Falcon

Hotter than hell, but fantastic nevertheless.

There were many of the usual suspects and some newish ‘Vette owners. There were many, many fast cars there, Porsche Cup cars, World Challenge Vipers and everything in between. Chin’s liberal passing rules makes it conducive to track teams to use these weekends as test ‘n tune days so they gather many really fast crowds. Kinda like Synergy Racing’s weekend in the fall.

Chin is on my list of must do events from now on. I'd recommend them to all of you.

I’m sure Jeffro will submit his usual splendid write up on the notable events of the weekend, so I'll just offer these few items.

Here’s some footage of me chasing a Porsche Cup car around for a lap or so. The sound of his car is marvelous:

Giddy Up!

And here’s a clip of me getting a little looooose:

Slippin’ & Slidin’

Here are some pictures from the balcony of the hospitality suites looking down the Start/Finish straight:





And here's a picture of the hospatality suites from the paddock:

AU N EGL

That P car had a little more on the straights, but on the corners you were able to catch back up.

jlucas

It was nice to meet Jody & Ted.

I'll have get some video digitized later tonight. Jody & I had fun chasing each other around for some of the sessions on Sunday.
The hospitality suites were a life saver with the heat.

Got to go to work.

Falcon

Tom, I don't know how much power the P-car was making, but I think his gearing had a lot to do with his acceleration. I had my foot in the radiator and still couldn't catch him until I got to some real high revs.

Jeremy, it was nice meeting you, too. Thanks for letting me follow you around a few laps. It was all I could do to hang on, but it was fun.
I'm amazed you drove all that distance home last night and you're going to work today.

trumper Z06

Nice SAVE, Jody !!!

gonzalezfj

Jody, looks like you guys had a ball. Now I am even sorrier I could not make it to this event. Stupid job!!!

Anyway, retirement is coming soon, so I will see you all at the Fall Fling.

Frank GOnzalez

gpm30236

thanx for sharing , that looked like lots of fun , have done an event with them at Barber, well run ,fun, look forward to doing more .

MOOELLA

Jody,

Great videos! I felt like I was right there in the car with you! What was your top speed on the loooonnnggg straightaway?? Looks pretty fast.....

Glad everyone had a safe trip!


Julie!

AU N EGL

Yup you could hear him go up and down the gears. He needed 6th on straights, and 5th up the esses.

Good Videos, but who was behind you going in so hot into T5 that made you wiggle?

AU N EGL

Julie that Long back straight is 4000 feet long. Most vettes 4th gear red line at 141-144 mph depending on tire profile. Seldom 5th gear but once in a while to low 150s.

It is a blast.

Falcon

A guy I know who runs a '87(?) P-car Turbo that has been built into a strick race car. He let me by on the start/finish straight and I wanted to make sure I could stay in front. That was the last session of the day and the tires were going away, the track was hoooooot, and I was about spent, and all of that created momentary brain fade. Luckily that was my last bobble during that session and that's when I went on to chase the P-car in the video. It was a nice fast train then; it was that P cup car, me, the guy in the '87 tubro, and another P cup car behind him. It was quite a sight when I looked in the mirror, but I had all I could handle in front of me. At some places on track I thought the '87 P car was a window decal in my back window. He's a great driver, so I was never concerned. It was a fantastic session.

The next day during a session, Jeremy (JLucas) let me by so he could get some video, and I was driving my butt off to try to stay in front. I had been behind him most of the session and knew he got off of Oak Tree a lot better than me, so I knew I had to muster all my assets at that turn.

So after downshifting for t.11 and heading for Oak Tree, I was going to left foot brake so I could keep the revs up and get off of the turn quicker. I do this pretty often at Oak Tree so it's not difficult......except this time. When I put my foot on the brake and puched, it went to the floor and nothing slowed down. I had pushed in the clutch and then had to right foot brake very quickly to prevent going off. I managed to keep 2 wheels on the hard black stuff, but 2 went off and it wasn't very pretty. I'm sure Jeremy got a kick out of that display of stellar Big Pine Key driving.

AU N EGL

Yup thats what makes if so dang much fun.

dmwhite

Jody, i think that white p-car was the GT3 RSR (used in ALMS) that was there, quite a bit faster than the "regular" gt3 cup cars...

there were several 911 race cars there from pro-teams and most seemed to be going quite a bit slower than you would expect...

it was great seeing everyone again...i'm still worn out from that clutch swap and all the driving....man it was hot....

Falcon

Hey David,

I wasn't quite sure what version most of those P cars were. I saw there were 3 or 4 cup cars registered for the event, so, just by the support vehicle/team they had, I assumed they were cup cars. Man, that thing had some giddy up and go up the straights.

I bet you were worn out. All day under a lift in a trailer with no a/c is enough to bring a grown man to his knees.

dmwhite

yeah, some of those teams had some serious gear...there were a few different kinds of 911 race cars there that i saw: "regular" 911's setup for grand am cup GS class, some gt3 cup cars, and that white 911 GT3 RSR (which should be the fastest of the bunch) that would/could run in ALMS...

man it was rough...not exactly my idea of a fun day at the track...fortunately we still got a lot of track time, got my car dialed in some more, and i actually learned a thing or two

Timz06

Great event! Lot's of track time! Ran through 3 tanks of gas. Chin had a 90 minute open session each day from 4-5:30. On Sunday after lunch, students were allowed to go up or down a group to double up their time. I had a good student, so it was a pleasure. Some really fast cars out there, some well driven, some not as well, but still fast in any case! Picked up a few tips about the track from Todd Serota from tracquest, always something new to learn.

Stayed at the new hospitality suites, they are really great as pictured above, really enjoyed them

rbl

There were a lot of nice folks there and some new faces. The weather was just so hot it was pretty rough and how David did that clutch (we were across from you) I can not even imagine. I had to do a quick alignment in early morning and thought I would die.

Debbie had a great time and got a little over 5 hours in the Vette.

Jody we have to make you run corded tires so you'll slow down a little! I bet the guy in the P was surprised to beat all. Hell, I'd be thrilled / scared to just have you tow me around the track.

dmwhite

without the motivation and help of others, it would not have happened...i mainly assisted as others with far more knowledge/skill did the majority of the work...

jlucas

A lap behind Jody:
http://fasttechlimited.com/videos.htm

I'll get my 2:10.5 lap up once I find it on the tape.

Also to come, an educational video of James Clay in White's car going up the climbing esses. While I didn't appreciate James dropping wheels over the curbs (stone crack in my window back at T6), James going up the esses was pretty impressive.

varkwso

Good to run with you again! By the way your Pit Babe puts the BPK ones back in the pen.

You need to stay in country a little more and concentrate on getting your track days back up again...