Frank Greif & Associates
The StrategicIntent.com BMW participates in races sanctioned by the International Conference of Sports Car Clubs and the Sports Car Club of America. We race at Pacific Raceways just outside of Seattle, at Spokane Raceways, at Portland International Raceways, and at Mission Raceway Park in Mission, British Columbia.
A new sponsor joins us for the 2010 season - Car Tender, the premier BMW shop in Seattle. After an abbreviated season last year (we took time off from racing to help Team Seattle compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and raise money for Seattle Children's Hospital) we hope to make the majority of the races this year. Here's our tentative schedule:
April 24 & 25 - Portland International Raceways, Portland, Oregon
May 1 & 2 - Pacific Raceways, Kent, Washington
May 22 & 23 - Oregon Raceway Park, Grass Valley, Oregon
June 5 & 6 - Portland International Raceways, Portland, Oregon
June 26 & 27 - Mission, British Columbia, Canada
July 10 & 11 - Spokane County Raceway, Spokane, Washington (double race weekend)
July 31 & Aug. 1 - Pacific Raceways, Kent, Washington
Aug. 14 & 15 - Portland International Raceways, Portland, Oregon
Sept. 18 & 19 - Portland International Raceways
Sept. 25 & 26 - Pacific Raceways, Kent, Washington
That's how 2010 is shaping up. Below is a review of 2009 and prior years.
The 2009 Running of The 6 Hours of Pacific Raceways
What a bizarre way to start the year. We joined the team at West Coast Touring cars and entered two fast Neon Race Cars in the 8 hour endurance race on March 8th at Pacific Raceways. It was a cold day. And it got colder! After just 90 minutes the race was canceled because of – SNOW! Here’s a picture of Tom Olsson climbing out of the car just after the race was suspended.
And here's the West Coast Touring Cars team - Sponsored by Car Tenders
The Big Event of The Year!!!!
We put aside active racing to focus on the most important project of 2009 - fund raising for the Team Seattle effort at Le Mans. And what a victory we enjoyed!
Team Seattle came home from the world's greatest endurance as real winners.
Not only did we finish the race (an amazing accomplishment for an all rookie (to Le Mans) team, we raised more than $250,000 for the Infant Cardiac Care Unit at Seattle Children's Hospital.
The Team Seattle drivers, Don Kitch Jr., Joe Foster, and Patrick Dempsey, were flawless in bringing the car home in a strong 9th place finish in the GT2 category after starting 17. That's an incredible success when you realize that neither Don, Joe, or Patrick had ever raced at Le Mans. The circuit is 8.5 miles long and as a rookie you are learning as you go - and you are going at a very fast pace. Nice job by everybody. Congratulations!
THE EDMONTON INDY CAR WEEKEND!
What a great event. We joined 7 other Pro3 cars from the Seattle area to travel all the way to Edmonton, Alberta and run in the one-hour GT Race just before the big Indy Car race on Sunday, July 26th. More than 55 cars from across Canada and the United States took part. It was a real thrill to rub elbows with the Indy Car drivers in the paddock and to race in front of 40,000 people. Unfortunately we didn’t run as well as we would have like to and finished well back in the pack. But the experience was well worth the effort.
Here's the history from 2008 and 2009, when the car carried it's original paint scheme.
To our clients, past and present, we say "Thank you!"
