redtopz

Getting a late start to my 3rd annual racing blog. Last year was a huge year for me. Quick recap: Ran SCCA T1 and GT2 Majors all the way through the Runoffs. Set many track records and many wins culminating in Pole Position in T1 at the Runoffs and a T1 track record at Laguna Seca. Car damage in the race which made me DNF in both T1 and GT2. One month later car is patched together for NASA championships at Sonoma. Pole position and track record in ST2 and winner of TT2 national championship. Moved up to ST1 for the race and came in 2nd place starting from the back. One month later, raced in the 25 hours of Thunderhill with team El Diablo and we won the E0 class. Nominated by Racer Magazine as Club Racer of the Year 2014. Whew, what a year! Huge thanks to my sponsors last year including Synergy Motorsports, TC Design, Hoosier Tire, Abel Chevrolet, Wolf Vinyl, Trakspec Motorsports!

After a season like that, my car was in dire need of some work. The shocks were falling apart and my electrical wiring was sketchy at best. The car was only starting half the time with the key which was a little nerve wracking at the Runoffs.

So I took the car to TC Design in Campbell CA for some winter work. Tony pulled off the old Moton shocks and refreshed the internals along with some new spring perches. He also added droop limiters internally so the springs no longer drop so far down the shock when the wheels are off the ground. Here's how they looked at the end of the year:





Tony's brother Joe is an electrical engineer and rebuilt my wiring harness. We installed a new AIM MXL2 dash system with sensors for GPS, oil temp and pressure, water temp, rpm, fuel tank levels, steering, brake pressure, and throttle position. I've been using an AIM Solo for years (which I love), but the new MXL2 is going to let me go much deeper into data analysis. In addition, we removed the stock dash and replaced the factory ignition with a toggle switch. He also installed a new fused switch panel for ABS, cool suit, fan, wiper, etc. It turned out perfect. And at my first race weekend, the car ran without a single glitch which is very impressive. By disabling the factory steering position sensor, I no longer need to the TC/AH button. It's pretty interesting watching the fuel levels in the left and right sides individually. You can see the fuel being pumped from the right side to the left side. I still need to dial in the calibrations and convert them from percents to gallons.

2002rich

Bill good luck with the 2015 season. I'm curious if you will better your times from last season

redtopz

Thanks Rich! I'm curious about that too .

Here is our schedule of WeST2 races this season:

2015 Racing Schedule
15 races over 7 weekends
1. Willow Springs International Raceway - February 28, March 1, 2015
2. Buttonwillow Raceway Park – April 18-19, 2015
3. Auto Club Speedway – May 16-17, 2015
4. Sonoma Raceway – June 20- 21, 2015
5. Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca - July 31-August 2, 2015
6. Thunderhill Raceway – August 29-30, 2015
7. Buttonwillow Raceway Park – October 10-11, 2015

Our season opener was at Willow Springs and I was looking forward to getting back to this track since I hadn't been there since Jan 2012. I had only run there once in my old T1 car and I was racing mid-pack as I learned the track. This time I felt confident that I could build on my prior experience and get faster. I went there Friday morning and did a few sessions of testing on Friday to shake down the car and get the feel of the track. Willow Springs is a very unique track, high speed and bumpy with very few brake zones. And none of the brake zones are very hard on the brakes. I decided before this weekend to run my scrub tires from Runoffs and Nasa champs which were still in decent condition. Many guys were still working on cars and testing new setups this weekend so I didn't want to use a set of sticker tires yet.

Saturday I put the car on pole position with a 1:25 lap. We had 8 cars in ST2. By this time I had run the same tires all day Friday and half of Sat so they were done. I swapped on another set of scrubs from Sonoma but I couldn't remember how many sessions/races they had on them. It was raining for about an hour before the race so many of us weren't sure if the track was going to have puddles requiring rain tires. I didn't bring any wets so I was going out on A6's regardless. I could tell after the first lap that the track was in pretty good condition grip wise and my scrub tires felt good. So the 2nd lap of the race I went 100% and did a 1:23.5 lap which is a new ST2 lap record at WSIR. It also beats the ST1 lap record by 1 second. I ended up winning the race on Saturday.



