Official 25 Hours of Thunderhill thread

Just heard from JG. He sounds very, very tired.

That guy's right. And as my final act before bed, I leave you all with this coagulation of the weekend's posts:

But first, a rant against the Super 8 motel in Willows, CA.

Hey, Super 8. Putting a "non-smoking" sign on the door of a motel room 20 minutes before I check in does not make the room "non-smoking." You know, I've cut you guys a lot of slack over the years, because Willows is a small town and I'm not expecting much, but damn, that "non-smoking" room was so smoky I felt like I was trying to sleep on the set of "Mad Men." Now I feel like warmed-over hell because of sleeping in that king-bed equipped ashtray you call a "non-smoking" room. Your hotel has never been the best, and that's okay. Your free wireless with a strong signal and frugal price tag has always served my needs well, and I looked past the occasional stained towel or worn carpet. Having NFL Network was also a plus, as well.

but over the years I've been staying there your facility has turned from the kind of place you take a hooker to kill her to the kind of place you take her to let her live, because that's a far crueler fate.

But this was the last straw. I was supposed to spend Sunday evening there as well, but my health wouldn't have taken it. and the room was prepaid. I sucked it up and made a reservation at the place I stayed Thursday night, which is the Ramada Inn in Williams, 20 miles south. Even did it on my own nickel, because the company shouldn't have to pay for my $55 mistake of checking into a hotel room that smells like Amy Winehouse.

Maybe it's a cultural thing. Maybe in the land that the owners of the Super 8 are from, a "non-smoking" sign only refers to the current occupant, not the room itself. If that's the case, it's my mistake, and I'll apologize profusely, as soon as I can speak normally again and not through a stoma.

By the way, the Ramada Inn in Williams is a bit too far to stay on race weekend, but it's perfect for night inbound or outbound. No NFL network, but internet, mini micro and mini fridge are all thumbs-up. And I don;t think anyone has ever smoked anything in this room. I have a can of Blue diamond Smoked Almonds sitting next to me, and I feel a little guilty about those.

Okay. I feel better... On with the recap;

Link to complete photo gallery.Includes some updates from this morning.

First video with the team

interview with Lee Niffenegger about the Honda CR-Z racecars.

Interview with John Doonan of Mazda about the B-Spec class.

And, finally, our post-crash talk is here

If you happen to have knowledge of all of the class winners, you might be the only person on earth with that info. Since NASA's live timing took a dump, and nobody has actually announced who has won.

Looks like results are up on mylaps

T&S was buggy all weekend, but I do know that Mercer (porsche GT3) appeared to have won overall, followed by the M3s of road shagger racing and Nitto Tire wh were awful close to each other.

E3 was likely the #2 Miatacage car, which is just a missle and a well-oiled machine of a team.

E2 was one of the Robert Davis RX8s.

Beyond that, I'm guessing even more.

jg

Thanks for the update, JG.

The motel thing just sounds weird. On my first trip to California this summer, I thought that I was the only smoker in the entire state (I was lucky, it was summer, and it was warm enought that I could spend damn near all night outside). Don't know why you had to put up with that stuff.

Please tell me you ate at Granzella's

Uh, the company would totally shell out 55 extra dollars to keep you from becoming a wheezing, phlegm-spewing misanthrope.

Just don't try to put your victims on the expense account.

Margie

JG Pasterjak wrote: but over the years I've been staying there your facility has turned from the kind of place you take a hooker to kill her to the kind of place you take her to let her live, because that's a far crueler fate.

I am not the type to throw out the LOL's all willy-nilly but I must say that for this comment I actually Laughed Out Loud in all capital letters.

In reply to trekkor:

I was the driver of the 81 car, I got hit pretty hard. Going into T1 car 22 and I collided, his right front hit my left rear, causing me to end up perpendicular to the course, in the racing line (exit of T1). I was trying to restart the car as it had stalled, but it wouldn't restart, a few cars did manage to get by, but car 43 wasn't so lucky. I was told he was doing ~100mph at time of impact. right or wrong, I got walloped pretty good. As KT mentioned both myself and the driver involved in the crash are ok. I'm sore, but that's about it... A big thanks needs to go out to the NASA safety team who took great care Tom and myself, and everyone else who needed their help during the event. They are volunteers who sit in the cold and rain to rescue us when we need them. Talk about awesome. If you get a chance at a NASA event to thank them you should, they are doing this in their spare time, and aren't paid.

-Ken

thatsnowinnebago wrote: Please tell me you ate at Granzella's

I did not, but I will when I get home.

jg