CC Racing Team 25 Hours of Thunderhill

Photos from the finish

2008-12-07T15:14:00.001-08:00

All the crews at the wall to see their cars home:
Tony climbing out:

The damage we sustained early:

Some of the dirt picked up over 17 1/2 hours of racing:

Now we're all heading home!!! Thanks for following us!!

It is over!!

2008-12-07T15:02:00.000-08:00

The fuel lasted and we took the checkered flag! Tony did a great job in that last stint managing the pace and the fuel. We think we got 26th overall and 10th in class. A big thanks to everyone!!!!!!!

3 minutes left

2008-12-07T14:56:00.000-08:00

With a gap of several laps either side of us now, it's just a matter of finishing now.

The other car spiins!

2008-12-07T14:48:00.000-08:00

It looks like the other car spun while pushing to catch us, so the gap has opened up comfortably, now we just hope we have enough fuel!

20 minutes left

2008-12-07T14:43:00.000-08:00

We've passed the aforementioned car and are now up to 26th overall but we're biting our nails because they are catching us and we're trying to conserve fuel. It will be close.

1 Hour to Go!

2008-12-07T14:04:00.001-08:00

Tony is in the car and we're all watching him try to reel in the car in front of us. He's about 1:30 behind and making up between 3 and 5 seconds a lap. It's going to be close! We are up to 28th overall and 11th in class.

12:20 update

2008-12-07T12:20:00.000-08:00

The car seems to be working ok, so far so good but we're all crossing our fingers. We have moved up to 30th overall.

Noon update

2008-12-07T11:58:00.000-08:00

Normally the race would be ending now but it is extended until 3PM because of the fog delay. Nick just got out of the car and Ryan is in. We may have some issues with the car, the engine seems to be down on power but it seems to be intermittent. We're going to keep him out until it gets better or worse. Bringing a car into the pits costs a lot of time.

11AM Update

2008-12-07T10:59:00.000-08:00

I just got out of the car after about an hour and a half. The stint went well and we were able to drop our fast lap another 1.5 seconds. We came in and did a full pit stop in the garage, with 4 new tires, fuel, driver change, etc. We are up to 34th now, which is a bit of a milestone because 68 cars started the race. It's also nice because we were down to about 61st after our incident early in the race.

From here on out it will be about running consistent lap times and not making mistakes, and hoping the car lasts the distance. Most of the cars are spread out and not even on the same laps, so there has to be a big speed difference to make up positions, or a car has to drop out.

Some fog photos

2008-12-07T08:48:00.001-08:00

Current conditions:

This is what it looked like at 5AM just before the restart:

8:30 AM Update

2008-12-07T08:34:00.000-08:00

Carlos is in the car now running some good consisent laps. So far things have gone smoothly since the restart with Ryan running from 5 to 6AM and Tony doing almost 2 hours until just before 8AM. Carlos should run until about 9:30 and I'll get in. We're currently 37th overall and 12th in class.

We're back racing!

2008-12-07T04:26:00.000-08:00

The loudspeaker crackled to life about 4:20 and woke us from our slumber. The fog has cleared enough to go racing again and they dropped the green flag about 5:10 after a few laps behind the pace car. Ryan is currently in the car for another hour or so, then Tony will take over. We're currently 37th overall, 12th in class.

Midnight

2008-12-07T00:00:00.000-08:00

Well it's still foggy here and it doesn't look like there's much hope of it lifting before morning. All the crew is back in town and there are just a few of us at the track in case things clear up. Get some sleep!

Our new pet

2008-12-06T19:55:00.000-08:00

We just had a visitor jump into our motorhome, Bonnie the corgie. Super cute dog! If we get a dog I think I want a corgie. Anyway, the owners came calling soon after and she's back with them now.

Fog Update

2008-12-06T19:25:00.000-08:00

At the driver's meeting they said they will give hourly updates and will give us 30 minute's warning when the race is going to restart. The last two nights/mornings have been fog-free, but Thursday morning was foggy until almost 11AM. They will extend the race to 3PM at the latest.

Stay tuned!

FOG!!

2008-12-06T18:52:00.000-08:00

The race has been stopped due to dense fog. It rolled in very quickly and within 5 minutes it was impossible to continue. We are about to go to a driver's meeting to find out what's going to happen but most likely the race won't restart until the sun comes up and the fog clears. We are up to 38th overall (68 cars) and 12th in class (18 cars).

4:50PM Update

2008-12-06T16:49:00.000-08:00

Well I'm out of the car after a stint of about 2:40. It went pretty well and the car felt great and allowed me to get into a pretty good rhythm. There was one safety car period that lasted for about 8 laps and we got some really good open track conditions after that. I had one off-track excursion when the race-leading car made a late move inside of me in turn 8 but there was no harm done.

Nick is in the car now getting used to the conditions. The sun has gone down but it's not quite dark yet. It's amazing that we still have 19 more hours to go!!!

After Nick, Ryan will get in (about 6PM) and Tony about 7:30.

We're currently running 45th overall and 13th in class.

3:19 update

2008-12-06T15:19:00.000-08:00

Chris is in the car so it is Ryan writing. Chris turned fastest lap for our team on lap 99 of a 2:04:992. Way to go Chris! Leave us some car Chris! Just kidding. Chris and all of the other drivers are fantastic and we are all working well as a team. An update on the earlier contact, car #30, that hit Carlos was assessed a 5 minute penalty. Way to go race offcials! Actually the team came to us right after and told us they were sorry and admitted fault. Ah well, that's racin as they say. Nick Woodhouse is in the car next and is suited up, helmet on. He will drive until dusk and then I get in for the first night stint. Yee Haw!

