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I can safely say that will buff right out with some work.
I am also happy to see somebody using a car in a means of enjoyment!
In the words of a few professional race car drivers out there, if you don't wreck a car every once in a while you will never know where the limits are and how to be the fastest.
Pardon my ramblings and I am happy it wasn't worse or that you were hurt.
Well that sux sorry to see that. Just curious, do you switch off the traction control when tracking the car?
Fully off - traction control and stability control both off.
I completely turned them off because I frequently run into stability control kicking in on this particular track, it is primarily a motorcycle racing track so it is exceptionally hard on the brakes and then the tires and having stability control kick in doesn't help the brakes keep cool. Stability control might have saved me from the wall, but I had been to this track multiple times and no longer felt the need of the stability control safety net. This is where the C7 would be nice where I could set the stability control mode.
St. Jude Donor '03-'04-'05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-'18-'19-
'20-'21-'22-'23-'24
NCM Sinkhole Donor
CI 5, 8 & 11 Veteran
Painful to watch the end of that video. Sorry about the damage but sure glad you were not injured. Best of luck getting the car fixed and back on the track.
Not to beat ya while you're down, but I watched a bunch of your entries and exits on that corner during the video compared to your last time through. You came on throttle sooner, and instead of rolling into gas then going full throttle once you were through the corner, this time you punched it hard, and early.
That track is a lot of fun, thats where I lit my last car on fire. Fix it, and get back out there.
The car gave you a big fat warning that you had no rear traction, but you ignored it and hammered it in second gear anyway. Also, what rear gear do you have in the car?
I spun at turn 6a a few years ago, last session. Hit the water barrels, was able to drive off track and home. Replaced drivers rear qtr panel, mirror and skid plate, get it up on jack stands and get to work, panels come off pretty easy. Lesson learned, treat gas pedal as if there was an egg on it, I nailed it coming out the turn chasing a track prepped car. Back end whips around pretty quick, especially with hot street tires. Not a lot off run off at Blackhawk.
Thank you for sharing. This is allowing us who watch and listen to learn.
From this perspective, you saw a point by, and focused on that instead of throttle application delay, and the major rear end wiggle 3-5 seconds before.
The tires felt pretty good - sidewalls felt good and didn't feel like they had lots of flex, the car felt pretty consistent with each lap.
The grip was pretty solid up until the end - I wasn't sliding around. The front had 26 and rear had 28 PSI cold so I knew the rear needed a good amount of air taken out and probably a bit in the front - so I was not pushing the car so hard that I was expecting it to spin, I passed several cars and never had anyone catching me but that was just because the car was feeling good and solid not that I was pushing to get by everyone.
I will use them again at the next track session I think.
As for the cause of the crash - after getting feedback from you guys and others and time to reflect, I think it was a combination of the rear tire pressure getting too high and I didn't drive that corner well (coming in faster than before, rear was unstable before starting turn in, shifting into 2nd near the apex, and too much throttle too soon).
Sorry to see you hurt the car but that can be fixed, congrats on the willingness to be out there in the 1st place though.
Looks to me that the C7 (or passing the C7) messed up your corner entry then the downshift to what looked like 2nd looks to have chattered the rears tires as it seems like the car started a clockwise drift at that point then accelerating hard coming of the corner and the wheel wasn't straight.
The car gave you a big fat warning that you had no rear traction, but you ignored it and hammered it in second gear anyway. Also, what rear gear do you have in the car?
Factory 3.42, completely stock trans and rear-end. Does have an LS7 clutch however.
So just a bit more info for those interested...
The class I was in was Intermediate - I had done multiple HPDE days at this track.
Weather was hot, in the mid to upper 80s with something around 40-50% humidity.
The track crew were great, communicated well with me, and tried their best to limit damage - the car had to be lifted so high because there was a bundle of tire wall under the car.
The event staff took an incident report - they were great.
Many ppl at the track came up to me, asked if I was OK, and were nice and polite.
Car is a rebuild from salvaged title car, it was previously totaled from a bad front-passenger strike that did some minor frame damage. Car now has a "rebuilt" title so it can be registered and driven on the road.
Mod list is pretty extensive but some key track items:
Momo 18/19 wheel combo with 275/305 tire combo
C6 Z06 shocks, front a-arms, spindles, wheel bearings
C6 Z06 brakes all around (SS lines)
Hawk HP Street 5.0 pads all around
LS7 clutch & flywheel
MGW shifter
MS4 cam & valvetrain
Fast92 w/ ported LS2 TB
Vararam intake
XS Power LT headers (coated) & X-pipe (no cats) stock Ti
PB 25% underdrive balancer
Corbeau A4 seats
So just a bit more info for those interested...
