dtcevo

So here I sit in Homestead Miami for round 2 of the Continental Tire Challenge, Grand Am pro racing. Follow along tomorrow: http://www.grand-am.com/

We qualified horrible......again. But no worries like the last 3 races we have an act for starting in the 30's and finishing top 10. Race is tomorrow @ 4:15 eastern time. Hopefully we do well. Seriously......PRAY FOR US!!!

Enjoy some pics. More to come.








Our car:




Me and my nose running setup:



Jason Smith

Egezzy

iTrader: (2)

Lo-Buck EF

GET SOME!!!!!!!

EK4civichatch

I'll be there to spectate in about an hour or so!

known

iTrader: (1)

good luck!

njn63

Good luck.

Just in case anyone missed it, the Rolex series is on Speed today at 12 eastern.

Fastom

Good Luck Lara and Vesko !!

Get - R - Done

Shinny

Dang wish they would show more of the Continental stuff on speed more. Ouch 77Dp just hit the wall hard. Matt wasn't going to drive that this race right?

MBellRacing

Lol... I was not scheduled to drive the 77. I'm resting up for the GS race and your post is the first I've heard about the 77! Whammy. That sucks, last I saw Brian was pushing it from second place. He had 0.4sec faster average lap than Memo in the lead.

Good luck, Jason. I'll see if I can hack any bothersome ST cars that seem to be holding you up... juuuuust kidding.

dirty19

iTrader: (1)

tuned in and watching...

Shinny

yeah reminds me of an incident that happened on the front stretch of VIR?? maybe lol I think it was the track with the big ol tree in the hairpin. but anyways DP car cut too early passing a GT and ruined the GT's day. Gah I wish someone would beat the 01 lol sucks for the 8 car too they seemed really strong there in the middle. Also really interested in the 90 they're like James Stewart lol Good race overall though! Also found out Speed's going to show you guys tear it up next weekend

Turbogixxer

Friend is out there with the Cobalt brakes Mazda Speed3, I wish I could made it!!

dtcevo

Ha ha ha ha ha , Thanks Matt!! Maybe brake check those APR GTI's. They clearly have no problem drafting you GS cars. Did you notice me giving you a good luck thumbs up as I walked across the nose of your car? You were lined up in front of out garage near pit out. Waiting for qualifying to start. Sorry, I would have stopped and chatted but I was a bit busy at that moment.

First off, that was an exciting race!! Very intense. A couple of crazy moments with our friends over at Flat Out Motorsports and their MX5 Miata. They have a well prepared car and were a bit faster then us at corner exit. Our drivers were battling all weekend and we happened to both start in the back. Made for an exciting start. After the driver change, We got caught up with Ryan Eversley of Compass 360 and had to serve a stop and go, plus 10. That put us back of the pack with about 90min left in the race. Facing the LONGEST green flag stint we have seen in a while we were also a lap down. We were literally praying for a yellow. For fuel and to bunch everyone up again so we could make some moves. We worked our way to 16th then got our long awaited yellow with 33min left. We knew we had a race. In 30 mins we went to 8th position and the checker flew! From 33rd, thats not terrible. We'll take it. Good news is we are 4TH IN POINTS!! Way stoked!!

More pics as I rest and get home. Sitting in Denver waiting for my connecting flight.

dtcevo

I wanna hear from everyone else too. Matt and Mike, how were your races??

known

iTrader: (1)

doran 77 (henri richard) made an error in judgement in my opinion that i dont think Matt would have made! GT RX8 held his high line and henri cut early and clipped his front.

The cont challenge is being brodcasted next weekend for me I think on speed?

MBellRacing

I did see you, Jason! Was it before qualifying or the actual race? Either way, I was in my own little world at that point, trying to psych myself up!!! I think you were wearing a Skull Candy black shirt? Maybe I imagined it... lol.

GOOD JOB racking up some points! A few years ago the ST Championship was won by a team that didn't win many individual races-- they just got a whole bunch of 2nds, 3rds, 4ths, etc. All about reliability and average finishing position.

Well since you asked......

Our race didn't go as planned. Then again, nothing ever does. First off, we were struggling the entire weekend with general speed. The BMWs in GS class are very fast, very easy to drive, and very reliable at speed. It comes down to the fact that a Camaro is a hot rod, an M3 is a purpose-built sports car. We dealt with it, figuring that Grand-Am would adjust the rules soon enough, feeling that Homestead isn't really our race to win anyway. I went out for qualifying and finally got back to my old record breaking strategy of laying down a fast lap right out of the gate. Turns out it worked and was good enough for 3rd place. The Rum Bum M3 (the winningest car in GS currently) waiting to see what we all laid down and casually beat us by 0.1sec. Convenient. It would be nice to be able to dial-a-lap-time!

