R50/53 ...And a MINI was in the LEAD!
Thread Starter
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2nd Gear
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 54
Likes: 0
From: Outer Banks - North Carolina
OK,
I am sitting on the couch over the weekend (just relaxing after washing my Mini) and a buddy of mine calls me from Buffalo NY...
He tells me to turn on SPEEDVISION and low and behold there is a MINI in the lead of a Road Course Race in Alabama...
It was raining like cats and dogs and the (Blue #20) Mini S was performing very well!
He was running in third a bit later - Until about 15 minutes or about five laps from the end...failure.
It was the TOP finishing British Car in the Race! Ultimately won by a lemon yellow P. Boxer
Any body else catch this?
----So Sorry I just saw the other post ----
_________________
I am sitting on the couch over the weekend (just relaxing after washing my Mini) and a buddy of mine calls me from Buffalo NY...
He tells me to turn on SPEEDVISION and low and behold there is a MINI in the lead of a Road Course Race in Alabama...
It was raining like cats and dogs and the (Blue #20) Mini S was performing very well!
He was running in third a bit later - Until about 15 minutes or about five laps from the end...failure.
It was the TOP finishing British Car in the Race! Ultimately won by a lemon yellow P. Boxer
Any body else catch this?
----So Sorry I just saw the other post ----
_________________
Thread Starter
|
2nd Gear
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 54
Likes: 0
From: Outer Banks - North Carolina
Found this...
Nuzzo Motorsports #20 MINI leads the Barber Twin 200
The Nuzzo Motorsports MINI Cooper S's were treated to some southern
hospitality this past weekend at the Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham
Alabama. This was the first race at the newly constructed facility. The
2.5-mile 16-turn road course, magnificent museum, tiered paddock, new
restrooms with showers, unique sculpture throughout the park like setting, 3
story control tower with media center, hospitality center, race control and
viewing areas make this one of the best racing venues in North America, if
not the world. The only thing that would make it better was if it was within
an hour's drive of Long Island.
Thursday during the promoters test day was the first time most of the
drivers had driven the track. It was not an easy track to learn at first.
There are many blind sections of the track where you would not know what was
over the top of the hill or which way the track turned. Some sections you
would set up for what looked to be a left-hander that would suddenly be a
hard right-hander. Because of the extreme changes in direction and the
unfamiliarity of the drivers with the track, we were treated to numerous
full course cautions and black flags stopping practice sessions.
Schedules were tight and the promoters were keeping to them in order to
satisfy the five different races that were taking place this weekend. The
Grand Am Cup series were split races with the Grand Sport I & II cars
running together, then the Sport Touring I (MINI's) & II were together, the
other series included Rolex, Fran-Am and Stock Car Championship Series.
In spite of the torrential rains, lightning and tornado threats all weekend
long the event attracted a lot of fans and the MINI's were crowd favorites.
Speed Channel produced a feature on the MINI racecar vs. the stock MINI.
This will air as part of the race broadcast Saturday May 31 at 1PM or 2PM
ET. So set your VCR's and Tivo's.
Friday, the drivers continued to learn the track and the crew worked on
making the cars faster. We were closing in on competitive lap time when the
sessions were ended for the day because of lightning and tornado threats. I
saw on the news that night that tornados did some severe damage not very,
far from where we were.
Saturday we were scheduled for a 15-minute qualifying session as our only
track time for the day. Grand Am would extend the session to 25 minutes so
we could make up some of the lost time from Friday. We went out for
qualifying and I was caught behind a couple of slower cars. I managed to get
by them by the third lap and I was running 10th. I was starting a flyer
(fast qualifying lap) when the black flag came out ending our session
because of multiple cars off the track. So I would start on the outside of
row five for the race Sunday morning at 8:15AM. The #21 car developed a
power loss on the out lap of qualifying, was forced to pit and never made it
back out so they would start at the back of the grid in 24th place.
Sunday morning race day.
When we arrived at the track, it was raining steady. While we setup our pit
equipment for the race, the question on everyone's mind was will the rain
stop, stay the same or get worse. We tried to get the latest Doppler radar
reports to help decide whether to start the race on rain tires(wets) or dry
tires(dries). This may not sound like a big decision but it really is a big
deal. If you start wets and the track, dries out the wets will burn up
quickly and even if they didn't burn up the tires would be far slower in dry
conditions than dries. On the other side of the coin if you start dries and
the track is too wet you can't control the car and you will be slower than
someone on wets.
About ten minutes before we were to grid, I called for wets on both cars.
The crew changed tires and brought the cars down to grid where we kept them
covered until it was time to roll out onto the track. Just as the drivers
were being belted into the cars, the skies opened up. So it was the right
call to go out on wets.
As we took the warm-up lap, the rain came down even harder. As we approached
turn 15, the pace car pulled into the pit lane so we knew we would go green
in just a few seconds. The green flag dropped as we came down the front
straight but Grand Am rules don't allow you to break formation and pass
until you cross the start line. Its raining so hard and the spray coming off
the cars in front of you make it impossible to see anything as you are
traveling 100MPH trying to get around anyone you can as you enter turn one.
