CWGT: Four Hours of Kansas Live Thread

[TheStranger]

Now the UPS trucks send our equipment out to the park circuit at Lake Afton for a four hour enduro. From testing, there's a 15 second variance in top speeds by the teams so this promises to be very, very interesting in terms of action, strategy, and ability to handle such an event.

QUAL RESULTS ARE IN:

P # DRIVER TIME
1 44 FlyingBuckeyeC1 1:01.497
2 21 ABES 1:01.773
3 49 Greg Pizzo 1:05.977
4 85 TheStranger 1:06.484
5 30 SimRacin40 1:06.964
6 57 Mr. Vengeance 1:07.188
7 64 Mazza19 1:07.531
8 60 mommymushbrain 1:07.693
9 12 Padre 1:07.818
10 33 FCYTravis 1:09.222
11 65 Caspar 1:15.222
12 95 Dan Belcher 1:16.613
13 7 denith --
14 35 RobGuru --
15 76 Scott --
16 75 Hosehead --
17 84 ctkatz --


None of the top 4 have won, so they are VERY hungry right now.

[TheStranger]

GREEN FLAG!

0:01 - FBC1 has pulled out to a 1 second lead after just one lap, no doubt buoyed by the narrow track which makes two wide treacherous.

0:02 - ABES and Padre both have to pit after a collison on lap two.

0:04 - Mazza and Travis are both out after Mazza hit the tire barrier and then got hit in the rear by Travis, nearly flipping. Both are okay.

0:13 - There were several other incidents in the tummult that I had missed, including Scott getting damaged at the start, Greg Pizzo stalling on lap two, and Corey spinning out. All have been saved to the footage hard drive.

0:14 - OH! Denith just crashed out a minute ago head-on into the tire barriers. This may end his day.

0:15 - We have reports that RobGuru and Hosehead have crashed out in seperate incidents.

0:26 - Earlier, Mr. V lost a spot when Corey spun him out; but Dan Belcher suffered major damage in that very same tire barrier that has befallen the others.

0:29 - Due to all the attrition, there are only 3 cars on the lead lap now, FBC1, Mr. V (11.722 seconds back) and MMB (14.254 seconds behind).

0:34 - OUR LEADER HAS WRECKED!

0:36 - The carnage continues as Greg Pizzo hits the infamous tire barrier. MMB and leader Mr. Vengeance are now the only cars on the lead lap.

0:37 - Jeff (Simracin40) has crashed at...guess where...yes, that tire barrier.

0:40 - Padre slid past that tire barrier and wrecked; he limped into the pits and DNFed in 8th.

0:43 - Due to pit cycling, MMB now lead Mr. V by 2 seconds and Scott by a minute.

0:44 - Mr. V pits on his 44th lap, the first non-accident related scheduled pitstop of the day.

0:45 - MMB now pits!

0:56 - MMB leads Mr. Vengeance by 38 seconds, Corey by 56 seconds and Caspar by 57 seconds. Only 7 cars are running as we near the quarter mark.

[TheStranger]

AFTER ONE HOUR...

1. MMB (57 laps completed)
2. Mr. V (43.933)
3. Corey (57.787)
4. Caspar (1:01)
5. Scott (1:17)

MMB nosed it into the second corner tire barrier gently at 0:59, and pitting gives Mr. V the lead.

1:01 - MMB is back out but is 46 seconds behind leader Mr. Vengeance.

1:08 - Gap between Mr. V up front and Corey in 2nd is now 5.259 seconds.

With the completion of lap 66, that gap is now just 4.467 seconds.

1:10 - With the completion of lap 67, that gap is now just 2.9 seconds.

1:11 - How about 2.1 seconds?

1:12 - Nah, 1.1 seconds this time around. MMB is serving as a moving chicane in front of Mr. Vengeance's Elmo Experiment.

1:13 - With that, the gap is now .119 second.

1:14 - Corey makes a pass for the lead into the first turn!

1:15 - Corey pits, handing the lead back to Mr. V as we enter lap 72.

1:30 - Mr. V pits, with a 15 second lead on Corey! Corey will retake the lead though.

1:33 - Mr. V's pit stop leads to a chain of events which sent me and Caspar into the wall. We both go on but damaged.

1:41 - With me and MMB fading back in the field, Caspar is now 3rd.

HUMAN INTEREST SEGMENT OF NO INTEREST

Corey's sponsor, the University of Louisville, has a truly mediocre hockey team who suffered the indignity of having the scorer stop counting once their state of being dominated had gone past about 15 or so goals in one archetypical game this season.

1:43 - Caspar pits. He obviously is being affected by the damage caused by me and him coming together in the third corner, and as he comes out, he wisely lets my faster Mustang by.

1:46 - I crash out, mercifully ending my day.

1:49 - Mr. V spins into the tire barriers; while he continues, this dashes most of his victory chances right there.

1:53 - Due to pit stops, Corey has lapped the field, or at least the other 5 cars left.

1:56 - COREY CRASHES OUT OF THE LEAD!

1:57 - COREY IS NOW OUT! This means that only 5 cars are running; Scott is now leading as we approach halfway.

