Good evening race fans!
FRIDAY NOTES:
Hope you enjoyed the weekend off between races. For our part, we took the time to savor being home. We enjoyed playing games and the company of friends.
This weekend is the first of back to back events. We are at our home track, Summit Point, for the first Majors event in SCCA’s Northeast Division. John and I will be working at Start/Finish. Morgan will be driving the red and black Apple Motorsports #2 SRF3 with support from Mike Amy and Dog Gone Racing. (Mike is the most awesome!)
In years past, this event would be our first or second one of the season. This year, it’s the 7th one! Each one so far has brought us a wealth of new experiences and adventures. Even when there were challenges and difficulties, we found the smiles and the positives. A lot of that is because of the people we’ve shared them with. We are looking forward to sharing all the stories in person with our peeps at home base this weekend.
YouTube will be up and running for the races both days. Coverage begins Saturday morning at 10:30. Morgan is in Group 4 which is scheduled to go right after lunch, about 1:15. We are looking forward to a very pleasant spring weekend at the track. Cheer us on and wish us luck!
SATURDAY NOTES:
Qualifying 1: This morning may have started with below freezing temps, but it has warmed up nicely for qualifying. The brilliant sun is warming the track, but the air is still pleasantly cool. These are good conditions to make speed today.
Morgan will start his race this afternoon on the pole. He set a qualifying time of 1:19.243. He’s about a half a second quicker than P2 and one of only three under 1:20. Most of the 14 cars are within 2 seconds so it should be a good race.
Race 1: So, that went well. The start was really slow and the pack was very tight coming to the green. It was almost as if they were in slow motion. They got the green very early and took off cleanly down to Turn 1.
Morgan maintained his position in the lead of the field as they came out into Turn 2. From there he just continued to extend his lead, running away from the rest. He kept it clean and smooth. From where we stand on the Start bridge, we don’t see much, but he looked pretty good to us!
One more session for him today. That one will be qualifying for tomorrow’s race. Thanks for watching and cheering him on!
Qualifying 2: Four afternoon qualifying sessions were on the schedule, but with the weather being iffy, very few have taken to the track. Unless someone needed track time or had to verify a repair or a setup change, there was not much need to go out and put more miles on the machinery. It’s fairly unlikely that faster times would be set anyway. Of course, there are always those who just love to drive and will always go out to play.
In each session even if they all pit, the clock still runs to the end. We take that time to relax a bit and share stories with our station mates. It’s not always exciting at a racetrack, but we usually find a way to make some fun.
Morgan chose not to go out. Instead, he is taking the time to prepare for the data seminar he will give this evening. Lots of drivers collect data, but many don’t know how to use it effectively. Morgan will help them.
SUNDAY NOTES:
Get ready!!! Sunday races are underway. If you missed it, the SMX/SM race was quite good and worth the rewind.
But you are here for SRF3, right? Morgan goes out in a few minutes. Look for #2 red/black starting on the pole for the 23-lap race.
We had a ton of rain and lightning last night so the track is very clean today. It has also taken a long time to dry out. The sun is hiding, the air is cool. The result is that there is very little grip on the surface. This is often a weekend with good opportunity to set new records. Today, that may be difficult to do. Though reports from earlier groups are positive so… We shall see what is possible very shortly.
What’s a home race like for the Burkhards?
We hardly spend any time with Morgan at home races. He hangs out in the paddock, helping out Mike with the cars and sometimes other drivers with advice. He joins Gregg Ginsburg and Brian Donati in the commentator’s booth. He goes over his own data and video and sometimes he does his homework too! Of course, he drives the car.
John and I take up the flags and work Start/Finish. We wave at him when he walks by, as he leaves the pits and on his final lap. Other than that, we might get a couple minutes together at lunch.
The Start bridge stands out over the track and has lovely wide open views upstream and downstream. Both the control tower and the timing and scoring buildings are close by and we have line of sight communication with them if we need it. But nothing blocks the wind up here. That’s great in the summer, but it requires a bit of planning when it’s chilly. We bundle up in layers and obsessively refresh the weather app to see when it will be time to take off hats, scarves, jackets and sweatshirts.
