First race
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TECH Enthusiast
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Joined: Mar 2004
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From: New Orleans, LA
First race OK, I just completed my first competitive race. I've done plenty track days, and even "unofficial" r ces where times were kept via stopwatches. But, this was my first official race. In referring to turns, here's the track map. The class that I was in is for cars that run any lap time greater than 1:20.
PRACTICE
I spent more of my practice session behind a pair of factory-built Panoz Esperantes. Beautiful cars! I was a little faster than them, but I didn't want to push any issues, this being my first time. I was able to out-brake them, and stay with them on the straights and turns. I think my fastest practice lap was 1:24ish.
QUALIFYING
Started out behind a tube-frame, widebody, 80's Camaro. Fast little sucker, too. We ran around the track for a few laps together. I was still getting used to the course, and put 2 wheels off in Turn 1 on 2 consecutive laps. I finally got around the Camaro on the back straight, and had an open course to make a fast lap. So, I went for it. I dropped tires a few places, and probably over-drove the car. But, I ended up with a 1:23.098. The Camaro in front of me had qualified with a 1:23.102. The Silver Panoz was .7 seconds faster than me. Chris Wilkens (in a Corvette) had run a 1:19.7, and broke out of the GTO limit of 1:20.
FEATURE RACE
Because Chris had broken out, he was forced to the back of the field. Since he ran faster than 1:20, I thought (incorrectly) that he was running in the Super Production class. That left the Porsche 911 GT3 on pole, with the Silver Panoz outside him, on the right. I was behind the Porsche, with the Camaro on my right. I think that Chris Hebert was behind me, in 5th.
Coming up to take the green, we were all lined up. Technically, I had the inside line for the first turn, but since we start on the back of the track (before Turn 10), I was going to be on the outside in the second turn. This meant that I needed to get in front of the Camaro by the end of the first turn.
However, when the green flag dropped, the Porsche and I got a good jump on it. The Panoz was half-a-heartbeat late. Going into the first turn, I'm even with the Panoz, and I'm on the inside. Then, we make it through the turn, and I'm on the outside. I remembered that a lot of people had been taking that turn too fast, and having to go wide (meaning, I thought the track was relatively clean). So, I decided to stick with the outside line and see if I could keep up with the Panoz.
Sure enough, I kept on his door, and was on the inside for the next turn. He backed off, and I was in the lead! I tried to keep up with the Porsche, but that wasn't happening (he was about 4 seconds per lap quicker). However, I was in front of the Panoz by a comfortable margin (about 2 seconds or so). I found that I could take a conservative line/speed and just barely keep in front of the Panoz. Then, I could push it for 1/2 lap (the tires would get greasy, but my brakes never faded) and get back my 2 second lead. So, I played that game for a few laps.
Then, the Camaro passed the Panoz and was coming up on me. I started pushing it, but he didn't fall back. Then, after about 1-2 laps, I looked back in the middle of a turn and saw his back end start coming around. It happened in slow motion - he couldn't catch it, and spun out. Evidently, he'd pushed his car just a bit too hard and used up the tires by the time he caught me
Behind him was Chris in his Vette. Chris caught me pretty quickly. Remember he's already passed up the entire field except me and that GT3 (which was about a mile ahead of me). Chris rode behind me for about a lap. I could tell that he was quicker than me. Since I thought he was in the SP class, I pulled over and let him past in turn 12.
Now, I'm not making excuses. If I hadn't let him past, he probably would have passed me eventually. We still had 4 laps for him to work me over (which he's pretty good at, by reputation). Plus, I probably would have let him pass anyway so as not to force anything or make any stupid, rookie moves. After all, my 2 goals for the day were to not wreck and to not get lapped.
So, he's past me and I started following him. He was quick, but he didn't run away from me. He was quicker in turns, and I was quicker on striaghts. I'd be half a straight away on the front straight, and make it up before turn 4.
We rode that way for the last few laps, and finished the race with me 1.9 seconds behind him. I thought I had won, only find out that I was 2nd. But, hey, coming in 2nd on my first ever race isn't too shabby.
The car did beautifully. I still have some rear axle hop under braking. But, nothing broke, it was fast, it stayed consistent, and it delivered my butt a silver medal. So, I'll be looking forward to going back out in February and going for the gold!
FOLLOWUP TO THE RACE
When I went to prepare for my next race (Feb 2) by draining my trans fluid, I found that I had broken the torque arm mount on my transmission tailshaft. I remember a guy coming up to me after practice and telling me that he'd seen something come out from under my car at the end of the straight. Evidently, did both qualifying and the race with a broken TA mount. I'll miss this race, but I will be replacing it with a decoupled TA and back in commission for the March race.
PRACTICE
I spent more of my practice session behind a pair of factory-built Panoz Esperantes. Beautiful cars! I was a little faster than them, but I didn't want to push any issues, this being my first time. I was able to out-brake them, and stay with them on the straights and turns. I think my fastest practice lap was 1:24ish.
