2013 Recap!

It was a very different 2013 for me.  After selling the #929Evo last fall, I had a complete of renting.  I drove a Miata, a Volvo (twice), 2 Mustangs, 3 different BMW SpecE30's and a Subaru STI rally car.  I set a track record, took 1st in a Sprint race, took 1st in an Endurance and tried some Rallying!

We started at Gateway with a NASA sprint weekend in a PTE Miata. First place and a track record.

Next up was the 1st of two 24 Hours of Lemons events.  With 65+ other cars, we turned some crazy 3-hr stints into 420+ laps over 15hrs and a solid yet disappointing 2nd place overall.


Another NASA Sprint race weekend - in a Mustang that never ran correctly followed next and definitely one of the most frustrating weekends in my race career.

A planned gap over the long hot summer months came next.  Lots of work setting up a July/August event but it all fell through.

Finally, 2 weeks before a 4.5hr Enduro at Autobahn I had lines on 3 different rides.  1 fell through, 1 was out of my pricerange and the one I went with netted me my first ever Enduro win!  In a Mustang no less...

A quick 1/2 day excursion to DirtFish outside Seattle during a weekend getaway yielded some good video and showed me the gravel stuff is crazily different than the tarmac stuff!

I had a November Chumpcar race lined up at a brand new track, but it fell through as well.  I scrambled and picked up an early December Enduro + Sprint weekend with NASA and it was pretty awesome.


Overall, I seemed to gravitate towards Enduros.  If nothing else, it helped maximize my seattime and get the most out of an event or weekend.  There were some good arrive-and-drive options, some good friends with good cars and some not so great events.

Prepping for trip - NASA @ Road Atlanta

As 2014 schedules are being leaked and I debate renting vs buying for 2014 - the Road Atlanta weekend is quickly approaching!

Plans are to make the 9 hour drive Thursday afternoon, with my Old Man riding shotgun with me.  He actually came in my only other trip to Road ATL in March/2012 when I towed down the Evo and enjoyed it.  This weekend should be much more interesting as instead of running Time Trials, I'll be taking part in the NASA 8hr Enduro on Friday and Sprint races on Saturday.  I already see 17 cars registered in the se30 class for Saturday and 56 total in our racegroup.  Should be a terrific race and hopefully I'll have the car figured out after my time in it Friday during the Enduro to place towards the front!

As for the 8hr Enduro, final driver lineups for our team are set.  Drivegear put the team together, which includes 2 other races I have not yet met.  We'll plan on splitting the 5 stints between the 3 of us with a 45min practice session also on the schedule.  I believe a Drivegear team finished 2nd or 3rd in last year's Enduro so I'm expecting their cars to be well prepped and for us to be in the running in the E3 class.

I'm very interested in piloting what will be 2 different se30's (Spec BMW E30 models) this weekend.  I've already had some local some rental and purchase options for se30's in 2014 and a lot of that will depend on what I think of the models while at Road ATL. 
I leave you with one of my favorite pics of the #929Evo - from Road Atlanta!

'Santa's Toy Run' - Road Atlanta with NASA SE region

Next up; back to Road Atlanta!  This NASA-SE event kicks off Friday with an 8hr Enduro and then a normal Saturday with Sprint Races and finally Sunday with some end of the year fun specifically catered to the SE region.

I will be driving both Friday and Saturday.  Friday I'll be sharing the red #89 se30 (Spec BMW e30) from DriveGear Racing with 2 other gentleman.  On Saturday I'll be in another se30 from Drivegear; the white #88. 

After having a friend recommend DriveGear and their se30 rentals, I have been communicating with Andrew off and on most of the year.  And when my November Chumpcar race at AMP fell through, I quickly scoured my resources for a final big event and having loved Road Atlanta when I visited it in March/2012 I have been itching to go back.  More info to come...

Chumpcar "Chumpionship" Nationals - Day #1

Ah, the smell of exhaust early in the morning; it's a distinct smell that means RACE DAY!
When I arrived at the track early Saturday, everyone was moving their gear into the pit area.  I got a better look at all the other cars with some having some pretty exotic paintjobs or 'styling'.  lol.  Welcome to Chumpcar... 

There were about 40-50 cars altogether at the start.  Most were in the same class, with a few running in a higher 'EX' class and not in the actual competition.  This might sound like a lot, but I knew there would be a lot of attrition; especially so when you factor in Chumpcar's by rule need to start out as a $500 car.  There were several BMW E30's, a few fast BMW E36 models, some Civics, a Taurus, a few Neon's, etc.

During the driver's meeting all the rules were explained.  Pretty basic really.  I realized pretty quick with my NASA background that I was one of the more qualified drivers out there (more on this during my stint).  Shortly thereafter we were off and racing!  Our car was running laptimes around 2:04 with the leaders running about 2:00 flat in the early going.  We settled in around the top 10; ranging from 8th-11th due to an early pitstop to fix our radio as the connection fell out.  The general thought was if we could finish top 10; it'd be a victory as we knew the car didn't have the ability for the overall.
We were holding around 11th when the first of our fuel pickup issues started.  Apparently the fuelcell in the car had some issues with the foam getting sucked up and clogging the in the fuel filter.  We ended up pitting periodically to fix this issue and it became a routine 5min stop!  We were losing a few spots and laps with the unscheduled pitstops, but not too bad.
Our 2nd driver was in and running around 2:07's as the tires were pretty tortured during the first stint; along with the brakes.  The overall leaders were around 1:58.  A complaint of a vibration under braking brought our car in so switch out a rotor and rotate the right-side tires.  The vibration improved but never went away the rest of the day.  I think it was collateral damage from the hard laps from the first stint.

As I was up next, I grabbed a little food around noon and got suited up.  My stint was to be 2 hours like the others; from around 1pm - 3pm.

Chumpcar "Chumpionship" Nationals - Pt 2

Upon arriving at the track Friday afternoon, I got a look at the car we'd be piloting.  It was a 1983 BMW 635 with ~240hp when new.  It's been traded around STL a few times with varying paint jobs and names but 'Dark Shark Racing' and Chumpcar has been it's home for awhile.

I got a chance to sit in the car and even take a lap around the parking lot!  Just enough time to acclimate myself with the clutch, shifter, mirrors; etc.  I also took the time to get belted in a few times with my helmet on - basically practicing the driver exchange process.  I was looking forward to the event.

I learned I'd be in the 3rd stint, probably going in the car somewhere around 1pm on Saturday as the race was schedule from around 9am-5pm on Day #1.  Although I wanted to, we didn't really talk strategy or anything.  I was told to just drive the car and keep an eye out for other cars and minimize any potential contact.  Being a 15+ hr race; it wasn't going to be a sprint every lap!

After the meet-n-greet with all the team, drivers/crew/owners, we all took off.  A few of us were at the same hotel and decided to find some food & drink before retiring.  7:30am call in the morning...