A Week with King Motorsports - Atlanta WC
Thread Starter
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 5,871
Likes: 0
From: Jetsetter
A Week with King Motorsports - Atlanta WC
In need of a serious vacation from the daily grind of life here in Madison, WI, I took a friend up on an offer to join his team for a week of World Challenge Touring Car love. The week began early Sunday morning (Oct 12) in Sullivan, WI where I met up with Scott Z and Yoshihiro Nezu. Our short term goal was to drive the King rig cross country and arrive in Atlanta, GA. by noon the next day – roughly 16 hours of driving.
Who would you expect to find piloting a World Challenge rig across the United States - oh just the usual suspects - a team owner, marketing guy for a furniture company, and a Japanese engineer. Aside from traffic in Chicago (a given - this time it was the Chicago marathon) the trip down was very smooth. We dropped anchor in Knoxville and had the opportunity to show the engineer a little bit of true southern Americana....
We crashed at a Holiday Inn finding ourselves back on the road early the following a.m. The smoker got his own room, the two non-smokers had to shack up - a wonderful relationship that lasted the entire trip. You might be wondering what a Japanese engineer does when cruising across the southern US
Well it probably wasn't all that interesting anyway. Interrupting the constant flow of country music and radio church services was Z and I talking about how unbelievably fat America's youth have become in their craze over fast food and video games. Of course I can't be too hard since I've become unbelievably fat in my craze over auto racing and beer.
We roll into Road Atlanta a few minutes past noon. Once you get there you have to wait to be “parked”. Filling up a paddock requires a bit of logistical organization – it isn't like rolling into the local mall and finding the last “fat boy” spot. So anywho, we park the rig and bum a ride from one of Foo's dudes back to the infamous Admiral Benbow Inn. Z insists that eons ago this used to be the hot **** place to stay. Aside from the oder it had charm, including a "pot head" monkey that Z took a liking to immediately.
After some yummy Mexican grub we crashed. Early the next morning, like around 3:00am, the rest of the crew apparently arrived from California. While good at navigating on the track, our racecar driver apparently had trouble finding his way.
Lesson #1: For the normal driver there is no I-785 in Atlanta. However, if you are a tired racecar driver and you find this mysterious road you'll end up half way to Knoxville before you realize that you might have taken a wrong turn.
The following day (Tuesday) began early with paddock set-up. It's seemingly simple until you find yourself anointed "rope guy" and perched atop the rig pulling the awning across as team owner and engineer fumble with the big nylon bit while dodging large beams of aluminum. After a few hours most everything is unloaded and setup.
Basically you need the following items in paddock:
1) Rig/awning
2) Racecar/parts
3) Pit cart/tools
4) Paddock transport a.k.a 4-wheeler
5) Alignment rack/scales
6) Table/chairs
7) Cooler/beer
8) People of varying heights, sex, and nationality
Yes it is level!
Tuesday was the “testing” day. Pretty much 2 hours of track time divided into 30minute sessions. No formal timing is available or published. Basically you rely on stop watches to compare your times to others. This is necessary to see how your set-up is measuring up. The car was fast right off the trailer. And aside from a few points of discussion we left feeling pretty good about the day. Aside from “rope guy”, I got to play “gas guy” and “tire guy”. Wednesday looked to be fairly relaxed so we didn’t hold back with paddock cocktails or drinks that evening.
Richi Bono and Nezu-san
Wednesday came quickly after a good night’s rest. Wednesday is a bit more serious as the we go from testing to practice. Practice is a timed event where everyone knows how everyone else is running. The trick here is to go fast, as to not look slow, but also not to go too fast and show all your cards. Relatively speaking we were not as fast as the day before and this was the cause of some concern at the end of the day. At this point you start to see the pressure of being a crew chief having to make a decision about what, if any, changes to make to the car to improve your times in the next day’s crucial qualifying session. With good input from Mr. Bob the decision was made NOT to make major changes and go back to basics – check the alignment. With a few minor tweaks we were ready to roll for qualifying on Thursday.
