Details involved in preparing, choosing and competing in various wheel-2-wheel events mainly in the Midwest both in my previously owned 2006 Mitsubishi Evolution IX and other racecar rentals!
Showing posts with label 2011 NASA National Championships. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2011 NASA National Championships. Show all posts
One thing I never listed out was ALL the top times per class and what type of car won them. So here's the info, along with a brief reminder of the power/weight per class. Mid Ohio PRO course was the track.
Note; I competed in TTA; with a best of 1:32.8
TTR - 1:27.1 - Radical SR3
TTU - 1:29.7 - Evo IX (BBK turbo + lots of Aero!)
TTS - 1:30.8 - C5 Vette (lots of Aero!)
TTA - 1:32.5 - C5 Z06 Vette
TTB - 1:35.8 - C5 Vette
TTC - 1:36.9 - e36 BMW
TTD - 1:39.8 - Mazda Protege
TTE - 1:41.9 - Honda Civic
TTF - 1:46.3 - Infiniti G20
So entering Sunday I was on top. I felt pretty good about pushing the car Saturday, but looking at my data Sat evening, I found there was definitely a few more tenths out there in some key corners.
The first session looks to be a good one. With a good lap on the books, I elected to make a small setup change in loosening the front rebound. This proved to make the car worse unfortunately and I ran another mid 1:33. It was also a sloppy session with people pushing very very hard. Some of my competitors came out on their 2nd or even 3rd set of new tires at this point! I seen one competitor go very wide and 4-off which didn't get called (you get your times DQ'd if you go 4-off) in my rearview. I watched intently as I was waiting for him to fly back across the track like most do in that particular part of the course and punch the inside wall. But he saved it; congrats on that.
The updated times showed another big changeup in class. Whereas I'd leapfrogged from 3rd to 1st the previous morning; I'd been leapfrogged today! It was insanely close with the laptimes showing:
1st - 132.52
2nd - 132.80 3rd - 132.83 --> ME
There was 1 session left on the schedule in the afternoon. But it then started to sprinkle a bit. Then it cleared up; then it sprinkled more. All I wanted was a dry track and a shot at a legitimate win. I lined up in grid and it started to sprinkle just 15min before our session - but then it stopped and the rain came out! It was going to be close!
The track might not have been 100% dry, but it was close enough. We went out and pushed hard. The 1st lap felt good so I flew into T1 under the bridge; hit the apex and stuck the accelerator to the floor! Only the front tires wouldn't hold the speed and I went 4-off wide on track out. That'd be it as a 4-off means a DQ. I can't recall if I still pushed hard that lap or if it was the next - just for pride. But somehow I tallied a 1:32.9 that session; and the corner workers didn't catch my obvious 4-off. However, per the rules, I admitted to it and that time was DQ'd. In the end it wasn't as fast as my previous best; but I also wasn't pushing 100% because of the early 4-off. I'm wondering if I'd kept pushing what would have happened? lol. Either way; I wouldn't wanna win like that. I had my shot at a dry track which is all you can ask for.
The final tally slotted me into 3rd place out of 14 in a crazily fast group of TTA. The top 4 of us all bested the previous TTA Nationals record set by Gates back in 2008 (in a car that's been reclassed higher since).
In the end, it's so hard to compete on a track with long straights like Mid Ohio with the Corvettes. We're at an immediate disadvantage with respect to aero, drag, gearing, weight, power, etc. I was still able to hit 144mph on the backstraight according to my GPS with the stock turbo! Huge thanks to AMS Performance, AMSOIL, Hoosier Tire, Hawk Brake Pads, Buschur Racing, The Winning Formula, AST, Forgeline, and my wife.
And for the record, I was weighed 4-5 times, fully teched with my points sheet once and GPS'd twice. I think this was pretty close to the other top cars in the class; with a portion of the non AWD cars being dyno'd as well.
The pictures are some that I took in 'Madness' of some of the race groups; enjoy!
Lastly, here's my highlight/lowlight video. Showing a lot of the offs, my near T-Bone on Friday and my 4-off in the last session, etc:
Entering Friday (Day 2 of 4) I was in 2nd of 14, but there was a long way to go. After the politics from the previous day with the rear of the grid, the front of the grid returned the favor with an insanely slow outlap. I was actually going about 20mph into the carousel as the front guys were trying to get the cars in the rear to bunch up tight. Needless to say that screwed everyone's first lap.
Finally when we got up to speed, on the quick R-L transition between T9 and T10 I actually had my Traqmate come off the windshield suction cup and fly out my passenger window! Actually this wasn't the first time this had happened, as last year it happened in T7 at Autobahn; only it flew out the drivers side window there!
Friday also brought about probably one of the top 5 scariest moments of my short racing career. I had let a TTS Lotus past me on the outlap, knowing him from Regional events in that he was slightly faster than me I figured I'd be nice and not hold him up - the car in front of me did the same. Well, he didn't return the favor so well! On the first flying lap, the Lotus went into a corner too hot and lost it, spinning and staying on the track. If you're familiar with Mid Ohio, you know how many blind corners and hills are there and how dangerous a situation like this can be. This occurred at the top of 'Thunder Valley' which is T12. This is a corner I usually pitch the car into sideways and drift all the way to the exit on the right - which is coincidentally where the Lotus was still spinning when I came up the hill. Now fortunately for both of us, I overbraked the entry so I was well under control and not drifting or sideways and I was able to react! Only I had no idea which way to swerve as he was still spinning! Changing my mind from R to L; I swerved Left to avoid and the Lotus actually rolled backwards towards the middle of the track just as I'm trying to scoot by. Whew; by unscathed!
Once the session was over the Lotus was moved onto his racegroup, so we'd have to catch up on dramatics and apologies later to be sure! I did have an official come over and deliver my Traqmate to me! I'm thankful I label stuff... And yeah; it still works...
Best lap of the day for me was a 1:33.9. I'd end the day in 3rd place of 14. Once the grid worked its way out from fast to slow, things were a little better in the afternoon session. I still had a difficult time setting tire pressures. They kept coming up way higher than I'm used to. Perhaps I was overdriving the car; or the fact I was doing all 100% hot laps for 6 laps - but that's not entirely uncommon.
Here's a pic of the gridding area for one of the GTS (German Tourning Series) qualifying races as seen from our paddock area -->
It's here! The primary goal for this year and the culmination of the entire year's worth of effort. The 2011 NASA National Championships kick off at Mid Ohio Sports Car Course on Thursday Sept 8th and flow for 4 days. For the Time Trials groups, we get 1 practice and 8 timed sessions scattered over those 4 days to set our fastest lap. It's not a great deal of tracktime, so prepping the car with the right setup is critical.
The #929 Evo is currently loaded up and ready to rock. As the forecast shows chances for rain daily, part in thanks to Tropical Storm 'Lee', we decided to leave the rain/street tires on in prep for our first session Thursday @ 11am. I figure I have plenty of time to (happily) switch to Hoosiers if the weather is good. BUT, if it's wet, I need to throwdown an official lap to start working the grid strategy. My group consists of my class (TTA) and the 3 classes above me, TTS, TTU, & TTR respectively. Should be around 30-35 of us including 13 in my class!
I hope to make some pretty regular updates on the blog. Possibly nightly even! But I promise lots of small updates via twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/boomn29
I'll leave you with one of my favorite pictures of 2011...
