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Smokey and The Bandit
No Trans-Ams in this part of the story, but our Championship Sunday was thrown into disarray when a car went off in the practice session and lit the dry grass inside the track on-fire with its exhaust. Combined with the 25-40mph winds (!), this burned down probably 30% of the infield and sent massive smoke plumes into the sky. Activities were halted while track and local firefighters worked to put out the brush fire. We even got overflown by a water-dump plane, but he didn't end up making a quenching run.
More on that incident here: https://blackflag.jalopnik.com/championship-races-paused-to-save-thunderhill-raceway-f-1819329885
The main impact to this fire was that it threw our schedule into disarray. The average of my finishing position points from the two qualifying races meant I was starting second again, but nobody knew WHEN we were going to race now. I decided to get everything ready during the firefighting activities, and to be ready for whatever. My action then meant I could relax until we actually ended up taking the green at 3:35pm instead of 1:40pm. My competitor's EVO was repaired overnight and he was starting directly behind me, making us a pack of 4 again. This time I talked to the polesitter and asked if we could start with a larger gap this time to avoid the cluster---- that we encountered the prior day; surprisingly, he agreed.
I had a set of sticker Hoosier A7s sitting in the trailer and had those mounted up, pressured, and kept in cool shade. The high winds meant we would be racing in a comfortable 80*F environment
I was also delighted to see that my fellow AZ racers made me a replacement endplate solution for the race
The view didn't change much after those first few laps--I managed to bring the car home in second place in-class, my first podium at a National-Level event! At prior events I had finished 4th both times, so it felt good to get that podium!
Moreover, the high-flow grille helped quite a bit even with the cooler temperatures. Absolutely beating on the car the CHTs only got up to 221, and the oil temp max was 260 (Edit--might have only gotten around 240! Gotta check the data). Even in 100* weather this thing should be rock-solid now.
Next Steps
My next race is coming up in a couple weeks at Arizona Motorsports Park. I have the opportunity to set some track records while I am there. We will see what happens. The car doesn't really need any work other than repairing the wing stub properly--so it won't be a mad dash to prepare this time
Also, the regional points awarded for my 2nd-place finish at Thunderhill are enough to lock-in my 2017 AZ Regional Championship in ST2, with two events still left on the AZ calendar!
And, as good as things are, I have a few things in the works right now that are going to make the car an absolute track terror in 2018, with the intention of winning the NASA National ST2 Championship. The track hasn't been confirmed (and I won't goad the rumor mill), but it's very likely going to be at a place where there won't be a home-track advantage--meaning I can race other drivers straight up. I'll update everyone on my plans as they become cemented throughout the remainder of the year.
Until Next Time...
No Trans-Ams in this part of the story, but our Championship Sunday was thrown into disarray when a car went off in the practice session and lit the dry grass inside the track on-fire with its exhaust. Combined with the 25-40mph winds (!), this burned down probably 30% of the infield and sent massive smoke plumes into the sky. Activities were halted while track and local firefighters worked to put out the brush fire. We even got overflown by a water-dump plane, but he didn't end up making a quenching run.
More on that incident here: https://blackflag.jalopnik.com/championship-races-paused-to-save-thunderhill-raceway-f-1819329885
I had a set of sticker Hoosier A7s sitting in the trailer and had those mounted up, pressured, and kept in cool shade. The high winds meant we would be racing in a comfortable 80*F environment
I was also delighted to see that my fellow AZ racers made me a replacement endplate solution for the race
Championship Race Start
I led the race briefly (for a few turns) until the M3 on his home track made a move; and then I went down to third after brain-fart short-shifting to 5th on the back straight. Fortunately, I was able to get that back a few turns later by using slower traffic as a pick!The view didn't change much after those first few laps--I managed to bring the car home in second place in-class, my first podium at a National-Level event! At prior events I had finished 4th both times, so it felt good to get that podium!
I set my fastest laps of the weekend about 10 laps into the championship race, on A7s
Next Steps
My next race is coming up in a couple weeks at Arizona Motorsports Park. I have the opportunity to set some track records while I am there. We will see what happens. The car doesn't really need any work other than repairing the wing stub properly--so it won't be a mad dash to prepare this time
Also, the regional points awarded for my 2nd-place finish at Thunderhill are enough to lock-in my 2017 AZ Regional Championship in ST2, with two events still left on the AZ calendar!
And, as good as things are, I have a few things in the works right now that are going to make the car an absolute track terror in 2018, with the intention of winning the NASA National ST2 Championship. The track hasn't been confirmed (and I won't goad the rumor mill), but it's very likely going to be at a place where there won't be a home-track advantage--meaning I can race other drivers straight up. I'll update everyone on my plans as they become cemented throughout the remainder of the year.
Until Next Time...
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