Great Weekend, NWMS

D

Dave Bennitt

Member
Congratulations to all NWMS club members. You did a fantastic job getting the track ready for a great weekend. I am looking forward to running at Spokane next year. The weather was perfect and as always the staff was outstanding. Great weekend.

Dave Bennitt
 
For those who chose to stay home this weekend, you missed a great party! Nice work NWMS!! It will be difficult to top that one, but I'm willing to see you try to do so next year!
 
Thanks to everyone at NWMS for the hard work and dedication to getting the facility ready. Thanks also to the track workers and safety personnel for keeping things moving. We had a great weekend and enjoyed the sunshine, the friends, and the great racing!

Not sure but I might be back again this weekend for ChumpCar...
 
NWMS did a great job of putting on an EVENT. The car shows and the local merchants added to the festive feel. The announcer kept things more interesting for the spectators. The racing ran (mostly) organized. (If you guys could get the sound system to work on our side that would be lovely...)

There were a good handful of mechanical problems throughout the paddock and a few heroic fixes (Scott Morton--bummer to see you come in on a tow after replacing the motor and running in first...)
Thankfully we only had a breaking muffler to replace during the weekend. The cooler temps definitely kept our car and driver happier.

The new track configuration was a little confusing to be thrown into for those who couldn't make the practice day on Thursday. But after the first session out it quickly became old hat. It definitely keeps the driver's interest more than before and still leaves opportunity for passing. I think it improves the flow of the track.

Additionally, our top speed was higher than last year (looks like longer time at full throttle).

Thanks again to everyone who worked the races.
 
Karen,
Thanks for coming out !! We had plans to broadcast the announcing with the Fm transmitter but they ran in to a bit issues last minute . That should be resolved by next year even if I have to climb to the top of the water tower and put up another antennae. Live timing should be up an running by next year for all of us with PDAs and lap tops .

I was sorry to hear about Scott and his wiring issue while in the lead. Todd Stanley scored him a motor and Joe Klokkevold welded his pan for him. The Canadian open wheels guys lent us their engine lift to change his motor out.. There was a lot of this going on all weekend.

Your top speed results backs up what some of the SOVREN guys were reporting a few weeks before. I am sure the rotary liked the cooler weather as well.

Sorry it seemed a bit disorganized, we did what we could with what he had to work with . I had a huge punch list that I never got done .
 
Eric,
Thanks to all of your 944 Cup guys who showed up. I sure hope we see you again next year !!

I need to get Mike Adams contact info as it looks like we have an open seat in the 510 Chumpcar for next weekend .

Mike
 
Not to digress too far off topic, but dovetailing on Mike's comment above:

I had to go back and look at the results from 2010 to see how things changed time-wise. A fast PRO3 time in the old configuration was 1:47.xxx; under the new configuration, its roughly 9 seconds faster at 1:38.xxx. I don't have any fancy data-acquisition in the car to tell me exactly, but I don't believe we were moving faster at T1 than before. With a 4.10 diff and 14" wheels, a PRO3 car on the old straight would be singing close to stock rev limiter (6400) and with the new configuration, I was hitting just over 6000 at the bump.

As for all the safety concerns raised prior to this event happening, I'd like to point out that of all the years I've been racing at Spokane, this year saw the least amount of carnage of any of those years. Am I alone in that assessment? Could that be attributed to drivers just being more cautious with the new layout, or did the improvements actually create a safer racing experience? The curbing is a very welcome addition as is the additional track-out pavement at T6 to driver's right.

Are there still improvements to be made? Sure! But this weekend can easily be called a success and I'm certain that NWMS was taking notes and making plans to improve on it. Sign me up for next year!
 
To previous comments, "mostly organized" was not derogatory. I thought things came off well. I know that NWMS personnel put a huge amount of effort into this. It was definitely a "labor of love" for quite a few people. We appreciate your time and efforts.

To the above, I think the curbing was a huge improvement. It definitely made the turn 3 dogleg more palatable at WOT. Definitely a huge improvement for safety and I think new curbing cut down somewhat on the graveling of the track. (Maybe add some gators on the first right-side "apex" exiting 8....)

We definitely had an enjoyable weekend. Thanks again.
 
The access to the paddock at all times afforded by the new track configuration is fantastic! The event was co-ordinated with a car show and advertised to bring in spectators which allowed the concession stand to be open as well. Great job by the County to clean up the track and get all the plumbed facilities working and clean. There were also a bunch of porti potties to cut down the walking distance from the old T10 parking area.
I plan on being back to see what changes will be done on further improvements in 2012.
(and the hairpins are still slow in fast out as much as I try to find otherwise)
 
Karen,
The curbing on 8 came up the other night as there is basically no edge to the track in that area. You are either on or off the track. We extended the white line along that edge as a visual. Trying to get the tire bundle and safety issues handled I never got down to turn 1 and 2 until Friday when I took the tractor up there to sweep. We really needed to knock down the weeds there and loosen up the gravel. Also on the short list is to drop some of the mounds down so you can see the 5, 6 . 7 area from the bleachers. I had other ideas on seating and viewing but couldn't get to it. I also had cold patch on order Thursday night to fill in the holes in the grid area but had to put bleachers in and the other guys were swapping out K rail.

