Working Jefferson
Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 12:11 pm
Since the car is still down, we decided to go work. If ya can't drive, ya may as well be in the midst somehow! It was a lot of fun. We sat on the carousel turn Sat and Sun. The heat wasn't too bad which was very lucky for us. The wasps hadn't quite created their hives yet but they were in and out 1 at a time occasionally. There were over a half a dozen up inside that roof and I'm glad the mosquito fogger I used around the gazebo didn't stir them up.
The few incidents we had were minor. The 36 car was too wide and caught the dirt which wound up spinning him around into the infield a bit. The 1 car quit half was thru the carousel but managed to coast to just about the begining of the S's. The 84 car gave it his best shot coming thru there but it seemed like a fuel pick up issue caused him to run slowly, bucking his way thru only to return to the pits. The 136 car lost a throttle cable(that was the guess at the time, not sure what it really was but he was out later) and coasted to a stop at the S's entry. The 43 car sput out at the S's entry. We were very glad that there were no real incidents.
On Saturday, I spent some time taking notes on just about every car(probably was every car) driving thru the carousel. Sunday morning I did the same until I decided to start timing from one point to another. I picked 2 reference points on the track and sat/stood in the exact spot. Below are pictures of what I was using:
This was where I started the stop watch. I was targetting center of car:
This is where I stopped it. I used the broom handle as a rear site and a big stone as the front. It was pretty accurate:
At some point, I'll post times. Just don't feel like inputting them right now.
Here is a picture of the turn, from the gazebo. This is a view that as a driver, we don't get to see. But I urge anyone running there next year to walk out here and look at the track from this perspective. The camera on my phone is $%^&*&(&^ so you'll just have to trust me telling you what my observation was.
If you took my advice Saturday night and walked out to the gazebo and looked at the track, the yellow arrow is the burnout mark in the grass I was talking about. Somewhere around there should have been the turn in, +/-. The blue arrow is the black patch(or whatever) that you should have had the right tires on. If you looked REALLY close, I had put(sunday) 2 sets of American flags on the opposite side of the track, just where you should have been before turning into the tight turn at the end of the carousel. if you were against the outside just before the 1st one, BINGO. The 2nd one was turn in. If you turned in somewhere around that 2nd one, when you spit out towards the S's, you were pointed correctly.
Above, the 3rd picture is what you can't see as a driver. Again, sorry for the crappy picture but you'll have to trust me here. What you are staring at is the inside lane. The outside lane is almost parallel to your eye sight. You can see the inside lane is pitched a little inward. Keep in mind that the line of sight here is me standing inside the gazebo, which is elevated above the track approx 15", AND I'm holding the phone approx 5'3" above the floor of the gazebo. SOME of the drivers running that outside lane, we could see the bottom of your car!
Some of my notes, Sunday before lunch:
36 -Tighter thru middle, close to going off.
909 - Tighter thru middle of corner. Good entry to 2nd turn.
66 - Too far outside thru carousel. Off the gas most of the way thru.
21 - very fast.
99 - 1st lap - cold tires, timid. 2nd lap - still outside. 3rd lap - come in tighter.
90 - way outside. Early brake.
136 - Early brake. Way outside thru corner.
92 - sounds like on 3 cylinders.
282 - Good brake point. Too far outside thru corner. 3rd lap - crossing dots now.
1 - Early entry. come in later
43 - 2nd lap - Excellent - on the gas thru the corner.
282 - too early @ 2nd turn. Spitting out early into S's.
57 - Way outside - off gas thru corner. 2nd turn good.
007 - Entry too early. Turn in 2 car lenghts farther.
711 - getting faster
16b - riding outside
46 - letting off early & entry too early
60 - Entry way early. Too tight into 2nd turn.
18 - outside
97 - outside
96 - Perfect
172 - Early turn in -go 2 car lengths
511 - Don't brake so early
87 - turn in later - stay inside
193 - turn in 1/2 car lenth later. Excellent last corner
19 - go a little tighter
B4 - Turn in a little sooner - stay tighter thru middle. Go outside @ 2nd corner
75 - Way too far outside
7 - Come tighter thru center of corner
17 - too far outside
42 - Come in tighter center of corner and get back on the gas
280 - way too early entry. Turn in 1 - 2 car lengths later.
