redtopz

The 3rd Majors race weekend of the Western series was at Thunerhill and for the first time ever they ran the 3 mile one day and the 5 mile the next. This made the weekend much more exciting and challenging. It was great to run 2 different track configs in one weekend rather than repeating the same one on Sunday.

After running WSIR, I knew I had to spend some time on my car setup and alignment/corner balance. I tried some new things at WSIR and wasn't happy with how they worked. So I put the car back how I had it before and then spent at least 8 hours on setup. For some reason, probably when I installed the helper springs, my right side height was higher than the left side. It took me quite a while to reset the ride heights, get the corner weights right, and the alignment sorted out. Much longer than usual because things were out of whack. One thing I'm really happy with are the LG rear bump steer kit tie rods. I was getting wobbly stock tie rod ends almost every weekend, but these have been solid since last year. I just wish they were fine thread instead of coarse thread so it was easier to adjust rear toe.

Other than corner balance and alignment, I swapped out my tranny with the ZR1 gears and put back in my C5 tranny which I've had for years and was recently rebuilt at Abel.

The Majors event was 3 days with testing on the 3 mile Weds and the 5 mile Thurs. I decided to go and test on the 5 mile and shake down the car. Everything felt good so I mounted some sticker A7's Thursday evening and got the car ready for qualifying on the 3 mile Sat morning.

My previous time at T-hill I qualified with a 1:51.2 which was the track record. My goal was to break into the sub 1:50 territory which I knew I could do, but figured even if I could run a 1:50.x I would be somewhat satisfied as that would at least be a PR for me.

My first hot lap I ran a 1:49.7 and I was pumped about that time. I almost just brought the car back into the pits, but since it was my very first lap on the 3 mile I knew I could go faster and I saw some open track ahead of me. So I decided to go for a 1:48. Here's the vid:



I think the reason I short shifted in T11 is because I slightly missed the apex and went wider on exit than I liked and I felt the car getting upset a little. I was 0.4 sec slower through that section than on the 1:49 lap where I stayed in 3rd longer.

The other nice thing this weekend is I updated the firmware on my AIM MXL2 dash and for the first time since I bought it, the predictive lap timer was working. I could see a low 1:48 predicted on this lap all the way up until coming out of T11 where it dropped to a high 1:48.

redtopz

So I picked up 2.4 seconds which is pretty big. Some things have improved on my car since 2014. I think the OS Giken diff is finally performing properly after Abel rebuilt it over the winter following a broken ring gear. I don't think it was working well at all last year and was pushing on throttle. This Synergy LS2 engine is working well and has slightly more power than the LS6 from two years ago. We are still using the same cam, but the heads flow a little better. The car is around 50 lbs lighter than 2 years ago. I think the car is around a tenth of a second faster down the main straight this year. The brakes have been much improved after installing the Essex AP Radical calipers/rotors. I just this weekend removed the original set of front pads that came with the kit last July. They still have multiple weekends of life left, but I just felt like installing the new ones for peace of mind so I didn't have to worry about it. The brakes perform very well and I can feel a difference braking up into T5 Eagles Nest where lesser calipers struggle with even pressure to the rotors and upset the car and/or trigger a lock up or abs.

That qual lap put me in pole position for the 3 mile race and P2 overall next to Runoff winning GT1 racer Mike Lewis.

redtopz

After qualifying the weather started turning grey and misty. I think it sprinkled a little off and on. It actually reminded me of the afternoon last year at WSIR when it was lightly raining before our race and I went out on A7 scrubs and turned a 1:23 lap. So I felt pretty confident that I would find grip out there with the Hoosiers. I typically struggle at the starts because scca hits the well handling corvettes with less power and/or more weight than most of the other cars in T1 and GT2. So even though we can turn fast qual laps with open track it's difficult to maintain position at the start against cars with better acceleration. So my plan was to get a good jump when the flag dropped and see if I could stay on the outside of Lewis' GT1 car going into T1 which would prevent me from getting passed by anyone else. At the start, the GT2 viper had a run on me on the right, but as I hoped in the mixed track conditions, the GT1 car had to brake early with cold slicks on a cold/damp track. So this allowed me to stay next to him through T1 and all the way around T2. Then I had the inside to T3 and the lead for a lap, which gave me a nice gap on the competition.

