There’s a Ford in Your Future: 1996 |
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The only decent picture I have from 1996. Sights from St. Pete. |
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| SCCA
Enterprises, Inc. CSR Conference Call March 13, 1996 In attendance: Lars Hansen, Patc Henry, Chip Korenek, Dave Liddle, Casey Korenek, George Bovis, Dave Skinner, John Willes, Joe Tabor, Don Blenderman, Bill Thompson, Mick Robinson, Greg Lapinski, Dave Helms and Ray La Rue Patc-This will be her last conference call. She is leaving with a smile on her face, that all is well with Enterprises and will continue to be so. Introduced Lars. Lars-Happy to be here and Patc will continue to be involved. New CSR, Bill Thompson, has purchased Intercar. Contract will run until the end of June, same as everyone else. Darryl Almasy is traveling and will not be with us on this call. Dave Liddle-updates: 1) FM 100: if you have any cars with chassis # 600 and above, SCCA will pay for replacement until April 1,1996. 53 so far have been taken care of. Not legal after 1/1/97. Contact Dave with any cars not changed. 2) Unusual brake pad problem at Sebring: Performance Friction says no change in compound. Mick doesn’t agree. Dave has not been able to reach anyone in quality control this week. Lars said he will get with them and call Mick back. 3) Rules: Enterprises will no longer be involved in rule changes regarding SR and SRF. All change requests must be sent to the Comp. Board at 9033 E. Easter Place, Englewood, CO 80112. Dave will serve on the board ad hoc. If the Board receives a request from 5 CSR’s and 20 car owners, it will be impressed. Dave will be sitting in on its conference calls and meetings to help. 4) Engine Availability: 30 engines are sealed and available at Roush for shipment. 5) Questions: Lead seal on the camshaft. Has been done away with, not necessary anymore. Ford engine- short life. Fax the information and description of the problem to Darryl Almasy at Roush and a copy to Dave at Enterprises.. Don Blenderman-Is there going to be a change in the wheels? NO, in fact Jeff Jordan of Weld will be calling each CSR to discuss any concerns you may have and answer any questions. There are rumors about a change, not true. Patc-Will have a clarification appear in the next FasTrack to clear this up. Enterprises has another full page ad in the April issue, &147;Expose Yourself” done by Doug Reed. Includes all CSR addresses, phone and fax numbers. Spec Racers on the cover of a magazine called Performance Racing Industry which just came out. Article inside sent to all CSR’s. D C Insurance does not have an underwriter, do not use them. Risk Management is working on an “on-track” plan now. Hope to have information out to everyone in less than 60 days. Don Blenderman-Pricing-another source for the Renault upright? John Willes is working on this, has drawings and will get a set of prototypes made up as soon as possible. Cheaper? Of course. Body parts-Need to request a little less glass in the rear
section, too heavy. Noses are very nice, quality is great, just too much weight. Slots not
being cut out completely. SCCA ENTERPRISES, INC. Effective immediately, all Customer Service Representatives are authorized to inspect, repair and rebuild the Ford transaxles. To maintain the integrity of our program, it is essential to continue sealing all transaxles. Please work with Dave Liddle to keep up the seal data base and to obtain seals. For those CSR’s who do not want to perform transaxle
work, Enterprises will still be available to service the units as in the past. ROUSH INDUSTRIES Roush Technologies has implemented a running change regarding engine mount, P/N 1301. The new part is designated as PIN 1301A and may be identified by double wall construction in the horizontal section of the part. Starting in February 1996, all conversion kits shipped from Roush have included the new engine mount. Roush has established 2 approved methods that allow for in-vehicle replacement of P/N 1301 with P/N 1301A that will not cause damage to any other components. Owners are cautioned against using any other method which may cause consequential damage to related parts. Method 1 is the hydraulic floor jack method. With the vehicle on a level surface, chock both sides of the front tires to prevent vehicle from rolling. Using a rectangular shaped wooden board that fully covers the metal cup of the "common style" hydraulic floor jack, the jack should be positioned under the engine’s oil pan. Care should be taken to insure that the board covers the metal cup and that the board is not located vertically below either the vehicle’s frame or the shifter rod mechanism. Slowly raise the jack, checking the board’s alignment upon contact with the oil pan. Raise the jack just enough so that the engine’s weight is supported by the jack. Remove the engine mount (P/N 1301) and re-install engine mount (P/N 1301A) using the same fasteners. Tighten the bolts. Lower and remove the hydraulic floor jack and wooden board. Tag the