We found ourselves at a steakhouse getting to know one another, including the waitress.
Lesson #2: Racecar drivers get a lot hugs from women.
Some of us got a little silly after dinner and a number of cocktails. Don't ask me how Rich talked me into this, but I found myself on top of a large pumpkin at the bar. Unfortunately, I must have done some internal damage as our friend started to deflate. Before it was completely gone, we decided to depart.
JDM Cigs Yo!
Qualifying (Thursday) was okay. The Toyo tires put their best laps down early-on in a 20 minute session – like within the first 4 laps – so you have to go right out and lay down some fast times. In watching the in-car footage, we were having a little trouble with traction in 7 and ended up a modest 9th. Bob was disappointed, he wanted a better finish – I guess that is what you would expect from a champion and true competitor. In preparation for the race, no major changes were made to the car, just a fresh set of rubber and a tank of gas. Alignment settings were checked and that was it. No behind the scenes or smoke and mirrors stuff going on – pretty simple and basic approach. We had a decent meal that night and were in bed early in preparation for the big day.
Friday came bright and early – actually it was dark outside. We got to the track and made sure everything was in order for the race and put the car out on display while we tore down the paddock. The original plan was to be packed up and on the road right after the race – this was in order to get the rig to Jacksonville, FL by Saturday at noon. The next race is in Puerto Rico so everything had to be shipped over by boat from Jacksonville – busy schedule! The race came and as many might know it did not end so well for us. Early on Bob encountered contact on the back stretch and was forced off going into 10a. When coming back on the suspension was broken and by the time he knew he had a problem he was heading down the “old” pit entrance at a high rate of speed with no right front wheel or brakes! It was quite a moment for all of us. Initially he thought he just had a flat tire and was trying to get off of the track and come in for repair. Bob was okay and the damage to the car was not serious enough to prevent repair. Needless to say we were all bummed out, however I was very surprised how Scott handled it when I asked him how he was doing. Without any negative emotion and a little smile on his face he said, “I’ve been around this long enough to accept that these things will happen” You have to understand the context of their season which, with the exception of a few high points, was dominated by bad luck – everything from wrecking the car on the first outing, a string of bad motors, flipping the trailer, a questionable DQ on a 4th place finish, to finally wrecking the car at their last outing – all of these things out of their control.
I had a great week, and although and didn’t get much R&R, I must say that this was one of the most fun things I have ever done while on a vacation. The thing that sticks out most in my mind about the experience was how well this small group of people worked together. Relatively speaking, they get a lot done with very little, and are extremely competitive all at the same time. I attribute their success to their competitiveness and true passion for motorsport.
Thanks to Scott, Bob, Rich, Nezu, Amy and Lawrence
Moshi-Sushi
Ausmith
Enjoy the rest of the pictures.
Btw… there was a TV crew there filming the team for a new 13 episode show on Speed channel. The are building up a Mugen RSX project car and are starting the series out with some real-world application – i.e. racing. Not sure when it airs, but keep an eye out. It is supposed to be much better than anything shown thus far related to imports. More technical.
Modified by Ausmith at 2:45 PM 10/23/2003
Modified by Ausmith at 4:46 PM 10/23/2003
Modified by Ausmith at 4:50 PM 10/23/2003
Modified by Ausmith at 4:55 PM 10/23/2003
Who would you expect to find piloting a World Challenge rig across the United States - oh just the usual suspects - a team owner, marketing guy for a furniture company, and a Japanese engineer. Aside from traffic in Chicago (a given - this time it was the Chicago marathon) the trip down was very smooth. We dropped anchor in Knoxville and had the opportunity to show the engineer a little bit of true southern Americana....
We crashed at a Holiday Inn finding ourselves back on the road early the following a.m. The smoker got his own room, the two non-smokers had to shack up - a wonderful relationship that lasted the entire trip. You might be wondering what a Japanese engineer does when cruising across the southern US
Well it probably wasn't all that interesting anyway. Interrupting the constant flow of country music and radio church services was Z and I talking about how unbelievably fat America's youth have become in their craze over fast food and video games. Of course I can't be too hard since I've become unbelievably fat in my craze over auto racing and beer.
