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You need a NOS shot just for the starts so you can keep your position atleast and avoid "help down the hill." What a terrible excuse for red mist btw. Great accountability there by Johnny Mustang.
While I stood in turn 2 watching the T1 race unfold I had some words with the guy who ruined my race. He said he was trying to "help" me get down faster. Thanks a lot.
After the tow back to the paddock we took a look at the car and figured we could fix it. After all, I had these guys with me: Glen, Joe, Andrew, and Tony. Joe and Tony are TC Design. Glen and Andrew are racing buddies. They all donated most of the week toward helping me at the Runoffs. Great friends and best part of the week. Also great friends from Socal always willing to lend a hand plus new racing contacts from across the country. The community is great despite a few bad apples.
So we replaced the uprights, tie rods, hubs, and control arms on the right side of the car. All replacement parts had poly bushing while the other side was LG bearings. Did a make shift alignment in the dirt and took a hardship lap. Car seemed OK so we set up for the GT2 race on Saturday starting in Position 5. Here's the race:
It was a relief to make it through the first couple turns and get a chance to race! The guys around me in this race were clean and professional. I started to get in a groove and cranked out some decent laps. My car seemed to struggle with rear grip on right hand turns in 3 and 4 for some reason but overall felt pretty good. Turned a 1:32.1 pb lap with a 1:31.6 rolling lap in the data. But lo and behold it wouldn't last as my power steering line burst in Turn 6. I had a feeling my steering rack may have received some damage from the contact on Friday and unfortunately it did.
Good news is the Synergy engine is running strong and pulls the same trap speeds over and over every lap and every weekend burning zero oil. My choice of the ls6 was not the best power wise, but I still like the high revving reliability of this engine.
Your trany shifts so smooth and fast, especially the 2nd to 3rd shift! Who does your transmission?
You need a NOS shot just for the starts so you can keep your position atleast and avoid "help down the hill." What a terrible excuse for red mist btw. Great accountability there by Johnny Mustang.
Originally Posted by skxf430
The Mustang trying to win on the first lap usually doesn't work well.
You will get them next time Bill!!!
Thanks guys.
Originally Posted by Djos83
Your trany shifts so smooth and fast, especially the 2nd to 3rd shift! Who does your transmission?
It's mainly the clutch and hydraulics that allow faster shifting. The tranny is RPM stage 4 with stock C5 gears. My other tranny is a stage 5 RPM tranny also with stock C5 gears. Clutch is a quartermaster twin disc.
One more video for the books. Final and fastest qualifying session for T1. This format was a good test for me as there was no warmup session and only 1 qual session per day. No time to get in a rhythm or warm up. Just go straight out on the track with 30-40 other cars and put down your best lap within 20 minutes or less. Almost every session had oil down on track or black flag all so it was important to get a lap down asap. Luckily they gridded the sessions by lap times so you can start in front of the cars you beat the previous day and we didn't have to get to grid super early to fight for good spots up front (always a pita).
It's a shame that your race was ruined by this idiot:
While I stood in turn 2 watching the T1 race unfold I had some words with the guy who ruined my race. He said he was trying to "help" me get down faster. Thanks a lot.
His excuse is pure BS, and he eliminated a car that he could not keep up with fairly.
I am curious how the SCCA handles this type of driving now. Back when I was racing with them you would have a meeting with the stewards after body contact, and there were various penalties they could hand out if they felt you were at fault. Now from what I hear they tend to ignore this type of driving in certain classes.
It ended up on a bad note, but congratulations on a great season
It's mainly the clutch and hydraulics that allow faster shifting. The tranny is RPM stage 4 with stock C5 gears. My other tranny is a stage 5 RPM tranny also with stock C5 gears. Clutch is a quartermaster twin disc.
One more video for the books. Final and fastest qualifying session for T1. This format was a good test for me as there was no warmup session and only 1 qual session per day. No time to get in a rhythm or warm up. Just go straight out on the track with 30-40 other cars and put down your best lap within 20 minutes or less. Almost every session had oil down on track or black flag all so it was important to get a lap down asap. Luckily they gridded the sessions by lap times so you can start in front of the cars you beat the previous day and we didn't have to get to grid super early to fight for good spots up front (always a pita).
While the outcome may not of been great you did a great job. You represented how a regular guy can show up and compete with the big spenders and even those who are assumed to be ultra talented. IMO, if it had gone without incident you would have destroyed the entire field of cars in your class.
It's a shame that your race was ruined by this idiot:
His excuse is pure BS, and he eliminated a car that he could not keep up with fairly.
