Slingshot…
June 27th, 2009 by Gimp
… Engaged
Now get off my ass about the Camaro not being done.
Smile! You’re on ZipTie Camera!
June 9th, 2009 by RichPhotos of the Historics on the Flickr site.
Here’s some more -
“Did you hear I got 5th in PAX?”
June 8th, 2009 by GimpThere… Now everyone knows. Shut-up already. More to come…
Anywho… So we had Historics this weekend, and it was, well, awesome!
Saturday did not disappoint as Boggs once again gave us his “traditional” mini-road-course. I, like a fool, agreed to drive John Hubbell’s Cobra and got to “go plaid” on the back-end of the course. Stay tuned for my cut/paste of Ben Lambiotte’s excellent course description, as all I can do right now is giggle and say “it were fast… hee hee”.
Starting at the bizjet hanger, there was a left hand crossover, followed by about six or seven offset gates (basically a large slalom) down the far side of the runway, that took you well past the State Police hanger. This feature fed into a straight chute, followed by a couple of jogs, leading to a right hand turn into the taxiway entrance, then a fishhook shaped turnaround 180 to the left out of that, which fed into a left sweeper, then a right hand sweeper, followed by an endless (seven gate!) slalom up the hanger side, then a crossover to a couple of showcase midcourse turns, a fast back straight, feeding into a short right hander which led to a tight diamond shaped 270 degree skidpad turn on the terminal end. From there a short slalom fed into to some very tight esses, to the finish. Probably the most distinct elements of any course I have ever run. While there seemed to be hundreds of cones out there, navigation errors were kept to a minimum by a chalk line on one side of the key turns. The course flowed pretty well. The back section was very long and very fast, but deceptive; many a driver (including me) on early runs lifted far too early and more than once. Actually, you could stay in it the whole way down, building some eyeball-peeling speed by the time the real braking point was actually reached, far in the distance. On the other hand, to keep things safe and drivers’ raging adrenaline somewhat in check, Boggs punctuated the course with numerous slaloms and some tight sections.
http://www.capitalareacobraclub.com/index.php/topic,8095.0.html
I managed to squeak out a 12th out of 22 finish in XP, which I’m quite proud of considering it was my first time driving ANYTHING like that. John still showed me how a real man operates by blowing me away by about 4 seconds. It takes a lot of nerve to pin 475whp to the floor, in third gear, and know you might hit the limiter. I managed to also pull in a co-win on the TZT Cone Award, by blowing a cone over with the side pipes on the Cobra.
Mustang Boy, as the title of this entry would indicate, managed his first ever top ten pax finish, which leaves me to believe he cheated, so I will be forced to invalidate his results. Sorry Boss. Other than that, he did manage to beat out 3 other folks in ESP on Saturday to capture the class win.
Rich fought against Francois and 8 other competitors in a highly contest field to wind up in 8th in BSP. Time to put on that body kit and get the hell out of there and in to a kinder, gentler SSM.
Kate took out the Przywhiney BMW and had her very own first - third gear! Despite the blinding speeds achieved by the BMW, she managed to keep it together and got her own (co-)win - the TZT Cone Award.
In a surprise, Doug Macy wound up in second (out of 3) to Steve Wade in his now DSP Mini Cooper (formerly an STX car). Maybe you should bring the wagon next time?
Saturday Data
Kate (zip file)
MaxQData Chart Software for PC version 3.1h
Sunday’s course was far more traditional, and allowed everyone to calm down from the high speeds of the day before. The course itself was probably one of the most fun courses I’ve been on in a while, and my hat goes off to Boggs for doing such a killer job.
INSERT COBRA WRITE-UP HERE
I was back in the Hubbell Cobra on Sunday, and I was feeling really good from my drive on the day before. I managed to get 19th in raw time overall, and lock down 10th out of 22 in XP. John was kinder to me that day, only beating me by about 1.3 seconds. I’m quite happy with that (suck it Jen Moran).
Here’s a run where I murdered a cone:
And the aftermath:
Mustang Boy felt the sting as he dropped to 19th in pax (rough life), but he still won ESP, beating out three other cars.
Rich was back in the BSP battle and moved up one spot to 7th. Unfortunately, the INS did not arrive in time to escort Francois out of the country.
Kate was forced to face Andy Thomas, also driving the Przywhiney 318ti. Andy considers these to be test drives of his future vehicles. He was at least a little nicer to it than he was to the Przywhiney Hyundai on the previous weekend. Andy edged out Jim Shultz and Kate to take the ST win.
Steve Wade tried to be nice to Doug and not show on Sunday, but it didn’t work out for Doug as he wound up in second place, just behind the increasingly faster SRT-4 of Lee Watson.
