John,
I don't believe I've ever gotten to take a victory lap...
I'm jealous.
I don't believe I've ever gotten to take a victory lap...
I'm jealous.
Team Hudak Racing 2009 Race Season Begins- Official Groupie Thread
- Thread starter john@johnhudakracing
- Start date
Round two. Here are the latest updates, live from the track-side - in regards to all that hot wheel to wheel action up-here in podunk region: :wink:
- First a re-cap for those whom didn't read the entire thread- John has since been promoted to junior race car driver with Adrenaline Racing. The stipulations are that he will be fired for driving too slow, so it is apparently a very demanding position. :smile:
- On Friday I qualified 1st in the hotly contested ITE class in my NSX, just 2/10ths of a second faster than my closest competitor. Suffice to say, when I left the track this evening for dinner, Cameron was still ripping his 400whp STI apart to save the extra 20lbs for the big race tomorrow. This is after buying new brakes and finding another 40whp on the dyno. I think the rookie wants that $2 flag really bad. Maybe I should mount those new tires in the trailer up? No, wait they aren't corded yet... I think I can still make do and save my equipment
:biggrin:
- I qualified 2nd in ST at Nationals today, 4 seconds off Andrew Foley in his Panoz GTS, whom I might add is normally classed in GT-2 but decided instead to run ST so he could do dual entries and get some extra track time. Once again, proving that no one at impound gives a shit so long as you promise to buy beer. :tongue:
- An unfortunate incidental, a familiar acquaintance got a little spooked when he found my car filling up his rear view mirror, and the short of it was that he got into a bad spot and ended up putting his 350Z sea-saw on top of the tire barrier at T12 a few car lengths in front of me. From my front row seat, it had to hurt. I spoke with the driver and officials and everything is ok thou. It sounds like it is going to get fixed tonight.
- It is now 10PM and with some inside help from the pro Honda team, Eddie is still making a few last minute 'modifications' to his fresh new pink SSB Civic SI so he can be assured of delivering his first round of national ass kicking in the morning. With a solid talent pool out there, it looks like it is going to be a close race.
The race will apparently be streamed live online Sunday at 11:45AM and 3:00PM PT at portlandraceway.com
More to follow.....
- First a re-cap for those whom didn't read the entire thread- John has since been promoted to junior race car driver with Adrenaline Racing. The stipulations are that he will be fired for driving too slow, so it is apparently a very demanding position. :smile:
- On Friday I qualified 1st in the hotly contested ITE class in my NSX, just 2/10ths of a second faster than my closest competitor. Suffice to say, when I left the track this evening for dinner, Cameron was still ripping his 400whp STI apart to save the extra 20lbs for the big race tomorrow. This is after buying new brakes and finding another 40whp on the dyno. I think the rookie wants that $2 flag really bad. Maybe I should mount those new tires in the trailer up? No, wait they aren't corded yet... I think I can still make do and save my equipment
:biggrin:- I qualified 2nd in ST at Nationals today, 4 seconds off Andrew Foley in his Panoz GTS, whom I might add is normally classed in GT-2 but decided instead to run ST so he could do dual entries and get some extra track time. Once again, proving that no one at impound gives a shit so long as you promise to buy beer. :tongue:
- An unfortunate incidental, a familiar acquaintance got a little spooked when he found my car filling up his rear view mirror, and the short of it was that he got into a bad spot and ended up putting his 350Z sea-saw on top of the tire barrier at T12 a few car lengths in front of me. From my front row seat, it had to hurt. I spoke with the driver and officials and everything is ok thou. It sounds like it is going to get fixed tonight.
- It is now 10PM and with some inside help from the pro Honda team, Eddie is still making a few last minute 'modifications' to his fresh new pink SSB Civic SI so he can be assured of delivering his first round of national ass kicking in the morning. With a solid talent pool out there, it looks like it is going to be a close race.
The race will apparently be streamed live online Sunday at 11:45AM and 3:00PM PT at portlandraceway.com
More to follow.....
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Results:
Nationals- Driver John Hudak in the FM / Adrenaline Racing NSX finished 1st in the National ST Race on Sunday. At the last minute Andrew didn't show up to pre-grid with his bad-ass Panoz because apparently his wife wouldn't let him off the hook for mothers day. :tongue:
I thus took pole position, held off a GTL for 40 minutes, and took 1st in class and 1st overall. The GTL couldn't quite manage the pace, but still waiting for me to make a mistake out there or get hung in traffic- but it just didn't happen. Video from the start of the race below (I think you'll like this one better Crescent): http://vimeo.com/4587556
Eddie also took 1st in SSB with his new pink (I am sorry, salmon) Civic SI beating his closest competitor by a mere half a bumper width!!
2/2 is not bad day for team AR.
Regionals- The hotly contested ITE race between myself and Cameron Bennar (See Cobb Tunings May 2009 Blog) got interesting as both of our cars managed new horizons of speed- shedding several seconds this weekend due to some setup changes.
But the real story wasn't on a race track- it was in the pits. Let me take you behind the scenes. Due to a flat spot, and the fact that the tire vendors had already left for the weekend... we made a last minute strategic decision to make a mad dash with a friend to his BMW dealership to get some tires mounted/balanced on a Sunday before the next race. We had just 1 hour and 15 minutes to do the job and get back to the track and get me on pre-grid. On the way back, their was an accident on the freeway and it went bumper to bumper. It really looked like I might not show for the race at all. At the last minute, we got past the incident and the traffic broke. I made it to the gate just 5 minutes prior to the crossing!!!
I hopped into my fire suite, and the Adrenaline Racing pit crew had the tires mounted and me on grid just 3 seconds after the 1 minute warning.. so I had to give-up my qualifying position and start at the back of the pack. Talk about having every last second count.
Despite starting at the back of the pack, I picked up like 5 or 8 positions or something ridiculous in like three laps- passing every ITE car, then went on to take a 19+ second spread on the leader.
However, it didn't matter.
Two laps from the end of the race, I ran out of gas and sputtered into the hot pits, silent. Yes, you read that right. Apparently my pit crew put in every drop of fuel we had on hand, but it was a gallon short. Before you ask, no my pit crew didn't have a re-fueling tower on hand for those 15 second JGTC rapid fill-ups. But we will now. LOL. I suppose more than anything- I just felt very let down by Honda this past Sunday, I thought these things were supposed to have great fuel economy at 16 city/22 highway.... and I am getting just 7-8 mpg out there. What's that all about? Why no circuit rating on the monroney stickers?
Despite all the drama- I still finished 4th, ahead of just 1 car in class whom also went down with a mechanical.
Lessons Learned- If you are reading this, congratulations to you Cameron- a win is a win, and this weekend goes to show that speed isn't everything out there.... you always still have to show-up and finish to win, and that isn't always as easy as it sounds. Another interesting lesson is that you can win the battle and still lose the war, and we'll be geting to that here shortly. :wink: :biggrin:
Bring your car down to the shop, come out to the PCA day, and we'll work on getting ourselves and our cars better matched without blowing shit up or having a battle of the Visa's out there = more fun all around for both of us.
- John
Paddock:
National:
Regional:
Nationals- Driver John Hudak in the FM / Adrenaline Racing NSX finished 1st in the National ST Race on Sunday. At the last minute Andrew didn't show up to pre-grid with his bad-ass Panoz because apparently his wife wouldn't let him off the hook for mothers day. :tongue:
I thus took pole position, held off a GTL for 40 minutes, and took 1st in class and 1st overall. The GTL couldn't quite manage the pace, but still waiting for me to make a mistake out there or get hung in traffic- but it just didn't happen. Video from the start of the race below (I think you'll like this one better Crescent): http://vimeo.com/4587556
Eddie also took 1st in SSB with his new pink (I am sorry, salmon) Civic SI beating his closest competitor by a mere half a bumper width!!