1:15 PM Update

2008-12-06T13:10:00.000-08:00

Things are going smoothly since our mishap and we are gradually moving up the standings again. Carlos is doing a great job. We are currently running 54th overall and 13th in class. We were down as low as 61st and 17th in class after our stop for repairs.

At 1:45 I take over for about 2 hours. After that, Nick, Ryan and Tony are scheduled for 1.5 hour shifts which will take us well into the dark.

2008-12-06T12:14:00.001-08:00

The damaged tire:

First Setback

2008-12-06T12:00:00.000-08:00

Crew working on the car:

Carlos just came into the pits with damage to the right side of the car caused by another driver diving inside him in the last corner. Apparently it's a driver who is a regular in Carlos' series and has a history of this.

The crew worked quickly to do a tire change, repair some body damage, and refuel the car and now Carlos is back out. It looks like we only lost about 4 laps. Good work crew!

2008-12-06T11:37:00.000-08:00

The aforementioned car is now in the garage with the hood up and steam blowing out of the rad. Another car in our class has also pulled into the garage area for some work. It's a very long race though and the tables may be turned later on.

Green Flag!

2008-12-06T11:16:00.000-08:00

The race just started with no incidents...I guess people settled down a bit after yesterday's qualifying session. Now we settle in and wait to see what happens - hopefully just fuel, driver and tire changes!

One other car is already in the pits with the hood up after only 2 laps. Let's hope the rest of their day goes more smoothly.

Live Timing

2008-12-06T10:26:00.000-08:00

Once the race goes live at 11AM, live timing will be available at the following link:

http://www.nasa25hour.com/timing

We are car #99, Team The BMW Store

Race Day

2008-12-06T08:50:00.000-08:00

We're less than an hour from the start of the race and the team is making last minute preparations on the car. This involves new engine oil, brake fluid, diff fluid, etc. Less than 15 minutes until the grid closes so it will be tight but the car will make it.

Carlos will be doing the first shift, as long as 2 hours. His shift will be challenging as there will be lots of drivers trying to win the race in the first few laps! Our strategy is to just try to stay out of trouble as any time spent in the pits is very costly. Wish Carlos luck!

Friday Qualifying

2008-12-05T18:07:00.000-08:00

Earlier tonight we had the qualifying session in the dark.

For a 25 hour race your starting position isn't really important of course because most cars will travel 1500 to 2000 miles and starting positions are only a few dozen feet apart. However this bit of wisdom was lost on many in the field and it was a bit of a gong show with cars spinning off and dropping wheels all over the place. There was a lot of dirt in the air and all over the track for the first few laps.

Carlos did a great job and qualified the car with one of our best lap times so far. We will line up in 43rd place in the 63 car field. Not bad for a car that was salvaged from a flood and is using a stock BMW motor while almost everyone else is running race engines. We're hoping our less-stressed motor will reward us with better reliability and allow us to beat others by doing more laps.

The lights worked pretty well, which was nice because we hadn't tried them before. We have two of them and they're angled outwards in a cross-eyed fashion to give us a view of the apex as we're approaching. They're cross-eyed so the beam is slightly wider on the other side of the car than if it were shining on its own side...little things you otherwise wouldn't think of!

Racing in the dark takes a little getting used to but isn't that bad. The hardest thing is judging how far behind other cars are and whether they're going to try diving inside you. All you see are headlights and it's difficult to tell what sort of car it is which would give you a clue as to how far apart the headlights should be.

Some Friday pictures

2008-12-05T13:40:00.000-08:00

Nice scenery here, about 1.5 hours North of Sacramento:

The view down pit lane:

Hot pit setup:

The 'garage', pretty cramped!

The car:

Thanks to all of the mechanics who worked so hard to put the car together:

Welcome!

2008-12-05T11:59:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the CC Racing Team's blog for the 25 Hours of Thunderhill!

The team began arriving on Wednesday evening to set up the pits. Things are pretty crowded here and each team is forced to pit in an area not much wider than the trailer. We've got a motor home near the pit wall that will serve as refuge during the night, as temperatures have been getting quite close to freezing. We can't complain though as the sky is clear and it's getting into the 50's during the day and the forecast is for more of the same.

Behind the motorhome is the trailer with all the parts and tools. Major work to the car, and tire changes, have to be done behind the trailer rather than pit lane. Pit lane is just for fuel and driver changes.

On Thursday the car did its first laps around Thunderhill...and so did some of the drivers...and everything went smoothly. The crew has worked very hard to put the car together and have done an awesome job!!! All the drivers are happy with the car and we have only made a few very small handling tweaks so far.

Today is the final test day and we're spending it calculating fuel burn, practicing driver changes, pit stops, etc. These things are pretty easy in the light of day but we need to have everything dialed for nighttime and when we're feeling tired. After dark (about 5:30 PM) today we will get to run practice to test the lights.

We had a team meeting this morning to go over a few things. The drivers and crew will be split into 2 'teams'. One team will be Carlos and Chris, the other will be Ryan and Tony. Nick and Rocky will fill in gaps between the two teams. The idea is to allow a team to leave and get some rest once their shift is done. The driving stints will be between 1 and 2 hours long per driver, with each team responsible for about 4 hours+ per 'shift'. This will be refined once we get a better feel for fuel consumption today.