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This is a bit late, but I’ve been so busy with work, business, and actually going to the track that I haven’t really had time to sit down and recap the events so far. I’ve done 3 events in the last month, 2 in the last week, and have 3 more planned over the next 6 weeks. Busy schedule, but I have sponsors this year and committed to a certain number of events. I’ll list the events in the first post.
March 13-15 Road Atlanta
April 11-12 Roebling Road
April 17-19 Mid-Ohio
Event #1 – Road Atlanta (March 13-15)
Coming in to March I had very high hopes for the season. 2014 was very disappointing for my standards, culminating with a second place at NASA nationals. Primarily self inflicted issues though from making too many changes, some resulting in poor performance, and others in unreliability. However I did end the season on a high note, winning and setting a new TT1 lap record at VIR in October and winning 2 days at Road Atlanta in December. So felt good going into 2015. Also had a productive test day in Jan running a very quick time on quite old tires.. Was feeling good for the upcoming event.
Saturday – there wasn’t fierce competition here on this day, so I really wanted to work on getting the car set up to my liking. Car felt so good in January that I hadn’t changed anything and hoped that the same setup would work.. WRONG. After a wet morning, the track dried out early afternoon. In my excitement I completely ignored the fact that it had been raining for almost 4 days straight. Went full throttle down the hill into turn 1, set the car at turn in, only the car didn’t want to set. If you have been to Road Atlanta, you know that turn 12 is the scariest place on the track and results in the nastiest accidents. I have personally seen several cars flip 3-4 times after dropping a wheel here. Well car stepped out long before the apex. In order to correct I had to straighten the car which blew the apex and sent me on a trajectory to touch the grass with my outside wheels, which would have been all bad. Fortunately I managed to gather the car just in time and kept the outside tires on track (at least part of them) and get through the turn. It wasn’t all just green track, as I would find out later. Went on to win Saturday by a comfortable margin with a 1:27.8 which was the fastest time of the day.
Sunday – Sunday would be a completely different ball game as a new comer showed up to the event. He had been to events before, but in a different, much slower car. This time he showed up in a snarling beast of a C6 Z Corvette race car complete with full aero, diffuser, the whole works. And he’s no shabby driver either. The owner of many time attack records around the country. Of course, I love competition, so my excitement only grew from this point. Trying to make due with my now fairly old tires (well over 10 heat cycles) I aimed to go out and try and win the event on those and conserve my new tires for future events. I couldn’t better my time from the previous day however and ran another 1:27.8 which was quickly dissected by my opponent who ran a 1:27.5 chasing me from behind.
Video here.
I didn’t have confidence in the handling of my car at the time so I went ahead and bolted the new tires on to give myself the best chance to win. Went out to do the least amount possible but give myself a good margin. Laps weren’t to my liking, but did the job with a 1:27.2. With 2 sessions left I decided to sit on my lead for one session to see if he would beat it, and give myself a session at the end of the day to pull out a win. Unfortunately, the main competition lost his key and couldn’t compete anymore. So I won by default. Looking forward to this battle over the course of the season.
Last edited by heavychevy; Apr 20, 2015 at 06:14 PM.
Saturday - Trying again to preserve tires, I went back to the old tires, which were now in the 15+ HC range so I could learn Roebling again as I hadn’t been there since 2007. With no practice day I would have to learn on the fly in Time Trials against a pack of angry Corvettes. There we probably 10 Corvettes at the front of the pack with me mixed in, most of them in my class. To say this day was frustrating would be a massive understatement. Car was sliding all over the place I Roebling is all sweepers and I couldn’t hold the proper line for anything. Had to resort to late apexes and lots of tank slappers and wheel sawing. I initially blamed the tires, but I would find out much later that the problem was much more significant than that. Video of one of my frustrating session below. Car in front is an unlimited class car and friend of mine. Usually we run within a second of each other, but with my handling woes, I was 3.5 seconds off of him.