take-out engine mount (P/N 1301) with name, address, phone, date removed, and chassis number and return to your local CSR. Method 2 is the hydraulic engine hoist method. With the vehicle on a level surface, chock both sides of the front tires to prevent the vehicle from rolling. Using a hydraulic engine hoist, position the hoist’s lifting hook vertically above the engine’s front lifting eye. Using a chain & hook assembly, attach the hoist’s lifting hook to the engine’s lifting eye. Slowly raise the engine hoist just enough so that the engine’s weight is supported by the hoist. Remove the engine mount (P/N 1301) and re-install engine mount (P/N 1301A) using the same fasteners. Tighten the bolts. Lower and remove the hoist and chain & hook assembly. Tag the take-out engine mount (P/N 1301) with name, address, phone, date removed, and chassis number and return to your local CSR. Further clarification of any of the information contained
in this technical service bulletin can be obtained by contacting your local CSR or SCCA
Enterprises. SCCA Enterprises, Inc. Engine Mount Part Replacement Programs Roush Technologies has proposed a core exchange program to allow us to offer the new part to you on a low-cost exchange basis. The technical details of replacing the mount are described in the attached Technical Service Bulletin. The new part is designated as P/N 0391301A and may be identified by double wall construction in the horizontal section of the part. If you already have the new part, you need not participate in this program. The replacement program logistics are as follows: 2. Follow the Roush Technical Service Bulletin to remove old mount from car. 3. Tag the old mount with your name, address, phone number, date removed and chassis number. 4. Turn the old engine mount and $30.00 into your local CSR and receive new mount. 5. The program expires August 15, 1996. This is an optional replacement program, and the old and the new engine mounts are both legal in the SRF class. The problems experienced with the old engine mounts have not been consistent. Roush Technologies will receive all cores for analysis and may call you to ask a few questions. Link Tie Rods and Lower Ball Joint Stud
If you have any of the affected items, your local CSR will replace at no cost. We trust you agree with the benefits of these programs.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your local CSR or us at SCCA
Enterprises. SCCA PRO RACING Dear Ford Spec Racer: The specific issues seem to be primarily aimed at paddock assignment and schedules. I have to be totally honest and say that as an entry level series you will generally find yourself with the short end of the stick in these areas. While we can certainly have our say when assigning paddock areas and working out the schedules the promoter has at least as much if not more say in the end. At Topeka, the Spec Racer race was added to the weekend at our request after the weekend was “set.” At Minneapolis, as you know, we only have two days this year and after looking at all options we decided it made sense both logistically and economically to have one series do all its running on one day. Our Trans-Am Championship with some of the finest road racers in the country suffers similarly when we run with CART. While we enjoy running with the large crowds, we have to accept the fact that we are second fiddle to the needs and wishes of IndyCar. Our race last Saturday at Detroit scheduled to start at 4:15 finally did start at 5:30. If we continue to draw the strong Spec Racer fields that we’ve had lately and continue the wonderful racing you’ve had, the promoters will start paying attention. When that happens, things get better. Lars also mentioned a general feeling of lack of support, promotional and otherwise, for the Spec Racer program from Pro Racing. Quite frankly, that is upsetting. Of the eleven professional series we sanction Spec Racer probably gets as much attention as any but the Trans-Am Championship. We collect and distribute the same kind and number of statistics as the others. We started this year with five race weekends where Pro Racing series were all or virtually all of the show. With the realignment of Dallas, that number is now four. At each of these events we included a Spec Racer race even though there was at least one other series in each case wanting the spot. These include groups on which our profit margin is a lot higher than it is for Spec Racers. Please believe that we are committed to grow the Spec Racer series and would like to see it prosper. With the racers being built by one of our sister companies it makes all the sense in the world for us to support this series. We would welcome your criticisms, suggestions, or any ideas you might have for improving the series. I would ask that you put these in writing as it is then much easier to read them and respond to them during “non-office” hours. Due to the press of business and a fairly aggressive travel schedule, calls to the office won’t get that much attention. Please let me hear