I did try and spot some extra porta potties around the paddock area and also the oil barrels .
 
Last edited:
Sounds like next year will be even better :)

BTW having the concessions was nice also. Nice to have food available that didn't come out of a cooler.
 
Great news for the spectators on the 5-6-7 turn viewing. It will be helpful for crew spotting too.

I had to remind myself several times over the weekend how the track looked when I went there 6 years ago - goats - junk - rock - more junk, more rocks and that x rated sign!

Love the 3 day format!

Great job NWMS and Spokane County.

Ready to sign up for 2012 - Thanks for all the hard work!
 
I need to thank all the many people that loaned their tools and hands to help get the motor changed.Especially Todd Stanley for scoring a deal on the motor,Joe for welding the hole in the pan, and the Selle family for all the help they gave. I figured that I was going home early but these folks from Spokane know where to find what you need. I am totally burned out after this but I still had a blast on the track besides Ricky Lee and his crew looked like they needed something to do.
 
Great time had by all and I reallybenjoyed the new track setup. I signed up for double duty and had a blast playing all weekend. Including the back of group 1 and had a fun Friday group #2 race even after losing my exhaust.


Mike Adams
#799 Porsche 944
 
Great weekend!!

Thank you to all the participants that came to Spokane - RACERS, WORKERS, families, et al. The first ever triple race weekend was a HUGE success. No incident reports on Friday, 3 on Saturday and only 1 on Sunday. GREAT job drivers. We've been known to have that many or more in a single race.
Speaking as an individual and not for NWMS, I still do not understand why the president of ICSCC tried his best to kill our race in Spokane. Under the Polices and Procedures Manual, we had $2 million more insurance available for $400 a day less. However, for what ever reason, this was unacceptable. NWMS spent an extra 3 weeks and close to $20,000 to satisfy the presidents ego. No logic, no reason, just continue to change the requirements with no written policy. VERY dangerous for conference in the future.
As the former Race Chairman for NWMS, I hope all the clubs will take note of the efforts by a few to turn the ICSCC into a I-5 corridor conference.
Best of Luck,
Doug Smith
 
It was sorta weird to run through that new section and see a grandstand full of people! We found the lap times in group 3 to be at least 7 seconds quicker and T1 is still a rush. Curbing on drivers right out of 8 would be very nice as well as a smoother hot pit entrance.
Great job by a small but dedicated club who worked extremely long hours to make this happen. Many thanks, and I look forward to next year. Heck, I'd love to run there twice a year if we could work that out.
Doug, you might want to speak with Kevin privately about his thoughts on your event before insulting him on this forum. He is very approachable and easy to talk to.
 
My opinion--
We are definitely blessed to be able to run an awesome variety of tracks. Each is special and has it's own flavor and purpose. Each has it's own drawbacks, but in this world nothing is perfect so we take what we've got (even the pavement in 8 at Seattle...) Some factors are in our control and some aren't. For example, I have a lot of fun running Mission, but I despise the drive through Everett. So far we've bit the bullet and made the haul.

What I see is that with hard economics and busy lives, our clubs need to be creative, to keep things fresh. NWMS did an awesome job of creating a festive event. We even had spectators !!!

Doing the triple was an example of creativity. Wasn't sure I'd like it, and the first morning was a stressful scramble (due to work scheduling and the long drive), but afterward things settled into a routine and it went very well. It's a little different knowing you've only got one chance for qualifying, and if you've had a bad luck moment, you're out of luck for position. So I'm not thinking it's something we'd want to do every time, but changing it up periodically is refreshing.

We are a conference of members--both drivers and workers. We all need to put our voice forward and be willing to step up to the plate to keep Conference fresh, fun and viable going into the future. Take good care of the people who are creative and getting the jobs done. :) We have some really great people who bust their rears doing the work in the trenches. Get in there and help.

Do something proactive to keep Conference cohesive. We each have a voice and there are places and times for that voice to be heard.

We need to be inviting to outside drivers. PRO3 has done a fabulous job of recruiting new blood. We seen quite a few of the SCCA-licensed Porsches and a number of other cars lately. All these extra numbers make our racing more exciting. Take the extra time to connect with the people in the paddock. If they feel welcome, they are more likely to come back.

**One of the very best things about racing in Conference is seeing people (especially competitors) pull together to help people out. It's what makes our racing the most fun.**
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top