Sunday started off about the same. Chuck was able to get his car fixed and join us on Sunday. He's fast at this track and won the T1 races here the last time we raced. So I knew I was going to have to be on my game to win. It started out well in the race except for a ST1 car off on the outside of T2 which affected our first few laps. I was holding Chuck off for about half the race when I started smelling burning oil in the cockpit. Then all of a sudden it became bad and I lost power steering. Here's the vid of Sunday's race. My gopro cut out on Saturday so no video of that.


We had 2 rookies joining us in ST2 at Big Willow, Kevin and Lee. They are new to nasa racing, but they are already fast drivers in cars identical to mine. Lee actually has a 580 whp 416 in his car, but I talked him into restricting it down for ST2 this year. I was very proud of their performances taking 2nd and 3rd on Sat and 2nd and 4th on Sunday. Chuck took 1st place on Sunday after a long hiatus with a blown engine last year. John Gordon was finally back out racing his ST2 porsche with us and it's great to have him back in the mix. He was the #1 ST2 racer in the country back in 2010 until he started having engine problems which sidelined him. I'm looking forward to my friends Oli, Amir, Jim, and Robert getting their new engines installed and ready for our next race at Buttonwillow in April.

redtopz

Here are some pics I took of our group. We are getting a nice variety of cars in ST2 this year including corvette, porsche, mustang, toyota supra turbo, Mini, bmw, and a Factory Five 818R. Probably others that I'm forgetting. Our brothers from Arizona region came down to join us this weekend too which was awesome!

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.n...35624716_o.jpg

RichieRichZ06

Not a bad start this year to follow up what ended up being a successful season last year. Please keep us updated. I like reading the posts and following what you're doing out there. Keep kicking *** this year.

RICH

redtopz

Thanks Rich and thanks for all the help from you and Abel Chevrolet. I'll be following your and Carrie's racing this year.

BTW, not sure if I mentioned it in my first post, but my power steering failure was caused by a hairline crack in the high pressure steering line coming out of the pump. I couldn't even see the crack, but it was in the hard line just above where it transitions to flexible hose.

redtopz

Here's a quick lesson on what not to do when you put two wheels off at corner exit.


Most of us have learned this the hard way at some point, but T9 at WSIR is the worst place to learn it. If you haven't learned this yet, some simple things can save your life at the track and on the street. If you put 2 off, turn the steering wheel into the dirt. Do not keep your steering input toward the pavement. Also be smooth on the throttle, don't just suddenly lift off the pedal as that can cause a snap oversteer. The biggest mistake is keeping the wheel turned and trying to "save it" when it's too late. What happens is once both your front tires are back on the pavement and the outside rear is still in the dirt, your car will yank across the track (or street) out of control. Don't let this happen! Turn the wheel toward the dirt and get the car straight. Then gradually pull it back on the track.

Here's a vid of my Sunday qual session where I put 2 wheels off in the same location. Watch my hands turn toward the dirt before coming back on the track. I've been 2 wheels off MANY times so it's 2nd nature now. But if you haven't had this experience, I hope you can learn from these 2 vids.

DarkMastyr

Good luck for the new year!

folsomlarry

Good luck this season Bill Good write up on not over correcting when you drop a couple of wheels off. Turn 10 at Sears Point is another turn that tends to eat up cars whose drivers make the same mistake as you describe.

RichieRichZ06

Carrie and I are having fun, but it's nothing like the W2W racing that you're doing. At some point I'd love to get in to the SCCA or TT stuff, but all the Auto x and now the Optima Street Car Challenge events will have us busy this year. Looks like it will be a couple trips to Vegas and one to Fontana for the Optima Challenge so hopefully I get in by winning or at least on points.

