19 replies to this topic

[Ken Bryan]

Well, now that I finally have my first good night's sleep in about four days, here is my report on the adventures (and misadventures) of Sano IV.

First, the biggest thanks of all goes to Paul Dwyer for a fantastic chassis that he built for this race. It was fantastic and driving it was clearly the high point of my racing weekend. More on that later.

I had several goals for the weekend:

Not to finish last in any race (did that easily and was usually able to beat 15-20% or more of the competition, which was better than I expected.)
To do better than I did two years ago (did that)
To qualify out of the bottom main at least once (did it twice and almost a third time)
To turn a sub 5.0 on the King (got to 5.01)
To finish and make a move-up (didn't do that, but came close)
To enjoy the company and learn lots (did that)

So all in all it was a pretty good weekend.

There are pictures and results posted on Da Sano, so you can see the results. Here is my thumbnail version of what happened to me in each race:

FRIDAY

1. Can Am/flat track - I brought my record-holding NW Retro Can-Am car, and intended to race it as is. I figured that if it worked well on our track it would probably do OK on their track. Nope. Traction was less, power was higher, and the track more difficult than I remembered. "Not visitor friendly," said the locals. I couldn't keep the car on the track. But when I tested my F1 (geared for the King) I found it worked better. So rather than try another chassis, I switched gearing, going to a 9/28 instead of 8/28. It made the car easier to drive in the corners. But the combination of the higher ratio and the heavier car made it relatively gutless. I should have switched to a lighter car and probably about a 9/29. I qualified into the lowest © main and finished fourth of eight. I was pretty unhappy.

2. F1/flat track - This was even worse. Two years ago I had 208 laps on the flat track and son Ben had 210. Racing one of the same cars this time I had a 202. But I finished third, only three laps down from the move-up spot.

3. JK Spec on the King - This was race where I did the best two years ago. It was my worst this go around. There were 28 racers, so we had four mains. I qualified into D and wound up finishing seventh out of ten. I started near the top of the pack, faded to the back, then worked my way back. The problem was that the guide flag was bent downward, making it handle terribly. I probably would have done better at picking that up if I had not been so exhausted when the race started.

SATURDAY

4. GTC - I got to race Paul's chassis for the first time, with a hand-out motor. I had purchased two, and I picked the one that was a little more broken-in. Most of the racers were turning laps in practice in the 4.8-4.9 range. I was turning 5.2s and 5.3s. By the way, the same car turned 4.7s on the Dallas King, which is swoopier and more glued. But with a little tweaking of gears and tires I got a qualifying time of 5.01, which qualified me 22 out of 37. With six mains, I qualified into the middle of the D main, two up from the bottom. It is the first time at a national race that I have ever qualified that high. I turned 247 laps and would have done more, but I had run out of time preparing the car and had not made the rear of the car sufficiently rigid. Late in the race the rear end got sucked into the tires and I lost several laps.

It was the high point of the racing weekend.

5. F1 on the King - For the second time, using (I think) the chassis that Jim built for me, I qualified out of the bottom main, qualifying 16 out of 25. I put up 243 laps in the race, averaging over 30 a heat. But my crown gear came loose in one heat. I fixed it quickly, but it cost me several laps. Without that I could have beaten Noose. With Pro Slot power, the car was a rocket.

But I was really happy with the overall result.

SUNDAY

After going to bed at 3 AM the first night and 2 AM the second, I was running out of energy. I was also low on parts and tired of experimenting. I put the F1 Pro Slot motor in the Can-Am and geared it similarly, but the mesh wasn't right and it would only turn 5.2s. So I tried the other Pro Slot with different gearing and grabbed the last set of legal tires I had (no time to break in new tires). The car handled fabulously and the gear mesh was perfect. Turned a 5.08 time, just .012 from qualified out of the bottom main, which was a nine-man round robin. Nothing went mechanically wrong in the race, but I was involved in a lot of crashes, some of which were my fault and some not. Overall I turned in my highest lap total ever in a Retro car on a King (251). It was one lap more than my son turned two years ago in GTC (also satisfying).

