Sponsorship NASA Road Racing Greg Collier 1st Race 2006

[mavisky]

You're going to run the 25 hour race this year Greg? Who else do you have lined up as a driver for the car?

 

[Greg Collier]

You're going to run the 25 hour race this year Greg? Who else do you have lined up as a driver for the car?

I'd love to run the "Flying Banana" in the 25 hour. Couple of problems though, one being I only have a 13 gallon fuel cell so I'd have to refuel every hour, and the second and biggest huddle would be the $300.00 per hour it costs to run the event. It's been calculated that the minimum expenses in fuel, tires, entry fees, prep, travel, etc. it runs close to $7000.00 to do the 25-hour.

Maybe I could catch a ride as a driver for another team (not likely)... There are guys out there that actually pay to drive that race!

Greg

 

[Slow old poop]

I'd love to run the "Flying Banana" in the 25 hour. Couple of problems though, one being I only have a 13 gallon fuel cell so I'd have to refuel every hour, and the second and biggest huddle would be the $300.00 per hour it costs to run the event. It's been calculated that the minimum expenses in fuel, tires, entry fees, prep, travel, etc. it runs close to $7000.00 to do the 25-hour.

Maybe I could catch a ride as a driver for another team (not likely)... There are guys out there that actually pay to drive that race!

Greg

So why don't you "sell" rides? Seriously, I'll bet if you took on codrivers who were willing to cough up $1-2,000 each to cover the cost of tires, oil, fuel, wear and tear, and so on, you probably would find one or two on this list willing to do it. Of course, you would want to make sure they have the necessary competition license and expertise so you can trust them. This kind of stuff happens at Sebring and Daytona all the time (read "Fast Guys, Rich Guys and Idiots," by Sam Moses, to see how rich guys buy their way into endurance races).

Rich (the Idiot in that list)

 

[Zero Bar]

If I only had my competition license!!

 

[Greg Collier]

So why don't you "sell" rides? Seriously, I'll bet if you took on codrivers who were willing to cough up $1-2,000 each to cover the cost of tires, oil, fuel, wear and tear, and so on, you probably would find one or two on this list willing to do it. Of course, you would want to make sure they have the necessary competition license and expertise so you can trust them. This kind of stuff happens at Sebring and Daytona all the time (read "Fast Guys, Rich Guys and Idiots," by Sam Moses, to see how rich guys buy their way into endurance races).

Rich (the Idiot in that list)

I know of a couple of race teams that prepare the whole year for the NASA 25-hour. They sell seats and get sponsors on board for that one event. I'm lucky if I make it through a regular season, and if it wasn't for my wife kicking me in the butt that probably wouldn't happen.

Steve Bernheim, one of my SU competitors, did the 12 hours of Sebring last year with his Porsche team for a mere $450,000.00. Can you imagine spending that kind of money for just one race? Now that's pure racing passion in my book

Greg

 

[Slow old poop]

I know of a couple of race teams that prepare the whole year for the NASA 25-hour. They sell seats and get sponsors on board for that one event. I'm lucky if I make it through a regular season, and if it wasn't for my wife kicking me in the butt that probably wouldn't happen.

Steve Bernheim, one of my SU competitors, did the 12 hours of Sebring last year with his Porsche team for a mere $450,000.00. Can you imagine spending that kind of money for just one race? Now that's pure racing passion in my book

Greg

Back east here, they used to have a race at Nelson's Ledges in Ohio on the same day as Le Mans. This year, it's in July, but it's still called the 24 Hours of Nelson Ledges. Back in the bad old days, it was run what you brung, pass tech, and run all day. We gave serious thought once to building up an old Honda Civic and running it. We calculated that four guys could do it for $1,000 each.

Now, I think somebody has SANCTIONED it, so the costs have skyrocketed. Gawd how I hate official rules and sanctioning bodies!

Give me an outlaw series any day. (Spoken as a veteran of the outlaw, Saturday night, crash-and-burn performance rallies in the old MONY Series, where it was run what you brung, no classes, don't tell the law, and winner take all. Gawd, was that fun! I was shot at, roadblocked, chased by civilians and teargassed on those rallies. )

Rich

 

[Zero Bar]

Back east here, they used to have a race at Nelson's Ledges in Ohio on the same day as Le Mans. This year, it's in July, but it's still called the 24 Hours of Nelson Ledges. Back in the bad old days, it was run what you brung, pass tech, and run all day. We gave serious thought once to building up an old Honda Civic and running it. We calculated that four guys could do it for $1,000 each.

Now, I think somebody has SANCTIONED it, so the costs have skyrocketed. Gawd how I hate official rules and sanctioning bodies!