86 - Good. Need a real horn
4 - way outside!
932 - nice
888 - tighter thru center
27 - too early entry
04 - too early 2nd turn
171 - FAST
24 - early entry
666 - Stay on gas, tighter thru center
M17 - Way outside
130 - nice late entry. Last lap perfect
156 - little early @ entry. Early @ 2nd turn
0 - come tighter thru center
L8 - Don't brake so hard. Turn in earlier
95 - very good
Since I am STILL typing....these are times I recorded with the above reference pictures. Times are in seconds(Duh!):
183 - 12.0, 11.5, 11.3
57 - 12.3
35 - 11.0 last lap
65 - 12.4, 12.18, 12
43 - 12.2, 11.7, 12.17
36 - 12.86, 13.04, 12.29
282 - 11.42, 11.34, 11.01
4 - 9.64, 8.74, 8.65
66 - 10.58, 9.68
21 - 8.88
115 - 12.22, 11.49, 11.21
187 - 12.47, 11.34
95 - 10.86, 10.99
68 - 11.22, 10.78, 10.95
Then I started to look at inside or outside:
1 - o 13.22, i 11.54, i 11.70
171 - i 10.79, i 10.73
M17 - o 12.62
86 - 11.02, i (weeee)10.76, i 11.0 This joker had us up, grabbing the radio, flag and almost out of the gazebo, while squeeling tires to turn in(VERY late brake)
24 - i 12.01, i 11.89, i early 11.38
41 - o 11.6, o 11.48
17 - o 11.89, o 11.75, o 11.93
75 - o 12.19, o 11.63, o 11.74
888 - o/i 11.76, o/i 11.23, i/i 11.18
172 - i 10.70
27 - i 11.74, i 11.46, i 11.11
0 - o 11.58
87 - o 12.75, o 12.30
L8 - i 11.81, i 11.84, i 11.81
666 - i/o 11.01, i/o 11.50, i/o 10.97
007 - i 11.01, i 10.67, i 10.88
57 - o 12.46, o 11.99
95 i/o 11.04, i 10.47
Well, there ya have it. Unfortunately, video would have been a better tool as I can't explain what I saw at every single second without it. Some drivers were VERY consistent. But what was clear is where the line was. My suggestion is if you can sit out either morning or afternoon and go work carousel. You will see it too.
The few incidents we had were minor. The 36 car was too wide and caught the dirt which wound up spinning him around into the infield a bit. The 1 car quit half was thru the carousel but managed to coast to just about the begining of the S's. The 84 car gave it his best shot coming thru there but it seemed like a fuel pick up issue caused him to run slowly, bucking his way thru only to return to the pits. The 136 car lost a throttle cable(that was the guess at the time, not sure what it really was but he was out later) and coasted to a stop at the S's entry. The 43 car sput out at the S's entry. We were very glad that there were no real incidents.
On Saturday, I spent some time taking notes on just about every car(probably was every car) driving thru the carousel. Sunday morning I did the same until I decided to start timing from one point to another. I picked 2 reference points on the track and sat/stood in the exact spot. Below are pictures of what I was using:
This was where I started the stop watch. I was targetting center of car:
This is where I stopped it. I used the broom handle as a rear site and a big stone as the front. It was pretty accurate:
At some point, I'll post times. Just don't feel like inputting them right now.
Here is a picture of the turn, from the gazebo. This is a view that as a driver, we don't get to see. But I urge anyone running there next year to walk out here and look at the track from this perspective. The camera on my phone is $%^&*&(&^ so you'll just have to trust me telling you what my observation was.
If you took my advice Saturday night and walked out to the gazebo and looked at the track, the yellow arrow is the burnout mark in the grass I was talking about. Somewhere around there should have been the turn in, +/-. The blue arrow is the black patch(or whatever) that you should have had the right tires on. If you looked REALLY close, I had put(sunday) 2 sets of American flags on the opposite side of the track, just where you should have been before turning into the tight turn at the end of the carousel. if you were against the outside just before the 1st one, BINGO. The 2nd one was turn in. If you turned in somewhere around that 2nd one, when you spit out towards the S's, you were pointed correctly.