[TheStranger]

AT HALFWAY...

1. Scott (113 laps completed)
2. Caspar (28.863)
3. Mr. Vengeance (45.075)
4. MMB (1)
5. ABES

It appears that all remaining cars have at least a moderate amount of damage already.

2:05 - Scott pits to start lap 119! This gives Caspar the lead.

2:38 - Scott crashes out while leading on lap 149! Caspar now has a lap advantage on Mr. V and two on ABES and MMB.

[TheStranger]

WITH JUST ONE HOUR TO GO...

The race has become mindnumbingly dull with only 4 cars left, with fans fast headed back onto the Interstates to go home and forget about a carnage-filled event devoid of action.

1. Caspar (169 laps completed; projected 222 laps?)
2. Mr. Vengeance (1)
3. ABES (2)
4. MMB (3)

NO OTHER CARS STILL RUNNING

3:05 - CASPAR CRASHES OUT OF THE LEAD! This has SIGNIFICANT championship implications, in that the top two cars each have a shot at getting tied for 1st place with RobGuru and Mazza19 in the CWGT Season I standings.

Right now it's Mr. Vengeance who has the upper hand, with a lap lead on MMB in his battered Elmo Experiments car that lacks a hood. ABES also is a lap down.

3:15 - MMB is now 2 laps down in 3rd, with Mr. V still commanding the point and ABES moving up to 2nd and a bit of a long shot to get his first ever CWGT trophy.

3:31 - Looking at the scoring system at Lake Afton, it appears we'll be a few minutes short as the clock accidentally also counted out the pace lap. This really doesn't matter though due to the complete lack of excitement and the utter crowd exodus that has occured since the first hour.

3:38 - So when WAS the last time a pit stop did not involve damage repair? Who knows.

HUMAN INTEREST SEGMENT OF NO INTEREST

So far, the 14 out of 17 cars out due to accident (82%) is the second highest DNF percentage in any CWGT race. This has only been bettered by the inaugural CWGT event, the 24 Hours of Spa which had to be called after 46 minutes when all 16 starters crashed out.

Interestingly, that race was won by a wrecked out Mr. Vengenace. And guess who's leading with only 20 minutes left in this terribly unentertaining debacle.

Another wrecked out Elmo Experiment.

3:53 - The insurance company has ordered series officials to call this race off in five laps or less anyway, so whatever scoring errors were a problem before now seem to have worked out just perfectly to stay within this limit.

ABES pits.

3:56 - The insurance company is now directing the series officials to give the two to go signal. Not that anyone is noticing, the stands are emptied out.

3:57 - White flag is now out per this directive, and Mr. Vengeance looks to cruise to his second CWGT victory and first since Spa. And like Spa, this race turned out to be one of crushed metal.

[TheStranger]

AND MR. VENGEANCE IS YOUR WINNER! This puts him right in the thick of the Championship battle, tied with Mazza19 and RobGuru!

F S # DRIVER INTERVAL LAPS LED POINTS STATUS
1 6 57 Mr. Vengeance 100.960 222 87* 185 Running
2 2 21 ABES -1L 221 0 170 Running
3 8 60 mommymushbrain -2L 220 16 170 Running
4 11 65 Caspar -47L 175 46 165 Accident
5 15 76 Scott -73L 149 18 160 Accident
6 17 84 ctkatz -111L 111 23 155 Accident
7 4 85 TheStranger -121L 101 0 146 Accident
8 9 12 Padre -183L 39 0 142 Accident
9 5 30 SimRacin40 -186L 36 0 138 Accident
10 1 44 FlyingBuckeyeC1 -188L 34 32 139 Accident
11 3 49 Greg Pizzo -189L 33 0 130 Accident
12 12 95 Dan Belcher -197L 25 0 127 Accident
13 16 75 Hosehead -204L 18 0 124 Accident
14 14 35 RobGuru -206L 16 0 121 Accident
15 13 7 denith -207L 15 0 118 Accident
16 10 33 FCYTravis -218L 4 0 115 Accident
17 7 64 Mazza19 -218L 4 0 112 Accident

http://img95.exs.cx/img95/7386/Afton-win1.jpg
http://img95.exs.cx/img95/8098/Afton-win2.jpg
http://img95.exs.cx/img95/2906/Afton-win3.jpg

EDIT: Now on the winner's table with updated championship results!

http://www.champcarfanatics.com/forums/showthread.php?p=372285#post372285

[RobGuru]

0:15 - We have reports that RobGuru and Hosehead have crashed out in seperate incidents.


Ouch... and after such a promising event at Riverside!
:311pcwins

At least this race should provide you with some rock-um sock-um hi-lights, TS!

[Padre]

I'm beginning to wonder...is your computer owned by Ford? ;)

[TheStranger]

I'm beginning to wonder...is your computer owned by Ford? ;)

The grid is what, 15 Fords, 2 Dodges, and the Corvette that McB just entered. It's all in numbers. :311hi-thu

[Mr. Vengeance]

AND MR. VENGEANCE IS YOUR WINNER!

heheheee....... :)