Wilson

[nrc]

Hmm. Wilson throws away a good finish and an opportunity to catch up quite a bit in the points.

Ya know, I just don't think he's on the same learning curve as Rusport. :rofl:

[devilmaster]

Hmm. Wilson throws away a good finish and an opportunity to catch up quite a bit in the points.

Ya know, I just don't think he's on the same learning curve as Rusport. :rofl:

:confused: I will never claim to be the brightest bulb (or any other euphemism - and thats proven by this post) but how is mechanical failure throwing the race away?

[nrc]

:confused: I will never claim to be the brightest bulb (or any other euphemism - and thats proven by this post) but how is mechanical failure throwing the race away?

That's news to me. We didn't have our scanner and either it wasn't mentioned or we couldn't hear it on the PA.

Anyway, the point is that Russo appears to have miscalculated just where his team is on the learning curve relative to Almendinger. That's even more apparent if both Rusport cars lost a golden opportunity because of mechanical failures.

[Andrew Longman]

That's news to me. We didn't have our scanner and either it wasn't mentioned or we couldn't hear it on the PA.

Anyway, the point is that Russo appears to have miscalculated just where his team is on the learning curve relative to Almendinger. That's even more apparent if both Rusport cars lost a golden opportunity because of mechanical failures.

Broken right tie rod. You could see the wheels pointed in different directions on the jumbotrons. Might have broken after spending the weekend pounding the T9 rumble strips. Shame. He looked very good and smooth all weekend. Justin is IMO the cleanest driver on the grid.

[coolhand]

His right front Suspension snapped and he lost it into the wall, not his fault.

CdM's Throttle broke apparently.

I am surprised to see such attitude out of you nrc, AJA had alot of good runs in a RuSport Car.

[ferrarigod]

Wilson also stated in interviews on CBS that his stearing was starting to be misaligned more and more as the race progressed.

If you all watch the replay, you'll notice that after the concrete transition, it broke. One would assume it was bending and finally broke from the stress cause by the pavement change.

[devilmaster]

zwolsman had the same problem.....

they both happened pretty much right at apex, with the car loaded onto the respective broken suspension pieces.

[rabbit]

Wilson has been producing good results despite the fact he's saddled with a RuSport car.

[nrc]

I am surprised to see such attitude out of you nrc, AJA had alot of good runs in a RuSport Car.I'm being a smart alec. Russo has a better team than most teams of their experience. But I'm happy to see that their lack of patience with a clearly outstanding driver has backfired.

[Ronbo]

I'm being a smart alec. Russo has a better team than most teams of their experience. But I'm happy to see that their lack of patience with a clearly outstanding driver has backfired.


You should really watch the race.

Here is your parting gift! :thumdown:

[devilmaster]

You should really watch the race.

Here is your parting gift! :thumdown:

Ronbo, they were at the race and they said the info didn't come across the scanners to them in the stands....

[nrc]

You should really watch the race.

Here is your parting gift! :thumdown:

Excuse me for watching what was going on at the time instead of staring at the jumbotron to find out what happened to someone no longer a factor in the race. That's why I have Tivo at home.

Hope you enjoyed the part of the race you got to see on TV. :p

[Insomniac]

:confused: I will never claim to be the brightest bulb (or any other euphemism - and thats proven by this post) but how is mechanical failure throwing the race away?

Reading the JW quotes after the race, you could make a pretty good argument he threw some points away. He said something was going wrong for the past 4 or 5 laps with the suspension. If he brought it in, he would've finished further back, but higher than crashing out.

[devilmaster]

Reading the JW quotes after the race, you could make a pretty good argument he threw some points away. He said something was going wrong for the past 4 or 5 laps with the suspension. If he brought it in, he would've finished further back, but higher than crashing out.

I doubt you'll find many teams in any series of racing that will pit when doing well just because the driver feels something wrong. It may break or it may not. The going philosophy is that if it breaks, s**t happens, but don't give up a good position.

[NismoZ]

Sheesh, now you'll have us believe being at the race is actually better than watching on TV! :gomer:

[Fitti Fan]

I'm being a smart alec. Russo has a better team than most teams of their experience. But I'm happy to see that their lack of patience with a clearly outstanding driver has backfired.

I don't think we would necessarily have seen this from AJ at Russo. I think we all knew he had it in him, but he needed a better car. Look at Oriel at NH last year.