My mistake was getting too comfortable with my lead and not being aware that the other GT2 cars were gradually reeling me back in. Having a crew with radio would have been helpful in this case. Once I figured out the car with headlights coming up behind me was the GT2 cup car, it was too late and he caught me. So I knew I had to turn it up and knock a couple seconds a lap off my lap times to keep the lead. This did make the race a lot more exciting. That GT2 cup car won the Runoffs at Daytona last year and is very fast with a new owner this year, a young skilled driver. All the GT2 cars other than vettes and vipers or previous STO cars are on full slicks while we have to run DOT tires. The cup car was on Pirelli slicks. Here's the race:



And here's the post race interview (painful for me to watch)
http://www.scca.com/videos/2026400

Hard to remember on the spot who to thank, so again thanks to Essex AP Brakes and Trackspec Motorsports for the hood louvers.

Sunday race report coming in a day or two. Thanks for reading.

redtopz

During my qual session I thought I heard a popping noise but didn't really think too much of it. Most of the time it's just chunks of old rubber flinging off the wheels and hitting the car. But when I removed my wheels I saw this:



4 spokes in a row cracked all the way through. These CCW's came with my car so they are at least 10 years old. They served me well.

Now that the 3 mile race was over, we moved straight to qualifying for the 5 mile. I snuck in a track walk one night by myself on the West side which was cool. It's amazing what you can learn from walking a track.

redtopz

The way they structured the weekend, we had 2 qual sessions per race. Sat afternoon the weather was pretty good and Sunday was anyone's guess so I knew I had to try to get a fast lap. I stayed on my race tires from that morning if for no other reason than I was too lazy to swap the other set of tires off my broken CCW's. Here's the video from Sat afternoon's qual session on the 5 mile:



One thing I forgot to mention was my competition. I was the only corvette to show up to this race. We had a variety of cars including a Viper, a 997 cup car, an ex Rolex Mazda RX8, and a brand new Trans Am 2 mustang. I was drooling over the mustang, but I'd take mine in a camaro body .

Sunday morning we had one more qualifying session before the race. It rained hard Saturday night and the track was very wet. The weather was still misty and damp with clouds so the track was not drying out. So I finally had a chance to try my wet tires. The fronts were 3+ years old but the rears were new. Tony with TC Design suggested I make some changes to my setup for the rain. The other 2-3 times I've been on a wet track I disconnected my sway bars, but this time I didn't feel like bothering since it was obvious my qual lap from the night before was going to be faster than anything this day. So I left them connected and made the suggested shock settings and headed out. It was a lot of fun, but my car was too stiff in transitions. Turns out I accidentally stiffened the rebound on the shocks instead of softening them. And next time I will disconnect the sway bars. But overall, it was a good learning experience. I also wanted to see how my lexan windshield would do in the wet and it was fine with some dish soap on the inside and rain-x on the outside.

redtopz

Finally, the big 35 minute race was here. I was so ready to get this one over with and head home by this time. I had been there 4 days by myself since none of the vette guys showed up, my friend that crews for me sometimes was out of town, and my wife/kids had other activities going on. This is where the mental aspect comes into play. I could tell I was losing motivation and struggling to psych myself up for this race. Sure enough, I was out of sorts on my first lap missing a shift, going too slow, and clearly not as focused as the day before. I was starting pole and was passed on the West side on the first lap by the cup car. It was a nice pass and I remember as he did it I even said to myself "nice pass" . That finally woke me up and flipped a switch as they say. Here is the vid:




But that's racing and a win is a win! Took home a set of hoosiers, a nice Thunderhill Majors jacket, a Sunoco fuel jug, and 2 trophies and checkered flags, and 2 track records (4 if you count qualifying). One thing I kept thinking about in the last race is how much abuse this corvette can take and keep on running. The Synergy engine just goes and goes. The ARE dry sump system is great. The LG control arm bearings and diff/tranny coolers are great. The Turn One steering pump and the diff and tranny prepped by Abel Chevrolet. Plus this weekend qualified me for the Runoffs at Mid Ohio in September. It was a good weekend.

Chili144

When I was racing Superbikes at WSIR we did a walk of the track and your right it puts things in a totally diffrent perspective.

Robert R1

The 4 day solo trek is not easy. Good work pushing through it.

redtopz

Now that I'm qualified for Runoffs, I need to continue focusing on driver improvement and challenging myself. So rather than going to Cal Speedway or Laguna Seca in the vette with NASA, I decided to race Supermiata at Streets of Willow. I had never been to Streets of Willow before and they were running different directions each day so I would have to learn a new track each day all while racing against highly skilled and experienced miata racers. Since I won't go to Mid Ohio before Runoffs, I need to be able to learn a new track quickly and get up to race pace with very few laps.