from you. Best Regards, SCCA Enterprises, Inc. Although the Roush Ford Spec Racer Installation Instructions, or RFSRII, describes the method of driveline conversion, much has been learned from testing and racing the cars since its publication. SCCA Enterprises recommends having your CSR perform the conversion, however should you choose to do this yourself, here are some items not covered in the RFSRII. An alternative thermostat allowed is the Stant part number 35828/BT 382 180. Installation of this thermostat requires replacing the rubber sealing gasket and thermostat housing-to-head gasket, both available at Ford dealers or after-market suppliers. It is recommended to use an extended length of hose to run between the cam cover and the air box, routing the hose forward and up along the roll bar support from the cam cover, before looping the vent hose back down to the air box. This is to keep oil from potentially running directly from the engine’s cam-cover vent to the air filter. Alternative (recommended) location of the water temp gauge sender is as follows: In the “piccolo tube”, where P/N 1817 is previously installed, use a “tee” fitting with 3/8 in. NPT male threads on one end, and 3/8 in. female threads on the other two ends. Install P/N 1817 in one end of the tee and route the hose as before to the expansion bottle. In the other port of the tee install a 1/8 in. female to 3/8 in. NPT male adapter. Install the temp sender into the adapter. The following items were included in the 1996 rule book: Spark plug wire looms are allowed. Exhaust gasket, Ford part number FOFZ 9448 A is allowed. It is permitted to remove the gear from the end of the transmission speed sensor/dipstick or replace that part with an appropriate metal plug. It is permitted to remove wiring harness plugs which are not used in the Ford conversion. The following items will be included in any future printings of the assembly manual: Although the RFSRII states clamps are not required on fuel and oil lines where they push on to the barbed fittings, their use may provide additional security. Heat insulating wrap should be placed on the underside of the coolant expansion bottle. It is recommended to cut the gray with yellow tracer wire in the oxygen sensor pigtail so the heating element cannot drain the battery. Due to a production running change in the gearboxes, the shift linkage will now attach differently to the selector shaft. On current gearboxes, a bolt will go through the “T” -shaped piece at the end of the selector shaft, and then a “fish-mouth” spacer is positioned onto the lower side of the “T”. The universal joint at the rear end of the linkage fits up against the spacer, with the bolt going all the way through the u-joint and a nyloc nut tightened onto the bolt. Fuel filter part number FLIPR-6AN manufactured by Total
Seal is allowed to be used between the fuel cell and the inlet side of the pump.
When this filter is used, the small, “sock” filter in the surge box is no longer
necessary.
From Fastrak 12-96 These springs have been approved for competition by the Board of Directors effective
immediately. 1996 Spec Racer Ford Pro Series Results Spec Racer Pro Series: Round 1
Losers in the extra qualifying lottery were Ray Senkevich (LTS Motorsports), Donna Liscandro (TRP Racing), and Orval E. Brown (Children’s Medical Center) who improved, but not quite enough, and W. Neil Brown (Security Protection of Tulsa), who failed to lower his time. Each had qualified within the top 45 on Saturday, but got bumped out of the race on Sunday and began the long tow home early. Qualifying positions were important. More than one competitor worried that it would be impossible to battle their way to the front past other cars with exactly the same potential as their own in the short, 27-lap race. The paddock sages were saying that if you didn’t start in the top 10, you wouldn’t be there at the end. But when the dust settled, David Donovan (Air Flight, Inc.) had moved up from a 15th starting position, driving smoothly and steadily to take over the fourth spot in the last turn on the last lap of the race. And Johnny Santo Spirito (Santo Spirito Racing), who had wrecked during Saturday’s qualifying session, made no mistakes on his march from 21st on the grid to eighth in the race. It was certainly no surprise, though, that the top three finishers in the race came from the first three rows on the grid. At the green flag, it was pole sitter Warren Stilwell (Stilwell Racing) who led the way, and the next three places on the grid formed right up behind him. Chris Funk (Applebee’s) got around his teammate, Keith Scharf (Valvoline/Team Am/Applebee’s), while the rest of the field pushed and shoved for positions. Within a lap, Cameron Earnshaw (Sports Car Ltd.) was hard into the wall, the first retiree. Within a few laps the field began to stretch apart. James Goughary Jr. (Red Line Oil) slipped by Neil Tilbor (Tyco RC Dagger) to challenge Stilwell and the pair began to pull away. Peter Frank (La Rue Motorsports) put Scharf back