Dave532
15+ Year Contributor
- 98
- 0
- Jun 5, 2006
-
Minneapolis,
Minnesota
NASA Road Racing
Iowa Speedway
April 28, 29
Pre-Event: Rally racing was becoming a bit too expensive for me with the recent insurance increases. I now had a wandering eye toward road racing. Coincidentally NASA had started a Midwest region in 2006. I purchased a white '93 GSX from Texas with a bad trans from a frustrated friend of mine. Supposedly this car had been on the track in time
trials. It came with all the things needed for road racing; poly bushings 16G, fuel pump and injectors, bigger rear swaybar...the list goes on. This looked to be a good
foundation. The only problem was neither SCCA or NASA had a class for the DSM save the Unlimited classes which I could not afford to be competitive in. Luckily for me in
2007 NASA gave birth to the Production class which had slot for virtually every make of car. After installing all the necessary safety features, a JIC suspension, Wilwood
13" brake kit and gutting as much weight as I could at the time, I had a bona fide road race Eclipse.
Now to get my license. After talking with the director of the Midwest Region he agreed to start me in NASA in HPDE 3...my first step on the way to my competition license.
HPDE consisted of controlled passing areas and running with (usually) street cars in 1 through 4 step. Due to my past driving experience I was allowed to skip HPDE 1 and 2.
Saturday: We trailered the Eclipse down on Friday night to Newton IA. Tech inspection for a car that would compete in HPDE was a breeze compared to rally tech inspections.
I started my first practice session on Saturday morning. A friend had borrowed me his Evo wheels which I had mounted some Kumho MXs on.
First Practice: I hit the track with various Mustangs, a couple M3's, S2000's, Sti's, etc. The car was doing surprisingly well until the end when the Kumhos got
greasy...which was expected. This was the first time I had driven on an asphalt oval...quite the experience; I was being pushed down, not out.
Second Practice: Phil's Tire Service brought me my new Toyo RA-1s which I had him mount on some new Enkei RPO-1's. Ahhh...much better. Though the track was easy to learn, I was doing my best to get used to the flag stations. Oftentimes NASA would throw us some tricky flags to see if we were paying attention. The DSM has an obvious disadvantage on the straights against the Mustangs and M3's but really shines in the tight infield and under brakes. This Wilwood setup is everything I hoped for and more.
Third Practice: Getting faster and faster...I am now the fastest car in my group except for a Subaru...damn things!
After every session, the instructors give us pointers on what we are doing right and what we are doing wrong. So far I am staying under the radar 
Fourth Practice: Playing with tire pressures on asphalt for the first time. Becoming familiar with the other drivers and their respective strengths and weaknesses. After the session the Mustang drivers approached me and congratulated me on the speed of the car through the corners. The pizza party commences and we all end the night bench racing.
Sunday: Before the first session I ask the HPDE instructor to ride with me in hopes of 'promoting' me to HPDE 4.
First Session: The HPDE session leader rides with me during this session to evaluate me. After the 20 minute session the instructor asked the organizers to allow me in the HPDE 4 group which also incorporates the Time Trial drivers.
Second Session: Whoa! These guys are significantly faster. Passing is allowed everywhere but due to the outright speed of some of these cars I had to learn how to watch traffic in the mirrors. Now I'm running with Corvettes, FD Mazdas and even Rich Merrit in his 20G DSM!
Third Session: I meet Rich before this session and we talk about everything rally and DSMs. He gives me numerous of pointers on how NASA operates and what to expect at each event. He is running in TTR class while I am supposedly running in TTC but I am not really paying attention. My goal is getting to the Competition School ASAP.
Saturday finish: The Eclipse proved itself very well against the competition. There was room for improvement to be sure, but overall I was very satisified. The NASA organizers proved to be polite, proficient and professional. The sessions were well run and I enjoyed every minute. Meeting Rich and his crew was great...the Mitsubishi talk that went on amongst us was never-ending...DSM's, Stealths, Evo's, etc.
