Bahr Racing Competes in the 25 Hours of Thunderhill!

From BahrRacingWiki

10/23/07

Today BiggsB Enterprises (http://biggsb.com) and I made a deal to drive in the 25 Hours of Thunderhill. BiggsB Enterprises will be campaigning a Spec Miata in the sixth running of the now-classic endurance contest.

The 25 Hours of Thunderhill is the longest endurance race in North America (http://www.nasa25hour.com). The 25 Hours is sponsored by NASA (http://www.nasaproracing.com). The race is held annually in early December at Thunderhill Raceway Park (http://www.thunderhill.com).

I'm very excited to finally be competing the 25 Hours. For four years I've wanted to take part but circumstances have worked against me until this year. After discussions with Bluegrass and Doug Clark about the car, the team and their support crew, I think the team has the pieces in place to be a strong contender for a class win. BiggsB Enterprises has several 25 Hours under their belt, including finishing second in class in a Spec Miata in 2006. With that experience they've mounted a serious effort to bring a well-prepared car and provide the car and driver team all the support they need to run at the front. Here's their 2006 effort (http://www.shedracing.com/2006_25hours).

Tom Aiken has also confirmed as a driver, returning from last year, and the three remaining driver spots are expected to be confirmed this week.

I'll be updating this Wiki page to document the team's effort and results in the race. We're less than six weeks away from the green flag!

10/24/07

Kim Wilcox confirmed today as the third driver on the BiggsB Enterprises Spec Miata team.

10/31/07

The preliminary entry list for the 25 Hours has been released. So far there are 75 entries, with the largest class being E2 with twelve entries. This is the class we will be competing in. We're excited to have the competition in this most grueling of races.

I'm training hard for the race. Since I've never driven Thunderhill before I am studying race footage to learn the track. Next week at the team test I'll get on track and get it dialed before the official testing begins before the race. This earlier testing on November 9 and 10 will allow the team to identify and work out any bugs in the car, develop a baseline setup for the car, and get the drivers fitted to the car. We will also practice driver changes, tire changes and refueling, as well as gather fuel consumption data. Each driver stint will likely run about two hours, day and night.

I'm also logging a lot of miles on the bicycle to develop cardio endurance, and climbing hard in the rock gym to develop core and upper body strength. I'll also be spending some evenings in my 125cc shifter kart at PKRA, the local kart track, to keep my brain at full speed.

10/31/07

Charles Mathes confirmed as our fourth driver today.

11/9/07

Today the BiggsB Enterprises team met at Thunderhill to conduct pre-race testing on the team's Spec Miata. Conditions were representative of the December race with overcast skies and cool temperatures. I was really excited to be there as this was my opportunity to learn the track prior to the race. I only got about fifteen laps on the tricky course but stepped up with some strong laps with competitive lap times in spite of traffic. I can't reveal lap times time here as we don't want to tip off the competition. I will say that we were faster than the other E2 Miata also testing for the 25 Hours. Kim Wilcox was the other team driver present to help shake down the car. Kim has raced Thunderhill many times and brings great experience on this track. Another driver, to remain secret for now, also ripped off some staggeringly fast laps in the just-rebuilt car.

The first test day was a great success. The car ran great with no significant issues of any kind and we were able to verify that the team has built a competitive car. Kim got some good seat time and developed some familiarity with the car. In just two short sessions I got up to speed on the track. Team owner Bluegrass Biggs, crew chief Doug Clark, Kim and I were able to develop some teamwork and we are gelling well. We're looking forward to our second day of testing tomorrow. There is rain in the forecast and I am hoping to get some wet practice as the race often sees rain.

11/10/07

Saturday morning was again cool and overcast. I was able to get a good session in early, backing up my times from yesterday. I also started experimenting with different lines and enduro strategy to help make the car last through the 25 grueling hours of competition. We were delighted when the rain started to fall late morning. Temperatures were dropping as we sent Kim out for recon laps on year-old Toyo full-depth race tires. We knew these tires weren't ideal but they would allow us to get some invaluable wet practice as well as develop some wet setup data. Kim kept dropping his lap times as he adjusted to the old tires and soon was circulating a couple seconds off last years' wet race times, an excellent performance considering the tires. He handed the Miata off to me and I went out for a double session, getting almost an hour on track. I was soon consistently lapping at last years' race times, even on the old tires. Thunderhill's rain line is invisible and quite elusive. But overall the car was forgiving and we know the car performs wet and dry. We'll have good rain tires for the race and we're confident we can meet the challenge rain presents in this race.

After two days of solid lapping the car ran great. A great "job well done" to the team for prepping a fast, reliable car. I'm thankful for the opportunity to get in some pre-race testing as well as get up to speed on the track. Getting both dry and wet seat time is a major bonus. The pieces are coming together for a competitive threat to the E2 class win.

I'm off to Yosemite National Park for some camping and sightseeing before heading back to sunny Phoenix.

11/13/07

Andrew Caddell has confirmed to fill up our driver lineup. Andrew will be a tremendous asset to our team as he brings great speed as well as tons of Miata experience. Andrew won the 2006 SCCA Runoffs in the Spec Miata class, was second in 2007, and recently claimed second in the SCCA Pro MX-5 Cup championship. I'm really looking forward to driving alongside Andrew.

Andrew was the secret guest driver on our first test day. With considerable experience at Thunderhill he immediately ran blisteringly fast laps in the BiggsB car. I was ecstatic to run only 0.8 seconds off Andrew's fast time in what was only my second session on the track.

With our driver roster filled we have four drivers who have competed in the 25 Hours before. I'm the only 25 Hour newbie and I'm excited that I will have four veterans' experience to draw upon.

I will continue my training in the three short weeks leading up to the race. I'll be at my peak when the green flag drops.

11/18/07

BiggsB Enterprises has announced that Todd Lamb will be replacing Tom Aiken on our driver roster. Tom has been ill and I hope he gets better. Todd is a great replacement as he won the 2007 NASA Spec Miata championship race and is a current Grand Am competitor. See (http://www.toddlamb.com) for more details. I'm looking forward to meeting Todd and working with him on the team.

11/30/07

Today was a test day followed by a thirty minute official practice then the thirty minute qualifying session. Our first priority was to get Kim and Andrew in the car since they didn’t drive yesterday. After that Charles drove and we tested the lights, practiced driver changes and fuelings, and changed brake pads and rotors. All the drivers were comfortable with the car and the track so we wanted to save wear on the car.

Todd went out first in official practice for a few laps. He came in reporting terrible brakes, which isn’t surprising since they hadn’t been bedded in at all. He also picked up a prominent wobble which he thought might be a flat-spotted tire from wrestling with the nasty new brakes.

Andrew got in for official qualifying. His plan was to just get one good lap, and if he didn’t get any clear track to come in after no more than five laps, then I would go out for some night recon laps. Thursday evening the track offered twilight recon laps so Todd and I drove his rental car (no more than 50 MPH, I promise) around for an hour figuring out visual references. The track has the little reflectors embedded in the pavement in key areas and it helps a ton. I just wanted to get in a few laps in the race car to verify what we gleaned last night.

Shortly after Andrew went out to qualify he reported over the radio that it was a madhouse on track. He was disappointed that his best qualifying lap was a 2:09.8 but we assured him that it would be fine. Andrew demonstrated at testing that he’s very comfortable in traffic so conditions must have really been difficult. When he handed the car off to me he reported poor brakes, a bad wobble, and lots of dirt on the hidden exit of Turn 9 over the hill. Todd checked for a flat-spotted tire but didn’t find any.

As I accelerated into Turn 1 I did have a short period of adjustment to the lights, which I think was the reduced depth perception, but by Turn 2 I was fine. What I really noticed was all the dust in the air highlighted by the oodles of candlepower in front of me. It’s like racing in a light fog. The visual references Todd and I worked out last night worked very well and I’m not concerned about night visibility. It should only get better as we get our lights aimed better. The other factor is it’s not easy to judge how quickly cars are closing from behind. Again, this reiterates that our number one priority at night (as well as during the day) is to stay out of trouble. After three laps Doug, our crew chief, radioed me to bring in the car, as we were concerned that the wobble might be loose lug nuts.

