02-20-2006, 01:15 PM
warning: long writeup 
video link is at the bottom if thats all you are looking for :lol:
I got to VIR thursday evening after a long tow down (thanks G for the truck and trailer) and got the car teched.
Friday
Friday morning was looking great, sunny and pretty warm. First session the group I was running with, Test & Tune was up, so I got out for a few laps to bed in my new brake pads. Next session I go out and I notice that my car sounds like a lawnmower and feels like it has approximately 18hp. No worries, Ive heard and felt that before, its just a loose plug wire. So I pull offline and start to head into the pits. About halfway around the track I notice the car is handling funny but didnt pay much attention. So I park the car, fix the plug wire, and then head to the back of the car to make sure nothing is loose. Well nothing was loose, but my brand new RA-1 on the left rear is flat. dammit. I take the wheel to the track tire support and he tells me he cant fix it since the tire had started to de-laminate from driving on it without much air. (even though i only drove on it for a minute)
As luck would have it, one of my fellow SM racers was picking up a new set of shaved RA1s and had some meaty spares. He lent me one (that had around 3/32 of tread left!) and said I could use it but he wanted it back, and he joked that I better not pass him :-p (obvious foreshadowing....). Fantastic. $20 later the tire is mounted.
The rest of the test day was pretty uneventful. I set the fastest SM time and beat my goal of getting into the 2:25s (hit 2:25.03 actually) but I wasnt as consistent with the 25s as I would have liked.
Saturday
Saturday morning comes: cold with a looming sky. Weather report still said snow. Pretty much all day. Crap.
It starts to snow lightly about 30 minutes before our practice session. I am NOT in a happy mood. Memories of my wrecked WRX (done in similar weather at this event 3 years ago) and me wishing I stayed at home go through my head. I gear up, get in the car, and visualize being smooth, keeping my eyes up, and feeling the car and grip. As we sit on the grid, it starts snowing MUCH harder. Huge flakes, accumulation on the grass, but nothing on the track. Im on my dry shaved tires. I go out with the intent of feeling out the track and coming in if Im not comfortable. So after we are out there, a strange thing happened. I was having a blast, passing just about everything on the track. The times come out and Im the fastest SM, with the guy who lent me the tire a couple seconds behind me.
Shortly thereafter Cobetto calls a meeting where he tells us that due to the weather, our qualifying session has been cancelled and will be using practice times to grid the cars. Sweet! My first pole.
By race time, the snow had slowed way down, but I decided to put my full tread rain tires on anyway, since with the track so cold, I wanted to get as much heat in the tires as I could.
We grid up and head out for what was an excruciatingly slow pace/formation lap. Ive said it before and Ill say it again, there is no feeling in the world like coming aroudn the final turn waiting for the green flag to drop.
I got a half decent start, it was impossible to see the flag so I just went when I heard other cars in front go, I headed right, and the P2 car headed left. I passed 6 or 7 cars before T1, and my strategy worked better than his because I got to T1 before he did. I stuck it on the inside in T1, because in practice that felt like the most grip, but wait a second, there comes the back end around, and all I could think was "crap, I qualified on pole and now im about to blow it with a spin" but I summoned my mad doriftoruuu skillz, stuck my leg out the car door, waved to the crowd, and saved the spin. The rest of the first lap was a lot of fun, passed a few cars, and checked out on the 2nd place SM. The race went on and I got into a groove. I was probably 1/2 a straight ahead of the 2nd place guy when I thought to myself "self, Id better not screw this up, just take it easy and its in the bag" which in hindsight, was stupid (and I should have known better) Consciously thinking about driving and taking it easy is the perfect way to make mistakes, and not coincidentally, the car got loose and squirrely a couple times a lap after that, my laptimes dropped, and going into the final lap the 2nd place car was about 10 car lengths back. No big deal though, right? 10 car lengths is still a lot, and no one is going to make any silly moves in this weather.
Until we hit traffic. Slow traffic, in the uphill esses, where the line was bordered with deep standing water and no chance for me to pass offline. He got about 6 inches off my bumper. Crap.
we hit the back straight and as well as I knew this was going to be his best opportunity to pass. After getting some momentum with a draft, he pulls out next to me. We were coming up on a slower car so I moved to the left to go around, and apparently that spooked him or put him into some standing water and he slid back behind me. I late braked T14 and stuck to the inside, slid through hogpen and ended up crossing the line first by about 1/2 a car length.
It felt great winning my first race, but when the results were released, they showed Payton Wilson in 1st place SM. Now that wouldnt be too strange, Payton won the national Pro SM in 04, but he drives a 99, and they are not SM legal in nasa, they have their own class, SM2. And he also wasnt gridded up with SM. With the help of Matt and Sean (bimmerboodle), it got straightened out and everyone was in agreeance.
The awards ceremony was fun, and thanks to the work of King Rat motorsports getting sponsors, I got a Sparco steering wheel (that is ironically too big for a miata) and a nice mug in addition to the nasa plaque.
Finally a HUGE thanks to all the flaggers and workers! I know it couldnt have been fun to be out in that weather, I hope you guys kept warm. It feels great to have guys I know and trust out there in the buckets looking out for me!
Here is the race video, the start and first lap is especially entertaining.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_2POavL0yY">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_2POavL0yY</a><!-- m -->
qualifying in the snow
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nftj36vJ7LA">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nftj36vJ7LA</a><!-- m -->
Ill have video of the practice/qualifying session in the snow up later
unfortunately I showed up back at the track on sunday to pack my stuff up, and my right rear tire had deflated
so I lost 2 tires, 1 new and 1 almost new
now Im really looking forward to the next race, at Shenandoah Circuit on April 1, 2! Ive spent a LOT of time on that track since it opened a little over a year ago and Ive got high hopes for extending my winning streak!
and some pics, thanks to Phil Randall for standing out in the snow!
qualifying in the snow:
![[Image: VIR6.jpg]](http://members.cox.net/midnightstangz/VIR-02-06/VIR6.jpg)
![[Image: VIR5.jpg]](http://members.cox.net/midnightstangz/VIR-02-06/VIR5.jpg)
![[Image: VIR2.jpg]](http://members.cox.net/midnightstangz/VIR-02-06/VIR2.jpg)
race
![[Image: VIR7.jpg]](http://members.cox.net/midnightstangz/VIR-02-06/VIR7.jpg)
video link is at the bottom if thats all you are looking for :lol: I got to VIR thursday evening after a long tow down (thanks G for the truck and trailer) and got the car teched.
Friday
Friday morning was looking great, sunny and pretty warm. First session the group I was running with, Test & Tune was up, so I got out for a few laps to bed in my new brake pads. Next session I go out and I notice that my car sounds like a lawnmower and feels like it has approximately 18hp. No worries, Ive heard and felt that before, its just a loose plug wire. So I pull offline and start to head into the pits. About halfway around the track I notice the car is handling funny but didnt pay much attention. So I park the car, fix the plug wire, and then head to the back of the car to make sure nothing is loose. Well nothing was loose, but my brand new RA-1 on the left rear is flat. dammit. I take the wheel to the track tire support and he tells me he cant fix it since the tire had started to de-laminate from driving on it without much air. (even though i only drove on it for a minute)
As luck would have it, one of my fellow SM racers was picking up a new set of shaved RA1s and had some meaty spares. He lent me one (that had around 3/32 of tread left!) and said I could use it but he wanted it back, and he joked that I better not pass him :-p (obvious foreshadowing....). Fantastic. $20 later the tire is mounted.
The rest of the test day was pretty uneventful. I set the fastest SM time and beat my goal of getting into the 2:25s (hit 2:25.03 actually) but I wasnt as consistent with the 25s as I would have liked.
Saturday
Saturday morning comes: cold with a looming sky. Weather report still said snow. Pretty much all day. Crap.
It starts to snow lightly about 30 minutes before our practice session. I am NOT in a happy mood. Memories of my wrecked WRX (done in similar weather at this event 3 years ago) and me wishing I stayed at home go through my head. I gear up, get in the car, and visualize being smooth, keeping my eyes up, and feeling the car and grip. As we sit on the grid, it starts snowing MUCH harder. Huge flakes, accumulation on the grass, but nothing on the track. Im on my dry shaved tires. I go out with the intent of feeling out the track and coming in if Im not comfortable. So after we are out there, a strange thing happened. I was having a blast, passing just about everything on the track. The times come out and Im the fastest SM, with the guy who lent me the tire a couple seconds behind me.
