I did my first SCCA school on Saturday, got the second waived on prior experience, and so was able to run the Regional on Sunday. I ran in both RS and ITE. Weather was mixed - rain enough for wets, and also semi-dry. I qualified in RS on Dirt Stockers, switched to A032's for ITE qualifying (the sessions were back to back so I hustled that in full gear).

At the last minute I put the Dirt Stockers back on for the RS race - worked out pretty good, the track only started drying out near the end. I got them pretty hot, and was thinking that I was screwed for the ITE race immediately following. After I took my victory lap and came into impound a couple of my friends pointed me to a nearby spot where they were setup to swap my tires. Doing that cost me a lap of the race (I didn't know it at time - when I got going I thought I was seeing the pack down at the end of the straight after just having taken the green flag). So I thought I worked my way up pretty good - passed a dozen(?) guys. No - I was second to last (took that last guy on the last lap).

Here's the results from the RS race:



I qualified about 6th or 7th, got a few on the outside of the first turn, picked off a few more over the next few laps, and then worked on the second place car for the rest of the race, putting at least a dozen moves on him, but I just couldn't overcome his horsepower.

Killer weekend. The week leading up to it was a hard grind from hell. Work was at the heart attack level, and the car needed alot of work. I bailed on work Thursday and Friday, and finished the car Friday night at 2:30AM after working non-stop.

If it hadn't been for the rain all those Porsche's would have eaten me - but it was really satisfying hammering them.

Scott, who's gonna get some sleep.....



[Modified by RR98ITR, 9:59 PM 3/10/2002]

 

Good Job! What region & track was this at Scott?

 

Sorry about the results - I failed to get them to display big for quite a while and just had to go offline (sleepwise). It was Oregon Region at PIR. Misc notes: I was faster in the wet on Dirt Stockers than I was on damp on the A032's. So either that year that they sat in the garage made them hard fast, or they aren't as great an intermediate as I remember. My cage is NOT welded to the A and B pillars (so it's more or less IT legal), but Lee put several points in contact - they creak and squeel alot, and if I put my finger up close into a gap I can feel some relative movement as I drive slowly over really uneven ground (just in case you ever wondered how much an IT cage stiffens a car (not that this is an answer to that question though)). And I had to laugh several times again: a kid comes up and askes what I did to make my car so quiet - I tell him I left it stock; the workers are all talking on the radios during the RS race ("who is that guy, and what's he got: turbo?) - I tell the worker gal telling me this that no it's stock. Under the right conditions the ITR is, it's, well you know, it's just absolutely friggen fantastic.

It had been nearly twenty years since I last raced anything. And it was just a little different but I adjusted pretty quickly. When you're in close contact dicing with someone in front or behind it adds a bigger load in the car it seems to me. On a motocross track you can usually find secondary lines that are nearly as fast as the primary line the guy ahead of you is using. In a car that's not so much the case, and it makes it necessary to play a little tighter.

Some of the little things: Heater/Defroster on hi/hi was very nice, that convex mirror has got to go (bought a 3-panel Wink to replace it), getting in the car with wet shoes on a bare floor (couldn't get to that before the weekend) turned out to be no big deal (my GT friend says his wiping his shoes is more ritual than anything), I'll post some really good kill switch wiring instructions later.

Scott, who thinks maybe he did the right thing debauching the car, and that while a race day has less track time I just might be able to live with that.....

 

Congrats Scott!

Yeah, the chassis still flexes a little, but a whole lot less than when it didn't have the cage!

Warren

 

Glad to hear that somone else thinks that loud does not = faster.

Will
-who hates noise that is not purposeful

 

Good job Scott!

I figured that you would rule. I am 99% sure I will be at the National on May 12th and the Rose Cup in June. I will be in T2 trim but maybe I could try to chase you in the RS or ITE group. I'm glad you're having fun.

Victor Penner

 

nice work man!

 

Must be the new suit
Nice job Scott. Coming up to Bremerton in April (6th and 7th) for the double regional?





[Modified by johng, 12:21 PM 3/11/2002]

 

Scott...

That was one hella great race. I wonder what that blue Porsche was thinking everytime you attacked him in the Chicane??! You were rockin' on those dirt stockers in the RS race too!

I'm new to the game down at PIR. If you make the TC school this Saturday, look for a yellow 2gen integra and stop by and say hi.

Greg Marshall
#320 ITA Yellow Integra


[Modified by bulldog_RS20, 10:58 PM 3/11/2002]