Nazareth Track day with NASA....El Pollo Diablo's Story.
So I figured I would tell you guys how my Nazareth track event went, in
short, I think its safe to say that, although, this is the smallest track I've been to in my brief time of doing this, it was by far the most intimidating. Knowing very well that I usually drive on the edge of my skill level and sometimes beyond it, and those white walls feet away from car (sometimes less) was definitely a stress inducing experience. My weekend started by getting the car ready on Friday after getting home from work. I was bedding the hawk blues the previous weekend and I wanted to remove them for the 150+ mile drive down, I figured since I already had to remove front wheels to swap the pads I might as well put the race tires on. I was also rushing to put the pedals I got to easy my heel and toeing woes. With the help of my trusty Dremel and some screwdrivers I was able to remove the old ones and put on the new ones with minimal of hardship. I drove down from CT to my parent's house in NJ, got there around 11pm and went to bed around 12ish. Woke up at 5:00am so I could get ready in time and meet Joe between 5:40-5:50am, I was running late so once I got on the highway I was going 90mph all the way till I had to exit. Its amazing how loud the Yoko A032Rs are at that speed, it was drowning both my exhaust and the wind noise, the ride was extremely controlled, and stable...I could have been cruising at that speed all day (and have before.) As I get close to rt22 I remember that I need to get on 22west, as I'm getting on the off ramp I suddenly realize that I was supposed to go to the east, instead of going with the off ramp and just hitting the first U-turn I decide to cut across all lanes of traffic to hit the other exit. It's a good thing I drive a Type R....too bad that all my stuff went flying in the car... So I finally got to Joe's at 5:50am and we loaded up some stuff that wouldn't easily fit in his Subaru, went to quick check for a snack and drinks and set off to drive to Nazareth. I had given Joe one of my two ways radios so we could converse on our trip, but later realizing that I did not change the batteries, so while I could hear him, all he got was static in response (some say that's all the get when they talk to me in person anyway so it wasn't a big loss) but it made for some confusion, and some frantic arm waving between cars...Then Joe decided to loose me by slamming on the brakes to get to a gas station, but I was gonna have none of it and promptly engaged my calipers and entered through the exit of the gas station...that will show him...then I get out of the car to pump my gas when the attendant walks up to me. Oh, silly me, we are still in NJ. I blame my brain freeze on lack of sleep or something. My favorite part of the drive was the twisty section of 22 through Easton, PA, the one with the "Cargo may shift" sign. The sign was right, but it allowed me to get some right hand turns under my belt (for those who don't know Nazareth is a Tri-oval track, going in the counterclockwise direction (all left turns)) Once we got to the track we started unloading and setting up. Linda and Simon showed up shortly followed by Steve, Justin, and Adam. Then the rest started trickling in. Registration went very smoothly, as did tech, although we had no idea how to tech the racecars and all we did was check for loose items and that the battery was securely strapped in. I think the drivers were amused by our "tech inspection." The first cars out were the racecars and they went out there making a lot of noise. Next up were the advanced group and the instructors, followed by the Novices (most of us there). Since the instructor to student ratio wasn't that good it turned out that each instructor would have three cars to take care of. I lucked out with Jim Mattons, he put me as the last car of the train as he had confidence in me (I guess.) We went out and were going pretty slow the first session, there were too many cars on this short track and everyone was being cautious. Nazareth has a high pucker factor, as the walls are always there waiting to chew your car and spit it out, this track has to be respected even more than road courses as there is zero run off room, the good thing is with the slight banking if one does start oversteering and does NOT try to save it the car will have the tendency to skid away from the walls and towards the grass on the inside of the turns. As I was driving on the track I notice that my exhaust sounded extremely loud (as opposed to the usual extra-loud), the sound waves are bounced off of the track walls and thus one gets an amplified effect. It was so loud that I could barely hear Jim over the racket. Good thing he didn't have anything important to say....just joking...The cycle was repeated and the novices went out again and we all started going faster and faster, but it was still too crowded and with students with differing skill levels it made for a too slow a ride for some and too fast for others. When we came back in it was decided that we should split the novice group into two smaller groups, and although it was a good decision to make the execution turned out to me a little jumbled. On a different note, as I pitted, I decided to make the car sound even more Furious like, since it was already fast. I promptly took off the airbox cover to free up the wonderful induction noise of the B18C5. The first novice group lined up in the grid, but since the instructor's run group was immediately before the novice run group the instructors would have to pit in, park their cars and rush back to staging to get to drive with their students. Due to some miscommunication the pit out let out the first 5 students while they didn't have instructors with them (all except me, I