July
1 , 2006 - Racin' For A Livin' REALITY SHOW
Well
- a lot has happened over the past few weeks friends. I found out
a couple of weeks ago that I was in the running for a new REALITY
SHOW about Racers chasing their dreams in professional motorsports.
It is my belief that this type of opportunity is not one to pass on
so I am taking on the challenge with as much determination and desire
as I always have.
The show in question is currently in development and will be called:
Racin' For A Livin'. As a WILDCARD, I am one of 21 extra candidates
for the show and it will be up to the FANS to vote 5 of those 21 onto
the show. Voting begins TODAY, July 1, 2006 and goes for the entire
month of July. Below is information on how you can VOTE for ME!
I have set up a website completely DEVOTED to letting people know
how to vote and what it is for and will be going on the campaign trail
all month! I have the help of some very talented people to help me
spread the word and I hope you all will pass this site along to friends,
family, coworkers and other race fans (or not racefans... it doesn't
matter) that want to see me included in this great opportunity.
Go to: www.VOTEFORMARCMILLER.COM
and cast your vote today! and tomorrow... and the next. Hell - if
your fingers aren't raw - then you have more voting to do! Please
stay tuned and vote as often as possible - as "Poppa needs a
NASCAR ride!"
May
22 , 2006 - Special Guest on "The Professor & MaryAnn Discuss
NASCAR"
Hello
All-
On Monday, May 22, I had the great opportunity to be a special guest
on the "Professor & MaryAnn discuss NASCAR" show, on
Indiana's #1 Internet Radio station at www.monksmedia.com. I welcome
everyone to listen live if they wish. You can listen to the show by
going to: http://www.monksmedia.com/professormaryann.php
and clicking the 5/22/06 show. I had a great time. There is nothing
more fun than talking to race fans about racing and the Professor
and MaryAnn are AVID fans! THANKS guys for the oppotunity to talk
about me (some say my favorite subject..*grin*).
If you have any questions about the show or have more questions about
the show you'd like to ask - email me HERE.
KART
RACING @ MRP
By the way - I had the great opportunity to race again at Michiana
Raceway Park (www.michianaracewaypark.com)
in a RotaxMax Birel and again blistered the track record by nearly
.7 of a second. It has been great to get the opportunity to train
for the season using these high powered karts thanks to MRP Motorsport.
(www.mrpmotorsport.com)
I have logged several laps around their track near South Bend, IN
and getting closer to being in top shape and have regained mental
focus.
May
27, 2006 - Grattan Raceway - SCCA West Michigan Region Event
This coming weekend, May 27-28, I will compete in the Spec Racer Ford
class for an SCCA double race event at Grattan Raceway. I will be
driving for Jay Motorsports, SCCA Enterprises newest Customer Service
Rep at easily one of my favorite tracks in North America. After doing
so well in the kart, which is very physical to drive, I am looking
forward to spending some time behind the wheel of a heavier car. Now
that the SRF's have Goodyear bias-ply tires on them like my Carhartt
Dodge does, the seat time will translate nicely heading into our upcoming
test session with our car. I really want to thank TLM Design Services,
MMP Design, JAY Motorsports and SCCA Enterprises for assisting in
this endeavor.
I will likely have news and photos to add to my blog and gallery from
both the KART racing this past Sunday as well as next weekend's event
at Grattan.
TESTING SOON!
Testing will commence with the new Carhartt Racing Dodge Charger VERY
soon, prior to our first event June 17-18 at Mosport International
Raceway. I will put up a full report shortly after that.
BABY
ON BOARD!
Some of you might know, but my wife, Jackie, and I are expecting our
2nd child in October. We have recently discovered that it is a BOY
(boy parts abundantly clear - watch out ladies). We are both very
excited and can't wait for Evan to have a little brother!
Hopefully
I will have more
news for you soon - but if you have ANY questions or requests, send
me an email and I will answer it right here on the BLOG. You can send
me an email at marc@themarcmillershow.com.
See you soon!
-Marc
March
29, 2006 - A Winter Update
The
New Season - I cannot express to everyone just how busy life has
been over this winter. I have worked very hard making sure things
are in place for the 2006 season. We have added some some crew members
to the Carhartt Racing Dodge Charger machine. We have a new paint
scheme, crew uniforms and driver uniform for 2006. The car promises
to be a closer representation to the NASCAR #17 of Matt Kenseth this
year as well. Thanks to my new car chief, Dave Wight, and DJK Racing,
the car has been completely rebuilt from ground up, a new CHARGER
body placed and will be ready to race in no time. As you might have
seen, the car was debuted last week at the Toronto Sportsmen's Show
at Exhibition Place in Toronto.