Give me an outlaw series any day. (Spoken as a veteran of the outlaw, Saturday night, crash-and-burn performance rallies in the old MONY Series, where it was run what you brung, no classes, don't tell the law, and winner take all. Gawd, was that fun! I was shot at, roadblocked, chased by civilians and teargassed on those rallies. )

Rich

For the first time in my life I actually wish I were older so I could have seen and done things like that!!

 

[Greg Collier]

For the first time in my life I actually wish I were older so I could have seen and done things like that!!

Hell... things have changed dramatically in the past five years alone. Some for the better and some for the worst. It's when there's a potential to make money when it all gets screwed up...

 

[Slow old poop]

For the first time in my life I actually wish I were older so I could have seen and done things like that!!

My ancient pro rally stories from the 1970s are a lot more interesting than my racing stories from today.

On rallies...

We passed a car on a one-lane bridge...

We have a turn in the Ohio strip mines named after us (Merritt's Gulch) because of our fantastic off...

My wife was so scared by Forest Road 5 on the Sunriser that she closed her eyes during the entire stage ("Tell me when it's over!"). She was completely fearless. Nothing else ever scared her until she saw Forest Road 5 in the daylight, and saw the sheer dropoffs...

On rallies, you are not supposed to lift until your navigator starts to whimper. My navigator never whimpered. You are also supposed to always hit things on the navigator's side, which I did. I took off her side mirror once by grazing a tree.

We were out "reccing" stages on the Sunriser 400 one sunny day, when we came uponst a couple...er, uh..."sunbathing together" in the grass. Hoo boy! That was pretty exciting...

We got "Fastest in the Forest" at the Rally du Noir in Alabama. In my day, I was a terror on loose gravel...

Somebody said "drive my car and don't worry about banging it up." I got a 5th on the Sunriser 400 rally that night, best I ever did on a SCCA Pro Rally. Banged it up pretty good, too...

In rallying, if you don't have dents in the rear corners from bouncing off trees, you ain't goin' fast enough. I dented all four corners on that car...

My wife was such a good navigator, she got offered a pro ride with the Cooper Tires team! Nobody ever offered ME a pro ride. She has the biggest trophy in the family, too. She was also the only American woman to finish the 1973 WRC Press on Regardless (with me, back in the days when it ran for three nights and covered 1800 miles through the Michigan north woods)...

We got listed n the 1974 FIA Yearbook and were automatically qualified to run any WRC event in the world in 1974 because of our 1973 POR finish. If our house burns down, I will grab the POR Finisher plaques before I get my kids' photos....

You ain't lived until you are at speed and suddenly encounter a downhill, decreasing radius, off camber hairpin turn on gravel or ice...

We ran a stage called Flying Volvo, which was on unplowed pavement covered by 6 in. of boilerplate ice and fresh snow. I hit 100 mph on that stage, as fast as the old Datsun 510 would go. Talk about some scary sh*t!...

We won a MONY Series by about 2 seconds in our stock engine Datsun 510, by running super light (no tools, no spare tire, no jack, no nuttin', and never more than 5 gals of gas)...

I broke a tie rod on one stage, and tried to continue. It was OK on rights, but on lefts I had to get out of the car and turn the tire by hand. We quit the rally and drove it 100 miles back to the start point with a broken tie rod...

We collapsed the stock suspension on one rally, and finished the event with the fenders riding on the front tires...

If you see deer in the road, the rally trick is to shut off all the lights, count to 3, and turn the lights back on. With luck, the deer will be gone. It worked for me most of the time. Alas, one time we nailed a deer good and proper, taking out the left front fender, driver door and left rear quarter panel...

The only exciting things that ever happened on road races is that I blew motors and broke trannies. I never broke nuttin' on a rally (except a tie rod, throttle return spring, exhaust manifold gasket and a battery clamp).

If you young dudes want some REAL EXCITEMENT, go pro rallying. Road racing is pretty tame in comparison, but it's all this old fart here can handle these days. My days of throwing it sideways on gravel or snow at 100 mph are long gone. Just a dim memory. But what memories!

Zero Bar, don't let life pass you by. Go for it! Man, I hope you don't say "For the first time in my life I actually wish I were older so I could have seen and done things like that!!" ever again. Go do them things now! Don't wait! LIfe is short, man. Tempis fugit, dude.

*sigh* Nostalgia just isn't what it used to be.

Rich
Fight Global Warming! Plant a Tree!

 

[Greg Collier]

After reading Richs racing accounts, the oxymoron is his handle “Slow Old Poop”! Yeah… right!!

 

[Slow old poop]

After reading Richs racing accounts, the oxymoron is his handle “Slow Old Poop”! Yeah… right!!

One of my driving instructors said, "You used to drive rally cars, didn't you?"
Well, yes, but how did you know?
"Oh, I can tell," he said.

I always wondered what he meant by that.

