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Haha, what did you do when you saw the wheel? Musta been a long lap back. You had just exited the pits.
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Jun 9, 2013 02:48
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Decided to drive very slowly back to the pits because I didn't want to bring out a safety car so they could tow me back. The scariest part of the whole thing was getting to turn 3 a bit too hot on three wheels and realizing I had no brakes! We came back from that to finish 4th the next day so it wasn't all bad. That said, it took me about 20 minutes on the Sunday before I trusted the car enough to get back on the pace. I didn't actually see the wheel when it happened, although I do remember seeing part of the brake rotor. Later found the rotor on the track and it had scorched a mark onto the tarmac which sadly is gone now they repaved the place.
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Jun 9, 2013 03:14
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Anyone else going to Hyperfest at Summit Point this weekend? ?? http://i.imgur.com/UNxB4h6.jpg
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Jun 10, 2013 14:51
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Looks like hyperfest might have some inclement weather this weekend. I'll be at Summit the weekend after for another race weekend with IMG.
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Jun 13, 2013 19:17
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nollij posted:miss heel toe, instead foot slips between the two pedals to the floor and you get this: Aw man right through Rod's (track owner) new sod! You must be the car guy he was talking about when we ran bikes recently.
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Jun 13, 2013 21:49
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Spiffness posted:Aw man right through Rod's (track owner) new sod! You must be the car guy he was talking about when we ran bikes recently. Yea. My bad http://youtu.be/GEZjw5QnDpU Cold tires on warmup lap. Guy in another Evo said I was pushing that corner all day and was wondering when I would manage to go off there. Edit: also, looking at the video, it looks like I apexed too early. nollij fucked around with this message at 02:59 on Jun 15, 2013 |
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Jun 15, 2013 00:55
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First of two days at NMHS, running the South Oval configuration. I've never done it before, and the Gs on the oval were intimidating. Both to my sense of safety and because of the LS7's reputation for popping under sustained left turns. Saw Octopus Magic in his Talon:  He was pretty happy to be driving it. Though it wasn't trouble free. Not yet. Took the front plate and bracket off. This made a huge difference in my coolant temps, and maybe brake cooling.  Cool rides:  This wailed like a Banshee. You knew when a rotary was on track -- it was one of the top 3 loudest cars, along with some prepped E46 M3 and a straight-pipe NA Miata, which you can see in the back in black/orange/white:  Yeah, there were tons of Miatas. I've previously run at NHMS with BMWCCA, so I'm not used to it. One of the cars in my run group, and in my car class:  The class instructor had GoPro on his car and was filming the track and students on it. He caught the 911 braking too unsmoothly and sliding at the slowest turn. It's hard to appreciate how small Formula Vee cars are. I shot this one side by side as best I could with the 350Z. It's like a little kayak:  A less than pristine E30 M3:  Some tube chassis car with "434ci" on the induction cowl:  Not tracked. I just like the new Z4s:  Can you name them? I wonder where he got an NHMS sticker:  How real men get their Miatas to the racetrack:  The guy who ran this operation loaned me his painter's tape:  You can see the clouds. It started out threatening rain in the morning, but got sunny after lunch. Thank god. Some driving notes: - last time I was here, I was on 2 hours of sleep. I was way better focused this time, but still couldn't go 10/10 for fear of messing up my car. - the CL RC5+ pads jamal recommended paid off. Very linear and easy to use. No fade. Finally proved their worth after squeaking like hell driving on the street. - in general, I love the Michelin PSS. Tons of grip. But I got 345s in the rear instead of factory 325, because Tirerack was out at the time and the 345 were much cheaper than locally sourcing 325. I'm not happy with how the rears hook up when I give higher levels of throttle. My best description would be that they provide less progressive, jumpier power oversteer. They want to understeer at first cuz of the width, and then jump out sideways less predictably. I didn't dare go under 3rd gear. In the oval, they picked up a lot of clag and scrabbled disconcertingly. - with the front plate off, my coolant temp never went over 210, compared to cresting 270 last year. I suspect the correct air flow also helped cool the brakes. - I don't know how kill me now was getting away with lowering his Grand Sport. Any of the more abrupt elevation changes scraped the air dam hard and used up most of the front suspension. I get what people say when they talk about the inherent compromise of driving production cars on the track -- their suspension will always be too soft and make you feel wallowy in some fast transitions. - I had 3 trouble spots on the track: 1) braking too early before turn #3, the hairpin. The waves in the road set off my ABS if I come in braking hard, and it's distracting. I got the worst grading on braking consistency 2) the "bowl" -- my brain faded and I stopped being able to nail both apexes on a single steering input. I didn't adjust properly for carrying more speed (as the day went on, traffic spread out better and I never had anyone in front of me). I sorta got it back, but not happy. 3) entering the South Oval. By the end of the day, I was back to 105+ toward the end of the front straight, but as soon as I got up to the Oval, I'd chicken out and drag brakes to get down to 90. At Bondurant, I'd dealt with way bumpier high speed turns, but I was harnessed into a racing seat and knew exactly what was going on. -  these stock seats . On the oval, even when I got the hang of it and was comfortable, I'd still be thrown out over the center console. Similarly, on the hairpin, I'd have to brace against the door to stay behind the wheel. Coming out of the hairpin in one session, POP, the seatback collapses on the left side. The dynamics were such that I didn't pull the wheel at all and didn't bobble the car, but it was scary. It's just how the seats are made; after futzing with it in the paddock, I got it normal again. - I talked to a guy also driving an '08 Z06. He'd upgraded to racing seats and harnesses, and it was not. cheap. I think if I want to improve in this car, I have to get better seats. Otherwise, I'm just getting thrown around and losing contact with the car.
