Race Journal: 8/2009

Aug 31

I ran 3 races in 3 different mods :

Race 1

2009 Season 3

2009-08-30 11:00 pm

Race Session: 6495196/1079358 Official

Infineon Raceway - IRL

2009 Season 3

Ran at Sonoma in the Mazda: I'm god awful there almost embarrassingly slow.

Almost 10 seconds of the leaders best times which was 1.28 something, my best time was

a 1:37.

I suck at Infinion. Something I need to really work on. With that said at a crawl I finished the race and stayed out of the way without wrecking anyone.

_______________________

Race 2

2009 Season 3

2009-08-31 1:45 pm

Race Session: 6504001/1081486 Official

Silverstone Circuit - Historical Grand Prix

2009 Season 3

Lotus at silverstone, I was even slower there.

Leader 1:26 fastest time

Myself: 1.40 (wow brings all meaning to the word slow!)

22 drivers in another race I finished and didn't pass anyone. I did not cause any wrecks and stayed pretty steady at my crawling pace. Only reason I was 14th was because I passed people who wrecked out of the race.

____________________________________

Race 3

2009 Season 3

2009-08-31 4:00 pm

Race Session: 6505374/1081899 Official

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

2009 Season 3

Solstice at Laguna

Not quiet as slow here but not making any records either lol. I was wrecked on the second lap. Guy spun out in front of me and I could not miss him.

4 seconds off the leaders pace.

Aug 17 - 23

This week has been kind of a bust, did some laps at lime rock in Star Mazda, when I say some I mean like 10 if that. Finally Saturday I was bored and decided to run a race despite really not practicing at all, but I know lime rock really well and raced it cold. Well not completely cold I ran a practice prior to the race, which Nim Cross Jr showed up in.

Many time I 've spoken to Nim in Iracings chat channels, he is the chief steward for the site, basically rules enforcer. He tends to ruin conversations in the chat rooms though. Basically turns every chat group into a iracing therapy session, do's and don't s about iracing.

It can be annoying. (update 2011 - Little did I know I would end up having problems with this guy. Guy that went out of his way to tell us over and over to come to him if there was a iracing problem. Yet when there was a problem a year later he took the good ole boy solution that you see in alot of 2 dollar leagues. The bend the rules to benefit high profile members or buddies)

I decided to run in a race and glad I did, despite being off pace to my times last year which were a steady 48. second clip, I was running 50.ish laps with the crap set up they supply. I am pretty sure I could have gotten my times way way down if I used a better set and spent more time in practice mode. As it is my fastest lap was lap 47 of 48, so I was pushing harder at end of race trying to catch the leader and ground out some faster laps. No doubt with day or two of practice I could be into the 47's and maybe 46's. Either way I was pretty please with my times and effort.

In the 1st corner there was a wreck and I was able to snake through it. I was having a nice race for about 10 laps and worked up the 5th when I got caught on a curb and spun in place like 4 times just like a top. Very unrealistic spin out I may add. There is no way this type of car would spin out like that in the way it did with the speed I was carrying. I ve been to lime rock a ton of times and never have seen a car spin in that spot in that fashion. Anyway I got lucky and got zero damage and was passed cleanly. Not long after that the leader passed me and the 2nd, 3rd and 4th place drivers past me as I had to move over do to a blue flag.

I fell to 8th position, I was trying not to think about my postion and just turn clean laps. I kept thinking anything could happen and there could be more wrecks or mistakes by other drivers. I was correct lol, by the end of the race I made it up to 2nd place and was closing in on leader by 3 to 5 car lengths per lap. Last lap I spun out trying to set my self up to get close enough for a pass. But hung on to it and still finished 2nd. It was the first race I have had in along time at iracing that was actually FUN for a change.

Aug 20th !!!!Warning!!!! the '''Moronic'''' saga continues.

Iracing Chief Stewart sends me a email to take down the 2 videos that I supplied him with in my protest of being intentionally wrecked.

If the videos are not taken down MY ACCOUNT WILL BE SUSPENDED i am told. (Two weeks later I get another letter to take the videos down. I did so, I wish I did not delete those videos now.