New Family - In other great news, my wife Jackie and I are
expecting our 2nd child in October. Evan is growing fast and will
soon be a big brother. He doesn't seem to care right now, but will
soon I am sure. Jackie is not too excited about a big belly again,
but that is one of those things you just can't control *grin*. Hopefully
she and Evan will be able to attend some races this season.
A
Loss - My aunt recently lost her battle with cancer. She was truly
a fighter, quick-witted and one of the most fun people to be around
you can imagine. She certainly always got my humor, and vice versa.
My prayers are with her husband and daughters. She will be missed.
LOTS
of RACES - Besides our 6-race CASCAR schedule, it looks as if
I am getting the opportunity to get into several racecars this year.
Stay tuned for upcoming announcements, but don't be surprised to see
me drive no less than three additional types of racecars early this
season. Seat time is important and I will take all I can get!
Karting
with Friends - This past weekend, I competed in a 3-hour karting
event with one of my best friends and we had a BLAST! If you get a
chance to participate in a similar event, it is well worth it. The
folks at MRP Motorspot (whom I work for I add) did a fabulous job
with their recent "Polar Bear Endurance Race" at Michiana
Raceway Park near South Bend, IN. My friend, Kale, and I rallied after
a broken drivetrain in our race machine to change karts and finish
the event in 2nd place. We also took home the award for "Fastest
Pit Stop" (if you can believe THAT!) of the day. In all, it was
a great time and if you get the chance, check out their website and
see what they have to offer. (www.mrpmotorsport.com)
Hopefully
I will have more news for you soon - but if you have ANY questions
or requests, send me an email and I will answer it right here on the
BLOG. You can send me an email at marc@themarcmillershow.com.
See you soon!
October
30, 2005 - Where has Marc been lately?
Lately
I have been asked the questions, "Where have you been lately?"
and "What have you been up to?" on a pretty regular basis.
My wife is even asking since I have not had the chance to see her
and my son nearly as often as I would have liked. In the past 6 weeks,
I have been to Toronto four times, Dallas, Miami, Orlando and Chicago
- all for racing or driver coaching purposes. I was hired, along with
some other very good racers and instructors to assist in Mazda's "Zoom
Zoom Live" Tour - a consumer promotion that exposes the public
with Mazda's performance driven philosophy.
It has kept me on the road nearly every weekend lately and we have
a few more stops before we finish up the tour in Washington DC in
a couple of weeks. I have thankfully met some great people on the
tour - that have become good friends and made being on the road tolerable.
Be sure to check out this promotion at www.zoomzoomlive.com.
October
27 , 2005 - Marc's Spec Miata Experience
It started
harmlessly enough really . . . an exciting conversation with a very
animated fellow in the media tower at the SCCA RunOffs at Mid-Ohio.
His name is John Hammer - a talented radio guy working for AutoRacing1.com.
He was telling me about his spec miata that he had very little money
in, that he took out to track days all the time with and has an absolute
blast. I have got to be honest, I know that a Miata is a chick car
with the horsepower of a couple of horses pulling an Amish buggy -
but for some reason, Hammer was making this damned thing sound fun!
I had to try it out - so he invited me out to an afternoon test session
at Gingerman Raceway, not even 30 minutes away.
Folks - it has no power compared to the 500+ hp I am used to, it is
small and cute and cramped - but I have to lay out the truth - it
was FUN. All I could do as I scooted around the 2.0 mile circuit was,
"How am I going to convince someone to let me race one a few
times now?" The FUN factor wasn't because the car was so nimble
and you could get it to rotate so quickly that you almost forgot it
took forever to get down the shoots. For some strange reason - I wasn't
concerned about the lack of power, only how soon I could jump into
a race against 35 other spec miatas and have a blast racing.