Iowa Speedway
April 28, 29
Pre-Event: Rally racing was becoming a bit too expensive for me with the recent insurance increases. I now had a wandering eye toward road racing. Coincidentally NASA had started a Midwest region in 2006. I purchased a white '93 GSX from Texas with a bad trans from a frustrated friend of mine. Supposedly this car had been on the track in time
trials. It came with all the things needed for road racing; poly bushings 16G, fuel pump and injectors, bigger rear swaybar...the list goes on. This looked to be a good
foundation. The only problem was neither SCCA or NASA had a class for the DSM save the Unlimited classes which I could not afford to be competitive in. Luckily for me in
2007 NASA gave birth to the Production class which had slot for virtually every make of car. After installing all the necessary safety features, a JIC suspension, Wilwood
13" brake kit and gutting as much weight as I could at the time, I had a bona fide road race Eclipse.
Now to get my license. After talking with the director of the Midwest Region he agreed to start me in NASA in HPDE 3...my first step on the way to my competition license.
HPDE consisted of controlled passing areas and running with (usually) street cars in 1 through 4 step. Due to my past driving experience I was allowed to skip HPDE 1 and 2.
Saturday: We trailered the Eclipse down on Friday night to Newton IA. Tech inspection for a car that would compete in HPDE was a breeze compared to rally tech inspections.
I started my first practice session on Saturday morning. A friend had borrowed me his Evo wheels which I had mounted some Kumho MXs on.
First Practice: I hit the track with various Mustangs, a couple M3's, S2000's, Sti's, etc. The car was doing surprisingly well until the end when the Kumhos got
greasy...which was expected. This was the first time I had driven on an asphalt oval...quite the experience; I was being pushed down, not out.
Second Practice: Phil's Tire Service brought me my new Toyo RA-1s which I had him mount on some new Enkei RPO-1's. Ahhh...much better. Though the track was easy to learn, I was doing my best to get used to the flag stations. Oftentimes NASA would throw us some tricky flags to see if we were paying attention. The DSM has an obvious disadvantage on the straights against the Mustangs and M3's but really shines in the tight infield and under brakes. This Wilwood setup is everything I hoped for and more.
Third Practice: Getting faster and faster...I am now the fastest car in my group except for a Subaru...damn things!
After every session, the instructors give us pointers on what we are doing right and what we are doing wrong. So far I am staying under the radar Fourth Practice: Playing with tire pressures on asphalt for the first time. Becoming familiar with the other drivers and their respective strengths and weaknesses. After the session the Mustang drivers approached me and congratulated me on the speed of the car through the corners. The pizza party commences and we all end the night bench racing.
Sunday: Before the first session I ask the HPDE instructor to ride with me in hopes of 'promoting' me to HPDE 4.
First Session: The HPDE session leader rides with me during this session to evaluate me. After the 20 minute session the instructor asked the organizers to allow me in the HPDE 4 group which also incorporates the Time Trial drivers.
Second Session: Whoa! These guys are significantly faster. Passing is allowed everywhere but due to the outright speed of some of these cars I had to learn how to watch traffic in the mirrors. Now I'm running with Corvettes, FD Mazdas and even Rich Merrit in his 20G DSM!
Third Session: I meet Rich before this session and we talk about everything rally and DSMs. He gives me numerous of pointers on how NASA operates and what to expect at each event. He is running in TTR class while I am supposedly running in TTC but I am not really paying attention. My goal is getting to the Competition School ASAP.
Saturday finish: The Eclipse proved itself very well against the competition. There was room for improvement to be sure, but overall I was very satisified. The NASA organizers proved to be polite, proficient and professional. The sessions were well run and I enjoyed every minute. Meeting Rich and his crew was great...the Mitsubishi talk that went on amongst us was never-ending...DSM's, Stealths, Evo's, etc.
