2008 SCCA RACE SEASON AND RUNOFFS H-PRODUCTION RACE REPORT

The 2008 season has come and gone, and here’s the play-by-play.  Sorry for the delays

in sending out race reports, we have been very busy over the course of the summer with 
our new business, racing, and everything else that comes along the way in life.

In short, we had our most successful season to date.  We completed five regular-season races 

in a six-week period, with two 1st place finishes, two 2nd-place finishes and a 3rd.  In doing

so we were named divisional champions and qualified for the national championship race. 

All of the races were run with our faithful red car, which needed only gas, oil, water, and 

a new exhaust header during the season.

We took a few weeks off to enjoy the summer, and then started planning our strategy for 

the championship race at the end of the season.  As most of you know, we built a new car 

for last year's championship race, but could not complete it in time.  We decided to finish 

that car up and debut it at this year's runoffs.  Although it was a bit risky, we were confident that 

the differences we engineered into the new car would be critical.  Some of the changes included 

running a smaller engine (1.3l vs 1.5l) at a lower weight, which would improve handling of the car

at the sacrifice of acceleration on long straights. The engine was designed to run at much higher 

RPMs, consistently above 8,000 in order to get the most out of the motor.  Because of the lower 

weight, the chassis tuning and set-up was a lot different than on the red car.

We started labor day weekend and spent most of September completing the engine, performing 

chassis set-up, and dyno tuning. We had one on-track test session at a track in Pennsylvania 

called "BeaveRun", about a week before the race.  There were several differences and new 

components that we were unfamiliar with that took a bit of effort to get correct.  

Fortunately many people offered input, guidance and assistance during the process, including 

on-track help while we tested the chassis at that track test-day in late September.  We worked on 

the car right up until the day we left for the race, on Friday, October 3rd.  We loaded and 

took both cars, just in case something came up which would require us to pull the new blue car 

from the line-up and run the red one as a back-up.

http://www.midwest-x19.com/RaceReports/2008-Runoffs/08runoffs-twocars-a-med.JPG

Once we arrived in Topeka we were paddocked with four other drivers and teams which we 

pre-arranged, each in different classes.  It was great to have a lot of support from others 

around us, and the evenings with friends were a lot of fun.

http://www.midwest-x19.com/RaceReports/2008-Runoffs/2008-Runoffs-two-cars-trailer.jpg

SUNDAY, Oct. 5th:

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We tested the blue car on-track in full race trim for the first time, during four on-track sessions on

Sunday afternoon.  The car ran and handled well initially but developed a high-speed miss that 

progressively got worse through the sessions.  Thinking it was carburetor or fuel related we adjusted 

a few items and prepared for qualifying on Monday.

http://www.midwest-x19.com/RaceReports/2008-Runoffs/bluecrush-race-crop-med.jpg

MONDAY, Oct. 6th:

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First round of qualifying occurred on a rain soaked track.  Unfortunately the car was not

running correctly at high RPMs or in corners, which resulted in poor qualifying times. 

Because of the wet conditions, many competitors decided to sit the session out, so 

we ended up qualified 10th.   We were confident that the problems were in the area of 

carburetion or ignition.  We pulled the carburetor apart and found the problem, a hinge pin that 

was vibrating its way out of alignment and allowing the float to go out of adjustment.  We fixed 

the problem and now had to wait almost two days to determine if that truly was the cause of the 

problem, as we had an off-day with no on-track activities scheduled for our class on Tuesday.

http://www.midwest-x19.com/RaceReports/2008-Runoffs/2008-Runoffs-Rain.jpg

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 8th:

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The fix was in (literally), as the car ran excellent and we gained significant time and position

during this round of qualifying.  We had a great run going until the last couple of laps when 

the same intermittent high-speed running problems surfaced again.  Fortunately we were able to get

enough good laps in early that were were now up to 6th spot on the grid.  After the session we pulled 

the carb apart and found that the same pin was trying to work its way out (again).  We changed

a few components and felt confident that we had the problem resolved and waited for our final 

qualifying session on Thursday.  