QUALIFYING
Started out behind a tube-frame, widebody, 80's Camaro. Fast little sucker, too. We ran around the track for a few laps together. I was still getting used to the course, and put 2 wheels off in Turn 1 on 2 consecutive laps. I finally got around the Camaro on the back straight, and had an open course to make a fast lap. So, I went for it. I dropped tires a few places, and probably over-drove the car. But, I ended up with a 1:23.098. The Camaro in front of me had qualified with a 1:23.102. The Silver Panoz was .7 seconds faster than me. Chris Wilkens (in a Corvette) had run a 1:19.7, and broke out of the GTO limit of 1:20.
FEATURE RACE
Because Chris had broken out, he was forced to the back of the field. Since he ran faster than 1:20, I thought (incorrectly) that he was running in the Super Production class. That left the Porsche 911 GT3 on pole, with the Silver Panoz outside him, on the right. I was behind the Porsche, with the Camaro on my right. I think that Chris Hebert was behind me, in 5th.
Coming up to take the green, we were all lined up. Technically, I had the inside line for the first turn, but since we start on the back of the track (before Turn 10), I was going to be on the outside in the second turn. This meant that I needed to get in front of the Camaro by the end of the first turn.
However, when the green flag dropped, the Porsche and I got a good jump on it. The Panoz was half-a-heartbeat late. Going into the first turn, I'm even with the Panoz, and I'm on the inside. Then, we make it through the turn, and I'm on the outside. I remembered that a lot of people had been taking that turn too fast, and having to go wide (meaning, I thought the track was relatively clean). So, I decided to stick with the outside line and see if I could keep up with the Panoz.
Sure enough, I kept on his door, and was on the inside for the next turn. He backed off, and I was in the lead! I tried to keep up with the Porsche, but that wasn't happening (he was about 4 seconds per lap quicker). However, I was in front of the Panoz by a comfortable margin (about 2 seconds or so). I found that I could take a conservative line/speed and just barely keep in front of the Panoz. Then, I could push it for 1/2 lap (the tires would get greasy, but my brakes never faded) and get back my 2 second lead. So, I played that game for a few laps.
Then, the Camaro passed the Panoz and was coming up on me. I started pushing it, but he didn't fall back. Then, after about 1-2 laps, I looked back in the middle of a turn and saw his back end start coming around. It happened in slow motion - he couldn't catch it, and spun out. Evidently, he'd pushed his car just a bit too hard and used up the tires by the time he caught me
Behind him was Chris in his Vette. Chris caught me pretty quickly. Remember he's already passed up the entire field except me and that GT3 (which was about a mile ahead of me). Chris rode behind me for about a lap. I could tell that he was quicker than me. Since I thought he was in the SP class, I pulled over and let him past in turn 12.
Now, I'm not making excuses. If I hadn't let him past, he probably would have passed me eventually. We still had 4 laps for him to work me over (which he's pretty good at, by reputation). Plus, I probably would have let him pass anyway so as not to force anything or make any stupid, rookie moves. After all, my 2 goals for the day were to not wreck and to not get lapped.
So, he's past me and I started following him. He was quick, but he didn't run away from me. He was quicker in turns, and I was quicker on striaghts. I'd be half a straight away on the front straight, and make it up before turn 4.
We rode that way for the last few laps, and finished the race with me 1.9 seconds behind him. I thought I had won, only find out that I was 2nd. But, hey, coming in 2nd on my first ever race isn't too shabby.
The car did beautifully. I still have some rear axle hop under braking. But, nothing broke, it was fast, it stayed consistent, and it delivered my butt a silver medal. So, I'll be looking forward to going back out in February and going for the gold!
FOLLOWUP TO THE RACE
When I went to prepare for my next race (Feb 2) by draining my trans fluid, I found that I had broken the torque arm mount on my transmission tailshaft. I remember a guy coming up to me after practice and telling me that he'd seen something come out from under my car at the end of the straight. Evidently, did both qualifying and the race with a broken TA mount. I'll miss this race, but I will be replacing it with a decoupled TA and back in commission for the March race.
Thread Starter
TECH Enthusiast
iTrader: (5)
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 556
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From: New Orleans, LA
Chris and all - there are disadvantages and advantages of building your own car for track duty. The disadvantages are that it's exceedingly expensive, time consuming, and your car will be in a state of incompleteness for a long time. The advantages are that you can spend that money over a long period of time and you can build exactly what you want.
Me? I'll never build a race car again. It's fun, but I could have easily bought my current car for about $15,000. It's cost me a lot more to build it. And, it's taken me 4 years (2 years while driving on the street and 2 years of race-only trim).
As for my setup, I'll go through the big stuff. Koni SA shocks up front, Afco steel-body shocks with a 7/4 valving in the back. 700lb coilovers up front, 300lb springs in the back. 35mm hollow swaybar up front, 21mm out back. Rod ended PHR and LCAs out back (built them myself from aluminum tubing and rod ends).