I am curious how the SCCA handles this type of driving now. Back when I was racing with them you would have a meeting with the stewards after body contact, and there were various penalties they could hand out if they felt you were at fault. Now from what I hear they tend to ignore this type of driving in certain classes.
It ended up on a bad note, but congratulations on a great season
Yeah our protest on his punting was upheld but there were no consequences. Just some points taken off his season points. I don't even look at season points so who cares? The way it is now, it's just an attendance award. A guy showing up and winning a race where he's the only entrant gets the same points as a guy who wins among a field of 20.
Originally Posted by Robert R1
That's some killer corner speed.
Thanks, the car was working pretty well. I just need to get more consistent at Laguna. It's the track I'm least comfortable with in Norcal since I've only raced there twice with nasa.
Originally Posted by trackboss
While the outcome may not of been great you did a great job. You represented how a regular guy can show up and compete with the big spenders and even those who are assumed to be ultra talented. IMO, if it had gone without incident you would have destroyed the entire field of cars in your class.
Thanks V, that means a lot! And long live the LS6 C5 corvette .
Originally Posted by Djos83
Thanks for the info on your clutch. What size is your quartermaster twin disc clutch, 5.5 or 7.25"?
I have the 7.25" optimum V with twin rally discs. Great for the track, but I would never run a clutch like this on the street. For the street I would just go with a stock size clutch and an aluminum flywheel with a tick adjustable master cylinder.
We all wish you didn't get punted by the slower car and/or driver.
Congrats Bill on a stellar 2014 season!
Thank Rich, and thank you for the rear cradle you let me have. I just installed it today after struggling with my rear alignment. I think my rear cradle was tweaked by the punt at the start of the T1 race. Plus I found a bent bolt which holds the lower control arm. We couldn't figure out why the right rear wheel was toed in 1.5" after that impact but I think the bent bolt was most of it.
I've also fiberglassed the front bumper, right front fender, passenger door, and rear quarter panel. Had to get a couple new inner fender liners. TC Design moved some of my monoball bearings to replacement control arms. And I replaced the broken PS hydraulic line. The car is pretty much ready to hit the track again, looking a little worse for wear. Poor car...
Now I know why the car was struggling to turn right in the GT2 race at Laguna. The rear alignment was jacked up with way more camber on the right than the left. I think it also was hurting my exit out of T11 in 2nd gear with too much right rear camber. I guess this means I should be faster next time!
Took the car out to Sonoma last week for some testing with Tony. It's always a good idea to test a car after making repairs because a couple other things will usually pop up that you missed. The abs worked for the first 2 sessions and then failed for the rest of the day (turned out just to be a bad hub). I'm so glad I sorted out the brakes this year. The car was turning equal lap times in the afternoon with no abs as it was in the morning. Perfect bias and the smaller master cylinder makes pedal control much more precise.
We also tested shock damping which was fun. I would do a few laps then come into the hot pits and Tony changed the compression and/or rebound settings and I went back out again for back to back testing. It was cool feeling how the car's handling changed with different shock settings.
Nasa nationals are next weekend at Sonoma and I'm signed up for ST2. Unfortunately there are only 4 cars in ST2 which is very weak. There are around 11-12 in ST1 I think which is surprising because it used to be the other way around. We even had close to 10 ST2 cars at the Laguna event... So I will have to decide whether to move up or not. Unfortunately I can only get down to 7.4 lb/hp which is way off the 5.5 lb/hp limit. If I had the time and parts I would swap heads and borrow a bigger intake manifold/TB to make more power but I don't. So if I move to ST1, I will be down 140 hp or 770 lbs over weight for that class even after pulling my restrictors and ballast. My other option is to just stay in ST2 and and still race with the ST1 cars and see what happens. There will be 2 qualifying races and then the 45 minute championship race with mixed classes on the track (SU, ST1, ST2, ST3, AI, and CMC). It's going to take consistency in car performance and driving to finish each race much less win them.
If your pedal got firmer (good thing) you increased the master cylinder size. What m/c did you put in there(probably from a truck application)? If you still have your original, do you mind measuring the piston size?
Good luck the championships!
Actually I removed the truck master that came with the car and installed a stock master for more pedal travel. The truck master was too big and it was difficult to modulate the brake pressure. Most big brake kits are designed to work with the stock master. I think even moving the stock front calipers to the back would work with the stock master. I did that on my street car with no problems.