Fast forward to a few weeks later:
I joined www.specmiata.com,
and posted my first experience in the fun little chick car and to
hopefully find another one to go play with. I got an email from Jason
Saini, a national caliber miata racer and Solo II champ. This guy
loves his cars and he happens to own one of the fastest spec miaiats
in the country - posting the fastest lap at the championship race
at Road Atlanta before finishing 5th. I was delighted to learn that
if I could talk my family into letting me sneak away for 4-5 hours
on my ONLY weekend off for 9 weeks... that I could get a session or
two in that same car. Ummm.. sorry family, duty calls *grin*. I am
thankful to Jason for giving the opportunity to drive his well-prepped
car. It was great fun and confirmed my feeling that I could run up
front in that class. I am now already looking at doing a race or two
next season - for fun.
When you drive, instruct and race all the time - for work - then getting
the chance to race in a "no pressure" and fun type of program
is a no brainer. It almost recharges my batteries and makes me love
racing again after it seems like such hard work when things aren't
perfect. If anyone is interested in learning more about Spec Miatas
- check out www.specmiata.com
- it is a great resource!
July
31, 2005 - Weekend Report - 250 Superkart from Barber Motorsport Park
Well . . .many of you know that I have been involved with SuperKart
Illustrated (formerly ShifterKart Ill.) since it's inception many
years ago. I have had great opportunities to test and race shifterkarts
and a few years back the publisher and one of my best friends and
I got excited about putting together a superkart. This isn't your
typical kart. This beast is designed to break track records... handily.
We picked up a VERY used 1993 Anderson, English-built chassis with
a twin cylinder Rotax 256 and seized components. I set to work on
it and with several product contributors, I completely refurbished
the kart to prestine condition. Two YEARS later (that's right, you
heard me right) we still had not raced this awesome machine. My schedule,
bad timing and a hundred other reasons made this project stall several
times, but this past weeked it all came to fruition. Strangely enough,
the entire kart was SOLD prior to me ever getting the chance to race
it, so I took it as a personal gift to me that the new owner, Jon
Anderson, even let me take the baby out and drive the living piss
out of it, which I wasn't afraid to do (hey, after 280 of labor hours
working on that mofo.... you couldn't have kept me from driving the
snot out of the thing).
Photo:
www.photobama.com
FRIDAY
- We took the kart to a U.S. Superkart Championship event that was
a support event to the Rolex Grand American series at Barber Motorsports
Park. Not really a great event to "shakedown" an essentially
brand new machine mind you, but it is what it is and that is what
we did. We did get a 3 lap practice in at 8:30 a.m. in the morning
and I got a good idea how far off we were on set-up from that. On
the scales it went to adjust camber and toe and to adjust some of
the weight balance. I also made a gear change as we were too short
and over-reving our Honda CR250 and that doesn't put all 65hp to good
use at all. I was all set to make our 2nd of three sessions for the
day when the clouds rolled in and it started to downpour. Well, so
much for that. Looks like I am going to have to wing it and get it
right on Saturday as they cancelled the remainder of the sessions.
Time for a good dinner.
SATURDAY
- Once again we were the "low class on the totem-pole"
as Daytona Prototypes, GT, Grand Am Cup GS and even the lowly ST class
ruled the paddock. Strangely enough, no other cars save the Daytona
Prototypes could even come close to the lap times we were running
with our little karts, but hey, truth be told, I was REALLY interested
in hopping in the seat of any one of those "slower" GT cars
at the first opportunity so the last thing I am going to do is rub
it in their faces *grin*. Our morning session didn't go as well as
the day before. The changes we made solved our understeer problem,
but created such a wicked snap-oversteer that it just turned our "too
easy to drive" kart into a woman scorned. I did know what to
do and we set out to adjust the castor, make more of a camber adjustment
and get our next two sets of tires ready and matched for rollout.
I was confused by the slower lap-time, but comforted in the fact we
knew what direction we were going. As
far as I was concerned, I was ready for qualifying and just hoping
we would be in the top 3.
SUNDAY
- Since we only had an hour between Qualifying and the race, I
knew that we could only make small adjustments to fix any problems
encountered. We qualified 5th in class (single cylinder 250), based
on a hand scored time since our transponder was not working, but I
would have been 3rd. The kart was balanced much nicer and I was fairly
confident that the matched set of tires and the jet change was going
to be the ticket. In retrospect, a gear change would have also helped
as our shift points were less than ideal in the race. I started back
in 12th as they start all the singles (ICE class) behind the twin
cylinder group (FE). Surprisingly enough - the kart was pretty damned
balanced. I had dialed some from aero back out and the kart was great
through the high speed stuff and I was up to 3rd in no time and passing
many FE class cars quickly. I made a pass for 2nd.. then the leader
got caught in traffic I passed him on the outside of turn 1, then
passed the 3rd place FE kart under braking. The ICE class is 20 pounds
lighter, but unfortunately, we are down about 30 hp to the twins,
so if we are hooked up, they can cause trouble by passing us down
the shoot and braking ridiculously early. So basically I would dive
bomb them, lay a little slide job drift action on just to give them
that "Geez that guy is a friggin lunatic!" thought in their
head and they pretty much would leave you alone after that. It worked.
