S197 BOSS 302 Race Car Build Thread Build Thread

[ArizonaBOSS]

OK so report from last weekend now that everything is official:

NASA Arizona races down at INDE Motorsports Ranch in Willcox, AZ. http://indemotorsports.com/

My buddy Marco (he has a 97 Cobra track car) and I headed down on Friday morning to get paddock spots set up and cars unloaded. @Tucson302 joined a little later that day and the boozing commenced!





We ran a different track configuration on Saturday vs. Sunday I ran both Time Trials in "TT2" class as well as race group in Super Touring 2 "ST2" each day. In TT on Saturday I missed setting a new track record by 0.2 seconds and set a new one on on Sunday (also faster than my previous personal best by half a second). These times were good enough to win my class and get me two free Hoosiers each day!

In the races, there was some stiff competition between myself and a few fast BMWs. On Saturday we ran a 40-minute race. I started strong in fifth place overall and moved to third overall quickly. After 15 minutes of running away from the cars behind me, I decided to back off to conserve my tires. In doing so, I let the second place car in-class go by me (I thought this car was in another class)--so I ended up second in class on Saturday. Picture and video below. Despite all this, my best time in the race was a 1:40.6, good enough to set a new ST2 track record by over 3.5 seconds (and faster than the guys I let go by me).

On Sunday I vowed not to make the same mistake twice. Got another good start in both of Sunday's races, but spent the second half of each race defending as my A7 tires wore out over the course of each session. It made for some great racing for the drivers and the spectators! I managed to take home the win in ST2 (and my first overall race group victory) on Sunday, and also set a new ST2 track record 1:54.02 (despite my time in the qualifying race being faster at 1:53.96).

Proper result here:


Race Video:

Overall, it was a great weekend. Put in a few new track records and took home a set of free tires and some trophies. I am getting much more comfortable with the setup on car now with the MCS dampers and learning how much farther I can push the car than before. I also learned a lot about the behavior of the A7 tires to compare to my experiences with them at Laguna Seca.

Planning to race another two events later this month and early November, but I think the car will be well-sorted and very competitive in 2016.

 

[VoodooBoss]

Congratulations!

 

[Tucson 302]

If your going to keep winning these races you will need to get another GoPro so we can see the cars behind you

Congrats!

 

[ls110]

Wow! Spectacular driving Drew!!! Not only winning but also setting some amazing track records. Cool to see the Boss is able capable of that with the right mods and most importantly, a great driver.

 

[Black Boss]

Wow! Spectacular driving Drew!!! Not only winning but also setting some amazing track records. Cool to see the Boss is able capable of that with the right mods and most importantly, a great driver.

+1
Fantastic. Congrats.

(Wish we had weather like that in the Great Lakes this time of year!)

 

[Swiss Boss]

Congrat's for the win. Awesome driving!

Here's 2 interesting topics concerning brakes. They are for Corvette but the basis are the same.

http://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...7-does-anyone-have-any-braking-questions.html

http://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...acing/3576152-ap-racing-pro-5000r-brakes.html

I had planned to upgrade to one of the AP caliper this winter and make my own bracket for it but my stupid mistake at NCM put that on hold.

Maybe if we bother Essex enough they'll make a kit for the S197

 

[Budget Boss]

Congrats on the WIN!

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

OK weekend report from last week--Cliff's Notes: Two wins in ProAutoSports' "PS0" (production-based cars on DOTs) class including one overall race win.

Last weekend we raced at Bondurant West course out near Phoenix. It is a tight, technical, 1.1 mile course with limited passing opportunities, which I managed to exploit.
This is the one track that really needs its own setup, considering the relatively low speeds throughout. Traction exiting corners is of the utmost importance, as you will see below.

Cut a new personal best on this track by over half a second, but I feel I should have been another second faster. I didn't do much other than messing with the front damper settings a little bit. Adjustment to the rear LCAs may have helped here.

Here is a rear-view video from Sunday's feature race win:

We are racing this course again this weekend but "backwards" (clockwise) so it's anybody's game...we'll see what happens!

 

[ls110]

Impressive wins and driving Drew!!!

 

[F.D. Sako]

So when you start being a front runner, you start facing the camera to the rear? :
Nice race btw!

 

[TymeSlayer]

Very nice driving. That 47 behind you was game but seem to have beat up his tires trying to catch you. Congrats!

 

[superhero]

Very Nice driving AZ. You sure know how to use traffic wisely. Car sounds great and enjoyed the view from behind.
Motor sounds healthy>>>Any plans on freshing up the new motor at the end of your race season?

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

Very Nice driving AZ. You sure know how to use traffic wisely. Car sounds great and enjoyed the view from behind.
Motor sounds healthy>>>Any plans on freshing up the new motor at the end of your race season?

