Stocking Hoosiers for 2010 NASA events!

Lotsa Hoosiers piled up in my basement!! Prepping for a few different classes.

2009 NASA Trophies

Here's just some of the fancy hardware I took this year. I entered 5 NASA events and came away with 4 firsts (see pic).
Going back over my notes, I did a total of 17 days on track this year! 4 lapping days, 2 days instructing and driving students, and 11 days of competition against others and the clock! Everything held up well. In fact, my worse issue was a cracked rim on my very last day this year.

NASA event @ Putnam - Dual wins in TTB!

The final MW/GL region NASA event of 2009 was Oct 3/4 @ Putnam Park outside Indianapolis. This was our 2nd trip to Putnam this year I was excited to return with the car 'dialed in'.
I came away with double wins again in TTB. I ended up missing my class track record by .6 at this event. I think if I would have brought new tires I could have gotten that easily.

Over my last 4 events, I ended up with 8 wins and 3 track records. It was great to get the car dialed in and just learn to drive it like hell!

Check out the vid --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq0Rdl4sVI0

Redline Time Attack - Autobahn article

Back in June I competed in my first Redline Time Attack event. I emerged with a 2nd place finish in my class and my first ever real podium. I sent in an article that included the last minute changes I made in the preceding week and covered my experience at the event. And the RTA staff decided to post it to their homepage! Direct link to the article below; check it out!

Redline Time Attack!

Gingerman Report - NASA TTB wins and track record!

Click HERE for video.

First ever trip to Gingerman Raceway in South Haven, MI.

I ran a little on Friday at the test-n-tune day just to get a feel for the track. I actually cracked some exhaust brackets and had to head to the trackside shop for some welding!

Saturday I started out in the 1:36x range. I made a few suspension adjustments to help dial in the car per the advice from John Mueller. Ended with 1:34.2 and 1st in TTB.

Sunday I decided to toss on my new tires and go for my best lap in the noon session. Came away with a 1:32 flat even though I blew a corner by overbraking and had to downshift and probably lost a good .02. That time was good enough for the 2nd fastest TT time of the day - out of 23 cars.

Friday - Test-N-Tune @ Gingerman

Went up a day early to Gingerman as it would be a new track for me. Ran into some issues midday Friday. My exhaust brackets literally cracked; both in the rear and at the downpipe! Was fortunate to have a trackside shop to do some quick welding!

Wow, the joys of car maintenance!

Check out the calipers -->
The top is a nearly new stock red Brembo caliper. The lower is my RF caliper which has been discolored from high braking temps on the track! A true badge of honor!

Last night I switched in new front Hawk pads, new front rotors, switched in 1 new front caliper, switched out the tires and bled all the brakes with AMSOIL DOT4. Whew....

SCCA PDX event at Gateway Int'l

SCCA PDX event at Gateway Int'l on 8/29/2009. Instructed and did some tire testing. Ran a few sessions with my street tires just for the times/data and did a few sessions with a set of Hoosier R6's just for ridealongs. Also had 2 students; so was on track a total of 9 20min sessions!

Fresh set of rubber arrives - Hoosier A6's

Fresh new set of Hoosier A6's just arrived. Really interested to try them out as compared to the R6's I have been running.

Last week I received a new set of Hawk brake pads for the rear; backups!

I am still awaiting a set of front rotors en route from KNSbrakes.com and we'll be all stocked up with backups!

Video from Blackhawk Farms!

Mostly vid from S2 & S3 on Sunday. Turned my fastest laps in S4 but didn't have the camera on. A lotta fun running with Nic in hiw white 911 - click HERE

Start of the Saturday race - click HERE

Double NASA TTB wins & Track Record @ BlackHawk!

First trip ever to BlackHawk Farms Raceway in South Beloit, IL. Event started out rainy, ended with a heat index of around 105! I ended up with wins both days in TTB and slaughtered the class record by about 5 seconds!

I'd like to say thanks to AMS Performance for an awesome tune that held up under the grueling conditions. I'd also like to extend a formal welcome to AMSOIL as they are now officially helping to support my car as well. I ran their engine oil and brake fluid for this event. I was extremely impressed with the AMSOIL brake fluid! Also thanks to Hawk Brake and Hoosier tires for their generosity towards NASA.

Saturday:
Lots of rain and lightning on race day meant a delay to the start. The first session was downpour filled and I had nothing but Hoosier's. I ended up with just 2 dry sessions after lunch to fire out a lap. Unfortunately I had to start from the rear of the grid since my only posted time sucked (R6's on a damp track from earlier in the day). So passing basically 10-15 cars in 8 laps I was able to squeeze out a 1:22.5 which actually broke the class record. The next and last session of the day I got in some clean laps and posted a 1:21.1 and took the TTB win and better the class record.