So unfortunately the last of my ST2 corvette comrades from CA had to withdraw from the national race. I fully expected this race to be full of CA ST2 cars, but I'm the only one of our group making the race which really sucks because ST2 is by far my favorite class for racing and where my car is fastest. This leaves only me and 2 other ST2 cars signed up and unless my car falls apart I'm several seconds a lap faster than the other 2 cars. Or I can move up to ST1 and be the 12th car in that class but WAY down on power. One of those options sounds much more exciting .
Actually I removed the truck master that came with the car and installed a stock master for more pedal travel. The truck master was too big and it was difficult to modulate the brake pressure. Most big brake kits are designed to work with the stock master. I think even moving the stock front calipers to the back would work with the stock master. I did that on my street car with no problems.
So unfortunately the last of my ST2 corvette comrades from CA had to withdraw from the national race. I fully expected this race to be full of CA ST2 cars, but I'm the only one of our group making the race which really sucks because ST2 is by far my favorite class for racing and where my car is fastest. This leaves only me and 2 other ST2 cars signed up and unless my car falls apart I'm several seconds a lap faster than the other 2 cars. Or I can move up to ST1 and be the 12th car in that class but WAY down on power. One of those options sounds much more exciting .
Go out drive the guys with more horsepower!! Always fun to be in a class with a lot competition and have to push it hard. A lot more rewarding.
Go out drive the guys with more horsepower!! Always fun to be in a class with a lot competition and have to push it hard. A lot more rewarding.
Originally Posted by DarkMastyr
Bill will probably pass them anyways
Thanks guys, either way I'll be out with faster cars because we're all mixed together. And there will be some tough competition out there in ST1. Doubtful my ST2 car would have much chance in ST1 at my power to weight ratio (LS6 with a mild cam, stock heads, stock TB, and stock intake manifold). I'm tempted to just show up on Sunday for the final race, start in the back, and try to work my way up in ST2. I'd have to see if I could skip the 2 days of qualifying and still race. Unfortunately nobody wants to answer my emails lately. Or I could run ST1 for the fun of it. Not really sure what I want to do right now and not feeling very motivated...
BTW, JR is selling their ST1/ST2 C5 corvette after the nasa event next weekend. If you're interested in one of the fastest ST corvettes in the country come up to Sonoma and watch the races and check it out. I'm sure it will be a great deal for someone and have lots of spare parts.
This came in the mail today. Not too bad for 385 whp and 3300 lbs.
So I've decided to go ahead and run ST1 at nationals for the challenge and fun of it. I'd obviously rather race ST2 but there's not much point with only a few cars. My car is basically the same as it is in GT2 trim with scca. Looking forward to setting a PB at Sonoma and getting some racing action in this weekend! My main focus will be on consistently hitting my marks and lap times. I've become a little less consistent than I'd like lately. The nice thing is I will be so far below the ST1 limit I won't have to worry at all about making weight or passing dyno tests. Just keep gas in the car and drive the crap out of it.
This came in the mail today. Not too bad for 385 whp and 3300 lbs.
So I've decided to go ahead and run ST1 at nationals for the challenge and fun of it. I'd obviously rather race ST2 but there's not much point with only a few cars. My car is basically the same as it is in GT2 trim with scca. Looking forward to setting a PB at Sonoma and getting some racing action in this weekend! My main focus will be on consistently hitting my marks and lap times. I've become a little less consistent than I'd like lately. The nice thing is I will be so far below the ST1 limit I won't have to worry at all about making weight or passing dyno tests. Just keep gas in the car and drive the crap out of it.
Congrats Bill, that is awesome. I can't believe how well you and that car are working and I didn't know that car was 3,300 pounds. I thought it was lighter than your other car. That's even more impressive.
This came in the mail today. Not too bad for 385 whp and 3300 lbs.
So I've decided to go ahead and run ST1 at nationals for the challenge and fun of it. I'd obviously rather race ST2 but there's not much point with only a few cars. My car is basically the same as it is in GT2 trim with scca. Looking forward to setting a PB at Sonoma and getting some racing action in this weekend! My main focus will be on consistently hitting my marks and lap times. I've become a little less consistent than I'd like lately. The nice thing is I will be so far below the ST1 limit I won't have to worry at all about making weight or passing dyno tests. Just keep gas in the car and drive the crap out of it.
10-13-2014, 03:50 AM
. 
This leaves only me and 2 other ST2 cars signed up and unless my car falls apart I'm several seconds a lap faster than the other 2 cars. Or I can move up to ST1 and be the 12th car in that class but WAY down on power. One of those options sounds much more exciting 