Flew home happy.

More later. It is late.

Ken

[Noose]

Great personal recap, Ken, and more guys should do this kind of stuff to learn and plan ahead.

That flat track for us out-of-towners is a killer!

[MantaRay]

I second the great recap... I was great seeing you again...

I think this should be moved to Da Sano Files.

[Cheater]

I agree, Ray, and will move it there now.

[John Streisguth]

Ken,

Glad to hear you had a good time despite a few problems. Sometimes just knowing you had a good car makes it worthwhile.

[Ken Bryan]

I want to add my thanks to all the others for a great Sano experience. Of course, when you start thanking people there is always someone you forget, but here goes.

First, thanks to Mike and Jackie for being such wonderful hosts and to Manta Ray for being willing to help in any way. You are the best. I hope you get some sleep now that it is over.

Thanks to Paul Dwyer for the best Can-Am car I have ever raced and to Mac for the beautiful paint jobs. I raced your bodies in three of the six races. Shontel, I appreciated the shirts. You can see I was wearing one in the qualifying pics.

Thanks to Howie for sharing his table and for taking me on the sightseeing trip. To Rob Hanson for the Chicago stories and an awesome burrito dinner. To AJ and Nelson for the good comaraderie.
I hope to see you at a race in Colorado in the future, AJ.

Loved meeting all of the people I have heard about and communicated with on Slotblog: Pablo, Tex, Noose, Jerry Kulich, Ron Hershman. Some were just as I expected, some not. I even liked the Jersey boys - in small doses, of course. =)

Not sure I will make it back for another Sano. It's a long trip. But thanks to everyone for a terrific experience.

Ken

[Mopar Rob]

It was nice to meet you and thanks for the company to my favorite burrito place. If you ever do make it back I'll take you to El Farol again.

[MantaRay]

I used to get to El Farol at 2:00 AM to get burritos for my crew... the line was longer there than at El Famous...

[MSwiss]

El Famous doesn't even stay open that late anymore.

Let's see, at 2 AM you were the only customer in there sober and wearing a suit. You must have felt right in place.

At about 3 AM at El Farol, I got hit by a flying jalopeno when some twentysomething ruffians were screwing around.

[Ron Hershman]

And what happened after you got hit by the flying jalopeno??? Was the twentysomething ruffian flying?

[MSwiss]

When there's three or four of them, I need more than a oily jalopeno to throw down.

Plus, they apologized right away.

[Ron Hershman]

I didn't know if that got you going as much as Howie talking on the cell phone.

[MSwiss]

In retrospect, going at Howie at full volume the first time worked real well. I didn't have to yell at him for his cell phone the rest of the weekend.

Normally it's four or five times every Sano.

[MSwiss]

But then again, it could have been the fear of me locking him in the "motel room" the rest of the weekend.

[Cheater]

Mike,

Just announce a five lap penalty for the first cell phone violation, ten the second, etc.

That'll stop Howie, I'm betting! LOL!

[Ron Hershman]

Maybe next time try calling him on his cell phone and telling him.

The best part was when you were done yelling at him... Rande called him... Howie came over and said "Someone in this corner of the building is trying to get me in trouble".

Just like a grade school kid telling the teacher...

[MSwiss]

Just announce a five lap penalty for the first cell phone violation, ten the second, etc.

If it was on Sunday in Can-Am, he would have said: "Five laps, schmive laps, go ahead".

[MantaRay]

Hey, Mike and Rob...

Yes, I was in a suit at 2:00 AM and on the second grill on the side there was a mountain of 20 lbs of ground beef. The counter dude said that was a start for the rush after the 4 AM when the bars closed.

And I can tell you that if I did not come back with a heapin' helpin' of whatever that garnish was with the carrot slices as big as 45 records I would have a lot of 'splainin' to do... LOL!

[MSwiss]

Indeed, the mound o' meat is pretty impressive. It's so high, sometimes you can spot snow on the top of it. LOL.

[Pablo]

It was nice meeting and racing with you, Ken