I have years of experience mediating problems in online racing as well as league owner, things like these where always pretty easy to put out before escalating, In my opinion a less then professional job was done from the very 1st second the protest against me was made. I mean really grow up people, ever here of the saying sticks and stones?

I would have let the whole thing go If the other driver did, Instead a lot of nothing has come out of it.

A situation I was willing to just let go. To be honest I forgot about it.

________________________________

Out of the blue I get this email from Nim Cross:

This is to inform you that an official inquiry CAS-11017-G5NP8Y has been opened as the result of a protest being filed against you regarding Sporting Code Section 1.4.3 related to your participation in Session ID# 6140849/980992 8/6/2009 6:30 PM.

Protest Details:

Bubba, You are never allowed to call someone names, use vulgar, abusive, or intimidating language on the iRacing service, no matter the incident. If you have been wrecked in an intentional or unusual way the iRacing Sporting Code offers you a way to protest the incident. You are never to use such language even in these instances. No reply or any excuse is acceptable in this type of violation. I will be sending you your penalty shortly. (Nim Cross - iRacing Chief Steward)

complaint:

(Please refer to section 1.4.3.1 of the iRacing Sporting Code)In this race i was just riding not in a hurry to go no where, It was lap 9 of 80. As i approched Bubba Jones the car in front of him makes a move to pass the car in front. Junior decides to go with him and come accross my nose. I figure well i guess they are wanting to go and decide to give him a little tap lightly to move him forward since we where on the straightway. As u can see in the replay i was barly enough contact to even be called a bump draft. Junior then looses control of his car go across the gras and comes into on coming traffic. I felt terrible about barly touching him so on voice chat once i tell him i was sorry and tha it happen it was not intentional at all. Then he tells me i made a mornic move, so i was again in open chat i type sorry it was not intenional and again he said he knew i was sorry but it was still a mornic move. Attached is the replay and the chat log. I feel this was very unesscary and i take it personaly when someone cause me a moron in a 20 car field veiwing. This is defermation of charitor.

At this time, the Racing Committee is investigating this protest as outlined in Section 8.3.1 of the Sporting Code.

Once the investigation is completed you will be notified of the findings and any resulting actions.

At that time, you may or may not be able to file an Appeal as outlined in Section 9 of the Sporting Code.

Regards,

Nim Cross

FIRST Chief Steward

_________________________________

Without having even read the email I get this THE SAME DAY:

Dear Bubba Jones ,

Case # CAS-11017-G5NP8Y regarding your violation of Sporting Code Section 1.4.3 during Session ID 6140849/980992 8/6/2009 6:30 PM has been reviewed and the following action taken:

You are being issued a Warning

Junior, please take some time to read section 1.4.3.1 of the iRacing Sporting Code. You will see there that such venting towards another driver is a violation of the rules of the service. Please abide by this rules and the other conduct rules of the service going forward.

Nim Cross

FIRST Chief Steward

___________________________________________________________________________

My thoughts on this:

(Well LOL I can laugh about it now but I was annoyed at then. )

Example:

To explain this really or make a example would be this: I have my car parked in a shopping mall, Someone (we will call him mr.magoo ) comes up and hits my car. There is a tiny dent, I am annoyed, he apologizes, I say ''I accept your apology but it was a stupid thing to do''.

Then a few days later I get a letter from the shopping malls grand poopa (will call this person grand poopa), the grand poopa issues me a warning saying, ''It is against shopping mall parking lot rules to insult other drivers, I am issuing you a WARNING.'' But at the same time Completely ignoring the incident, which was overlooked in good faith and lack of need for pettiness.

example end/

Two days later I read the email already been judged without conversation:

I immediately sent back a note to Nim:

bubba,

The note is on your record that only I see so I can track who does what. Only suspensions and expulsions can be appealed. Your chat in this case is clearly a violation (even though you didn’t call him a moron you did call his actions moronic. I will not debate semantics.) and you have been given a warning for the violation. The warning is meant to be taken in a instructive way so it does not happen again going forward. What caused this violation has no effect on this ruling. I’ve reviewed the incident and the situation and I do not believe it to be malicious. Even if it were malicious there would be no acceptable excuse for violations against the rules of the service. Malicious incidents may be protested not used as an excuse for violating the conduct rules in place.