2/2 is not bad day for team AR.
Regionals- The hotly contested ITE race between myself and Cameron Bennar (See Cobb Tunings May 2009 Blog) got interesting as both of our cars managed new horizons of speed- shedding several seconds this weekend due to some setup changes.
But the real story wasn't on a race track- it was in the pits. Let me take you behind the scenes. Due to a flat spot, and the fact that the tire vendors had already left for the weekend... we made a last minute strategic decision to make a mad dash with a friend to his BMW dealership to get some tires mounted/balanced on a Sunday before the next race. We had just 1 hour and 15 minutes to do the job and get back to the track and get me on pre-grid. On the way back, their was an accident on the freeway and it went bumper to bumper. It really looked like I might not show for the race at all. At the last minute, we got past the incident and the traffic broke. I made it to the gate just 5 minutes prior to the crossing!!!
I hopped into my fire suite, and the Adrenaline Racing pit crew had the tires mounted and me on grid just 3 seconds after the 1 minute warning.. so I had to give-up my qualifying position and start at the back of the pack. Talk about having every last second count.
Despite starting at the back of the pack, I picked up like 5 or 8 positions or something ridiculous in like three laps- passing every ITE car, then went on to take a 19+ second spread on the leader.
However, it didn't matter.
Two laps from the end of the race, I ran out of gas and sputtered into the hot pits, silent. Yes, you read that right. Apparently my pit crew put in every drop of fuel we had on hand, but it was a gallon short. Before you ask, no my pit crew didn't have a re-fueling tower on hand for those 15 second JGTC rapid fill-ups. But we will now. LOL. I suppose more than anything- I just felt very let down by Honda this past Sunday, I thought these things were supposed to have great fuel economy at 16 city/22 highway.... and I am getting just 7-8 mpg out there. What's that all about? Why no circuit rating on the monroney stickers?
Despite all the drama- I still finished 4th, ahead of just 1 car in class whom also went down with a mechanical.
Lessons Learned- If you are reading this, congratulations to you Cameron- a win is a win, and this weekend goes to show that speed isn't everything out there.... you always still have to show-up and finish to win, and that isn't always as easy as it sounds. Another interesting lesson is that you can win the battle and still lose the war, and we'll be geting to that here shortly. :wink: :biggrin:
Bring your car down to the shop, come out to the PCA day, and we'll work on getting ourselves and our cars better matched without blowing shit up or having a battle of the Visa's out there = more fun all around for both of us.
- John
Paddock:
National:
Regional:
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Congrats indeed. And if you are getting 7-8 mpg, you must be doing better than us at 6 mpg :tongue:
:tongue:
This past weekend I ran my NSX at the 49th annual Rose Cup races at Portland. I did the best on the setup I had all things considered, and earned 2nd in class in both races- finishing 8th out of 18 cars overall on Saturday, and 10th out of 16 cars overall on Sunday.
Video forthcoming, while below is my weekend summary blog...
Round 1 - Practice
I got to run with the big boys this weekend- literally. We ran joint practice with the Pro Trans-Am cars, which was interesting. For those of you whom love massive hp, fast straight line acceleration, and for god knows what reason are on nsxprime- here is my commentary: holy $#%^F good God!!! 1:10 !!! Are you serious? Really??!? Forget car lengths as a unit of measure. Football fields is the appropriate unit of measure. I know now what it is like to have a car pull an entire straight away (or two, or three) on me. NSX a little under-powered relative to a 900hp NASCAR engine? You think? I hit like 129mph on this short straight-away and they are hitting like 190mph. Wow. When Cindi Lux says she feels like she just brought a knife to a gun fight- I know it may be difficult times ahead for an NSX. My strategy / advice: don't get run over out there.
I also began sensing a developing problem on a more immediate competitive front- Cameron's STI was running faster. Noticeably, significantly faster than before.
The tables have turned in a big way. I can no longer wedge by under braking. I can no longer get close enough to poke my nose in and hang. While still kicking my ass on every straight away, he is also now picking up comparable extra time in the corners and under braking, and my all-aluminum mid engine handling advantage that was previously bridging the 150-200hp+ gap between us is fast evaporating before my eyes. I can tell that with every lap he takes he is getting more accustomed to his new go-fast goodies. Not good.
The situation is that apparently our joint crew chief (Eddie) tried to narrow the gap between our cars, and out-did himself. Eddie's tire, brake, aero, and suspension advice now has Cameron's car running a consistent 2.5-3.0 seconds a lap faster than my NSX!! The huge wing, wider wheels, Hoosiers, Cobalts, and alignment shed the time on Cameron's car. Unfortunately, I already did all that years ago. :frown:
Now what?
I am getting pushed around out there, still can't get my ABS working, and my front right has a developing flat spot that is only getting worse. It has been 5 laps and I already know it is going to be a long weekend.
Round 1 - Qualifying
I score a free FR tire and get it mounted. 6 laps out and I can't punch a hole in traffic and get a clean lap to save my life. My tires are fast heating up, and I need to get the job done right now. I pull into the hot pits for a pressure check, and on my-out-lap notice a mechanical situation developing. The car feels horrible. I come in with 10lbs in my RR tire. I have a leak. Shit. I must have picked up a puncture from parking on gravel. We drop 25 psi in it and I pull off a 1:27 and come in. The rear tire has bulged/buckled from the low pressure and heat, the sidewall is ruined from the outside in. My day is over.
Meanwhile, Cameron punches out a 1:23.X which is within range of Cobb's time attack car. Which is great, just not for me. Things are just getting worse.
It is 9 O' Clock in the pits- I am staring at my NSX thinking: F----- what do the pro teams do when they show up at a race and are 3 whole seconds a lap off their competitor? What would Audi do?
I'd call them and ask, but they are at Le Mans this weekend.
Round 1 - Race
I get a spare rear tire mounted up. I do the only thing I can do: push hard and hope he makes a mistake or his car brakes. I still have the Honda reliability advantage. It's worked for me before. Green flag drops and it is into T1. It's now 10 seconds into the race, a car spins in the chicane, and both of us just miss the mess.
I do what I can to keep up, but he hits the back straight, then to the front straight away, and he is pretty much gone from view. Damn. I push the NSX in every corner as much as I can, and once again eventually over-work my front tires. I consequently lose more time in a never-ending tank slapper spin.
I re-compose myself, and try to catch up with the pace car that is now out from another incident. Cameron is sweating it out, but I can't cover the ground in time. I pick-off the remaining class cars, and take 2nd.
Round 2 - Qualifying
The strategy was clear: run a time that gets me ahead of most of the traffic (second), do it by using the car as little as possible, and save my equipment because qualifying in front of Cameron is flat out not going to happen for me this weekend. The grid is light enough where it won't really matter anyway. So, that's what I did.
Round 2 - Race
I decide to run consistent, yet push hard early and do what I can to stay up there. I do what I can but the car is under-steering at mid-corner and I can't get the tail end to do what I want and save the fronts. It feels down on grip everywhere with the staggered heat cycled tires. I am churning out consistent 1:26 flat's on this setup, so I am 1 second off-pace even from last race. Cameron is again gaining serious ground, with little wheel to wheel action happening for me anymore. Yet, each lap gives me more resolve to push that extra little bit while trying to keep the car together for 40 minutes. Yoda appears on my dash. He's Asian. He says to me "Just drive faster John". I once again try to drive like Pong would.