We roll into Road Atlanta a few minutes past noon. Once you get there you have to wait to be “parked”. Filling up a paddock requires a bit of logistical organization – it isn't like rolling into the local mall and finding the last “fat boy” spot. So anywho, we park the rig and bum a ride from one of Foo's dudes back to the infamous Admiral Benbow Inn. Z insists that eons ago this used to be the hot **** place to stay. Aside from the oder it had charm, including a "pot head" monkey that Z took a liking to immediately.
After some yummy Mexican grub we crashed. Early the next morning, like around 3:00am, the rest of the crew apparently arrived from California. While good at navigating on the track, our racecar driver apparently had trouble finding his way.
Lesson #1: For the normal driver there is no I-785 in Atlanta. However, if you are a tired racecar driver and you find this mysterious road you'll end up half way to Knoxville before you realize that you might have taken a wrong turn.
The following day (Tuesday) began early with paddock set-up. It's seemingly simple until you find yourself anointed "rope guy" and perched atop the rig pulling the awning across as team owner and engineer fumble with the big nylon bit while dodging large beams of aluminum. After a few hours most everything is unloaded and setup.
Basically you need the following items in paddock:
1) Rig/awning
2) Racecar/parts
3) Pit cart/tools
4) Paddock transport a.k.a 4-wheeler
5) Alignment rack/scales
6) Table/chairs
7) Cooler/beer
8) People of varying heights, sex, and nationality
Yes it is level!
Tuesday was the “testing” day. Pretty much 2 hours of track time divided into 30minute sessions. No formal timing is available or published. Basically you rely on stop watches to compare your times to others. This is necessary to see how your set-up is measuring up. The car was fast right off the trailer. And aside from a few points of discussion we left feeling pretty good about the day. Aside from “rope guy”, I got to play “gas guy” and “tire guy”. Wednesday looked to be fairly relaxed so we didn’t hold back with paddock cocktails or drinks that evening.
Richi Bono and Nezu-san
Wednesday came quickly after a good night’s rest. Wednesday is a bit more serious as the we go from testing to practice. Practice is a timed event where everyone knows how everyone else is running. The trick here is to go fast, as to not look slow, but also not to go too fast and show all your cards. Relatively speaking we were not as fast as the day before and this was the cause of some concern at the end of the day. At this point you start to see the pressure of being a crew chief having to make a decision about what, if any, changes to make to the car to improve your times in the next day’s crucial qualifying session. With good input from Mr. Bob the decision was made NOT to make major changes and go back to basics – check the alignment. With a few minor tweaks we were ready to roll for qualifying on Thursday.
We found ourselves at a steakhouse getting to know one another, including the waitress.
Lesson #2: Racecar drivers get a lot hugs from women.
Some of us got a little silly after dinner and a number of cocktails. Don't ask me how Rich talked me into this, but I found myself on top of a large pumpkin at the bar. Unfortunately, I must have done some internal damage as our friend started to deflate. Before it was completely gone, we decided to depart.
JDM Cigs Yo!
Qualifying (Thursday) was okay. The Toyo tires put their best laps down early-on in a 20 minute session – like within the first 4 laps – so you have to go right out and lay down some fast times. In watching the in-car footage, we were having a little trouble with traction in 7 and ended up a modest 9th. Bob was disappointed, he wanted a better finish – I guess that is what you would expect from a champion and true competitor. In preparation for the race, no major changes were made to the car, just a fresh set of rubber and a tank of gas. Alignment settings were checked and that was it. No behind the scenes or smoke and mirrors stuff going on – pretty simple and basic approach. We had a decent meal that night and were in bed early in preparation for the big day.