My bud was running 1:11’s in unlimited (TTU) and I was running 1:15’s. Too big of a gap for my comfort. He also had the track record for my class (TT1) with a 1:12.57. Something wasn’t right. I was still 1st in the TT1 class, but very unhappy. I decided to wait until the morning and bolt on the fresher tires which at this point only had a couple of laps on them.
Sunday – Sunday morning was cool sunny conditions, ideal for Time Trialing. I went out still a bit concerned with how my car was going to react, or if I would make much improvement at all. Strapped with much fresher tires, I went out with the bit between my teeth ready to lay down a good time. To my surprise, there actually was a lot of grip. Much more than before although the car still felt very edgy. Still way better than before, but I wasn’t trusting the grip yet so my first lap was a 1:12.9 but I knew that still wasn’t good enough. Second lap, pushed the car deeper into the braking zones and harder in the long long long sweeping corners (that’s all there is at Roebling). Saw on my predictive lap timer that I was almost 2 second ahead of my first lap I I really got excited. Entering the last long sweeping turn, I was holding a good line and ready to roll on the throttle to a strong finish. Then the handling woes got the best of even the fresh tires, snap oversteer, which I managed to catch, but because it’s the most important turn on the track, it cost me .8 according to my predictive. But I did cross the line with a 1:11.8 which is a new lap record for TT1! I didn’t run any more this day so I could preserve tires and get home as rain was coming. Still time left on the table………maybe next time. I think there are 1:10’s in the car on A6’s.
After the Roebling event, I would come to find out that one of my rear sway bar bolts had come loose and fell off the car, so I was essentially driving with a disconnected rear sway (on one side) which resulted in extreme cross body roll, and all kind of ill handling. How this happened I have no idea but the crazy entry into turn 12 at Road Atlanta, and impossible driving at Roebling made sense now as I know my car and when it’s happy.
Last edited by heavychevy; Apr 20, 2015 at 05:22 PM.
Event #3 Mid Ohio April 18-19
This would be my very first time to Mid-Ohio though I really wanted to go for the last several years, but the weather in the region is very volatile. Always the threat of rain which deterred me from making the 9 hr drive each year prior. In the week prior, I had to have changed my mind 10 times while watching the forecast. At first it said rain all 3 days, the 1, then 2 and around again. I literally decided on Thursday afternoon to make the trip, which my wife and I left at 7:50 on Thursday evening with intentions to drive on Friday morning. Lo and behold we made it to the track Friday morning about an hr before the drivers meeting. I had heard Mid Ohio was a tough track to really learn well, and I would be up against some locals in fierce machines so my expectations were tempered.
Friday – went out in wet track conditions as it rained the night before, and anyone who knows Mid-Ohio know that it’s almost un-driveable in the wet. You have to drive WAY off-line pretty much the whole lap. Car does not stop, turn or put power down. Not to mention the track is a blend of super complex turn combinations that are not at all easy to learn. As the day progressed, the track dried and conditions improved by my old faithful test tires were now at 20 HC after Roebling. But they were still driveable and it was a test day so I went out to learn the track which proved very difficult. As luck would have it one of the local racers in a mustang came out of pits right as I rounded turn 1. 15 laps of chasing him, barely able to keep up in the turns and holding back on the straights to stay behind him, I felt like I knew the line somewhat even though I was really struggling with under steer. Called my mechanics and got some advice on setup changes which I made over the course of the day to make the car handle a bit better. By the end of the day had worked my way down to a 1:30.0 which was already below the current TT1 track record of 1:34. I knew I’d have to step my game up though as the locals had been faster than that time in the past.
