Race Report

Lime Rock and Watkins Glen

by Lea Croteau

Hello Everyone!

As my race season moves along, I am grateful to all the people who are giving their unconditional support towards my racing again. My decision to take a year off from racing last year was a difficult one. I felt I had some good momentum from the previous year (1999) finishing the Neon Challenge series fifth in points and my drive to win was almost unbearable...it was all I could think about. Taking a year off was excruciating, but exactly what I needed to do. It has taken me a few races to regain confidence in myself and my chosen racecar, the Spec Ford. SRF’s are very different from my Showroom Stock SSC Neon, but some of the concepts are the same.

Racing in the Neon Challenge series was as fun as it was challenging because the cars were the same. The big goal was to get the setup right and to maximize speed on the track because of only

128 horses!

128 horses! Although it is fun as a spectator to see different brands of cars compete, series like Toyota Atlantic, Indy Lights and Pro Barber Dodge and Formula 2000/Ford as well as many more I haven't mentioned, accentuate not only the teams efforts, but the driver's ability to put the car at the top of the field. I like this concept a lot because the racing is very close and the fields are large, and the craft of "racing" is developed.

Familiarizing myself with not only the SRF, but a new group of drivers and their styles on track have been my biggest challenges in four races.

RACE TWO: Lime Rock Park

Racing at Lime Rock has always meant being in a pressure cooker for me. Despite the track's appearance as an oval with one left turn, the subtle nuances of the track require every racer to dig deep into their courage reserves. Rewards are big when a driver can master the emotional and technical parts of this course...I have a few top five finishes to prove that. The consequences of mistakes are huge at LRP...I have witnessed many. To get back in the "groove", I attended the test day early in the week before the race. Since Lime Rock is home to the Skip Barber racing school, I had many "concerned parties" interested in my efforts there.

Test Day...

When I got there, I found out I was to race a new car to the Motion Dynamics stable, one that they had just run in a four-hour enduro and finished well. After pedal, bar and seat adjustments were all made, I was ready for my first test session. About halfway through, car #24 developed a miss in a couple turns on the track. Although I was full throttle, there was no power and felt like fuel starvation. I described the scenario to my crew and they checked a few things and sent me out for the second session. The miss was much worse now, so I headed into the paddock after only a few laps. Not a great feeling, but I knew that the Motion guys would be able to figure it out.

In a short time, the crew had changed four things and the miss was still there. It didn't look for me as the third test session came and went without a solution. Luckily, fellow teammate Bill Tesar volunteered his car for the fourth and last session because he had to leave. Very grateful, I went out and had fun, but was having trouble with "Big Bend" aka turn one and the "Left Hander" aka turn three. Many scouts reported that my line was fine, but just wasn't getting the acceleration off the turns. I knew this and had found Tesar's car periodically unstable at turn-in.

Practice and Qualifying

Good news of the day was the miss was gone. Turns out that one of the fuel injectors got clogged running the fuel tank bone dry during the enduro. Relieved, I thought hard about improving my performance on track. With hot and muggy weather, I felt the car was oversteering too much. After canvassing the crew and other drivers, another bar adjustment and some gear changes, the best I could do was a 1:06, which put me at the back of the pack for the race.

The track turned for the worse after oil dry was put down after the previous race group and then a DSR blew an engine in front of me and dumped coolant and oil through turns one, two and three.

Race Day

Lots of thoughts were in my head..."I've got nothing to lose by being aggressive at the start," "there's going to be some sort of carnage at the start," and "don't bend the car." Not the best mindset, but trying to be realistic, I went out during the warmup and the car and track felt good. As I got the "green, green, green" over the radio, I had predicted the wreck. Fortunately, I was far enough back that I was able to narrowly avoid the tangle just four cars ahead of me. Double yellows came out and after several laps, I got the green over the radio while I was in "West Bend" and was able to pass a few cars.

The remainder of the race consisted of more accident avoidance, as I darted past a few too close for comfort incidents. Not being able to catch up to the leaders was frustrating for me. I had a good race with a couple SRF’s trying to pass me, but driving defensively hurt my lap times and I couldn't catch up. I was happy to see the checker flag at the end and most importantly to have completed an entire race with the car and myself intact. Getting out of the car, I felt a genuine sense of accomplishment. I improved my lap time at a 1:02.9 and managed to finish 18th in class and up from 29 to 23 overall. Baby steps...

RACE THREE: Watkins Glen!!

