Scott's Most Excellent Adventure!

[underdog23]

I left High Point for Topeka around 7:00pm Tuesday night and drove a little over halfway, stopping at a Motel6 around 3:00am in middle of nowhere Indiana (I think, it's a little fuzzy). Slept for four hours then got back on the road. I was having to drive a little slower than I would have liked because the "customized" tire trailer I was pulling started wagging when I got up to speed (note: foreshadowing). I was cutting it a little close to make registration and tech but figured I would arrive with about 1/2 hour to spare. Unfortunately I got a flat on the laeft rear of the CRX about 20 miles from the site and had to put one of the race tires on the car (Glad we're in STS2!). Pushed really hard the last 20 miles and made it to registration with about 10 minutes to spare.

Had one minor detail to fix before we passed tech (they didn't like my zip tie battery hold down trick) but no big problem getting that fixed. We ended up using a ratcheting tie down strap to securely mount it.

Got hooked up with my co- drivers and started walking the East Course since that was where we were starting on Day 1. The course looked like a lot of fun, lots of transitions with a quick section in the middle. I did two walks that night then went back to the paddock to get the car ready and set up camp. While walking across the site I ran into Heyward who offered me a spare bed in his motel room. I had planned to camp since it was free and there were showers on site but I really couldn't pass up a free bed. Scott Giles (my codriver from Georgia) and I went ahead and got the car ready, mounting wheels, adding fuel, etc. Just as we were finishing up it started to sprinkle so we packed it in, grabbed Renee our STS2L driver, and headed to the hotel for a good nights sleep.

More to come after a nap, I just got home a few hours ago...

[Imprezivblue]

Congrats on your trophy Scott!!!! We knew you'd bring home some wood.

[underdog23]

Wednesday morning was cold and windy, low 40’s. Renee was running STS2L in the first heat so after a quick course walk I jumped in the car and took it out to get the engine warmed up and get a little heat in the brakes. Put the car in grid, set the tire pressures, and sent Renee out for her first run. Car was WAY loose, it took a fantastic drive just to keep the car pointed in the right direction. After the first run the front tire temps were up to a whopping 56 degrees, and the rears were still at ambient despite the super do-rifto action. We put the borrowed tire blankets on (thanks Atlanta Region!) but there just wasn’t enough heat to do any good. Second run went pretty much the same as the first. For the third run we dropped pressures 3 pounds all the way around to try and let the tires build some heat but the car was really almost undriveable. One of the things we figured out after Renee ran was that by putting blankets on all four tires we were actually making the handling of the car worse. The fronts would build heat during the run and then we would put the blankets on them and keep as much of that heat as we could. The problem we ran into was that the rears were still stone cold and we were actually making the front/ rear temp split worse and the car just got looser and looser each run.

By third heat when Giles and I ran conditions had improved by a fair margin. Giles took his first run and did just what he needed to, a nice conservative clean run. As soon as he came in we slapped the blankets on the rear tires only. We also pulled out the pyrometer and kept track of temps as runs progressed. I went out for my first run and was pretty happy with the time but caught a cone. Here was where things started to go wrong. Giles went out for his next run and got a cone. Now the smart thing for me to do would have been to go out and run another conservative run but get rid of the cone. Instead I went out thinking I had already run a decent time and should really go after a fast time. I got too aggressive and went slower and picked up another cone. On Giles’ third run he tried to throw down a good run and almost spun and DNF’d. So it came down to my third run. Tire temps were perfect (we were actually spraying the fronts) and conditions were as good as they had been all day. As badly as I wanted to try and pull out a fast time and be up front I decided I needed to be smart and play it safe. I went out and put in a safe, clean run that had me sitting in 13th after day one and .9 sec out of the trophies. At the end of the day we were all pretty frustrated and just not having much fun. Things were going to get better, at least for me…

[jbyrd]

Scott, I don't know what "buttons you pushed" on day 2, but I sure wish Day One had gone that well for you....

Congrats!!!!!!!!!!


You were flyin', Dude....

[underdog23]

So after we got done running Wednesday we started looking at ways to improve the car for Renee’s Friday AM runs. I usually run the rear sway bar in the middle setting so we decided to go full soft on the rear bar and shocks to try and help the excessive loose condition with cold tires. We also started with all four tires 3 pounds lower to try and build heat more quickly. The car seemed a little better on the first run but still not good, still fighting lots of oversteer. We used tire blankets on the rear tires only hoping to balance the temps and get the handling more balanced. The car got better but Renee had an understandable lack of confidence in the rear of the car. Her second run was good enough to move her from 8th to 6th place, not what she was hoping for but at least moving in the right direction.

So third heat comes around and Giles and I get the car set up, going to the original sway bar and shock settings. We started with the tires three pounds low until after the cars third run, then the temps were around where we wanted them so we went to normal pressures. We were using tire blankets on the rears for the first two runs until they reached normal operating temp, and we started spraying the fronts after the cars third run. Giles first run was dirty but a decent time. For my first run I tried to be a little cautious and stay clean so I wouldn’t end up in the same position as on day 1. After first runs my time was 5th fastest so I knew I was on the right track. Giles went out on his second run and got a clean one about .9 slower than my first run. I pushed a little harder on my second run and got loose in a few places and late in the big slalom leading to the finish. Giles decided that he had nothing to lose on his third run and he let it all hang out. The run was actually pretty good if you didn’t look at the spin in the middle. I knew where I was having problems on the first two runs and had a pretty good idea of what I needed to do to go faster. A slightly wider line in one section and a little slower into the final slalom and the next thing I knew everyone in the grandstands was cheering. I knew the run felt good but I had no idea how fast it was until I saw the clock, 52.9!!! Fastest run in class on the West Course! About twenty minutes later I found I had also moved into the trophies, moving up 8 positions in one run. Overall pretty happy with the way things turned out, now it was time for the trip home…