Wow... what a couple days off of NSXPrime Formus will turn up.
I was just about to post my "Final Thoughts" figuring probably no one gives a shit... But there is life in this there thread. :biggrin:
Unfortunately I am disappointed that there is this much hostility on this thread which really is the EXP4/DAL Motorsports NSX thread. While it's easy to lump the NSXs together, looking at the results we clearly did not benefit from any alleged cheating. If we did... we really suck at cheating. Anyone offer a class on this?
I don't want to beat a dead horse, but some points that are focused in this thread are whacked.
1) Van - As mentioned was approved by Brock Jr as a film crew and friends vehicle. Why a van and not some POS econobox rent car?? Read my threads, we kinda expected one or both NSXs to retire as both cars were put together quickly and were not tested... we decided if we were 3K mi away from home, we could easily rent a trailer locally and trailer it home(hey, it almost happened three times…once at IRP, once at VIR, once at Summit)
2) Crew - otherwise known as our friends. Besides Mark and Rene who were there primarily to take pictures and document, 3 other friends flew into NC just to watch and have fun with us for the last 3 days. It is amazing to me that anyone would do this for what is essentially not more than a timed DE. Rob is extremely mechanically inclined so no, we didn't need any of these people there to work on our cars for us.
3) BMW Club Hater - I'm smart enough to realize that not all members of the BMW club were after either of the cars.. I posted that while I know a member or two were the instigator, I use the term "Club" loosely. The only guy I'd like a shot at is the old man freak with the suspenders and camera... waist of life.
4) Tirewear – our tire wear was an issue of down force created from the RTR trunk and wing, not camber alone. The middle and outside of the tires were almost slicks when we started seeing cord on the inside.
5) Our social skills - As posted previously... Both cars were a handful.. I would have given my left nut to take it easy between run groups/events and talk to others.. I know Mike and us spent 95% of all down time wrenching, adding water, bleeding, adding oil..etc. I can’t believe anyone would call Rob or I arrogant. There wasn’t a person we snubbed that came by to look at the car, to help with the car or to ask for tools.
Name one other team that allowed kids to sit and play and have their pix made in their car??
At NH one of the last events I was watching a lot of cars. After we readied our car for it's final run I noticed a BMW flying thru a corner that I didn't think could be taken that fast.. So I went to talk to the driver to get pointers. Was he your co-driver? It was the first time all week I really had a chance to talk... mainly because we went last, with no one else on the track because of someone's complaining of fluids... although the corner workers never saw any dripping after Summit. The guys in this BMW were nice guys and lent us a jackstand. If that wasn't your car... then you must be talking about Jenny, one of our friends that came out for the last three days. Yeah.. it's amazing how much more friendly all the guys were after Jenny and her noticible chest went out to do a little counter recon to find out who was complaining and why. Utterly amazing how none of the other guys had a problem talking to me while she was with me.
Lastly, about the drive to Beaver Falls.. I’m going to assume Rob was following you and you asked Mike or Jon (the other NSX) and they didn’t have a clue about what you were talking about. If it was me, I can honestly say I don’t remember talking to you or anyone about following or leading… maybe it was because I was sleeping or asleep at the time.
6) By the numbers – In our class the NSX team’s accounted for 12 first in-class points (6 for each team) out of 20 events, the next closest team was ½ of that total with 3. I’m not sure why there is so much debate.. the competition was done on the track.. our DNFs sealed our fate.. Mike’s one DNF made it close in the end, but it is absolutely asinine to think that a van gave him that in-class victory or kept us in the top 25.
My thoughts about OLA (hopefully this will be a wrap up to this thread)
OLA is a interesting event. I am glad to have participated. Here are some of my thoughts about this historic event.
Event Structure:
It was far more tiring then I could have imagined. I don't understand or agree with the philosophy of having events spaced so narrowly that it is only possible to get an hour or two of sleep in consecutive nights. This is just dangerous. I think an endurance type of race is good, and maybe one sleepless night to separate the men from the boys, but I can say Rob and I were only able to check into a hotel before 2am one time. I estimate that the total number of hours I had to sleep were between 8-10 for the 7 days… not including me dosing off in the car.
I talk about this a little later, but I really think this event used to be and has the choice of being a little more social. If you are a top running car, the format currently encourages you to get to the track as early as possible, as you run first. Then leave immediately after your run so you can make it to the next venue and maybe get a little sleep or down time. I think that it would be better to have a couple of informal get-togethers thru-out the week at hotels or camp sites..etc.
While I felt the 3-lap events were too little of track time… they were surprisingly fun. Frankly the format allowed our car to compete as the headgasket issue wouldn’t have let us run longer. Now I would be more in favor of 20-30min sessions and them taking your top time or average of your top 3 times.. or even better 20min wheel to wheel sprint races at each of the tracks… Now your talking!
Choice of Car:
It is obvious that street tuned cars do much better than purpose built race cars. Yes the blue NASCAR truck did extremely well, but talking with that driver and others, he has been perfecting that vehicle for 2+ years. I would highly recommend a street car over a racecar for this event… for many different reasons. The thing I noticed is that the top 5 turned on their car, ran in their heat, turned off their car, packed their bags and headed to the next event. Nice.
Officiating
A weak point in OLA is that I feel it’s origin was a “fun” race… everyone having a good time, then came the king of OLA and someone has to win. Now it is really competitive for about 1/3rd of the entries, but it is run more from the fun side. SVRA must incorporate a protest fee… because it is my feeling that a group of people can sway the promoters or officials unjustifiably. This was the primary cause for one of our DNFs, our being sent to the back of the pack and the craziness ensued around the “VAN”. I realize OLA was founded by “there are no rules” but it is clear that this is not the case anymore and there should be very specific rules around competing cars. A good example is the GT40 driver, an ass, was shouting to Brock Jr, “If those (NSX) cars are having issues, they should not be allowed on the track… I won’t run with them” It immediately affected both cars, no investigation, no official inquire…both Mike and I were sent to the run group behind(slower) him. Besides Mike being held up by traffic we both ran w/out incident. What is really amazing is this came from a guy(GT40) who a day and ½ ago dirtied up the track by blowing a headgasket. It’s pretty sad when you think about it.
What does it take to win?
Above all it takes HP, and then you absolutely must have reliability followed by driver skill.
Money is another part, like with all car ventures. I’d say that Rob and I spent aprox $25-30K… something I’d consider better spent renting a car in GAC…. But it is a sickness, like most forms of autosports that keeps you going after bigger and better and more powerful. Thank goodness for companies that helps us with our sickness. Great Companies like EXP4 Additives, Goodson Acura, Honda Japan, Mobil 1, Brakeman Brakepads
Lastly, thanks to all the NSXers who support and cheer for us… you are the reason I do this.
I hope to have a story with pictures up on
www.dalmotorsports.com soon.. Currently I only have pix.
