In reply to fast_eddie_72:
The most important thing is that you are building what you want and that winning (at least on a "national" level) is secondary.
The second most important thing is (and I'm paraphrasing Andy Hollis, here) is that in SP reality is that if you can't buy it, fabricate it. For cars with little to no aftermarket or factory support (like your Celica) there is no other choice.
Javelin wrote: I want to go to Nationals one day even as a spectator. The pinnacle race of any motorsport is a great place to learn things. These guys take the "rule maximization" to a whole new level. Then again, it would be epic to road trip the Javelin there and be the "fastest AMC"Easy to do when you're the only one!
There is at least one person in CP possibly building an AMC, so you may not get that title easily. But bring it for the fun of it. Heck enter it in CP, everyone would love to have it in our class, plus it would fit in nicely.
ProDarwin wrote: Holy lead in ESP.
Madarash is a helluva driver, and being that he has had the car for upteen years developing it, it shows.
Saying that. I was in ESP and finished 8th. Sat in 3rd on Day one, had a blown shock for all my runs, both days, and that sucks......
Per Schroeder wrote: Read those--some was helpful, other stuff not so practical for us. Specifically, dive planes don't last long if you happen to hit a cone at 70mph.
But if you've hit a cone, chances are that run is toast anyway. A few spare planes, a drill and some rivets ready and you could swap one in a couple of mins on the hot grid.
Final results here: http://www.scca.com/popup/raceresult.aspx?event=17058&file=1354
Pax results are here: http://www.sccaforums.com/forums/forumid/9/threadid/412889/scope/posts
Tom Heath wrote: Who else is out there running? Who's got a great story? (Looking at you, Dave Hardy! Good luck out there.)
OK, so finally getting to this...
Leading up to the event, my car had been performing increasingly well and fairly reliable, but I have not been paying it much attention with all of the work on the EP car for Marko. The winter changes to my car included the addition of power steering, upping the spring rate, lowering the car, installing sphericals throughout the front end, and replacing all hubs, wheel bearings, ball joints, tie rods, etc. It was flawless at Dixie. At the Atlanta tour, the power steering rack developed a leak. Somewhere along the way, the turbo also developed a small water leak. As we were approaching the SEDIV event in late July, I fixed both of those with little drama, but an oil change just before packing up told me that it was time for rod bearings - I'm not sure if it's cool or annoying that the car is now making enough power that rod bearings are a consumable, but top fuel cars do it, so it can't be all bad. Anyway, I missed the SEDIV as I put new bearings in it. So, going into Nationals, the car was healthy, but had not been driven since the Atlanta tour.
The practice course in Lincoln confirmed that the car was still good, still very fast compared to the competition, and got the co-drivers better acclimated with it - Jim had never driven the car, and Laura had not since the addition of PS.
Over beers on Sunday night, we were talking about how the car was performing very well except for the pogo-stick effect on big bumps. I'm now running springs that have a four-digit rate, and the Koni Sport shocks, even with race valving, just can't handle them. One of my buddies who runs in ST, Tim Smith, volunteered the use of his Motons. It would be a logistical challenge (we ran on the same days, him in the 2nd heat, us in the 4th), but we decided to swap them to see if it made a difference on the practice course on Monday. Oh boy did it. The car was completely composed. Jim was faster on the practice course, and dropped an additional .2 seconds. I dropped .8. While it meant swapping the shocks 6 times over the course of the next 2 days, we decided it was worth it. Note - we weren't just swapping the whole assembly - we were tearing them apart, adjusting perch height, putting my springs on Tim's shocks, reassembling, installing, running, and then swapping the whole setup back. It was not a small amount of work, but we got really good at it after a few times...
Tuesday comes, and it's game day. Laura is running in 2nd heat (on the original suspension since Tim was also 2nd heat). Tuesday morning was rainy. Very rainy. Kind of a miserable start to the event. First heat did not give any real clear indication on whether wet or dry tires were the "right" choice. Conditions were drying, but the combination of 275 wide Hoosiers and a 2000# car mean that ANY puddles become ice. Heyward Wagner came up with a proposed tire arrangement - we put the 225's that normally run on the rear on the front - that way the car is less prone to hydroplaning, and we are putting heat into the tires that we are pretty sure we will finish on. We then ran the rain tires on the back. Unfortunately, Laura DNF'd this run. But she said that the course was drying a lot, she didn't see any concerning puddles, and that she thought it was time for a full dry setup. So we swap the 225's to the rear and put the 275's up front for her second run. It looked good, and she drove very well - a little too well, as the car turned in better than she expected and she DNF'd again - this time going inside a gate that she should have gone outside of. At this point, she was happy with the car, but had dug a hole of two DNF's. She HAD to get a run on the books to have any chance to live to day two. And she did. She put down a very conservative 72.6 that was good enough to put her in the 2nd trophy position going into day 2. As soon as she pulled back into grid, the shock swap started.
