Trans Am Sebring 2015 Report
03-03-2015, 10:47 PM
#1
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
Trans Am Sebring 2015 Report
The 2015 season opened up with a bang for Trans Am. 69 cars took the Green Flag on Sunday at Sebring, a series record.
Me? I am the happiest 17th place finisher in history. Why? Let me tell you...
I debuted a new C7 Corvette built by Tony Ave sporting a CF Derhaag Motorsports body.
The car is gorgeous. Yes, I am biased, but accurate this time.
The first time I saw the car in person was Wednesday night when I arrived at the track. We were there to do some testing on Thursday. Mother Nature had other plans.
Thursday was a rainy day. But that didn't stop us from trying to accomplish some things. There were four session planned, and rain was forecast for all four. Session #1 was intended for me to take the car out on the track, make one lap, and come in to the pits before the Start/Finish Line. I entered the Pits and waited for my crew to show up, but they got delayed. When they arrived, I started down Pit Lane, but was stopped. An accident occurred on-track causing the session to be stopped. Wasted opportunity.
Session #2 we started all over. Out on track and back in, just like we planned. Nothing looked out of place, so I was waived back out. I started out on track and made it around to finished my first full lap in the car. But before I got any further, the session was stopped for another crash. So two "3/4" laps was all I had in the car during the morning sessions.
The two afternoon sessions were even wetter, so we decided to hold off and wait for Friday when the weather looked better.
Friday was the first official day for Trans Am. My first lap was a recon lap to make sure the car didn't do anything funny. In the rain, things can be masked because your not pushing the car as hard as on a dry track. Lap #2 was a "80%" lap so I could get the feel for the brakes under close-to-race speed. Lap #3 I started to get going, but the car felt funny. I had a flat tire. I brought it in to the pits, and before I could go back out with a replacement tire, the session was over.
Session #2 was supposed to be qualifying, but because of the bad weather we experienced so far, Trans Am decided it would count as a practice. We went out even though the track was fairly damp. It turned out to be too wet to learn anything.
So Saturday comes and we are qualifying. I have to go out and lay down a lap in a car I have all of one "80%" lap in...My first "at speed" lap is a 2:06.741. Not bad, but way off what I would need (a 2:01.183 was the eventual pole). Lap #2 the car felt funny...the power steering pump went out. So that ended my session.
A new power steering pump was found and installed for Sunday's warm-up session. Matt Miller, my crew chief, made some set-up changes based on my limited input (one lap?), and we went out to check things. The car ran beautifully? I ended up behind Paul Fix, who qualified 4th with a 2:02.729 and was staying on his bumper without any real effort. I felt great!
I pulled into the pits, but as I did I saw smoke out of my right side. I hustled to the pits telling the crew, "I see smoke." I pull in and hear on the radio, "Get out of the car NOW!" I didn't argue. The car was on fire!
It turned out debris from the track (the laid down sealer on Friday night) got onto the headers and started a fire, which caught the passenger door on fire. The entire right side doo was engulfed in flames.
With the fire extinguished, the crew got to work on getting the car ready for the race. Just under three hours to get things fixed, and they did it. Geez, these guys are great.
So the race started with me in 12th position. On Lap 1 I was able to get by 4 cars to finish the lap in 8th. A crash occurred in the lap so we went to a Full Course Caution. On Lap 6 we went Green again, and I set out to catch the #59 Corvette of Simon Gregg. I passed Simon on the outside of Turn 1. Going into Turn 1 on Lap 7 I overtook on the inside of Cliff Ebben for sixth place. One lap later John Baucom slowed and I found myself in 5th...not bad!
Lap 12 was when my fun ended. Going into Turn 7 I was tagged on the passenger side door by another car, spinning me around and smashing the exhaust. My day was done. 17th is where I finished.
Why am I happy? My fast lap in the race was a 2:05.559. Amy Ruman, who won the race and had the pole, her fast lap for the race was a 2:05.593. Not bad for not seeing the car until that week.
Here are some videos for your entertainment:
Lap 1 from my roof camera:
Lap 1 from my rear view camera:
Laps 6-11:
Me? I am the happiest 17th place finisher in history. Why? Let me tell you...
I debuted a new C7 Corvette built by Tony Ave sporting a CF Derhaag Motorsports body.
The car is gorgeous. Yes, I am biased, but accurate this time.
The first time I saw the car in person was Wednesday night when I arrived at the track. We were there to do some testing on Thursday. Mother Nature had other plans.
Thursday was a rainy day. But that didn't stop us from trying to accomplish some things. There were four session planned, and rain was forecast for all four. Session #1 was intended for me to take the car out on the track, make one lap, and come in to the pits before the Start/Finish Line. I entered the Pits and waited for my crew to show up, but they got delayed. When they arrived, I started down Pit Lane, but was stopped. An accident occurred on-track causing the session to be stopped. Wasted opportunity.
Session #2 we started all over. Out on track and back in, just like we planned. Nothing looked out of place, so I was waived back out. I started out on track and made it around to finished my first full lap in the car. But before I got any further, the session was stopped for another crash. So two "3/4" laps was all I had in the car during the morning sessions.
The two afternoon sessions were even wetter, so we decided to hold off and wait for Friday when the weather looked better.