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Jun 30, 2013 03:24
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poo poo, I knew you had a Z06, but I didn't know it was a C6. It's always awesome when a weekend comes together.
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Jun 30, 2013 03:32
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Phone posted:poo poo, I knew you had a Z06, but I didn't know it was a C6. It's always awesome when a weekend comes together. I stealth upgraded from a C5 one at some point. Oh, I had mentioned before how I thought the PSS were very gray for a tire. Here's a shot that depicts that:  The shirt is black, too.
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Jun 30, 2013 03:59
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kimbo305 posted:- I don't know how kill me now was getting away with lowering his Grand Sport. Any of the more abrupt elevation changes scraped the air dam hard and used up most of the front suspension. I get what people say when they talk about the inherent compromise of driving production cars on the track -- their suspension will always be too soft and make you feel wallowy in some fast transitions. The air dam is a wear item, it scrapes... often. I'm ok as long as the splitter itself isn't scraping. I also have the magnetic ride control which actually helps a whole lot with dips in the road surface at speed. But yeah street suspensions are always too soft if you have sticky tires in any way shape or form.
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Jun 30, 2013 16:45
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kimbo305 posted:Can you name them? I wonder where he got an NHMS sticker: Either at the pro shop at the track, or here: http://www.trackdecals.com/
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Jul 1, 2013 00:11
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kimbo305 posted:snip Hey, it was good seeing you up there! I tried finding you at the end of the day to say goodbye but you must've gone to the bathroom. Hope to see you in October or earlier.  Here's my report: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3451339&pagenumber=14#post417056032
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Jul 2, 2013 01:25
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Day 2: It was hotter and more humid and I was definitely having a hard time concentrating. My arm left this after a 20 min nap in the car with the doors open: Couldn't enter the oval as fast initially. When I started giving a little more throttle in the middle of the oval, my rear tires would start chopping. I was picking up a huge amount of rubber clag, and either the uneven distribution or the smearing of it as the rear had more slip angle caused the rear to slightly unsettle. It bugged me out and I just held back. It's weird how the otherwise most exciting things (like a 993 Turbo shooting twin flames on lift) pale in comparison to having your car not behave like you expect. This is maybe 1/3 of the rubber I scraped off the right rear after one session:  There were definitely parts of my tire that were effectively covered in foreign rubber:  I'm not exactly sure how I was picking up so much more than everyone else. The other Z06 on PSS had very little (he spun in the oval but didn't tap anything), so I don't think it's the compound. I guess some part of my line must have deviated from the norm and picked up a lot. e: one more note: my coolant stayed at 200 all day, but my brakes got soft in the last half of the last session. No bubbling, but had to brake much further out. Still a success, considering how much longer they lasted. Octopus Magic posted:Hey, it was good seeing you up there! I tried finding you at the end of the day to say goodbye but you must've gone to the bathroom. Hope to see you in October or earlier. I passed you going down on 93 after taking the in-town leg my GPS recommended, so I guess it's roughly the same time as 93 all the way. kimbo305 fucked around with this message at 04:40 on Jul 2, 2013 |
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Jul 2, 2013 04:17
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Hotter than hell at Buttonwillow this weekend, I didn't get many pics or video as I was fixing broken poo poo most of the weekend. We we pitted 1 stop away from Bloot so that was cool to meet him and see the awesome M1 CRX. Got a shot of him before the start of the race:  Here we are getting ready  Car: 87 535i with an E34 M30B35 motor, Getrag 260 and 4.10LSD On track it handles adequately and has a lot of power and puts it down well, but it inspires very little confidence. This is my first race with this team and I didn't really have a hand in car prep except for building the bottom end in the last few weeks and then installing it in a rush with no time to check anything else because of inadequate planning. The first day we were battling undiagnosed fuel starvation, turns out the transfer pump was dying which we solved Saturday night by bypassing the pump. The first thing to break was about 2 hours into the race and it was the front pulley falling off on track. The bolts must not have been tightened properly (this will become a theme). This caused the front harmonic balancer to cause a misfire