Eventually the sun comes out and it warms up quickly. Gradually, we morph from puffy blobs back into our usual shapes as the layers get peeled and packed away.
This time, you get to see a race weekend from a different perspective.
What stuff does Start/Finish do?
Start is a flag station with extra responsibilities. With four of us working, each of us takes a different job. As each group comes up, we change positions. That way we get all the different kinds of fun and nobody gets bored.
The Safety gets to hang out and watch the cars, unless something happens that needs a person to respond. We prefer that not to happen of course, but sometimes it does. As at any flag station, the driver is always glad to see a person appear to give guidance and lend a helping hand. Sometimes it’s something simple that broke forcing a pull off. Sometimes it’s more dramatic. Ask me sometime!
The one on the radio is the Communicator for the station - both hearing what’s going on elsewhere and making calls for time or laps remaining or activity in our sector of the track. This person also helps us be ready for some of the flag displays that are unique to Start.
The Backup keeps an eye on our sector of the track and provides flags as needed to the person on Point. For example, if we have a driver whose transponder isn’t being picked up by Timing or whose race car is too loud or whose car is having a mechanical problem, we show a black flag and a number board to give the driver instructions. If an emergency vehicle goes out, we hold a white flag while it is in our sector. This person also manages the “rock computer” that we use to count the laps. Every time the leader goes by, another rock moves down the railing. A rock of a different color denotes the halfway and two to go laps so we know it’s time to make those radio calls. Yeah, we have a timing computer screen too, but it’s important to have a reliable backup too.
The Point is the one who decides whether the field is in good order and can get a green flag or if they should be waved off and not get a start. They keep track of the leader and show the white flag when the last lap begins and the checker when the time or laps have elapsed.
What is a race like from Start/Finish?
It is quite the feeling to see a large field of cars streaming out of the final turn toward you. You take a breath and hold still as a statue … and wait. Their focus on you is almost palpable. They are waiting to see the smallest twitch that indicates you are about throw the green flag and release their thousands of horsepower. You look them over carefully. Are they in line and at a good speed? Yes! Pop that flag up high in the air and wave it, but keep watching those cars! They thunder past you in their attempt to get to Turn 1 first and the wind buffets the flag around. Keep that figure 8 moving fast until they are all by. Then breathe again.
If all went well, they all make it down the straight and around the turn. Then we settle in and keep track of the leaders and the back markers. When the leaders catch up to the slowest cars, it’s time to break out the blue flag. That one lets the slower car know he should check his mirrors to find the approaching leader. There are enough surprises out there and this doesn’t need to be one of them.
Sometimes we are treated to some really good racing! We get to see them pushing hard through Turn 10 (not too hard please - that can end badly) and trying to set up a pass under braking into Turn 1. They disappear behind some trees and then we see if the attempt worked when they come back into view heading toward Turn 3. After that, we wait until they show up at 10 again. Did that lead change stick or get lost somewhere else during the lap? We will find out next time by!
It is a rush! And there is a great sense of pride in a job well done when we catch all the cars due a blue flag without missing any. Most of all, it’s the camaraderie that makes it such fun.
Sometimes, weird stuff happens…
Zip ties are not forever. The cloth of the flag is attached to the stick with zip ties. They wear out eventually. If we are lucky, a loose zip tie gets caught while it’s in the rack. But sometimes, you find it when the flag starts flapping around loosely while you are trying to wave it. If it’s the green, those cars are going anyway because you moved. Just grab the loose end and do a weird dance waving both arms. We had two let loose this weekend - but no lost flags and had no confused drivers.
Right! Morgan is on the track too!
One of our favorite things is getting to see Morgan race from that vantage point. We can see how his lap times look and how the gaps are growing or shrinking. When he reaches the checkered flag, we cheer and wave! OK - we do that for everyone, but maybe we do a bit extra for him. Especially when he takes his second win of the weekend!
WHAT’S NEXT?
Stay tuned - Thursday we head to Virginia International Raceway for our third SCCA Hoosier Super Tour event!