!  It could be a nasty day on what is supposed to be the final event - dry skid pad.  Just in case you are wondering, rain or shine, we run the skid pad.  May be Robert can place better than 45th this time - jeez Bobby G....really, 45th is the best you could do a week ago?  May be we should go by the Tire Rack tonight and get some practice in - ROBERT?!

We are both excited to have clawed our way back to a top 20 finish over all which was a goal.  Finishing third in class frankly was a surprise as we thought we'd be duking it out for 4th.  We beat Woody and Neil in the over all - check.  The car is fine - check.  We had a ton of fun and too many laughs to count between ourselves and our One Lap friends.  In every way a fantastic adventure.

More tomorrow as we are both very tired and I have caught some nasty cold with a wicked cough.  Some drugs may be in order this evening while watching the CAPS game.


From left to right - Woody Hair, Robert Grace, & Ben Schaut

Beaver Run Morning Results

The track was wet this morning, but drying.  Robert drove and we purposely set up the run group so that all four luxury sedans were together not giving anyone an unfair advantage in later run groups.

Robert ran 24th fastest.  He ran fourth fastest in class, but still ahead of the Porsche, so we increased our lead by another five points.  If we keep the shiny side up this afternoon, we should have no problem finishing third in the luxury sedan class.  Way to go Robert!!!!!

The fight for the luxury sedan win though is on full scale though between Mike Renner in the BMW M6 and the Schauts in the super-charged E90 M3.  They are currently tied for first with two events remaining (Beaver Run this afternoon and dry skid pad tomorrow at the Tire Rack).  The Schauts currently hold a small (3 seconds) over all cumulative time lead over Renner.  This is important as it is the tie breaker should they split the last two events.

Stay tuned! 

Evo Takes a Licking & Keeps on Ticking

Talk about trudging on.  There is an Evo in the field that has seen some rather nasty abuse.  At CMP  it came through the very fast kink and went off driver's left.  Not sure if the driver tried to save it or what, but the grass was wet as it was the opening session.  The car came back across the track and went through the tire wall.  It sustained some minor body damage, but the rear diff oil pump was a different matter.  No worries, the team with some help from other One Lappers pulled the car together in time to run the afternoon.

The Evo post tire wall break through at CMP.

Unfortunately, CMP was not the last time the Evo would see a tire wall.  On the North Course at VIR it went off at the start of Hog Pen (turns 17a and 17b which lead on to the front straight).  The car went straight off and buried its nose in the tire wall, but not too far or enough to damage it beyond being able to continue.  In a way, no harm no foul other than a DNF and zero points for the session.  I will say though that the car's mishaps did help us move up to 17th other all.  Just sorry it had to happen that way, but also glad the team is able to continue.  Great works gents!

The Evo on grid this morning at Beaver Run.

1M Update

The 1M was repaired at the Arial Atom shop on the grounds of VIR late yesterday afternoon.  After additional diagnosis on the car, it was determined that the entire oil cooler would need to be replaced.  The shop having several spare cars around finally sourced one, although slightly smaller than what was currently on the car, it would fit and work just fine.  The shop patched up the car and Woody and Neil were headed north by 6:00 pm.

I just happened to be awake when they pulled in to the motel noting it was 1:30 am.  What a grueling day it must have been for them, but in true One Lap fashion they trudged on.  What must be really disappointing for them is they had taken the first two events at VIR against the Scion and had a strong chance of taking the third.  These wins would have made for today at Pittsburg (the former Beaver Run) and the dry skid pad on Saturday very interesting.  Nothing like great and spirited competition.

Way to go Neil and Woody.  Great to have you back in the fold!

1M Woes

Quick story on Woody and Neil in Neil's BMW 1M.  Woody did very well on both the south and north course events this morning.  Just what they needed to do.  While preparing the car for the BMW photo opportunity, Neil noticed a small amount of oil under the right front half of the car.  After doing so more digging it was discovered that the oil cooler hose fitting was leaking.  Nothing huge, but certainly an issue to be looked at and dealt with if possible.

Neil jumped in with both feet as did Woody and Dan Schaut.  Within 30 minutes they had completed what was thought to be a successful repair.  The full course event was gridding up and upon taking the car to grid, Neil noticed the leak had become even bigger.  There was no way to run the car.

Neil made arrangements for a flat tow to a shop near VIR (actually on the grounds).  Last report was that the front bumper was off and that the culprit was a bad o-ring.  Hopefully Neil and Woody are back on the road soon.

Triage on the 1M

The 1M getting a lift.