I treated Road America with a lot of respect as it's a very fast track with some places like "the Kink" that are truly dangerous. It was a blast to go so fast and I can't wait to try it again, more aggressively, next year.
I'll have to skip race #9 at the Autobahn in Joliet while the ambulance er, I mean CFR transporter & hospitality centre gets some repairs. I will definately make the 100 mile "Loooong Race" at Blackhawk Farms though.
Race report from August 26, 2007 at Blackhawk Farms Raceway near Rockton Il.
Having learned the lessons of the last race, I didn't tangle with the lighter cars in other classes as the track became increasingly slippery and concentrated on winning my class. This I did and increased my lead in the championship standings.
The next two races are at the legendary Road America course in ElkHart Lake Wisc On Sept. 22 & 23. This is a very high speed 4.2 mile track with lots of elevation changes and some fast curves like the infamous "Kink".
Race report from July 22 2007 at BFR.
CFR (Curt Fisher Racing) team Principal Curt Fisher was beside himself with frustration after CFR driver Curt Fisher blew what should have been another win. "That's two races we got pole and were leading, but our stupid git driver got racing with cars in another class and spun, ending up second."
Curt was ten seconds ahead of the 2nd SRF, and was running just ahead of an "Unrestricted" Renault sports racer. The renault was lighter and able to brake later, but Curt stupidly kept trying to outbrake the lighter car and spun in turn 7 on lap 8, allowing the 2nd place SRF to take the lead by 20 seconds.
"I don't know why I did it" admitted the stupid driver, Curt. "I knew he should be able to outbrake me, and I knew he wasn't in my class, so there was no reason to fight him for position. Also, if' I'd just run my own race and ignored him, he might not have been able to pass me anyway. It just bugged me he kept catching me up under braking each time so I tried to leave my braking later."
Team Engineer, also Curt Fisher, agreed there was nothing wrong with the car, "The nut behind the wheel was the only faulty componant" he confirmed.
Team manager, you guessed it, Curt Fisher, said, "our driver needs to learn from these idiotic mistakes. He needs to write a million times, "I will not try to outbrake Renaults" and "Win your class and don't take chances dicing cars in other classes, you stupid git".
CFR cheif mechanic Curt Fisher also, too, as well, was heard to say, "one more mistake like that, and we should try another driver, I hear Scott Speed is available. Let's face it, Speed just sounds racier than Fisher anyway."
The next race at Blackhawk Farms August 26 is the teams best shot at another win in 2007. So far the CFR team has finished 1st, second three times and seventh, with three pole positions in 2007.Hopefully applying the lessons from the last few debacles will pay off.
Curt
Race report from 6-24-07 at BFR.
There was only one other SRF, an SCCA Nat. License holder that was at Autobahn also. He qualified on pole with about a 1:22.6, I was second with a 1:23.260. Neil Rodgers was behind me then John O'Malley and Steve Jones followed by some Formuala Vee's and several more Spec Renaults. The polesitter beat me into one. I followed the leader closely for several laps and was waiting for a good opportunity to slip by. The two Spec Renaults behind me were having a good battle and the four of us pulled out from the rest of the pack. As I was concentrating on slipping by the leader on the inside at turn #6, the Spec Renault behind me tried to get inside me as well. We came together side by side pretty hard, but without doing any real damage. (Note to self: Check the mirrors before turning EVERY CORNER, stupid!) I lost quite a bit of time on the leader while regaing control and could never really challange for the lead again. The car that I bumped (Neil who supplied the in-car photos here) lost a position, but the car that passed him then spun in the next turn and two of them hit hard, tearing a big chunck of fiberglass off the car that spun. This left me unchallanged in second and thats how I finished. It's too bad I have no in car video because this was a lot of fun chasing the leader and very exciting.
At this point I have a twenty seven point lead in the SRF class Championship. with on win, two seconds and a seventh (two pole positions).
