Carolinas A Better Place to Be

Carolinas Autox and Trackday Dates

Thread Tools
 
Old 09-09-2015, 06:03 AM
  #1111  
Registered User

 
InsaneSp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Charlotte, NC
Posts: 1,481
Received 27 Likes on 23 Posts
Default

Championship weekend was pretty sweet, ended up with a top 5 finish after everything was said and done. Having an entire race group of Honda Challenge cars was nice since we didn't really have to deal with people racing out of class.

Friday started with a practice session, which was nice since I hadn't been to VIR in 2 months and haven't spent nearly as much time on track this year as last. Qualifying went well, putting me in P5 for the Friday qualifying race. A traffic jam had about 10 cars in line for grid when the 3 minute warning was announced, which means we lose our grid spot and start at the back. The grid marshall told me to line up at the back and ignored me when I told her I should be at the back of the H1 pack (correct procedure) so I had the pleasure of starting in P16 of 18 in the H2 field. With the split standing starts I had basically zero chance to catch the H1 field but I still put in the effort. Attrition in the H1 field had me finish P6 of 7, but that was offset by my honorary 3rd in the H2 field

Saturday morning rolled around and I woke up to a flat tire. I had a brand new set of RR's to run for the main event on Sunday, but had to get them mounted early on Saturday, causing me to miss the warm up session. This race was gridded according to fast lap time on finishing order from Friday's race, so I started P6. That race was largely uneventful, passing one car to finish P5 - a finish I was happy with as the new RRs were VERY slick on their first heat cycle. Having only run scrub tires prior I wasn't expecting it to be that bad. I quickly came off track and put the car on stands so I could sweep all the rocks and rubber off, then cover them with tire warmers to slow the cool down process. Sounds excessive but it's for longevity of the tires and should serve well for subsequent races.

Sunday was a whole lot of waiting. The entire day was filled with championship races for each class, which were fun to watch. I went over the car thoroughly to double and triple check everything. I didn't want something stupid to end my weekend, especially if it could have been prevented. Grid order was set by the total points gained all weekend, which is where the Friday grid mess screwed me. I was tied in points with another guy, but the tie breaker was lap time and he had me beat. The 45 minute race was fun because I was pushing so hard but the video is pretty boring. I dropped to 7th by T1 since the guy behind me has a much faster car but was out back because of a DQ. I made the pass for 6th from T4-T6 and for 5th down the back straight. Then it was clean windshield for the next 40 minutes, lapping a few H2 cars towards the end. I caught John Oldt on the last lap as he developed mechanical issues that put him down on power and it came down to the wire with him blocking AT start finish (one move, so legal). I crossed the finish line in 5th, with 2 off at the front straight kink, 0.1 seconds out of 4th place.
Old 09-09-2015, 06:51 AM
  #1112  
Registered User

 
bobby.is.rad's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Raleigh, NC
Posts: 463
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

Awesome write up. Thanks for sharing Stephen!
Old 09-09-2015, 09:39 AM
  #1113  

 
will010100's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 690
Likes: 0
Received 19 Likes on 16 Posts
Default

Stephen, how did the plywood splitter hold up?
Old 09-09-2015, 12:53 PM
  #1114  
Registered User

 
InsaneSp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Charlotte, NC
Posts: 1,481
Received 27 Likes on 23 Posts
Default

Splitter held up just fine, even after some of the track surface came up in chunks during Friday qualifying. I do however have a small dent from hitting a piece of that concrete.
Old 09-09-2015, 04:20 PM
  #1115  
Registered User

 
skatebrian624's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 674
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by InsaneSp
Championship weekend was pretty sweet, ended up with a top 5 finish after everything was said and done. Having an entire race group of Honda Challenge cars was nice since we didn't really have to deal with people racing out of class.