Shortly thereafter Cobetto calls a meeting where he tells us that due to the weather, our qualifying session has been cancelled and will be using practice times to grid the cars. Sweet! My first pole.
By race time, the snow had slowed way down, but I decided to put my full tread rain tires on anyway, since with the track so cold, I wanted to get as much heat in the tires as I could.
We grid up and head out for what was an excruciatingly slow pace/formation lap. Ive said it before and Ill say it again, there is no feeling in the world like coming aroudn the final turn waiting for the green flag to drop.
I got a half decent start, it was impossible to see the flag so I just went when I heard other cars in front go, I headed right, and the P2 car headed left. I passed 6 or 7 cars before T1, and my strategy worked better than his because I got to T1 before he did. I stuck it on the inside in T1, because in practice that felt like the most grip, but wait a second, there comes the back end around, and all I could think was "crap, I qualified on pole and now im about to blow it with a spin" but I summoned my mad doriftoruuu skillz, stuck my leg out the car door, waved to the crowd, and saved the spin. The rest of the first lap was a lot of fun, passed a few cars, and checked out on the 2nd place SM. The race went on and I got into a groove. I was probably 1/2 a straight ahead of the 2nd place guy when I thought to myself "self, Id better not screw this up, just take it easy and its in the bag" which in hindsight, was stupid (and I should have known better) Consciously thinking about driving and taking it easy is the perfect way to make mistakes, and not coincidentally, the car got loose and squirrely a couple times a lap after that, my laptimes dropped, and going into the final lap the 2nd place car was about 10 car lengths back. No big deal though, right? 10 car lengths is still a lot, and no one is going to make any silly moves in this weather.
Until we hit traffic. Slow traffic, in the uphill esses, where the line was bordered with deep standing water and no chance for me to pass offline. He got about 6 inches off my bumper. Crap.
we hit the back straight and as well as I knew this was going to be his best opportunity to pass. After getting some momentum with a draft, he pulls out next to me. We were coming up on a slower car so I moved to the left to go around, and apparently that spooked him or put him into some standing water and he slid back behind me. I late braked T14 and stuck to the inside, slid through hogpen and ended up crossing the line first by about 1/2 a car length.
It felt great winning my first race, but when the results were released, they showed Payton Wilson in 1st place SM. Now that wouldnt be too strange, Payton won the national Pro SM in 04, but he drives a 99, and they are not SM legal in nasa, they have their own class, SM2. And he also wasnt gridded up with SM. With the help of Matt and Sean (bimmerboodle), it got straightened out and everyone was in agreeance.
The awards ceremony was fun, and thanks to the work of King Rat motorsports getting sponsors, I got a Sparco steering wheel (that is ironically too big for a miata) and a nice mug in addition to the nasa plaque.
Finally a HUGE thanks to all the flaggers and workers! I know it couldnt have been fun to be out in that weather, I hope you guys kept warm. It feels great to have guys I know and trust out there in the buckets looking out for me!
Here is the race video, the start and first lap is especially entertaining.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_2POavL0yY">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_2POavL0yY</a><!-- m -->
qualifying in the snow
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nftj36vJ7LA">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nftj36vJ7LA</a><!-- m -->
Ill have video of the practice/qualifying session in the snow up later
unfortunately I showed up back at the track on sunday to pack my stuff up, and my right rear tire had deflated
so I lost 2 tires, 1 new and 1 almost newnow Im really looking forward to the next race, at Shenandoah Circuit on April 1, 2! Ive spent a LOT of time on that track since it opened a little over a year ago and Ive got high hopes for extending my winning streak!
and some pics, thanks to Phil Randall for standing out in the snow!
qualifying in the snow:
race
![[Image: 102301929_a663ad9161_o.jpg]](http://static.flickr.com/38/102301929_a663ad9161_o.jpg)