Patrick, as if brought on the wings of an American Eagle, made it to the races on Sunday, running the Slotus in XP. His (unbeknownst to him) strategy paid off, despite the 90th in PAX placement (it would have been 89th if he were in ASP) as he actually managed to beat someone in XP, a feat he would not have been able to replicate in ASP.
Sunday Data
John (zip file - only the first 3 runs)
Paul (zip file)
MaxQData Chart Software for PC version 3.1h
Now, on to the important stuff.
Team Zip-Tie Cup Standings
Saturday (103 Entrants)
10 - Mustang Boy (5th in PAX)
9 + 2 - Gimp (41st in PAX - Cone Award co-winner with 3 cones, contested class)
8 - Doug (49th in PAX)
7 - Rich (66th in PAX)
6 - Kate (77th in PAX - Cone Award co-winner with 3 cones, but no bonus because uncontested)
Sunday (101 Entrants)
10 - Mustang Boy (19th in PAX)
9 - Gimp (31st in PAX)
8 - Doug (66th in PAX)
7 - Rich (70th in PAX)
6 + 2 - Kate (78th in PAX - Cone Award winner with 7 cones)
5 - Patrick (89th in PAX if I change his class to ASP, 90th if I leave him in XP)
Current Team Standings
1. Gimp (40 points)
2. Mustang Boy (37 points)
2. Doug (33 points)
3. Kate and Rich (tied at 29 points)
4. Patrick (5 points)
5. Bill and Thomas (tied at 0 points)
Remember, these totals still contain the lowest four scores. The lowest four will only be dropped at the ver end.
You can track the team standings on Google. View the spreadsheet here: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=rwr3T8ikb1HSYvAwc0ltrJw
My excuse revealed…
June 4th, 2009 by Tommy2WheelsMadeline Marie Armentrout
Born 6/2/09 at 4:20 PM
5lb 3oz and 19 inches long
Terri and Madeline are doing fine and came home today.
She is so tiny…
Calling all (Team Zip-Tie) Cars - CANCELLED
May 28th, 2009 by GimpCobra guys are assembling at 3:30-4 PM at Canal Parkway and Mechanic the airport at 4pm to be escorted to the downtown mall. My plan is to join them in the BMW. I suggest you all do the same.
Car show is CANCELLED due to weather.
Out for Historics
May 26th, 2009 by Tommy2WheelsHopefully see everyone in July. Stay tuned for big news next week…
Fire up the Spanking Machine
May 11th, 2009 by Gimp’cause someone is having a birthday!
mmmm.... that is tasty!
Front Wheel Drive Mustang? aka The 2009 Icebreaker (Updated)
May 4th, 2009 by GimpWell, maybe when the rear wheels trip the lights first. More on that later.
Since you guys have gone and made your own thread, I’ll go ahead and post my draft. I’ll fill in the rest after I have results.
The season opener saw no ice, rather the liquid form, in both tears and rain (sadly, neither of which purple). A lightweight team of heavyweights, consisting of Rich, Mustang Boy, me, and our new pledges, Doug and Kate met up with the rest of Cumberland’s usual suspects to once again show what airports are really for.
Unfortunately for this weekend, several of our members could not join us. Bill was out of town in a pectoral muscle flexing contest, Patrick was away at a Capri owners meet, and Thomas is still married.
Despite gloom and doom weather reports, Saturday proved to be a great opening day in Cumberland. The weather managed to say cool and dry for the entirety of the day, making for some really solid racing. Mustang Boy, too busy from fighting off droves of sexy young women all winter to change his tires, showed up with his car wearing last years shoes. Kate and I, much like U.S. automakers, consolidated vehicles due to the economy and both arrived in the 318ti (with a fresh - read 300 miles on it - clutch). Rich was back in his Z-car… I think he washed it. Doug Macy brought about 16 cars to the race, in addition to the ones he pretty much just leaves up at the airport. Variety is the true spice of life, but he decided to go with the trusty white Audi.
Saturday’s course was a great combination of really fast sections that immediately sucked you in to challenging tight sections. Decreasing radius turns penalized you for not looking ahead, and kept you very busy behind the wheel. Offsets and other transitional elements left you dancing from side to side hoping you could get a moment before pitching the car through the tight finish.