another place, where the former Spec Racer National champion stayed to watch the action for most of the race. Tilbor and Funk battled hard, but eventually Funk prevailed and Tilbor dropped back to fourth. Around the course, numerous incidents were taking place, creating no passing zones and narrowing the course. But miraculously, most of them cleared themselves and the race was allowed to continue. Stilwell and Goughary traveled around, nose to tail, Goughary trying any way he could to get by. The few times he managed to gain an advantage in the corners, Stilwell would take it back on the straights. Before too long, Funk caught up to the pair and joined the fray. As the leaders encountered traffic, Tilbor and Frank joined the lead pack, but were unable to stay there for long. Frank took over the fourth spot, only to lose it again within the same lap. Frank got around again, but this time his timing was perfect, as the safety car was called out and for several laps the field was forced to suspend racing. When the green flew and the contest resumed, Scharf was ready to move. He pushed Tilbor back another position and went after Frank, who had tucked up under Funk’s rear deck. Stilwell and Goughary pulled away from this furious battle for third, taking advantage of the open track in front of them. Goughary still could not find an edge over Stilwell, who clearly had a more effective power train. Frank briefly took third, but teammates Funk and Scharf both moved by. Goughary kept the pressure on the leader, hoping for Stilwell to bobble; and with just two laps to go, he did. Exiting the third turn, a 90-degree left-bander, Stilwell got a little wide and was caught without enough traction to hold the car off the wall. Goughary slipped by, and although Funk and Scharf tucked right in behind, he never gave way and stayed in front to the checker. “I had a great race to watch,” declared Funk, who had spent most of it trying to get into the battle for the lead. Stilwell and Goughary had struggled more than 23 laps, separated by less than a tick on the clock. “Once Warren was gone I forgot where all of my turn-ins and brake points were,” lamented Goughary, who barely survived Funk’s last lap challenge. “I really like the course,” claimed the exuberant winner. “It felt like a hot wheels track. I kept waiting for the loop!” -Laurie Sheppard
Spec Racer Pro Series: Round 2
“My strategy, such as it was, was to get ahead and stay ahead,” Stilwell said later, “but I got into a dogfight [and] got wide in Turn Two. John stuck his nose inside and passed. I went into the dirt and from then on just tried to salvage as much as I could.” While Stilwell dropped back, Scharf was moving up. On lap 17 he took the lead for the first time, working the traffic beautifully. However, the next lap Collier retook the lead, and from that tiine on, the two of them battled intensely. Goughary and Stilwell were right behind, probing for a way past and standing ready to pounce if anybody bobbled. As impossible as it may seem, the battle for first grew more intense in the last three laps. Scharf repeatedly tried to make a pass on the inside of Turn Eight, at the end of the long straight. However, although he could get alongside Collier, John was always able to carry a little more speed, as the inside line was dirtier and provided less grip for Scharf. Collier had the leader’s advantage of being able to choose his line and that small advantage was just enough to make a difference. “I was pinched to the inside”, recounted Scharf. “The back end began bouncing and I couldn’t carry it through. Besides, if I had, Collier would have been on the inside on the next turn. He was in control.” -Tom Schultz Spec Racer Pro Series: Round 3 Stilwell had the pole and the lead for the first three laps until passed by Funk on lap four. Funk, up from fourth on the grid, held on until lap 10, when Collier, who gridded second, took over. His first stay was brief, as Neil Tilbor came on for three laps, but Collier then regained the lead on lap 16. He stayed in front until four laps from the end, when Stilwell’s pressure paid off and he prevailed for the victory. After finishing 34th at the opening round in St. Pete, Stilwell) has steadily improved his results and halfway through the six-race season is now third in the points with 34, trailing Mosport winner Collier (41) and St. Pete winner James Goughary (42), sixth in Kansas. Spec Racer Pro Series: Round 4 In all, 52 cars made the field. Qualifying under dry conditions on the 1.6-mile street course saw the pole change hands several times before Robert Mumm claimed it, with Chris Funk next in his Applebee’s example, followed by David Donovan, Goughary and Leo Capaldi. Topeka winner Stilwell was eighth, Mosport victor John Collier Jr., ninth and BJ. Zacharias, 10th. The green flew after a heavy storm and five cars were out before the end of the lap, with several more spinning. That set the tone for the race, as the rain-slickened asphalt continuously sent cars into spins, or worse, into the walls.
