NASA Road America - August 1st - 3rd

[cloud9]

Um...lap times...? Inquiring minds wanna know!

http://www.nasamidwest.com/results/?page=EventResults&regionID=35721&MLeventID=1057835

Sorry to disappoint but ran 0.12 seconds slower than my last trip out finishing 3rd in class and 6th of 47 overall. I was running about 55 lbs over last month to make sure I didn't DQ for TT3. I'm told 50 lbs is worth roughly 0.2 sec/mile and RA is a 4 mile track. I got impounded after our first session and weighed in at 42 lbs over my competition weight so would have DQ'd in TT3 if I pulled the pass seat and trunk liner Unfortunately I would have actually won TT2 if I would have run up a class! John was right in my back pocket and we beat 10 of the 13 TTU cars (mostly Vettes, a Viper, Lotus and a few P cars) and both TT2 cars. I was disappointed to finish 3rd but couldn't catch the two fastest Vettes......still not sure how they're TT3 cars : I did manage to beat one of the two Team #44 Z06 Vette drivers (2 drivers one car) and have some video of that I can upload tomorrow. It's safe to say there weren't any TTU, TT2 or TT3 cars with a license plate It was still a fun weekend!

 

[cosm3os]

2:50.22 on street tires and a strong survival instinct. But hey, now I can say I hit 140 in my Mustang.

 

[JScheier]

My first text from RA was "150 mph. Three times per lap. 10 laps per session. HOLY BALLS!".

That pretty much sums it up for me. Seriously intimidating standing on the wall on Thursday as the GT-Cup cars were screaming down the front straight. Sphincter-cleanch-inducing is the word that comes to mind.

Track is crazy fast over the 4+ miles. Not very technical, but several little areas to pick up time. I data-logged throttle position. Suffice to say, throttle percentage was 95%+ for 82.4% of a lap. That is crazy-nutz for track time and explains why fuel consumption was so high.

It was a really good weekend for me. Best lap was on Friday @ 2:33.89. Couldn't back it up Saturday and Sunday and basically lost a second each day. There was more time out there, but with some of the drivers not being as considerate in their situational awareness, it was easy to lose a flying lap. I think I made at least one TT3 vette driver poo his depends coming into turn 6 . Might have induced some additional poo for some other drivers as well.

The 18 hour tow out and 16+ hour tow back were pretty brutal. I drove straight through on the way home and got in at 3 am Monday morning. I will say I-80 is much easier to travel after the yahoos pull off for dinner and sleep.

Lots of fun though

Consumables:

1. one set of Pirellis (305-660-18) which were AWESOME
2. finally killed off last year's Cobalt XR1 front pads.... still on the second set of front rotors (as in original set when purchased + 1)
3. more 93 Octane gasoline than you can imagine (full tank of gas every two sessions)
4. 158 gallons of diesel
5. 3 squirrels (maybe 4... he might be hiding in the transmission scoop)
6. two brats at turn 14

Always fun to be on track with Gary (and to team up with his wife in giving him grief). Great meeting Kyle (thanks for not black-flaggin me bro!) and many more of Gary's fan-bois . The Mid West NASA club put on an amazing event that ran almost perfectly on-time (barring some carnage which was beyond their control) and provided great weather. If this event is on the schedule again next year, I'll be back!!!!

If anyone has links to photos (there were two photogs, right?) please post them as I have not seen any yet and would love to contribute to their retirement fund!

 

[JScheier]

....and just to back Gary up... there were several cars that should probably be checked for legality (other than minimum weight). A TT3 vette with full aero walked me down the straights (to the tune of multiples MPH) really walked / talked / smelled like a TT2 or TT1 car.

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

....and just to back Gary up... there were several cars that should probably be checked for legality (other than minimum weight). A TT3 vette with full aero walked me down the straights (to the tune of multiples MPH) really walked / talked / smelled like a TT2 or TT1 car.

Should have protested him if you thought he was really cheating.

 

[cloud9]

Should have protested him if you thought he was really cheating.

Looks like the game has gotten to be just boost up torque and detune for hp since that's what they measure. Probably not really any cheating involved in a strict sense. It's always a real challenge to try and get different cars on equal footing. The Vette's biggest advantage on a track like RA is its aero. When you're running three 2/3 mile straightaways per lap the aero benefit of a Vette versus shoving a brick through the air is pretty significant.

 

[JScheier]

Should have protested him if you thought he was really cheating.

yup... should have. I don't usually put too much thought into it until after the event. If I'm on someones bumper through a corner, and then they magically pull 5-6 cars on me after the exit... just makes you think. HP/Weight isn't that hard of an equation to figure out.

There was another car marked TTB that passed me on the front straight... now that right there is nuts.

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

Got any video to share?

 

[cloud9]

Got any video to share?

I had some cooking last night.....takes forever to upload/convert etc. Hopefully I can post it tonight.

 

[cosm3os]

To help the discussion, this is the Corvette at issue. Safe to say we are dealing with an extremely developed car in every sense (the owner is/was some kind of aero engineer) on a track where aero is everything. For comparison, on a 2.1 mile course without all the long straights and fast curves (I was running high 1:36s/low 37s), I was only 1.8 secs slower than him and I was overweight by over 200lbs.

 

[VoodooBoss]

Holy wing Batman!

 

[cloud9]

To help the discussion, this is the Corvette at issue. Safe to say we are dealing with an extremely developed car in every sense (the owner is/was some kind of aero engineer) on a track where aero is everything. For comparison, on a 2.1 mile course without all the long straights and fast curves (I was running high 1:36s/low 37s), I was only 1.8 secs slower than him and I was overweight by over 200lbs.

Cool, thanks for the pic Kyle. Both guys dropped by to talk to me on Sunday saying what a blast it had been battling it out on the track. Both really good guys and it was a lot of fun.

 

[cloud9]

Too funny I just got a text from a Corvette racing buddy that said there was a post on the Corvette forum today from a vendor congratulating a driver in a black C5 with number 44. Apparently set the NASA TT record for that class.

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

To help the discussion, this is the Corvette at issue. Safe to say we are dealing with an extremely developed car in every sense (the owner is/was some kind of aero engineer) on a track where aero is everything. For comparison, on a 2.1 mile course without all the long straights and fast curves (I was running high 1:36s/low 37s), I was only 1.8 secs slower than him and I was overweight by over 200lbs.

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e297/cosM3os/IMG_20140426_135525_747_zpswpzabphr.jpg[/ig][/URL]
[/quote]

That dude is getting a LOT out of that -0.4 aero penalty!

 

[cosm3os]

Can't forget pics of the good guys:

 

[JScheier]

either you are really good with photoshop... or that was really early in the weekend (Thurs?) and the car was still clean

<edit> the Z is in the background... so at minimum Friday afternoon <edit>

 

[cosm3os]

Crappy cellphone.

BTW, I loved how stable the car was at 140. Very confidence inspiring.

 

[cloud9]

Here comes the Boss(es)

 

[cloud9]

Here's some video chasing the Batmobile. If this is Talladega Nights I guess it was Cal Naughton Jr. driving.

http://youtu.be/RA23qgpR6hk

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

BOSS
BOSS
BOSS