Unfortunately, since we missed the 2 Saturday sessions due to rain
- I never got the gearing perfect, so there were a few spots on the
track we were either over-revving or out of the powerband. Heading
into turn 1 with 2 to go.. I got passed for the lead and he got through
lapped traffic perfectly - and I didn't.
Photo:
www.photobama.com
I
was actually quite satisfied with the results. The winner, a 2-time
ICE champion and winner of several events had been to Barber twice
before and had his car sorted out for over a year with all the best
updates from England. My first appearance at Barber and 6 laps of
practice and I was able to battle for the win. Not to mention, the
chassis is a 1993 Anderson. Though if it is still responding to changes,
then it can't be all that bad. I did about 95% of the work on this
kart and it felt amazing that we had no mechanical gremlins to speak
of. Mission accomplished. I think the new owner was very happy with
the results as he took it away with a big smile. Hope you enjoyed
this little race recap, be sure to check out the photo section and
the news links below. They can recap the story from an unbiased view
*grin*. Link to photo page HERE!
Links
to stories about the event:
E-karting
News Story
SPEED
TV Story
July
25, 2005 - Race Report - MOPAR 500, Calgary, AB CASCAR
Another Top 10! (7th in fact)
Hi again all! I have returned from Alberta and to be honest.. I came
away with another very solid performance in Canada's national stock
car series, CASCAR. I can really say I am starting to assert myself
more on the ovals.... after all, this was my 5th career oval start
in a full sized stock car since I started racing 17 years ago!
I have and will be updating the site with news and photos - so please..
continue to visit www.themarcmillershow.com, but for the first time
I decided to give you all a quick report of the weekend. It is pretty
short and sweet, so please have a quick read.
Thursday - FLIGHT MIX-UP
I was scheduled to leave late Thursday afternoon to get to Calgary
in the evening. Key word here is "scheduled" as apparently
I did a poor job of double-checking my flight dates. As I stood at
the ticket counter I saw the lips of the Northwest agent as if they
were in slow motion. "You realize you are scheduled to fly out
NEXT week right?" Ummm.....no. I remember saying... "Please
get me to Calgary?" before a haze of dizziness came over me.
This was not a cool experience. Thanks to my family, however, I was
frantically booked on the first flight out Friday morning (6:30am
EST). I cannot thank my family enough for the quick response and helping
me get to this race.
Friday - I was Tony Stewart for a moment!
Fortunately, I was ON a flight. UNFORTUNATELY practice was scheduled
to begin only one hour before my flight LANDED. This meant I had to
go through customs, get baggage and get back to the track infield
in less than an hour or I miss practice altogether. The first two
parts were a breeze, but as I was picked up the traffic had gotten
a tad heavier and I started to count the seconds. My crew-chief's
family got be delivered to the track with only a few minutes to spare
and I immediately changed and said hello to the crew as I strapped
into the car. I mentioned it in the pre-race interview and I will
say it again. "I felt just like tony Stewart before the Coca-Cola
600....... except without the helicopter, the entourage and of course
the big paycheck."
I logged as many laps as possible and was .3 off of pole, but only
a tenth of a second from a top 8 time as I sat 15th. Not bad I thought,
considering I had been up since 2:30am local time and I have never
ever been here before. The car was loose in qualifying, and we were
19th and started our 100 lapper in 10th. The car never came around
and I struggled a loose condition the entire race. It just kept getting
worse and worse and I ended up 11th, which would start me in 21st
for the race. "I hate going backwards." I thought to myself.
Saturday - a New Day
Over the evening we decided what changes were to be made. The format
is, show up at 11am, stand around until your feet get sore waiting
for tech to open, then push car through tech under the hot sun, then
park the car at 2pm on the front straight and wait 5 more hours until
the race starts. I managed to get a little relax time in prior to
driver introductions and the autograph signing. I was quite surprised
of how many Americans were at the event as I continue to get a good
amount of cheers among the crowds. What can I say... I'm an icon *grin*.
