Sponsorship NASA Road Racing Greg Collier 1st Race 2006

[Suparata]

Greg failed to mention he brought David (bother in law to be) a few nice items to start on his upcoming car, and I was over at Greg's pit, borrowing things from him during the weekend.

We're all one big family for sure, whatever it takes to keep on going at the track.

Thanx Greg, to you, as always.


Tom

Oh yeah? And who was the guy who saved the whole weekend by getting the alternator bolt right away? And so many other little but very important things you guys did?.
This whole project was a collective effort that wouldn’t have been possible without everybody’s help so don’t think your help was minor.
Thanks everybody for the support.

 

[tstkl]

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

my only question right now is, why would you hide such a nice curve?

did I draw this somewhat right?

if thats right, you have 200 ft lbs by a little under 3k rpm's and stay over 350 from 4.5k to 5.5k.

I think its obvious you need to up the ve at higher rpm's. I'll go back and look at your headwork, Im sure its fully built and something else is causing that drop in torque, but I don't remember off the top of my head what your head is like. Ill just go back and look.

edit:hmm don't think your outflowing those fp3's with a fully ported head. I guess I WAS flat out wrong

 

[logic]

You might be able to add another to that number. If all goes well, we're planning on attending the Mid-Ohio NASA Nationals.

Erica and I already have our tickets and hotel room booked.

Shootout in August, Mid-Ohio in September...going to be a fun way to end the year.

 

[Zero Bar]

Erica and I already have our tickets and hotel room booked.

Shootout in August, Mid-Ohio in September...going to be a fun way to end the year.

This is gonna be awesome!! I live an hour from Mid-Ohio and having all you guys at the track getting to put faces with the names and seeing all the dsm's on the track is gonna be heaven!!

 

[Quasimondo]

The Laser That Could is looking a lot meaner since I last saw some pics to it. Still looks great, though.

 

[Greg Collier]

The Laser That Could is looking a lot meaner since I last saw some pics to it. Still looks great, though.

What's a Laser?

 

[mavisky]

Hey the more the merrier at Mid-Ohio. I'd love to be there racing, but the car may not see anything but autox until I can get the cage and harnesses into it.

 

[ldstang50]

Greg
Great write up! You had a lot going against you on your first race weekend....new engine, new suspension, rain tires, rain, etc.... but you came out in one piece AND you were able to make points. Very nicely done!!
I can only imagine the rush it must be to barrel down the straightaway with those big burly v8s NOT out pullin you.
A lot has to be credited to you for sticking to your game and not over driving the car. There's a lot to get used to and the season is young. I can't wait to read the write up when you start waivin at the big boys as you blow past them.
Awesome job man!

Liam

 

[tstkl]

Greg
Great write up! You had a lot going against you on your first race weekend....new engine, new suspension, rain tires, rain, etc.... but you came out in one piece AND you were able to make points. Very nicely done!!
I can only imagine the rush it must be to barrel down the straightaway with those big burly v8s NOT out pullin you.
A lot has to be credited to you for sticking to your game and not over driving the car. There's a lot to get used to and the season is young. I can't wait to read the write up when you start waivin at the big boys as you blow past them.
Awesome job man!

Liam

the whole time I was reading that I though, theres no way I could resist, 400 hp, new everything basically, I would feel invincible and do something stupid. I know myself

 

[pkieley]

Awesome Greg!

Fantastic write-up and an incredible job of overcoming the logistics! The Flying Banana looks great!

I get a real kick out of showing your pics to my friends-they can't believe your driving a FWD 4-banger!

Good luck on the rest of the season.

Phil

 

[Greg Collier]

pkieley Awesome Greg!
Fantastic write-up and an incredible job of overcoming the logistics! The Flying Banana looks great!
I get a real kick out of showing your pics to my friends-they can't believe your driving a FWD 4-banger!
Good luck on the rest of the season.
Phil

Thanks Phil, I still had people at the track saying there's no way it could be a FWD...

ldstang50 Greg
Great write up! You had a lot going against you on your first race weekend....new engine, new suspension, rain tires, rain, etc.... but you came out in one piece AND you were able to make points. Very nicely done!!
I can only imagine the rush it must be to barrel down the straightaway with those big burly v8s NOT out pullin you.
A lot has to be credited to you for sticking to your game and not over driving the car. There's a lot to get used to and the season is young. I can't wait to read the write up when you start waivin at the big boys as you blow past them.
Awesome job man!
Liam

Hey Liam... it's real easy in all the excitement to just want to go for it. My experinence has been that every time I do that I screw something up! It's all about control, and a lot of the time it's not just the car...