So what’s it like? Well, after the first lap I came down the front straight followed by another car but I had no idea what it was since I could only see headlights. He gained on me down the straight but I pulled away in Turn 1. I caught a slower Miata and passed him on the inside of Turn 2 and pulled away from the unknown car behind me. He came back up on me on the straightaway after Turn 6 and I watched him coming into the flat-out Turn 8 but he didn’t make the move. Coming out of 8 he had the horsepower to move up on me and I slowed early to get him through before we went through Turn 9, which is tricky even during the day. Turn 9 follows a long straight and I didn’t see any brake lights on what turned out to be a new MX-5 Miata as he turned in early into Turn 9 and I thought, “Wow, those new MX-5s must really hook up for him to get through there that fast.” He then completely missed the turn and flew straight off over the hill all four wheels in the dirt. So as I pop over the hill myself there’s dirt everywhere, all over the track, and dust everywhere, and all my headlights reflect off the dust and I can’t see anything, not a thing, and my first thought isn’t, “Where’s the track?!?” but “Oh, please don’t kick up any stones to break our new lights!!!”

It’s going to be exciting, that’s for sure.

So I spent all day at the track and got in three laps and I’m totally pleased with the day. We had a good day, with everyone getting at least a few laps. All the drivers like the car and are fully comfortable with the track and are up to speed. The car handles gently, drives fine, and that old engine in it makes decent power. We don’t even know the provenance of the engine. We verified that we’ll have enough light for the darkness. We traced the wobble to a faulty right rear hub and that’s an easy change.

Our team has been great to work with and work together. It’s not possible to over-emphasize how much a race like this is a team sport. To do a driver change and refueling takes at least seven people over the wall, only two of which are drivers. To make a serious effort requires a significant organization and a lot of planning to get all the resources needed. If I get up at 7:00 tomorrow that’s twenty-nine hours to the checker flag which is about six meals, times fifteen people on the team; just feeding us is a major undertaking. Hats off to Bluegrass and Doug for being CEO and President of this organization!

There’s no more driving until the green flag drops tomorrow at 11:00 AM. As we sort the driver order I should have time to post photos and updates as we go. I’ll see you then!

12/1/07 11:45 PM

At 10:15 AM the pre-race celebration began. All the cars were pushed by hand onto the front straight to grid. The Boy Scouts and the Air Force presented the United States flag while a bagpiper piped patriotic songs. Unfortunately, the F-15s were recently grounded so we didn’t get a jet fighter flyby. After the national anthem was sung, the engines were fired. The pace laps started at 11:00 AM. After two pace laps the green flag flew and we’re off racing!

Andrew started the race for us and immediately started moving through the field. After about forty minutes he moved the BiggsB Enterprises car into first in class. The leading Daytona Prototype has already lapped the field twice. Andrew has established our pace, now we just have to maintain pace and stay clean.

There is coverage of the race at (http://LiveFromThe25.com). Check it out and stay tuned here!

12:40 PM

There was a lengthy full course caution that slowed the field. We’re preparing for our first fuel stop. Andrew will probably do another stint and Todd is on deck to go out after him. The track has live timing and scoring but it isn’t working right now. When it is I will get you a link.

Already there are many cars behind the wall in the paddock. The variety of smells is amazing, both the smells of speed and the smells of mechanical failure.

1:23 PM

We've had the first red flag. The story is that one of the ultra-fast Radicals passed a BMW on the back straight and the BMW followed the Radical into the braking zone, not realizing that the Radical could brake far later than the BMW. Upshot is that the BMW rear-ended the Radical under braking for Turn 14, scattering the Radical's composite bodywork all over the track. We're back to green now, though.

We are monitoring race control from the driver's lounge and there have been a lot of penalties already, in the form of stop-and-go penalties or timed stops. I think the race director is setting the expectations for the rest of the race to keep everyone in line.

Andrew is doing a great job in the BiggsB car, running 2:08s and 2:07s, which is very fast. The first fuel stop was a success but we have ways in mind to improve the re-fueling time. Our caterers are serving a late lunch and I am fueling up for my double stint in about four hours.

I've been unable to get to the live timing and scoring over the internet. If I can I'll post here about how to get it.