Sunday:
Aided by brand new stickered R6's, a small suspension tweak and my 2nd day of running this brand new track I ended up with a 1:19.3 to win TTB again and bettered the class record!

Speedcasttv - NASA TT Video

SpeedcastTV was at the NASA GL/MW Crossover event in May at Putnam Park in Indiana. They shot some good footage on the progression of NASA from their HDPE program, to TT, to the race groups. Here's the vid about TT; check out the sweet blue Evo!

Video!

Welcoming new sponsor - AMSOIL!

To help better protect the hard working Evo 4G63 and to help out with the high oil temps I have been experiencing all year, I have decided to change to a higher grade of oil.

If you're looking to place an order, check out AMSOIL.

NASA Track Record & First in class TTB!

7/18 - 7/19 - NASA Midwest at Autobahn Country Club - South course. Great weather; great results! Video

Saturday:
First session of the day I mounted up a set of r-comps that I got used recently in order to save heat cycles on my Hoosier R6's. Unfortunately I overheated my brakes; lost them completely and suffered a pretty major off. I was pumping my pedal to the floor and using the e-brake to no avail. Yikes!
I came back in feeling extremely fortunate I still had a car. I did a complete flush of the brake system, completely removed my underpanel I had installed, tried to pull out all the weeds I could. I also mounted up my stickier Hoosier R6's while I was at it.
Only missing 1 session, I lined up after lunch with a dirty car and fired a first hot lap that pushed me to first in class. Making just a few minor tweaks throughout the day, my times kept coming down. I ended up with a 1:36.2 and 1st in class out of 4. I also had the 4th fastest time of the day out of 20+ cars besting several cars that were in TT classes higher than me.
Sunday:
Weather was again gorgeous. I studied my data overnight and decided to 'brake less' basically! lol. I also looked and I was .7 away from the track record Sat; so I was pumped. In the first session I had some whacko tire temps, but still fired a time close to Sat's best. Not many changes here. I corrected the pressures and tried to dial in more front camber. I set out looking for the track record. I came away with a 1:35.3 - setting a new track record!

Twitter!

Like the rest of the world - we're on twitter: http://twitter.com/boomn29

I'll try to post some updates from the event this weekend. NASA TT event at Autobahn just south of Joliet. This is the same course we just competed at last month with Redline! However, as compared to Redline we'll be running about 50whp less but much much better tires - Hoosier's vs street tires!
It will be interesting to see how the times shake down. Follow twitter for some updates.

July Track Events!

The month of July carries a few options for me. Not sure what exactly I'm going to do, but here are my options. Let me know if you have an opinion:

Options:
1. July 18-19 - NASA Midwest @ Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, IL
2. July 24 - GRM Hankook UTCC @ VIR (13 hr tow)
3. July 25-26 - NASA Mid-Atlantic @ Virginia International Raceway (VIR)
4. July 25-26 - Redline Time Attack @ Nashville Super Speedway

So right now I am holding 3rd in the NASA Midwest TTB points lead. Out of 3 events, I've only made it to one of them. I skipped the opening event and the other I missed because of a personal conflict.
I've ran the opening East Coast Redline event and placed 2nd. There are a total of 4 East Coast events.
The big potato of them all is the UTCC event at VIR. This is invitation only so it's a huge honor just to be selected. It's an 800+ mile tow plus there's some mountains to worry about too. hmmm.

2nd Place - Redline TA - Autobahn!!

My first ever experience with Redline Time Attack. It's a different animal getting just 3 hot laps in 2 different sessions! Not a lot of time for mistakes! After the first session I was in 3rd (had no idea). Ended up with 2nd place in Street AWD and got my picture taken with a super hotty on the podium.

Street Class AWD Overall:
1st - Tony Weisenhahn - 1:35.708
2nd - Nathan Pitcher 1:40.389
3rd - Dylan Peterson 1:40.796

I came in Saturday in my NASA TTB trim. I was frantically changing out parts between practice sessions and could not have got it done w/o help from the AMS crew
The car ran flawlessly on Sunday; on a day when a LOT of other cars had issues. Even in the high temps and pushing a ton of boost on the stock turbo.