I tried throwing the old AWD Talon around on gravel roads, just to see if I could still do it -- ya know, toss it into a gravel sweeper at full tilt boogie with the ass end out, like you see on TV -- but I can't do it any more. I don't have the stones for it. I'll leave rally driving to the fearless young warriors with lightning fast reflexes who can dance the dance. ### that's what rally driving is all about -- it's a dance, a balancing act with steering wheel and throttle, running on the ragged edge in a rhythm, with the car never pointing straight, always sideways. Skiers understand: It's like running the moguls.

Haven't used that skiing analogy in a while. Guess my oxy has become a moron.

Rich

 

[Zero Bar]

Wow! Sounds like you had a lot of fun. Rally is my favorite motorsport, always has been. I can't get enough of WRC and have the season highlights videos from 2000 and up on my computer.
I'm having a blast with my life right now. I'm autocrossing, starting HPDE in May, and doing whatever the budget allows. My only limiting factor is money, I just can't find enough to do everything I want to. Once my Laser is where I want it to be I was thinking about what my next car will be, I would love to do rally and will likely make my choice with that in mind.
Back on topic....Greg, have you gotten an eta on when you'll get the motor back? I'm looking forward to seeing the car back in action to see what it's cpapble of with that motor!

 

[Slow old poop]

I'm having a blast with my life right now. I'm autocrossing, starting HPDE in May, and doing whatever the budget allows. My only limiting factor is money, I just can't find enough to do everything I want to. Once my Laser is where I want it to be I was thinking about what my next car will be, I would love to do rally and will likely make my choice with that in mind.!

Well, then why do you say "For the first time in my life I actually wish I were older so I could have seen and done things like that!!" ? Seems to me that you are doing everything you can. When I was yer age, a billion years ago, we didn't have any money either, so we ran rallies with a stock car, and replaced stuff with rally parts when things broke. It wasn't until the kids got out of college before I could afford to play...er, uh, "more expensive" games, like HPDEs.

So, I guess I don't need to worry about you. You are ONE OF US.

What annoys me are the dudes who come by the pits and say, "I wish I could do this, but I don't have enough money." Then they get into their $35,000 SUV and drive off. If they REALLY wanted to do HPDE or rallying or autocrossing or whatever, they'd sell that luxo-wagon, buy a DSM, and just go do it. Like you are.

We need more Zero Bars who work their way up than b.s. artists who just talk the talk. If ya want to do this stuff, ya find a way. One step at a time.

Then, 30 years later -- when you are older -- you'll have your own stories to tell and you can bore all the young dudes like I do.

By the bye, I see you are in Columbus, Ohio. That is the hotbed of performance rallying in the Midwest. It's the home of the Village Idiot newsletter, OSU Sports Car Club (organizer of the OSU Winter rally, the only MONY series event I ever won), Scioto SCC, the Sunriser 400 (runs through the forests of Southern Ohio), and legendary Eric Jones and British Auto Service, builder of rally cars. Man, if you want to go pro rallying, you couldn't live in a better place for it.

Rich
Fight Global Warming: Plant a tree

 

[underradar92]

Greg, Yeah, when IS your engine due back? Rich, sheesh, just when you think you know someone...

 

[Zero Bar]

I made the statement because today all there is, is "sanctioned" race events. There's little else you can do without getting into trouble anymore. I guess that's why street racing has proliferated the way it has. There's so few inexpensive outlets for people to play with their cars. You have to have a good amout of money to spend to be able to have fun with your car anymore. Autocross is one of the few inexpensive outlets out there and even then, you might only see 3 laps as I did several events last year. It's no fun standing around for 10 hours and only getting 3 mins of seat time!

 

[underradar92]

I made the statement because today all there is, is "sanctioned" race events. There's little else you can do without getting into trouble anymore. I guess that's why street racing has proliferated the way it has. There's so few inexpensive outlets for people to play with their cars. You have to have a good amout of money to spend to be able to have fun with your car anymore. Autocross is one of the few inexpensive outlets out there and even then, you might only see 3 laps as I did several events last year. It's no fun standing around for 10 hours and only getting 3 mins of seat time!

That is why I'm doing track days. I used to drag race, but the more cash you spend, the less track time you get I'm not sure why I never autocrossed, maybe it's because my sicko friends had given me rides at their track days. My street bikes have'nt seen the road since my last bike track day, either.

 

[Greg Collier]

I loved my SCCA autocross days. I'd go down to the stadium parking lot the Friday afternoon before the weekend and help whatever club that was setting up the track. It was the greatest bang for the buck that I could be doing at the time. The camaraderie between everyone was great, and the fact that I was honing my driving skills didn't hurt. Even though I'd road raced years before the fact that I was participating in some form of racing made it worth the energy.

I still go down there and watch every once in a while, and I'm blown away with what some of the people can do with their cars. Racing is racing as far as I'm concerned, I love it all...

Engine update: The motor made it to Chicago on Friday so I'll probably be hearing something from Mitch next week.