The race kicked off at 7pm and the first 30 laps were spent staying
out of trouble. Then something happened... running as smooth as possible
was taking care of the tires and I didn't drop off. My times were
consistent and fast cars were coming back to me. Quickly. I began
to make passes for position by lap 30 and by lap 80, I had passed
7 cars. Over the course of the next 150 laps, we pitted for tires
and made small adjustments to get the car even better. I had moved
up well and we seemed to struggle on the restart, but after only 10
laps or so the car would come around and be awesome.
I approached last year's rookie of the year, Pete Shepard, and got
a great run on the outside to go by, but he moved me up and I had
to lift (after the race his father said he made the mistake of trying
to let him know I was there... while his spotter was as well... canceling
each other out. I accepted the apology.. no problem). When I lifted
I had someone get in the back of me and spun me around. I thought
my day was over as carnage ensued behind me. Yet I felt no impact
and I got it turned back around and never lost a lap. We had dodged
the bullet that time.
Our last stop was for a wedge adjustment with about 90 laps to go.
Our new set of right sides tightened the car up bad and they weren't
quite coming around quickly enough. We made a quick adjustment and
it was noticeable right away as the last 50 laps, we were one of the
fastest cars on the track, making 4 passes for position.
I crossed the stripe in 7th... in only my 5th oval event. I say that
is fairly solid and I learned a ton! I want to thank you all for the
support and I'm looking forward to seeing you soon!
July
10, 2005 - Race Report - Toronto Molson Indy CASCAR
We put it together for probably the largest event of the year. If
you hadn't heard, we finished solidly in the Top 10 and ran well all
race to finish 7th at the Toronto Molson Indy. Nearly 75,000 fans
watched 35 cars compete on the 11-turn street circuit. I had a busy
week as I drive up to Toronto on Tuesday evening and stayed in Toronto
all week.
Wednesday: On Wednesday we organized the Carhartt 150 Charity
Go Kart Race, an hour long endurance team event to raise money for
the President's Choice Children's Charity. There were 16 teams of
4 competing, including CASCAR racers, media people and sponsors and
contributors. I am happy to say that my team jumped out of the gates
and I went from 10th on the grid to leading the race for my entire
15 minute stint. I pitted with a 4 second advantage and we ultimately
ended the race in a heated battle for the top 3, settling for 6th.
The BEST part about the event however was that we were able to write
a check for $10,000 to the charity. I would like to thank Carhartt
and all of the sponsors and contributors in attendance for assisting
the RaceSportz team in putting this together. RaceSportz worked very
hard to put this event together and it went off very well and I was
honored to even be a part of it.
Thursday: On Thursday I went to a display in Toronto at Mark's
Work Wearhouse, one of our associate sponsors and the largest retailer
for Carhartt in Canada. I signed some autographs and talked to some
of the shoppers about CASCAR racing. Many wished me good luck for
the weekend. We then went to get our credentials and met the rest
of the team at the racetrack.
Friday: Friday went smoothly as we arrived early and the car
was prepped and ready to go. I went out for practice and managed to
get a few decent laps in. The car was like driving a jeep through
a sand dune however, and wandered all over the place. We logged 7th
quick and knew there could be improvements.
Saturday: Qualifying day. Always makes my stomach churn as
I know we should always qualify in the top 10, but you just never
know what the track will do or how your set-up will react. Today,
I made the call on the setup and just flat missed it. I was so dissapointed
for my team and sponsors. We went from easily top 7 to 15th in qualifying
all because of something I asked for. Live and learn. It is however,
MUCH nicer to know where the mistake is rather than be slow and not
know why.
Sunday: Race Day. I had the opportunity to spend the evening
with my wife, son and her family. They had come up Saturday to see
me compete and it was a fantastic feeling to know your family is there
to support you. It was the first race my 10 month old son has ever
been to and he seemed to enjoy the hospitality area taking several
naps. He was also very good at shmoozing sponsors, quite the good
investment *grin*. I had the chance to visit with sponsors and meet
several friends I had not seen in a while. When we pushed the car
off to pre-grid I kissed my wife and son and made the walk down to
the car. I was pretty comfy actually, knowing all I had to do was
survive the first few laps to run well.
The RACE: I took a rather conservative approach. We have been
fast all season, but due to bad luck and other driver's aggressiveness,
we have not finished well. For this race, I settled into a comfortable
pace and avoide the first 10 laps of incidents before getting to work.
