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
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