I also had a BMR non-adj torque arm, until I broke the mounts on the transmission tailshaft during practice (which means that I did qualifying and the race with the front mount rattling around and only 1 bolt with no nut holding it in). I've ordered a decoupled torque arm from Jason at Unbalanced Engineering. I can't explain how, but it will give me the acceleration of a tunnel-mounted arm, with better braking than a full-length arm (the website explains it).
For power, I've got an LS6 intake and Hooker LT headers, with them dumping under the doors. Pretty much full bolt-ons, making around 400hp and 420tq (370 and 390 at the wheels - or thereabouts).
Baer GT+ brakes with 14" rotors. Carbotech XP12 pads up front, stock out back (artificial brake bias). Not sure if the ABS is working, as I can lock them up every now and then.
I'm down to about 2900lbs, with a full cage and full tank of gas. 50.3% front / 49.7% rear weight balance. Crossweights are close, but probably need adjusting, as I've changed some weights around in the car.
Tires are 315/35-17 Hoosier R3S04s. But, I'll soon be switching to A3S06s, as I've finally found a good supplier. 17x11 ZR-1 replicas from AFS wheels.
Car is lowered and sits about 4" from the ground under the floorpan. The wing is an APR piece and gives me about 300lbs of downforce at 100mph.
To give you an idea of how stripped the car is to get to 2900lbs, here's a pic of the interior.
Hope this helps!
Me? I'll never build a race car again. It's fun, but I could have easily bought my current car for about $15,000. It's cost me a lot more to build it. And, it's taken me 4 years (2 years while driving on the street and 2 years of race-only trim).
As for my setup, I'll go through the big stuff. Koni SA shocks up front, Afco steel-body shocks with a 7/4 valving in the back. 700lb coilovers up front, 300lb springs in the back. 35mm hollow swaybar up front, 21mm out back. Rod ended PHR and LCAs out back (built them myself from aluminum tubing and rod ends).
I also had a BMR non-adj torque arm, until I broke the mounts on the transmission tailshaft during practice (which means that I did qualifying and the race with the front mount rattling around and only 1 bolt with no nut holding it in). I've ordered a decoupled torque arm from Jason at Unbalanced Engineering. I can't explain how, but it will give me the acceleration of a tunnel-mounted arm, with better braking than a full-length arm (the website explains it).
For power, I've got an LS6 intake and Hooker LT headers, with them dumping under the doors. Pretty much full bolt-ons, making around 400hp and 420tq (370 and 390 at the wheels - or thereabouts).
Baer GT+ brakes with 14" rotors. Carbotech XP12 pads up front, stock out back (artificial brake bias). Not sure if the ABS is working, as I can lock them up every now and then.
I'm down to about 2900lbs, with a full cage and full tank of gas. 50.3% front / 49.7% rear weight balance. Crossweights are close, but probably need adjusting, as I've changed some weights around in the car.
Tires are 315/35-17 Hoosier R3S04s. But, I'll soon be switching to A3S06s, as I've finally found a good supplier. 17x11 ZR-1 replicas from AFS wheels.
Car is lowered and sits about 4" from the ground under the floorpan. The wing is an APR piece and gives me about 300lbs of downforce at 100mph.
To give you an idea of how stripped the car is to get to 2900lbs, here's a pic of the interior.
Hope this helps!
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Very nice write up 00 Trans Ram! I just recently did my first track day at the streets of willow and experienced the same problem with the rear brakes locking up. Any idea why that happens? I just posted under the suspension thread: https://ls1tech.com/forums/suspension-brakes/871281-rear-brake-bias-problem.html
I might have missed it in the write up but what track were you racing at?
I might have missed it in the write up but what track were you racing at?
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Joined: Feb 2008
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From: F-DUB, FL
Wow. That looks like a shitload of fun! I entered in my first autoX race about 3 weeks ago in Dothan, AL (i don't remember what the track was called, I kept zoning out during the really boring drive) and did really good for my first time out. I took my BMW Z4 out since my 240SX isn't working yet and ran it through the course. There were prolly about 50 people there. I was participating in the A-Stock (i think is what it was called) and from my very first run to my very last run (which happened to be my fastest and best run) I shaved off 29 seconds (I put putted through the course on my first run. lol)
But with every run I made, I improved on time and performance. So my last run I did a
70.xxxxxx something run. I was really proud of myself, so hopefully my next autoX event will be even better since Im a little more confident in how much I can push my car and reading the cones. (I never spun out or hit any cones! Yay!)
But yeah. Sorry for the thread jack, I just wanted to share with you my experience. It's totally something I wanna continue doing. Lotta fun and seems to have great people involved.
But with every run I made, I improved on time and performance. So my last run I did a
70.xxxxxx something run. I was really proud of myself, so hopefully my next autoX event will be even better since Im a little more confident in how much I can push my car and reading the cones. (I never spun out or hit any cones! Yay!)
But yeah. Sorry for the thread jack, I just wanted to share with you my experience. It's totally something I wanna continue doing. Lotta fun and seems to have great people involved.