Quick Summary:
Thanks for the support for everyone that showed up!!! I did my best to put on a good show!!!
I won't lie. It was a trying week. Driving in snow, hail, rain, sun, hail, sun, etc.... sticking out out like a sore thumb, sound issues, etc.... but everyone really stuck it out through the school, into the race weekend, and finally just gave it their all on Sunday afternoon. I kind of wish I could have been in the grand stands!
Race Results:
Eddie finished 1st in class! No need to go into all the details there- but clearly a national title is already in the mail.
I qualified 9th with a 1:41 wet lap. I then finished 7/13 in class and 13th/30 cars overall with a 1:32 fast lap in traffic, completing 19/20 laps and earning my license!! Not bad for running some-what ill prepared with a road car on a set of street tires!!
I think I could have picked up two or three or
maybe four more positions, but unfortunately I had to give up a few positions because my car began to trend in the direction of a minor over heat so I had to run a cool down lap in their before returning to race speed. I also entertained everyone when I stuck a wheel off at the exit of 6 and found myself facing the right direction!!
The fastest car of our group ran out of gas. I then crossed the finish line right behind an orange pro prepped Porsche that was otherwise kicking my ass all weekend with gobbles of hp and tire. Eddie crossed the finish line literally right before his rear wheel bearing finally gave in and seized.
Stiff competition against a lot of pro prepped cars... first time out I'm amazed how fast you can go when you are actually in a real hurry!!! :biggrin:
Here are some pictures from our week long ordeal that pretty much started on a PCA day on Tuesday, through the ground school later in the week, and finally ended with the race on Sunday...
PCA Instructor Retreat:
<move along, nothing to see here, another DE day.. wait, except for that sweet... Cayman S and Superleggera. :wink: >
SCCA Ground School Day1:
Ground School Day1 - Goal: try to stay dry and keep the spirits high. My goal: How many novices can I pick off after the green flag and before entering the chicane... while really not being able to see much of anything out of my front windshield but the faint glimmer of a tail light. First time anyone ever told me to not drive so aggressively during practice! LOL. Racing in wet snow and hail... fun stuff I could get used to this!!
More Rain and hail!! One side of the track is literally dry one minute with sun breaks, while the other side of the 1.945 mile course is getting pelted with hail so bad as we clear T9 it's white so they had to bring us in.
SCCA Ground School Day 2:
Me getting ready for practice... thumbs up that I will be "hitting my marks" on video tape as everyone was watching us like a hawk. Staying "low key" so as to not stand out like "that guy" with all the "implied sponsorship"
Eddie looking at me like... I just really need tires, brakes, and more hp and everyone else just needs less car and more talent. :smile: :biggrin:
SCCA Regional - Saturday Practice Session
Ahh some dry time at last!!! My nemesis during practice... this beautiful well prepped C6 Z06 with 450 ponies. Duking it out I spent like six laps within a few feet of this bumper WOT before I finally took him coming out of T7. I was not about to let the NSX community down in the NSX vs. Corvette debate!!! (Ok, except for the green one in like WC trim with triple the hp, he can win)
Like an act of faith they then brought me in on a meatball for the sound violation... again.
Nice staff, let me at least finish that round out before bringing me in... tells me that the two of us must have been entertaining someone!!
Microsoft sponsorship on another level.....
SCCA Regional- Sunday Race!!
It dried out and the sun broke and everyone put on dries! We had a two plus lap start behind the pace car because everyone wanted some!!
What a shot!!
The Speedware sponsored 350Z... hmm, he must have also had one of those $625 alignments...
And where credit is certainly due....
-Many thanks to Paul K. for lending me his Taitec Lightweight exhaust so I could finally run a lap without having to leave 2-3 seconds on the table having to lift for the sound station (117db is apparently too high for these guys- hey, who would have known
)
-Thanks to our National Spec Miata Champ K. Sutherland for showing me how T2 and T7 is really done right!!
- Thanks to Brian and the chief steward for keeping the pressure high and for helping me keep my nose clean!
-Thanks to Eddie, Brian, Pong, and the whole AR crew for their service and technical skills for keeping my ride running and the morale support.
- Thanks to John, Greg, Trevor, and crew for the awesome prep work keeping me safe enough.
- Finally, thanks to all the staff at SCCA for making my first race a memorable fun one I won't soon forget!