[cameraman]

At least Russo now knows beyond any doubt that it is his cars that are the problem. :rolleyes:

[Insomniac]

I doubt you'll find many teams in any series of racing that will pit when doing well just because the driver feels something wrong. It may break or it may not. The going philosophy is that if it breaks, s**t happens, but don't give up a good position.

Yeah, that is true. I guess I figured he said it was getting worse and worse. At that point, I'm not sure if he could tell the next step was snap or not.

[Insomniac]

At least Russo now knows beyond any doubt that it is his cars that are the problem. :rolleyes:

So if JW was in a better car he'd be beating down AJ and SB? :) And that must mean PT isn't pushing the car very hard. ;)

[cameraman]

It is pretty obvious that the FCR #7 is far better than the Rusport #10.

And it is equally obvious that PT is driving like an idiot.

[KLang]

It is pretty obvious that the FCR #7 is far better than the Rusport #10.


I'm not so sure about that. It could be the team chemistry for whatever reason is better. I suspect the bigger difference though is a change of attitude by AJ after getting canned.

[Dr. Corkski]

And it is equally obvious that PT is driving like an idiot.It's only been obvious for about the last 13 years.

[rabbit]

I'm not so sure about that. It could be the team chemistry for whatever reason is better. I suspect the bigger difference though is a change of attitude by AJ after getting canned.
I posted this in another thread, but I overheard the following conversation this weekend:

CDM: "I hate your car."
AJA: (smiling) "So did I."

[Gnam]

There was an interview with Russo on the timing stand when AJ and Wilson were running 1-2. I think it was Cameron Steele who said jokingly to Russo, "Another RuSport 1-2, huh Carl?" To which Russo replied, also jokingly, "Yeah I made a great decision, huh?"

At least he can laugh about it.

*The quotes above are from memory and probably not 100% accurate.

[grungex]

Actually it was Russo that said it would be a Russo 1-2 if Wilson got 2nd behind AJ. Pretty funny.

[devilmaster]

Yeah, that is true. I guess I figured he said it was getting worse and worse. At that point, I'm not sure if he could tell the next step was snap or not.

There is a great anecdote by Dorsey Schroeder in the Skip Barber schoolbook about the car slowly coming apart.

I'll have to type it all in, and i'll do that tomorrow (if i remember) but it talks about how Dorsey as a driver was losing his car in the final stint of a 24 hour race. He'd call into the pits saying he has no brakes, and the team would come back on the radio saying 'well, you used them up. If you want them changed, come on in, the tools will be waiting for you on the pit wall...'

[Insomniac]

There is a great anecdote by Dorsey Schroeder in the Skip Barber schoolbook about the car slowly coming apart.

I'll have to type it all in, and i'll do that tomorrow (if i remember) but it talks about how Dorsey as a driver was losing his car in the final stint of a 24 hour race. He'd call into the pits saying he has no brakes, and the team would come back on the radio saying 'well, you used them up. If you want them changed, come on in, the tools will be waiting for you on the pit wall...'

Hehe, I guess it depends on your final goal too. To maximize points (conservative) or win or bust (higher risk/reward). :)

[devilmaster]

Terry Earwood and I drove together of the longest time in Dodges with Paul Rossi and all kinds of terrible things would happen to you but nobody would ever believe you because we were winning.... Terry's on the radio one night while I'm driving along in the 24 hours, and all of a sudden we broke a strut. When I tried to turn right, the strut would separate and it wouldn't turn right because everything would become disconnected.

At first it was a symptom that was just developing, but it was getting worse and worse and I didn't want to say much about it because you know the response you're going to get when you call the crew. You call them and you say, 'I ain't got no brakes.' They say 'Well, you wore them out. If you want to fix them, c'mon in. The tools will be on the pit lane wall.'

So I'm not going to tell them that the steering is out, but finally i couldn't hold out any more because it just wouldn't turn right, at Watkins Glen. So finally, I called Terry on the radio and said, 'I got a problem.... the car won't turn right.' He comes back and tells me, 'Don't turn right.' So I thought, okay, I should have known that. Okay, I won't turn right. I guess I'll just get down to the end of the straightaway and fake it.

So I got to the end of the straight and I thought, okay, I'll try and use the handbrake and it will help me turn toward the right if I can get any steering at all. So I went click, click, click on the handbrake and turned the wheel to the right, but this time, instead of turning like a normal wheel, it kind of moved like an eccentric, and the car said, 'Not today.'