had Jim since he skipped his session.) As we went out the first couple of cars took off with me in tow, I was short shifting to save the wear on the car and because there was no need to accelerate hard so the car didn't sound too different. But as I rounded one corned in 4th gear and passed 90mph the big lobe profile came into play when VTEC kicked in. The sound difference was staggering, where before I could Berkley could hear Jim talk now I couldn't even hear myself thinking. The deep rumbly sound of the intake combined with the exhaust note and the echo bounced off of the walls combined into a beautifully harmonic sound that Honda engineers would shed a tear for.....maybe...But alas the cars in front of me had no instructors and their lines were all screwed up. Jim didn't like that one bit cause the students were not signed off, and I agreed with him, after two laps I pitted in and Jim let Steve know that the cars out there had no instructors. They were promptly black flagged and came in. No harm done, but this will definitely be avoided next time. Jim told me that he is worried about my line or lack thereof, so I take him all serious and get worried that I'm doing something stupid when I realized that he is just joking. The British and their dry sense of humor... Then it was time to break for lunch, but unfortunately some people helped themselves to more than one portion and some brought their whole crew to eat gratis, it wasn't fair and some key people ended up not getting anything, Linda amongst them as well as a couple of instructors. Fortunately the catering place helped us out and delivered extra food at no charge to us, a very nice gesture on their part. Jim signed me off so the next session was run solo. I staged first in line so I could get some free track and boy did I. Once we went out the cars behind me were on my tail as I was warming up my tires (Lime Rock spin still fresh in my mind) but with each passing lap I went faster and faster, and soon there was no one behind me at all. As I'm going round and round I can see no evidence of anyone else on the track, I start worrying that they brought every one else in and I missed the signal, but I'm watching the flaggers like a hawk and I can see no signals or flags, so I relax and keep on going faster. As it turned out I was doing very well, posting some impressive times, according to the flaggers and track crew, they were also impressed by my line...woohoo...the rice boy image defeated by my mad driving skillzexers! http://images.zeroforum.com/smile/emsmile.gif Of course it all come very close to a screeching halt when I made two mistakes coming into turn no.3. I went in too fast and turned in too early...I started tracking out right towards the wall...the moment froze in time...the wall was coming closer and I was getting pulled towards it faster and faster...the car was right on the edge and the slightest of movement could send it towards the wall with increased fervor. Instinct took over and I knew that whatever corrections I did would have to be by the extremely minor. I left the steering wheel as I was already understeering and I concentrated on slooooooowly moving my foot off of the accelerator...I couldn't have moved it more then a fraction of an inch, but I felt the car scrubbing speed by understeering and the velocity decreasing with less accelerator given...I still didn't know if I was gonna hit the wall or not...but at least I was at a gentler arc. I felt the wheels pick up debris sitting by the wall and in the peripheral of my vision I saw the dust stirring up behind me as I was driving where no driver wants to be.... I came extremely close to the wall, by my estimation and corner worker accounts I was about a foot away from scraping the wall....If I had lifted I would have lost it and the whole right side of the car would have been scraped up...or worse...It was way more scary than the spin at Lime Rock. Later I found out that the corner workers were sure that there would be yellow paint to scrape off the walls for sure...and all of this after they were talking on the radio how good my line was and how well I was doing...the last few laps were done a lot slower, but I wasn't shaken up enough to come in, I knew what I did wrong and it definitely was imprinted in my memory for a long while. When the session was over, Simon and Joe, who where in radio communication with the flaggers didn't want to tell me how highly praised I was by them for fearing of giving me a big head....they were right, upon learning of the talks I got a huge ego boost, all despite my near miss. The good thing was that the ego stayed off the racetrack, the bad news was that every one around me would have to deal with the cocky Matt. Soon after (or maybe it was before) It was time for the racecars to do what they do best. They lined up in the order they qualified and since Dave Davis's G2 Acura was the fastest around the track at mid 34s in qualifying he staged first, followed by the Corvette, the Factory Five Cobra, and Matt Bookler's Davis sponsored CRX. Once they went around the track behind the pace car and then once again at half speed it was time for the green flag to drop. The 600+hp Corvette took off at full throttle and the other cars might as well have been standing still...The Corvette started to go much faster than it did in qualifying, but I'll leave the race description to Matt himself and exerpts from his email: https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=78214 That spin also looked very exciting from our venture point in the press box for timing and lap counting purposes. I was sure that the Integra was going to hit the wall and then I was sure that the CRX was going to hit the Integra, but, like I do so often, I was wrong. I'm glad it turned out that