Saturday – Saturday morning I was very nervous. I knew no one knew my times but me, so I could surprise many at first as in talking with people, everyone’s advice was not to expect to be competitive at first, but I’m hardheaded and knew I had already run a decently competitive time. My plan worked and I surprised everyone in the warmup session with a 1:31.2 which put me in first place to start the actual sessions that count. I was soon knocked off my high horse in the first of the counting sessions as one of the locals made it clear right off the bat that he was coming to play. Usually TT starts with a very slow lap to scrub tires and get ready for flyers. Usually the fast cars get in 1-3 laps before catching the back of the field. In order to create space, you usually give yourself a couple of seconds to the car in front in case they bobble or you are faster. Well I was in front, so no one to give space to, but this particular time I crossed the line with a local right on my behind, which I was NOT expecting. Exited turn 1 and he’s trying to ride up next to me on the outside. Of course that wasn’t going to work without slowing us both down, so he did back off. I knew my tires weren’t up to par to be competitive, but once we got off the straight into the twisty section, they held their own, I could get a little breathing room for a couple of turns before he’d bear back down in on me. The rest of the lap played out this way until we crossed the line, with him again, right on my tail. We started the second lap and I got a better run through turn 1 so he wasn’t as close, but he was still close. Going into turn 2, I tried downshifting into 3rd and it just wouldn’t go. Kept pressing several times and by the time I got it in the gear I had overshot the turn and any chance of a good lap so I moved aside and let him go. I crawled back to the pits, changing gears to make sure nothing was wrong, and went straight to put on my newer tires, which at this point, the test tires were showing cords. I wasn’t to be pushed around all day. The TT1 session results were the car chasing me in 1st with a 1:29.6, me in second with a 1:29.8 and another local with a 1:30.2. We had at this point I think 4 or 5 cars under the previous lap record. Game on!
Saturday (Cont) – The second session I went out armed with fresher tires and ready to do battle. I had talked with the leader between sessions where he informed me that his car was having problems and he was saving it for the race. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to psych me out so I just assumed he would be out again. Turned out that he was saving his car for the race group and had a backup car of similar build in route from his home. I went out with the intention of putting myself back in first and giving myself the biggest gap possible to make him have to work to beat it. The new tires felt awesome! I could see on my Traqmate all of the time I was picking up. By halfway through the lap I was 1.5 seconds up on my previous time. I felt like I was flying. Entered the last couple of turns and the carousel that leads onto the front straight and was a bit too aggressive with my line. There is a big bump at the exit and as soon as I hit it, I threw me sideways, I managed to catch it, but it destroyed my speed onto the front straight. I saw my predictive gain getting smaller and smaller as I crossed the line. DOH!!!!!!!!! Still ended up taking first with a 1:29.0 but I was super frustrated with the fact that I gave away all that time just pushing a bit too much. I went out for 2 more sessions and ran times that were close, but not as fast as that initial one, let alone the time I should have run. My time held, with one guy out, but I happened to notice another car moving closer and closer throughout the day. But the second to last session he had moved into second with a 1:29.6 just a few hundredths ahead of who was now #3. I was just sure there was no way he would pick up .7 at the end of the day in the very last session, so was content to gamble and sit the session out to save tires for the next day. With 5 minutes before the session was to start I said screw it, I’m going out. I had been watching the race which was right before my session from bleachers across the way. I got back to my car to find out that I had dropped my car key somewhere by the stands I was sitting in. I frantically drove my truck over and dug through the thick grass until I found it. I was fortunate that there was an on track incident that required a tow truck or there is no way I would have made the session. I get to grid about 1 minute before they release the group.