3:52 PM

Andrew's first stop was earlier than our competition so we re-entered in third place in class. Andrew moved us up to second. During Todd's first half he quickly closed on and passed the Wheels America #09 Spec Miata to take the class lead.

We now have live timing and scoring in our pits. I've been on deck to drive, as well as assisting the re-fueling as I have the full fire gear. I also manned the radio to Todd.

We had a full course caution when one of the Car and Driver Honda S2000 CR cars spun off exiting Turn 5, hitting the drainage ditch sideways and doing a gentle roll. I called the green to Todd and we got a good restart. Otherwise, the race has been cleaner for the last couple of hours. Drivers have settled into a rhythm and settled down.

We just brought Todd in for his refueling, installed the light bar and adjusted the tire pressures. We had an excellent, clean stop with a lot going on. Gary Felton, my friend from Phoenix who is the Chief Scrutineer for the 25, observed our entire pit stop and had no issues.

I'm still on deck but took a few moments to post an update. Pit stops are flexible but right now it looks like I'll be getting in the car around 5:15 to 5:30 PM local time. I'll be able to go out without sunglasses and not have too long to run with the sun in my eyes approaching the tricky Turn 9. I'll probably do a double stint, refueling in the middle, and get out of the car after about three hours.

10:14 PM

I started my stint at 5:15 and I got out at 9:00, for 3:45 in the car. One of the full course cautions was over an hour. Honestly, I never realized it was that long. When I started my stint we were two laps in the lead. We were still on our original tires, with 5:15 of wear on them. Todd said the car wasn’t handling very well when he handed off to me. He was right, in left turns (on this left-hand track) the car had initial understeer with somewhat sudden transition to mid-corner understeer. In left turns the car just pushed. I ran a lot of 2:12s and 2:13s and felt disappointed that the car wasn’t faster but it just didn’t have it in it. Also, the car was the opposite of confidence-inspiring, denying me any confidence in its’ handling. As well, our strategic situation, being two laps in the lead and still opening up a gap, made it clear that an effort at a little more speed wasn’t worth the risk of an off. So I just gutted it out. Unknown to me, Doug, our crew chief, was doing a nailbiter, wondering if we had made a tragic mistake at not changing the tires when I got in the car. Only later did I find out that he was contemplating an extra stop for tires. The car wasn’t undrivable, it just wasn’t going to go faster than the 2:12s and 2:13s I was getting out of it. An extra stop for tires would have cost us more.

So I stayed out until my fuel stop, when we had built up a four lap lead. At that time we put gas in the car and then I drove behind the wall so we could change all four tires. Boy, what a difference that made! After a half a lap to warm the tires just a little the car was transformed. After my session the crew told me that they all noticed a dramatic change in my voice over the radio, as I was much more calm and relaxed on the new tires. And I started clicking off 2:10s and 2:09s. But our fuel and tire stop cost us the four lap lead and I went back out with only about 15 seconds to spare.

In the second stint I was able to work more traffic but that meant I had to work with the E1 and E0 cars, faster cars but with slower drivers. They would pull away down the straights then park in the corners, holding me up. Some of them I fought for what seemed like hours. Several of them finally went off and I got by the easy way. There was a lot of cars going off with their resulting yellows. Once I came around the dark Turn 14 to discover a 944 sideways blocking the apex! But at the end of my second stint we had a four lap lead again.

After one long full course yellow, I worked my way through the pack of slower cars to finally get some clear track ahead and behind me so I could put down some good laps. As I gently turned in for the flat-out turn 8 one of the prototype cars suddenly appeared on my inside. I didn’t feel any contact but I heard a funny, scraping “tink.” We both proceeded without any course deviation and I decided I must have heard his composite chassis scraping on the ground as he went by. It wasn’t until I approached the left-hand Turn 10 and checked my left mirror for traffic that I realized that the prototype had hit my mirror as he muscled his way by to the apex, folding it all the way forward!

Don’t get me wrong, though, the prototype cars have generally been very good making their innumerable passes of us slower cars and I give them credit for their patience. We just got one wrong once and I’m really glad it didn’t cost either of us anything and we can laugh about it now.

