lightweight win

[Ex-VDF 1]

I'd like to apologize to the SF Region for running a race (and winning, which is really the toughest part) while being illegal. When I found at Impound that I was 8 lbs light I was surprised. Blake Tatum was so gracious as to drive by my pit and award me the checkered flag and offered the trophy too because he said that I had won a hard-fought race and the few pounds did not make that much difference. When I told him that I had not been light all year he asked what tires I ran and I said Hoosiers (I run mostly Nationals) and he said he thought that Hoosiers have Kevlar in them and are heavier than Americans.

As soon as I got home this evening I checked the weight of my mounted Hoosiers against my mounted Americans and it was 2 pounds per tire. On a bathroom scale, the rears were 23/21 and the fronts were 22/20. So there's 8 pounds which would have put me at 1025.

I try to finish races at 1030 lbs by varying the fuel level(yes, I'm one of the lucky FV drivers who must add weight to their car to make minimum--I have 40 lbs of lead under me--one of the advantages of being old and skinny). As of now I don't know where the 5 missing pounds are but I have learned that scales vary from track to track and I am, as it turns out, a few pounds lighter than I was earlier in the season.

It was foolish of me to not check mimimum weight sometime during the weekend. Let this be a lesson to all--check your minimum weight because, take it from me, you don't want a "lightweight" win.

My thanks again to both Rick and Blake for being so gracious in Impound and for helping me to have so much fun in my "first win" in FV. Also, as I said on the victory stand, thanks to Ron Chuck for helping me with my motor on Friday afternoon (and for all that he does).

Leroy Coppedge

[sweenrace]

Leroy,

you drove a great race under a lot of pressure and deserved to take the win. To beat such guys as Blake and Rick says something too!

My experience of the SF region scales is that they always read light - i've seen as much as 15lbs difference between them and the runoffs scales.

Ian

[brian]

I agree with Ian. Leroy, you drove a great race and it was really hard for me not to root for Blake on that last 50 feet but I was hollaring for both of you.

You all seemed to work around traffic issues very well and while the backmarkers were an issue several times during the races, I don't think they appeared to change the outcome of the winners.

Having worked tech in SF I know we check the scales with known weights several times a week and if someone falls short we perform the check again. Using 250# on each scale gets really close for us vees. Like Ian, I have seen variance around the country but I felt the other scales were heavy. I did notice that tech was using their new scales this weekend so history should not be too relevant.

[Ex-VDF 1]

Brian I thought the tech crew were extremely competent and bent over backward to make me legal. They weighed me pointing south, they weighed me pointing north, then they calibrated the scales and weighed me once again--I was at 1017 all three times. All the while Rick and Blake were wishing they were elsewhere, I'm sure.

From my perspective, I thought overtaken cars were very cooperative. I know it must be galling to some CFs and FFs to be given an overtaking flag only to find it's FVs overtaking them, but each one of the few we caught moved over and let us by. I recall only one scary moment with overtaking and that was when I slungshot Rick to his left on the front straight just before S/F only to have a FF come flying by me on my left. Thank you to whomever that was for giving us a couple of car widths on your pass.

I agree with you both that scales can vary. It was my responsibility, as it is each driver's, to make sure they are legal at each event. My bad all the way.

[qposner]

Was there a split start? There is a post on the Interchange by someone who said they were at "t-hill" and the vees were spit from the fords. If this is true, what led to the change in policy? Obviously, I am all for it!

[Bruce]

Quinn,

You can race with us again. We had a group meeting and the concensus was that we go with a true split start. We are going to have separate qualifying sessions, with either the Fords or FV's taking turn going first.

[GregM]

Leroy: Sorry that the win you worked for was lost in Impound. I watched the race from start to finish, and it ws exciting to see someone out front of Blake and Rick.

Now, as to the scales, you should be aware that they only resolve to 1/2 pound per scale pad. If it's below .5 pounds it rounds down and you're potentially light by 2 pounds at minimum. If it's on the fat side of .5 pounds, you can be plus 2 pounds. I tried for a year to get Longacre to sell us scales that gave us tenths in the display, but they refused, only CART and IRL etc. get those scales. No Chief Scrutineer EVER wants a car to be light, which is why Kathy gave you 3 weighs.

It does pay to weigh you car numerous times during the weekend, on the Scales of the Meet.

I am curious on the arithmetic though, if the Hoosiers are HEAVIER than the AR's then you would have been 16 pounds light with AR's. No? Yes?

And yes, Blake and Rick are true gentlemen racers, as are the majority of the Group 4 racers. I'm looking forward to running with them next year.

[Ex-VDF 1]

Greg. No. According to my bathroom scale it was 2 lbs per wheel or 8 lbs total. During National race season I check my car at least once a weekend (more than once, if I get a weight that seems not quite right) because I discovered in 2003 that scales can be slightly off from one event to the next and certainly off from track to track. During the this past season I weighed at Willow Springs, T-Hill, Portland, and Seattle. They were all what I expected them to be--with Hoosiers. I have not found an occasion where the scales varied more than a pound or two during a single weekend event. I will, however, take what you've said under advisement.

I plan to be more careful in the future about weight since I'm lucky enough to be able to finish a race as close to minimum as I want to be. I shoot for 1030 because the extra five lbs is about 2/3s of a gallon which ought to be good for a few more laps, if necessary. As I told Blake, two years ago at Infineon in a national race I was weighed at exactly 1025 lbs--whew!

[qposner]

Just so you know, I would kill to have minimum weight bumped up to 1050!

[Ex-VDF 1]

Seems extreme, Quinn. Fewer pounds, however, is definitely an advantage. The way I see it 10 lbs is about a 1% advantage or roughtly like having 0.6 hp more, 20 lbs is about 2% or like having a full hp more all around the track--I'll take that advantage, thank you! I do hope, selfishly, that FV minimum weight stays at 1025, but I believe F-First minimum weight is heavier, right?

[qposner]

I don't know about F1st weight. Marty?

I was kidding about 1050 weight as I know it won't happen and it is for purely selfish reason I want it. I used to weigh 1080 in the Mysterian and I am approx 1050-1055 in the Protoform.

[Ex-VDF 1]

Quinn, I found this exchange on the formula first site: first.formulavee.org/exchange/index.php?topic=80.0

It looks like f1st were originally at 1100 lbs and moved up to 1125, but now many cars are having to add ballast so they're voting on which way to go for 2006.