# 85 Burns up the track 2011 25 hr Thunder Hill race

[Mark Dougherty]

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Pictures added

Hello all
Well the 2011 Thunder Hill 25 hour race was awsome and frustrating at the same time. Boothman racing was better prepared this year than any year before.

the drivers:
Ed Boothman ( team owner )
John George ( also crew )
Paul Kaiser
Scott Mckay ( chear leader )
Dave Riha
Jim Schenck ( also crew )

the crew:
Joe Camire
Andy Cole
Brendan Dougherty
( myself ) Mark Dougherty
Bridget Kay
Greg Hall
plus many more

Friday test day went well. we cycled the drivers through the car. Tested the new fuel system, the source of much dispare in previous years now working perfectly. bedded the extra brake pads, heat cycled the new rubber. Mounted the new HID endurance lights. ( this car looked like the sun from the front over 30,000 lumen ). Set up the fuel rig with the new refill station. All the tents and food area, complete with heaters for all who came by. We took care of the small things nut and bolted the car three times over. we were ready. This was the year for us to run 25 of 25 hours.

Our car was fast
I mean fast enough to put us 8th on the grid out of 84 cars. the GTM was 7th. Row 4 all FFR's Sweet.
The Race started as planned John kept it clean we fell back a couple of spots which we predicted. Remember 25 hour race don't burn out to soon ( pun intended ). We ran 2 flawless hours staying in the top ten, and setting our fastested lap of the race 1.55 somthing. all according to the plan. Time for the first pit stop, fuel and driver change. John out and Paul with 32 gal. of fuel in just over 2 min. Great. Paul runs 1 1/2 hours trouble free keeping right around 2:00 min. lap times. Perfect enduro racing save the car, and fuel.

The dreaded call comes in we lost the trans. Paul can't make it last till the end of his stint. 2 hrs. We bring him in early to the paddock. All hands on deck as we try to diagnose the issue its not the trans. Something in the clutch and or cable. we decide to replace the cable. It works, Put Scott in the car. bring him on to pit lane top him off with fuel. He is out on track. We lost 40 min. ( insert bad words here ). Scott gives it the gas making up for lost time. Ripping off a set of laps hard to imagine. The clutch still having issues though feather soft, but not slipping.

While Scott is driving the crew Diagnoses the shifting issue We decide to send a runner to obtain a new clutch and preasure plate. 40 min. later the call comes in again. clutch is gone again. ( Darn the new parts arnt here yet. ) bring it in we will look at it. He stops in the pit shuts it off and it wont restart. We push it to the paddock, and decide to change the clutch and preasure plate. Now the crew is in high gear and the parts are flying. just as the trans comes out the new parts arrive. We disscover the clutch disc came apart (metal fatique ). This is good at least we know know the trans is good. we install a new starter as it all goes together. Scott is back in. He stops for fuel on the way out of pit lane.

High fives and fist bumps all around. Scott was in and out in 1 hour. The car is back to perfect, and the lap times show it.
The bad is we are now 64th. ( insert a lot of bad words here ). I can not tell you how much that hurts to qualify 8th on the grid and to fall all the way back to 64. The drivers know what they have to do though. The fuel and driver stops go quickly, and according to plan. It is amazing the difference in fuel consumption between the different drivers. With the new fuel system we can run the cell just about dry. 32 gal. cell 32 gal. fuel stops. WOW

As the night goes on for the first time in 4 years we are able to rotate crew in and out. We can spend time visiting with friends and watching other teams thrash on their own cars. At midnight Andy Cole hands me the headphones.
It is his turn to rest I have the night shift. ..........Yes the headphones of power are now mine. arrr arrr arrr. I now have a captive audience for the next 4 hours the drivers can't outrun my little quips and comments. LOL
No really I had to promise to not talk unless nessary

My night shift is uneventful pitstops go according to schedual. the drivers tear up the track getting us back up to 28th. We even catch the Thunder valley Coupe which is no small feat this year. By 5 am Andy is back on the radio and It is my turn for a rest. Sleeping at these events is a event in itself. The military guys tell me its called Hot racking. One guy gets off the couch of a rented motorhome and the next guy is on it before it even cools down.
Oh sweet sleep how I have missed you.

At 5:30 am yes 1/2 hour later I here the track pa system calling for a red flag. This is bad. When at the track you never want to here the words red flag it is never a good thing. I drag myself off the couch and out to the pits and find the heater to get a little warmth into me. Andy asks me if I heard what is happening. Nope
He then tells me we are on fire ( many bad words here ) I then ask who it is he looks at me and says it is our team (insert those words again ) It just did not register right away how could this be. More importantly how is our driver who is in the car, how did this happen. We had made it all the way up to 26th

Andy explains to me they just did a pitstop 2 laps ago Scott is in the car with a full load of fuel. He called in on the radio saying something is loose on the car, maybe a broken suspension. They decide for him to come in next time around but he doesn't make it that far. The next thing on the radio is Scott saying fire and hes getting out.
Scott pulled off in turn 1 and the flames rolled around the car. He was smart enough to get it away from the track and was half unbuckled before he was even stopped. Once stopped he was out faster than you could say his name. Scott was unharmed ( thank god). I can not say enough good things about ThunderHill Raceway, NASA, and all the track workers they were there ASAP and promptly put the fire out. and made sure Scott was ok. TY Mike Easton and all your crew at the track.
It seamed like an eternity for all of us in the pit to hear word finally it came he was ok and the car was being towed back in. Once back in the paddock we had the oppertunity to look the car over and see just what happened. Our race was over