You can't see the car in front of you, the car behind you can't see you, if
you are lucky you catch a glimpse of a brake or tail light. As you exit turn
one, cars are slowed down a bit and you jockey for position to gain an
advantage as you drive flat out up and over the blind hill not thinking that
there may be a car stalled or spun out right in your path. You don't worry
about the car next to you that is separated by only an inch or so, and that
he can lose traction and crash you out of the race. You just concentrate on
driving as fast as you can and passing any cars in your way.
The first full course caution came out about 25 minutes into the race, I was
running 7th. I decided to take advantage of it and come in for a driver
change. We put Shane in the car, topped off with fuel, and then sent the #20
back out. We got back out ahead of the pace car so we stayed on the lead
lap. When the track went green, Shane got busy and picked off the cars in
front of him until he was in the lead. This marked the first time the new
MINI has led a professional race anywhere in the world. This was a very
exciting moment for all of us. Shane continued to lead until the car
suddenly lost all electrical power coming down the front straight. The car
was dead and there was nothing we could do about it. We were positioned for
a win or at least podium when the unexpected, unthinkable happened. So the
#20 went behind the wall with about 20 laps to go. I was very disappointed
to say the least.
Meanwhile, the #21 car had been in and out of the pits too many times to
count. We didn't know it at the time because the symptoms never showed on
the #20 car but both cars were plagued by the same problem.
We have shown we can be competitive. At Homestead-Miami Speedway, we turned
fastest practice lap. At Barber Motorsports Park we turned the second
fastest race lap and were leading the race. Reliability has been our
problem. Once we can get the cars problem free, we will get our share of
podiums.
Post Race Events
Nuzzo Motorsports was invited by MINI USA to show its race MINI at the BMW
Performance Center in Spartanburg, South Carolina. I arrived on Monday and
displayed the MINI at the entrance to the center. The racecar met with a lot
of enthusiasm as students, instructors and workers got up close and personal
with the car. Photos were taken and many questions were answered. I want to
thank everyone for allowing me to present the MINI racecar and look forward
to future showings.
I have to thanks all of our 2003 partners who make this all possible:
Habberstad Mini (www.habberstadmini.com)
Lava Records (www.lavarecords.com)
Grafik Dezine (www.grafikdezine.com)
KW Suspensions (www.kwsuspension.com)
BBS wheels (www.bbs.com)
Bodymotion (www.bodymotion.com)
Performance Friction Products (www.performancefriction.com)
MINI USA (www.miniusa.com)
Bosch (www.boschusa.com)
PROMINI (www.promini.com)
Autosport Image (www.autosportimage.com)
Diamond Racing Products (www.diamondracingproducts.com)
PiperCross USA (www.pipercrossusa.com)
Nology Hot Wires (www.nology.com)
For further details, please contact Tony Nuzzo at 516-674-1441
In addition, visit http://www.nuzzomotorsports.com for race news, photos and in car
video.
Nuzzo Motorsports #20 MINI leads the Barber Twin 200
The Nuzzo Motorsports MINI Cooper S's were treated to some southern
hospitality this past weekend at the Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham
Alabama. This was the first race at the newly constructed facility. The
2.5-mile 16-turn road course, magnificent museum, tiered paddock, new
restrooms with showers, unique sculpture throughout the park like setting, 3
story control tower with media center, hospitality center, race control and
viewing areas make this one of the best racing venues in North America, if
not the world. The only thing that would make it better was if it was within
an hour's drive of Long Island.
Thursday during the promoters test day was the first time most of the
drivers had driven the track. It was not an easy track to learn at first.
There are many blind sections of the track where you would not know what was
over the top of the hill or which way the track turned. Some sections you
would set up for what looked to be a left-hander that would suddenly be a
hard right-hander. Because of the extreme changes in direction and the
unfamiliarity of the drivers with the track, we were treated to numerous
full course cautions and black flags stopping practice sessions.
Schedules were tight and the promoters were keeping to them in order to
satisfy the five different races that were taking place this weekend. The
Grand Am Cup series were split races with the Grand Sport I & II cars
running together, then the Sport Touring I (MINI's) & II were together, the
other series included Rolex, Fran-Am and Stock Car Championship Series.
In spite of the torrential rains, lightning and tornado threats all weekend
long the event attracted a lot of fans and the MINI's were crowd favorites.
Speed Channel produced a feature on the MINI racecar vs. the stock MINI.
This will air as part of the race broadcast Saturday May 31 at 1PM or 2PM
ET. So set your VCR's and Tivo's.
Friday, the drivers continued to learn the track and the crew worked on
making the cars faster. We were closing in on competitive lap time when the
sessions were ended for the day because of lightning and tornado threats. I
saw on the news that night that tornados did some severe damage not very,
far from where we were.
Saturday we were scheduled for a 15-minute qualifying session as our only
track time for the day. Grand Am would extend the session to 25 minutes so
we could make up some of the lost time from Friday. We went out for
qualifying and I was caught behind a couple of slower cars. I managed to get
by them by the third lap and I was running 10th. I was starting a flyer
(fast qualifying lap) when the black flag came out ending our session
because of multiple cars off the track. So I would start on the outside of
row five for the race Sunday morning at 8:15AM. The #21 car developed a
power loss on the out lap of qualifying, was forced to pit and never made it
back out so they would start at the back of the grid in 24th place.