That strategy proved the best and we worked our way up through to
finish 7th in the end.. nearly missing a top 6. Lap traffic got in
the way of my charge for a top 6, but those are the breaks and we
will go into the next race with a solid run and a car that needs little
repairs. I am looking forward to the smooth and fast track out in
Calgary, and hopefully can continue the good news!
Photos
by Joe Hamilton
June
22, 2005- Race Report - Mosport CASCAR
Well, I would love to be able to tell you all that our weekend was
perfect, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. I posted up our latest
news release at www.carharttracing.com and photos will be going up
soon thanks to Todd McCall, but I will give you a quick report now
- basically the inside scoop.
Our
weekend started off well enough - with an 8th of the 33 cars in the
first session and zero clean laps. I managed to post the ninth quickest
time in qualifying - knowing there was more in the car as it was in
traffic as well, so our whole team was confident for the race. I am
good on tires and we knew we could keep up a quick pace for a long
time - and that we did.
The
trouble started Sunday - after firing the car for the pace laps -
I noticed a nasty ignition misfire. I switched ignitions first with
no luck, then tried to clean out the motor to make sure it just wasn't
loaded up. This was NOT the way I wanted to start. Knowing that if
we went to green with this problem, then our day might be done early
- so I opted to pull in on the pace lap and start 33rd. At least this
would give me a legitimate chance at the $1200 "Hard Charger"
cash. The problem was found to be a damaged wire that was arching
to the alternating bracket. It was sleeved and the motor came alive.
Only problem is I was coming onto the back-straight as the field took
the green, putting me not only 33rd - but 32 seconds behind the pack.
I
pushed the car hard and within 10 laps had started to catch the back
of the field. I have to admit - At that point, I was enjoying myself
- passing 2-3 cars at a time, under braking, outside of turn 4, turn
8 and anywhere a door was left open. The good news was - even in traffic
- I wasn't losing much ground to the leaders, but we knew we needed
a caution. Luckily - on lap 16 - we got it. We were sitting in the
top 15, meaning I had passed over 15 cars even starting so far back.
We
opted to pit and give up track position again - for left side tires
and fuel. Unfortunately - we didn't get any fuel in the car and we
had to pit again to refuel. We had to come through the pack again.
We went green and I set out to passing cars again - working my way
up to 12th quickly and running over a second a lap faster than the
8th-12th place cars in the process. We caught another caution though
and I was now 100% CONFIDENT that we would recover for a top 10, possibly
better knowing that we were running the same pace as the lead pack
with 11 to go.
It
was not to be however - as coming on to the front straight to take
the green I was tagged from behind by the #39 car, spinning me completely
around. I recovered and lost 4 positions... 3 of which I recovered
quickly. I made a great pass on the outside of turn 8 and settled
in to catch the #39 that got me turned around and on the same corner
- it happened again. The right rear was nailed by the #93 car.. this
time doing more damage than before. I could still reel off quick lap
times, but unfortunately I was black flagged with 6 to go due to a
badly leaking rear-end seal.
All
in all - I passed over 50 cars for position throughout the race -
making it one of the most eventful days I have had. The negative side
of course is finishing WAY below where we deserved. Both the drivers
that hit me came to apologize immediately after the race. Perhaps
if I was running the full season I would not have been so accepting,
as a 23rd place result is not what I expect ever. But we have all
been in that situation and we are ready to move on to the Toronto
Molson Indy in 3 weeks and recover to hopefully run strong there and
WITHOUT any issues.
Hope
all is well for you all and look forward to seeing you soon!
Photos
by Mike Tan
June
15 , 2005- New Sponsor - Audizine.com/Dubberzine.com
Today
I just finalized a new marketing program with a family of German Car
enthusiast sites (Audizine.com & Dubberzine.com). Over the past
year and a half I have become a welcomed member of Audizine.com and
have made several friends while using it as a very good resource for
knowledge on modifying and maintaining my personal car, an Audi A4
Avant.
Recently, a few of my knew friends encouraged me to submit an idea
to the owner about setting up a member sponsorship program in exchange
for a promotional program for CASCAR's largest event, the Toronto
Molson Indy. What started out to be just a fun place to throw car
ideas around has now become a family and friend community that is
very exciting to me. We hope to bring Toronto area "AZ"
members out to the Molson Indy event to support "their"
racecar as well as drive interest to the "zine's" newest
addition, Dubberzine.com, a VW community that started last month.