The way I prepared was to watch a few vids and look at a track map. That allowed me to see the general layout and get an idea of how I would approach each section before I arrived. Unfortunately I had things to do Friday afternoon, so I also had to miss the first session Sat morning. I was a bit off the pace the first couple sessions as expected, but after looking at some data also discovered my car was 8 mph slower at the end of the uphill straight. I had a feeling it was down on power at Chuckwalla as I was unable to draft/pass, but was draft/passed by other cars. So Emilio was kind enough to look at the tune and saw the engine was running way too rich. He made some adjustments and found my missing power.

The first race, I fell on my face at the start. The flag dropped before the last row was even stopped. So I went to last and then had to fight back to my starting position. This weekend was pretty unique in that all the drivers were within around 1 second of eachother in lap times. There were no slow drivers out there which made it a battle from start to finish each race. The 2nd race I started 3rd and worked my way up to first with an aggressive pass. Then I had to hold off Emilio who was faster than me. This gave me some good defensive racing practice and I was happy to get the win.



That night we enjoyed a good dinner made by a professional chef along with craft beers and Sangria. Then we wandered up to the asphalt oval at Willow Springs and watched some very entertaining circle track racing along with at least 100 local fans. It was a fun night!

redtopz

After Saturday's races I realized my ability to set up a vette only translates to miatas so much. That's something I need to start working on as I get more time. Basically, I need a test day or two at Sonoma or Buttonwillow to test shock settings, tire pressures, alignments, ride heights.

Sunday they changed directions to CCW. I think I prefer this direction for racing. It's quite technical and fun. Although, in true Willow Springs fashion, there are places you don't want to go off or miss an apex. I bent a wheel hitting an outside berm in the final race. Race 3, I started dead last since we inverted the grid from Race 2. This is exciting and there's less pressure. It's all about seeing how many cars you can pass and not finish last. I had better starts on Sunday and got around a couple cars at the start. Then followed the pack and another car dropped out with a mechanical. So I finished 4th.

The final race, I started 3rd since 2 cars had to drop out with mechanicals. I had a pretty good start and was battling side by side for a few corners for 2nd until I hit a berm and got a little loose and had to correct, losing speed. Then I had to defend from behind and try to battle for 2nd at the same time. I took the inside line around the oval at a speed that would barely keep me on the track at exit. Unfortunately I had to lift to keep from hitting the silver car and the car behind me wasn't prepared for that and I was bumped off the track to last place. Then it was a good challenge to catch and pass one of the fast drivers out there in the yellow car. He can turn blistering laps in qual but has less racing experience, so I was able to get around him. Good practice for overtaking. And that was it. A great weekend of racing and hanging out with cool people. It was the challenge and learning experience I hoped for.



Pic taken after race when we did a timed emergency evac for practice.

redtopz

So now back to the vette! I'm running an LS2 now, but with the same cam from 2 years ago in T1. It's a smaller cam for a smaller 60 mm restrictor. But now I'm running GT2 with a 75 mm restrictor so I wanted a bigger cam for more top end power. So I took my car to Rick at Synergy for some upgrades and tuning. I also needed to replace my old LG headers that have years of track miles on them and are scraped down to almost nothing. We decided to go with American Racing headers along with Rick's custom rear exhaust using Burn's mufflers to stay under 103 dB. Then they swapped in Rick's new cam, changed the oil, and put the car on the dyno for some tuning. As we hoped, the torque curve was moved further up the rpm range resulting in more power on the top end where I need it (6-7,000 rpm). The smaller cam lost power with the larger restrictor above 6,000 rpm. So this should help a bit at the Runoffs.

Then Rick did a custom NASA tune using the electronic TB which we had never tried before. I always just used small restrictors for NASA which resulted in traditional power curves with a peak and then falling off 30+ hp on the top end. Now with the electronic tuning there is no falling off. It's just flat. Now my car might be fast in NASA if/when I decide to go back . Rick also found my O2 sensors to be faulty and my wideband to be running rich. It's all the attention to detail that matters if you want a fast and reliable car. That's why Synergy is one of the 3 place that I trust with my car, the other two being Abel Chevrolet and TC Design. Looking forward to getting the car back out there. Not sure if I'll just do test days or a race weekend or two before Runoffs.




After 6 years of racing I've only bought 1 set of wheels. Forgestars about 3-4 years ago. After cracking a CCW that came with my car, I knew I needed another set. It sounds like 949 Racing who makes fantastic racing wheels for miatas and other smaller cars might start making wheels for corvettes. This will be awesome. However, I need another set now so I went with Forgestars again. It's hard to beat the price and they have held up very well over the past few years for me and the other vette racers I know. If you need a set of racing wheels pm me and I can get you the info. If you are in no hurry, wait for the 949 wheels.

dapopa9

What make/model camera are you using for your forward facing videos? They look really good.

redtopz

Thanks, it's a go pro 3. It's been pretty reliable overall, but I have missed a few races when it shut itself off. Keeping it charged in the car seems to solve that problem. The wide angle is nice, but it doesn't do justice to how close the cars are. For example, even when we are inches apart or touching, the wide angle makes the other car look 10 feet away. And cars that are 50 feet away look 500 feet away.