Regards,

Nim

From: jp

Sent: Tuesday, August 11, 2009 5:16 PM

To: Nim Cross

Subject: RE: Penalty Notification: Warning CRM:00167519

nim,

before i make a big deal and waste a lot of my time

(important question) is this on my record now?

If so I will be appealing (since until this point the argument or incident was one sided) and I will be protesting the wreck as well just to make a point, which I might ad I have footage of.

Clear cut footage I may add.

I will also be protesting the appeal on the language and how it was used

I fraps almost every single wreck I get in, just in case.

So i am more then prepared. I think steve is a good driver from what I see. I have been in races with him after that race and did not have any problems. I left it on the track it was over as far as i'm concerned. Until I opened my mail today which I have not been checking daily.

-jp

just so you know I understand the section and I have read it. more then once.........

<1.4.3.1.

iRacing provides means for racers to communicate with one another before, during and after on-track sessions. The high emotions that are a normal part of close racing do not justify verbally abusive or other inappropriate expressions toward officials or other racers. Disrespectful communications, including foul or threatening language and insults, will not be tolerated and will lead to the cancellation of the offender’s membership.>

______________________________

(For me at this point it is the fact i was even bothered by this crap and being protested by grown man. Trying to enjoy something that is supposed to be fun that I am paying top dollar to play. So I decide to do a reverse protest. This is Nim' s response))

bubba,

Whenever submitting a protest always provide me with cut replays of the incident and not videos. Cut replays are easier to save and send to me and takes a lot less time then producing a replay. Both of the replays you uploaded are the same replay.

We do not agree with your assessment that the chat or prior protest proves malicious intent in this incident.

After reviewing the replay we do not feel you were at fault in the accident and understand your frustration. However, we do not feel the accident was anything intentional or with malice. We believe it was a mistake the other driver made without malice or intent.

The ratings and licensing system are the main policing agents of the service. We all will receive incidents that we are not at fault in. Drivers who consistently make good decisions will find it easy improve their iRating and License level. Drivers who do not will have to improve their driving methods to do the same. You can learn more about the no fault incident system, iRatings systems, and the philosophies behind those systems by taking some time to read the iRacing Sporting Code found here...

http://membersmedia.iracing.com/pdfs/FIRSTSportingCode_v20090130.01.pdf

For these reasons we will not be moving forward with this protest.

Regards,

Nim

------------------- Original Message -------------------

From: Junior Parks

Received: 8/11/2009 7:53 PM

To: Protests

Subject: Session ID: 6140849/980992 8/6/2009 6:30 PM

Session ID: 6140849/980992 8/6/2009 6:30 PM

Date: 8/6/2009 6:30 PM

Sporting Code Section: 5.5.11

Driver: steve wright

Driver filing protest: Junior Parks

5.1.11.3. Other deliberate wreck-less driving, including avoidable contact and intentional wrecking, is prohibited. Competitors who believe that they have been victims of such action – and those competitors who believe that they have witnessed such action – are strongly encouraged to file Protests in accordance with Section 8 of the FIRST Sporting Code.

____________________________________

Nim,

The key words here are...''' including avoidable contact'' the fact that the driver Steve Wright already admits to thinking about contact prior to contact makes it 100% DELIBERATE.

Description/Explanation of Protest: On lap 9 of the race. In a previous report the driver in question admits to Nim Cross the following...

Words from the #8 driver steve wright COPIED FROM email I received from nim cross.

'''In this race i was just riding not in a hurry to go no where, It was lap 9 of 80. As i approched bubba the car in front of him makes a move to pass the car in front. (point #1 below) bubba decides to go with him and come accross my nose. I figure well i guess they are wanting to go and (#2 point below) decide to give him a little tap lightly to move him forward since we where on the straightway. As u can see in the replay i was barly enough contact to even be called a bump draft. Junior then looses control of his car go across the gras and comes into on coming traffic. I felt terrible about barly touching him so on voice chat once i tell him i was sorry and tha it happen it was not intentional at all. ''''

SUBMITTING2 VIDEO CLIPS, Before viewing I want to let these points set in....