Time Attack session #1!
I came out pretty hard and was coming towards the last series of corners when I saw I was catching a car really quickly. It looked like it was barely moving. There were no flags from the corner workers and I was trying for my hot lap, so I kept going and hoped I could get around the car before the next corner. Not so lucky. The car went into the corner on the inside and slowly crossed towards the outside. I had to waste the lap. So I braked hard - locked up a little and jerked right to the inside to make it around rather than risking a collision. I ran a 1:44x. Since my tires were hot, I decided to toss away the next lap and even let a car or 2 around. I wound up for the 3rd and final lap of the session and fired a 1:40.873 I had no idea, but I was actually in 3rd at this point.
I knew the practice times the Turn In Concepts WRX was running and new it was out of reach. I was just hoping to make the podium somehow!

Time Attack session #2!
Judging by the fact 2 AWD cars were ahead of me I assumed I was in 3rd. Either way, I knew I needed to just go out and put down the best lap I could and let the times sort themselves out. I fired 3 hot laps, according to my Traqmate, I ran: 1:40.922 - 1:40.396 - 1:40.383 and had no idea where I sat. I suppose if my radio was hooked up I could have been listening...
I squeezed my way into 2nd place.

Big thanks to AMS and Girodisc for overnighting me parts on Thursday to get me fixed up and able to attend. Big thanks to AMS for an awesomely safe tune that I ran hard with confidence and also for a little on-site tech support Saturday! Also thanks to Mueller for some very neutral handling JIC coilovers.

Vids:
Here's 2 laps from the first TA session. Wouldn't ya know, my camera tape ran out before the 2nd session started....
First vid - my best lap of the first session (no idea why the sound gets off).
2nd vid - first lap of the session - caught some traffic at the end unfortunately:
PICS HERE

Ready for Redline Time Attack - Autobahn!

Wow, what a crazy few days.

If you read the previous post, I've been working on redoing the brakes seals as they've started to leak. I got everything together but came home to a big puddle of fluid on the floor Tuesday night (with a track weekend fast approaching). I ripped apart the caliper and found a chuck missing from one of my new seals. Check out the pic!
I made quick calls to AMS for brake fluid and Girodisc for a few replacement seals. Gotta love overnight express!
Thursday everything got delivered. I put in the new seal, bled all the corners again and went for a testdrive. A quick stab of the brakes (with my eyes closed) and the car slammed to a stop. I pulled some more speed and pushed them hard and locked up a front tire. SUCCESS! Did a few more stops to bed in my new pads to the new calipers. Then rolled back home to finally register for the event about 10pm on Thursday night and pack up for the trip!

Bottom line, got the car loaded and ready to make the trip towards Chicago to compete in my first Redline Time Attack event!

New front rotors and caliper seals!

Well my front rotors were looking a bit sick - well severely heat cracked and a few cracks that were starting to spread. Nothing you want to break, so new rotors it is! I ordered a set of 'blanks' from knsbrakes.com - these are basically one-off copies of the stockers and have an excellently low price.
While I was at it, decided to get a caliper rebuild kit from Girodisc.com Once I pulled out the front pads, I seem some leakage so I didn't hesitate to replace everything up front. They look like new inside now!

Sparco Fighter Seat

New addition! Just finished mounting it a bit lower for a better angle.

NASA Midwest - Putnam Park May 16-17

#2 event for the NASA Midwest chapter, #1 for me. This was actually a crossover with the larger 'Great Lakes' region as well so a ton of cars. TT had nearly 40 for the 1.8 mile track!My previous best from a last month there was a 1:22.5
Changes included new AMSoil 10w40, a heatwrapped downpipe, a new Sparco seat and running 245/40-17 Hoosier R6's.
Saturday: Some light mist in S1/S2, S3 totally wet (everyone skipped), and S4 the best. Around 65 most of the day. Ended up with a 1:22.2 and placed 2/6. Contingency $$ from Hoosier and Hawk! I missed first by about 1 second to a much higher hp car.
Sunday: Good weather all day. Improved to a 1:21.5 Ended up 3/6.

Overall, the car felt good, a little down on power in the straights and needs a longer 4th gear for the track for sure. I don't think the gearing is well suited for this track, but that's how it goes sometimes. I've got a few ideas for small tweaks before the next event to help things out!

Click HERE for Video!

Truck & Trailer time!

I made the jump to a truck and trailer! This would really help relax the weekends. The Evo wasn't the nicest to drive to long events with the exhaust, race suspension, race alignment (ie camber), rollbar, etc. Plus it's fancy scheme seems to catch a lot of eyes (coppers too).

The truck is a Nissan Titan 4x4 KC and it pulls very nicely. The trailer is an 18' ATC trailer.

High Oil Temps - Solution - AMSOil!

