CART @ Fontana Post Race Data and Discussion

Hello friends, a thousand pardons for not showing up to run and not warning, I had a last minute accident with my dog ​​and I broke my finger which I had to go to the emergency and I could not attend, I congratulate Gui for the championship which was very consistent In the last races, also congratulate the entire grid that was present in this great tournament and the organization for making a very nice championship with this fabulous mod, we will see each other on the track very soon, greetings friends.

Congrats on the race win, Gui!
I've learned not to congratulate anyone on championships until they become official, so until then I'll hold off.

I finally had a decent race in this mod. Brette had sent me a setup which I modified slightly, and it became something I could drive. I got a terrible start, ending up last after one turn, but knowing that the draft was something only slightly less than miraculous here I didn't give up. I drafted anybody I could, sometimes helping them get closer to whoever was next and sometimes just helping me get further from whoever was behind. I noticed everyone seemed to be pitting earlier than I intended so I stayed out as long as I could (although I got a fuel warning 4 laps earlier than I had calculated), and at that point I told myself no mistakes, for you it's got to be a fuel race. Had a ton of fun drafting almost everyone that was in the race, and when I had nobody to draft I tried to mimic Scott Dixon to the best of my ability. Matthew got by me, and my only hope was to draft him and hope he still had to pit (he did). I just KNEW I'd get that fuel icon, but surprisingly it never did come on, and I finished as the first car two laps down. Not great, but respectable, especially considering my other races in this series. Thanks much to all I raced around for the smart driving!

Went in with high expectations that were shattered when the race started.

I used my Michigan oval setup (once again, thanks to Mr. Lebeuf for sharing) as the starting point for Fontana. Not bad but not good enough. Every day during the two weeks before the race I spent a couple hours tweaking and then tweaking some more. Little by little it got more consistent and faster. I ran half the race distance off line against the A.I. to figure out the draft and to make sure the motor wouldn’t blow up. Going into the race I felt I had a quick car. My goal was to qualify in the first three rows and finish higher than Mr. Overton who was a couple points ahead for the Old Guys’ trophy.

I’m not a good qualifier and surprised the hell out of myself by capturing the pole.  With about five minutes to go I was around third place and OK with that. I knew some guys would get faster and went back out to try and hold my position. When I popped up in the pole position I couldn’t believe it (thanks for the tow Mr. Miller).

Unfortunately the pole turned out to be bad luck. Not exactly sure what I did wrong but right after the green I got a stop and hold notice. After that the goal wasn’t a podium finish, it was to finish ahead of Mr. Overton. But first I had to catch him.

The car was definitely quick enough to work my way back through the field. I concentrated on consistency, smoothness and staying out of an incident. That was working well until I made contact with Mr. Lebeuf on lap 64.  (looking at the replay Tom I think both of us slightly drifted toward one another going into turn 3 but I think I was more at fault. My apologies and I am very sorry that it ended your race).

Right after that incident the engine coughed and stopped running about half way down the backstretch.  My first thought was, “Nice going stupid, you just ran out of gas and ended your race!” Then I shifted into neutral as quickly as I could and crossed my fingers. Sitting in the quiet car while it lost speed ever so slowly was excruciating; and seemed to take forever. Amazingly, it just barely reached the pit.

The next, and last, pit stop on lap 96 went smoothly. I came out in P-9 hoping to catch Mr. Overton. On lap 115 I waved at Matthew sitting in the pits as I took over P-5. And that’s where I was at the finish. Messing up my chance for a podium finish by getting a penalty was a bummer. However I take some solace in being the most consistent driver and having the best lap 66 times.


Congrats to all intrepid drivers taking the green. And big thanks to the admins who chose these terrific cars and great tracks. This was a really fun series.


P.S. – I saw cars ahead of me warp a couple of times.

Well, Jerry has said it all. Either I finished ahead of him in the race for the win of the championship, or I didn't. Worked hard on getting a setup that worked, but to no avail and the practice the night before the race was the foretelling of doom as I couldn't come within .5s of him.

The race proved me even worse, with Jerry averaging almost a full second a lap quicker. Ah well, just put my head down and have as good a race as I could. But no, there was more! I could not believe the string of things that happened to him (out of sight to me) that kept on dangling the hope against hope that maybe there was a chance. Once, twice and then THREE TIMES I found myself inexplicably ahead of Jerry as the laps ticked away. However, when I realised that I had no hope of getting the checkered without a pit and Jerry already complete, I knew the game was up. Only 16 or so seconds behind ahead of me at the finish was a complete travesty of what should have been for him - and a cruel, cruel race to endure for me :}

Congrats to winners in the race and our champions - thoroughly deserved! Hope to have this mod in the future sometime.

As for the next series.... trucks perhaps? :}}