I started the race (as per the rules due to me qualifying the car) and got off to a surprising start. Joe Foster, who is quickly gaining a reputation for being quite rough, finally pissed me off enough that I did something about it. I gave him a friendly nudge and slipped on by for 2nd place, but not without penalty. The toe on the right front wheel seemed to have been knocked out a bit... the trick was that it seemed to actually help us with turn in on left handers! I played around in 2nd for about 28 minutes where Joe passed me again (quite daringly, might I add) just before a caution came out. I kept my 3rd position for the remainder of my stint when John Edwards hopped in.

He was posting some fast times, working his way back through the field, when all of a sudden he begins complaining of a big looseness. The problem gets worse and he starts dropping places. The team left him out there for as long as they dare which wore him completely out. The decision was made to relieve him and get me back in the car with some adjustments made to counteract the oversteer. At the driver change they informed me that the front sway bar was broken. This sounds simple, but it really is a big issue on this car.

I headed out for my second stint and was surprised to see that I could run a fairly good lap time (good for top 5) even with the bar off-- at least with new tires. That was quick to change. As the tires started wearing in, I had to get creative on how I was to maintain a decent pace. The oval section of the track was the toughest for me since the car would essentially flop over and "dirt track" around the long corner with a slight oversteer. This big lean in the oval put out right axle at a very awkward angle, eventually breaking off the CV boot, spewing grease all over the exhaust and filling the cabin with smoke. This also caused a jarring vibration that was worrying to say the least!

This mess went on pretty unchanged for the better part of an hour until there was a long caution. As Jason said, this bunches everybody up, essentially refreshing the race. This would have been fine had I been driving a car that had good tires and a working chassis, but that wasn't the case. A couple laps after the restart I entered the oval section with a very aggressive slip angle, trying to stay under a few cars I had just passed (not for position). The car snapped "high-side" and nosed up the banking the wrong way, VERY quickly. I thought I was done. It was just a moment when I was very sure I was about to get hurt. Somehow though, the car snapped back the other way RIGHT up against the wall. In desperation I floored the throttle and carried a big power slide against the wall, grazing it with the right corner of my rear bumper cover. It was such a close moment that I came over the radio with nothing more than, "Hoooooly f**k!!! PLEASE tell me someone saw that!" Of course, nobody did (as is the case) but I was ALIVE!

The race continued into the night with no other big changes. I worked my way into 11th place and was trying my best to catch the #00 Camaro so we could say we were the best of the Chevy's. Just as the headlights start to be a necessity, I get a big warning on the dash saying "Battery 11.4". Uhoh. I mentioned it to the team and they went ballistic. Concern of the minimum required voltage to run the ECU and if the belt that drives our dry sump and water pump was still intact were relayed to me. The order came for me to try and run without headlights. Well... why not?! So I clicked them off. Thanks to that nice film of axle grease on the inside of the windshield, it was like someone flipped on a privacy screen. I kept the lights off regardless, deciding to just try and follow the taillights of the BMW in front of me... until he also decided he should turn his headlights off.

With tooth rattling vibrations, alignment askew, one useful axle, one useful sway bar, no charging system, no headlights, a clouded windshield, and a big mark from a brush with the wall, the big Camaro limped past the checkered flag for 11th place. Not bad considering! I have to say it was one of the most challenging, but most rewarding races of my career so far. You see, this is the first time I've ever finished a race at Homestead, despite it being my third try. The first year I caught fire, the second year we lost an engine, and now this year we had even more issues thrown at us, but none that could stop us from taking the checker!

P.S.
Sorry it was so long and rambling, but it was an action-packed event! From what I could see Jason's car was doing great out there!

P.P.S.
Juha Lievonen just posted this photo... oh hey, its me!...

GI8U2racing

Amazing story Matt, glad to hear you guys finished! I wanted to watch but had to work on my sh*tbox to get it ready for NJMP in 6-7 weeks. Congrats!

dtcevo

I can't remember. It was one of those times though. Crazy week. Seems like there was very little time between our sessions for adjustments.

Awesome Job Matt. Great save. Don't you love those moments. Where you saved the car, saved the race and no one saw it. I have had many of those. It seems no matter how you explain it either, no one will ever truly know how big a moment it was.

I think you guys did an awesome job given the circumstances.

dtcevo

What about Mike. I wanna hear how the Flat Out guys did?

slammed_93_hatch

Congrats jason!! Keep on Keepin on buddy!!!


Also, i went out and bought some skullcandy earphones. I love to support companies who support racers!! Plus they seem to be a great product!

Please keep the updates coming!

dtcevo

Thanks Jimmy. Appreciate the support.

dirty19

iTrader: (1)

Great stories guys... I watched the race, but listening to you two made me feel like i was there.

My son has some Skullcandies but im old, and will stick with my trusty Bose Quiet Comfort headphones.

dtcevo

Ha ha ha ha. Come on Paul. They will take years off your face!

Did everyone see this:

http://www.grand-am.com/news/index.c...es=r&cid=41662

We got some event coverage and APR got in trouble for cheating.

dtcevo

Some video from our car, Lara Tallman is the driver.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UfCQ...layer_embedded

MBellRacing

Who knew Homestead would be so photogenic?!?

From Wes Dunkel:



From Geri Amani: