Awesome Run on Dry Skid Pad

Joe Vasta and I in our Pa. Breast Cancer shirts.

We got back to South Bend to the Tire Rack test track and skid pad facility on Saturday May 7th where our competition for the week started. I usually do fairly well on the skid pad so I had high hopes of gaining a couple positions on the dry skid pad, our final competition. When I finished my run I was first in class and first overall. That leads to a big smile. With the fastest 30 cars yet to run I had no illusions that I could hold onto the first overall for long, but I did end up fourteenth and first in class by .003 of a "G" scoring a 1.017 to the second in class who had a 1.014  When it was all over we had gained 4 positions overall for the week and ended up in 27th place, not a bad finish for the week.

Our last road course event was the Autobahn Country Club Raceway neat Joliet, Il. They have a South course which we ran in the morning and a North course which is a little longer that we ran in the afternoon. I was pretty pleased with the runs considering I was still running on seven cylinders.  I finished both right at mid pack, which was great.

"Garage Mahals", sorry the poor quality, overcast day & great distance

One neat feature of this beautiful track are the "Garage Mahals" that line the track. There are 18 of these around the North course and 11 around the South Course. Many of these looked like the housed multiple tenants., some as many a 3 or 4. A typical arrangement is high ceilings with the cars kept on the ground and then build a loft with some living space towards the rear. Usually the living space includes a wet bar or maybe even a full kitchen, sofa and chairs, big screen TV's etc, etc. This is a neat deal if you can afford it;^)

Just a reminder, we are home and I'm still catching up on my posts and even though it sounds like I'm still at the tracks I'm giving you a summary of what we did at those tracks. With rushing off to the next event which was at Great Lakes Dragway we didn't have much time to work on the diagnosis of the miss so we decided to just continue on. Funny thing was even with seven cylinders, we were able to advance to the fourth

round in the bracket drags and finished fourth overall and first in class.We finished 28th in the pure ET run, not quite as good but real respectable for my car considering the competition and my limping car. After the drags it's back through Chicago to Joliet, Illinois and Autobahn Country Club Raceway.

Road America awesome track

We are home now but still trying to catch up on my blog. On Thursday we were at Road America, at over 4 miles it is one of the longest and fastest road course tracks in the country With the long straight-a-ways and big braking zones it is also really tough on the brakes. Had reasonable finishes on both road course runs and on the Autocross, but when we left Road America we had an engine miss in one cylinder. which feels very much like a bent valve, probably from over aggressive down shifts while trying to save the brakes from going away. Oh well, we will continue on with seven cylinders and do the best we can. Our next stop is about 100 miles down the road at Great Lakes Dragway. BTW we are still collecting money for our charity, the Pa. Breast Cancer Coalition and with a few more dollars we will have out best fundraising year ever. To donate and get your sticker on the roof of the car, go online to pbcc.me then click on donate. When asked for what event be sure to fill in One Lap of America. Thank you.

Summit Point to National Corvette Museum track

I apologize to all of you who were trying to follow along on this blog. The fat fingers and small keyboards make it difficult to compose much in the right seat of a car with a stiff suspension and on rough and bouncy roads. I did try to post a couple times and after I hit post they disappeared. One showed up a few days later so maybe the others will eventually show up. Anyhow, we had a couple of good runs at Summit Point then headed off to the new NCM (Corvette Museum course) in Bowling Green, Kentucky. On my first run I had a big spin. No damage and I'm OK, but it hurt my time and made me a little conservative for my next run. After NCM we headed off to Road America in Elkart Lake, Wisconsin only 553 miles away. Road America is the fastest road course in the country and really uses up the brakes with its long fast straight-a-ways. 

Catching up after lack of sleep

The rain kept chasing us this week and we had damp but drying conditions at ncm (Corvette Museum racetrack) in Bowling Green, Kentucky. I did not have a good result with a big spin in the morning event and a 37 place, then I guess I got a little more conserative with my driving and only got a 39 place finish in the afternoon.  After all that we started a 553 mile run to Elkart Lake, Wisconsin but not leaving till about 2 pm, another very late night.

We really had a full day at Road America, one of the fastest and longest road courses in the country. We had two high speed track events, an Autocross, then off to Great Lakes Dragway about 100 miles to the south. As we were leaving Road America, we suspected we have a bent valve in the engine, however we decided to go and compete in the drags anyhow, good choice, I finished 28th overall in the fastest ET run and 4th place in the Bracket Drags. I have now climbed back to 28th place overall and 4th place in class and we are within striking distance of a few more positions, but with a wounded engine, who knows?

The Sun Came Out at Summit Point

I was looking forward to getting to Summit Point but then the weather report changed to rain. Fortunately the weatherman is not always right. The track was drying but had some wet/damp areas that challenged the grip for the first event in the morning, but I was pretty pleased to finish 25th. Our afternoon was full dry and I had my best finish of the week with a 20th place. In three days I have moved up from 47th place in the overall standings to 27th place, and tied for 3rd in my class. The next big challenge of the day was the 653 miles over to Bowling Green, Kentucky for our next event at the National Corvette Museum's new race track.

Whiskey Hill at Palmer Mass.

Spent Monday at the new track near Palmer Mass on the Whiskey Hill course. It is an amazing track, unfortunately it was a bit wet but drying in the morning, then full wet for the second event in the afternoon. It looks like it could be a lot more fun when fully dry. It is on the top of a mountain and has 190 feet of elevation change. It looks like someone took a quarry and made a race track out of it. The track just keeps going up and up then finally starts its run back down and those rock and concrete wall are pretty close. Check out the pictures, but they don't do justice to the awesome elevation change. I had a very respectable 26th place in the drying conditions and 41st in the rain. Well better luck tomorrow in Summit Point, West Virginia after a 553 mile drive.

rive;^)

Sunday at Pitt Race

 

Sorry I'm a little behind on my postings but the transits kind of tire you out.

Pitt Race was the start of our road courses for the week. We got off to a slow start with a wet course for the first run. Last year they extended the course with an additional section called the South Course. We ran the combined North and South Full Course. I was kind of mid pack with a 39th place in the morning and 32nd in the afternoon runs. Tonight we will arrive in Palmer Mass. after a 500 mile plus drive. Hoping to do a little better as the week wears on.

Looks like a rainy week!

Here the car sitting in the rain in the parking lot at Tire Rack in South Bend, Indiana.  Hope it looks this good at the end of the week.  All the stickers on and Tech completed. We ran the wet skid pad Saturday and my result was not as good as I wanted, but it is only the first event of 19 for the week so we will keep trying.  Off to Cleveland then Pittsburgh before we sleep Saturday night, only 527 miles, then we run Pitt Race on Sunday.  This years group looks extremely competitive.