Double Header Season Ender at Road Atlanta
12-23-2011, 08:13 AM
#1
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
Double Header Season Ender at Road Atlanta
Overall 2011 was a pretty good year on track. I did miss a few events due to two weddings (hopefully Josh will consult the race/hunting/paddling schedule when he gets around to getting married in about 10 years) and that pesky annoyance of a day job. Did not get to make any "out of region events" in 2011 but did add the new Talladega Gran Prix Racetrack configuration and NCCAR to my "been there" list. Overall my track assistants have fallen down in their responsibility due to their significant commitments to their Uncle Sam. Due to this competing priority I have been forced to do work on the car, alone, and have even had to load and tie down the car this year. This all added up to a pretty light year so doubling up at Road Atlanta with Chin and NASA-SE to end the season seemed like a great idea.
Due to schedule uncertainty Chin in November was a last minute deal and Mark was able to get us in when some other instructors canceled out. The car was loaded and ready to go early (easier to keep ready when only one person is breaking it) and we had plenty of "scrub tires" and some "adequate brake pads" to burn down at the event. Josh, Jessie and I rolled in early Saturday morning for unloading, sign in, tech and the Chin invocation. Maria has it down to well oiled machine with everybody ready well before the track went hot. Josh had a student and I was tapped to give checkrides. Keep in mind at Chin events there are more GT3 Cup cars then at most Cup events not to mention more Ferrari Challenge and Viper Cup cars then you see on TV. Throw in the Corvettes, GT3 RSs, GTRs, the odd LFA, and Lambos and what you can be sitting in changes up rapidly. Chin at this event had three groups - limited point by on straights, point by anywhere and "must" point by anywhere. Strapping into a GT3 Cup car or 675 HP Corvette to give a checkride to the "must point" group inspires you to check the safety equipment and discuss the objectives of this checkride. Those cars driven well, when seen from the right seat, are exhilarating. Those cars driven poorly, when seen from the right seat, are exhilarating in a much different way. Luckily for the check instructors, the system at Chin minimizes the drivers wanting to show me their banzai moves.
After a lot of sorting, repairs (new diff, new torque tube input shaft, more catch cans, etc) and faith healing our warhorse 99 Fixed Roof Coupe seemed to be in good shape. Josh has had limited seat time in the car, especially this year to his Army time in Missouri and school commitments, so the intent was for him to run the car mostly and I would get maybe one session a day (about all you can get when a check instructor anyways). Road Atlanta is a wonderful track with nuances that can make tremendous differences in laptimes. Mostly what it needs is lots of WOT and Josh has that art mastered. I have to get in the "red mist zone" to suppress my "what if consequence" by unleashing my "competitive bone", something I get to use rarely since my wife keeps it in the freezer most of the year. But with the great track conditions, low traffic and lots of scrubs Josh burned down a tank of gas a day. The ability to test on lap after lap was invaluable.
We did notice a high speed out of balance condition all weekend between 7 and 10. We attributed it to out of balance scrubs but we did the normal Saturday night car check, hub check and bleed. Everything looked OK. Sunday I took the car out in the first Red session with Josh just to show him how much faster it seems in the right seat even with a "has been" behind the wheel. Vibration was still there but the car drove well. The next open session Josh went out alone since I was giving a checkride in Blue. After about 4 laps the Black Flag came out and I mentioned to my student I hope it was not my son since he was out this session. As we came down the hill at T9 I saw the back end of the white car buried 2/3s up the gravel trap in 10b. As we got closer I saw it looked like he drove it straight off into 10b with not apparent damage to car. To my credit, I immediately assumed mechanical (blown engine, tranny, etc) but saw no oil down. Josh was moving in the car as we went by so I knew he was OK. Josh did a masterful job as be noticed sudden severe vibration coming thru T9 and lifted. Coming into 10a he noticed no real braking results from pedal pumping other then increased heart rate and made the left turn. Unfortunately, or fortunately, that is when the left hub completely separated and his control on turning or stopping ceased. Josh once again displayed the judgment God gave him and his mother reinforced.
Back in the pits I hear an announcement to "put in tow hooks since the lack of one is slowing this recovery". This immediately concerned me since I saw both tow hooks on our car were intact when I went by. Seems the tow driver "does not use them since they pull out" so instead he used my subframe as the hook point to pull it out of the gravel and onto the tiltbed - this was after arguing with Josh to "just drive it it in". Josh had to exit the car and show him how the wheel/hub/brake were no longer attached by anything other then the brake caliper bracket. This is my second experience with tow drivers at Road Atlanta who must have been local extras in "Deliverance".