Sunday morning race day.
When we arrived at the track, it was raining steady. While we setup our pit
equipment for the race, the question on everyone's mind was will the rain
stop, stay the same or get worse. We tried to get the latest Doppler radar
reports to help decide whether to start the race on rain tires(wets) or dry
tires(dries). This may not sound like a big decision but it really is a big
deal. If you start wets and the track, dries out the wets will burn up
quickly and even if they didn't burn up the tires would be far slower in dry
conditions than dries. On the other side of the coin if you start dries and
the track is too wet you can't control the car and you will be slower than
someone on wets.
About ten minutes before we were to grid, I called for wets on both cars.
The crew changed tires and brought the cars down to grid where we kept them
covered until it was time to roll out onto the track. Just as the drivers
were being belted into the cars, the skies opened up. So it was the right
call to go out on wets.
As we took the warm-up lap, the rain came down even harder. As we approached
turn 15, the pace car pulled into the pit lane so we knew we would go green
in just a few seconds. The green flag dropped as we came down the front
straight but Grand Am rules don't allow you to break formation and pass
until you cross the start line. Its raining so hard and the spray coming off
the cars in front of you make it impossible to see anything as you are
traveling 100MPH trying to get around anyone you can as you enter turn one.
You can't see the car in front of you, the car behind you can't see you, if
you are lucky you catch a glimpse of a brake or tail light. As you exit turn
one, cars are slowed down a bit and you jockey for position to gain an
advantage as you drive flat out up and over the blind hill not thinking that
there may be a car stalled or spun out right in your path. You don't worry
about the car next to you that is separated by only an inch or so, and that
he can lose traction and crash you out of the race. You just concentrate on
driving as fast as you can and passing any cars in your way.
The first full course caution came out about 25 minutes into the race, I was
running 7th. I decided to take advantage of it and come in for a driver
change. We put Shane in the car, topped off with fuel, and then sent the #20
back out. We got back out ahead of the pace car so we stayed on the lead
lap. When the track went green, Shane got busy and picked off the cars in
front of him until he was in the lead. This marked the first time the new
MINI has led a professional race anywhere in the world. This was a very
exciting moment for all of us. Shane continued to lead until the car
suddenly lost all electrical power coming down the front straight. The car
was dead and there was nothing we could do about it. We were positioned for
a win or at least podium when the unexpected, unthinkable happened. So the
#20 went behind the wall with about 20 laps to go. I was very disappointed
to say the least.
Meanwhile, the #21 car had been in and out of the pits too many times to
count. We didn't know it at the time because the symptoms never showed on
the #20 car but both cars were plagued by the same problem.
We have shown we can be competitive. At Homestead-Miami Speedway, we turned
fastest practice lap. At Barber Motorsports Park we turned the second
fastest race lap and were leading the race. Reliability has been our
problem. Once we can get the cars problem free, we will get our share of
podiums.
Post Race Events
Nuzzo Motorsports was invited by MINI USA to show its race MINI at the BMW
Performance Center in Spartanburg, South Carolina. I arrived on Monday and
displayed the MINI at the entrance to the center. The racecar met with a lot
of enthusiasm as students, instructors and workers got up close and personal
with the car. Photos were taken and many questions were answered. I want to
thank everyone for allowing me to present the MINI racecar and look forward
to future showings.
I have to thanks all of our 2003 partners who make this all possible:
Habberstad Mini (www.habberstadmini.com)
Lava Records (www.lavarecords.com)
Grafik Dezine (www.grafikdezine.com)
KW Suspensions (www.kwsuspension.com)
BBS wheels (www.bbs.com)
Bodymotion (www.bodymotion.com)
Performance Friction Products (www.performancefriction.com)
MINI USA (www.miniusa.com)
Bosch (www.boschusa.com)
PROMINI (www.promini.com)
Autosport Image (www.autosportimage.com)
Diamond Racing Products (www.diamondracingproducts.com)
PiperCross USA (www.pipercrossusa.com)
Nology Hot Wires (www.nology.com)
For further details, please contact Tony Nuzzo at 516-674-1441
In addition, visit http://www.nuzzomotorsports.com for race news, photos and in car
video.
3rd Gear
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 179
Likes: 0
Thanks for the post and the description. I'm originally from that part of the country and am *excited* about the new facility that Barber has put together. For those interested, take a look at http://www.barbermuseum.org/ where there's a ton of info on the track.
Barber will also house a vintage motorcycle museum on the site. I saw the collection at the old museum in downtown but the new building should be fantastic.
I think it's a great addition to racing in the South!
Barber will also house a vintage motorcycle museum on the site. I saw the collection at the old museum in downtown but the new building should be fantastic.
I think it's a great addition to racing in the South!
Interesting...wet-related reliability problems? Can you be more specific? I'm of course wondering if any of your problems were related to the types of things that us non-racing MINI owners can anticipate in daily life. There has been discussion about MINIs losing their electrical systems in very wet driving conditions.
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