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Round 6 of the 2016 Trans Am season was held on August 13th. I entered the race in third place in the season points race on the heals of two third place finishes, a fourth and a fifth,m to go along with the Sebring opener where I finished 14th. We've been making some good progress on making the car faster.
This week we were at "home," Mid Ohio. I started off fast right at the get go. I qualifying, I screwed up a bit as I had a "long" brake peddle that caused me to spin at turn 4 on the first hot lap. I was pulled from the sand and was able to continue, but the session was cut short so we all only got 1 or 2 good laps before the checkered flag. I ended up sixth on the grid; not bad, but I was expecting Top 3.
Race day came with a threat of rain. Mid Ohio in the wet is...bad, real bad. But the rain held off until the NASCAR Xfinity race later in the day. To their credit, they mounted rain tires and went at it.
At the start of our race, I got into fifth place when Amy Ruman cut a tire after rubbing against the pole winner, Cliff Eben. The next lap, I inherited fourth place when Paul Fix overshot Turn 4. I then set out on a good pace to keep the front runners in sight but also to not burn down the tires or the brakes. This is when I started having problems...
The issue with the "long" brake pedal from qualifying reappeared. I was forced to pump the brakes before virtually every brake zone to get good pressure. It appears the fluid was boiling. Mid Ohio is tough on brakes in that there really isn't a place to cool them off. So I was running a bit conservative.
Cliff Eben fell out of the race due to mechanical issues, but Paul Fix came back and got me, so I was still in fourth. We went to a Full Course Yellow after another car laid down some oil that needed cleaned up. This oil down caused Paul Fix to go off the track again, so at the re-start I was in third place with Paul close on my bumper.
At the re-start I was able to use slower-classed cars that we were lapping to my advantage to keep Paul Fix behind me. About 2 laps after we went green he made contact with another TA car and spun for a third time. This took pressure off of me so I was able to bear down on catching the two cars in the lead.
I was able to catch, and finally pass, the Mustang of John Baucom. I then set my sights on Simon Gregg in his beautiful C7 Corvette.
Before long a second FCY came out, bunching the field up. I had one TA3 car between me and Simon. I was hoping to get enough laps to catch and pass Simon. Alas, that was not to be the case, as the race was checkered under caution.
So I finished second at my home track, with friends and family watching. I broke my "Mid Ohio" curse in Trans Am. My first pro win was "this" close, I could almost taste it. When the checkered flag flew and we were still under caution, I have to admit it was upset. I have finished second twice in the last two years and in both cases the race was checkered during a FCY and in both cases I felt I had an advantage over the car I was chasing. We are close, real close.
Final results:
1. Simon Gregg C7 Corvette 1:23.713
2. David Pintaric Cadillac CTS-V 1:24.319
3. John Baucom Ford Mustang 1:24.693
4. Kerry Hitt Cadillac CTS-V 1:24.444
5. Jim McAleese C5 Corvette 1:24.501
6. Vincent Allegretta C7 Corvette 1:23.289 (new TA record!)
7. Claudio Burtin C7 Corvette 1:25.091
8. Joseph Freda C6 Corvette 1:25.888
9. Richard Grant C7 Corvette 1:27.498
10. Amy Ruman C6 Corvette 1:24.188
Oh, and that's not a typo on my car description...
Next race is August 27th at Road America.
Last edited by BuckeyeZ06; 08-14-2016 at 04:57 PM.
Nice finish! I enjoyed the write-up. It looks like your faster in the second vid (laps 11-12). The mechanical throttle telemetry is a nice touch I like how the car shifts, especially at full throttle.
It looks like that car has a lot of ***** seeing how the speed comes up pretty quick and having to get out of the throttle soon to get ready for corner entry. From my armchair, I wouldn't think the braking problem as described would be from boiled fluid, but master cylinder and/or booste related.
Glad it wasn't you involved in this collision. Guess it was some other white car? https://vimeo.com/178902235
Thoughts and prayers to the driver. Pre-crash, and I mean before the crash... That was a fvcking awesome!! The motor in that thing sung like a raped ape! The driver was on it! Manual trans! Gdam I loved that...pre-crash.
08-14-2016, 04:56 PM
Trans Am 2016 @ Mid Ohio
I like how the car shifts, especially at full throttle. 