and almost fall off so I came in and replaced that. Luckily we had a spare. One bolt broke off in the crank snout so we chased the threads in the open holes, installed 7 of 8 bolts and went out again. A few hours later the team captain got a black flag and then the car wouldn't start in the penalty box. We pushed it into pits and found the alternator not charging. I traced it to a nut that was improperly tightened that had come loose and fallen off holding the positive charging wire to the back of the alternator. I think there was some more issues Saturday but I cant remember. In addition, I was adding water to the radiator almost every pit because the radiator was woefully inadequate for the 105 degree ambient heat. When I was driving I had to cruise around in 5th gear every other lap as the car was overheating. That night we bypassed the pump. Sunday the car ran great in the morning, until there was some contact damage to the left rear fender that had pushed into the tire and was shaving down the sidewall. We got a chain puller on that and were able to pull that out and keep racing. Then the car came in completely dead. It turns out the main fuel pump died, probably from having been starved so much the day before. We replaced it with a pump from one of the other BMW E28's that had died earlier in the day and kept racing. Then the car did okay until the 2nd to last lap when the motor decided to give up and spin a rod bearing. I'm convinced that because we have a stock radiator and no oil cooler, (and no oil temp gauge) that the oil just got too hot and thin and the motor let go. I'm kind of discouraged, mostly with team dynamics and prep, but at least I got 3 stints in and the car ran most of the time. I'd really like to build my _own_ car next and prepare it properly to survive an endurance race.
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Jul 2, 2013 05:07
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Welp, the Mid-Atlantic region just lost an icon: the Oak Tree at VIR has fallen.
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Jul 2, 2013 18:23
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Phone posted:Welp, the Mid-Atlantic region just lost an icon: the Oak Tree at VIR has fallen. It's going to be really different driving around there now. Article I blame the new curbing.
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Jul 3, 2013 01:24
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aventari posted:Hotter than hell at Buttonwillow this weekend, I didn't get many pics or video as I was fixing broken poo poo most of the weekend. Miss the Daihatsu? We miss you!
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Jul 3, 2013 02:31
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aventari posted:Hotter than hell at Buttonwillow this weekend This. It was brutal, and I'm glad we decided to drop the $$ on a cool shirt system which was loving amazing. We ran the test day and our newly rebuilt trans didn't want to stay in 4th, so I improvised an external Velco detent system. This held up for most of day one, but at the end of Saturday 4th was simply gone. We ran as high as 4th place after hour 1 with me in the car, but after a couple of bobbles (see below) and driver changes we finished day one in 28th. With the failing trans we felt we didn't have much hope for Sunday. To our surprise and due to much attrition we ended up clawing our way up to 15th, with the transmission degrading and having to hold it in 3rd and 5th gear for much of the day (one hand racing). Amazingly the car didn't have a single heat related issue aside from slipping into limp mode due to excessive intake air temps at the end of my first stint. Coolant temp read 190F the whole time. And this is a stock cooling system with a ZC motor that makes a good deal more power than the 200k mile D16A6 it replaced. The car feels more and more bagged each time we race it, and it's probably due for wheel bearings and some bushings, but this thing kicks rear end. Seven Lemons events with no race ending mechanicals, and a pair of top 15 finishes in the last two races. If we could stretch out our stints longer we could be in contention. This was my first time at Buttonwillow and it was a fun circuit, but aside from the better than average track food, it was a pretty bad place to have to be for a weekend. I'm spoiled by Norcal tracks. Still managed to have a good time. It was nice finally meeting Aventari, and I felt bad every time his 5er was broken in the pits. Good timing caught my teammate losing it into the silt at the start of the front straight:       
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Jul 3, 2013 04:50
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I was at Laguna Seca for the first time this weekend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ1tPjgpAT8 Couldn't get any good footage because my mic came unplugged, so all I got was my first session with me coasting into braking zones too much and being really slow at the corkscrew. I don't know if my tires are poo poo (Pirelli P-Zero) or if I just need to air up the fronts a lot like someone suggested on a mustang forum to stiffen the sidewalls, but it was getting loose after a couple laps, that's the bonus footage at the end of the video.
