brkntrxn

As I often do, I thought I'd put BS to digital print and give you armchair racers a recap of the recent weekend at Virginia International Raceway with NASA-MidAtlantic.

Cliff notes for the attention challenged: P2 in EO, P1 in ST2, P2 in ST2.

We arrived Thursday evening in the rain and got all set up in the paddock with my friend Jim Gorman that races in Honda Challenge as well as a couple of other Corvette buddies. As we unpacked, I realized that it had been 18 months since I had been on track at VIR, never since the repave of the track nor paddock, and never with aero on any car. This didn't seem to matter to me as we sat around grilling filets, cowboy ribeyes, veggies, and potatoes on the grill.

Friday Enduro
The plan for Friday was to race in the three hour enduro in EO class with my good friend in his Honda Challenge car. He brought two cars: one was well sorted and Johan Swartz and Skip Woody would be driving it, the other was a brand new Acura build that had never been outside the shop.

Having never driven the car, I strapped in, figured out the switches, and headed to grid for the Qualifying Session.... IN THE RAIN. Yeah, interesting to say the least. The car had more power than I expected, but was VERY nervous in the corners and tail happy on corner entry. I managed a paltry 2:30 something. **** poor for sure.

Back in the paddock, I gave a download to Jim and Johan and we set about changing ride height, shock settings, and tire pressures. We contemplated giving it more wing, but decided to hold off as a next step. Thankfully the rain ended by midday.

Jim took the green flag in the enduro and managed a best lap of 2:14 or so during his first hour. Due to an issue with the sister car Johan and Skip were driving, Jim came in early and let Skip finish out the rest of his 1.5hr stint.

I jumped in the car at the 1.5hr mark like 8 laps down to the leader in class. I started ticking off laps and dropping my times. By mid-stint, I was able to flat-foot through the uphill esses. WOW, now that is a rush! Not as fast as my Vette, but still unreal. The car was still a handful to drive, but I was consistently clicking off 2:10 laps in a Honda Challenge car. The class record is lower than that, but for a first outing in this car we were proud of these numbers. I had to make a quick pitstop at the 30 minutes to go mark for a couple of gallons of fuel and then it was back at it til the checker. We finished in 2nd Place in EO in a car that had never been to the track. Not bad. Not a big class either, but not bad.

The plan for Saturday and Sunday was to simply start and finish the ST races and get my races in to qualify for the East Coast Championships. No huge expectations since it has been so long since I had the Vette there.

Saturday ST2
After feeling pretty good in the Saturday morning warm-up session, I decided to slap on some sticker As I brought along. I qualified second in ST2 with a 2:03.5 with five cars in class. The P1 car out qualified me with a 2:03.2. Darn close!

The Saturday Thunder Race Wave 1 started with a mixed bag of cars. an SU car was on Pole for the wave and I started P3 in the wave right behind him. This was actually an advantage because I ended up with the inside line to the ST2 P1 car that started on the outside of the Pole. Make sense? I can draw you a picture later.

We took the green from a very slow rolling start and the old M12 in my Z06 showed why it was a GREAT drag race transmission all those years ago. The SU Porsche in front of me took off and I followed in his wake down to the inside of T1 and ahead of the other leading ST2 car.

Coming out of T2, the entire pack was in my rearview mirror and I started clicking off laps as fast as I could. Several laps later, another fast SU car caught me coming into the Rollercoaster and I had to overbrake to stay off him. This allowed the other fast ST2 car to catch me and we battled pretty hard for several laps. We were even two wide through T11 and Oak Tree at one point.

Thankfully, I was able to get a couple of good picks on traffic and put some distance between us. I stayed out front and took the win in ST2 and finished 4th overall in Thunder.