 

[Black95TSIawd]

I'm speechless...that is all.

 

[underradar92]

I just sort of started thinking, 400 (and more) hp is, power to weight wise, more than my old 3400 lb. 68 Barracuda. And as a rear drive with 9" slicks and 575 flywheel hp. that was a mitfull too drive. Roadracing a puller with even more power has got to be a blast! Yuo are one talented cat, Greg. wannabe # 2296

 

[BGRIPTP]

Looking good guys, can't wait to see you at Mid-Ohio.

 

[MG200]

Greg, all I can saw is wow and you are the man for racing your DSM! I am doing a drivers training this weekend at the Portland International Raceway and eventually want to start racing. The training will be my fist time ever on a road race course. I am so excited!

 

[Greg Collier]

Black95TSIawd I'm speechless...that is all.

I'm hoping that's speechless... good?

underradar92 I just sort of started thinking, 400 (and more) hp is, power to weight wise, more than my old 3400 lb. 68 Barracuda. And as a rear drive with 9" slicks and 575 flywheel hp. that was a mitfull too drive.

Yeah, power to weight ratio it's kind of a handful. I try to think of it as a big go-kart me being six foot six inches tall

BGRIPTP Looking good guys, can't wait to see you at Mid-Ohio.

Dave Royce, the Mid-West NASA director was at Cal Speedway, and told me the "flying banana" is getting quite a rep back there... how cool is that?

MG200 Greg, all I can say is wow and you are the man for racing your DSM! I am doing a drivers training this weekend at the Portland International Raceway and eventually want to start racing. The training will be my fist time ever on a road race course. I am so excited!

That's great you're taking the first step. Once you've done it you'll be hooked for life!

 

[Suparata]

Greg, all I can saw is wow and you are the man for racing your DSM! I am doing a drivers training this weekend at the Portland International Raceway and eventually want to start racing. The training will be my fist time ever on a road race course. I am so excited!

A while ago a guy that wanted to see what an autocross is all about and also trying to actually learn how to drive an AWD took the car to an event. It was a pretty short circuit where the best times were around 30sec. Each run was better than the previous by a full second and at the end of the day after only 6 runs he was driving a full 6 seconds faster than the first time. Again, on a short 30 sec track.
You can just imagine the satisfaction of doing a long road racing course would be. Words cannot express that and rest assured that once you try it, you will experience the thrill of your life and become a better person overall. There is only one winner in road racing but no losers because every race makes you better. Unlike other forms of racing you will have to think a lot more about what you need to do better, where you made mistakes.

 

[Dream On]

Nice write up Greg! You car sounds almost scary...Hope you get everything ironed out soon, so I can read about you kicking ass in the next race. Oh, and I'll be there if you come to Ohio.

 

[Black95TSIawd]

I'm hoping that's speechless... good?

Yes, its very good. You are the man, greg.

 

[Slow old poop]

Dave Royce, the Mid-West NASA director was at Cal Speedway, and told me the "flying banana" is getting quite a rep back there... how cool is that?

I can't speak for the entire Midwest, but all us DSM road racer ricers in the Cedar Rapids/Des Moines area follow your exploits. James, The Great Fabricator of Milwaukee, who runs my old Talon, is also on here. So, I guess most of the DSMers I know who were at Road America last October are following along, and building road racers for HPDEs and NASA road racing. I see from the sigs that there are a bunch more in Illinois doing the same.

Point is, if you bring the Banana to Road America, Blackhawk Farms, or Midamerica Motorplex, youi'll have squadrons of helpers and spectators, tons of tools and spare parts, and -- *gasp* (dare I say it?) -- maybe even some DSM competition on the track.

I know I'd like to run the blue Eclipse agin you, if only to watch your racing line as you pull away. I'd get to see one or two corners from behind, more if you lap me in a different spot on track.

