The Monster Mile

Dover is over, but the lessons learned are sticking with us.

• Don't mix Korean BBQ, sushi, beer, and racers. You get challenges like our last one. 
• Nine cones in one run, while a lot, is not a record.
• If you even mention something close to the word "illegal" be prepared to deal with the consequences.
• Talking to myself actually helps, and it also makes for funny in-car video for later.
  
  Most importantly, however....
  
• CHECK THE TORQUE ON YOUR WHEELS!
• HAVE A SPARE TIRE!

We started the weekend off with a bang or two. After bleeding the brakes on Baby Panda, the wheels were not torqued down. While driving home from the garage on Thursday (and almost reaching the highway), I heard a severe rubbing noise, and before I knew it, the left rear tire was rolling ahead in front of me. The damage to the car was not terrible. I'm just lucky I have such a stiff setup, and the car was low. I called PJ, he came with the truck, and we swapped on a shaved tire. We searched for about 90 minutes and couldn't find the wheel...Black wheel + black tire + 930pm = no dice.

The next morning, Dave, Todd, Roger, Bryan Mancuso, PJ, and I set off for Dover, at the ripe time of 5:00am. By Exit 27 on 95 (20 exits and it's now 5:30, mind you), we had another issue: The trailer tire had blown out. We sat in the area between the on-ramp and the highway for hours.

At some point, Dave and Roger ventured off into the lovely towns of Bridgeport, Stratford, and Fairfield to find a place--any place--that might be open and selling trailer tires. Of course...no where was open at 6:00 am. Bryan, PJ, and I hung around, playing poker in the truck and betting theoretical tires while traffic was picking up. Yay rush hour! A phone call and an hour later, the Davises showed up with their spare trailer tire, which (of course) didn't fit. So much for "standard" size trailer wheels!

A CT State Good Samaritan and two exits later, we were sitting in a strip mall parking lot. It was 8:00, and PJ and Bryan went to meet Dave and Roger at DeSantie Tire Co in Fairfield; the only place that would have a tire. I sat by myself, and 30 minutes later, we had a new tire, as well as a spare. We were back on the road around 9:00...20 exits in four hours...with no traffic...WINNING!

We arrived in Dover around 3, when practice runs were ending. Ah, well. It was obvious one half of the course would be grippy and awesome, and the second would be far less so. We went to a Mexican place for dinner, Nate drank a margarita, and we called it a night.

Day 1 saw NER with a strong showing of firsts, seconds, and thirds. The course was super fast, and with a bit of better suspension adjustment and braking, I'm pretty sure that Baby Panda would have done a little better. Not to mention less crap on the low grip side of the course. Marbles galore. A slight tire dip into the marbles, and you were f'ed for the run.

Photo by Perry Aidelbaum

I ended up in the marbles on last run...hitting a cone at the very beginning of the course. So I did what any other racer would do. BALLS TO THE WALL! I believe the grand total was 9 cones, though results only show 7 since two of my cones were put on Joe Austin, and then never put back on me (sorry Joe!). I hit a cone so hard, it wedged itself behind the tire, around the shock, and into the springs. A jack, a Roger Whipple, and some elbow grease and it came out, though I nearly needed a 10 minute mechanical.

Day 2 was....less good for Baby Panda. Cones galore, less focus, and a hero run by the competition. We can leave it at that. Todd and I finished 7th and 11th, respectively. Hey, at least we would have won at craps! (Though...I guess in a way, we did, because we drove like crap?)

Panda was leading in SM after Day 1, by over 2 seconds, and finished with over a full second lead over second place. I think it was PJ's Post-Day-1 massage that really helped him to relax and focus on Day 2:

After reviewing video and data, I realized I wasn't trying to go faster for some reason. I don't know what's up with that. Maybe I should change my goal from "not-DFL" to "mid-pack or higher" because I think the "not-DFL" mentality is no good for competitive edge.

Interestingly enough, I didn't do much better at the Devens event on the 12th, but I blame that on the rain. And the additional pressure of the GFab Street Competition. And the fact that we changed things on the car so I had to adapt. And the fact that the event was trying a bunch of new things like number of heats and new people in work assignments. And the fact that I didn't get a break. And I think I'm out of excuses.

Ah well. At least I got my Nationals "Tour requirement" out of the way. Perhaps I should use the time between now and then to learn how to drive properly.