I push the car over the top and find myself facing the wrong direction at the track-out of T5. I see a red ITE 944 wizz by, and decide to pick a different battle that I have a chance to actually win, and decide to forget Cameron, hang back and just run my own race and bring my car home in one piece.
Lap after lap with the red 944, trading positions, pushing each other around, flying in the air over both the rumble strips in the chicane, and finally he screws up and spins off and I take his only chance at 2nd away.
Cameron finishes pole having somehow churned out a 1.22.3 how-on-goods-earth-did-you-do-that lap..... but unfortunately tangled with Monte Sheldon's dry carbon (likely one the more expensive cars on course) took out his headlight cover, bumper, and fender- and well almost took out his radiator and DNF'd
SIGH.
A bitter sweet, sour tasting end to a long weekend all around. Hope it was all worth it?
Overall
I need to buy more speed from my dealer.
Everyone sees it. While I corner with the best- with just ~250rwhp out of a junk yard 3L, the fact is that I am by far one of the most under-powered cars in Group C. To compound it, I am getting killed by drag with my high down-force body work on a HP track like Portland. My primary advantage turns into a disadvantage, and I get pulled on by a 944, forget a 600hp unrestricted comp coupe.
So, if 1st was the goal, the truth is that I was done long before I ever made it to the track this event. You have to pick the battles you can win. 3+ seconds on a 2 mile road course is not often one of them.
I guess that is the real story behind motor-sports- albeit that hot unlimited ITE regional podunk action or F1. It's often just as much a battle that is waged on the shop floor then at any race track. Huge VISA cards where the only real clear winner is your local go-fast shop (in this case Eddie) is quite often the norm.
After patiently waiting for 8 years, I guess if nothing else I can finally say with confidence: I could finally really use some more power out there. Data logs don't lie, and swapping drivers buys maybe 1mph and 1" now.
I am half way through the season, and it is now time for me to buckle down and decide on my next steps. Do I take a huge hit from the go-fast crack pipe and go FI? Shelf it and start tuning for the Enduro?
Thanks to all.
Above all else, thanks to Eddie, and my crew (Brian, E, Dave, & gang) at Adrenaline Racing. Even thou my team went to the dark side of the force, tuned for the competition, and I lost, what really counts is that I couldn't be running at all without their support. Further thanks to Ross at STMPO for his continued support through-out what is shaping up to be a nail biting year of go-fast crack adventure. Adam for parking my trailer (we would seriously never get it in withou you). Dave Levy for the brakes, Don C. for the test n' tune track time. Garth at Trackside for the tires. Joe. OR SCCA. FM, Everyone, thanks!!
I also have to offer that being my first Rose Cup- this experience was a fantastic calibration weekend. Even thou I had to take a 2nd in ITE, and got ran over at 8 seconds a lap in STO, it was still absolutely awesome driving with the big boys, and being on track with Pro Speed Vision World Challenge GT Driver Cindy Lux in her Mopar Dodge Viper Competition Coupe.
I am not sweating it, because the 49th Annual Rose Cup is really just practice for the 50th. :wink:
Video forthcoming, while below is my weekend summary blog...
Round 1 - Practice
I got to run with the big boys this weekend- literally. We ran joint practice with the Pro Trans-Am cars, which was interesting. For those of you whom love massive hp, fast straight line acceleration, and for god knows what reason are on nsxprime- here is my commentary: holy $#%^F good God!!! 1:10 !!! Are you serious? Really??!? Forget car lengths as a unit of measure. Football fields is the appropriate unit of measure. I know now what it is like to have a car pull an entire straight away (or two, or three) on me. NSX a little under-powered relative to a 900hp NASCAR engine? You think? I hit like 129mph on this short straight-away and they are hitting like 190mph. Wow. When Cindi Lux says she feels like she just brought a knife to a gun fight- I know it may be difficult times ahead for an NSX. My strategy / advice: don't get run over out there.
I also began sensing a developing problem on a more immediate competitive front- Cameron's STI was running faster. Noticeably, significantly faster than before.
The tables have turned in a big way. I can no longer wedge by under braking. I can no longer get close enough to poke my nose in and hang. While still kicking my ass on every straight away, he is also now picking up comparable extra time in the corners and under braking, and my all-aluminum mid engine handling advantage that was previously bridging the 150-200hp+ gap between us is fast evaporating before my eyes. I can tell that with every lap he takes he is getting more accustomed to his new go-fast goodies. Not good.
The situation is that apparently our joint crew chief (Eddie) tried to narrow the gap between our cars, and out-did himself. Eddie's tire, brake, aero, and suspension advice now has Cameron's car running a consistent 2.5-3.0 seconds a lap faster than my NSX!! The huge wing, wider wheels, Hoosiers, Cobalts, and alignment shed the time on Cameron's car. Unfortunately, I already did all that years ago. :frown:
Now what?
I am getting pushed around out there, still can't get my ABS working, and my front right has a developing flat spot that is only getting worse. It has been 5 laps and I already know it is going to be a long weekend.
Round 1 - Qualifying
I score a free FR tire and get it mounted. 6 laps out and I can't punch a hole in traffic and get a clean lap to save my life. My tires are fast heating up, and I need to get the job done right now. I pull into the hot pits for a pressure check, and on my-out-lap notice a mechanical situation developing. The car feels horrible. I come in with 10lbs in my RR tire. I have a leak. Shit. I must have picked up a puncture from parking on gravel. We drop 25 psi in it and I pull off a 1:27 and come in. The rear tire has bulged/buckled from the low pressure and heat, the sidewall is ruined from the outside in. My day is over.
Meanwhile, Cameron punches out a 1:23.X which is within range of Cobb's time attack car. Which is great, just not for me. Things are just getting worse.
It is 9 O' Clock in the pits- I am staring at my NSX thinking: F----- what do the pro teams do when they show up at a race and are 3 whole seconds a lap off their competitor? What would Audi do?
I'd call them and ask, but they are at Le Mans this weekend.
Round 1 - Race
I get a spare rear tire mounted up. I do the only thing I can do: push hard and hope he makes a mistake or his car brakes. I still have the Honda reliability advantage. It's worked for me before. Green flag drops and it is into T1. It's now 10 seconds into the race, a car spins in the chicane, and both of us just miss the mess.
I do what I can to keep up, but he hits the back straight, then to the front straight away, and he is pretty much gone from view. Damn. I push the NSX in every corner as much as I can, and once again eventually over-work my front tires. I consequently lose more time in a never-ending tank slapper spin.
I re-compose myself, and try to catch up with the pace car that is now out from another incident. Cameron is sweating it out, but I can't cover the ground in time. I pick-off the remaining class cars, and take 2nd.
Round 2 - Qualifying
The strategy was clear: run a time that gets me ahead of most of the traffic (second), do it by using the car as little as possible, and save my equipment because qualifying in front of Cameron is flat out not going to happen for me this weekend. The grid is light enough where it won't really matter anyway. So, that's what I did.
Round 2 - Race
I decide to run consistent, yet push hard early and do what I can to stay up there. I do what I can but the car is under-steering at mid-corner and I can't get the tail end to do what I want and save the fronts. It feels down on grip everywhere with the staggered heat cycled tires. I am churning out consistent 1:26 flat's on this setup, so I am 1 second off-pace even from last race. Cameron is again gaining serious ground, with little wheel to wheel action happening for me anymore. Yet, each lap gives me more resolve to push that extra little bit while trying to keep the car together for 40 minutes. Yoda appears on my dash. He's Asian. He says to me "Just drive faster John". I once again try to drive like Pong would.
