Dave532
15+ Year Contributor
- 98
- 0
- Jun 5, 2006
-
Minneapolis,
Minnesota
NASA Nationals at Mid-Ohio
Lexington, OH
Sep 13-16, 2007
Pre-Race: Arrived at Lexington OH about 15:00 on Wednesday after a 14 hour tow from Minneapolis. My father was with me as crew. I brought almost every DSM spare I had
(which is alot) along with fluids and tools. I have my old (but still good) Toyos mounted on a set of borrowed Evo wheels, while the new Hoosiers are on my 8.5" wide Enkei RP03s.
Thursday:
First practice on Thursday I just try memorize the corners and heat cycle the Hoosiers for the first time. The Hoosiers are a bit slick on the first heat cycle but I was warned of this beforehand. The Madness section takes the entire session for me to memorize. Before 2nd practice I mount the Toyos for comparison's sake and do a brake pad/rotor change (I still had the same brakes from Road America) and bleed the system. After a couple corners during the 2nd practice something feels loose in the left rear. I go back to my cold pits realizing that my crew (my father) forgot to torque that wheel down. Missed that practice. 3rd and 4th practices were uneventful. I am still undecided which set of tires are the best. 2nd in Class with a best time 1:44.
Friday:
Practice: Now that I have more knowledge of the track I am starting to try different lines through the corners...this track has so much personality! The Keyhole is like a tabletop at entry so you can brake later than you initially think. Halfway through the corner it banks and then drops away off camber at the exit. The first left hander into Madness caused numerous RWD cars to spin as they got light over the crest but my AWD allowed me to stomp the loud pedal all the way through these variable sections.
Qual: Sorta like heat races the Qual race finish determined where you qualified on the big Sunday race (or so I thought). Getting faster all day long. However, the PT A,B and C guys realize we are also running with the Super Unlimited and Super Touring guys...basically THE fastest cars NASA has. Us slower PT guys have a hard time watching our mirrors for these cars...especially in the Madness section. It's also hard to get a clear lap. Best time was in the 1:44's.
Qual Race: This was a short 15 minute heat race. Due to earlier sessions running long our race was compressed down to 8 minutes or so. I lost a couple places at the start
as usual, and didn't have enough time to get them back. Finished 5th with a 1:43.
Saturday:
This was similar to Friday except there seemed to be more carnage. Mid-Ohio is a very technical track with 3 blind corners that are off-camber at the exits and very little run-off room. The car is always in a 3-dimensional state...up and down as much as left and right. Great fun though!
The organizers are starting to inspect for class legality. Due to being AWD my DSM is difficult to tech and is essentially ignored. I finish 5th in class in the Qualifying race again. Best time 1:43's.
Sunday:
Warmup: I try the Hoosiers again...no improvement over the Toyos for me. In fact I think the Toyos were balanced better (keeping in mind I had alot more experience with
them). I go back to the Toyos for the race. I do my best times so far: 1:42's.
National Race: the weather has been perfect all weekend and today is no exception. For some reason all the qual racing/work I did was for naught...I grid toward the back behind slower cars...I still don't why this is. I'm a 4th place car in my class which varies from 6 to 9 cars depending upon the day. If I'm lucky I think I can make the podium for a few contingency dollars. Green flag drops and I am side by side with someone in the first corner. The second corner is a blind left down hill that drops away. I am still side by side with a Camaro when we come over the hill and see the #110 Thunder Roadster spinning...he's now perpendicular to the track. The Camaro breaks left for
the dirt while I break right for the grass...no problem except the TR rolls backwards...right into my path. My left front strikes his left rear and I basically bounce over the back of him. I spin and stall..restart and drive back to the pits. I can feel the left front toe is knocked out pretty bad. I get out and survey the damage. I'll need a new door and some plastic bits. The rocker in front of the rear tire is badly pushed in...I'm not sure how I'm going to fix that. Anyway...I have all winter to straighten the car and fix the body. What a waste to such an expensive and long weekend
Post Race: All in all I'm glad I attended the Nationals...Incredible race track and met some more great people. I was exposed to the dark side of racing again that I already knew well...the ever present politics and rules manipulation that are involved with spec/class racing. No surprises here.
I also wished that TR had followed the simple rule: When you spin, both feet in! Basically, stop the car moving as soon as you can and wait until traffic goes through. This way drivers around don't have to predict where you will end up as you spin.
And the Hooisers? Well, they are okay but I don't see any improvement over the Toyos...especially considering the Hooisers are more expensive and have less potential heat cycles.
A bit of body work and this ‘ol white DSM will be ready for the 2008 season!
A huge thanks to my father and buddies who helped me get to the races and crewed for me as well during the 2007 season. Biggest thanks goes to my sponsor Metric Auto Works for the use of their shop, excellent products and outstanding advice! The motor and tranny were built by Chris at Metric from my best spares...so far it is all holding up great!
