Not MG related, but racing related - sponsoring a Spec Miata

For the 2010 MARRS series, my company is sponsoring Mike Collins' bid for the MARRS championship and SCCA National Championship in a Meathead Racing Spec Miata.

On Monday, the car (which is new) was wrapped. Mike sent me this video of it being done. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5WQSj7QSKM

After talking about the sponsorship, I asked Mike about test day opportunities. I have wanted to drive a Spec Miata for a long time and need the seat time.

So I paid a fee and next Thursday, I am going to Summit Point for a full day of track time. Meathead Racing has rented the track and there are only going to be six of us . We'll have the track for the entire day - no sessions, just wide open hours and hours and hours of driving. I'm hoping they have to pull me out of the car and stick an IV in my arm.

Since work is requiring that I back out of the VIR VDCA event, this will help ensure that I don't show up at the Mitty following a long absence from the track.

I'm looking forward to getting some good seat time and instruction time.

Do they need a 19 year old to co-drive for the team???? I'm kinda broke... but I've still got my energy and reflexes ;)

Ya lucky bastid!

So will they be changing the team name to SCHMEATHEAD RACINGZZ?

When will a "meathead" sandwich be appearing on the menu?

Pull a "group 44" a set up a display at a "local" store a day or two before an event.

Wow... Congrats Fred! What a process. And to do it with snow on the ground to boot.

Greg, No Shmeathead racing - though you clearly have experience with some of our products :)

We are going to have a contigency program for all racers where if you run a sticker on your car, you can compete for free gas throughout the season. In addition, we'll give out lots of coupons. E-mail going out soon to the region members.

The car has already made it on Forza Motorsports.

Bet that's not the last time the 75 car gets a new Sheetz wrap this season!

Hey wreck or win, with SMs you'll get plenty of exposure either way :)

"So I paid a fee and next Thursday, I am going to Summit Point for a full day of track time. Meathead Racing has rented the track and there are only going to be six of us . We'll have the track for the entire day - no sessions, just wide open hours and hours and hours of driving. I'm hoping they have to pull me out of the car and stick an IV in my arm."



FRED, Be very careful......you are approaching the dark side !!!!!

Have fun

Moe

Well I may have done more than 200 laps in five hours today at Summit Point. If the car didn't keep needing gas, I might have stayed out even longer. There were six of us and for the most part I was alone. However, at one point I did several laps shadowing Mike Collins and then him following me. He was so much faster than me. But I did experience my first bump draft. Several times he drafted me in certain areas and pushed me down the straights. I was laughing my butt off.

I'll tell you though, my left leg is swollen from banging the cage, my right knee is red from hitting the dash, my neck, shoulders, arms, fingers and left ankle are all sore. I've taken some Bayer and hope tomorrow morning is kind to me. Since it was a rental, the interior was one of those, it fits everyone, but nobody perfectly.

I would do it all over again.

Spec Miatas are incredible cars. 1.8l motor that revs to 7,200 rpm plus all day, every day, lap after lap after hour after hour with minimal care or attention needed. It doesn't get hot, nor does it require anything when you pull into your paddock location. You immediately go get a drink, sit down and chat with your buddies. Park it on the trailer and pull it out for the next race and do this for a few seasons in a row. In the winter, replace the body panels - which are really cheap - and get it painted. If you need a new engine from the factory, then it only costs less than $3,000.

I liked how forgiving it was. They are consistent, predictable and easy to control. I pushed the edge all day long which is what I wanted. I spun a bunch, drifted, squirmed and slid the car all over the place as I looked for something extra in every turn. It was a real experience for me and I feel like I understand better how to drive our momentum dependent cars. I also increased my confidence in high speed car control - tapping the brakes, setting the car up and floating it through the big turns.

I ran in the low 1.30s which is basically the front of the middle of a SM field at Summit. What I really like though is that the SM is only a second or two in front of my vintage MGB.

Here was my ride. The Red Baron!

True enough Fred, you don't have to be a mechanic so much with a SM, but bodywork skills do come in handy :)

Oh, but when you are in the top ten at runoffs in qualiflying, you betternbe a mechanic, I saw those guys dropping oil pans in the tech shed at the runoffs for the tech inspectors.

The otters do have a certain sweet siren song. The other downside, aside from bodywork, is that to remain competitive there is alot of chasing of new bits if you want to stay at the pointy end. The other thing that is going to start happening is that some parts sources are going to start drying up, and even more "substitutions" are going to start creeping in. Just wait til Mazdacomp decides the new gen pro cars is to be their focus. All this has happened before with the SRX7 (at least in the Mid Atlantic)

Speaking of which, I think my old SRX7 might be at the WDCR school this weekend. The new driver is planning on achieving her regional license this year in the car, and then moving to a GTL Spridget. Another ex-WDCR MG will be back in action when she does.

I saw most of the cars rolling in prior to the school. There was a SRX-7 driving in. The back was crammed with gear for the weekend.

When I fired up my car this weekend in preparation for The Mitty, I was quickly reminded of how much I love the sound of a well tune B series engine, as well as the smell of race fuel.

Fred, I saw some images of the car yesterday.

WOW

I was wrong that car will not need to be wrapped again!

Glad MC is OK

Lucky, lucky bugger!

I am hoping my boss rents the track again when his new Tesla arrives (this week) to show it off to the media. If that happens (and seeing as he should be allowed to drive it to the track this time instead of trailering it there), then I will be able to get similar free track time. Fingers crossed.

I am jealous - and yes, I am even jealous of your bruises!

But I don't think I would do that many laps and that much time in my little car. But I really would like the practice/development time.

No kidding Bill. We just replaced the motor. They are building another one and I'll wrap that one :)-D

Wouldn't that give you the sheetz!