That's weird about the power steering hose, but I have seen a couple other cars leak from there. Were you able to make a good line with stainless and AN fittings to replace it and keep the same thing from happening again?

Robert R1

Kick some *** Bill. At some point you gotta be at the limit of that poor car though, if not already!

Exotica

Best of luck, Bill!

redtopz

Thanks guys!

Yes, and sunset and exiting the esses at BRP 13 CW, T1 and T15 at T-hill, T4 and T11 at Laguna.

Thanks Robert. Yes my car has a lot of race miles on it. But as long as the frame stays straight and the components stay fresh it should last a long time. Synergy engine is running strong, RPM trans is great, shocks are refreshed, LG coolers, hubs, brakes. One thing I am impressed with are the CCW wheels that I've been using since my first track day and I'm still racing with them! I'm trying to stay on top of things this year. Two new improvements for 2015 and I'll talk about them as I install them and get some testing done. One will be swapping my Quaife diff for an OS Giken. The other will be swapping the stoptech front calipers that came with my car for a pair of Essex AP Racing front calipers.

redtopz

That Optima challenge looks cool!

I haven't had a chance to make a custom steering line yet, but I will soon. I'll post it up when I get it done.

trackboss

Bill, FWIW, I converted my power steering lines to all AN style a few years ago. The only unique things you will need are the adapters that go on the rack in the servo and an extended adapter for the pump. They can be had from turn one. Steel fittings/hose ends must be used on the pressure line. Return can be aluminum. I have photos, but they don't show much.

Werks

Let us know what you think of the OS Giken diff once you get it in. I had Rich put one in my car 2 years ago and it works great and has been bullet proof!

redtopz

Oh I didn't know Turn One had those fittings. Thanks for the info! I was going to take the stock line to my hydraulics shop nearby and see if they could come up with something. But I'll check into the Turn One option first.

Cool! Abel installed the OSG in my spare diff last month and I will probably have it on the car for the next race. Great to hear it's working well for you and reliable. That's the one thing I like about the Quaife, it is very reliable and never needs service.

trackboss

It's all AN -6. High pressure line and steel hose ends for the pressure line and standard line for the return that goes from the rack back into the reservoir. You will use a hose clamp on the line where it attaches to the reservoir. It's a good time to install a AN fitting power steering cooler and re-locate it if you have not already done so. Getting it away from the front of the balancer on the crossmember frees up quite a bit of space.

redtopz

I called Turn One to make sure I ordered the correct fittings. They are part numbers MFG TUR5, TUR6, and TUR7 for the C5 and C6 corvette. This should be a piece of cake and hopefully solve my line leaks once and for all.

redtopz

We had our 2nd WeST2 race weekend at Buttonwillow 13CW last weekend. We had 11 cars signed up for ST2 . However, it ended up being one of those weekends when nearly everyone had mechanical issues. We still had 6-7 cars racing which isn't too bad, but it will be much better when everyone gets their cars fixed. Socal NASA puts on great events. They separate the faster classes from the slower classes unlike Norcal so the racing is much better.

My car was running so good this weekend I can't even describe how fun it is to drive. When I race this car it feels like I'm wearing an old comfortable pair of jeans and it just does whatever I want it to. Basically it's dialed and I'm 100% comfortable driving it at the limit all the time. And it's fast!

I tested the car and broke in the new OS Giken diff a week ahead of time on old scrubs. The new track surface at Buttonwillow is smoother and has lots more grip. Then I put the car on the dyno at 7's Only at the track to confirm my power output for ST2. Here's the curve with my 60 mm restrictor plate for T1/ST2:



I haven't run 13CW in my car for years so I was looking forward to seeing how fast I could go on the new surface. I was hoping for 1:46's and I hit the target on Satruday in qualifying:



Here is that video:


On Saturday I qualified pole position, won the race, and broke the track record. Then we had a great BBQ and beers and watched the night enduro. It was a great day at the track!