We got to the race track Saturday morning and the pits were one big mud hole, I walked the race track with my dad and it was in shambles. I have never seen a bigger frost heave in my life it looked like a tree root was growing through the 1/2 corner in the second groove. Making a mental note to avoid that so I didn't clean off the oil pan we prepared the car for first practice.
I got out onto the track and felt a bit lost as to a line because of the odd shape of the 3/4 corner. I became frustrated because the car was stable and fast but the lap times weren't showing it. I ran 16.9 in the first practice session which was a second off the pace. In the second practice we put the new tires on to scuff them in, and were able to run a 16.6. Thankfully three time series champion Korbin Thomas arrived to the track just before qualifying and I was able to talk to him about what line to run.
With a new idea of where to run on the track I went out for qualifying, the car was loose everywhere we had the tire pressures a bit too low, I came into the pits thinking I had blown it. I soon found out I ran a 16.217 which was my fastest lap of the day by far and only 3 tenths off the top qualifier.
I started at the back of my heat and was able to make a few passes but the track had no top groove so in order to make a pass you had to wait for someone to make a mistake and slide up or move them out of the way. I finished 5th in my 15 lap heat.
The main event was a gong show, going in to the first corner one lap one I drove in the same as I had been all day and the car in front of me slowed up way more than I expected, I braked as hard as I could but ran into him and sent him spinning into the infield. (He is paralyzed and drives with hand controls, I later found out that his visor fogged up and he couldn't see the corner and couldn't take his hands off the hand controls so he just hammered on the brakes.) It stayed green and as I drove into turn three I had a car dive under me, I was cleared and I rolled it down the hill to get a run off. Unfortunately the #38 car ( Same guy who cut my tire last week) tried to dive in under me as well. I came down the hill as he was just under my bumper cover. My rear bumper slashed his RF tire sending him barreling into the front straightaway wall, and I was completely side ways in the grass luckily I managed to gather it up. The caution flew and because we hadn't yet completed a lap we went back to the starting line up. I was told over the radio that if I got into anyone else I was going to be black flagged, so I planned to be cautious. On the start I was crowded by the same driver who I had spun out previously,and I was crowded down the track and made the mistake of not holding my line. I tried to turn down more so that I didn't spin him out again and get black flagged but my car hit the bumps on the inside of the corner and the back end started to come around.
From there it was all bad, the field was tightly packed because of the restart and I felt like I was in a pin ball machine, I was hit in the LF which broke the tie rod and sent me spinning up the track where I was hit in the RF wheel and then to end it all the right side door. I tried to re-fire the car but the rad was puking so I just sat and waited for the tow truck.
One complaint I did have was that I hadn't dropped my window net or moved in the car and I wasn't attended to until the car was hooked on the tow truck and they wanted to tell me to drag the brakes. Not very impressed with the safety crew at all.
We came home with a smashed up race car and a sprained thumb from the wheel whipping around in my hands from all the violent impacts.
We hope to have the race car back together and race ready for the ASA race at Motoplex Speedway June 4th in Vernon, BC.
Monday, 30 May 2011
Thursday, 26 May 2011
Geared Up For a New Track
After a long day at work and putting the finishing touches on the race car we are finally loaded and ready to go to Williams Lake. Dad and I both have to work tomorrow so we will be hitting the road around 4, we plan to get half way and pitch the tent somewhere for the night. I anticipate some adventure as our sense of direction is usually lacking. Assuming we make it to the track we will be getting in the gate at 10am.
I have never raced at Thunder Mountain Speedway in Williams Lake BC before, but I hope to use the first practice session to learn the track and get a good feel for the race car, then the rest of the day to dial the car in on new tires. We race at 6pm and I hope we can figure this track out with our setup and be a contender, we need a solid points night to get back in the chase after the first race day.
I have never raced at Thunder Mountain Speedway in Williams Lake BC before, but I hope to use the first practice session to learn the track and get a good feel for the race car, then the rest of the day to dial the car in on new tires. We race at 6pm and I hope we can figure this track out with our setup and be a contender, we need a solid points night to get back in the chase after the first race day.
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Frustrating Race Night but a Fast Race Car
Yesterday was the first race day of the year, and right from the start we had bad luck. The first thing that happened in the series of events that had us finish 14th was when I went to change into my drivers suit. I had my arms full of my drivers suit and nomex underwear and I was trying to lock the bathroom door when I dipped my nomex pants into the toilet water. Ick so I didn't get to wear those.
It was raining on and off all day and we were lined up to go out for practice when it began to rain. We were parked beside a 2 foot hot pit wall and when we started to roll out the pit lady stepped out in front of me to stop me. I was going too fast to stop and from the drivers compartment can't see the 2 foot wall, I swerved and smashed into it. Next time someone steps out in front of me I have decided I will just hit them, they are softer than the walls. The damage incurred from that was a bent rim, bent spindle, bent ball joint, tore the brake lines off, and knocked the toe out. Because of the lengthy repairs on that we missed all practice and went into qualifying blind.
As we rolled over tech before qualifying we didn't meet ride height rules and the tech official actually said that he thought there was a bump where we were checking ride heights because a few cars hadn't met the height rule on the left side and where high on the right. Very professional tech the ride heights on a bump. So we had only a few minutes to make it legal and frantically wound down on the springs. I went out for qualifying and barreled the car down into the 1/2 corner and quickly realized that all our winding to make the car make ride height had tightened the car up astronomically. I had to wait on the throttle for what seemed like minutes and my first lap was a 19.8 which is over a second off the pace. Once I realized what the car was doing I was able to compensate and pull off a 19.2 which landed us mid pack. A frustrating run though considering we were faster than that the week before in practice.