What happens at the bar goes very very public

How is This Fair?!

G-Fab misses you. And is jealous. 

STRaight trippin' in Derty Jerz

Last weekend brought the inaugural SCCA NJ ProSolo at the New Meadowlands stadium. After finally getting somewhat comfortable with the car as well as getting the suspension fairly dialed in, it was time to see what the car could do against some "real" competition.

Up until this point, I hadn't experienced any real STR competition and I hadn't had the luxury of time to learn the car and develop the setup. It didn't help that the forecast leading up to the weekend called for rain. And as well all know, the Hankook RS-3's + rain = FAIL. Weather was such an issue that I had sourced a set of Toyo R1R's from a local distributor that I planned on having installed the morning of practice starts. At least the weather looked like it would be pretty nice, so I skipped the Toyos. Still, the fact that my car (and me) were untested against National level competition, I was still nervous.

Unfortunately Friday practice starts were in the wet/damp so I didn't get much useful practice. At least I got to get the feel for launching the car. There's one less thing to worry about during actual competition.

Coming into Saturday I was still nervous, but at the same time I knew I just needed to keep a cool head and I stood a chance at a decent showing. I made the point of introducing myself to the other STR drivers just to show I'm a "good guy"...at least on the outside. Don't tell them I sabotaged their tire pressures (just kidding!). They were all really cool dudes and it actually calmed me down a bit since we were all "cordial" at that point. That calmness would soon disappear as we strapped on our helmets just before our turn to run. Sitting in the car I was shaking from anxiety. I didn't come close to hurling like jdrop did, but I was starting to freak out.

We pull up to the start boxes and my hands are shaking like crazy. Thankfully, jdrop was working the helmet scanner and gave me the "Good luck!" wish as I pulled up to the burnout box. That, combined with some deep DEEP breathes, brought the shaking back to "normal". The second I launch on my first right side run things fall back into place and I put down a decent raw time. Over on the left on my first run I throw down a decent 32.7xx which would end up being 2nd fastest in class, but I get called for a cone penalty. I had no idea which cone I hit so I was a bit dumbfounded, but oh well I'll have another shot. My 2nd right side run would go much better as I lay down a class leading 32.088. Moving back over to the left for my last run of the morning, I knew I just needed to do the same thing as my first run...just cleaner! Unfortunately I would redlight the start thus negating the run. It wouldn't have helped anyway as I ended up 1/10th slower.

So going into Saturday afternoon, I was sitting in 5th place and 2 out of trophies even though I had two of the fastest raw times in class. All thanks to a cone and a redlight on the left. Thinking ahead to Sunday, I knew weather might not be as good as Saturday, which meant if I wanted a decent chance at a trophy I needed to get a clean time in the books on the left side. Unfortunately the afternoon brought about some cooler and slightly wet weather compared to the morning. So if I was going to find time, I would REALLY have to work at it. I end up not finding any time on the right so I would have to settle on my 2nd run from the morning. On the left, I drove like a little girl just to make sure I stayed off the cones and didn't redlight. My times really showed it too, as I was ~0.3xx slower than my fastest morning run. But, by virtue of not coning or redlighting, I actually move into the 2nd position in class. I would ultimately drop to 3rd after a 2nd driver in an S2000 takes advantage of the heat in his 'Kooks and throws down fastest times on both sides in class.

While I'm on the bubble in terms of trophy positions, I feel relatively relaxed. Certainly compared to how anxious I felt before morning runs. I'm actually pretty upbeat. I stay relaxed all night by having 1 or 10 beers and serving 1 term as President in our NER game of "A**hole". I think this is key, as I don't spend all night obsessing over how tomorrow's going to go.

The same upbeat feeling would stick Sunday morning as I feel confident that I know exactly what I need to do to drop time and potentially put myself into 2nd or 1st. Sadly, mother nature would not cooperate as we were greeted with cold/cool temperatures and overcast conditions. F*'n great! Those Hankooks are going to be tough to get working so it's going to take everything I've got just to keep the car in check. As expected, the tires had nothing for me to work with as I struggled just to keep the car on line. I refuse to accept this and push as hard as I could which would end up resulting in not one, but two spins. Coincidentally, I spun in the same location on both the right and left courses. Well, if I'm going to lose a trophy position it's not going to be because I wasn't driving hard.