Since Ben always does a better job of it than I do, here’s his take on Saturday’s course:
Mark Boggs laid out something of a devious but a little different course to clear out winter’s cobwebs. A sharp left hander out of the start crossed the taxiway and gave way to the featured long straight, this time running down toward the MSP chopper hanger on the far side of the tarmac. Instead of the usual constant radius turnaround, Boggs served up a tricky descending radius turn, which opened onto a fast slalom with increasingly tighter gates, followed by a short right hand jog into a funnel. This fed into a S turn crossover, in the usual location of the “kink” which led to another slalom down to the terminal end turnaround, which was shorter and tighter than usual. Back through the slalom, through another quick S turn, into a brutal speed killing right angle left hand Chicago box right at the end. The weather eventually turned into a near perfect slightly cool but sunny day.
http://www.capitalareacobraclub.com/index.php/topic,8003.0.html
Our luck with weather ran out on Sunday, as Kate and I (awaking at the Super? 8), along with our other competitors, awoke to a cold, rainy morning. Entrants at the event quickly diminished, and after some talking and voting at the drivers’ meeting, the decision was made to reduce the event from four heats down to two. This proved to be a great decision which helped the event move quickly, and provided great racing.
From the mouth of Ben:
Boggs deferred to the difficult weather and laid out a mercifully simple, straightforward, but slightly less open course. It began an even sharper left hander out of the start, a couple of offset gates opening to a straightaway close by the hanger side, down to a 180 at the hanger end, back down a slalom on the far side of the taxiway, to an S turn crossover, through a chute opening onto another slalom, around the horn on the terminal end, through the slalom again, an S turn in front of the spectator area, ending with a little left hand hook (nastier than it looked) into the finish.
http://www.capitalareacobraclub.com/index.php/topic,8007.0.html
Despite the rain, grip levels on the course were very good (especially if you were on street tires). Mustang Boy chickened out on the R-comps and mounted up his rock-hard Falkens. Rich stayed on his Hoosiers, as they were his only option. Doug took everything to the next level and switched cars all together - some weird German thing with AWD - go figure.
A special nod has to go to Larry Casey, the Cobra driver who almost got FTD in the wet. It was, in all honesty, amazing to watch. The credit should probably go to me, as I told him during the course walk that I had the Cobras covered. You’re welcome Larry, you’re welcome.
Team Zip-Tie Cup Standings
Following the new rules posted earlier, here are the point standings for the weekend. As a refresher, we are now using a 10pt scale (10 points for first, 9 for second, etc). If you are the winner of the “Cone Award” for the day, you will get two bonus points, as long as you are not first on the day.
Saturday (84 Entrants)
10 - Gimp (24th in PAX)
9 - Mustang Boy (26th in PAX)
8 - Doug (50th in PAX)
7 - Kate (53rd in PAX)
6 + 2 - Rich (58th in PAX - Cone Award winner with 7 cones)
Sunday (54 Wet Entrants)
10 - Gimp (12th in PAX)
9 - Doug (35th in PAX)
8 - Mustang Boy (39th in PAX)
7 - Rich (40th in PAX)
6 + 2 - Kate (44th in PAX - Cone Award winner with 4 cones)
Current Team Standings
1. Gimp (20 points)
2. Doug and Mustang Boy (tied at 17 points)
3. Kate and Rich (tied at 15 points)
4. Bill, Patrick, and Thomas (tied at 0 points)
Remember, these totals still contain the lowest four scores. The lowest four will only be dropped at the ver end.
You can now track the team standings, using the new rule set on Google. View the spreadsheet here: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=rwr3T8ikb1HSYvAwc0ltrJw
Oh yeah, Hubbell and I are doubbell troubbell (get it) in June. 
Where’s the After Action Report?!?!
May 4th, 2009 by jthub620It’s Monday after a Cumberland event and the latest post on this site is a Book of the Month Club article? WTF, yo?
:)
Missed you guys over the winter! Had a blast driving, just not as fast as I as I would have liked. 
See you in June!!
B&P Cobra Driver
My spring vacation book report
April 29th, 2009 by PatrickIn my downtime of automotive enjoyment, I have been keeping myself busy with some literature beyond entertaining. I had just finished reading “The Driver” by Alexander Roy who broke the transcontinental speed record in his infamous “Poleizei” BMW M5. It’s a fantastic book (that I believe Rich currently has) about his story in entering several cannonball style races. I highly suggest that any automotive enthusiast pick this one up. I was glued to it and considering my severe adult ADHD, that is saying something.
In the book, Roy often refers to Brock Yates’ “Cannonball!” autobiography as inspiration, so of course I asked Santa and he obliged. Only 90 pages in, I could feel a connection that I think most of you will relate to. To begin, the story focuses heavily of the involvement of the beloved PRDA and their antics driving across the country in true polish style. There is also heavy discussion of Donna Mae Mims, aka “The Pink Lady” and her Right Bra Racing team. As you will recall, Ms. Mims was the grand marshal of the historics event a few years back. It’s strange and exciting how close this hits home for our involvement in Cumberland’s racing history.
I just wanted to suggest that instead of trying to find Thomas in your downtime at the events this year, perhaps picking up one of these books would be a grand option. I certainly have enjoyed them, enough to post on our forum about it.
See you in Juneish.