Updated 5/10/2009 - Changes in RED

Updated 6/6/2009 - Changes in GREEN 

  4th Annual

24 heures du Meadowdale

June 13th to June 14th, 2009

 Track Opens 10:00am, June 13th

Tech starts at 2pm, June 13th

Race Begins 3pm, June 13th and ends 24 hours later

Race Director:    Father Bob   

This is a team driving/marshalling event which is 24 hours in length.  Its purpose is to test both the driving skills as well as the pit skills of each team.  Add to that purpose is the fact that sleep deprivation can be a factor.  

Teams

There will be 3 returning teams this year and along with some new additional drivers (that will be assigned to their team in May), we again are looking forward to another epic event. As well as driving and marshalling responsibilities, each team is responsible for the setup, testing and maintenance of their car before and during the race.  Each team is also responsible for providing their own tools, tire sanders, and spare parts.  Each team will have a team name and it is highly encouraged to have team t-shirts and team photos.   The team drivers will be the same as last year.  Driver's cannot switch teams without prior permission from the Race Director. Additional drivers have been signing up and will fill vacancies as well as be added to teams during the Crew Chiefs meeting held in May.  It is not mandatory that a driver drives for a specified amount of time or that the driver drives at all during the event.  The driving and marshalling are a TEAM effort, so hopefully that will provide some flexibility in scheduling those that can't spend the whole 24 hours at Meadowdale.  Each participant is encouraged to drive and marshal for his team as much as he can.

Crew Chiefs

The Crew Chiefs will again be in charge of making sure marshalls are available at all times. This was not a problem in previous years as there was always someone to marshal.  The Crew Chiefs for 2008 are: 

• Greggo Hernadez of Team #1 (The Road Warriors) and 3rd place finishing team in 2008

• Scott Kania of Team #2 (the Meadowdale Militia) and the 1st place finishers in 2008

• Phil Trattner of Team #3 (the 8 Ball team) and the 2nd place finishers in 2008

Responsibilities of the Crew Chiefs is to determine meal, housing and entertainment costs, and any other costs the team may incur and to collect funds from the team members.  The Crew Chiefs are also involved in any rules arbitration, keeping control of their team, communicates race and racetrack rules and messages from the race director to their team, and driving/marshalling schedules.

Cars

Race Management

The event will be again controlled by Trackmate for Windows as two 12 hour races, 3 heats per race..  Each heat will last 4 hours at which point the program will automatically print the heat results and the cars will switch to the next lane for another 4 hour heat. And then again one more time, at which point the final heat results will print and then a brief 10 second delay will occur while it all happens again, for another 12 hours.  Time between heats will not exceed 20 seconds.   There will be no track calls except when the track or braid itself needs repairing. 

If a car has a mechanical failure it will be removed from the track for repair by it's team and the race will continue.  When the car is repaired and resumes the race it will come back in at the point it was removed from the track.

The race winner will be the team with the most laps after 24 hours.  All cars will be both pre-race and post-race teched for rule compliance.  

Rules

The Alpha 33s and the 312 PB 24 Hour Cars will start the race with stock parts, with the exception of Supertires (1403) and a Scalextric motor.  The only modifications to the car at the start of the race are listed below.

The following items may be done to the car prior to the start:

Copper braids are a must.

Oiling any parts

Gluing motor in place

Gluing bushings in place

Truing the front and rear wheels and tires. 

Front tires may be coated.

Any amount of weight can be added to the car.

You may glue or RTV in the motor wires into the eyelets at the guide flag

Axles spacer may be used to adjust track and gear spacing on the rear axle only.

Inductors/Resistors/Capacitors on motor may be removed, moved or kept attached to the motor

The armature shaft may be cut to ensure tire clearance.

Chassis angle-winder fillers may be removed for racing.

The body may be painted any color any way the team wants, but the body must have a number (this is a race after all).  All body parts must be left intact.

If what you want to do to the car isn't listed above then the answer is NO.  This year it will be up to each team to provide a spare parts kit containing any parts for an emergency repair or the mandatory pit stop.  The Mandatory Pit Kits (MPK) are also subject to initial and random teching by the Race Director as well. If a car has a problem and it can be "fixed" it is up to the team's expertise to solve their problem. 