Greg

 

[Slow old poop]

Two steps forward, one back department.

We finally figured out the problem with the O2 sensor: It wasn't the sensor after all, it was the oil-soaked, kludged-up wiring harness that the sensor plugs into. When we pulled the engine, we moved the harness and apparently upset the delicate balance and tenuous relationships among the various wires contained within, thus causing them to separate, file for divorce, and refuse to communicate. Hence the Check Engine lights and rough running.

It took three electrical engineers and an electrician using two DVMs, wiring schematics and a power supply all day to solve that problem, run up to Radio Shack for plug connectors, and rewire the dang thing. Finally, she fired up and ran smoothly. How sweet it was...until an intercooler hose blew, caused a monumental boost leak, and upset the delicate balance once again. *sigh* We'll order another intercooler hose tomorrow for two-day delivery and put it in Wednesday night if the Good Lord is willng and the creeks don't rise.

Two steps forward...

Blackhawk Farms approacheth on the 15th. We'll never have it broke in, tuned, and ready for a race event by then, but I plan to run the HPDE, test for my comp license, and run 'er through NASA tech to fnd out what I have yet to do.

Argh....

Rich

 

[terefic181]

It seems like it's always something, huh? It sound like you've got everything back under control and heading in the right directrion though.

Good luck with your upcoming run at Blackhawk!!!

 

[Slapnut]

Well, I got my 4g63 N/A swap completed into my 1992 Mits Mirage h/b this weekend. I can say with my whole heart and mind, that I WILL NEVER DO IT AGAIN. The thought of "shoe-horning" a 2.0dohc into a little car like this is just that.. A nice thought! What people do not tell you, is that it fits, but you need the radiator from the donor car because the "necks" for the hoses are to small on the stock 1. The air canister from the donor car will work Great with battery relocation, and in my case my battery has to be in the stock location, so I had to use the stock air can...HAHA right. I had to carefully make it fit with some punching and swearing, because the 4g63 wiring harness is in the way....SOB! Lets talk about power steering for a moment, HAHA not going to happen... the motor fits so tight in there, that the hoses for the p/s would rub the belt if I had it hooked up. I will takes some pics and post them tomorrow / later today. I think it looks cool, with that thing in there, but what a pain. I got it running too, which is a plus, but it surges at an idle. I adjusted the CAS and that seemed to help a lot. BTW the throttle cable is not the same from car - car either, so I had to improvise. It sounds Great... nice and strong, did i mention is a JGM 4g63 n/a mmmm cyclone.

 

[underradar92]

So, Rich, are you planning on R.A. on the 8-9th? Tim, you're not too far from Elkhart Lake WI, any chance of seeing you out there? That would be cool... Although it does sound like you've got a long way to go on the 'rage. For what it's worth, I've got my brakes & such, just waiting on rear s.s. hoses and long wheel studs.

 

[Slapnut]

as far as a track close to there, i think R.A. is about the only thing I could run. I figured it will cost me about $1k to go there for the weekend, even being 5.5 hrs away. And my car class would be SU or some jive like that. Greg?, how do those nascar looking cars run in your class? they don't have lights or anything do they? what about the doors opening?

 

[mavisky]

You should be able to run in Performance touring. You'd have to take a hit for the motor swap, and the weight reduction, but you should fit in there much better than the SU class.

 

[LaserDad91]

I’m baack……. Been a while since I have been here. I have been absolutely possessed with snowmobiles this past winter…and having a ball, even with the absence of snow. I am actually sad spring is coming, just did not get enough of that pure speed of a sled. But, getting back into the groove and starting to get the spring toys ready, like the boats. No plans to do anything to the Laser, add the spoiler and maybe sell it if I can get a Turbo AWD….

Well a long belated congrats on your championship, and sounds like all is progressing with the car and new season…..like you said, you got points and that is all part of the game.

Saw some comments about Mid Ohio, now that would be cool to actually see the car and meet you, I will defiantly keep that in mind.

Good luck!!

 

[Greg Collier]

I’m baack……. Been a while since I have been here. I have been absolutely possessed with snowmobiles this past winter…and having a ball, even with the absence of snow. I am actually sad spring is coming, just did not get enough of that pure speed of a sled. But, getting back into the groove and starting to get the spring toys ready, like the boats. No plans to do anything to the Laser, add the spoiler and maybe sell it if I can get a Turbo AWD….
Well a long belated congrats on your championship, and sounds like all is progressing with the car and new season…..like you said, you got points and that is all part of the game.
Saw some comments about Mid Ohio, now that would be cool to actually see the car and meet you, I will defiantly keep that in mind.
Good luck!!

It's good to see you're back... yeah this was a strange winter, warm in the Mid-West and snowing in Southern California. Our local mountains picked up a couple more inches of snow last night. WTF

Thanks for your continued support!

Greg