A SHORT REVIEW OF THE 2008 RACING SEASON
October 25th - The 12 Hour Endurance Race - Portland International Raceways
Yes, it is the classic Le Mans start. The only one in North America, if not the world. We won! Well kind of. We won the 9 hour endurance race. The problem is that everyone else was in a 12 hour race. Here's the deal. First, Bob Mearns assembled a team of drivers: Ross Bentley, Pat Alward, Peter Jenkin, yours truly, and of course, Bob. Then he convinced world class mechanic Mark Lovett, and crew chief extraordinaire Ian Goepferd, to join our team. Our goal was simple: have fun! And that we did. Unfortunately at the end of testing on Friday the head gasket blew. Ugly stuff. We scrambled around and found a new head, the appropriate bolts and gaskets, and other necessary replacement parts. Of course once you have the new parts you have to do something with them. That meant that while the drivers got a good night of sleep, Ian and Mark tore the engine apart and then rebuilt it. Bright an early Saturday morning it was ready for testing just before the 9:45 start. Unfortunately the car would not run. Every time the car turned right, the engine shut off. No time to fix it before the start so the always reliable Peter Jenkin started with a balky car. For three hours he would go out for three or four laps, bring the car in so Mark could change a part, then go out, and back in again. Ugh. Not fun. After three hours it was time to change drivers and yours truly climbed into the car. As luck would have it that is exactly the time Mark make that "one last change" that fixed the car. It ran flawlessly for the next nine hours and we were consistently faster than many of the cars in our class. The only problem is that when things turned in our favor we were already about 60 laps down. But, we all got to drive some long stints and everyone, including Mark and Ian, reached the simple but clear intent behind entering the race: we had fun!
September 27th & 28th - Pacific Raceways, Ken
This last regular race of the season had it all. A great start - moved up two positions and having a great time. Until lap 3. Then, coming out of turn 8....well. It was either too much throttle or too much steering input or both at the same time - it doesn't matter because when you spin you spin! Ouch!
It's terrible to watch everybody go by in a blink. We got it straightened out and pushed on managing to get back four other spots before the end of the race. Yikes! What a way to end the regular season.
September 13th & 14th - Portland International Raceways
This was one of those weekends where hands, feet, and brain were not fully connected. Qualifying was poor, next to last in a field of 18. Then the race. The tires were really cold and we managed to spin on the pace lap! And then, because we didn't go to the very end of the line, we were black flagged and given a stop and go penalty. The result? We finished 17th out of 18 starters and only improved our position because the 18th car had mechanical problems and failed to finish. Arg!
August 2nd & 3rd - Pacific Raceways, Kent
Wow! Now we are talking. Thanks to lots of good coaching we began to show improvement. This was the largest turnout of the BMW E30s that make up the Pro3 group - 28 cars! We managed to qualify 21st and moved all the way up to 13th by the time the checkered flag flew. After some really difficult and slow weekends this was a real mood elevator.
July 18th, 19th & 20th - Spokane Raceway Park
A mixed bag for this weekend. After a trouble free Friday of practice and qualifying, Saturday held some surprises. We managed to finishing 9th out of 12 in the Pro3 class while enjoying in some exciting battles. Then our racing buddy Walt Conley jumped in the car for another race group. Unfortunately the transmission decided it was time to let go of 4th gear and Walt was slower than his usual fast self. The transmission only got worse as time went by and we eventually decided to skip the Sunday race, bring the car home, and get ready for the next event.
May 10th & 11th – Pacific Raceways, Kent, WA
Not a lot of fun for us. Rain most of the weekend, and a downpour during the race. We qualified 19th out of a field of 24 and managed to work our way up to a 16th place finish.
April 26th & 27th – Portland International Raceways, Portland, OR
The first race of the year. And before it even started we had drama. In the final practice session we managed to drop two wheels off the track in turn 5, and then two more wheels. With all four wheels on the grass the car accelerated sideways and, unfortunately didn't stop until it hit the tire barrier on the outside wall. Once again it was an opportunity for the fellow competitors in the PRO-3 group to come to the rescue. Within minutes of returning to the paddock the car was swarmed over by several folks who started repairing the left front suspension and the body panels on the left side of the car. These pictures show folks at work.
Ken and Wes Hill start the work.
Pulling out the front fender.
Pulling out the quarter-panel.
A particular thank you to Ken and Wes who used tools, feet, their truck, and lots of experience to repair the car. And thanks to Bill Spornitz who did a quick realignment. Within about three hours of the crash the car was ready and we got to race. We managed to finish 26 out of field of 36 that took the green flag. In the PRO3 group, we finished in 14th out of 18 that started. We are slowly moving forward in the pack.