I go out in front of the car that was now in second, and was content to continue to learn the track. I take the green flag and proceed to do a sloppy 1:30.2 as I was thinking I really had it won but was out more for fun than anything. The second lap, I put my foot in it a bit more and ran a 1:29.2 which was close to but not faster than my best so far. However on this lap, I notice this car was closer to me at the finish than he had been on the previous lap. This changed everything. He had to have done faster than a 1:29.2, but was it faster than a 1:29.0. I had no idea!!!!! AHAGHGAGHAHGAGH. Memories of 2014 at VIR losing by .024 started to hit me again as I did my cool down lap. There was no way for me to know if he beat my time or not. I got to the last turn and literally split second before entering the pits I said screw it, I’m running another lap. I got a slow launch onto the front straight, and was already behind after turn one according to traqmate. I entered turn 2, held it together and got a great launch out, then missed 3rd gear. I was now .45 behind my fastest time of the day heading down the back straight. I blocked it all out and focused on my driving. I knew I had to connect the complex turns better, which meant earlier turn in and smoother transitions so as not to upset the car, which carries a big penalty here. I kept corrections at a minimum and throttle flat as much as possible. Amazingly, this completely transformed the experience. Places where I was under steering before I was on the throttle now using more anticipation than reaction. I was dialed in like it was my home track. Made it to the last turn sequence to peek down and see that I was now well over a second faster than my previous best. I made a point to keep the car under control through the long sweeper and onto the front straight. Crossed the line to see a 1:27.8!!!!! I still wasn’t sure what the other guy ran but I was pretty sure it wasn’t that!
Got back to the pits, where my wife teased me a bit before telling me I pulled it off on the very last lap of the day. The guy had beaten my previous time with a 1:28.9, and my split second decision to give it another go won the day for me. Got my award and a certificate for besting the track record and headed to the hotel and study for the next day. I hadn’t forgotten about the missed shift and the .45 deficit I left on the table. I wanted to get that back on Sunday.
Sunday: Sunday rolled around, and after waking up early to study data and video I was prepared to go out and improve on my time. My once fresher tires now had 6 heat cycles on them and were starting to show signs of losing grip, but I figured I’d give it a go. Went out first, with the two guys hot on my trail (but not too close this time). First lap I was sliding everywhere. Clearly mid ohio isn’t as favorable in the cooler temps as most tracks. I still managed a 1:29.2 but knew that wouldn’t stand through the day. Had another crack at it, and with my A6’s squealing, which they have never done I managed a 1:28.5. Not what I wanted, but was decent time. Rain was expected, and I had a 9 hr drive home so I packed up and left after the first session and left it to my competitors to beat my time. At this point I switched classes to the unlimited class because we had lost 3 drivers the day before and were no longer eligible for contingency (to win tires) The unlimited class still had enough guys where if I won I would get tires. The unlimited class didn’t have any cars that were as fast as the TT1 class this weekend so there was less of a threat of finishing down the order. Turns out that no one beat my 1:28.5 and it would stand as the second fastest time of the weekend.
Great weekend, great track, great people too.
Can’t wait to get back up there! Maybe in the fall.
Last edited by heavychevy; Apr 20, 2015 at 05:21 PM.
Let me first say this about Hyperfest....... IMO it's THE best event, period. It's an enthusiast paradise, DE, Racing, TT, Car Show, Drifting, Karting Fun, Games, Ferris Wheel. And at the most fan/driver friendly track I've been to VIR. With hotel rooms, villas and garage suites trackside with pristine views of the track, everywhere you turn there is action. If you have never been to hyperfest, TRUST ME, put it on your calendar. It's by far the best event I've ever participated in. I'm not into drift, but it was entertaining, especially when Vaughn Gitten Jr and a couple of other Formula drift champs did an exhibition. Non stop action all day. Kart enduro at night (I didn't have a team together though so didn't get in). Next year, I'm getting in that Kart race.
So back to the TT action. If you read my spill on last year, I ended on a good note, but lost out on the first day to one of the very fast locals in a C6Z (lost by .024). That still stuck with me even though I managed the lap record (1:54.4) that Sunday which still stood going into this weekend. I came ready with a sticker set of tires on the trailer ready to do battle. Not to mention the field was LOADED, the C6Z, another local built C5Z, a 996 Cup, a 997 Cup, even a race cayman and some others registered for the class. The unlimited class featured some heat too, a Superlite Coupe driven by a very talented driver, a retired Daytona Prototype, a shop built widebody FRS and a nascar tube frame sort of thing with 800 hp and weighing 2400 lbs. Those weren’t in my class, but I was sure to be around them if they were fast. Given the overall environment (hundreds of spectators), and competition level, adrenaline was running very high going into the weekend. I was a bit anxious as I had no data for my fastest lap because I had forgotten my memory card for that record setting session. Either way, I wanted to win, and I knew even that lap left something on the table.