Lexington, OH
Sep 13-16, 2007
Pre-Race: Arrived at Lexington OH about 15:00 on Wednesday after a 14 hour tow from Minneapolis. My father was with me as crew. I brought almost every DSM spare I had
(which is alot) along with fluids and tools. I have my old (but still good) Toyos mounted on a set of borrowed Evo wheels, while the new Hoosiers are on my 8.5" wide Enkei RP03s.
Thursday:
First practice on Thursday I just try memorize the corners and heat cycle the Hoosiers for the first time. The Hoosiers are a bit slick on the first heat cycle but I was warned of this beforehand. The Madness section takes the entire session for me to memorize. Before 2nd practice I mount the Toyos for comparison's sake and do a brake pad/rotor change (I still had the same brakes from Road America) and bleed the system. After a couple corners during the 2nd practice something feels loose in the left rear. I go back to my cold pits realizing that my crew (my father) forgot to torque that wheel down. Missed that practice. 3rd and 4th practices were uneventful. I am still undecided which set of tires are the best. 2nd in Class with a best time 1:44.
Friday:
Practice: Now that I have more knowledge of the track I am starting to try different lines through the corners...this track has so much personality! The Keyhole is like a tabletop at entry so you can brake later than you initially think. Halfway through the corner it banks and then drops away off camber at the exit. The first left hander into Madness caused numerous RWD cars to spin as they got light over the crest but my AWD allowed me to stomp the loud pedal all the way through these variable sections.
Qual: Sorta like heat races the Qual race finish determined where you qualified on the big Sunday race (or so I thought). Getting faster all day long. However, the PT A,B and C guys realize we are also running with the Super Unlimited and Super Touring guys...basically THE fastest cars NASA has. Us slower PT guys have a hard time watching our mirrors for these cars...especially in the Madness section. It's also hard to get a clear lap. Best time was in the 1:44's.
Qual Race: This was a short 15 minute heat race. Due to earlier sessions running long our race was compressed down to 8 minutes or so. I lost a couple places at the start
as usual, and didn't have enough time to get them back. Finished 5th with a 1:43.
Saturday:
This was similar to Friday except there seemed to be more carnage. Mid-Ohio is a very technical track with 3 blind corners that are off-camber at the exits and very little run-off room. The car is always in a 3-dimensional state...up and down as much as left and right. Great fun though!
The organizers are starting to inspect for class legality. Due to being AWD my DSM is difficult to tech and is essentially ignored. I finish 5th in class in the Qualifying race again. Best time 1:43's.
Sunday:
Warmup: I try the Hoosiers again...no improvement over the Toyos for me. In fact I think the Toyos were balanced better (keeping in mind I had alot more experience with
them). I go back to the Toyos for the race. I do my best times so far: 1:42's.
National Race: the weather has been perfect all weekend and today is no exception. For some reason all the qual racing/work I did was for naught...I grid toward the back behind slower cars...I still don't why this is. I'm a 4th place car in my class which varies from 6 to 9 cars depending upon the day. If I'm lucky I think I can make the podium for a few contingency dollars. Green flag drops and I am side by side with someone in the first corner. The second corner is a blind left down hill that drops away. I am still side by side with a Camaro when we come over the hill and see the #110 Thunder Roadster spinning...he's now perpendicular to the track. The Camaro breaks left for
the dirt while I break right for the grass...no problem except the TR rolls backwards...right into my path. My left front strikes his left rear and I basically bounce over the back of him. I spin and stall..restart and drive back to the pits. I can feel the left front toe is knocked out pretty bad. I get out and survey the damage. I'll need a new door and some plastic bits. The rocker in front of the rear tire is badly pushed in...I'm not sure how I'm going to fix that. Anyway...I have all winter to straighten the car and fix the body. What a waste to such an expensive and long weekend
Post Race: All in all I'm glad I attended the Nationals...Incredible race track and met some more great people. I was exposed to the dark side of racing again that I already knew well...the ever present politics and rules manipulation that are involved with spec/class racing. No surprises here.
I also wished that TR had followed the simple rule: When you spin, both feet in! Basically, stop the car moving as soon as you can and wait until traffic goes through. This way drivers around don't have to predict where you will end up as you spin.
And the Hooisers? Well, they are okay but I don't see any improvement over the Toyos...especially considering the Hooisers are more expensive and have less potential heat cycles.
A bit of body work and this ‘ol white DSM will be ready for the 2008 season!
A huge thanks to my father and buddies who helped me get to the races and crewed for me as well during the 2007 season. Biggest thanks goes to my sponsor Metric Auto Works for the use of their shop, excellent products and outstanding advice! The motor and tranny were built by Chris at Metric from my best spares...so far it is all holding up great!