Friday was the first official day for Trans Am. My first lap was a recon lap to make sure the car didn't do anything funny. In the rain, things can be masked because your not pushing the car as hard as on a dry track. Lap #2 was a "80%" lap so I could get the feel for the brakes under close-to-race speed. Lap #3 I started to get going, but the car felt funny. I had a flat tire. I brought it in to the pits, and before I could go back out with a replacement tire, the session was over.
Session #2 was supposed to be qualifying, but because of the bad weather we experienced so far, Trans Am decided it would count as a practice. We went out even though the track was fairly damp. It turned out to be too wet to learn anything.
So Saturday comes and we are qualifying. I have to go out and lay down a lap in a car I have all of one "80%" lap in...My first "at speed" lap is a 2:06.741. Not bad, but way off what I would need (a 2:01.183 was the eventual pole). Lap #2 the car felt funny...the power steering pump went out. So that ended my session.
A new power steering pump was found and installed for Sunday's warm-up session. Matt Miller, my crew chief, made some set-up changes based on my limited input (one lap?), and we went out to check things. The car ran beautifully? I ended up behind Paul Fix, who qualified 4th with a 2:02.729 and was staying on his bumper without any real effort. I felt great!
I pulled into the pits, but as I did I saw smoke out of my right side. I hustled to the pits telling the crew, "I see smoke." I pull in and hear on the radio, "Get out of the car NOW!" I didn't argue. The car was on fire!
It turned out debris from the track (the laid down sealer on Friday night) got onto the headers and started a fire, which caught the passenger door on fire. The entire right side doo was engulfed in flames.
With the fire extinguished, the crew got to work on getting the car ready for the race. Just under three hours to get things fixed, and they did it. Geez, these guys are great.
So the race started with me in 12th position. On Lap 1 I was able to get by 4 cars to finish the lap in 8th. A crash occurred in the lap so we went to a Full Course Caution. On Lap 6 we went Green again, and I set out to catch the #59 Corvette of Simon Gregg. I passed Simon on the outside of Turn 1. Going into Turn 1 on Lap 7 I overtook on the inside of Cliff Ebben for sixth place. One lap later John Baucom slowed and I found myself in 5th...not bad!
Lap 12 was when my fun ended. Going into Turn 7 I was tagged on the passenger side door by another car, spinning me around and smashing the exhaust. My day was done. 17th is where I finished.
Why am I happy? My fast lap in the race was a 2:05.559. Amy Ruman, who won the race and had the pole, her fast lap for the race was a 2:05.593. Not bad for not seeing the car until that week.
Here are some videos for your entertainment:
Lap 1 from my roof camera:
Lap 1 from my rear view camera:
Laps 6-11:
Last edited by BuckeyeZ06; 03-03-2015 at 10:58 PM.
03-04-2015, 09:25 AM
#3
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
With so few laps before the race, the sealer problem wasn't a big one for us. Man, that was ugly! I feel for some guys. Amy's dad measured 22 lbs taken off her car.
03-04-2015, 05:50 PM
#10
Le Mans Master
Good job! Tony's guys build a great car!
Jim
Jim
03-08-2015, 09:24 PM
#14
Racer
Beautiful car!! Hope you have some better luck... Despite all that happen'd that's a killer lap time!! Congrats!! I'll be racing TA at limerock,NJMP,and possibly VIR this year. Ran my first last year at Limerock. Finished 8th in TA with and old Weaver Chassis with a 02 Camaro body. I'm running it in a few more this year and hope to have a fresh car for 2016!! Spoke to Jim Derhagg about a new C7 body the other day. Just gotta sell a few cars to get the funds.... Hope to see you at Limerock in May! Vinnie
03-16-2015, 11:46 AM
#18
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
Thanks guys for the kind words. Trans Am is so cool and these cars are simple awesome.
Funny thing about this race, though: I got tagged, bumped or hit three times during the race and it rubbed against one guy during that first lap, and who gets called to the Principal's Office? Me! Nothing done after watching my videos (the Chief Stewart is a pretty cool guy, and he understands what happens out there), but I find it ironic that the other guys didn't have to answer to their "indiscretions" (truthfully, I thought two were just racing stuff, the third was a half-hearted attempt to take me out, but "s*&t happens and you move on).
Funny thing about this race, though: I got tagged, bumped or hit three times during the race and it rubbed against one guy during that first lap, and who gets called to the Principal's Office? Me! Nothing done after watching my videos (the Chief Stewart is a pretty cool guy, and he understands what happens out there), but I find it ironic that the other guys didn't have to answer to their "indiscretions" (truthfully, I thought two were just racing stuff, the third was a half-hearted attempt to take me out, but "s*&t happens and you move on).
03-18-2015, 05:09 PM
#20
Drifting
Thank you for the report.
Just watched the race on TV, bummed to see you turned you were making good progress through the field.
You sponsors should be happy, you did get some good TV air time with that great paintjob.
I am going to the TA race next year for sure. Looked fantastic and no crowds.
Just watched the race on TV, bummed to see you turned you were making good progress through the field.
You sponsors should be happy, you did get some good TV air time with that great paintjob.
I am going to the TA race next year for sure. Looked fantastic and no crowds.