Alas, prosperity did not last. The next lap, Keith went into the chicane too hard, locked up, and Goughary was past. While the lead would be Goughary’s for the rest of the race, Scharf recovered fast and applied the pressure. Never more than a length or two behind, Scharf tried every trick in the book, but Goughary was wise to them all. Several full-course yellows to retrieve cars that had banged into the concrete meant that Goughary always had a train of snarling Spec Racers in his mirrors. Donovan held third until the 17th of 26 laps, when he made contact while contesting the position with Tony Buffamonte. Donovan dropped out, but Buffamonte continued to run third until lap 21, when he, too, fell by the wayside. Meanwhile, Stilwell was having an up and down day. Twice he overcooked it and had to reverse out of an escape road, but he stormed back each time, took third when Buffamonte disappeared and kept that final podium spot until the end. Three-time Tour de France winner Greg Lemond made his professional auto racing debut in this race, and a very successful one it was. Qualifying 26th, he kept out of trouble, off the walls and moved up smartly, claiming 12th at the finish. Impressive indeed. Afterwards, Goughary acknowledged that it had been tough.
“There was pressure all race. Keith was always right there, filling my
mirrors. This was as close as it gets!” With two more races to go, four
drivers have a title shot.
Spec Racer Pro Series: Season Review SCCA planned a longer season for the 1996 Spec Racer Ford pro Series, but the end kept falling off, leaving a mere five races on the schedule. First, Dallas dropped off, then the “Plan B” doubleheader at Sebring fell by the wayside. News of the year’s abrupt ending came at what turned into the series season finale at Reno. Immediately following the announcement, James Goughary Jr. let loose a huge sigh of relief. Suddenly all he had to do was finish ninth or better and he’d walk away clean with the Spec Racer Ford Pro championship in his pocket.
“It was my best year ever,” said Goughary after knocking two-time winner Scharf off the pedestal by a 10-point 76-to-66 margin. “We spent a lot of hours in the garage, behind the scenes and it paid off. The car handled the best it’s ever handled.” Goughary won the St. Petersburg season opener, but the next two events, Mosport and Heartland Park Topeka, proved a tad more difficult. “Mosport favors experience and the last time I’d driven it was 10 years ago,” sald Goughary “I never led a lap, but you could have thrown a napkin over all of us. I finished fourth, but it felt like I’d won.” John Collier Jr., who finished fourth overall in the series, took the victory at Mosport, while Topeka fell to Stilwell. Goughary scored his worst finish of the year-sixth-at Topeka, but the brand-new street-course event in Minneapolis put everyone back on a level playing field. A torrential downpour added drama to an already hot-and-heavy points race among the front-runners. Goughary ended up with the win, escaping with a narrow one-point lead going into Reno, but only after a fierce battle with Scharf and Stilwell. From there, Goughary needed only a ninth at Reno. Thus, his third topped his season off quite nicely, thank you. It was far from a cake walk. This is, after all, Spec Racer Ford, where qualifiers stuff themselves into the first second like college students into phone booths. With only five races, elbow room was scarce. For both Scharf and Stilwell, the deciding factor was one little problem each, that proved insurmountable in a five-race year.