#1 CLEARLY In bold black Steve Wright says i came across his nose. It also shows the prior lap Steve Wright was trailing behind the 3 cars in front of him.

the videos I am showing clearly show it was not like I cut him off, but there was plenty of room. As well as he gains 3 mph going from 189 to 192 after he was passed CLEANLY by MY #11 car. So if I just came across his nose ask yourself how did steve wright have time to gain 3 mph? prior to contact?

#2 Steve Wright PRE-DETERMINES he is going to hit my car he admits it clearly above highlight point #1. He says he felt terrible about it. If it was not intentional then why admit CLEARLY above that he PREDECLARED TO RAM ME to himself? this is a contradiction.

I understand that and accepted his apology but fact of the matter he needs to know not to go around bumping people, nascar or no nascar, these are open races and you cannot expect people to be ready for ramming, nor do you know what kind of set up there running. In n2003 I had same type on incident with a guy and he was like O man, im sorry then laughed about it later. Again poor judgment.

This does not change the fact he rammed my car and took me out of the race that I spent 2 ENTIRE DAYS to get my SR up to race in. A warning needs to be given out.

Just to be taken out on lap 9. I have no problem with the individual or racing him again. He has to know I do not take kindly to being hit or rammed period, I don't care what the lap # is. It is POOR Judgment to bump people period yet someone you never raced with before. When he bumped me, I also end up with 8X in penalties to make it worse. Not to mention IT WAS OBVIOUS I Was drafting guy in front of me I was not going to take him out because someone else was RAMMING ME.

________________________________________________

So basically In Iracing its Okay to be a wrecker (not saying Steve Wright is a wrecker) but its not okay to call a incident moronic. Wonder why Iracing is so screwed up, I't is a moronically run business, my opinion. Also obvious Steve Wright has to be one of Nim's Cronies. Years later we see Steve Wrights Kid running in pro series. What a surprise. Not only does nim admit I was not at fault....... he writes...

''After reviewing the replay we do not feel you were at fault in the accident and understand your frustration. However, we do not feel the accident was anything intentional or with malice. We believe it was a mistake the other driver made without malice or intent.''

So the incident was MORONIC, i rest my case. Yet no apology from Iracing, Nim Cross or Steve Wright.

Aug 16th - *******important find- 2 things- pedal set up/ and car set up****

trying to improve a sebring still in mazda. I think I have found a problem, my pedals are way to sensitive and changed the input to 400 to 500 in settings so that I have a more sponge like feeling when I apply the brakes. This may be just a black momo problem but I have noticed the brakes are super sensitive, almost like using a button for brakes.

Lowered front brake bias to 48%. Lowered front tires to 16 pounds, made all shocks firm, increased wing percent on front and rear, added rebound.

RESULTS: Made car heavier threw corners, easier to brake thru corners without rear end feeling like it was coming around. This gave me more confidence to stick car threw corners with out fearing a spin out. MY AVERAGE TIMES WENT FROM 2:10 to 2:06 AND MY FASTEST TIME WENT FROM 2:08 TO 2:03.

-- With this new set up and wheel set I feel the corning is better way

Race - Mazda Sebring - I did not qualify on purpose because I did want some freak thing to happen where I would have to start mid pack. I had pedal problem on green and lost 14 seconds sitting at the line. The fact that I did not get lapped is progress. One time a wheel went of track and I was given a stupid 1x penalty (i find that annoying).

Few things about this race, I like the fact I finally was put in a field of drivers somewhat at my level. There were some silly wrecks In the race when I watched the replay, dam shame.

I finally caught and passed someone! I was sweating it out and was trying to stay calm. I am really excited about getting a 2:04 or two in the race. Exciting for me.

<If you look to the left and up you will see a link to my set up feel free to use it.

I'm sure a good driver or more experienced driver can better my times and enjoy the smoothness of the set.