Post incident we determined the cause of the fire. The car was modified after being born at FFR. One of the mods was the addition of a 32 gal. fuel cell for endurance racing. when the cell was added three years ago it was done in a shop in FL. The new cell was 50 % larger, and 50% heavier than the cell designed by FFR. Bracing was added to the original mounts to support it. Through the years of endurance racing these braces fatigued and failed. The failure was in a place not able to be seen when doing the visual safety inspections or the many nut and bolt checks. One thing is for sure endurance racing will always find the weakest link.
Rest assured the tuffness of the FFR design is unequalled. this car can and will be fixed for next season. Ty FFR for such a well designed and safe race car. Now it is time to rest up from the long season. visit with family and enjoy the Holidays.

Congrats go out to the other FFR teams that compete in such grueling contests.
Thunder Valley Racing FFR type 65 coupe
PDG FFR GTM
Coons / awander FFR challange car

untill next season
Mark Dougherty

[johngeorge]

Mark, great writeup!

Ill be working on videos for sure and hope to get them up by this weekend. One of my Go-Pros got very burned and do not have that footage.

Here are some pics from lifeblasters.com:




and..

[Movieman]

Thank God your driver wasn't harmed.

[Jim Schenck]

Thats right, most importantly no one was hurt. The car can always be replaced or in this case repaired.

Really was a fantastic effort this year, great crew, great drivers, great car. All the little details were really working out this year and all the learning on the car from the previous 3 years was starting to show, both in the cars on track performance and in the pit stops. Probably why this year stings a little more.

[Dave Smith]

Mark, Thanks for the excellent write-up. Just too much heart-attack pace this year. HUGE kudos to all the crews and we will re-group and see where to go from here, but enjoy the holidays for now. Every FFR customer OWES you guys who are racing as the designs we make have been changed so much over the years as a result of this commitment and passion and trial. I am in AWE.

[Joe]

Well that's the first FFR I've ever seen on fire! I'm glad nobody got hurt. I enjoyed following along online this past weekend. Go get 'em next year!

jamesonpic.jpg

[TimC]

Mark, another plug for an excellent recap. I'm especially glad everyone is safe and sound. Good timing the tank was almost full and not nearly empty.
Since everyone is fine I can say this; "y'all went out in a blaze, just not a blaze of glory."

[Mark Dougherty]

Yep Tim
for sure we were HOT this year. LOL

[crash]

So sorry to see this happen to you guys.

One of these years all the FFR cars need to have strong finishes.

It would be GREAT to have two or even three FFR cars on the podium at such a prestigious event.

[Mark Dougherty]

that would be great Crash
it was really awsome to have all of row 4 FFR's. talk about the 2 extreams the super style of the GTM, next to the vintage FFR Challange car.
I am so proud of you and you team. You guys really run a tight ship, and i am glad you finally had a little luck to show this.
Next year the other teams should watch out If luck goes our way you will be looking forward of row 4 to see an FFR.
Later
Mark D

[Mark Dougherty]

How would you like this running up behind you at 3 am when you are tired as hall.
yep 30,000 lumens

[crash]

About the only thing I was pleased about after seeing the car burning on the side of the track was the fact that I would no longer have to suffer those lights in my mirrors! LOL

I think we are looking into some of those for next year.

[rely]

I'm a lurker who loves the integrity of Factory Five and the enthusiasm that this forum fosters. The fire in the Boothman car and the rollover in the Salvaggio coupe both underscore the real risks all of us take while on the racetrack even for short events. I'mthankful there were no injuries.
I faintly remember Carrol Smith writing about a catastrophic failure on a Ford GT that previously been in a fire. I believe that he felt that parts that had endured a fire were suspect in some way afterward, possibly from some metalurgic change.
I hope that when the roadster is rebuilt that caution ensures the future safety of that fine group of drivers.

[Mark Dougherty]

rely
thanks for thinking about that.
we have 4 engineers involved with the team and that question came up before the car even cooled down. testing is to be done before the rebuild.
Thats why the FFR forums are great everyones got each others back.
Later
Mark D

[FFRSpec72]

There must not have been other roadsters at the track or I could have imagned that this article would be a little different http://jalopnik.com/5865185/why-you-...endurance-race

[johngeorge]

Here is the race start video: http://vimeo.com/33401052

More to come this weekend!

[Richard Oben]

Great write up and great great job by all involved. Endurance racing is not for the weak, it is brutal on all involved. Congrats and condolences on the fire. Richard.

[Meredith Kay]

I got a pretty good play-by-play recap from my sister (Bridget) last night. I have got to get out there one of these years. I'd love to see our kits in action! Its pretty awesome to hear that Karen's coupe survived a rollover with little to no damage to the car or the driver. As for #85... well... good luck with the rebuild! Get it back up and going so I can come check out a race sometime. Glad you all made it out of there safe and sound!

[johngeorge]

More incar videos: http://vimeo.com/33414941

[johngeorge]

Paul Kaiser's incar: http://vimeo.com/33419313

[johngeorge]

Scott McKay driving stupid fast at night:
http://vimeo.com/33433539