I push the car over the top and find myself facing the wrong direction at the track-out of T5. I see a red ITE 944 wizz by, and decide to pick a different battle that I have a chance to actually win, and decide to forget Cameron, hang back and just run my own race and bring my car home in one piece.
Lap after lap with the red 944, trading positions, pushing each other around, flying in the air over both the rumble strips in the chicane, and finally he screws up and spins off and I take his only chance at 2nd away.
Cameron finishes pole having somehow churned out a 1.22.3 how-on-goods-earth-did-you-do-that lap..... but unfortunately tangled with Monte Sheldon's dry carbon (likely one the more expensive cars on course) took out his headlight cover, bumper, and fender- and well almost took out his radiator and DNF'd
SIGH.
A bitter sweet, sour tasting end to a long weekend all around. Hope it was all worth it?
Overall
I need to buy more speed from my dealer.
Everyone sees it. While I corner with the best- with just ~250rwhp out of a junk yard 3L, the fact is that I am by far one of the most under-powered cars in Group C. To compound it, I am getting killed by drag with my high down-force body work on a HP track like Portland. My primary advantage turns into a disadvantage, and I get pulled on by a 944, forget a 600hp unrestricted comp coupe.
So, if 1st was the goal, the truth is that I was done long before I ever made it to the track this event. You have to pick the battles you can win. 3+ seconds on a 2 mile road course is not often one of them.
I guess that is the real story behind motor-sports- albeit that hot unlimited ITE regional podunk action or F1. It's often just as much a battle that is waged on the shop floor then at any race track. Huge VISA cards where the only real clear winner is your local go-fast shop (in this case Eddie) is quite often the norm.
After patiently waiting for 8 years, I guess if nothing else I can finally say with confidence: I could finally really use some more power out there. Data logs don't lie, and swapping drivers buys maybe 1mph and 1" now.
I am half way through the season, and it is now time for me to buckle down and decide on my next steps. Do I take a huge hit from the go-fast crack pipe and go FI? Shelf it and start tuning for the Enduro?
Thanks to all.
Above all else, thanks to Eddie, and my crew (Brian, E, Dave, & gang) at Adrenaline Racing. Even thou my team went to the dark side of the force, tuned for the competition, and I lost, what really counts is that I couldn't be running at all without their support. Further thanks to Ross at STMPO for his continued support through-out what is shaping up to be a nail biting year of go-fast crack adventure. Adam for parking my trailer (we would seriously never get it in withou you). Dave Levy for the brakes, Don C. for the test n' tune track time. Garth at Trackside for the tires. Joe. OR SCCA. FM, Everyone, thanks!!
I also have to offer that being my first Rose Cup- this experience was a fantastic calibration weekend. Even thou I had to take a 2nd in ITE, and got ran over at 8 seconds a lap in STO, it was still absolutely awesome driving with the big boys, and being on track with Pro Speed Vision World Challenge GT Driver Cindy Lux in her Mopar Dodge Viper Competition Coupe.
I am not sweating it, because the 49th Annual Rose Cup is really just practice for the 50th. :wink:
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Sounds like you need a STMPO Turbo or SOSSC. :biggrin:
For ITE, which is essentially unlimited- probably wouldn't hurt non-with-standing the fact that at the top tuning limit- you won't have as many people to race with = less fun. I'm also not entirely convinced yet their aren't alternatives. Like driving faster. We'll see. I will be driving an SSB civic this weekend at ORP. Maybe I will learn something new. :wink:
For STO, I'm going to need a lot more than that to ever compete against Cindy Lux in Speed GT. Loaded- her tow rig is probably worth more than most people's houses. Nice houses. Seriously, with no throttle plate restrictor running 1:17's (that's with the chicane) she passed me and Cameron like we were standing still. I think ITE Exists just to make GT cars look faster by comparison for the spectators. :biggrin:
If I go FI, it is likely going to be a super charger.
While recently approved my body work- the SCCA National Competition Board wouldn't approve a turbo, and I am already at class minimum weight. While they recognize that FI is needed to make the NSX competitive, you have to follow the rules. So SC it would need to be, in order to continue to still have the option to run dual entries / maximize my track time.
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Videos are up / as they become available:
49th Annual Rose Cup Races- Portland Raceway Group C Race #1 Start - ITE Driver John Hudak #71 Adrenaline Racing NSX
49th Annual Rose Cup Races- Portland Raceway Group C Race #2 Complete - ITE Driver John Hudak #71 Adrenaline Racing NSX
Video Coverage from Rose-Cup that was just released. Epic in-car video in the trans-am cars.
Pictures:
http://www.photosport.net/
http://www.pdxsports.com/photos/showindex.asp?folder=2009RoseCup
49th Annual Rose Cup Races- Portland Raceway Group C Race #1 Start - ITE Driver John Hudak #71 Adrenaline Racing NSX
49th Annual Rose Cup Races- Portland Raceway Group C Race #2 Complete - ITE Driver John Hudak #71 Adrenaline Racing NSX
Video Coverage from Rose-Cup that was just released. Epic in-car video in the trans-am cars.
Pictures:
http://www.photosport.net/
http://www.pdxsports.com/photos/showindex.asp?folder=2009RoseCup
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John we all empathize.... every one that tracks an NSX knows the feeling of watching cars pull away from you on the straights disappearing over the horizon. 
Hell, even that 944 turbo was pulling on the NSX. The sooner you admit that our cars are all show and no go, the sooner you will be on the road to the FI crack den.
Hell, even that 944 turbo was pulling on the NSX. The sooner you admit that our cars are all show and no go, the sooner you will be on the road to the FI crack den.
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Not "All" :wink:every one that tracks an NSX knows the feeling of watching cars pull away from you on the straights disappearing over the horizon.
It seems the only thing that helps is getting a good corner exit. But good God Almighty, I know exactly the feeling described above. All the hard work in braking, shifting right, and getting a good corner exit disappears to some jerk-off yahoo in a 800hp Viper running 335s.
John, sounds like a CTSC or a SOS SC are your best bets. You've spent buckets on the body kit so spend a little on FI (easier said than done). Brother, If I had the dough, I'd sponsor you.
Maybe they could make it like Formula D where you get extra positions for bling? Shit, then I could just pull into the hot pits for an ice-cream break, then do some donuts in the chicane before finishing the race off. :tongue:
Apparently Billy doesn't quite know what we are talking about on this one. He'll probably still be riding that adrenaline high from that 1:18 well into next month. :biggrin:
Then I can start going through engines.
Then he said he is just going to go buy a GT35, and after that I'll need a low comp build to run high boost, then it will be who gets the EMI suspension tuning done first, then who shows up to pre-grid in a Lola T-92, and so on and so forth until one of us eventually runs out of money.
What is ultimately to be gained by getting sucked into a pissing match of who can out-spend the other over a $5 regional club trophy? To me, it defeats the entire point. I've never wanted a faster car, just a reasonably competitive car and the target in our region seems to be 1:23-1:27 for the class- so that's what I am doing. I am willing to do what I need to inside a reasonable envelope, and see if I can find some time and play catch up I guess, but their is always a tipping point of diminishing returns.
