davidfarmer

http://youtube.com/watch?v=IApJFjMQzs0

Great couple of days at Lowes....2 cars lost tires in the Oval, one hitting the wall pretty hard

Anyway, the Z06 has a bad miss that developed at VIR on Tuesday, so I have no WOT, just have to cruise and short shift up through the gears (still fast than all but the race cars at the event).

Here's a little video, bad white-balance, but worth checking out if you've never seen Lowes. They were super-strict with their passing, so many of us got blackflagged throughout the weekend, causing a strange splice in this video.

anyway, check it out if you'd like. Will update on the engine situation once I get it into the shop.

turbo50mike

Cool. They are tough on passing, but not the short sleeves?

davidfarmer

I don't make the rules, I just break them....

yes they allowed short sleeves. Not only could we only pass on the 2 main straights, they wouldn't allow passing until you were on the back straight (all groups used to allow early signals coming around the oval, AND on the front tri-oval).

varkwso

They had a lot of incidents on Saturday. One incident with a Turbo blowing a tire in turn 4 (suspected overinflation) but it missed the wall; one car on car incident in the infield with two guys racing and playing it too close; one spin with wall contact in turn 12 (968); and five spins in turn 5 coming off the oval. Fortunately no injuries, but too much damage.

I like the short sleeves it was nice. Saturday was much better then the short while I was there on Friday to drop and tech.

billy25us

I would like to thank David for his instruction on Friday. Being my first time on an oval, I was a bit nervous but having an instructer with Dave's qualifications definitely gave me a boost of confidence. I do believe we were the fastest car in the blue group (I know that is not saying much) but it was nice passing a couple of new Turbos. It was worth the entry fee just for the one session David drove as it was more than a humbling experience.

waddisme

For my first time on a roval, I had a blast. The changing of a belt and tensioner at 6:00 am was not fun, but I was still able to get there in time for my first session. The oval part is still fun, even with no boost to speak of. I could still hit 145, but it should have been faster. Big thanks to Varkwso for the instruction and the ride. Every time I ride with the advanced drivers, I realize how I baby my car. FYI, I made it thru the last session without incident. I passed 4 Porches and got passed by 3. I look forward to going back in August. Hope to see you guys there.

sperkins

I guess I'm the odd man out. I was a little disappointed in the weekend. I guess I had different expectations of the track more than anything. There just wasn't enough turning involved for me. I'd much rather run a true road course. That being said, I did enjoy meeting a few guys and hanging out with my father all weekend. See you guys at CMP next weekend!

One other thing. I was pretty bummed they didn't do a parade lap session during lunch or after the event as I really wanted to take Dad around the track.

davidfarmer

Lowes is much shorter than I remember, although I do like the flow of it.

It was odd to me that they not only didn't allow parade laps, but instructors could only take participants (not guests) out for rides.

Also, the with strict passing rules, you barely got a chance to see what kind of speed you could reach on the back stretch, as if you were like me you were riding someone's tail halfway around the oval before they would allow passing.

waddisme

Actually, I liked it. I wasn't expecting that much out of the road course part, but the oval was a lot more fun than I thought. I have been on Brisol, which might be steeper, but 3 and 4 are so much longer. After following a Porsche for 3 laps in Session 2, that wouldn't give me the signal, it can be a little frustrating, because you do waste track time. However, a well placed word from Varkwso and I got the signal rather quickly in Session 3. It is nice to know the right people.

ghoffman

Looks good, but when I click on your video, alot of "Girls gone wild" vids are on the side, Thanks! Lowes ZO6 videos are OK, but I like the others better!

PA Z06

I will check it out later, im blocked at work

varkwso

The track did not really thrill me or depress me - I have run several rovals though. It is fast. I like true road courses better and there is less concrete to hit.

briankeithsmith

Hey Dave:

Nice to meet you this weekend man. Had fun running with you.

Chris and I (GT3 Cup) had our own little incident on Saturday afternoon

Other than that, a fun weekend - minus the passing rules.
I got black flagged 3 times on Friday.

Everytime I'd roll in wondering exactly what it was that I did this time...

Brian

Falcon

Nah!!! You got black flagged? There had to be a mixup somewhere. You've never been blackflagged!

davidfarmer

you guys were running awefully close all weekend....what happened???? Sorry I couldn't play more, but no wide-open-throttle pretty much leaves me dead in the water!

sperkins

This is about as brave as I could get with the damp track.