The heat race was the only silver lining to the day, I started right at the back and was able to pick off cars and work my way through the pack to a 3rd place finish. I was definitely faster than the two cars in front of me but because of the push I had off the corner I could creep under them on entry but couldn't hold it down enough to pull off the pass.
In the main event the invert had me starting behind all the fastest cars right at the back of the field of 20 cars. On lap 2 there was a huge pile up 7 cars scattered across the track on the back straightaway and I am proud of myself I did some pretty fancy driving to avoid all those cars. I turned hard left then hit the gas and slid the rear end around to the right to avoid the huge mess of cars and come through unscathed. By lap 20 I had moved my way up to 7th spot and the car was absolutely flying. I was making a pass on the outside of #38 (a geriatric ran out of talent driver who clearly forgot to take his Geritol that morning) and I had his door coming up off the 1/2 corner. He drove up to the wall as if no one was there, luckily I was on the wheel last night and kept my car off the outside wall but he cut down my left front tire. I drove into the 3/4 and knew something was wrong and limped it around the track and into my hot pit stall. The sway bar drug on the track and made a spark show about 50 feet out the back of the car! We did a speedy tire change and Ive never slammed through the gears faster than to get back out on th race track and only lose 2 laps. After we put our old tire on the left front the car developed a push off the corner and the further the race went the worse it got. I finished the race in 14 position and brought the car home in one piece which is something to be said with all the carnage last night. Four race cars went home needing to be clipped, and many more had body panels hanging and torn off.
It was raining on and off all day and we were lined up to go out for practice when it began to rain. We were parked beside a 2 foot hot pit wall and when we started to roll out the pit lady stepped out in front of me to stop me. I was going too fast to stop and from the drivers compartment can't see the 2 foot wall, I swerved and smashed into it. Next time someone steps out in front of me I have decided I will just hit them, they are softer than the walls. The damage incurred from that was a bent rim, bent spindle, bent ball joint, tore the brake lines off, and knocked the toe out. Because of the lengthy repairs on that we missed all practice and went into qualifying blind.
As we rolled over tech before qualifying we didn't meet ride height rules and the tech official actually said that he thought there was a bump where we were checking ride heights because a few cars hadn't met the height rule on the left side and where high on the right. Very professional tech the ride heights on a bump. So we had only a few minutes to make it legal and frantically wound down on the springs. I went out for qualifying and barreled the car down into the 1/2 corner and quickly realized that all our winding to make the car make ride height had tightened the car up astronomically. I had to wait on the throttle for what seemed like minutes and my first lap was a 19.8 which is over a second off the pace. Once I realized what the car was doing I was able to compensate and pull off a 19.2 which landed us mid pack. A frustrating run though considering we were faster than that the week before in practice.
The heat race was the only silver lining to the day, I started right at the back and was able to pick off cars and work my way through the pack to a 3rd place finish. I was definitely faster than the two cars in front of me but because of the push I had off the corner I could creep under them on entry but couldn't hold it down enough to pull off the pass.
In the main event the invert had me starting behind all the fastest cars right at the back of the field of 20 cars. On lap 2 there was a huge pile up 7 cars scattered across the track on the back straightaway and I am proud of myself I did some pretty fancy driving to avoid all those cars. I turned hard left then hit the gas and slid the rear end around to the right to avoid the huge mess of cars and come through unscathed. By lap 20 I had moved my way up to 7th spot and the car was absolutely flying. I was making a pass on the outside of #38 (a geriatric ran out of talent driver who clearly forgot to take his Geritol that morning) and I had his door coming up off the 1/2 corner. He drove up to the wall as if no one was there, luckily I was on the wheel last night and kept my car off the outside wall but he cut down my left front tire. I drove into the 3/4 and knew something was wrong and limped it around the track and into my hot pit stall. The sway bar drug on the track and made a spark show about 50 feet out the back of the car! We did a speedy tire change and Ive never slammed through the gears faster than to get back out on th race track and only lose 2 laps. After we put our old tire on the left front the car developed a push off the corner and the further the race went the worse it got. I finished the race in 14 position and brought the car home in one piece which is something to be said with all the carnage last night. Four race cars went home needing to be clipped, and many more had body panels hanging and torn off.
Monday, 2 May 2011
Practice Day at Motoplex Speedway
We showed up to the race track with a setup in the car that to most would seem crazy, and without a clue as to how the car would react. Sounds like preparation right? Fortunately for us we have some very knowledgeable people on our side.
When we unloaded the car it was surprisingly stable and predictable, it made my job as the driver an easy one. We encountered a few braking issues early in the day but had them worked out by the afternoon, and by the end of the day we had the car dialed in. We ran lap times comparable to some of my best qualifying efforts last year on two race old tires.
I am optimistic for the coming race weekend, the car is capable, all I have to do is stay out of trouble and drive to the front. Now I just have to do a million things then we will be ready.
Easy Pie.
When we unloaded the car it was surprisingly stable and predictable, it made my job as the driver an easy one. We encountered a few braking issues early in the day but had them worked out by the afternoon, and by the end of the day we had the car dialed in. We ran lap times comparable to some of my best qualifying efforts last year on two race old tires.
I am optimistic for the coming race weekend, the car is capable, all I have to do is stay out of trouble and drive to the front. Now I just have to do a million things then we will be ready.
Easy Pie.
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