Each team will submit their car for teching with a stock Scalextric stock motor on the side.  The 3 motors will be placed in a bag and each team will randomly be selected to draw a motor from the bag.  The motors to be used in this race will be provided by race director along with the Parma 694 tires right before the race.

8 Ballers - Tech at 2:00 pm; Road Warriors - Tech at 2:10pm; Meadowdale Militia - Tech at 2:20pm

Mandatory Optional Pit Stops

This year there will be the possiblity of two optional pit stops.  This year the pit stops were designed with the spirit of CAN AM racing and to allow the teams to really get the maximum performace from the car, especially if that team is trailing.

The first optional pit stop may occur at any time after the start of the race and before or after or during the second pit stop.  Each team will be able to switch the wheel/tire combination from the race start combination (Slot It stock wheels and the Supertire 1403) or post-pit stop #2 wheel/tire combination to Parma 694 Tuna tires.  These tires have proven to be a substantial performance boost on Meadowdale.  However, their life expectancy and their performace under certain track conditions will be a factor, so each team must use this pit stop carefully.  A switch back from these tires MUST be back to the wheel/tire combination used prior to switching to the Parma setup.

More about the Parma 694 tire issue:

You get one (1) pair of tunas handed out with the motor at the beginning of the race.  Since you can switch from the supertires to the tunas at any time, you can switch back to the supertires at any time also.  The question arose, once you switch from supertires to the tunas back to the supertires, can you again switch to the tunas?  The answer is yes, you can switch back and forth as much as you want, just as long as the same supertires and tunas are being used.  You can not go to a new pair of supertires until your optional big pit stop (OBPS).  Once you switch to those tires, you must continue using them and the original tunas for the rest of the race. 

Only lighter fluid, spit or tape will be allowed to clean any of the Parma or supertires.  Leave any other tire additive or treatment at home.

The second mandatory pit stop will use the teams OBPS (Optional Big Pit Stop) kits.  This kit may contain a replacement motor (any rpm from any manufacturer), any number of replacement pinions and spur gears, replacement axle and replacement rear wheels and tires. All the replacement parts must be in stock condition (like they are out of the package) (i.e., you cannot have an axle with "flats" unless it was purchased that way.  You can put screw flats on the replacement axle, but that HAS to be done during the pit stop).  NONE of the parts in the pit kit can be pre-assembled prior to the pit stop.  Even your tires must be trued during the pit stop.

The pit stop kit that each team will use will undergo a technical inspection prior to the race start and can be randomly inspected by the race director OR another team's crew chief at any time.  During the pit stop the parts used can be monitored by the race director or another team's crew chief as long as there is no interference with the pit stop.

When can you do the Mandatory Optional Pit Stops?

Pit stop #1 (change to Parma Tuna Tires) can occur at anytime after the start of the race.  This can only be done 1 time (there will not be a second pair of parma tires and once you have taken them off the car, you cannot put them back on.)

Only lighter fluid, spit or tape will be allowed to clean any of the Parma or supertires.  Leave any other tire additive or treatment at home.

Pit stop #2 rules are as complicated as last years, so here is the brief explanation:

1. You MUST drive the car as it was when the race started for a minimum of 10 hours.
   a.      Exceptions:  If you have a breakdown, you may do a REPAIR only pit stop to get your car back to the way the race was started.  Only parts that are identical to those being replaced may be used during the first 10 hours.  All repairs MUST be done under the green flag and must be stopped if a track call is made during this type of pit stop
2. The first team to do the optional big pit stop (after the 10 hour waiting period) will be the team in third place.  The third place team MUST decide whether to skip or make their pit stop then (1:00 am).
3. At the 10 hour mark, whichever team was in 2^nd place must wait to perform their pit stop.  The length of time to wait is 5 minutes for every 10 laps ahead of the 3^rd place team they were at the 10 hour mark.  Ex:  If after 10 hours (1:00 am) Team 2 is ahead by 150 laps, then the 2^nd place team cannot pit until 75 minutes later (2:15am).  If the lap difference between 2^nd and 3^rd place is less than 10 laps, the 2^nd place team may pit immediately at 1:00 am when the 3^rd place team pits
4. At the 10 hour mark, whichever team was in 1^st place must wait to perform their pit stop.  The length of time to wait is 5 minutes for every 10 laps ahead of the 3^rd place team they were at the 10 hour mark.  Ex:  If after 10 hours (1:00 am) Team 1 is ahead by 400 laps, then the 1^st place team cannot pit until 200 minutes later (4:20 am).  If the lap difference between 1^st and 2^nd place is less than 10 laps, the 1^st place team may pit immediately when the 2^nd place team pits (which may or may not be at 1:00am)