So my 2011 NJ ProSolo would end with me sitting on my Saturday times. It turns out that none of the other top 5 drivers in STR found anytime on course either as well all struggled to get the Hankooks to work in the cool temperatures. Grrrr...I may be seeing Toyos in my future. Well I wasn't able to move up, I at least held onto my 3rd place finish. This would signify the first time I've ever trophied at a National event. Considering this is only my 1st year ever autoxing a RWD car and I've barely developed the car, it's still a significant milestone! It must have been the G-Fab Racing t-shirt I was wearing since that obviously played a major role in my performance. Still, there's a lot of work left to do - both to the driver and to the car. Next up - Northern States Championship in Toledo, OH. Hopefully I don't blow it against some stacked STR talent.

And now, for your viewing pleasure/displeasure, my fastest runs from the weekend:

LEFT

RIGHT

There's No Crying In Racing: 2011 NJ Pro Solo

I used to go to big national events and just watch. I also used to cry when I didn't do well. Yes, I know. Both kind of stupid.

That being said, from watching and not driving, I got really familiar with the pro solo format. So when it came to the Dirty Jerz, I figured it was about time I stop spectating and start driving. I finally have my own car, so if I don't drive it, what the F was the point of a small diamond ring?

Given that the car has made it through exactly ONE event without some sort of issue, I was a bit concerned. Or maybe that's an understatement. I was terrified. Baby Panda has never seen national competition, so I was worried she'd get scared and decide to crap out. On top of that, the 48+ launches it was going to endure had me worried about the clutch as well. On top of that....I suck at launching on command, I don't do well without getting out and taking a break, and I haven't gotten the shakes yet. But....screw it. I'm going to drive!

When we got to the site, as if all the car/driver worries weren't enough, somehow the Nationals Staff had somehow overlooked my three emails about having two drivers in both ST and STX, so we were all in the same heat, and in the same group. FML. It probably contributed to the amount of stress we were all under when the event began, but by the end of first runs, it wasn't terrible, aside from the grid guy who couldn't seem to get it through his head.

Despite my nerves almost getting the better of me (I almost threw up before I ran, and almost cried for the first time), after my first launch, I was hooked.  What a great adrenaline rush. I've never gotten the shakes while driving before. And my worries about launching were unfounded. I did that better at launching than the actual driving part. Go fig.

By the time the AM heat was over (with only one RL, due to staging WAY too deep), I was beating Wiley (by only a little)....which never happens....and was also in far better spirits. 

Of course, my spirits would sink, as the sky got pretty dark and it started sprinkling right before my afternoon runs. I had to turn the wipers on, and was on the left to start, which had been my weak side anyway. Of course. The ground was wet, I hate you rain. Somehow, I still managed to hang on to 4th place out of 6. We went to dinner, reviewed some data, drank some beer. Or a lot of it.  

Going into Sunday's runs, I knew I needed a better left side time. I got to start on the right, which for me, was a lot more comforting. My right side was ok--I ended up picking up a second on the right on my first run, but I pushed far too hard on the left. Both times. Sigh. Not the best finish at my first national outing of the season. I did learn a lot, though. In no particular order:

• "Mommy needs a new pair of shoes" doesn't coerce your car to turn in. It's probably better that I don't have video yet. There will be much profanity when it's finally posted. 
• Eric Chiang's Relaxation Techniques should be taught to all noobs at every race. They really work.
• Well-made, suede steering wheels are totally worth it. I hit the steering wheel several times after my bad runs, and it didn't bend or break.
• Thanks Peej, for buying the MaxQ. It really, really, really helps.

I almost cried again, because I didn't improve as much as I needed to move up in the standings. But--THERE IS NO CRYING IN RACING. A few minutes later, I was smiling again, because I'm very lucky. I have good support networks and I have good friends. And thank God there was some estrogen at this race. It's nice to have your girls around when you need them.

Photo courtesy of Wiley Cox

 All in all, I'm pretty please with how Baby Panda did. She didn't get scared, lasted the whole race, finally got comfortable with her new shoes (shaved RS3's, and I am never having TireRack shave again as they did a terrible job), and finally decided to come out and play for real. By the end of the event, I was exhausted, but ready for Oscoda. 

Photo courtesy of Wiley Cox

Dover up next, then Oscoda! I probably won't cry there.