way. Of course it all didn't mean very much since all of the cars were in separate classes and thus all of them won. I forgot to mention that when I was setting up my car I changed the front pads from my glazed Portefield R4S to Hawk Blues, I was rushing since I helped a bit with setting up for the event and then tech-ing the cars and I was behind on time, so after removing everything from my car, putting the pads on I promptly drove to the tech line. As I'm getting close I apply the brakes.....nothing....I forgot to press the brake pedal a couple of times so it would come into contact with the pads...thus I had zero braking power...I missed the car in front by mere inches by pulling around...thank god there was no one standing beside it...I stopped with my heart pounding. Later I realized I also forgot to tape up my lights and even to put on my numbers before my first session. I think I should make a list before the next event cause we all had a lot of things to do and take care of. Also to mention the mugen pedals again....Nazareth does not require any shifting once you get up to speed....one stays in 4th the whole time...so I put on my pedals just for show and for the sake of some poorly executed heel and toes on the trip to and from the track...oh well. Nazareth also does not put on heavy requirements on the brakes, there is only one turn that demands any heavy braking, but it was not enough to even make the hawk blues warm. I run the next day on the R4S pads as there was no reason to chew up my rotors with the blues. Nazareth does strain the right two tires, especially the front one (at least for FWD), as I was flying through the last session for Saturday I overheated the right front tire and when I pitted in I realized I have blistered it. I was pushing the car too much through the fast section with too high of a pressure in the tires and it took its toll. I should have started with much lower pressures in the tires. I started with 35 in the front and 30 in the back, I should have started with 30psi all around. Lesson learned. After the race was complete we packed up most of the stuff and went to get a hotel room, I roomed with Linda, Simon, and Joe. But that's another story all together...lest just say that a lot of time was spent discussing the mole people, dead homeless people, crazy chicken vs. devil chicken, lack of clean socks, emblem stealing emblems, pointing newly bought toothbrushes menacingly and threateningly at each other, stench in a jar, malodorous vomit, and other silly things that are sure to keep these four people entertained for years to come. In case anyone cares the PC term for mole people (as composed by us) is the Underground Rodent Dweller or URD for short. After taking showers and changing into whatever clean clothes we had we met in the lobby with the other NASA board members, instructors and the track manager (Rob) and his wife. We headed to an Italian restaurant on Rob's recommendation and dined and discussed the day's events. Lance showed up with his female friend to drop of some CDs for me and join us for diner. Very nice of him to do so for me. Rob spent some time trying to convince me that my close call with the wall was fun....I didn't bite, nothing about it was fun. Overall a good diner, although I spent more time gloating than the usual amount. Blame it on the Yuengling. The food was very good, but also somewhat pricey (worth the price though) and I quickly found myself with very little money left in my wallet. (I'll come better prepared next time.) After dinner the group split up and went their separate ways. We stopped by a local bar that sold package goods and Simon went in to purchase some brew. He came out fifteen minutes later letting us know that he was able to purchase domestic beer as he was too afraid to ask for imported. Judging by the people walking into the bar I don't blame him one bit. We promptly went back to our room and socialized a bit while enjoying Rolling Rock Beer. Then it was time to pass out... Sunday begun a bit bumpy with me forgetting to turn off my watch's 5:00am alarm as well as the 5:16am alarm I have set previously. With me being as tired as I was and still not fully woken up, my eyes refused to focus right and instead of grabbing my watch to turn off the alarm I kept grabbing the telephone...it was quite bizarre, but the turn out was that I woke everyone up. We then woke up at 6:00am (which for me is 1 hour more than I get during weekdays,) I was thus in a much better mood then the rest of the crew, especially Linda....word of advice, stay out of Linda's way in the morning...I was for sure she was going to rip off one of my limbs and beat me to death with it...So after hitting Dunkin Donuts we went back to the track. This time I left the brakes alone changed the tires, put on the numbers, and put tape over the lights without forgetting anything (or so I thought.) The turn out for Sunday was a bit thin, but a lot of people remained from Saturday. With most of the novices signed off we decided to bump some of the novices to the advanced/instructor group. I was one of those people. This time I set my tire pressure at 30psi all around and put the blistered tire and wheel in the rear right position on the car (I wanted to put it in the left rear position but I was worried that since the tires are directional it would have adverse effects.) So I went out there to play with the big boys. I was definitely the car with the least amount of power out there...I was amongst 300hp Rx7, Twin turbo 300ZX, 911, Firebird, Camaro, etc....So I started going around waiting for my tires to warm up with all the instructors piled on my butt, I let them all pass on the straight. Then once the tires warmed up I started going faster, going around turn 2, which is a really long