Hi Superhero--no plans to freshen the engine. It did get a new shortblock about a year ago and ran this season without any issue. Hopefully I can get another two seasons out of it before it needs to go under the knife again.

It is overdue for a fresh set of plugs, however.

 

[cloud9]

Congrats on the win Drew!

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

OK, weekend race report!

Last weekend we raced at Bondurant's West track with ProAutosports running counterclockwise, this weekend we raced with NASA running on the same track but clockwise. This was the first time I've heard of any organization getting to run this track clockwise since I first got into track stuff in 2006.

This was pretty interesting and basically leveled the playing field since nobody had driven this configuration before.
The track going the other direction seemed a little faster, with a little bit higher risk if you went off-track, but it was very fun.

Only four people showed up in time trials in my class (TT2), not enough to activate Hoosier's tire contingency, so I took a chance and jumped up to TT1 to have a shot at some free rubber. On Saturday I was in the lead until the final session, and ended up getting beat by a C6Z06 race car on slicks by .4 seconds, and the same guy barely beat me on Sunday by a tenth at the end of the day. No free tires, but it almost worked

We also had some great racing on Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday I qualified the car on pole, with the K&N American Iron Mustang (visiting from SoCal) starting right next to me.
I had a poor start at the green and he got by me, but we battled back and forth for about 15 minutes until his car crapped out with an electrical issue.
The resulting full-course caution evaporated the lead I had over the other guys in my class and I was fighting to maintain position on used up tires when we took the green again. I made one mistake on the second to last lap that allowed another car to get around me for the overall win, but I still won my class and finished second overall. Video below (sorry, it's a bit long, but generally pretty exciting).

A couple other people showed up on Sunday and managed to learn the track quickly and put down some fast lap times. Combined with old tires, I ended up starting 4th overall on the grid, but still first of three in ST2. Managed to hold on to that position throughout the 35 minute race. My times in the races on Sat/Sun should be good for a track record in ST2, but it's definitely at risk of being broken the next time we run this configuration, since we were all pretty "green" on it this time.

One more race for me this year coming up Thanksgiving weekend at Wild Horse Pass "Main" course. Expecting 145mph+ on the straight there. Nobody's driven it in a couple years since new track management took over, it will be good to get back again!
Old video from 2013:

 

[VoodooBoss]

Congratulations and nice driving! Also that's a classy looking t-shirt you're wearing.

 

[twistedneck]

On Saturday I qualified the car on pole, with the K&N American Iron Mustang (visiting from SoCal) starting right next to me.
I had a poor start at the green and he got by me, but we battled back and forth for about 15 minutes until his car crapped out with an electrical issue.

Ok, you glossed over the fact that you out qualified the super legend K&N S197 Mustang.
That is the ultimate 2011-2014 racer, best engineered, wicked fender cut outs, full cortex double wish bone front suspension, etc etc..
How the flower did you out qualify him!??

 

[302 Hi Pro]

Arizona:

Great post and congratulations on your Pole position, and Class Wins. As always, great race vids with some exciting moments.

For those of us who are not familiar with the Drivers, can you identify the Drivers, on the podium with their Class and the cars they drive?

Thanks so much,
Dave
2HP

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

Ok, you glossed over the fact that you out qualified the super legend K&N S197 Mustang.
That is the ultimate 2011-2014 racer, best engineered, wicked fender cut outs, full cortex double wish bone front suspension, etc etc..
How the flower did you out qualify him!??

@twistedneck , those guys had a 6-7 person crew working the car in addition to two driving coaches. If it were Ryan Walton driving it on this course, it would probably have been a different story, but the car was being driven by Bradley Morris, a K&N trophy truck driver recovering from a serious back injury. Kid was fast and raced us clean, I just happened to be faster on Saturday. We were pretty evenly paced. On Sunday the guys managed to find another half-second out there and they left me in the dust.
On a larger track (Laguna Seca) I'm two seconds faster with my wider tires and additional power (although I don't think they were running an AI tune on the K&N car when it was out here considering I couldn't pull him on the straights here in Arizona).

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

Arizona:

Great post and congratulations on your Pole position, and Class Wins. As always, great race vids with some exciting moments.

For those of us who are not familiar with the Drivers, can you identify the Drivers, on the podium with their Class and the cars they drive?

Thanks so much,
Dave
2HP

In the podium picture that is for my specific class, Super Touring 2 (ST2), which is a 8.0:1 power-to-weight limit class. The other drivers are David Stark and David Montgomery and they both drive C5 Vettes. They don't have the seat time in their race cars that I do, but they are getting faster!