After a couple weeks off, I journeyed on to Watkins Glen, a magical place for me. I've always done very well there. My first time at the Glen was for a car club event, back when they still had those unusual "turtles" at the exits of turns. I loved the elevation changes there and the thrill of motoring around at top gear, top speed. There is also something relaxing for me at the Glen and I'm not sure if it's the mountains or the lake below. My happiest racing memories at this track. I was confident that things would go well this weekend and chose to forego the test day. Shawn, my crew chief also convinced me to run both the National and Pro races, meaning a lot of seat time for me.

Practice and Qualifying

With car 24 pronounced "my" car for the rest of the season, I got myself situated with the requisite pedal settings and oh yes, my "racing seat" (read: two sofa cushions taped to tighten the fit at my wandering hips). Started out conservative my first session. I was having the same troubles I did at Lime Rock, with the car feeling unsettled and knowing that I was definitely overslowing a couple of turns. Not happy with my results, I canvassed my teammates for tips. Each session I tried new things and was staying at the same lap times, ending up with a 2:18.3 for the national race qualifier. Running sans radio communication made it more difficult to figure out where I was speed-wise. I needed a new strategy.

Finally, during the qualifying for the Pro Race, everything came together. I talked to the guys in the paddock again and had been following the guys I knew were fast in previous sessions to learn more. This time, I had a breakthrough in the car and at a 2:16.7, took 2 seconds off my time and qualified 17th for the Pro Race, out of 36 cars. I was very happy...YES!!

The National

Starting 23rd and on the outside, I botched the start by losing almost ten spots. Once again, I thought there would be a wreck and was playing it too safe. It was good experience for me though, because it made me work hard to make my way back up through the field, which I did. The race went on with only a couple local yellows, including one where a car's tire delaminated and went bouncing down the road between the esses and the inner loop, causing everyone to dart around it like mad.

Closing in on the final laps, a few of the lead pack unsuccessfully got through the exit of turn one, which brought out the double yellow and closed up the comfortable gap I had on Amy Ruman who I had passed a few laps before. Again, without a radio, I was late on the gas coming into turn 11 for the restart and she got by me. A chase resumed, with my 24 car challenging hers and I knew from earlier in the race, where I could catch her. Unfortunately for me, all this happened a couple laps from the end of the race and I couldn't get by and settled for 17th and shaving time off my qualifying run. She did an awesome job and we had a big side-by-side thumbs up at the end of the race. In a couple hours, the Pro RACE!

The Pro Race

After completing the national race two race groups earlier, I was pumped and knew where I had made mistakes. I was determined not to make them again. One of the things I desperately wanted was a radio, but after discussing it with the crew, there just wasn't time. However, I had a few things in my favor, 1) a better starting position at 17th and 2) I was on the inside for the start. The green fell very late, and because of the starting procedure for an SCCAPro race, where drivers can't get out of line before passing the start line. I not only could see the green wave, but made my move to the inside and passed several cars before the exit of turn one!

A group of the top ten drivers opened up a bit of a lead, with myself and smaller group in pursuit. Several times I was challenged by cars behind me, which allowed the leaders to spread the gap. After getting passed by and repassing Dale Furnia, Michael Hill closed in and stuck with me as I focused on a group ahead of us. We drafted together and edged closer every lap, with Hill making attempts to pass when I would make a mistake. The group ahead of us was battling amongst themselves, allowing Hill and I to get closer still.

The whole time I was getting more and more comfortable with the car and the incredible amount of grip still available after 3/4s of the race. Finally, three laps from the end, I opened up a gap on Hill as I was closing on my Motion Dynamics teammate Trevor Hopwood. He was drafting with Andy BentwickSmith and Lee Shumosic who were practically attached nose to tail. It was great to watch their comfort level with each other. I was hoping to do the same with Hopwood, but he was faster onto the front straight and I had to play catch up each lap. To make a long story short, I finished 10th in my first Pro Race, took another full second off my time, was in the money, was right behind my teammates and was confident that I could run with them.

Since I was in the top ten and in the prize money, I was sent to impound, where the car was found underweight. The car had been rented several times before I ran it at the Glen and unfortunately there wasn't enough ballast. That resulted in my position being taken away and I ended up behind the last person on the lead lap in 26th...I was disappointed but still so happy in the end for getting dialed into the car. I know I can do it again! My crew felt terrible, my teammates felt badly for me...I just kept telling them all that we'll be there again!

My next race is at Pocono for the double national. Thanks Don, Shawn, Josh, Bob, Zach, Trevor, John, Andy, Lee, Mark, Jason, Chip, Leann and everyone helping me out!!!!

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