| The number 23: Flatout tackles Grand-Am at Mid-Ohio |
Date: 6/23/08 |
PHOTO: Marty Ryan
McHaffie comes honkin’ out of the esses in Friday practice.
If you watched SPEED this past weekend, you saw that the Grand-Am weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course was marked by some wild weather. Fortunately, by the time the KONI Challenge ST class ran on Sunday, Mother Nature had calmed down.
Team Flatout notched another workmanlike run; Hugh McHaffie and Nick Leverone finished 23rd in the number 08 Mazda MX-5 for the second week in a row. It was an impressive finish, given the team’s starting position of 39th. You can find complete results here.
Next up: still more pro racing on the July 4 weekend as Grand-Am invades Watkins Glen!
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| Another strong Grand-Am outing for McHaffie, Leverone |
Date: 6/16/08 |
| Flatout drivers Hugh McHaffie and Nick Leverone put together another solid pro race this past weekend in the Grand-Am KONI Challenge race at Mosport International Raceway.
Though Hugh was seeing the Bowmanville, Ontario, track for the first time, the duo finished 23rd in ST class in the Flatout Motorsports Mazda MX-5. You can see results here.
Solid qualifying runs, excellent crew work, and staying out of trouble in order to clock as many laps as possible -- that's how you climb the totem pole in a competitive pro series!
No rest for the weary: This weekend (June 20-22), Team Flatout moves on to Mid-Ohio for another KONI Challenge race. We hope to see some of our midwestern friends there!
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| Flatout partners with Heads Up Motorsports |
Date: 5/31/08 |
For years, we at Flatout have had a mutually beneficial relationship with Heads Up Motorsports Inc. of Springfield, Vermont. It’s a pleasure to announce that we’re formalizing and extending that relationship in a way that will help Heads Up, Flatout – and, most importantly, racers.
Kelly Arrison, president of Heads Up, has a motorsports background that’s impressive to say the least. He’s driven a variety of roadrace and circle-track cars (including a stint in IndyCars); managed a Riley and Scott Prototype at Le Mans and Sebring; and run cars at the Indy 500 nine times as a mechanic, chief mechanic or team manager. Now a Miata expert, Kelly has generously shared with us tips on engine building, suspension setup, and general race prep. (We like to think we’ve returned the favor by sharing a few secrets of our own.)
To offer just one example, Heads Up’s early alignment tips helped us develop the settings Andy Bettencourt uses to obliterate ITA track records in the northeast. (Don’t believe us? Do yourself a favor and watch Andy drive his number 09 Miata through Turns 1 and 2 at NHMS!)
In the future, you’ll see a great deal of close cooperation between Heads Up and Flatout. To contact Heads Up Motorsports, call 802-886-2636; email
headsup@vermontel.net; or visit www.headsupmotorsports.com.
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| Big weekend: Flatout action at Lime Rock, NHMS
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Date: 5/27/08 |
Grand Am action at the Rock: Hugh McHaffie’s red MX-5 mixes it up in Big Bend.
Whew! We just wrapped up a massive Memorial Day Weekend with action at both ends of New England. Let’s start down south (relatively speaking), where Flatout Motorsports’ first Pro Racing endeavor in years was an undeniable success:
Lime Rock Park, Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series.
This was the maiden race for Hugh McHaffie and Nick Leverone in Hugh’s Mazda MX-5, which runs in the KONI Challenge’s ST class. The team overcame electrical gremlins that limited practice time, and Leverone qualified an impressive fifteenth in a field of 46.
When the green flag fell, the strong effort continued: the number 08 MX-5 ran as high as sixth before being forced into a green-flag pit stop and driver swap. Nick and Hugh finished twenty-fourth (see results here ). As we know from previous Pro experience, this is a terrific outing for a new team. As we gain experience and continue to develop the MX-5, look for even stronger finishes!
New Hampshire Motor Speedway, SCCA Triple Regional.
Meanwhile, a few hundred miles north, the usual ne’er-do-wells squandered a weekend in a triple-race format that left most everybody smiling.
Renters
Sam Wilkinson rented the number 59 Spec Miata for Sunday only, and showed amazing poise and class. Sam had never set wheel to NHMS, nor had he driven a fendered racer (his experience is in Skip Barber open-wheel cars). Nevertheless, he ran competitive lap times that dropped all day, and he never put a wheel off. Nicely done!
Craig McHaffie truly announced his presence on Sunday. Having crewed at Lime Rock earlier in the weekend, he ran the number 91 Miata in both SM and SSM. In the SSM qualifying race, Craig had an epic duel with Flatout’s Steve Ulfelder, who was driving the number 59 rental. The two went at it hammer and tongs for nearly 10 laps before Craig made a breathtaking pass in the dirt entering Turn Nine. In the afternoon SSM race, McHaffie put an exclamation point on his weekend by driving from fifteenth to fifth in the tight class.
Arrive & Drive
Once again, Jeff Harding won everything in sight. This is becoming commonplace, but it’s not something we should take for granted. In the number 04 RX-7, Jeff flirted with track-record lap times during a Friday test (he got down to a 1:14.1). Once the qualifying and racing began, Jeff simply outclassed the field, taking three overall poles (outrunning even ITR cars) and three wins.
Todd Bubar was feeling racy this weekend, and he gained the satisfaction of knowing he will put our bodyman’s children through college. In Friday’s test, Todd had a minor off in his number 19 ITS RX-7. We kept him running with a bit of hammer-and-two-by-four bodywork, and Todd responded with a dandy weekend: strong 1:17 lap times and Top Ten finishes in each race. Somewhere along the way, Todd managed to destroy his splitter and front fascia, making the lap times even more impressive!
Keith Hammitte and Ann Lamport Ham have been quietly moving up the SM/SSM pylon, and folks are taking notice. Sharing the number 87 Miata (Ann handles SM while Keith drives SSM), the two are trimming their lap times while improving their position.
Pete Punderson earned the Hard Luck award at NHMS. In his number 99 Miata, Pundo double-dipped in SM and SSM. Saturday, he finished third in SM, running a fast, heady race. In that afternoon’s SSM finale, he was running second on the final lap – when he spun in oil laid down by a competitor. A helpless Pundo slid hard into the NASCAR Turn One wall. He was unhurt, but the same can’t be said for the 99 – we’re assessing whether it can be fixed or will require a rebody.
Team cars
Andy Bettencourt continued his snakebit season. Andy qualified his number 09 ITA Miata in second spot, took the lead at the drop of the flag Saturday, and was walking the field when a defective cylinder head forced him out.
So there you have it. Many ups, a few downs, conquests made, challenges faced. We hope you all enjoyed the weekend as much as we did, and took time out to honor the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can have big silly fun.
Harding shows 'em how it's done at NHMS.
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| Harding sweeps ITS at Pocono! |
Date: 5/13/08 |
| It sure didn't take ITS hotshoe Jeff Harding long to knock the rust off. Driving his number 04 Mazda RX-7 in competition for the first time this year, Jeff dominated a race weekend at Pocono Raceway May 10-11. Not only did he take both Regional sprint races, he also took the checkers in the first event of a new-for-2008 Pro-IT series. Nice going, Jeff!
Team Flatout will be busy as usual over the next few weeks; in addition to a National race at Summit Point, we're prepping for a huge Memorial Day Weekend featuring the first Grand Am Cup outing for Hugh McHaffie's Mazda MX-5. If we don't see you at Lime Rock for that race, you can catch us in Regional action at NHMS the same weekend! |
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