turn, most of which is done above 90mph the rear of the car stepped out after hitting a bump, I stayed on the power and loosened the line just a bit, but it was still very scary...I went in the next lap and checked tire pressures, they were holding steady and I was not overheating any of the tires. I went out on the track again. The back did the same thing again...it was not fun at all. I pitted in and went back to the paddock, I switched the two rear tires, putting the blistered rear tire on the rear left position as I was worried that it was causing the oversteer. In the next session I decided to run with the Novice group again since all the cars instructor group would pile up behind me in the straight. Plus I still didn't want to push it because of the oversteer and Saturday's near miss. So I went with the novices showing them my line and incrementally getting faster and faster, I was going at a pretty good pace, and accelerating hard in the straight when the engine lost all power...I looked down and I was very low on gas. I starved the engine of fuel...not good, thank heavens it happened in the straight, if I lost power in any of the turns I would have been scraping my car off of the well. I immediately pitted in and went to get gas. After getting gas I went out on the next session and the car felt a lot more stable with the additional weight in the back. I guess it was stepping out because the back was a lot lighter than I'm used to, it is most likely faster that way, but very unsettling, at least at this experience level. Then we went to compete in the time trials. Four cars were on the track with a small buffer between them, when I went out I didn't know how slow or fast I was supposed to go and I caught up to the RX7 that was in front of me, I started to slow down to give him and me some distance but then the 300Z caught up to us as well. So we started going around like that, but the RX7 driver didn't have enough experience level to go as fast as I wanted to go, so I was being held back. I pitted in knowing that I should be allowed to go out again with a different group since I got held up. I started my new time trial pretty confident and I was lifting later and braking less and overall I felt pretty good, I still wasn't pushing at all in no. 3 cause I still had bad memories of that wall coming up on me, but over all I was still a tad faster in time trials than my fastest times on Saturday. I came even close to Todd's times in his white Civic hybrid racecar. Him and I know that my car should be capable of lapping faster than the civic, but I don't think I'm ready to be pushing as much. I need to work on my consistency a bit, before going completely balls out. Upon coming back to the pits I realized that I lost one of my magnetic numbers....I asked around to see if anyone saw it fall off, or found it, but no one did. We even drove around the track picking up the pointer cones looking for the number, but it was all in naught. That was about it for the Nazareth track event, I drove to my parents house, picked up some things and trekked back to CT, I got there around 9:30pm and collapsed soon after. Overall it was a very good experience, and I will definatelly do it again. The more interest we generate in Nazareth and the more people show up at NASA's track days there, the sooner Nazareth will start to build the infield course there. It's a win win situation as far as I'm concerned. I hope to have more people show up next time with me so they can experience as much fun as I did. |
Re: Nazareth Track day with NASA....El Pollo Diablo's Story. (El Pollo Diablo)
Why were you teching racecars? This is a job that should be completed by a certified inspector. Teching racecars involves a LOT more than a typical soloII inspection. Rollcage thickness and diameter, welds, kill switch operation, fire system pressure, overflow cans on all fluid systems, properly installed bucket seats, harness dates, etc.
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Re: Nazareth Track day with NASA....El Pollo Diablo's Story. (El Pollo Diablo)
That was painful to read.
Whoever allowed you to pass basic composition should be dragged out and shot. http://images.zeroforum.com/smile/emthup.gif Hope you had fun, though. |
Re: Nazareth Track day with NASA....El Pollo Diablo's Story. (ITR 98-0652)
Looks like he wrote it while high on crack or something.... http://images.zeroforum.com/smile/emsmilep.gif
Need an abridged version.... |
Re: Nazareth Track day with NASA....El Pollo Diablo's Story. (El Pollo Diablo)
Good God. Cliff notes please! http://images.zeroforum.com/smile/emcrook.gif
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Re: Nazareth Track day with NASA....El Pollo Diablo's Story. (itrhybrid)
Obviously it took me some time to write all that, I dont have an english degree, English is not even my first language, but please, dont waste my time by writing pointless messages criticizing my composition skils.
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Re: Nazareth Track day with NASA....El Pollo Diablo's Story. (El Pollo Diablo)
Matt,
Thanks for the write up !!!!!!! Do you mind if I use it on my website? I'll see you this Saturday at Englishtown. |
Re: Nazareth Track day with NASA....El Pollo Diablo's Story. (davidnyc)
Is this what you do at work?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? http://images.zeroforum.com/smile/mad.gif
At least next time provide some cliff notes for your book. http://images.zeroforum.com/smile/emsmilep.gif God knows I have nothing better to do here. I copy and pasted it into word (6 pages), need something to read on the way home. -Kamil, the dude down stairs. http://images.zeroforum.com/smile/emsmile.gif [Modified by Kamil, 4:10 PM 10/15/2001] |
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