A SHORT HISTORY OF THE 2007 RACING SEASON
May 5th & 6th – Portland International Raceways, Portland, OR
It was a great race. Dry and warm. Unfortunately our learning curve is still steep and we only managed to finish tenth out of a field of 11. And yet, it was fun and we continued to learn more about the car and the complexities of driving smoothly and rapidly.
May 19th & 20th – Pacific Raceways just outside of Seattle, WA
Approaching the start - before the rain. Thanks to Dale Beuning for the photo,
It was a wild and wet weekend. Qualifying on Saturday and Sunday morning was on a dry track. There were heavy clouds at the start of the race on Sunday afternoon and everyone started on “dry” tires. But by mid-race it was pouring down rain. Rain is the great equalizer and because everyone had to slow down we managed to slowly creep our way into a mid-pack finish. The learning is slow but steady.
July 13th – 15th – Spokane Raceway Park, Spokane, WA
Close action during Saturday's race
Ouch – this was a difficult weekend. First of all – it was HOT. Above 100 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We had two races on Saturday and we managed to finish each of them, although still behind the fastest group of cars. But we are creeping up on them! On Sunday we were involved in a crash with just 5 minutes left in the race. After three days in the sunshine it was a difficult way to end the weekend. The car was fairly well banged up but with the assistance of many helping hands it will be ready for the next race.
August 4th & 5th – Pacific Raceways, Seattle, WA
Future Driver Jack, coaching from Paul, and the kids love the car
After many hours of repair work (with a special effort by chief mechanic and all around supporter, Paul) we got the car together for this weekend of sunshine just outside Seattle. Lots of family and friends came out to watch the races (see photos below) and everyone had a good time. Thanks to some great coaching from Ross Bentley we managed to take significant time off our laps and actually qualified in the middle of the pack. In fact, the eight cars in the middle of a 21 car Pro-3 grid were all within about a half of a second of each other. It made for an exciting start and some great racing. Unfortunately, two full-course yellow flags cut the racing short but we still managed to finish 14th out of 21 cars. Not bad – we are creeping up on the front of the pack!
Sept. 15th & 16th – Portland International Raceways, Portland, OR
The Portland paddock
A great weekend at the Doernbecher Dash at Portland – fun racing and raising money for the Doernbecher Children’s Hospital at the same time. The Pro3 race group (BMW 3-series cars from the 80’s) continues to expand and we had 21 Pro3 cars entered, a record showing. The total for our Race Group was 45 when the green flag fell (we run with some much faster cars – i.e. Cameros, RX7s, some Porsche 911s and even a few Corvettes) so we made up almost half the field. We managed to finish 21st over-all in the StrategicIntent.com BMW. Not good yet, but we are slowly moving up through the field. Two big items about the weekend. This was the last race before Portland International Raceways is slightly redesigned and totally resurfaced. It was fun to be part of that history. And, best of all, the Pro3 group managed to come up with a cash donation of almost $3,000 for the hospital in addition to several drivers donating their cars and their time to give kids rides around the race track. What a hoot!
Sept. 29th & 30th – Pacific Raceways, Seattle, WA
Take a look. There are two cars in that picture!
A spectacular and bizarre weekend. I loved Saturday! Thanks to some incredible coaching from Ross Bentley I finally had the courage to really push the car and myself. It was truly exciting to spend time running with the faster crowd. A total of 15 Pro3 cars qualified on Saturday and the 7 of us in the middle of the field were all within less than a second of each other. Wow – this was going to make for an incredible race on Sunday.
But then – RAIN! Buckets of rain!
Note the spray coming off the left of the car in front - a DEEP puddle!
Most of the courage and skill that showed up on Saturday was washed away Sunday morning. It was so wet that a permanent double-yellow flag (no passing zone) was set up along the front stretch for the afternoon races. The water was so deep the car would simply start hydroplaning at speed, even with rain tires. So my goal was to simply survive, save the car, and not finish last. (Two big smacks in a 12 month period are more than enough, thank you.) Mission accomplished. We finished without a scratch.