Lot's of fun, dry track, good day over all. Theres a month gap to the next race, at Blackhawk. Some of the most fun race weekends with double races, endurance races and a trip to Road America are coming up in the second half of the season.
Curt
Heres the race report from 6-10-07 at Autobahn Country club.
This was a learning experience as I've never been on the ACC north track. The Autobahn races are unique because we are joined by a lot of fast SCCA National drivers that don't usually run with MC but know Autobahn very well.
During the race I was finally getting the hang of the track and having fun. It has a fast flowing series of third gear corners that are a blast. I got to do more dicing with other cars than usual, which was a lot of fun.
I ended up 7th in class behind the six SCCA National cars, and ninth over all. This leaves me in the sole lead of our championship by 7 points.
We slept in the Ambulance which worked out great. It was the most rested I've ever been on Race day since we could sleep later and not rush to get back to the track from a hotel. I have a small microwave oven in the ambulance so we could cook some oatmeal for breakfast and make coffee etc. From now on we will stay in it at the track and save the hotel money. I keep lots of snacks in it and it gives good privacy and stays pretty cool. I'm looking forward to getting back to Blackhawk farms on June 24th.
Curt
Heres the race report from 5-26-07 at BFR.
In Morning practice the only thing of interest involved a Formula Vee I was following that got a mechanical black flag for smoking profusely. Right after turn 1 a fairly dramatic engine fire broke out which the driver was unaware of. I passed him, gesturing wildly back toward the engine and pointed to the next corner station where there would be an extinguisher. He pulled off and no great damage was done. Evidently shock fluid was spraying on the hot exhaust and with all the rushing air became a fine torch.
In Qualifying it was threatening to rain. I wanted to get a flying lap in quickly just in case it did rain. I was being held up by another car so I dropped way back to get a clear run, but still caught him again too soon to get a totally clear lap. However the session was abruptly ended after five laps and I had a quick enough time to get pole (second one in two races for 2007) by over a second.
The reason the session was stopped was because two Formula Vee's had evidently touched entering turn #3 and one of them did several flips and ended up upside down. The driver who was semi consciouse was extracted and sent to hospitial. I haven't heard his condition yet.
By race time the track was wet and it was raining lightly on and off. Most of us started on dry weather tires since it seemd to be clearing, but the track was very slippery in spots. I led from pole for several laps, then in turn #3 lost control. I stopped in the middle of the turn sideways and watched as the entire field managed to NARROWLY avoid me. I was certain someone would hit me, and braced for impact. Some how, they all made it through and I personally thanked many of them for avoiding a crash later. By the time I got the engine restarted and the car in reverse to back up and get pointed the right way again, I was in last place. The track was very slick in several spots and I decided to not take any risks and just focus on finishing with no more "offs" so I could get my last Novice license check off and progress to a full comp. license. By the end I had moved back up to second in class and started wishing I'd pushed harder as I was closer behind first place in SRF than I'd realized. This leaves me tied for the lead in the MC Championship as Don Droegkamp and I now each have a win and a second place for fourty five points after two races.
Anyway, I was just glad to get that one over without any damage done, as my car seems to be extra twitchy in the rain . I was thinking that at least the near miss in turn #3 when I spun would make for some exciting footage to ad to my 2007 racing video, but alas, the camera was not running! Rats!!!
Curt
We had a perfect start to the season. Beautiful weather. I Qualified on pole for the race group and led the group as well as my own class from flag to flag for my first race win! This puts me in the lead for the championship with 25 points. Donn Droagkamp is second with 20 points. This is shaping up to be a great season with a lot of cars contending.
Leading the pack on lap 1 coming through turn #2.
Taking my first "Victory Lap" also at turn #2.
I finished painting the race car. Now I'm just scrambling to get the pre-season service done.
We have a new transporter, an Econoline 350 EMT vehicle!
Pictures and more updates as they happen. Check the schedule for race dates. The first is Aprill 22.
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