“I sat out ‘95, didn't even own a car, but Chris Funk talked me into running this year,” explained Scharf, who took second in the championship, two points ahead of Stilwell. “We finished on the podium four out of five times, but the electrical problem in Topeka did it. We were disappointed about Sebring, but we also understood it was out of our hands.” Stilwell’s hopes for a third-consecutive Spec Racer Ford title were shattered right out of the gate when he hit the wall, while leading, with his family-backed (Sumner and Mary) Stilwell Racing entry in St. Pete. After that, neither his Topeka win, nor a second at Reno and a pair of thirds at Mosport and Minneapolis could put his hopes back together again. “I’m not too wild about street circuits,” said Stilwell, who found the St. Pete wall three laps from a probable victory“. Jim and Keith are great on the streets, so I went in worried about performing well with them. Then the crash set the tone for the rest of the season. Watching 20 points go down the drain and knowing the wall was there made me a little nervous. After that I was pushing real hard, and aware that sometimes you go over the edge.” John Collier Jr. won Mosport, finished second at Topeka and fourth in Minneapolis; but an 11th at St. Pete and a 21st at Reno sealed his fourth-place berth, nine points ahead of Neil Tilbor, who scored season-high fourths at Heartland Park Topeka and Reno. Peter Frank took sixth ahead of Chris Funk, who had one of those bad years where nothing went right. Frank’s bests were a pair of sixths at Mosport and Reno. Funk started the season with a second at St. Pete, but never saw the top-10 again. Eighth-place finisher Tony Buffomante’s season featured a third at Topeka, along with two more top-10’s. After a dismal race in Minneapolis, he opted out of a Reno run. Robert Mumm and Mike Buck rounded out the series’ top 10. Mumm scored a fifth at Topeka and a ninth at Mosport, but the remaining three events didn’t help his cause. Meanwhile, Buck highlighted his season with a sixth at Minneapolis to take the final top-10 spot. Although still not final, hopes are that the 1997 Spec Racer Ford Pro Series schedule will feature more races, thus giving these drivers the showcase they really deserve. With such close racing, after all, Spec Racer Ford is no place for wimps. 1996 Spec Racer Pro Series Results Miscellany from 1996 |
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| Feedback | ||||||||||||||
| I welcome your comments or ideas on this
information. Feel free to drop me a line via “Comments for the
Bro’s”. Barry |
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Every session saw its
share of damage done, but Spec Racers bring spare parts (and even spare cars); and by the
time Sunday morning arrived, there were still 55 cars in the hunt. The decision was
made to allow only 45 cars to start the race, so an additional qualifying session was
added to the schedule to give the cars on the bubble the best chance possible. Only
the 20 slowest cars were allowed out, making it possible to find some clear track, and
some people used it to their advantage. Mick Robinson (3 Dot Graphics), whose best finish
last year was a fifth at Mosport, showed the most improvement, knocking 4.l30 sec off his
previous time. Despite an early spin, Robinson then managed to haul himself up to
27th position in the race.
At the start, Stilwell
used the pole position to take the initial lead. Goughary had his Red Line Oil
example second, with Collier third. Scharf was running a couple ticks back in fourth
place. For the first 14 laps, Stilwell led by a perilously thin margin over Collier.
Then he made a slight bobble, putting two wheels off the track, which caused him to
lose some momentum. In a flash, he was fourth.
Mumm jumped into the lead,
but it was very short-lived. On lap three he spun, dropping to 10th. This
gave the lead to Scharf, who had an amazing start, climbing from 11th to third on the
first go-around. “I moved up two spots right away,” recounted Scharf,
“then two more cars spun in the chicane blocking one whole side of the grid. In
front of me a hole opened and I drove past almost everybody.” On lap two he
passed Donovan, and when Mumm bobbled, first was his.
Thus, instead of going for his
third win of the year, Goughary played it cool, finished third behind season-long rivals
Keith Scharf and Warren Stilwell, and clinched it with his Red line Oil-backed entry
For Scharf, it was an
electrical malfunction that shut down his Valvoline/Applebee’s/Team America entry at
Heartland Park Topeka. He finished a no-points 36th, which dictated second in the
championship race. Other than that, he had a great season, including his Reno win, seconds
at Mosport and Minneapolis and a third at St. Pete.