Mark brought us over a used hub and we were able to load the car up. This is the second time in 18 months we had this exact failure (last time was Jake at T1 Roebling). This one took out the caliper and bracket. So instead of leaving the car/trailer at Road Atlanta for the week I brought it home for repairs.
The repairs included removing 5 gallons of gravel from the car, putting in a new SKF bearing in the left front, new brakes, new two piece front rotors, and an overall nut and bolt check. 92 hours later I loaded the car up and headed back to Road Atlanta for the NASA weekend. It was a sold out show but with both paddocks open it was not too bad to get parked and unloaded. Friday night was spent stripping unattended C5s, drinking beer, eating pizza and checking out Marks car on his lift in his super clean shop.
Lucky for me most people actually read the information sent out, most even did the required paperwork, most even listened in the meetings and some even applied it all on track. A few of "out of towners" did try to move concrete at a few corners, a few of the "locals" cut some grass and mechanical failures did occur but overall it was a pretty clean weekend for TT with many new records set. What is it with Nissan 350Zs not being able to keep their hoods on? Two years in a row we have had one pop its hood on track (T1 in 2010 and T12 in 2011) and it is a PT crossover and the same guy I think. I may use Falcons drill in the grid next year with some sheetmetal screws!
Back to back weekends, even at the same track can make logistics annoying but it is worth it to run with great organizations and a lot of good friends. Seven weeks to get ready for CMP!
Due to schedule uncertainty Chin in November was a last minute deal and Mark was able to get us in when some other instructors canceled out. The car was loaded and ready to go early (easier to keep ready when only one person is breaking it) and we had plenty of "scrub tires" and some "adequate brake pads" to burn down at the event. Josh, Jessie and I rolled in early Saturday morning for unloading, sign in, tech and the Chin invocation. Maria has it down to well oiled machine with everybody ready well before the track went hot. Josh had a student and I was tapped to give checkrides. Keep in mind at Chin events there are more GT3 Cup cars then at most Cup events not to mention more Ferrari Challenge and Viper Cup cars then you see on TV. Throw in the Corvettes, GT3 RSs, GTRs, the odd LFA, and Lambos and what you can be sitting in changes up rapidly. Chin at this event had three groups - limited point by on straights, point by anywhere and "must" point by anywhere. Strapping into a GT3 Cup car or 675 HP Corvette to give a checkride to the "must point" group inspires you to check the safety equipment and discuss the objectives of this checkride. Those cars driven well, when seen from the right seat, are exhilarating. Those cars driven poorly, when seen from the right seat, are exhilarating in a much different way. Luckily for the check instructors, the system at Chin minimizes the drivers wanting to show me their banzai moves.
After a lot of sorting, repairs (new diff, new torque tube input shaft, more catch cans, etc) and faith healing our warhorse 99 Fixed Roof Coupe seemed to be in good shape. Josh has had limited seat time in the car, especially this year to his Army time in Missouri and school commitments, so the intent was for him to run the car mostly and I would get maybe one session a day (about all you can get when a check instructor anyways). Road Atlanta is a wonderful track with nuances that can make tremendous differences in laptimes. Mostly what it needs is lots of WOT and Josh has that art mastered. I have to get in the "red mist zone" to suppress my "what if consequence" by unleashing my "competitive bone", something I get to use rarely since my wife keeps it in the freezer most of the year. But with the great track conditions, low traffic and lots of scrubs Josh burned down a tank of gas a day. The ability to test on lap after lap was invaluable.
We did notice a high speed out of balance condition all weekend between 7 and 10. We attributed it to out of balance scrubs but we did the normal Saturday night car check, hub check and bleed. Everything looked OK. Sunday I took the car out in the first Red session with Josh just to show him how much faster it seems in the right seat even with a "has been" behind the wheel. Vibration was still there but the car drove well. The next open session Josh went out alone since I was giving a checkride in Blue. After about 4 laps the Black Flag came out and I mentioned to my student I hope it was not my son since he was out this session. As we came down the hill at T9 I saw the back end of the white car buried 2/3s up the gravel trap in 10b. As we got closer I saw it looked like he drove it straight off into 10b with not apparent damage to car. To my credit, I immediately assumed mechanical (blown engine, tranny, etc) but saw no oil down. Josh was moving in the car as we went by so I knew he was OK. Josh did a masterful job as be noticed sudden severe vibration coming thru T9 and lifted. Coming into 10a he noticed no real braking results from pedal pumping other then increased heart rate and made the left turn. Unfortunately, or fortunately, that is when the left hub completely separated and his control on turning or stopping ceased. Josh once again displayed the judgment God gave him and his mother reinforced.