Friday started with a practice session, which was nice since I hadn't been to VIR in 2 months and haven't spent nearly as much time on track this year as last. Qualifying went well, putting me in P5 for the Friday qualifying race. A traffic jam had about 10 cars in line for grid when the 3 minute warning was announced, which means we lose our grid spot and start at the back. The grid marshall told me to line up at the back and ignored me when I told her I should be at the back of the H1 pack (correct procedure) so I had the pleasure of starting in P16 of 18 in the H2 field. With the split standing starts I had basically zero chance to catch the H1 field but I still put in the effort. Attrition in the H1 field had me finish P6 of 7, but that was offset by my honorary 3rd in the H2 field

Saturday morning rolled around and I woke up to a flat tire. I had a brand new set of RR's to run for the main event on Sunday, but had to get them mounted early on Saturday, causing me to miss the warm up session. This race was gridded according to fast lap time on finishing order from Friday's race, so I started P6. That race was largely uneventful, passing one car to finish P5 - a finish I was happy with as the new RRs were VERY slick on their first heat cycle. Having only run scrub tires prior I wasn't expecting it to be that bad. I quickly came off track and put the car on stands so I could sweep all the rocks and rubber off, then cover them with tire warmers to slow the cool down process. Sounds excessive but it's for longevity of the tires and should serve well for subsequent races.

Sunday was a whole lot of waiting. The entire day was filled with championship races for each class, which were fun to watch. I went over the car thoroughly to double and triple check everything. I didn't want something stupid to end my weekend, especially if it could have been prevented. Grid order was set by the total points gained all weekend, which is where the Friday grid mess screwed me. I was tied in points with another guy, but the tie breaker was lap time and he had me beat. The 45 minute race was fun because I was pushing so hard but the video is pretty boring. I dropped to 7th by T1 since the guy behind me has a much faster car but was out back because of a DQ. I made the pass for 6th from T4-T6 and for 5th down the back straight. Then it was clean windshield for the next 40 minutes, lapping a few H2 cars towards the end. I caught John Oldt on the last lap as he developed mechanical issues that put him down on power and it came down to the wire with him blocking AT start finish (one move, so legal). I crossed the finish line in 5th, with 2 off at the front straight kink, 0.1 seconds out of 4th place.
Hey man it was good seeing you out there and thanks for the help again. Man I need to get my car prepped so I can race with you guys. Anybody know anyone selling a truck/trailer?

I was able to get 1st in TTC though which was cool. Unfortunately, Wynn and Mike had engine troubles so they weren't able to push 100%, otherwise we would have had an all S2000 podium. I went over the Hp limit on Saturday so all of my times were DQ'd and I had to reclass with an extra 120 lbs of ballast. Wynn let me borrow his ballast rig so I could run on Sunday, which was pretty epic of him. Mike was having issues with low oil pressure and wasn't able to register a time, but if he was able to run he would have been extremely fast. Here's my videos from the weekend:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o40jKnkmXl0[/media]







Old 09-09-2015, 06:33 PM
  #1116  

 
will010100's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Posts: 690
Likes: 0
Received 19 Likes on 16 Posts
Default

Those were some amazing laps, Brian! You ran flat from 5 through 10. "Most impressive"

It seems odd we've been to so many events without crossing paths. Any chance you'll be coming to the TrackDAZE VIR-Grand event in November?
Old 09-10-2015, 07:04 PM
  #1117  
Registered User

 
skatebrian624's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 674
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by will010100
Those were some amazing laps, Brian! You ran flat from 5 through 10. "Most impressive"

It seems odd we've been to so many events without crossing paths. Any chance you'll be coming to the TrackDAZE VIR-Grand event in November?
Thanks man! Yeah it is weird, and that sucks about your fuel hose man. Nah I won't be able to go to Trackdaze event in Nov. I'm working both those days, but I'm thinking about going to Nasa-ma's oktoberfast. I want to go back and set a faster time because I know the car has more in it; I kept overbraking at nationals, so I just need to get my braking on point. But we'll see if I'm able to go, I will need to wait until I get closer to Oct. to see how the money situation is doing.
Old 09-16-2015, 04:31 AM
  #1118  

 
humbucker87's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 508
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
Default

Out of curiosity, anyone know who's car this is? VIR sticker on the wing. Says mechanical damage...I assume the engine is toast.

http://www.copart.com/us/Lot/3090847...chId=800387361
Old 09-16-2015, 03:13 PM
  #1119  
Registered User

 
InsaneSp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Charlotte, NC
Posts: 1,481
Received 27 Likes on 23 Posts
Default

Have never seen that one out at VIR.
Old 09-18-2015, 11:02 AM
  #1120  
Registered User

 
InsaneSp's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Charlotte, NC
Posts: 1,481
Received 27 Likes on 23 Posts
Default

Who wants to help the slow kid download data off the AiM Solo DL and overlay it on video?


Quick Reply: Carolinas Autox and Trackday Dates



All times are GMT -8. The time now is 12:37 PM.