Rich
#3000 Wannabee

 

[Greg Collier]

Just the tow alone with 7 other cars (includes tool box and one set of spare tires) will cost $1800. The initial drop off point is at Button Willow Race Track up in Bakersfield California, which is a 6-hour drive north of San Diego. The logistics are gonna be killer… When we look at towing as an individual it’s probably close to a three week endeavor which includes the week at the track in Mid-Ohio. By the time you figure entry fees, food and lodging, at least another set of tires, race fuel, etc. (and time off of work), we’re looking at a cost of between 4 to 5 grand.

As far as running against “you” Rich, with what I’ve read about you from your car builder, the way you eat rotors, and your ability to slam a 4000 pound 3000GT through the corners, I’d never take you for granted. In any rate I know it would be an excellent adventure…

We still have five months before the “Nationals” so I’m hoping that between all the races that I’ll be doing out here in California, I’ll be able to save my pennies, and keep the car intact to be there. It’s been a good twenty years since I’ve been back there in the 100-degree weather with 100 percent humidity.

Greg

 

[Slow old poop]

As far as running against “you” Rich, with what I’ve read about you from your car builder, the way you eat rotors, and your ability to slam a 4000 pound 3000GT through the corners, I’d never take you for granted. In any rate I know it would be an excellent adventure…Greg

Lies, all lies. I am so slow they call me "slow old poop." If it wasn't for some marvelous machinery-- like the Battleship 3000GT and the Blue Eclipse-- my tuner, Mike the Mechanic, and my buddies, Jon and Brent, I'd just be a back-of-the-packer.

Now, back in my pro rally days, it was a little different.
They even named a turn on a rally after me: "Merritt's Gulch," a famous turn in the Ohio strip mines, where it is easy to misread the road and fly the crest at 80 mph at night. The road turns right after the crest, and drivers who are not too careful wind up on their side, 20 ft down an embankment. Care to guess who might have done that and got a gulch named after him?

Whatever reputation I might have had back in the old days is immortalized in that turn, along with "Harvey's Tree" (Scott Harvey) and "Henderson's Stump" (Gene Henderson). But that was a long, long time ago.

*sigh* Nostalgia just isn't what it used to be.

Rich

 

[Greg Collier]

Lies, all lies. I am so slow they call me "slow old poop." If it wasn't for some marvelous machinery-- like the Battleship 3000GT and the Blue Eclipse-- my tuner, Mike the Mechanic, and my buddies, Jon and Brent, I'd just be a back-of-the-packer.

See guys, it's statements like this that you have to watch out for from a racer!

"Oh, I'm so slow... I've only got a 100 hp under the hood!" Then they go flying by you at the first turn and you never see them again for the rest of the race!

 

[Zero Bar]

We still have five months before the “Nationals” so I’m hoping that between all the races that I’ll be doing out here in California, I’ll be able to save my pennies, and keep the car intact to be there. It’s been a good twenty years since I’ve been back there in the 100-degree weather with 100 percent humidity.

Greg

If the weather report calls for those temps, bring your snow gear!! That is the crazy weather we get here, and in 20 years, Greg, its still as unpredictable! So bring your shorts, snow gear, and everything in between because you'll need it!

 

[Slow old poop]

If the weather report calls for those temps, bring your snow gear!! That is the crazy weather we get here, and in 20 years, Greg, its still as unpredictable! So bring your shorts, snow gear, and everything in between because you'll need it!

I second that. One year, we ran Road America in October, and it snowed! With an AWD car, I was tickled pink, but the weenies shut the event down. Something about an ice patch and drifting snow in The Kink. To me, it was like running a winter pro rally, but the weenies overruled me.

Of course, I've been known to make the anti-Woodstock chant: More Rain! More Rain!
It didn't work at Woodstock and it didn't work at MidAmerica.

Actually, that was when I learned (once again) that farmers are some of the smartest people you'll ever meet. I showed up at the track Sunday morning, and parked next to a BMW, whose owner was a farmer. He was changing back to street tires.

"Whatcha doing? Going home?" I asked.
"Nope. It's going to rain," he said.

I looked at the sky, and it was a little overcast, but not threatening. Then I remembered: This dude is a farmer. If anybody knows, he does.

So I put my street Michelin Pilots on and, about an hour later, the rain started. Man, with the AWD and treaded tires, I passed everybody in my run group, some of them twice!

Rich