Using my new set of STRi gauges, I noticed what I thought was high oil temps throughout my April 16th trackday. Outside temps were no higher than 72, so it's going to get a lot hotter here in the midwest! To this point, I have been using the Mitsubishi recommended Mobil 1 5w30. The oil temps I noted were:

190 - cruising at ~75mph on the interstate

210-220 - Tracking in a light rain with ambient temp 55

235+ - Tracking with ambient temp 70

So, I hooked up with Andy from AMSOil for some fancy 10w40 oil to help control temps and better protect the Evo's very hard working engine. I'll report back on engine temps after my My 16-17 track weekend!

NASA Driver Spotlight!

I'm famous! Well, a little...
Got an email from the head of the NASA organization today. I've been chosen for the spotlight driver for NASA Midwest over the next 4 or so days. It's not much, but it is kinda neat. Click HERE for the link.

On the right side, if you view my profile you can see some of my highlights, mods, and of course sponsors! So probably a good time to thank everyone that's gotten me this far which; especially AMS for helping tune such a reliable car for track abuse. Also, Muellerized for delivering me a suspension that actually turns the car w/o understeer!

April 18-19 Putnam - Data Aquisition Analysis

While on track, I run a data aquisition tool called Traqmate. Traqmate records everything and lets you compare laps from throughout the day, from another day or even another car. You can compare everything from speeds to braking to g-forces.
Looking at the data from April 18th specifically as compared to last April at Putnam with a different suspension setup, my entry speeds are lower across the board from my last trip. My exit speeds are similar however. The mid-corner understeer I used to fight all the time; I did not notice at all. I believe this is what allowed my corner exit speeds to catch back up and my laptimes to be equal - even on less power and older tires.
So, I'm pretty happy with this outcome. I was not pushing the car for my best lap, and believe that I have another 1-2 seconds left out there especially with the new Hoosier R6's that I will be running. Next event - May 16-17 - Putnam Park with NASA Midwest!

April 18-19 Putnam Park w/ MVP TrackTime

A weekend at Putnam Park with MVP Tracktime. MVP puts on great lapping events with a ton of gourgeous high $ cars, good drivers and a lot of tracktime. I use their events for testing because of the extensive tracktime - usually 6 20min sessions.

Saturday was a great day; around 70 and sunny. Car performed flawlessly through the day and the laptimes kept coming down. I ended up equalling my best from last year even though I was running older tires, more retrofitted stock parts and down about 25hp. I did this to run in my 2009 TTB setup.

Sunday started with spotty rain and the promise for a lot more come afternoon. I left my stock street tires on and they proved to be horrible. They are really old, really hard, a few sizes smaller and 2 of them are nearly shot. Even after learning the 'rain-line' I slid everywhere on the track. Definitely adding some sort of rain tire option to the shopping list!

Click HERE for Video!

NASA Announces Contingencies!

Racing is an expensive hobby, there's no way around that fact. We try to supplement the best we can by working directly with specific sponsors for help. In addition, each sanctioning body works to bring a few contingency sponsors to the table as well. To qualify for the contingency, usually you need to run a specific brand part and display those logos - and of course place at the top of your group!

Hawk Performance Brakes. Hawk is continuing their contingency from last year.

Hoosier Tires! Hoosier extended contingencies to the NASA TT crowd.

I switched to Hawk pads last year; the DTC60's and was planning to run them again. Tire choice was a big decision. I had it numbered down to 3 choices, but with the contingency announced, I'm definitely going with a Hoosier R6.

SCCA PDX Event - 4/8

First day on-track for my in 2009! Instructed for the SCCA by user mock role-playing for new instructor candidates. Good event, good turnout, and good new class of graduating SCCA instructors!Had the Evo out hot-lapping at a slow pace. I was able to get 1 session of hot-laps in at the last however. I ran data aquisition but haven't analyzed anything yet. The car felt good, of particular interest was my new suspension setup and engine maintenance. The new JIC's felt solid and very predictable. Everything held up just fine; big thanks for Ron at Raw Performance for the maintenance work!

Pics from the event courtesy of Keith: http://www.chillybanana.com/pictures/thumbnails.php?album=276

NASA Midwest 2009

My main objective this year is to challenge for the NASA Midwest TTB Regional Championship. I will mix in some other events including test-n-tunes, instructing for the St Louis Region SCCA and possibly some Redline Time Attack (street awd). The car was unmodded and remodded with the NASA TT ruleset and points system in mind. With that being said, here are the Midwest dates, track info and state location:

NASA Midwest Schedule
April 25-26 - Road America - Wisconsin
May 16-17 - Putnam Park - Indiana
June 13-14 - BlackHawk Farms - Illinois
July 18-19 - Autobahn CC - Illinois
August 8-9 - BlackHawk Farms - Illinois
September 5-6 - Gingerman - Michigan
Sept 10-13 - NASA Championships at Miller Motorsports Park - Utah
October 10-11 - Putnam Park - Indiana