What had happened was that all the bolts had fallen out of the steering wheel, on the hub, except for one. So when I turned the wheel, I was just turning it around that last bolt. And that created an increase in the heartbeat - the heart worked good just then and I got strong - real strong.

And when you really need to, you can turn. And I turned. I pushed that wheel on and somehow made it through the corner.

[devilmaster]

I realized that something bad was wrong. I was grabbing the hub and trying to turn - I made it back onto the straightaway and I tried to assess my situation. I reached down onto the floor and found another bolt and put it in and when I just got it under control again, I called to Terry on the radio and said, 'Hey Terry, you know how I can't turn right? I'm dealing with that, but something real interesting just happened. The steering wheel fell off.' He said 'No it didn't.' And I said, 'Yes, it did.'

He said, 'So far, you've told me that you've got no brakes, you can't turn right, and the steering wheel's falling off. What more are you going to start bitching about next?'

Now this car was going down the straight at close to 140 mph, almost as fast as the GTU car, and I see that when I screw one bolt back in, the vibration is screwing the other one out, so I'm just barely keeping even here. So I started holding the palm of my hand on the hub to keep them from screwing out and when I get to the straight, I'm fishing around the floor to find another bolt.

I figured I couldn't drive the rest of my two hour stint like this, so I looked around and realized that the roll bar padding was put on with racer's tape. I said 'Aha, that will work.' So I rip off a little piece of tape, screw one bolt all the way in and tape it. Its not going nowhere.

This is the last stint of the 24 hour race, and I guess we came in fourth or fifth. I get into the pits and I'm livid, shaking the steering wheel, kicking the tires, but Terry comes up, wagging his finger, saying 'No. No. No. We're on TV. There's people here. Don't make an ass of yourself. We'll talk about it later.'

---- Dorsey Schroeder

[Fitti Fan]

So if JW was in a better car he'd be beating down AJ and SB? :) And that must mean PT isn't pushing the car very hard. ;)

No, I think last year AJ clearly showed he had the potential and being with a top team certainly is a winning combination. Let's put SB in a Coyne car and see what happens.

RE: PT, I think he just doesn't have it anymore and this will be the year that he's no longer seen as a contender. Even last year, he seemed to be losing his drive and enthusiasm.

[TKGAngel]

No, I think last year AJ clearly showed he had the potential and being with a top team certainly is a winning combination. Let's put SB in a Coyne car and see what happens.

RE: PT, I think he just doesn't have it anymore and this will be the year that he's no longer seen as a contender. Even last year, he seemed to be losing his drive and enthusiasm.

PT at the Fan Forum mentioned on that he was getting old, that he was feeling his age. Sullivan/Rahal/Unser cracked that now he knows how they felt when he came along. I wonder if AJ has put the fear into him?

[Insomniac]

PT at the Fan Forum mentioned on that he was getting old, that he was feeling his age. Sullivan/Rahal/Unser cracked that now he knows how they felt when he came along. I wonder if AJ has put the fear into him?

Interesting. I also think his style of driving probably isn't as conducive to winning as you get older. Probably need to be a more smooth driver. But, who knows. Only been a few races this year.

[Ronbo]

Excuse me for watching what was going on at the time instead of staring at the jumbotron to find out what happened to someone no longer a factor in the race. That's why I have Tivo at home.

Hope you enjoyed the part of the race you got to see on TV. :p

If you were not watching Wilson, then how did you know he went into the wall?
My comment was about how you had the time to go back to your computer, wherever it was, and post the comments about Wilson, without knowing the facts? Amaturish, if you ask me, so don't! :shakehead


BTW, I did watch it on tv, and R/D at the same time, so I didn't miss much, except the experience. Maybe next year!

[nrc]

If you were not watching Wilson, then how did you know he went into the wall?
My comment was about how you had the time to go back to your computer, wherever it was, and post the comments about Wilson, without knowing the facts? Amaturish, if you ask me, so don't! :shakehead
Yep, I'm an amateur forum poster and race fan. Someday I hope to go pro, but there just doesn't seem to be much sponsorship out there these days.

[Kiwifan]

Evening/morning Boss. ;) I'll keep out of this one seeing as how I didn't get to see any of the race. You guys are so lucky. ;)

Take care mate, and thanks. :thumbup:

Rusty.

[extramundane]

Yep, I'm an amateur forum poster and race fan. Someday I hope to go pro, but there just doesn't seem to be much sponsorship out there these days.

It's a sad state of affairs when the guy who runs the forum can't even get sponsorship. :(

:rofl: