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ButtonWillow Race Report, March 2-3, 2002 I was finally able to drive in a race for the first time in the SE-R Cup Series. I missed the first race back in February due to a broken valve spring that forced an engine change. I picked
up my car from Chris Parker at SR20Development, who did the engine install, on Friday
March 1. I had little to no time to prep the car and get an alignment, a fact that haunted
me later on. I simply adjusted the suspension the best I could, switched to race pads and
tires, loaded the car on the trailer, loaded the truck bed with all that I might need and
drove to the track early Saturday morning. I was very
hesitant to race my car since I did not get a chance to observe and test it properly. But
the plan was to take it easy at first and if all was well increase the pace as the day
unfolded. I was already 200 points behind since I missed the first race and even if I won
every race till the end of the season, there was no way to make up the deficit. So I was
resigned to shoot for second place and try to win if I could. Moreover, I
did not have any support crew to speak off. Jim Howard and Rob Cadle did lend a helping
hand to adjust the suspension (thanks guys), but I had no one to help me change tires,
take tire temperatures, and tire pressure. I had no crew chief to help if the car broke
down. Furthermore, the car outweighed the competition by about 200 lbs and had roughly the
same horsepower. I have no complaints, however, since I like being the underdog that might
pull an upset J I arrived at
the track at 8:20 AM. Practice was at 8:40 AM. Yikes. I simply unloaded the car, put the
helmet, gloves, and neck brace on and hit the track. I did not even get a transponder
hooked to the car for lack of time. The car felt good power wise, but it had weird
handling characteristics at the limit. It was not the same handling that I used to get
from this set-up. Usually, with 2.75 negative camber and 1/8 toe-out the car was almost
neutral. Now the car felt loose and it would push at the same time. Very Weird!!! Next came
qualifying; I qualified second with a 2:17.62 behind Tom Paule’s 2:15.xx. There were
two or three cars separating us on the starting grid. Before the
race Jim Howard measured the camber on the car it was 2.4 left and 1.4 right. Ouch!! He
also measured the toe-out and found it to be 0. That was not good at all. My first
race ever comes at 2:30 PM. I was apprehensive about what is going to happen. This was a
new experience for me and I did not know what to expect. I knew that in a short 40-minute
race a good start helps win the race. And I got a great start. My hole shot brought the
car right behind Tom Paule’s. I was right behind him. I was able to sneak the nose of
the car to try and pass him, but the excess weight and the shitty handling did not help.
Nor did the fact that I am a novice at this. So I resigned myself to second place and
picked up 90 points for second place. I was thrilled that the car held together and there
were no incidents in the race. After the
race I sought Mike Ward the race director and he told me that they keep an eye from the
tower on Rookies and he wrote the following when he singed off on my first race: “Good
clean race. Keep up the good driving.” By the time
the track was closing for the day, all my energy was sapped. I headed to the hotel room
and crashed without even eating dinner. I had a lot of sleep, something that I did not do
on Friday night. Sunday
morning I head to the track and decide to use the “poor boy” technique to try
and fix the alignment. With Jim’s help, I was able to increase the right side camber
to 2 degrees. I was stocked. But this did not last. After practice we measured it again
and the camber slipped back to 1.4. Yuck. I put on the
qualifying (read worn out) tires and headed out and I scored 2:17.62. That was good enough
to qualify me first in my class. I was so happy I was jumping from joy. Of course, I had
to tease Tom Paule about it. It is just a thing that racers do and it is all in good fun.
Qualifying first meant that I had a shot at winning. I was stocked. I took the
car to the garage and Rob Cadle set the toe-out at 3/16. He did not have time to set the
alignment and he said that setting the toe would help more since he and I were pressed for
time. I switched from the qualifying tires to the race tires, set the tire pressure,
checked the oil, tightened the secondary header bolts and I felt I was ready for the race.
In comes the call on the PA to head to the starting grid. I strap in and head out. At the grid,
I look at the gas gauge and my heart sinks to my stomach. I FORGOT to fill gas. I had a
hair less than a full gas tank. I knew that there was little chance to win, but I was
going to try anyway. So I devised a strategy that might just help me win. Get a great
start, put a buffer of a car or two between Tom’s car and mine and drive slowly in
the corners to prevent gas starvation and reduce the likelihood of passing and go fast
during the straights to take advantage of the car’s power over the Honda Civic CRXs
that were the buffer. We come onto
the straights and the green flag falls and I have a perfect hole shot. By the end of the
straights I have a two-car buffer between Tom’s car and mine. Both of the cars were
CRXs. So far so good. I kept with this strategy for 15-20 minutes of the race. It was
working, but it was annoying the hell out of the CRX drivers. After 20 minutes the “yellow
out of gas light” began to come on. Finally, while going into Taladega the car
starved for gas and slowed down a bit, but regained power soon after. One of the CRXs
passed and I was reduced to one buffer car. I knew that this strategy could not be
sustained any longer. The second CRX passed me going into Cotton Corners. I continued
to battle with Tom Paule, however. Gas starvation was getting worse. To make matters
worse, I entered the Star Mazda turn too hot and the poor exist line gave Tom a shot at a
pass. Existing Star Mazda leads to a series of tight esses. There is not much room to pass
unless one driver rides the berm and allows passing room to the other. Tom tried to pass
at the second ess, but I never saw his car next to mine. At the second S, my two left
tires were high on the berm and the car comes down hard. I hear a thump noise, but I make
nothing of it thinking it was the suspension bottoming out. Tom was not able to pass. But
I knew that it was a matter of time before he will. Finally, existing Cotton Corners, Tom
passes me. At that point the gas light was glowing yellow all the time. So I slowed down
to a crawl and decided to hold on to second instead. My strategy has failed L At impound,
Tom informs me that the cars touched. That was news to me. I look over the car and I do
not find any scratches on the metal. The only scratches found were on the right rear
bumper. The scratches on Tom’s car were on his front left fender. Apparently, his
front left fender and my right rear bumper kissed after my two left tires road the berm
and loosened the rear end of my car. All in all
it was a great weekend. I was angry for blowing a golden opportunity to win. A one-person
team does not get these opportunities too often. I do have to admit that the most fun I
had was not on the track, but rather in the garage. It was great listening to Tom Paule
and Rob Cadle imitate me and Mike kojima. I had barrels of laughs. And that my friends is
what racing is all about. Things that I have learned: |