I take it that was at the Glen? I know that there was both a Nat and A MARRS event this weekend.

I've hit stuff, but thankfully never that hard. Hope everyone is okay.

Video of the accident here http://forum.specmiata.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?/topic/2/4845.html#000035

The car looks works in person. What you can't see is the left rear is all smashed in too.

There must have been something in the air this weekend up at the Glen, carnage everywhere (which is somewhat typical, but not this bad).

There was another Spec Miata pile up in the esses.

Bartell broke a spindle and lost a wheel. Fortunately it was in the heal of the boot, so he went off into the gravel. Had it been elsewhere, it could have been really bad.

The Peterson / Davis GT2 TRD Solara was trashed bad.

One of our cars went into the safer barrier in T11 at a 45 degree angle, and hit HARD.

A T2 Nissan 350z lost it brakes going into the heal, went through the gravel trap, hit the tires and still managed to bust the guardrail on the other side. Wow.

A whole bunch of other cars were hurt real bad, and a bunch of other good cars suffered mechanical DNF's.

Fortunately, besides some minor bumps and bruises, everyone walked away from all incidents this weekend

Did I mention the weather was great! :)-D

I never want to have this view through my windscreeen... ever!

Thats the deal with SMs, it seems almost every race weekend they total 1,2 or more of these cars, and consider top notch national cars can be a $40K investment, I use that word lightly. Just two weeks ago at CMP regional, two cars were total losses, one did a set of spectacular end over end flips coming down the front straight. I know, it's good tight racing, and these guys put on a helva show, but I much rather watch from a safe area, than be out there with them, their close racing does not intimindate me, but constant crashes is why I gave up short track racing, I got tired of the bodywork.

When you head out onto a racetrack I guess you always have the possibility of bend fenders somewhere in the back of your mind. This poor guy at our last meeting spent something like 10 seconds on the track. Morning practice was really cold and the track was still a little greasy ... heading out of the pits on cold slicks can be hazardous.....

I watched a Lola T70 take the green flag at TWS on a cold February Sunday morning. As soon as he saw the green flag wiggle, he hammered the throttle with cold slicks, spun the car and smacked the wall twice. I nearly cried.

The differences between the SS / T3 cars is less of an issue because everyone is on R-DOTs. Most of the issues there are front running SM's running in a pack vs. drivers in SS cars who are by themselves and are simply less talented blowing apexes and just being a nuisance.

The STU stuff is a mixed bag. The old SWC BMW's are fast, and at the Glen were faster than all the EP cars, and by big margin over the whole race despite having to weigh 900+lbs more, and being on R-DOTs. From my vantage point, those guys were really wheeling it. The only problems people were having where with ITR and T2 and T3 type cars. The ITA and ITB stuff is generally a little slower than most of the slick shod cars, though, the HP winner had an ITB car glued to his bumper...

BTW the SM that was in that wreck and posted the video, here is the build up http://forum.specmiata.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?/topic/2/4708.html . It was only a few races old.

I'm not sure how much it cost Mike to build that car, but I was surprised with how inexpensive a top SM motor is in comparison to what we run in our MGBs.

I do know that they will spend around $80k per season in an attempt to win the MARRS championship.

That is not anywhere near the amount I paid to get my company's name on the car :)

They are building a new car as I type and my team started the design work for it today. The plan is to have the car ready for the next race (tu)

Fred Huffaker SM motors are $10K or there about last time I checked, but the point is taken, because we can easliy spend more money than that on our engines.

A friend of mine that has been involved in SM for awhile and built a few over the years, we had a conversation about them the other day, he didn't like my take on them, but I thought it was acurate. SMs are NOT race cars, your vintage MGB, a SCCA Prod or GT car now thats a race car, a SM is a street car with goodies bolted on and less than optimal tires, that creates close racing and a freak show all at the same time, people run to the fences to see crashes first and good racing secondly, and that my friend is a sponsor's dream, for great exposure you want one or two things, your guy running up front or crashing spectatularly, the later probably gets you more attention, because every one loves to come look at the remains from the crash, and as long as your company name is not grounded off in the crash, mission accomplished.

At runoff a few years ago, crewing for Bartell, we got called into tech after every quailfying session along with the other top ten cars and some random cars in class, they checked fuel, track, wheel width, wheelbase, carbs etc., all pretty painless stuff for the crews to do, on the otherhand those poor SM guys were there pulling heads and oil pans, all week long.

I think it takes alot of talent to win in SM or any spec class for that matter, and I respect those guys who can do it, but I'm not jealous of that, and damn sure don't want any part of it as a driver. I think you could go get the best pro racers in all the pro racing series and put thier butts in top notched prepped SMs, and they would probably get embarrished, it takes a certian type of guy to walk the high wire at the circus or drive a SM car up front :)

Here are the revised graphics for the car.

Top view.

Back on track August 7.

But, will anyone like an "out there" MGB?

That is pretty sweet. I've thought about re-doing my car next year. I want to do something out there ... I like what you did. It is bold.

Mine won't be to everyone's liking - but it covers the costs of doing what I do. You can't have your cake and eat it too!

Here we go....

http://classifieds.specmiata.com/detail.php?id=3150

Here's your chance.

Mike keeps the seat and transponder, does that mean the buyer gets the sponsorship? :P

Fred, do the strippers come with the car :D

Does anyone have some graphics templates of a "blank canvas" MGB that can be shared? I have a friend who is going to help me with the graphics on my MGB, and I need to send him something to get started.

Rick

Mike:

Exactly what I was looking for! Can you email me the larger version to:

rstarkweather@scottmadden.com?

Thanks!

Rick

Eric, what did you end up doing with your car? I saw a thread in the main forum with a picture of it, but I was not sure if it was real. Looked real and really nice.

We are preparing for next year. Here is the second round for Mike's car.