Here is the video:

brkntrxn

Sunday ST2

Riding the high from the win on Saturday, I looked over the car and ran it as-is for qualifying on Sunday. I started the qualifying session from the point and treated it like a Time Trial: Giving the Pace Car distance from Rollercoaster to Hogpen and then running the first two laps as hard as I could. It paid off with a 2:00.5! SOOOOOO close to a sub-TWO. If I had any one single goal of the weekend as far as performance, it was to run a sub-two and I did not do it. A bit more gas or a bit less brake or a bit straighter line ANYWHERE SOMEWHERE would have done it. Oh well. That is by far my fastest lap ever at VIR, but the car is capable of more. Either way, I took the pole in ST2 with the other fast ST2 car running a 2:00.9. Again, darn close racing!

Looking over the times from qualifying, I decided to take off the "now three heat cycle' tires and put on an older set of A6 I have been running since last year. The only other change I made was to swap brake pads front to rear, since I run the same compounds on all four corners and the W6 and W4 Wilwoods use the same pad backing plate. We topped off the gas tank for the 40 minute race as well as the Cool Suit cooler.

The same SU Porsche started on the Pole for the Thunder race, with me on the outside pole, and the other fast ST2 car in the P3 position behind the Porsche. This time I was at the disadvantage.

When my wife called the GREEN GREEN GREEN over the radio, I made sure to get a good start and move over to the right as soon as the Porsche cleared me. It worked and I stayed first in class going into Turn 1.

About halfway through T1, the rear tires started sliding and I instantly knew I made a mistake on the tire selection. They were heat cycled out -- completely shot. The other fast SU late model car caught me under the bridge straight and I smartly tapped the brakes to let him by and not fight him. This put the second place ST2 car squarely on my tail and we stayed that way for several laps.

Fighting my car and leaving black marks through most every corner exit, I knew I was holding up the second place ST2 car but I was not willing to pull over and give it to him. The tires were getting worse and worse until the point I came out of Oak Tree and the car crossed up with my foot to the floor. I got the car straight, went to grab 3rd, and missed it like an old man misses his teeth. The second place car motored around the outside of me. For the next several laps, all I could do was watch him put distance on me and then maintain the gap. Smart racing.

Late in the race, a double yellow came out for a massive pile-up of BMWs in T15. My wife said it was a massive wreck, but no one was hurt and only one car was unable to drive away. This bunched the field AND gave my tires a chance to cool.

I took the restart coming out of T15 with two out of class BMWs between me and the first place ST2 car. I quickly got around the two BMWs, but the other ST2 car was just as quickly passing others. It was a mad dash in true NASCAR fashion with a Green/White restart with one hot lap to the checker. I am not sure how many cars we passed on that last lap, but it was FUN! I finished in second place in ST2 within spitting distance of first. And once again, fourth overall in Thunder. Not bad for a 40 minute race on junk tires.

Here is Sunday's race:

ZedO6

Another great drive, congratulations on Saturday's win! Sunday's session looked like work with the tires going off nearly from the start. Passing the back markers looked like a challenge as well, I guess they don't do much with mirrors after the flag drops.

Thanks for sharing your excellent videos!

StreetSpeed

Nice videos and driving! I'm doing comp school in April at NJMP and looking forward to going w2w in ST3.

However why did you switch to year old A6s? Why not stick with the known fast ones you were using?

Also, is the A6/7 the tire to have for all out best laps? I bought Conti scrubs all last year but am gonna buy fresh Hoosiers for my first race weekend. I was planning on R7s but if the A7 is noticeably quicker though shorter lasting maybe I'll give them a shot. How many heat cycles do you get out of the As?

brkntrxn

THANKS! Yeah, I don't know what was up with those two BMWs in the lower Esses. There is room to move over and not impede traffic. However, I do have to commend them on holding their line and being predictable. THAT is more important than a quick move left or right to get out of the way.

waddisme

That was fun to watch. No telemetry or just not edited in yet?