THURSDAY, Oct. 9th:

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The car ran flawlessly during the entire qualifying session, and again we gained significant time

and position.  This time ending up starting in 4th place on the final qualifying grid.  The car handled 

great and ran extremely well.  The only problem we had was an indication that our transmission 

fluid temperatures were very high, which caused us some concern as we prepped for the race on Saturday.

http://www.midwest-x19.com/RaceReports/2008-Runoffs/2008-Qualifying-Results.jpg

SATURDAY, Oct. 11th:

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We prepared for the race most of the morning, doing our final checks.  The weather was excellent,

sunny, breezy, and 75 degrees.  We arrived to the grid early (no missing the grid like last year!).

I was very concerned about the start of the race, and was worried that cars with bigger engines behind 

us would be faster in a straight line, would gain positions at the start.  To my relief

the car seemed to have excellent straight-line speed and I gained a position at the first turn,

moving into 3rd.  

http://www.midwest-x19.com/RaceReports/2008-Runoffs/2008-Runoffs-Brown-4.jpg

Over the next few laps, the car developed a couple of minor handling 

problems which allowed the 1st and 2nd place cars to stretch a few second lead.  Fortunately 

my car continued to handle well in the very high-speed sections of the track which gave me a large

cushion between the 4th place and back cars.  At approximately the 10 lap mark a car crashed which 

brought out the full course caution.  We spent 4 laps behind the pace car, allowing the engine,

transmission and tires to cool, and prepared for a brief sprint for the last 4-5 laps of the race.

http://www.midwest-x19.com/RaceReports/2008-Runoffs/2008-Runoffs-Brown-1.jpg

http://www.midwest-x19.com/RaceReports/2008-Runoffs/2008-Runoffs-Jolley-1-med.jpg

The restart was excellent, as 1st, 2nd and us in 3rd got a large jump on the rest of the field, and 

again, my acceleration was excellent and I was stuck with the two cars in front of me through the 

first two turns, but the handling problem allowed them to stretch a few spots on me through the 

rest of the course.  

http://www.midwest-x19.com/RaceReports/2008-Runoffs/2008-Runoffs-Brown-2.jpg

With two laps to go, the 1st-place car had a mechanical problem and dropped 

out of the race, allowing me to advance a position to 2nd place.  We finished the race with no major

drama, running clean consistent lines and lap times, a few seconds behind the winner.  

The experience was amazing, and the post race interviews, podium celebrations, and photos 

were just great.  

http://www.midwest-x19.com/RaceReports/2008-Runoffs/2008%20Topeka%20Run%20Offs%20217-med.jpg

http://www.midwest-x19.com/RaceReports/2008-Runoffs/2008%20Topeka%20Run%20Offs%20239-med.jpg

http://www.midwest-x19.com/RaceReports/2008-Runoffs/2008%20Topeka%20Run%20Offs%20%20262-med.jpg

http://www.midwest-x19.com/RaceReports/2008-Runoffs/2008-RaceQuotes1.jpg

After the celebration was over, the hard work began.  

In impound, we spent four hours tearing the engine of the car apart for technical inspectors, 

who had to measure and check the major components to ensure that we were running an honest, 

legal car.  To our expectation (and sigh of relief that we hadn't miscalculated

anything), we were declared legal, and the race results were finalized.  

http://www.midwest-x19.com/RaceReports/2008-Runoffs/2008-Race-Results.jpg

We spent the following evening celebrating our best season ever.

http://www.midwest-x19.com/RaceReports/2008-Runoffs/2008-Runoffs-Celebration.jpg

We spent the following day recuperating and watching the remainder of classes run their races.  

We endured the 14 hour ride home on Monday the 13th.

We would like to thank everyone who were involved in this effort for their help, assistance and 

support in getting us through the final push to the championships.  From loaned parts, fast 

turn-around service, set-up, track testing assistance, late-night dyno runs, on-track advice 

and camaraderie in the paddock, it was truly a team effort between Midwest X1/9, and all of the 

friends and vendors that we associate with.

The race will be televised on Speed Channel at 12:00 NOON EST, on January 7th, so set your DVRs.

See you next season!!

-Matt, Marnie and Brayden

#22 Fiat X1/9

H-Production