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Jul 3, 2013 07:20
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Blooot posted:To our surprise and due to much attrition we ended up clawing our way up to 15th You're welcome! . We'd been holding onto our best placement ever at 7th-10th overall most of the weekend in the Devil Camaro, only to have the brakes fail on me 20 minutes before the checkered on Sunday. We were even P2 in class B, and if the reverse had happened to the Harlequin golf we would have won an award for laps! (amazing, I know). We still managed to get 18th, which is still our best finish, but I always like taking the checkered flag. Turns out if you use the backing plate melted to the piston as pad material, your pedal will go right to the floor! Still really pleased with how the car did, and excited to fix/improve things and get them ready in 15 days for the tow up to The Ridge in WA!Here's us taking apart our fuel cell during the 2-hour break on Saturday. Turns out the ethanol in CA gas will soften the pickup lines and lead them to kink in the cell. This leads to fuel pump failure (crazy heat didn't help either) The return line was kinked so badly it had a crack:  The black line is the new hose, which should take longer to kink, but to get something that will never kink apparently requires some expensive-as-hell NASCAR stuff. This is me being towed in, you can see where all the brake fluid shot out of the left front wheel:  9 races with that beast and it was my first time being towed in. Deceptor101 fucked around with this message at 08:03 on Jul 3, 2013 |
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Jul 3, 2013 08:00
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Blooot posted:This. It was brutal, and I'm glad we decided to drop the $$ on a cool shirt system which was loving amazing. We ran the test day and our newly rebuilt trans didn't want to stay in 4th, so I improvised an external Velco detent system. This held up for most of day one, but at the end of Saturday 4th was simply gone. Don't they black flag you in Lemons for doing that?
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Jul 3, 2013 11:57
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Phone posted:Welp, the Mid-Atlantic region just lost an icon: the Oak Tree at VIR has fallen. This is beyond sad.   
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Jul 3, 2013 15:25
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Why didn't they plant a new tree?
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Jul 3, 2013 15:31
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drgitlin posted:Don't they black flag you in Lemons for doing that? Yep. It gave us a chance to clean the windshield.
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Jul 3, 2013 16:35
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Sab669 posted:Why didn't they plant a new tree? I'm sure they will do something like that. It's just sad to loose a iconic tree that was older than the track.
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Jul 3, 2013 21:55
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Oh, no, definitely, I agree. But the gazebo just looks.......weird.
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Jul 3, 2013 22:11
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Aurune posted:I'm sure they will do something like that. It's just sad to loose a iconic tree that was older than the track. It's like the town of Mulsanne suddenly disappearing off the map... Oak Tree was the name of the corner, a landmark the track was literally built around, and it won't be the same track without it. I liked the idea of harvesting that wood for trophies won at the track... seems like the competition for the trophies would honor the tree and all those who raced in its shadow. A question for the Lemons/Chumpers out there: would you consider buying a used crapcan racecar on craigslist? Is the initial build process necessary?
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Jul 3, 2013 22:13
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Sab669 posted:Oh, no, definitely, I agree. But the gazebo just looks.......weird. It fell down yesterday. And the reason you only ever see pictures of it from the outside of Oak Tree turn is because it was not a healthy looking tree. A significant chunk of the tree previously fell off. 
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Jul 3, 2013 22:52
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Anyone from the Minnesota area read this thread? I'm going to be at BIR for an HPDE on Monday, August 5. It'll be my second time on the track. Would be fun to see someone there!
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Jul 4, 2013 20:24
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After the Simonsen accident at Le Mans I think I'm OK with VIR's oak tree not being there anymore.
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Jul 4, 2013 23:33
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Stardotstar posted:A question for the Lemons/Chumpers out there: would you consider buying a used crapcan racecar on craigslist? Is the initial build process necessary? Really depends on the car and how detailed they are with their work. You could look at how well they've done in their racing. The most important thing would be the cage. Make sure it passes current tech rules. Look for brake/wheel upgrades. Make sure the engine isn't going to explode. The other big thing will be wiring. If any of it was custom, make sure it's all soldered/crimped correctly and not just wrapped. It's an expensive, dangerous thing. I've only recently really started trusting my work on my race car, you'd want to go over everything with a fine toothed comb.