Planned changes for 2009

With every 'off-season' in the midwest comes a host of new parts for the car! Last year my single biggest complaint related to my suspension. Mid-year I had the car professionally aligned at AMS which did vastly improve the feel, but I still did not think it suited my driving habits or abilities. So, a large portion of time was spent researching and talking to the suspension guru's in the Evo land! I ended up selecting John Mueller's custom JIC's. These were at a very reasonable price-point, were already proven in TA competition, and used the correct amount of 'mod-points' for my series. Best of all, John and his staff agreed to work with me and further dialing in my setup as the year progresses. They also recommended a few bushings to upgrade as well.

Complaint #2 was that the car was running hot at the last 2 events. I talked with AMS about this issue and we believed this was probably related to high boost and added stress. To play it safe, I decided to accelerate some maintenance on the engine, add ARP headstuds and go with a larger radiator.

So listed below are the highlights of my changes for 2009. Note that to slide down to group TTB, I had to demod in a few areas to shed some of my 'mod-points'. I talked extensively with Mueller and AMS to get recommendations.

Suspension:

• Muellerized JIC Coilovers
• Remove Hotchkis RSB - re-install stock swaybar
• Install Energy Suspension Rear Trailing Arm Bushings

Engine:

• Remove HKS Air filter setup - re-install stock airbox
• Remove aftermarket UICP & LICP - re-install stock piping

Misc (not including basic maintenance):

• Install ARP Head Studs - This will allow me to safely run higher than stock boost when needed
• Install STRi Oil Temp, Oil Pressure & Boost gauges - For safety and analysis
• Install AMS 5 speed shifter bushings - For improved shifting
• Install Mishimoto radiator - For safety as it provides more cooling ability than stock

Class Change for 2009 - TTB

In NASA TT; every car has a base class. From there you can perform modifications that will add points to your car that may bump you to a higher class. The trick - I have learned - is to use all your points for a particular class - and use them wisely!

My 2006 Mitsubishi Evolution IX has a base class of B. Last year, I had enough modification to bump me into the middle of A. Not knowing much about NASA and what I wanted to do, I ran without being maximized in the A group.

Per some rule changes for 2009, I decided to slide down to group TTB and be sure to maximize the car out. I spoke a lot with AMS Performance; particularly Chris about my power options given some more limited modifications. You really need to find the best recipe! I also reached out to about every suspension guru around including AMS Performance, GTWorx/RRE, Robispec, Muellerized, PIC/Pure, and Cusco/Nakabe to name a few. I could either strive for the max hp in my car, or really trick out the suspension. I would not have enough to do both. Of another big concern is what size and type of tire to run. In the end, I chose to run the best DOT tire I could in a modest 245 size - go with a reasonable 2-way adjustable suspension and use the rest of my points for power. I am excited...

2008 was full of a lot of firsts!

I installed and ran my first full set of aftermarket suspension, I ran my first timed event, I had my first major 'off', and I obtained my first sponsor just to name a few. I also met a host of great people and learned a ton along the way!

Coming from 2007, I had decided to upgrade the brake system and add in some extra safety via harnesses and a rollbar for the coming year. My abilities as a driver were quickly increasing and thus making the car faster and faster around the track. I would be venturing out of the DE/HPDE world and hopefully run some timed competition events.

Starting in April, I obtained my Time Trial (TT) licence with the Midwest region of NASA. My car in stock form fits into their 'B' group, but since I have some modifications already done, I landed in 'A'. Therefore, I competed in 3 events in their TTA grouping running against some Evo X's, C5 Z06's and heavily modded M3's and Mustangs to name a few. TTA is historically dominated by the C5 Z06 at both the Regional and National level and there were a lot of them out!

I ran the car as-is for most of the year. I was able to obtain sponsorship from AMS Performance mid-year. AMS helped tune my car, get me some replacement maintenance and upgraded parts, further align the care for the track, and just generally helped to answer a barrage of questions that I always seem to have. They've been great and I look forward to continueing our relationship and bringing them to the podium in 2009.

In the 3 events I competed in, I took a couple of 2nd place finishes, just missing out on a 1st at my last event. I quickly realized that to be competitive, one really needs to maximize their car for your specific group - one thing I planned for 2009!

Inaugural Post - What's in store for 2009!

This blog is devoted to the 2009 Racing season for my 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX. I will participate in NASA Midwest TTB, various DE's and also instruct for the SCCA - St Louis region. Stay tuned for LOTS of updates!