Live thread | 2022 Tire Rack One Lap of America Presented by Grassroots Motorsports Magazine

The rain highlighted a key problem for teams to solve: Stuff.

Support vehicles aren't allowed and cars should be empty while on track, which means there's a ton of packing/unpacking unless you tow a trailer.

What happens when it rains? Yeah, exactly. Some teams have tents, some use tarps, and some just go with the flow. 

We're firmly in the latter category. I use water-resistant bags by default since I travel so much, and Andy picked up some oversized zip-locks in case we have a heavy sustained downpour. 

And it's Autocross time! Live timing is here:

http://indyscca.org/SoloFiles/SoloResults/live/

Second runs are just starting, and sadly Andy coned his away. Currently 3rd in class. 

Darn--the next two runs were coned, meaning we had to settle for Andy's original time and roughly 6th overall in the autocross (cars are still running).

After Andy dialed out the tow out, we're back in the car and headed south. Next stop is Lebanon, Tennessee!

Mmmmmm, premium! 

There is a Mazda2 sitting in #17 over all right now and that makes me think of old school Andy Hollis. So happy. 

So, uh, there's a lot of driving in this event. One hour to go until we get to our stop for the night. 

In reply to Tom Suddard :

There's like 60 hours of just hyw driving in the week. The road driving is a full time job in itself and then add in some track time in the mornings. 

In reply to Tom Suddard :

It is ALWAYS windy at Grissom, and that building doesn't actually exist. I don't even see anything in your pics, are you sure you are feeling well?

gumby said:

In reply to Tom Suddard :

It is ALWAYS windy at Grissom, and that building doesn't actually exist. I don't even see anything in your pics, are you sure you are feeling well?

I was surprised he was allowed that close. Indy scca has a test and tune event there tomorrow that they're supposedly reusing today's course for. It'll be interesting to see how our times compare.

And that's a wrap on day one. 

Here's the exceedingly glamorous view from our hotel room:

Next step? Sleep, then wake up early so we can be first to the next track. What about dinner? Dinner was Culver's at 4pm, naturally. Andy has told me that there is one sit-down meal allowed during the week, and it must be at Cracker Barrel. Any other stops are just wasted time that could be spent driving, sleeping, or racing. 

Tom Suddard said:

We've got about two hours until the course opens. There's some seriously cool (and probably radioactive) ruins next to grid:

 

Actually the radioactive stuff is still part of the air reserve base from the broken arrow incident involving I believe a b58.  
 

anyway.... coming in the back half we didn't have to deal with the rain except in transit. 

Good morning from One Lap!

And we're here at Nashville Super Speedway

Adding oil requires tools, but we're now topped off and ready for the track. 

Dirty McLarens are cool. 

In reply to Tom Suddard :

This is fun coverage, good luck buddies!

One Lap doesn't have test sessions or anything--it's one recon lap then the stopwatch starts--so we're walking the track now. 

Either Andy was just raptured, or he's out on track. 

Recon lap time!

While the first run group does their recon lap, the next is lining up. 

Tagging each other's cars with funny stickers is allowed/encouraged. Here're a few of my favorites so far:

And I think this one was actually applied by the owner:

And now we watch while the first run group does their flyers. Three laps. Every one counts. 

Tom Suddard said:Things were going great until the last tire, which the tech returned unmounted with bad news: The bead was torn and couldn't be installed.

That is nothin'.  Slap it on and ship it, it'll be completely fine.

Tire Rack guy would freak if he saw my Hoosiers.  The rubber is completely gone from the bead belting in spots.

No times yet, but grip was non-existent and Andy had a minor excursion in the grass. Now we wait until this afternoon for the second (and last) three-lap session.