Saturday - It rained the day before and some overnight so the track was very wet with a few dry spots here and there. Went out for the warmup just to make sure the car felt good and get a feel for the track again. Didn't take long for the action to get started as I started off with the 7cup hot on my tail. We were mixed in with the DE group so there was a ton of traffic, and it was wet. This session didn't count for anything, but it was still fun dicing through the traffic. I was still on the same tires from Mid-Ohio, which were now on HC #8 . The second session I got to grid first and set my sights on putting down a good time out of the box. My first hot lap had a couple of mistakes though, and was a bit tentative given the track still had some wet spots showing. First hot lap was a 1:55.7, which I was ok with, but ready to better that significantly on lap two. By the esses, I was already over a half second quicker than the first lap, exiting oak tree, I was nearly a second. And then came the traffic, ON LAP 2!!!!!! Doh, that’s why we go really slow on the out lap so fast cars don’t catch traffic so quickly. And I caught them in some of the worst spots. Caught a miata at the end of the back straight, literally had to wait until there was room to pass. Made it past with my traqmate still telling me I was .5 up on my first lap, I would be happy with a low 1:55 in traffic. But then caught a car limping back to pits in hogpen, almost had to stop. Lap time ruined. Predictive timer went red (behind) and there was no catching up with no momentum onto the front straight. Crossing the s/f I could tell that only more traffic was ahead, only a lot more, so I cooled it down and headed for the pits. (1:56.7). The good news is that I was first in class by a good margin. The owner of the Corvette I expected to duel with came by and told me he had car issues that may end his day. He was well off of his normal pace, so it added up. No one else in class was under 2:00. I knew without him, the battle would be significantly less tense, but didn’t care going into session 3. I’m getting ready for the Grassroots Motorsports Ultimate Track Car Challenge, so I need to practice going FAST. Session 3 I started off aggressive from the onset. Went a bit too deep into turn 1 but recovered well and got back to the throttle as soon as possible. I had been working on cleaning up my line through 2 and 3 (Nascar Bend), and it seemed to be paying off. Touched 150 mph entering the esses. At this point I’m so focused I don’t bother peeking at my traqmate to see where I am. By the end of the back straight I bounce the rev limiter twice going deep into the brake zone. It’s just not worth the shift to 6th. Smooth through roller coaster and hogpen onto the front straight. Crossed the line to see 1:53.9. For tires that are now on their 10th heat cycle, I was really happy with the time. For reference, that time would have placed 7th at the 2014 GRM UTCC. Behind only pro drivers in shop cars, prototypes, an RSR or other pro series car. http://timingscoring.drivenasa.com/N...INAL%20ALL.pdf
I was pretty pleased with the time but noted a couple of spots where I could gain some time on the data. With a comfortable ( 13 seconds) lead and so many festivities and the track getting hotter and slicker, I decided to wait until the cooler morning conditions to go back out, skipping the last session of the day. Come to find out, the 997 Cup had paddle shift issues and could not run. The 996 Cup broke a control arm as well. Our TT1 field was depleting rapidly.