Last year the winning ITE car with 650hp used to show up and run 1:19's (5 seconds ahead of the entire class pack), and took the checkered flag every-time (unless it broke). I've done the same thing to other slower cars, and my opinion is that it is never a win to be proud of. Vin Diesel may well choose to disagree.
It seems to me that SCCA sets the stage, but ultimately things are what you make of it. At the end of the day you have to ask yourself- what are you trying to get out this?
I think spending thousands between weekends developing the car in the middle of the season, so you can destroy each other at the next race is the wrong approach. I don't see any other racers doing that in the paddock. What is to be gained? Then you get to show up and spend yet thousands more and not see any actual bumper-to-bumper or wheel-to-wheel action... nor get to develop the driver because you don't have anyone really to race with.... and you end up with a race car that breaks all the time..... and you probably can't afford to maintain over the long-haul.
Is that the light at the end of the tunnel? If you follow it to the letter the ITE rule book says yes.
But, I would like to race / run my season better than that.
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There was a pretty good dog-fight in my class this past weekend at the August Race! With all the close-quarters action, if it wasn't for the huge wings and obnoxious body work, you might have easily thought we were running in SSB out there! LOL.
While perhaps not having the fastest car in class, I had my shot, I ran strong, I kept everyone honest, and I took 2nd in class in ITE in both the sprint as well as the main race. I learned a lot about setup and race craft, and everyone in the paddock seemed to just have so much fun! Weekend summary below:
Preparation
Well, where did my blog leave off last time? Oh, yes... we established that the key to performing well in an unlimited class is in fact proper preparation (i.e. spending money). So, I worked really hard and made some. However, by my calculations it still seems that Team Hudak racing only has 0.00008 % of Ferrari's annual F1 budget to work with here. SIGH. The good news is that I am on-track to get a promotion, so it could go to 0.000081% next year so Enzo Gonzo & his muppets better look out!
Either way, harboring little desire to find out who can out-spend the other and being preferential to continue using ITE to develop myself and my game, I just stuck to the essentials. One thing I know all about is the value of maintenance. While it didn’t call for a three and a half hour service interval in the factory service manual…. I went ahead anyway and changed the oil and bleed the brakes ($70) anyway, ordered new front brake pads ($320), ordered new rear R6's in case we needed them ($740). Pre-paid the entry fee. $320. Fuel $190. Food $75. Paid my pit Crew ($TBD), and on an impulse buy stopped by the trailer shop and picked up a weight distribution hitch for my tow vehicle ($420).
Grand Total: just ~$2,400 or whatever to drive my cute little Honda this weekend! Clearly, a testament to Team Hudak's effective & lean budgeting in these tough economic times. A model for future readers of Speed Secrets 2099 Special Edition.
I also began to look forward and start planning for the 2010 race season, which should be good as I am hoping to maybe do something different.
Friday Night, Late
As I can't do it all myself anymore- Team Hudak racing has since hired Kyle K. to serve as its new acting crew chief & race engineer. The way it works is that all of my decision-making rights have since been revoked. No worries thou, having been conceived at a race track, Kyle knows what he is doing here (it is in his blood). He was quickly brought up to speed with both the driver and vehicle assessed. He was empowered to make all decisions on the strategy, setup, car & and in general run my race effort for me; while I was relegated to simply driving the vehicle and doing what he tells me to.
On the competitive front, the rumor was that while the transmission is now re-built, Cameron's Surgeline/Crawford Tuned STI was developing boost problems, running ridiculously rich. The word at this point is that Team Hudak might actually have a fighting chance as he is significantly down on power for this event (i.e. could be 375 instead of 450 who knows). I also hear there were also issues with the team's tow rig (a Chrysler product). Maybe they need to retain Team Hudak's towing services?!? Hmm.....
Saturday, Morning Practice
The course configuration was changed to straight-through (no chicane) for this event, so it was our belief that it gave a further advantage to the higher horse-power and lower drag cars. Strike 1 for us, as any other advantage is probably now going to be lost on this configuration. The flip side is I don’t get an aero advantage at such low mid corner speeds nor have the torque on exit, but by the end of the weekend we’ll have separated the theory from the reality here.
We used practice and qualifying for testing, and to collect data on the car. It wasn't long before we found the right tire pressures and got a few misc. issues remedied. The video helped a great deal to ascertain driver performance and spot mistakes, while we used the data logger to monitor entry & straight line speeds as we made aerodynamic changes to try and minimize drag.
During de-brief I also think we found a few areas to touch up on my line that could be worth a tenth here or there, and have some ideas on setup, so I am very excited about applying that at my next test & tune day.
Saturday, Afternoon Qualifying
I don't know what Kyle did, but out of the gate the car felt really good! Often times, it's the little things that count the most, and the car felt better than it ever had before on the entry to all the right handers. We played with the pressures some more, and found the G spot.
I qualified 2nd in ITE with a 1:18:64 - which while a decent clip, is still a second and a half off from my best times on this course configuration. It sounds a little high to me but given the ambient temps out it could be well ok on my current setup. I am mindful that while again a consistent 3 full seconds off the class leader (Cameron ran a 1:15:X), it is still just shy of .8 seconds faster than Jim Bushnell's and 1.5 off Val Korry's 911's... so it is still shaping up to be close enough where I better not screw anything up.
Sunday Morning Sprint Race
The sprint race got off to a good start. I think my problem on my starts has been that my car sits so low I can't see start/finish, so I can say that a radio and spotter would be an advantage for me. Shit, now I need to expand my crew again. I tucked up close, and tried to push the rules and pull slightly out of line to get line-of-sight on the flag station, but SCCA caught it and gave me an advisory warning. I guess it is hard to not miss the yellow wide-body NSX in the pack pulling out of formation like a jack-ass.
I managed to take the lead and hang with the class leader for a little awhile, but then things opened up so I just ran my own race. I pushed pretty hard but focused on being consistent, thinking that if I could pace myself better over the 15 minutes I had a fighting chance. At the 12 minute mark, I realized that maybe I over did it because the braking and turn-in to T1 began to take its toll on my fronts and my times were starting to drop off slightly. I became concerned about jeopardizing my position as the closing gap between myself in the 2nd position and Jim back there in 3rd was narrowing. Luckily the checkered came out and I held-on to my position. In general, I ran pretty consistent 1:18-19’s and performed well and without incident.
Sunday Afternoon Main Race
I got a strong (and legal) start and managed to slip by Cameron not long after the green came out. As he still had the faster car, I knew I now had to fend him off for 35 full minutes nose to tail. However, I’ve seen this kind of race before, because I saw what Eddie did to Lance Stewart last year in SSB when he was the under-dog. I buckled-down for what I knew was going to be a long, long, stint.
For the next twenty minutes myself and Cameron went nose to tail like an out-of-control train with an 8 yr old at the helm. I used every advantage I could find to keep Cameron behind me. I protected the inside line on the corner preceding the straight-aways, split the track so he couldn’t get around me in T7, I drafted every other car on course I could find to try and pull some distance, I tried to use the traffic to my advantage, I tried to keep him out of what I suspected was his optimum power band so he couldn’t get a run on me coming on to the straight-aways.
With every passing lap I lead the race, I just wanted the race to be over. Cameron must have had tuning issues because he didn’t have the power to nose by, and so was trying to go deeper into the braking zones and wear me down. In turn, I did what I could to not let him push me too far and lock up my inside fronts and screw up. John was quoted as saying: "I knew if Cameron got around me, it would be game over. He could quickly have thrown a lot of distance and even a few cars between us and I would never have gotten back by." You read that right, I am now quoting myself in the 3rd person- but yes that is in fact exactly what happened and turned the tides of the race.
