Bad Cat Racing

So more than a few people have commented to me that they didn’t
exactly see me in the episode of “Jesse James is a Dead
Man” that we claimed we were in.

Understandable, I think our total screen time came out to about
ten seconds for several hours in front of all those cameras that
day.

In comes Adobe Premiere and it’s screen capture feature to the
rescue.  I grabbed a few screenies that I’ll comment on.”

Right at the beginning, this footage… taken from my helmet
with my VHoldR camera the prior season while passengering for Sarah
Finley on the CSR Jesse James would be driving in this
episode.

That’s me on the back of #3 behind that mirrored visor
passengering for Sarah Finley for the shoot

Passing Leon on the inside of the banked hairpin

That’s my back to the camera, trademark baseball cap on
backwards, Sarah Finely at the front of the Becker F1 assisting me
in lifting the body off.

Those are my hands setting the torque wrench to 80 ft.lbs.
to set the lug nuts on the wheels.  Why they dubbed in a
ratcheting noise for the show I have no idea.

And that’s me setting the torque on aforementioned lug
nuts.

I don’t even remember what I was doing here… I think I was
checking the rear caliper.  Sarah has her hand on the brake
pedal.

That’s my ugly mug behind that mirrored visor.  VHoldR
loved that.  Their sponsored athlete sporting their wearable
digital video recorder right there for the world to see.

That’s us second to last at the back of the bus, start of
the first lap.  Team orders from the producers were to keep it
dialed down several notches and make sure Mr. James came in at
least up front.  It felt like I could have hopped off the
platform and jogged faster in my leathers than we were going.

Hopefully he’ll come back at some point to play with us without
the cameras and producers. We can show him how much fun you can
really have in the F1’s if you let them stretch their legs when the
helicopter parents (producers) are not around worrying you
might get hurt. You have to get them going fast to really appreciate
what they are capable of, to let them truly sing.

If anybody wants to see the full episode, Spike has it online.

http://www.spike.com/full-episode/sidecar-racing/33052

-Mike-

Another Sixth on Sunday in the F1 class. We had 5th in our sights. As every racer always says, Another lap and I would have had them…

To give you an idea of just how technical the Miller East configuration is… Here’s the Warm Up lap from our VHoldR. Which due to the battery issues is the only video we got all weekend.

The majority of the corners for the F1 outfits are high speed high-G-loading corners. There are four major full drop-the-anchor braking points on the track that had me standing on the brake pedal to the point of locking up all three wheels more than once.

Cindy fights 2G’s of lateral load trying to keep the chair down as I go WFO and aim for the candy stripes in ‘Agony/Ecstasy’ turn 7. Yes the BARF twofinger logo is real.

My neck, back, hips, and arms are killing me because of all the fighting I did in the cockpit for three days straight. But the amount of speed Cindy and I both picked up working together as a team was well worth the pain. We’re going to rule the next time out at Willow Springs on the big track.

Oliver/Ian on their ART lead Mr. Bill/Erik on their Becker in front of a packed house into turn 1.

Sunday morning first practice I was power sliding the rig around so much under power… fanning the clutch with my left hand to spin up the rear tire to get the chair wheel back down on the ground around lefts… I actually destroyed a rear tire. So between the first and second practice I swapped on a new rear and scrubbed it in during second practice.

One brand new Yoko shoe, and one very toasted Yoko shoe with cord showing.

They’re both standard Yokohama medium-hard sidecar specific compound.

But I was going to need the traction if we were going to stay ahead of Johnny and Rizzo who were nipping at my heels in yesterday’s race.

Fending off Johnny/Rizzo around turn 1.

And chase down Matt and Rondah who were on fresh rubber in a similarly matched Becker F1 that I knew if I pushed myself I could probably stay with and get around on the last couple laps to beat to the checkered flag.

Doing our best to chase down Matt/Rondah.

And with any stroke of luck catch up to the high end monocoque LCR and ART of Frank and Oliver.

Yeah, maybe… =D

Mr. Bill leads Oliver with Frank following in third.

Well, we were able to fend off Johnny who ended up cooking his brakes trying to stay ahead of us. We put a block pass on him going into the chicane three laps in and then started charging to Matt and Rondah. We were reeling them in and whittled down 1/2 a lap distance to about eight bike lengths when we finally crossed the checkers. Just one more lap and we’d have been able to put a move on them for 5th place at the line.

Yeah you better be looking back, Rizzo. I’m about to put a pass in on you guys so hard and fast it’s going to suck the dye out of your leathers when I go by. =D

We’ve gone from dicing toe-to-toe with Johnny, to easily fending off Johnny and chasing down a team we thought was untouchable. That’s marked improvement in speed and consistency around the track as a team for Cindy and myself. The Becker F1 worked flawlessy, the Suzuki GSX-R 1000 engine sang, the Öhlins suspension was fluid, the Yokohama tires were asphalt Hoovers.

Cool down lap, trying to get some air in my leathers as I bake in the cockpit.

Up at the front Mr. Bill once again was able to sneak by Oliver and Ian on their ART and fend off Wade and Xtine on their GSX-R 1000 powered F2, swapping positions every lap. Frank was right in there doing battle as it was a four way race for the top three spots all the way to the checkers.

My favorite shot, Oliver and Mr. Bill, in perfect sync, both chair wheels floating in the air around the off camber turn 1.

Thanks go out to all our sponsors for the continuing support of Bad Cat Racing/Formula 1 Superside America. Especally BARF and Budman for all the assistance so far this season.

Miller Motorsports, deluxe accommodations.

When we roll out on the track, -everybody- gets out of their seat.

Mike Jones / Cindy Creech

Bad Cat Racing, Currently Sixth in the SRA Championship Points Standings.