Above, the 3rd picture is what you can't see as a driver. Again, sorry for the crappy picture but you'll have to trust me here. What you are staring at is the inside lane. The outside lane is almost parallel to your eye sight. You can see the inside lane is pitched a little inward. Keep in mind that the line of sight here is me standing inside the gazebo, which is elevated above the track approx 15", AND I'm holding the phone approx 5'3" above the floor of the gazebo. SOME of the drivers running that outside lane, we could see the bottom of your car!
Some of my notes, Sunday before lunch:
36 -Tighter thru middle, close to going off.
909 - Tighter thru middle of corner. Good entry to 2nd turn.
66 - Too far outside thru carousel. Off the gas most of the way thru.
21 - very fast.
99 - 1st lap - cold tires, timid. 2nd lap - still outside. 3rd lap - come in tighter.
90 - way outside. Early brake.
136 - Early brake. Way outside thru corner.
92 - sounds like on 3 cylinders.
282 - Good brake point. Too far outside thru corner. 3rd lap - crossing dots now.
1 - Early entry. come in later
43 - 2nd lap - Excellent - on the gas thru the corner.
282 - too early @ 2nd turn. Spitting out early into S's.
57 - Way outside - off gas thru corner. 2nd turn good.
007 - Entry too early. Turn in 2 car lenghts farther.
711 - getting faster
16b - riding outside
46 - letting off early & entry too early
60 - Entry way early. Too tight into 2nd turn.
18 - outside
97 - outside
96 - Perfect
172 - Early turn in -go 2 car lengths
511 - Don't brake so early
87 - turn in later - stay inside
193 - turn in 1/2 car lenth later. Excellent last corner
19 - go a little tighter
B4 - Turn in a little sooner - stay tighter thru middle. Go outside @ 2nd corner
75 - Way too far outside
7 - Come tighter thru center of corner
17 - too far outside
42 - Come in tighter center of corner and get back on the gas
280 - way too early entry. Turn in 1 - 2 car lengths later.
86 - Good. Need a real horn
4 - way outside!
932 - nice
888 - tighter thru center
27 - too early entry
04 - too early 2nd turn
171 - FAST
24 - early entry
666 - Stay on gas, tighter thru center
M17 - Way outside
130 - nice late entry. Last lap perfect
156 - little early @ entry. Early @ 2nd turn
0 - come tighter thru center
L8 - Don't brake so hard. Turn in earlier
95 - very good
Since I am STILL typing....these are times I recorded with the above reference pictures. Times are in seconds(Duh!):
183 - 12.0, 11.5, 11.3
57 - 12.3
35 - 11.0 last lap
65 - 12.4, 12.18, 12
43 - 12.2, 11.7, 12.17
36 - 12.86, 13.04, 12.29
282 - 11.42, 11.34, 11.01
4 - 9.64, 8.74, 8.65
66 - 10.58, 9.68
21 - 8.88
115 - 12.22, 11.49, 11.21
187 - 12.47, 11.34
95 - 10.86, 10.99
68 - 11.22, 10.78, 10.95
Then I started to look at inside or outside:
1 - o 13.22, i 11.54, i 11.70
171 - i 10.79, i 10.73
M17 - o 12.62
86 - 11.02, i (weeee)10.76, i 11.0 This joker had us up, grabbing the radio, flag and almost out of the gazebo, while squeeling tires to turn in(VERY late brake)
24 - i 12.01, i 11.89, i early 11.38
41 - o 11.6, o 11.48
17 - o 11.89, o 11.75, o 11.93
75 - o 12.19, o 11.63, o 11.74
888 - o/i 11.76, o/i 11.23, i/i 11.18
172 - i 10.70
27 - i 11.74, i 11.46, i 11.11
0 - o 11.58
87 - o 12.75, o 12.30
L8 - i 11.81, i 11.84, i 11.81
666 - i/o 11.01, i/o 11.50, i/o 10.97
007 - i 11.01, i 10.67, i 10.88
57 - o 12.46, o 11.99
95 i/o 11.04, i 10.47
Well, there ya have it. Unfortunately, video would have been a better tool as I can't explain what I saw at every single second without it. Some drivers were VERY consistent. But what was clear is where the line was. My suggestion is if you can sit out either morning or afternoon and go work carousel. You will see it too.