I posted this to the racing forum, but I thought it would be of interest to our regional forum, as well...


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Just thought I'd share my misfortune, but coming out of Turn 9 on my very first lap of the day on my very first time on Summit Point, I hit a deer.

Apparently, the deer jumped the fence from the infield, hopped the tire wall, and bounded onto the track, just as I was accelerating out of Turn 9, heading up the hill.

I was able to scrub off some speed so that impact speed was probably only about 45mph, but the flag station tells me that I launched the deer some 10-12 feet in the air. Apparently, it flipped around a few times, flew 15 feet into the grass, got up, took three steps and died.

As for the car, fortunately, the damage was (remarkably) minor. The front nose cone's cracked and pushed back, but the hood and side panels seem fine. The intercooler got pushed back a bit (it mounts, in part, to the nose), but it seems fine. One headlight is loose but is workable.

After inspecting the damage, I drove the rest of the session (and the rest of the weekend), but it took me a while to get back into any kind of rhythm.

Pretty weird, huh?

 

I forgot to ask, but does anyone have any recommendations for the best places to go to have this fixed? Honda dealer? Specialized body shop (that can also remount the intercooler in a new nose cone)? I'm in NoVa, in Alexandria. Thanks.

 

Glad to hear that you're ok.

I've seen so many dead deer in my area(Mont Co/Howard Co, MD) lately, but on the TRACK!?!!?

Hey cbender, there's a shop called Spectrum, in your area, that Gregg(head ass) and a few others have praised for excellent work on thier rides.

https://www.s2ki.com/forums/showthread.php?...?threadid=71448

 

That is some really shitty luck! I have been there several times and never even seen a deer while i was on the track or off.

With that big turbo what did you get down the 9 mile front straight? I would imagine 140mph should be easy for your car.

Scot

 

Scot, my new clutch/flywheel is still stuck in Long Beach due to the port strike, so I was running very low boost this weekend and being very gentle on the throttle. I think my fastest run on the straight, coming out of Turn 10 (which is long but not that long!), was only about 120. Without the slippage and with more throttle, I suspect 140 would be attainable. Maybe next time.

 

wow! you are really lucky (or unlucky), good thing that deer didn't flip up into the windshield! hopefully you get it fixed up soon.

 

Thanks, Mgiang. Does anyone have any comments on (a) Spectrum (per Andy's note, above) or (b) a bodyshop called Wagonworks (in Alexandria)? Those are the two shops that have been suggested to me.

 

with the kind of work gregg has given spectrum (no offense to gregg meant), i think they'll be able to handle your minor problem. for now slap some duct tape on that front bumper and let's go to rockville b&n! the duct tape will give it even more of a sleeper look.

 

 

I'll be taking the car to Spectrum this coming Friday (today's Sunday), so I'm afraid the ductape look isn't an option, but perhaps I'll bring my rental car just for fun! On other car news, the Clutchmaster Stage III kit and Toda lightweight flywheel are both going in on Monday. Now if only I can get my mid-throttle fuel map tuned. Does anyone know a REALLY, REALLY good VAFC tuner in the area. I need someone who really knows the in's and out's of the VAFC, not just someone who knows how to read an air fuel curve and adjust the settings. Thanks. Hope all is well with all of you. And Mgiang, how's the silver antenna? :-)