I was up all night running the track in my head, and dreaming of winning this televised event with my new car. My strategy was to not go out for my first trial until after a handful of cars scrubbed off the morning green conditions. I still wanted to run early to maximize the cooler morning air. We first staged the cars in the ALMS pits across the track for group photos so we didn’t get a chance to get on the track until after 10:00 am. I’m missing my cool window. I was placed in the A group based on predicted lap times, but each car was categorized in one of 7 classes with traditional Time Attack rules. Because my car was on DOT 100 + wear rating tires, has OE front and rear glass, and has license plates, I was placed in limited class, most of the other competitors chose 40 wear rated slicks. Well it didn’t go so well! I took two warm up laps and at 10a I put the hammer down for my first hot lap. The car was handling so well that I was full throttle down the hill through 12 at 140 MPH based on my partial throttle runs two days earlier. The faster speed made a wider 4-wheel drift then the usual 120 MPH run, and I had to decrease the radius very slightly at the track out so I didn’t run out of track. The back end stepped out and I immediately compensated but within that same split second I recognized that I had passed the uncorrectable line that dooms many less experienced car to hit the inside wall. This is the point where I’m in the protect the car and my life mode. Until today I was proud to have a natural skill that keeps me calm and in control in the worse situations and the ability to persuade the out of control. I spun a number of times giving steering input even when backwards to keep me centered between the walls and the track. More then half way down the track the car reached the downward slop of the grass on the far side of the track if you’re facing from the pits. I knew I was doomed to hit the bare concrete wall but I still did my best input to hit it flat and disperse the energy with the side rather then catch a corner. Crash, I was devastated. Pointed backwards against a hard wall I looked for traffic and dropped the clutch to drive the car behind the barrier at turn 1. The crippled car bounced up and down like it had square wheels. I was now behind a hard wall and I had already given the thumbs up to the corner worker so I hopped out of the window to asses the damage. Not so bad, the nose, fender, quarter bumper, splitter, tail light, mirror, winglet and both side wheels are terminal but the lines and all the secondary panels are untouched. I drove the car back to the pits after the session in fear that a wrecker would make things worse. I also drove the car to the races so now I had to borrow a friends trailer to get the car home. The splitter would have got caught on the trailer when I pulled it off so I disassembled the now multi piece honeycomb junk. At this point I opened the hood and trunk to check for hidden damage. Everything looked perfect… my imagination got going… I just crashed my car before the first hot lap in an event where I could have won the class! At this point I put the car on jack stands to remove the bent rims and swap the good ones on the other side, I spun them and hot damn only the rims were bent. Now the rear Moton… it looks OK. What else I thought? Rims and Tires, I have more at home but they all have Hoosiers and that would put me in unlimited class where I know I can’t win (More later). Maybe I could rush to the tire store and have them swap the tires? But I only have one set of 15” front rims, and this tire has a chunk missing. Who can I call? Don Nowak has Toyos but is he home and he runs 17” fronts? Mark Hicks has smaller fronts but I don’t remember the size, so I called them both. Luckily they both have jobs like me and were home and equally important they were both happy to help. Don removed his rear tires and Mark removed his front tires and were at the track within an hour. There’s nothing like the NSX community! While I waited for them I removed the entire front nose because the new design was held up by the now missing splitter, I then ran home to get my alignment string kit and my Smart camber gauge. I put all four new wheels on (The 2 fronts are stock early model OE) and drove the car to the flat scale shack. Mark fueled the car, my wife Denise replaced the already torn off Time Attack number plate, and I strung the car and realigned it to my favorite specs. Both front and rear were opposite tow from where they needed to be. I kept a blind eye to the now bent rear tow arm… The track took my car; the least I could do is try to win the event. I finished the car near the lunch break and filtered various comments from “Dude your crazy driving that beast without it being perfect” to “Hell yeah this is what we want at these events”. Anyway I was on a mission even if I had to finish off the car trying to win. After lunch I pulled out on grid with a nose-less car that looked like something out of a NASCAR brawl. Maybe this wasn’t such a good Idea, the car pushed like it was trying to plane on water. And occasionally it seemed to teeter, so maybe that rear Moton was bent. The high speed turns were scary because you had more input then you were getting back, this makes smooth throttle control critical, if you lift and the car turns as much as the wheels are pointed the car would take me on another ride. The scariest place was near black flag, I don’t know maybe 170 MPH and the car wouldn’t want to turn the kink and would float like on air. Here I would only give the steering it should need and lift to set the car and point me down the hill. I was taught to describe the handling conditions to the tuner but always drive what you have the best it can and to not always expect a perfectly balanced car. My guess is that this guy never drove a car like this. Surprisingly the car ran 1:39 in this condition and I was wishing it was like it was a day ago because it would have easily done the times I predicted. I came in shortly and decided to throw in the towel but some BMW in my class had 1:38 (What’s with me and BMW’s?). I had no improvements to do up front so I decided to try removing my rear wing to better balance the car. Went out in the last session as I saw the BMW pull down to staging. I was thinking “Just what I need High HP, the need for a fast time, no front car and no down force” I couldn’t get a lap without a mistake somewhere but the car was much better, and I was leaving the BMW (who was running Hoosiers by the way). I don’t know what the official AMB track time was but my data acquisition said 1:37 and they announced that I had won the class. I got a lot of offers to write magazine features but my excitement was bitter sweet as it’s going to take a small miracle to get the car 100% by the Championships.
I didnt take any pictures of the carnage but a hand full of magazines did:frown:
Next stop “Parts for Sale” looking for cheap less then perfect parts and a time machine.
Brian- our friends Cory Friedman and Geordie were there with his new 997 GT3 Cup car, he took the other Unlimited class with a 1:30 or 1:31
I didnt take any pictures of the carnage but a hand full of magazines did:frown:
Next stop “Parts for Sale” looking for cheap less then perfect parts and a time machine.
Brian- our friends Cory Friedman and Geordie were there with his new 997 GT3 Cup car, he took the other Unlimited class with a 1:30 or 1:31
We just have the flexibility to work when we want. An unexpected visit to the track results in working 'till midnight, or later (unlike you, I don't have to see patients)! The bottom line, though, is that if an NSXer calls for help, so he can be #1 at the track, I'll drop what I'm doing any day!