RapidC84B

As annoying as it is, those slow BMWs have a right to their line and their race. Technically they did just what they're supposed to, hold the line and the passing car drives around. That's what everyone is supposed to do to make it predictable. I've seen video years ago of a fast pass at the top of the esses and the car getting passed thought they were doing a favor moving off line, they moved right into the overtaking car who expected them to hold the line.

brkntrxn

Thanks. I raced ST3 all of last year and had fun with a lot of different cars.

Tires cost money EVERY time they hit the track. If you don't need to use up your equipment, don't. That is my philosophy, then again, I have two kids in college.

When I looked over the qualifying list on Sunday, Brian and I were well ahead of the other ST2 cars. We both put on "worse" tires since we are both budget racers and mine happened to be "worser".

THe unfortunate thing about r-comps is their last heat cycle could have been the one that gave up the ghost and you never know it until you get back on track. I knew the old As we're close to the end of life and I wanted to use them up. It always pains me to throw away a tire that is not showing cord.

As for the number of heat cycles, that is entirely dependent upon your car setup and your driving style. In the old PTA days. I would cord a set of As in 14 heat cycles. Now that my car is built near the top of the ST rules, I get a lot longer life out of tires.

There are a LOT of differences in opinions on which tire is better for what. In the NASA Super Touring rules, I don't see where slicks are worth the weight penalty you take. So I stick with As and Rs.

brkntrxn

I prefer not to put data in my vids because I don't want my competition knowing that much about what is going on.

StreetSpeed

But the As are faster for you I take it? Any idea how much so?

ZedO6

No argument about responsibility for overtaking....but having been in both the faster car and the car being overtaken, I just don't understand being a lap down and fighting for corners with the leaders, when a minor line change, that is, staying wide for a split second or turning in a split second later, isn't taken advantage of.

Back in my SCCA showroom stock days, more than once my car was used as a "corner berm" by the leaders and I guess that sort of friendly racing left an impression on me!

Paul Schmidt

You can tell by the title of the thread, that Kevin's mind in on the May event. My car will be done real soon. I just might ship it to Brian's front door with a note that reads.... Put me in the garage and cover me with a blanket until Paul gets here.

SouthernSon

Great write up and congratulations on the race!

Racingswh

Thanks for posting. Fun to watch! Great display of car control as always. Very nice.

brkntrxn

Depends on the track and weather. On a mechanical grip dependent track, As can be several seconds faster than Rs.

StreetSpeed

Thanks. I researched this yesterday and decided to pop for a fresh set of A7s.

brkntrxn

Good catch, Paul. I'll see if I can correct it when I get to a laptop.

varkwso

nice writeup

naschmitz

There's enough info in the video to help your competition -- all the split times are there. The data overlay just helps the average guy enjoy your videos more.

brkntrxn

I agree to a point because that is partially true. Split times can be calculated using landmarks and whatnot. The same can be said for visual and audio cues on braking and throttle on points.

However, that information alone cannot tell you speeds through a corner, braking g's, and cornering g's. When someone adds in their detailed data (such as your lapping videos) AND I know the exact setup of the car as compared to mine, then the data becomes even more important. When we are qualifying and turning lap times hundreds of a second apart, every little bit helps.

"Hmm, Brian takes Southbend at 1mph more than me. We run the same tires, the same weight balance, same aero, and the same suspension setup. The next time I am there, I will have the confidence to build up to 1mph faster through there because I know it can be done. That 1mph in Southbend will translate to a 2mph faster entry to T11 where I can pull down inside someone."

"Interesting. Morris carries .1g more through T1 corner entry to apex than me. That equates to 1mph more speed at apex and 3mph more at trackout. His car is virtually identical to mine. I will try to come off the brakes sooner in T1 the next time I am there."

If you are not watching other peoples videos and thinking like this, you can be assured that your competition is. I do!

There is much more to be gained than split times on a lap when data is posted. There are several key videos that I watched over and over and over before our VIR races a couple of weeks ago. Those vids included a lot of data on a cars setup very similar to mine driven by nationally ranked drivers.