Jim and I finished the shock swap in time to eat a bite before 4th heat started, and were feeling pretty good. I took the early lead with a 69.5, but both Karwan and Kotzian put down faster 1st run times (66.8 and 67.7). Both drivers beat me pretty soundly last year (6 and 4.5 seconds respectively). But it was clean, in the trophies, and I had made some pretty significant and easily fixable mistakes. Jim ran and put down a very dirty (5 cones) but very fast 65.8. It was nice to see that the car had the speed. As second and third runs proceeded, both Jim and I picked up time, as did most of the competition. Karwan sat on his first run, though that was enough, as he held the lead going into day 2, with me in 2nd, Jim in 3rd, Kotzian in 4th (.001 second behind Jim), Mike Snyder in 5th, and John Koster in 6th.
Then shock swap.
Day 2 had Laura in much better shape - She was clean all day, got faster all day, and solidified her trophy.
Then shock swap.
Day 2 for Jim and I was rowdy. Going into day 2, I was about .35 behind Karwan, and about the same ahead of Jim. Kotzian was right on Jim's heels. I put down a 65.2 which gave me the lead for about 2 minutes until Karwan came in with a 65.0. Jim had a dirty 65.7, Kotzian a clean 65.5, so after first runs, they swapped positions, Jim dropping to 4th. Second runs - 64.6 for me, 63.6 for Jim, 63.9 for Karwan, no improvement for Kotzian. So after second runs, Karwan held onto a lead, but Jim in second had the faster day 2 time. I was in 3rd, Kotzian in 4th. 3rd runs, and everyone drops time. Karwan is down to a 63.4, I drop into the 63's, with a 63.8 to retake 2nd, Jim gets a slight improvement - 63.5, to land in 3rd, and Kotzian drops time to hit 64.8. At the back of the trophies, Koster had a better day 2 and was able to climb one position, pushing Snyder (in his STS car + hoosiers) into 6th.
All in all - what an awesome event. My best Nationals by far, and had we kept the cones away, the car showed the speed to have won. I was .35 seconds a day away from the win. While I of course wish I had taken the win, there is no shame in sharing the podium with Karwan and Reyenga. Still wrapping my head around that one, as I typically think of myself as a builder, not a driver. Seeing that I'm within striking distance of the win kinda blows my mind. Hearing that Karwan regularly out paxes Strano at locals didn't hurt either. :)
Once again, being at Nationals proved to be an awesome collection of old friends and new ones, good times, bad beer, and another set of stories.
The car is still for sale, though not for long. If the next few weeks doesn't see it gone, I might just go all in, buy a new tub, cage it, and get crazy. I will admit that there is a tinge of "unfinished business". :) Props to all involved. See you next year.
I went. I finished 36th in sts (7 seconds behind my co driver) and I can't wait to go back next year. I'm disappointed with how I drove, but you don't really take a whole week off work for just six runs. It's an awesome road trip with other racers in a fun town with awesome cars to see and racers to meet. I learned to bunny hop my bmx over a case of beer. How's that for an accomplishment?
mw wrote: I went. I finished 36th in sts (7 seconds behind my co driver) and I can't wait to go back next year. I'm disappointed with how I drove, but you don't really take a whole week off work for just six runs. It's an awesome road trip with other racers in a fun town with awesome cars to see and racers to meet. I learned to bunny hop my bmx over a case of beer. How's that for an accomplishment?
I bunnyhopped over fire, but I already knew how to do that, so you win.
Excellent story Dave, and congrats on the runner-up finish!
DILYSI Dave wrote:mw wrote: I went. I finished 36th in sts (7 seconds behind my co driver) and I can't wait to go back next year. I'm disappointed with how I drove, but you don't really take a whole week off work for just six runs. It's an awesome road trip with other racers in a fun town with awesome cars to see and racers to meet. I learned to bunny hop my bmx over a case of beer. How's that for an accomplishment?I bunnyhopped over fire, but I already knew how to do that, so you win.
I saw you riding around the pits. You looked badass on that cooler.
DILYSI Dave wrote:mw wrote: I went. I finished 36th in sts (7 seconds behind my co driver) and I can't wait to go back next year. I'm disappointed with how I drove, but you don't really take a whole week off work for just six runs. It's an awesome road trip with other racers in a fun town with awesome cars to see and racers to meet. I learned to bunny hop my bmx over a case of beer. How's that for an accomplishment?I bunnyhopped over fire, but I already knew how to do that, so you win.
We got shut down for bunny hopping over MW . . . and you are jumping fire?
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