Sunday – Sunday morning, I knew the first session would be the best chance of the day to get a good lap in, it was cooler, and sunny. My wife and I had a detour on the way home and the second session wasn’t until afternoon so with a 6 hr drive home I decided it would be one session and heading home. I elected not to put on the wheels with the sticker tires as I’m compiling them for nationals. The aging A6’s slid around a bit, but managed a 1:54.7 on the first lap. Second lap was better, slid around a bit in the early tight section (snake), the rest of the lap was clean, up by .4 going into hog pen, slide again, and lost half a second. Ended up 2 tenths short of my fastest time with a 1:54.1. Happy with a very fun weekend, and good testing set up for the UTCC in July, I packed up and got on the road.
Last edited by heavychevy; May 4, 2015 at 07:38 AM.
My may event at CMP can be summed up with the following........
I ran the practice session on Saturday with my now 13ish HC A6's. In the cooler morning air, they were ok, had some tank slappers and still ran a 1:38. Second session was to be my last of the day because I had to take the car about an hr away to my sponsors location to display. The track beat up on the tires badly, no grip anywhere. Took all I had to run a 1:39.4. I left with just under a second up on the field, including a gutted new Z07 on with a good driver a Viper TA 2.0, and two built C6Z's, all on Hoosiers. I had to leave though and hope he couldn't find that extra second knowing I was leaving lots of time on the table. Fortunately, the track conditions worsened and no one improved for the rest of the day, so I came away with the win.
Sunday: DRAMA..... I wasn't sure the old A6's would be able to provide anything useful for the day, and I wanted the lap record for the track, one of the only lap records I don't have yet. So I said to heck with it, let's go for it. Bolted on my stickers and got ready to shoot for a lap record. About halfway through the out lap, I began warming up the brakes at which point I noticed faint smoke coming into the cabin. I figured the tires may be rubbing as it was the first time I was trying the new A7's. it was very faint so I didn't think much of it. Got to the end of the out lap and started on my first hot lap. Crossed start finish and then......................
No idea what happened, tires completely locked smoke everywhere. Slid to a stop about 2 feet from the end of the paved surface. Limped the car to the pits with two brand new flat spotted tires plopping around and clearly losing air. The rears seemed to make it out ok. Made it back to pits and honestly had no idea where to start, there were no codes, no ABS light, nothing. I had also not laid down a time, so my win streak was in jeopardy. I had no other option but to bolt on my old tires in the front. I knew this would cause massive understeer with new rears, but I had no choice. Drove out to the main road to see if the problem persisted. Did some low speed (50 mph) stops and couldn't replicate the problem. Then went out in a DE session to test at higher speeds, still no problem. Went to grid for the next session only to find out they were going to put me at the back of the grid because I had 4 wheels off and got DQ'd in the session in spite of having the fastest time of the weekend so far (after Saturday, drivers are gridded by fastest time). Managed to explain the situation and got the TT director to let me go out first. Still no sign of the issue on the out lap, so I got my mind ready for a hot lap. I knew I would be fighting some understeer, but no idea it would be as bad as it was. I continued with the mindset of laying down a fast enough lap to win as my competitors had not improved from the day before. First lap was a 1:37, which I was fairly sure would be enough to win for the day but I decided to keep going. Did two more laps which got slower and slower because the understeer was increasing in intensity. Brought it back to the pits happy the car was still in good shape and I had no ongoing issue. With a non optimal tire situation, I decided to pack up and go home.
Still no idea what happened there, but Hoosier has been awesome to deal with and are sending me some replacement tires to make sure there isn't a compatibility issue with the new A7. Going to give them a try in a couple of weeks. I also won a full new set of tires for winning my class both days. No lap record, which irks me a bit, but I can always go back for that.
Last edited by heavychevy; May 21, 2015 at 09:12 AM.
Nice driving! Do you have more pics of the cage and door setup?
Attached, best pics I have. Doors are getty cup style.
Originally Posted by 2muchtime
Is your third gear straight cut (cup gear)?
I don't think it's a cup ratio, it's nearly stock, only one mph off. But 3rd gear is weak in our cars I think due to flexing in the mainshaft? I have broken 3rd at least 3 times. We tried a straight cut 3rd this time for longevity.