RichieRichZ06

Thanks for the updates and keep posting them as you get closer to Run offs and stuff. I think you will do really well with the additional power and small changes you made.

Any other local events you're planning to attend in the future?

dapopa9

My Hero3 I can't really see outside of the car but the inside looks great. Yours has a nice balance on both the inside and outside.

I have the spot meter turned on currently. I need to try it with the spot meter turned off I guess. Do you happen to know which mode your spot meter is in?

redtopz

No plans right now. Super busy at the farm and the summer is booked with other things. I'll just play it by ear.

Yes it looks like spot metering is off on mine.

redtopz

I signed up last minute for my first NASA event of the year. Went to Buttonwillow and tried some new things. Raced ST3 on Saturday and then ST1 on Sunday. Now that we can tune my throttle body, it's easy to get the power level I want. I spent an hour or two on the 7's Only dyno at Buttonwillow playing with the tune to get down to 320 whp since ST3 is 10 lbs/hp. I still need to fine tune the curve, but it was close enough. I had to restrict the TB to around 55%.


Here's a pic of the ST3 dyno curve:



And here is my new ST2 dyno curve. This one was done by Rick, but I added some more power for the dynojet:




ST3 is now using an average power to weight calculation to help cars with peaky power curves compete with V8's. I just used my peak power number of 320 hp to be conservative.

ST3 feels basically identical to ST2 but with less top end power. It's a little easier to drive the car which makes sense since it's the same exact chassis with around 15-20% less power. Some sections of the track become power limited rather than grip limited which means you can stay WOT more of the time. There were 9 ST3 cars and I qualified pole, won the race, and set the track record. Here's a vid of the first few laps to get an idea of the speeds compared to ST1 later.

redtopz

All my other vette buddies moved up to ST1 that weekend so I joined them on Sunday. We didn't have enough ST2 cars since a couple had to drop out but there were 7 or so ST1 cars. This is where the versatility of the corvette is so awesome. Pull out 100 lbs of ballast, retune and now I'm ST1 with around 440 whp and 3100 lbs.

I also signed up for time trials on Sunday and they run a strict group. You are not allowed to go off track and they have meetings after every session like hpde. I was a bad boy...



That extra 120 hp on cold tires and a late stab on the throttle after the kink sent me flying. Then after spending the next hour getting my car as clean as I could and apologizing at the drivers' meeting, I went out for the 2nd session. In the hot pits, some guys pointed at my car and told me I had a flat tire. So I went back to my pit, and swapped a wheel as quickly as I could with my suit and helmet on and barely made it back in time to go on track. But something was seriously wrong with my car. I did a few laps and pulled it in with a vibration and crappy handling. Turns out I didn't just have 1 flat tire, I had 3. One front tire was down to 4 psi and the other was at 14. I permanently screwed up the 4 psi tire. What really sucked, is the qualifying session for the race was immediately following this session so I missed it.




At this time, I almost just loaded up and went home, feeling discouraged. But I rallied and mounted another set of wheels and went out to see if I could get some confidence in my car in the 3rd TT session at 1:30 pm before the 2:45 pm race. Well, with 4 good tires the car sure felt better! I did a 1:51.866 lap going 9/10ths because I didn't want to make another mistake. The good news was I ended up winning TT1 and setting the TT1 lap record by 0.01 sec and winning 2 tires. Glad I stuck it out.

redtopz

Now for the big event, the Sunday ST1 race. I had to start in the back since I missed qualifying. I had a very nice start and after one lap moved up 3 positions. Then it was a battle after a full course caution to see if I could pass the leaders. Here's my vid:



And here's the vid from the stock car in front of me with a rear facing camera:



Frustrating race, but it was a good one. Thanks to my Essex AP Radical brakes for keeping me competitive in the brake zones. And thanks to Synergy for the new engine and exhaust work. The car is pulling nicely at high RPM's now.

Robert R1

It's unique that as drivers we become numb to the speed and don't realize how fast we're actually going until something goes wrong. Glad the car was driveable and good racing as usual Bill.

Credit to the stock car driver so knowing how to use his HP advantage well to maintain his position. Would have been easy enough for someone in his position to not slow down enough and blow the corner.

been a while since we've see the vette! thanks for posting up all the vids.