Showing signs of desperation, with likely an uncertain number of laps to go, Cameron made his move and dive bombed me on the inside going into T1 at 145+mph. I saw a move coming and went-in deep but quickly realized that I had left too much space on the inside. I recall thinking for a moment that I was actually surprised how deep /fast he came in without losing his composure. I tried to protect the inside line and didn’t want to be seen as unfairly blocking, but perhaps what I was really thinking about was the consequences of a 3,000+ production sedan T-Boning my RR quarter at 80mph and taking us both out of the season. I made the split second decision to straighten out and open up enough to give him his due racing room, knowing full well what that meant. My car felt a little unsettled, and I tried to complete the transition and get back on throttle, but the damage was done when I could see his tail lights. I couldn't catch him in T7, then pulled out too early from his draft into T10 and knew that I had given away 1st.
He got back on pace and pulled a decent gap in short time, with what was likely a pent-up reserve of car left, then Cameron crossed the finish line, sputtering on fumes. I stepped out of the car at impound, light headed. It has never been so hot in my cockpit before. I need to add a window vent and buy a cool-suite.
Overall, I am proud of my performance out there yesterday, have few regrets, and can say I gave it my best while keeping it safe. I felt like this time I at least had a fair shot, and I think we both had a better time because of it. Next stop October.
Credits
Thanks here goes to Kyle K. for his amazing work in the hot pits, Adrenaline Racing for keeping my ride running smooth, and of course Ross at STMPO Race Products for his self-less actions, and the on-going sponsorship and R&D!!
Pictures & Video To Follow.
Update: Video of the main race to appear here:
http://vimeo.com/6054082
Also, some contributory track-side footage courtesy Team Bennar's videographer:
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While perhaps not having the fastest car in class, I had my shot, I ran strong, I kept everyone honest, and I took 2nd in class in ITE in both the sprint as well as the main race. I learned a lot about setup and race craft, and everyone in the paddock seemed to just have so much fun! Weekend summary below:
Preparation
Well, where did my blog leave off last time? Oh, yes... we established that the key to performing well in an unlimited class is in fact proper preparation (i.e. spending money). So, I worked really hard and made some. However, by my calculations it still seems that Team Hudak racing only has 0.00008 % of Ferrari's annual F1 budget to work with here. SIGH. The good news is that I am on-track to get a promotion, so it could go to 0.000081% next year so Enzo Gonzo & his muppets better look out!
Either way, harboring little desire to find out who can out-spend the other and being preferential to continue using ITE to develop myself and my game, I just stuck to the essentials. One thing I know all about is the value of maintenance. While it didn’t call for a three and a half hour service interval in the factory service manual…. I went ahead anyway and changed the oil and bleed the brakes ($70) anyway, ordered new front brake pads ($320), ordered new rear R6's in case we needed them ($740). Pre-paid the entry fee. $320. Fuel $190. Food $75. Paid my pit Crew ($TBD), and on an impulse buy stopped by the trailer shop and picked up a weight distribution hitch for my tow vehicle ($420).
Grand Total: just ~$2,400 or whatever to drive my cute little Honda this weekend! Clearly, a testament to Team Hudak's effective & lean budgeting in these tough economic times. A model for future readers of Speed Secrets 2099 Special Edition.
I also began to look forward and start planning for the 2010 race season, which should be good as I am hoping to maybe do something different.
Friday Night, Late
As I can't do it all myself anymore- Team Hudak racing has since hired Kyle K. to serve as its new acting crew chief & race engineer. The way it works is that all of my decision-making rights have since been revoked. No worries thou, having been conceived at a race track, Kyle knows what he is doing here (it is in his blood). He was quickly brought up to speed with both the driver and vehicle assessed. He was empowered to make all decisions on the strategy, setup, car & and in general run my race effort for me; while I was relegated to simply driving the vehicle and doing what he tells me to.
On the competitive front, the rumor was that while the transmission is now re-built, Cameron's Surgeline/Crawford Tuned STI was developing boost problems, running ridiculously rich. The word at this point is that Team Hudak might actually have a fighting chance as he is significantly down on power for this event (i.e. could be 375 instead of 450 who knows). I also hear there were also issues with the team's tow rig (a Chrysler product). Maybe they need to retain Team Hudak's towing services?!? Hmm.....
Saturday, Morning Practice
The course configuration was changed to straight-through (no chicane) for this event, so it was our belief that it gave a further advantage to the higher horse-power and lower drag cars. Strike 1 for us, as any other advantage is probably now going to be lost on this configuration. The flip side is I don’t get an aero advantage at such low mid corner speeds nor have the torque on exit, but by the end of the weekend we’ll have separated the theory from the reality here.
We used practice and qualifying for testing, and to collect data on the car. It wasn't long before we found the right tire pressures and got a few misc. issues remedied. The video helped a great deal to ascertain driver performance and spot mistakes, while we used the data logger to monitor entry & straight line speeds as we made aerodynamic changes to try and minimize drag.
During de-brief I also think we found a few areas to touch up on my line that could be worth a tenth here or there, and have some ideas on setup, so I am very excited about applying that at my next test & tune day.
Saturday, Afternoon Qualifying
I don't know what Kyle did, but out of the gate the car felt really good! Often times, it's the little things that count the most, and the car felt better than it ever had before on the entry to all the right handers. We played with the pressures some more, and found the G spot.
I qualified 2nd in ITE with a 1:18:64 - which while a decent clip, is still a second and a half off from my best times on this course configuration. It sounds a little high to me but given the ambient temps out it could be well ok on my current setup. I am mindful that while again a consistent 3 full seconds off the class leader (Cameron ran a 1:15:X), it is still just shy of .8 seconds faster than Jim Bushnell's and 1.5 off Val Korry's 911's... so it is still shaping up to be close enough where I better not screw anything up.
Sunday Morning Sprint Race
The sprint race got off to a good start. I think my problem on my starts has been that my car sits so low I can't see start/finish, so I can say that a radio and spotter would be an advantage for me. Shit, now I need to expand my crew again. I tucked up close, and tried to push the rules and pull slightly out of line to get line-of-sight on the flag station, but SCCA caught it and gave me an advisory warning. I guess it is hard to not miss the yellow wide-body NSX in the pack pulling out of formation like a jack-ass.
I managed to take the lead and hang with the class leader for a little awhile, but then things opened up so I just ran my own race. I pushed pretty hard but focused on being consistent, thinking that if I could pace myself better over the 15 minutes I had a fighting chance. At the 12 minute mark, I realized that maybe I over did it because the braking and turn-in to T1 began to take its toll on my fronts and my times were starting to drop off slightly. I became concerned about jeopardizing my position as the closing gap between myself in the 2nd position and Jim back there in 3rd was narrowing. Luckily the checkered came out and I held-on to my position. In general, I ran pretty consistent 1:18-19’s and performed well and without incident.
Sunday Afternoon Main Race
I got a strong (and legal) start and managed to slip by Cameron not long after the green came out. As he still had the faster car, I knew I now had to fend him off for 35 full minutes nose to tail. However, I’ve seen this kind of race before, because I saw what Eddie did to Lance Stewart last year in SSB when he was the under-dog. I buckled-down for what I knew was going to be a long, long, stint.