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Jul 5, 2013 02:27
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drgitlin posted:After the Simonsen accident at Le Mans I think I'm OK with VIR's oak tree not being there anymore. The oak tree had a proper tire wall and guard rail in front of it. It really wasn't a threat. In good news, Thunderhill Raceway is expanding. ETA 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1tC_1dIHx0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZFuIHLJ0YY No word on combined vs classic vs west rentals.
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Jul 5, 2013 07:38
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Aurune posted:The oak tree had a proper tire wall and guard rail in front of it. It really wasn't a threat.
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Jul 5, 2013 09:18
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The only way I can think of crashing at/into Oak Tree is missing South Bend (T10), and flying like a 1/3rd of a mile into it. You're way more likely to cook the brakes into T11 and put it into the outside wall.
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Jul 5, 2013 13:15
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Stardotstar posted:It's like the town of Mulsanne suddenly disappearing off the map... Oak Tree was the name of the corner, a landmark the track was literally built around, and it won't be the same track without it. I bought a used lemons car off craigslist. It had a big "hayes cages" sign on the side and the ad said "professionally built cage", so I figured it was fine. Turns out the cage was garbage, and I ended up having to scrap the car. I couldn't really see it because it had all the padding in place, and since I didn't know what to look for, I got scammed. you need the same amount of knowledge for buying a used crapcan as you would building a new one. I tried to shortcut it and got screwed.
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Jul 5, 2013 19:18
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Just back from my 2nd lapping day, and what a day. Much more difficult track than my first day - tonnes of elevation changes, and the majority of the corners are completely blind. As a result it took me a lot longer to get comfortable, so I didn't push too much. Still had tonnes of fun though, practicing heel-toe and working on progressively braking later/less. I'll upload a video of a couple laps tomorrow, at this point I'm completely exhausted. On an unrelated note, it's definitely not a good feeling when the advanced run group gets red flagged because someone's into the armco, and into it hard. Watching the entrance to the pits waiting for your buddy to get back in is no fun. Thankfully, the driver was okay, but apparently pin-balled off the armco on one side of the track into the armco on the other side. Car is definitely a write off. I also had the pleasure of finding 2nd when I wanted 4th, thankfully no damage was done. Joys of a non-interference engine & catching the mistake quickly.
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Jul 9, 2013 02:33
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I'm going to the Trackdaze "Dub Deliverance" event at Summit Point August 17th. It's 50 bucks for 3-4 track sessions (depending on how many people register for the track). If you have a Volkswagen and are near Summit Point you should come hang out.
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Jul 26, 2013 17:15
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The Virginia City Hillclimb is back this year, with the original clubs running it (FCA Pacific and Norcal SAAC) and due to lower participation in the past couple of years I've been asked by the organizers to find people who would be interested in doing the hillclimb. It's open to all makes officially now, same very lax rules apply which amount to having a 2.5lb mounted extinguisher, a helmet, and if you feel like it Nomex. It is not a 10/10ths event as some of you may recall we've had fatalities in the past, one of which ended a much more publicized competitor event which only ran for the one year. That being said it's the most fun you can have with your street car in the US. Think of it as an informal Pike's Peak with a shorter, less lethal course. Here's a video of my friend who I call "crazy Jeff" running it in his GT3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlr73KZ6WsM We strongly encourage people to have at least an HPDE under their belts if not "real" racing experience (even chumpcar/lemons will do) and the event is geared towards "high performance" cars, so don't bring your Miata unless it's got an LSx under the hood. If you're interested please PM me.   
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Jul 30, 2013 02:17
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Das Volk posted:The Virginia City Hillclimb is back this year, with the original clubs running it (FCA Pacific and Norcal SAAC) and due to lower participation in the past couple of years I've been asked by the organizers to find people who would be interested in doing the hillclimb. It's open to all makes officially now, same very lax rules apply which amount to having a 2.5lb mounted extinguisher, a helmet, and if you feel like it Nomex. It is not a 10/10ths event as some of you may recall we've had fatalities in the past, one of which ended a much more publicized competitor event which only ran for the one year. Maybe because it sounds elitest and douchey? Or maybe that's just how it's coming off based on your description.
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Jul 31, 2013 02:20
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Larrymer posted:Maybe because it sounds elitest and douchey? Or maybe that's just how it's coming off based on your description. I'm sure it's fine. DV just can't help but sound this way when he posts.
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Aug 1, 2013 17:16
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