2019 Tacoma 24 (Page 2 of 2)

AWESOME job guys!

And of course yes, awesome job!

Hahahaha...

That last point almost came to fruition when Alan announced prior to the LAST HEAT that there would be a clearance check after the race.  A minor brouhaha nearly erupted and it was decided that all affected cars - well, all cars except for one - would need to get their tires replaced - on a schedule - during the heat.  Wait to be called and then sprint to the pit room.  Operators are standing by...

Despite all this Chris stayed strong and held off the team behind us securing our points position in the final heat of the last 8 hour saga.

The points...  were based on your finish position in each of the three 8 hour segments.  Teams selected their cars for the first and third segments - Mini Cooper or Simca - but the Opel Kadett was chosen to rule the night - go figure...

I saw things.  I saw some serious driving.  Some of it was great and some of it was, well, enthusiastic.  I saw Zack, Chris and Ray appear to defy the possible limits of adhesion at times.  I saw the track marshal working next to me fall asleep.  You gotta have more than two people on your team.  I saw old friends and made a few new ones.  And I had one heat like the big boys where the laps flowed and the other cars fell behind.

I'd rate it a good experience.  A couple of more team mates and everyone could get some sleep.  It makes a difference.  Oh, and a sprinter, we need a sprinter.  One that can do hurdles.

Yep, third as Monte says, but to clarify, we were third on total distance as well as points.

It was a fantastic effort and validates the improvement I had seen on our last venture northward (prior to the McLaren Lighting fiasco of 2017).  Alan goes through great efforts in trying to please everyone which can have a knock-on effect of appearing to move the goal posts.  In the end, whether scored on distance or points, the order remained identical in all eight places, which was nice to see.

It was still a very fun event and having the three different cars was both good and bad.  Switching between them required us to tune all three and adapt to the new cars as we progressed through the event which was nice, but it also eliminated some of the challenge of actually getting your car through the actual 24 hours of the event.  I am pretty sure that all the teams only changed their braids once of ONE of the cars (although they all looked pretty ratty once we looked at them at the end).  There were no motor changes (good thing!!), no guide changes, and there would have been no tire changes without the mandatory exchange during the 24th heat of the entire event.  Running three cars shifted the feel of the event from a 24h marathon to three 8h sprints- and sprints they were!

Things went very well for the event this year though- all the light kits worked well, the cars all handled great and they all ran incredibly comparably to each other.  They are quite fun cars actually and would make a great addition to what we run.

As for the caliber of the team, it was one of the best we have shown up with to date.  Everyone ran the laps we needed when we needed them, and the internal team support was fantastic!  Having Zack around to build and tune with was awesome, and running overnight with him and Ray was one of the best 8 hour stints of slotting I have had the pleasure of recording.  Both Monte and Tony turned in good laps times, with Monte specifically channeling his inner nickname and running smooth, consistent laps while those around him were sprinting and flopping out.  Everyone pulled their weight and helped each other carry their burdens as well.  Many thanks to my very competent teammates!

I will be putting together a team again for next year.  Plan on it if you're interested.

Chris

No energy drinks that I saw, just a lusty, busty, intoxicating combination of adrenaline, excitement and some sleep.