For the next twenty minutes myself and Cameron went nose to tail like an out-of-control train with an 8 yr old at the helm. I used every advantage I could find to keep Cameron behind me. I protected the inside line on the corner preceding the straight-aways, split the track so he couldn’t get around me in T7, I drafted every other car on course I could find to try and pull some distance, I tried to use the traffic to my advantage, I tried to keep him out of what I suspected was his optimum power band so he couldn’t get a run on me coming on to the straight-aways.
With every passing lap I lead the race, I just wanted the race to be over. Cameron must have had tuning issues because he didn’t have the power to nose by, and so was trying to go deeper into the braking zones and wear me down. In turn, I did what I could to not let him push me too far and lock up my inside fronts and screw up. John was quoted as saying: "I knew if Cameron got around me, it would be game over. He could quickly have thrown a lot of distance and even a few cars between us and I would never have gotten back by." You read that right, I am now quoting myself in the 3rd person- but yes that is in fact exactly what happened and turned the tides of the race.
Showing signs of desperation, with likely an uncertain number of laps to go, Cameron made his move and dive bombed me on the inside going into T1 at 145+mph. I saw a move coming and went-in deep but quickly realized that I had left too much space on the inside. I recall thinking for a moment that I was actually surprised how deep /fast he came in without losing his composure. I tried to protect the inside line and didn’t want to be seen as unfairly blocking, but perhaps what I was really thinking about was the consequences of a 3,000+ production sedan T-Boning my RR quarter at 80mph and taking us both out of the season. I made the split second decision to straighten out and open up enough to give him his due racing room, knowing full well what that meant. My car felt a little unsettled, and I tried to complete the transition and get back on throttle, but the damage was done when I could see his tail lights. I couldn't catch him in T7, then pulled out too early from his draft into T10 and knew that I had given away 1st.
He got back on pace and pulled a decent gap in short time, with what was likely a pent-up reserve of car left, then Cameron crossed the finish line, sputtering on fumes. I stepped out of the car at impound, light headed. It has never been so hot in my cockpit before. I need to add a window vent and buy a cool-suite.
Overall, I am proud of my performance out there yesterday, have few regrets, and can say I gave it my best while keeping it safe. I felt like this time I at least had a fair shot, and I think we both had a better time because of it. Next stop October.
Credits
Thanks here goes to Kyle K. for his amazing work in the hot pits, Adrenaline Racing for keeping my ride running smooth, and of course Ross at STMPO Race Products for his self-less actions, and the on-going sponsorship and R&D!!
Pictures & Video To Follow.
Update: Video of the main race to appear here:
http://vimeo.com/6054082
Also, some contributory track-side footage courtesy Team Bennar's videographer:
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- Joined
- 19 February 2008
- Messages
- 1,532
Car looks good John.... Keep up the good work and dialed in racing....
Regards
Regards
Congrats John! It was a great race to watch (at least the first one that I caught)
Considering the STI had 100-150+RWHP on you, you did great. If it was me, I'd be at the back of the pack, oh wait, I'd get kicked off for embarassing the sport
Here's a video of when you were pulling in... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPlKR1cgPA8
and when you guys were pulling out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BgAY1jXqHQ
STMPO: John was advertising your decal on his big-ass wing, did you notice?
Considering the STI had 100-150+RWHP on you, you did great. If it was me, I'd be at the back of the pack, oh wait, I'd get kicked off for embarassing the sport
Here's a video of when you were pulling in... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPlKR1cgPA8
and when you guys were pulling out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BgAY1jXqHQ
STMPO: John was advertising your decal on his big-ass wing, did you notice?
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- Joined
- 19 February 2008
- Messages
- 1,532
We did notice.... We have a ton of respect for John, his driving, and his car. We are proud of our relattionship and extremely greatful to be on his car...
we have been sponsonig John for sometime now.... wait till you see his numbers next season!!!!!!
Regards
I think you were to loan him on say.. a supercharger he's probably open to changing his race team to "Team STMPO Racing.." .. at least I would
- Joined
- 19 February 2008
- Messages
- 1,532
I think you were to loan him on say.. a supercharger he's probably open to changing his race team to "Team STMPO Racing.." .. at least I would
LOL... we already did that... but we are holding off for something bigger but smaller...:smile:
A desicion could be made in the coming months... if we do go for it... it will be the first time it was accomplished in the world...
Congrat John, I just came back from a BMW track day yesterday. (2nd time at the track, and last time was 4 yrs ago. I'm surprised that how many of Locals I talked to that had never ran PR.) I seem to doing laps at 1:32.xx. Think I hit a 1;31 in the morning then I just got kicked off the track due to the noise limit. (I was hitting 103 db.)
I have to say I have no clue and hopefully I still have enough funds to join an AR day later this year and get some coaching.
I have to say I have no clue and hopefully I still have enough funds to join an AR day later this year and get some coaching.
Thanks everyone for the positive encouragement! I can say that it has definitely been rewarding to go back through my videos from my first race through today and see the measurable improvements along the way as I figure it all out. I definitely couldn't have put it all together if it weren't for the self-less support I've received from the countless people behind the scenes that enable racing (everything from my team, to the SCCA volunteers, to vendors & sponsors getting me parts on-time, to the simple act of friends helping me park my trailer, and even my competitors whom have been great to race with). Thanks to all!!
Cool. If I would have realized you were going to be at the BMW day I would have just stayed down there another night. There are a few upcoming AR days which would be great opportunities. Just plan to bring a lot of money for fuel, because you'll get a lot of seat time at the 800 Kilometers of Eddie. :smile:
During the day or was it after 5PM? Did they use the hand-held meter along the front grand stands?
As to the sound, I don't know what it is with the mid-range tone of the NSX exhaust but it always seems to measure a lot higher than it sounds. I can tell you that weather conditions make a big, big difference on the sound reports. Saturday I peaked at 99db while on other days I'll teeter at 102.9. Then of course Fluge's Corvette pounds you in the chest or the pro Mazda team hits 11K shattering ear drums and it measures like 98db... and I am like...
Thanks everyone for the positive encouragement! I can say that it has definitely been rewarding to go back through my videos from my first race through today and see the measurable improvements along the way as I figure it all out. I definitely couldn't have put it all together if it weren't for the self-less support I've received from the countless people behind the scenes that enable racing (everything from my team, to the SCCA volunteers, to vendors & sponsors getting me parts on-time, to the simple act of friends helping me park my trailer, and even my competitors whom have been great to race with). Thanks to all!!
Cool. If I would have realized you were going to be at the BMW day I would have just stayed down there another night. There are a few upcoming AR days which would be great opportunities. Just plan to bring a lot of money for fuel, because you'll get a lot of seat time at the 800 Kilometers of Eddie. :smile:
During the day or was it after 5PM? Did they use the hand-held meter along the front grand stands?
As to the sound, I don't know what it is with the mid-range tone of the NSX exhaust but it always seems to measure a lot higher than it sounds. I can tell you that weather conditions make a big, big difference on the sound reports. Saturday I peaked at 99db while on other days I'll teeter at 102.9. Then of course Fluge's Corvette pounds you in the chest or the pro Mazda team hits 11K shattering ear drums and it measures like 98db... and I am like...
ah Damn!!! Forgot that you live there half of the time when you are not working! Can't imagine how much fun we'll have if you were there with us. Here are my rusty skill and no-clue-lines videos:
http://www.vimeo.com/6062011
http://www.youtube.com/user/slowv6
I have to dig out the nsxpo 08 footage that i had with you, and all my friend had a lot of fun watching it... I'm planning to get it uploaded next time i have a dayoff.