I feel pretty good after such a long stint. I watched my fluid intake beforehand so I didn’t get in trouble there. Since the seat is too big for me, my shoulder belts hold me up so my shoulders are pretty stiff and sore and tired. While my hands are a little stiff and tired, all my karting and rock climbing have been good training for my hands. My eyes are pretty tired but I’ll be laying down shortly. I don’t have any word on when I’ll be going back out.

I’ll get something out when I can. For now, good night!

4:57 AM

I got a bit of sleep but just kept my eyes closed to rest them and relax my mind and body. I got up about 3:00 AM. Charles had just finished a very long double stint, about four hours. Charles got one new tire during his fuel stop. We were over two laps ahead when we put Andrew back in the car. It’s about 37 degrees with moderate winds so everyone is trying to stay warm. We had some slight mists off and on. About 4:00 AM Andrew reported the car was getting noisy and we suspected a broken exhaust. Doug brought him in for a quick look-see and discovered that the header bolts had backed out. Thanks to awesome pre-race endurance prep, the team had safety-wired the bolts so the nuts and bolts were still there. We sent Andrew back out for a couple of laps while we get ready behind the wall. About 4:05 we brought him into the paddock, jumped underneath and tightened everything, and got him back out just over a lap ahead of P2 in class.

Second place is the Kumho Tires #68 Spec Miata. Reportedly, Dean Thomas is finishing his second double stint to try to catch us, as he is that team’s fastest driver. We think he’ll be getting out soon and perhaps #68 will fall to a slower pace, but of course we can’t count on that. But this is an exciting race as we are eighteen hours in and separated by only about two and a half minutes.

In addition to the normal wild cards of mechanical failure and traffic, the weather is a question. Now at 5:00 we’re starting to see increasing precipitation, and although it’s not much yet we’re wondering how much more we might get. We’re running calculations to see what wet-weather tires we might want to run.

We’re also keeping our driver schedule fluid at this point. Andrew is going to double stint and after we put Todd in after that we will evaluate whether Todd will double or not. So it looks like the earliest I will get in the car is around 8:00, and possibly not until 9:30 if Todd double stints. If I get in the car at 9:30 I may (if I double stint also) get to take the checker which would be an honor and a thrill. Nothing is for certain, though, except that there’s almost seven hours still left in this race and anything can happen.

Check out Livefromthe25.com for more BiggsB team info.

9:26 AM

Less than three hours to go. We’ve had non-stop discussions about what our strategy. Currently we are leading by five laps. But the P2 #68 car has fresh tires and only needs one more fuel stop (we think). We need two more fuel stops and may need a tire or two. The weather has dried out, for now. There are a remarkable number of cars still remaining, based on past years’ attrition so clear track is still in short supply.

I can’t say any more at this time since this I’m going to post this to the web. The #68 pit is near ours and both teams are monitoring each other closely. I’ll let you know more when I can.

12:00 PM

WE WON!!!

After 25 hours the BiggsB Enterprises Spec Miata completed over 500 laps, over 1,500 miles, to win the E2 class of the sixth running of the annual 25 Hours of Thunderhill. The second place #68 Spec Miata of Team Kumho was three laps behind at the checker.

Todd, Andrew and I all agreed that every lap had close calls with other traffic. This comes from the different lap speeds, the different power levels, darkness, rain, fatigue, varying skill levels and experience and the deteriorating mechanical condition of the cars. While we witnessed many spins and offs, Thunderhill has good runoff in most areas. And while many cars sported battle scars, for a twenty-five hour endurance race there really wasn’t much car-to-car contact. Thanks to all the drivers around us for watching out for each other.

I want to thank all the crew who worked so hard all day and night in the cold and sometimes wet to keep us going. Special recognition to Tom Aiken who handled all of our refueling without incurring a single fuel penalty. We only got a tire donut on our right door, not even denting it. We avoided contact, had zero offs, and received no penalties on our way to bringing home a trophy taller than any member of the team. A single penalty or off would likely have made the difference in our championship.

Special thanks to Bluegrass Biggs and Doug Clark who put together a successful team, prepped a winning car, and worked without sleep throughout the race to manage our race strategy and driver changes.