All Mandatory Optional Pit Stops (MPS) must be done under the green flag and must stop immediately if a track call occurs.  After the track call is cleared, the team may continue working on their car. 
 

Other Rule stuff

New NORMalizing Rule #666:  Here is a new rule for this year.  Before the festivities, the 3rd place team from the previous year has the first choice in starting lane.  The second place team, the second choice and the 1st place team gets the remaining lane to start the race on.  This rule has been named after the gunslinger Norm Pierantoni. 

Two types of controllers will be provided.  Each driver may choose from the Professor Motor "diode" type controller or the new "transistor" type with adjustable brakes and sensitivity.  No other controllers will be allowed, so keep them home.  Controllers may be cleaned at the driver's discretion using a cotton swab and isopropyl alcohol.

Cars will be run with the power supply at 13.8 volts.

After the race, the cars will then be placed into the Meadowdale Museum for 5 years to join previous year's cars.

Exchange of Drivers will happen via the following protocol:  The driver who is ending his driving session will stop the car in an unobtrusive area of the track (so as to not interfere with other team cars) and pick up the car, hand it to the next driver who will place the car on the track in an unobtrusive area of the track (so as to not interfere with other team cars) and start driving.  There will be penalty laps issued to a team if during the driver exchange, another team's car is obstructed. 

Facility

The Meadowdale race track has undergone some improvements for the race this year.  The construction of Marshall Towers #1 and #2 are complete. 

Track facility opens at 10am on June 13th to allow teams to setup sleeping tents, test cars, etc.  Each team will be given a pit area.  Electricity and lighting will be provided.  Tools and parts are to be provided by each team for their own use.  There will be outside sleeping accommodations again this year, but of course anyplace in the house is available for crashing (except the race director's Tempurpedic bed ).   Food, drinks, sleeping bags, tents, clothes, etc. should be provided by each team.  There is a large Weber propane grill and microwave that is available as well. An outdoor refrigerator will be provided, but freezer space will be indoor and can be provided with prior notification.  There is a patio with umbrella and chairs for your eating and relaxing enjoyment.

Meadowdale raceway will provide each team with walkie-talkies so that the drivers and track marshals can contact team mates that are located outdoors in the camping area.

Bar stools and other seats will be provided for the marshals and drivers.

The race will be shown on the Bob Dunkle web site (http://www.bobdunkle.com) as a live web cast using 2 cameras this year.  One camera will be used to display race results via the web as well as the trackside camera recording all the action.  There will also be a Facebook page and Twitter page for friends and relatives to stay abreast of the race. Photos are encouraged. At the track, ongoing race results will be shown on monitors at the computer station, the driver's lounge and at the outdoor camping areas.

The centrally air-conditioned driver's lounge area TV can be used for DVD and VHS movies as well as other entertainment devices that participants may bring. 

Parking on the Meadowdale property is limited, so car-pooling is encouraged.  After 2am, the local police can ticket UNLESS they have been notified with license plate numbers of cars that will be parked overnight on the street.

Fees

Since each team is covering the cost of their own race car, spare parts, food, drink, tools etc, there is no racing fee. 

There will be a $10 food fee assessed this year per driver.  Everyone has decided that the food can be puchased prior to the event for everyone to use.  

2009 24 heures du Meadowdale

The bravest of the brave

05/10/2009