I would
like to sincerely thank Anthony from Audizine as well as EVERY AZ
& DZ member, contributor and lurker for the on-going support in
my racing and hope to see them soon at the racetrack!
June
6 , 2005- Marc mentioned in Autoweek article by Rich Ceppos
Recently
I had the opportunity to host the Publisher of Autoweek Magazine,
Rich Ceppos at MRP of South Bend, a kart importer and karting school
I do marketing for. The premise was that Rich's good friend of twenty-odd
years, Mark, approached him one day and began asking about racing...
specifically using terms like "apex", "turn-in"
& "latebraking". Rich, knowing that Mark had not shown
any interest in racing, much less cars, in their entire relationship
asked . . . "What brought this all up?" The answer: Gran
Tourismo 4. Apparantly Mark had been rubbing his fingers raw after
severe addiction to the game and Rich decided a trip to the racetrack
was a great way to mess with his mind.
That is where I came into the picture. I was on hand to give Rich,
an accomplished driver himself, and Mark a quick peptalk, walked the
track with them and went over some techniques help them get up to
speed on the .7-mile roadcourse. It also gave me the opportunity to
talk to Mark and find out his experience level and other than knowing
the terminology, he was green as grass. At any rate - please enjoy
this story by Rich by clicking on the link below.
To
Autoweek article >> http://www.autoweek.com/article.cms?articleId=102472
May
28, 2005- Driver Coaching & NEW Track Record
The SCCA
came to Grattan Raceway, one of my "home tracks" this weekend
and I was asked to assist one of my best friends in some driver coaching.
This was his first real race in a formula car and since he is the
editor of "FormulaCar Magazine", a mag I do some occasional
car testing for, I thought it was the least I could do. After all,
this is the same man responsible for helping me establish my first
racing program in Canada. We joked that this weekend would make things
"full-circle" as he was there to support me during my first
Canadian Pro F1200 race and I will be there for his first Formula
First event.
About the FormulaFirst - The FFirst is a 1600cc air-cooled
VW powered formula car that takes all the inexpensive attributes of
the FV1200 machine and updates it with real rotors, pushrod suspension
and an updated look. It performs very well, particularly under braking
and as it utilizes the Hoosier R60 Formula Ford tire, is very stable
and easy to drive. The class is just beginning to take off and I cannot
see why this class wouldn't have a bright future. It is a fantastic
entry level class as well as a great step up from the Formula Vee
class.
Friday - I arrived at Grattan early in the morning and we helped
the team set-up their awning and rolled the car out. The goal was
to get Rob, the driver, comfortable in the car and he would take it
out for the first 30 minute session to acclimate himself. I would
then take the car out for a quick 10-20 minute stint to set a baseline
and be able to relay braking points, apexes and shift-points. The
track record for this class was in the mid or high 1:29's zone, and
I was quite certain that Rob could achieve that number. He was no
slouch and was very motivated to learn. His first session netted him
a lap of 1:36 and lots of valuable track time and I saw many places
where improvements could be made... so I was hopeful.
I suited up for my recon laps. I wasn't nervous, but I obviously didn't
want to hurt the car and ruin my friends weekend, but I also needed
to at least some 95% laps to get a good feel for the braking and shift
points. I took a few recon laps and by lap three was at track record
pace before dropping into the 1:27's, then into the 1:26's before
finally coming in. I had turned a 1:26.5 on lap 7 or 8 to set a new
class record, one that still stands by over 1.5 seconds after the
weekend. Of course, this performance did exactly what I expected for
my driver, and motivated him to push harder in his next session. We
had a long discussion over a track map and his gameplan for the next
session and he managed to drop 6 full seconds off his next session,
quickly getting there with added confidence that the car could do
it. His best lap was a 1:30.4 and by the third session he had broken
into the 1:29's.
Saturday & Sunday - I have to say I was very proud of my
friend - as throughout the weekend he qualified well and finished
2nd on Saturday, then promptly opened up a 4 second lead in Sunday's
race from pole only to have the win taken away by a pushrod failure
with 2 laps to go. I wish him the best of luck this season - as I
know his confidence will keep getting better.
As for me - I was invited by the team and the car builder to be involved
in future tests with the new car to help develop it, which is not
only a compliment, but some added seat time for me and I look forward
to the challenge.
- Marc