Hey everyone,
My name is Kyle Keenan, and I am John's new Crew Chief and Race Engineer. I am only 18 but have over ten years of racing experience both behind the wheel and behind the pit wall. I am currently second in points in North West Region SCCA's Spec Miata class and going hard for the championship.
I will also share a "crew chief report" after every event, basically a lame, less-interesting summarization of John's awesome, three hours of editing write-ups after every race.
We have a test Sept 3rd at PIR with Adrenaline Racing. If anyone is interested in driving PIR, feel free to sign up! Tell Eddie that Kyle K sent ya! Look for the bright-yellow NSX and come say hey!
My name is Kyle Keenan, and I am John's new Crew Chief and Race Engineer. I am only 18 but have over ten years of racing experience both behind the wheel and behind the pit wall. I am currently second in points in North West Region SCCA's Spec Miata class and going hard for the championship.
I will also share a "crew chief report" after every event, basically a lame, less-interesting summarization of John's awesome, three hours of editing write-ups after every race.
We have a test Sept 3rd at PIR with Adrenaline Racing. If anyone is interested in driving PIR, feel free to sign up! Tell Eddie that Kyle K sent ya! Look for the bright-yellow NSX and come say hey!
Adrenaline Racing Track Day Sept 3rd - My first driving experience as the OFFICIAL Team Hudak Racing Co-Driver
Set-Up
John Hudak and I had been trying to find ways to gather faster lap times in the car, and quickly I contacted a race engineer who does all of the work on my personal car. He suggested a few things, and one of which, was having me drive the car.
The idea behind having your "crew chief" or "Race Engineer" drive your car is so they have a better understanding of what exactly they are working on. I did not argue Pat's logic one bit, and threw the suggestion to John. He bought it, and next thing I knew I was cleaning and packing my gear to head to Portland International Raceway.
Morning
I arrived to the track around 8 and got to work helping John get the car ready. Things like changing the oil, warming the car up, wiping the car down, etc all had to be done and we worked quickly to get it done.
John got in the car and was on track around 9:30. We used this as a test session and ran through three wing positions; Close to neutral, Full attack, and no wing. I took strong notes as to John's feedback on all three for our later use on SCCA weekends when trying to beat Benner in his Subaru.
The Fun Begins.....
About 11, I got suited up, and got in the car. First impressions (before going on track) was that the seat fit me amazingly....the pedals were in the right spot, the wheel was where I like it, and the shifting was short and precise. For days I played out in my head my "strategy" as far as how to ease into running quick in the car. I showed my wristband, turned onto the "drag strip" and everything I had planned out went out the window. Before I knew it, I was full throttle and thrown back into the seat.
The first mistake I had made was studying my spec miata video before getting into the NSX. By turn one, I realized I could carry a LOT more speed into the car, by turn two I had the rear end stepping out, and by three I was already telling myself to slow down. I took a breath before four and began to get into my groove.
The car is incredible. It brakes straight, turns in like a formula one car, rear end steps out like a vintage F1 car, the "view" from the seat looks like it's straight from the JGTC. Long story short, I want this car someday.
By the end of my first session I was laying down some competitive times and was excited to get back in the car. Of all the cars I have ever driven I have never been able to get in and get comfortable like I could with this car. It just felt so "right."
During my second session, I think I pushed myself a little "too" hard. I tried taking the car a bit too deep into the Turn One braking zone, and ended up hitting the apex of turn two amazingly fast....but backwards? All I remember thinking was 1) These hoosiers are freaking sticky! and 2) John's gonna kill me...
I drove away from the spin and was releaved to find the tires were not flat spotted. Must of been my lucky day, or for once, the ABS was working in the car.
I also laid out my fastest time ever in the car during my 2nd session. We pit a bit during this session to tighten up the exhaust mounts, check tire pressures, and I noticed my friend Camden taking a ton of pictures.
Camden works for ColdTrackDays.com, an automotive enthusiasts blog, and his work is 2nd to none. They ended up giving me a good positive note on their site with the test and I am sure our sponsors would agree
My third session went incredibly well. I felt stellar in the car and felt so at-home driving the car. For the conditions I believe I did very well driving the car and the most important thing is I brought the car home.
Below are some images courtesy of Camden Thrasher:
A link to the Cold Track Days article:
http://coldtrackdays.blogspot.com/2009/09/local-ride-kyle-kennan-tests-john.html
Thanks to John for the amazing opportunity! Also thank you to Stmpo and AR for their support thus far!
Set-Up
John Hudak and I had been trying to find ways to gather faster lap times in the car, and quickly I contacted a race engineer who does all of the work on my personal car. He suggested a few things, and one of which, was having me drive the car.
The idea behind having your "crew chief" or "Race Engineer" drive your car is so they have a better understanding of what exactly they are working on. I did not argue Pat's logic one bit, and threw the suggestion to John. He bought it, and next thing I knew I was cleaning and packing my gear to head to Portland International Raceway.
Morning
I arrived to the track around 8 and got to work helping John get the car ready. Things like changing the oil, warming the car up, wiping the car down, etc all had to be done and we worked quickly to get it done.
John got in the car and was on track around 9:30. We used this as a test session and ran through three wing positions; Close to neutral, Full attack, and no wing. I took strong notes as to John's feedback on all three for our later use on SCCA weekends when trying to beat Benner in his Subaru.
The Fun Begins.....
About 11, I got suited up, and got in the car. First impressions (before going on track) was that the seat fit me amazingly....the pedals were in the right spot, the wheel was where I like it, and the shifting was short and precise. For days I played out in my head my "strategy" as far as how to ease into running quick in the car. I showed my wristband, turned onto the "drag strip" and everything I had planned out went out the window. Before I knew it, I was full throttle and thrown back into the seat.
The first mistake I had made was studying my spec miata video before getting into the NSX. By turn one, I realized I could carry a LOT more speed into the car, by turn two I had the rear end stepping out, and by three I was already telling myself to slow down. I took a breath before four and began to get into my groove.
The car is incredible. It brakes straight, turns in like a formula one car, rear end steps out like a vintage F1 car, the "view" from the seat looks like it's straight from the JGTC. Long story short, I want this car someday.
By the end of my first session I was laying down some competitive times and was excited to get back in the car. Of all the cars I have ever driven I have never been able to get in and get comfortable like I could with this car. It just felt so "right."
During my second session, I think I pushed myself a little "too" hard. I tried taking the car a bit too deep into the Turn One braking zone, and ended up hitting the apex of turn two amazingly fast....but backwards? All I remember thinking was 1) These hoosiers are freaking sticky! and 2) John's gonna kill me...
I drove away from the spin and was releaved to find the tires were not flat spotted. Must of been my lucky day, or for once, the ABS was working in the car.
I also laid out my fastest time ever in the car during my 2nd session. We pit a bit during this session to tighten up the exhaust mounts, check tire pressures, and I noticed my friend Camden taking a ton of pictures.
Camden works for ColdTrackDays.com, an automotive enthusiasts blog, and his work is 2nd to none. They ended up giving me a good positive note on their site with the test and I am sure our sponsors would agree
My third session went incredibly well. I felt stellar in the car and felt so at-home driving the car. For the conditions I believe I did very well driving the car and the most important thing is I brought the car home.
Below are some images courtesy of Camden Thrasher:
A link to the Cold Track Days article:
http://coldtrackdays.blogspot.com/2009/09/local-ride-kyle-kennan-tests-john.html
Thanks to John for the amazing opportunity! Also thank you to Stmpo and AR for their support thus far!
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