Your most humble reporter is keeping in touch with the SE-R contingent at Mid-Ohio. I plan to offer updates from the boys, including possibly flying out there for the weekend to offer first-person reporting via cellular Internet.

After session one, both Dan Garnder and Joe DiMinno are in good spirits. Joe is handily leading SE-R Cup (:squint:) with a 1:50.389 time. Unfortunately, there were numerous off-track incidents in that first practice, so he only got in two laps. Dan Gardner has just gotten off the track, no results are yet available.

Quotes:

Joe DiMinno, SE-R Cup Sentra SE-R: "This track is ***ing AWESOME. I'm taking it easy first session, not even sliding the car yet; I figure I've got 4, 5 second left in this car, easy." For reference, the ITA track lap record there is 1:43.388, set by Joe Moser in a Honda CRX; DiMinno is confident of approaching that.

Dan Gardner : "Hello? Hey, he's not on the phone..." (hangup)

Next on-track session for SE-R Cup is 12:55; for Dan's Group G, 1:20. More results and reports as available.

Real time results are available at: http://drivenasa.com/liveresults/

here is a link to Joe's transponder directly

http://mylaps.com/live/showLaptimes.jsp?tid=196&transponder=1912347

And Dan's:

http://mylaps.com/live/showLaptimes.jsp?tid=196&transponder=51134

Dan: "Everyone's puttering around in class; I'm just puttering around faster..."

is it still raining there?

Joe is out again now... 1:51.000 his best time so far... about middle of the pack in his group.

Fastest in his group is a PTB car- Joel Lipperini with a 1:43.855

[EDIT] Ooh, he just popped off a 1:48.677 which moves him up to 9th in the group. He's faster than all the Spec Focus, Spec Neon and Baby Grand drivers so far. A Cup car would be in PTD, and he's about a second faster than the closest PTD driver.

GO Joe!

[EDIT] Checkered flag is out on his session.

1:49 ! time comin down, 1:48!! go Joe!!!!

... first-person reporting via cellular Internet

There's free Wi-Fi near the Mansfield CVB tent, although I don't know where that is.

Thanks, Jim, I'll look for it. - GA

IS this event going to be televised?

Nope

You can listen to the track announcer live at Mid-Ohio during the day. He doesn't talk all the time, and it is limited to 25 people, but listen here:

http://trackracers.com:8005/listen.pls

You need something like iTunes or WinAMP to hear the streaming MP3.

1:46.522 Way to go Joe

Turns out Joe was having a left front wheel bearing just about falling out of the car (that "maintenance stuff" is sooo boooring...) Anyway, Blair Judson to the rescue with a new complete assembly this morning, and Joe's expecting to continue his descent into the bowels of hel...uh, I mean his times are gonna come down.

Qualifying race today and tomorrow, championship race sunday morning. My money's on Joe... - GA

Joe is qualifying right now!

1:45:966
http://mylaps.com/live/showLaptimes.jsp?tid=196&transponder=1912347

C

Dan turned in a 1:56:675, not too shabby

And that, using older 225s on the rear and new 205s on the front! (He was scrubbing in tires for today's qualifying race...)

As an aside: I tried to get him to explain this qualifying system to me, and he couldn't. Someone asked the guys in charge at the driver's meeting to explain it and the only response they got was, "Read the supps." Well, they had read the supps and they STILL didn't understand... I told Joe to screw it and drive as fast as he can and not worry about it!

It seemed pretty straight forward to me when it was explained... basically there is a qualifying session which sets your position for the qualifying race. This happens on both Fri and Sat. Then they take the results from both qualifying races and that determines the championship starting position.

Each qualifying race gives you points, like in normal NASA races, and then the person with the highest points from the two qualifying races starts first on grid for the championship race.

This keeps the qualifying from being a one-shot type deal as the fastest people should bubble to the top over the four sessions, even if you have a bad run. And it creates a little more spectator excitement because of the qualifying races where people will be going door-to-door for position, and not just time.

Make sense? I actually think it is a pretty neat system, but I'm just bench-racing. :)

Time Trial is different- they are just taking the best time from the Timed Sessions... I think everything except the first session of the day is timed for TT.

Joe's first qualifying race is coming up in less than an hour... go, Joe!

EDIT: The Spec Miatas are about to start and Joe is the next session.