Back in the pits I hear an announcement to "put in tow hooks since the lack of one is slowing this recovery". This immediately concerned me since I saw both tow hooks on our car were intact when I went by. Seems the tow driver "does not use them since they pull out" so instead he used my subframe as the hook point to pull it out of the gravel and onto the tiltbed - this was after arguing with Josh to "just drive it it in". Josh had to exit the car and show him how the wheel/hub/brake were no longer attached by anything other then the brake caliper bracket. This is my second experience with tow drivers at Road Atlanta who must have been local extras in "Deliverance".
Mark brought us over a used hub and we were able to load the car up. This is the second time in 18 months we had this exact failure (last time was Jake at T1 Roebling). This one took out the caliper and bracket. So instead of leaving the car/trailer at Road Atlanta for the week I brought it home for repairs.
The repairs included removing 5 gallons of gravel from the car, putting in a new SKF bearing in the left front, new brakes, new two piece front rotors, and an overall nut and bolt check. 92 hours later I loaded the car up and headed back to Road Atlanta for the NASA weekend. It was a sold out show but with both paddocks open it was not too bad to get parked and unloaded. Friday night was spent stripping unattended C5s, drinking beer, eating pizza and checking out Marks car on his lift in his super clean shop.
Lucky for me most people actually read the information sent out, most even did the required paperwork, most even listened in the meetings and some even applied it all on track. A few of "out of towners" did try to move concrete at a few corners, a few of the "locals" cut some grass and mechanical failures did occur but overall it was a pretty clean weekend for TT with many new records set. What is it with Nissan 350Zs not being able to keep their hoods on? Two years in a row we have had one pop its hood on track (T1 in 2010 and T12 in 2011) and it is a PT crossover and the same guy I think. I may use Falcons drill in the grid next year with some sheetmetal screws!
Back to back weekends, even at the same track can make logistics annoying but it is worth it to run with great organizations and a lot of good friends. Seven weeks to get ready for CMP!
12-23-2011, 08:52 AM
#2
Racer
12-23-2011, 09:12 AM
#4
Le Mans Master
Hey, they get in FREE!
Jim
Jim
12-23-2011, 12:05 PM
#7
What is it with Nissan 350Zs not being able to keep their hoods on? Two years in a row we have had one pop its hood on track (T1 in 2010 and T12 in 2011) and it is a PT crossover and the same guy I think. I may use Falcons drill in the grid next year with some sheetmetal screws!
12-23-2011, 12:49 PM
#8
Le Mans Master
It was a fun year. I went into 2011 with no expectations other than to obtain my comp license and do some w2w racing for a change. TT events were thrown in the mix when money was tight or when I had an opportunity to win some tires. Other than the typical mechanical things, I didn't change one single thing on the car this year and it showed giving the term fat and lazy a new meaning. 
I want to thank the whole crew (you all know who you are - including spouses) for the coopetition, the meals, the baby sitting, the room and board, and some business squeazed somewhere in between.
Now I just have to figure out what are in the cards for '12.
Must go now. There's a crate LS6 calling my name from the shop.
I want to thank the whole crew (you all know who you are - including spouses) for the coopetition, the meals, the baby sitting, the room and board, and some business squeazed somewhere in between.
Now I just have to figure out what are in the cards for '12.
Must go now. There's a crate LS6 calling my name from the shop.
12-23-2011, 02:11 PM
#10
Racer
It was a good year, all the cars (or most of them) are in 1 pc still. I did a really dumb thing taking a known set up with lots of tweaking and notes and tossing it in the trash and running a 1 weekend only tested set up at nats, at a new track, and paying the price. But it was a fun week up there and that's all that matters.
I will dabble in TT/PT next year as time/$$ allows, I think I got another year of tweaks before the car can't go any faster in TT/PT. I hope my financial situation catches up with my hankering for tinkering by '13 so that I can play in TTS/ST2.
Or I'll get serious about selling the car and start building a kart for Ashlyn, it HAS to be cheaper
I will dabble in TT/PT next year as time/$$ allows, I think I got another year of tweaks before the car can't go any faster in TT/PT. I hope my financial situation catches up with my hankering for tinkering by '13 so that I can play in TTS/ST2.
Or I'll get serious about selling the car and start building a kart for Ashlyn, it HAS to be cheaper
12-23-2011, 03:33 PM
#11
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
12-24-2011, 07:29 AM
#12
Le Mans Master
Thread Starter