The class I was in was Intermediate - I had done multiple HPDE days at this track.
Weather was hot, in the mid to upper 80s with something around 40-50% humidity.
The track crew were great, communicated well with me, and tried their best to limit damage - the car had to be lifted so high because there was a bundle of tire wall under the car.
The event staff took an incident report - they were great.
Many ppl at the track came up to me, asked if I was OK, and were nice and polite.
Car is a rebuild from salvaged title car, it was previously totaled from a bad front-passenger strike that did some minor frame damage. Car now has a "rebuilt" title so it can be registered and driven on the road.
Mod list is pretty extensive but some key track items:
Momo 18/19 wheel combo with 275/305 tire combo
C6 Z06 shocks, front a-arms, spindles, wheel bearings
C6 Z06 brakes all around (SS lines)
Hawk HP Street 5.0 pads all around
LS7 clutch & flywheel
MGW shifter
MS4 cam & valvetrain
Fast92 w/ ported LS2 TB
Vararam intake
XS Power LT headers (coated) & X-pipe (no cats) stock Ti
PB 25% underdrive balancer
Corbeau A4 seats
Listening to that thing idle, I was pretty sure you had a fairly radical cam in that beast! It sounds sweet.
I want to put a cam and headers on mine some day...I'll be really happy if mine sounds like yours when I finally get that done.
If I had to take a guess it was a combination of: going in the corner hot, to much throttle coming out of the apex, and overheating the tires as it looked like you were booking it pretty good, and ultimately loosing traction as the tires couldn't take it anymore.
Track night didn't go well for me last night, though I am fine and the car only has cosmetic damage so could have gone far worse. Hard to say what caused the spin beyond driver error, best guess is high rear tire pressure built up. This was the first session of the day and was only pushing maybe 7/10ths at most, car was feeling very good until that point. I had been at this track multiple times without getting lose.
Car might have to sit for awhile - I am currently searching for work so even this limited cosmetic damage will have to wait. I plan to do an in-depth look later today and make a list of parts I need.
I just had to do a left front fender and nose on my Z06 race car. I had a yellow out of class corvette run me off the track going down towards China beach at mid Ohio at about 135 mph. It cost me close to $1000 to fix my car. I don’t think yours is nearly as bad as mine was.
I would have to agree with the others but I noticed turn in was a bit earlier then before, making the car unstable and going back to WOT at mid corner in an unstable track/race car is a recipe for disaster.
Cars are repairable and replacible. People always aren’t so I’m glad you made it out ok. Blackhawk farms can jump and bit you pretty fast.
Last edited by Ray Freundt; 07-18-2019 at 04:37 PM.
Sorry for the wreck, but I'm in group that's glad to see someone out using their car. I have a dedicated track day C5 and I know they can be a blast. I've been tracking C5's for about 12 years now and as I watched that I thought you often shift down to second when it isn't necessary and this corner was one of those times. The car became really unsettled trying to downshift and you got back on the gas with a bit too much punch while it was already unbalanced. It wasn't a major mistake, but unfortunately the way that track is laid out it put you in a tire wall. Many tracks it would have just been a simple spin as the speed wasn't terribly high.
Glad you're okay and hope you can get it back out on the track ASAP. The damage looks primarily cosmetic so as long as you can secure those body panels for now I'd say get it back out there.
Sorry for the wreck, but I'm in group that's glad to see someone out using their car. I have a dedicated track day C5 and I know they can be a blast. I've been tracking C5's for about 12 years now and as I watched that I thought you often shift down to second when it isn't necessary and this corner was one of those times. The car became really unsettled trying to downshift and you got back on the gas with a bit too much punch while it was already unbalanced. It wasn't a major mistake, but unfortunately the way that track is laid out it put you in a tire wall. Many tracks it would have just been a simple spin as the speed wasn't terribly high.
Glad you're okay and hope you can get it back out on the track ASAP. The damage looks primarily cosmetic so as long as you can secure those body panels for now I'd say get it back out there.
I was debating whether to post something similar myself. Its why I asked about gearing. With the stock gears I honestly think he does way too much shifting. There is a part of the track where it looks like he goes into fourth and never even lets the clutch out before returning to third. Likewise going to second when its really not needed. Obviously, the car is very touchy when cornering in second gear at high RPM. Also, its human nature to brake earlier and with less force when also downshifting. Leave the car in third, concentrate on late braking hard and carrying more speed through the corner will probably result in better overall lap times. Plus, the car will be much easier to accelerate out of the corners at the limit of grip rolling into the throttle in third gear. JMHO.
07-17-2019, 10:17 PM
Damn! That sounds like one heck of a good time. LOL 