To give you a sense of what it was like I have made a short movie. Yes, it was that hard to see. As you watch, notice the incredible speed differential between an absolute rain novice (me) and the Pro3 “rain meisters.” About midway through I spin going up the hill to turn 7 and the two cars that were on my bumper go past. For the rest of the race I tried to catch them. I finally caught one at the end. Enjoy the movie.
Oct. 20th – The Pacific Raceways Endurance Race, Seattle, WA
What a great event – our first enduro as both car owner and driver. Fortunately local BMW Driving Instructor David Lightfoot agreed to share the driving duties and provide strategic help and advice. We decided to split the driving equally, one hour on, one hour off. That requires three stops while most others would make one or two stops, a decision that would take us out of contention for a podium finish. So why do it? – for the fun and the experience. We had both!
It’s easy to underestimate the work it takes to get everything ready. (We were out buying a fire extinguisher for the fueling team at 9:00 on Friday night!) Thanks to Ken Hill who loaned us all kinds of equipment to make this possible and was one of those folks who urged us to take on this adventure. Unfortunately, work prevented him from joining us on Saturday morning. That meant my son Paul Greif was our crew chief – an interesting role for him in that he had never attended an endurance race much less manage the pit activities. And then cousin-in-law Larry Goehring, who just happened to be visiting from Minnesota, agreed to be a pit-helper. He had never been to a car race! A truly rookie crew.
Larry, Frank, Paul - what a crew!
Saturday dawned with a problem – naturally. The car sounded terrible. We quickly enlisted the ever helpful Bill Spornitz to do a quick check of the valve adjustment and he made the car go from “tick-tick” to a consistent strong “purr” in about 30 minutes – while getting ready for his race. A HUGE thanks (again) to Bill. We had the fuel system ready to go, but were still a little unsure about how we would be able to coordinate fueling, driver changes, and car maintenance without loosing several laps. That’s when the Rob Dunn Jr. / Kevin York team volunteered their crew to do the pumping. And then Karl Seeger saw that we were still a little unsteady in discussing pit stops, tire changes, etc., and stepped up with some sound advice and competent help when needed.
David had never driven the #20 so he went out on rain tires for the first practice session and came back with a sense that the car would indeed make it for the full four hours. We put new brake pads on the car and used the last session to bed them. Then the decision – rain dry tires for the start? We went dry – and David Lightfoot proved that his right foot is not the lightfoot. As the green flag fell so did the rain, big time – so much for the wise choice of going with dry tires. Despite all of the slipping and sliding, David did an hour and fifteen minutes in the wet and brought the car back in perfect shape. We decided to stay with drys and Frank tiptoed around for the second session as the track began to dry. David then went out for his second stint and had an interesting moment when the car got into a wet patch and spun off the track in turn six. David skillfully kept it out of the tire wall and ran the rest of his stint flawlessly.
By the time Frank got back into the car the track was dry and the race tempo picked up. With about 30 minutes left a car went off and into the tire barrier in an unsafe location. The resulting full course yellow set up the final drama. The finish would be just like a sprint race and now on a dry fast race track! Frank says “The last 30 minutes of the race were the most fun I’ve had since starting this crazy sport two years ago.” He battled for several laps with various cars and then with about 15 minutes to go got into a very tight race with three other cars. They traded running order several times and with only a few minutes to go in the four hour race Frank was in front of this group. But then Rob Dunn Jr. in a very fast Neon got by on the last lap. And it was for position!!! We managed to finish 24th out of a field of 39 – not bad for our first enduro effort. It was a fabulous 4 hours and we can’t wait for the next one.
The October 2007 Seattle Endurance drivers Frank Greif and David Lightfoot
Congratulations to everyone who took part and in particular to International Race Drivers Club and the Northwest Endurance Racing Series team – you did a spectacular job. And thanks to David and the crew – let’s do it again!!
The March 2007 Portland Endurance race - Drivers: Ross Bentley, Frank Greif, Walt Conely, Ken Hill
HOPE TO SEE YOU AT THE RACES.