Friday came bright and early – actually it was dark outside. We got to the track and made sure everything was in order for the race and put the car out on display while we tore down the paddock. The original plan was to be packed up and on the road right after the race – this was in order to get the rig to Jacksonville, FL by Saturday at noon. The next race is in Puerto Rico so everything had to be shipped over by boat from Jacksonville – busy schedule! The race came and as many might know it did not end so well for us. Early on Bob encountered contact on the back stretch and was forced off going into 10a. When coming back on the suspension was broken and by the time he knew he had a problem he was heading down the “old” pit entrance at a high rate of speed with no right front wheel or brakes! It was quite a moment for all of us. Initially he thought he just had a flat tire and was trying to get off of the track and come in for repair. Bob was okay and the damage to the car was not serious enough to prevent repair. Needless to say we were all bummed out, however I was very surprised how Scott handled it when I asked him how he was doing. Without any negative emotion and a little smile on his face he said, “I’ve been around this long enough to accept that these things will happen” You have to understand the context of their season which, with the exception of a few high points, was dominated by bad luck – everything from wrecking the car on the first outing, a string of bad motors, flipping the trailer, a questionable DQ on a 4th place finish, to finally wrecking the car at their last outing – all of these things out of their control.
I had a great week, and although and didn’t get much R&R, I must say that this was one of the most fun things I have ever done while on a vacation. The thing that sticks out most in my mind about the experience was how well this small group of people worked together. Relatively speaking, they get a lot done with very little, and are extremely competitive all at the same time. I attribute their success to their competitiveness and true passion for motorsport.
Thanks to Scott, Bob, Rich, Nezu, Amy and Lawrence
Moshi-Sushi
Ausmith
Enjoy the rest of the pictures.
Btw… there was a TV crew there filming the team for a new 13 episode show on Speed channel. The are building up a Mugen RSX project car and are starting the series out with some real-world application – i.e. racing. Not sure when it airs, but keep an eye out. It is supposed to be much better than anything shown thus far related to imports. More technical.
Modified by Ausmith at 2:45 PM 10/23/2003
Modified by Ausmith at 4:46 PM 10/23/2003
Modified by Ausmith at 4:50 PM 10/23/2003
Modified by Ausmith at 4:55 PM 10/23/2003
Trending Topics
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 10,980
Likes: 0
From: Look up!
Re: A Week with King Motorsports - Atlanta WC (RAB)
The Story and the pics always the best Clayton! Lucky guy to travel around with King! 
PS: Mstewar and Myself are heading north to pick up good old #55 and keep it alive this weekend!
PS: Mstewar and Myself are heading north to pick up good old #55 and keep it alive this weekend!
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 14,274
Likes: 0
Re: (lanceh)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by lanceh »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">so clayton will you be bringing the king car to chris' party on sat? how much for some 'private time'?
thanks for the write up. sounds like a great vacation.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Don't say private time to Clayton.... make sure to keep him in front of you!!
Yea CG, drive it down to chi-town on saturday!
thanks for the write up. sounds like a great vacation.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Don't say private time to Clayton.... make sure to keep him in front of you!!
Yea CG, drive it down to chi-town on saturday!
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 12,092
Likes: 2
Re: (lanceh)
I'll have to finish reading the ending after I make myself another cup of coffee.
Thanks for the inside scoop into the workings of a pro team!
2003 Speed World Challenge Telecast Schedule
Speed Touring Car Championship
Road Atlanta Sat, Nov 8 4pm
Puerto Rico Sat, Nov 15 4pm
Thanks for the inside scoop into the workings of a pro team!
2003 Speed World Challenge Telecast Schedule
Speed Touring Car Championship
Road Atlanta Sat, Nov 8 4pm
Puerto Rico Sat, Nov 15 4pm
Thread Starter
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 5,871
Likes: 0
From: Jetsetter
Re: A Week with King Motorsports - Atlanta WC (Smitdog)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Smitdog »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The Story and the pics always the best Clayton! Lucky guy to travel around with King!
PS: Mstewar and Myself are heading north to pick up good old #55 and keep it alive this weekend! </TD></TR></TABLE>
Cool... #55 lives on. Good deal. The mini itr is being painted this week - CW none the less.
PS: Mstewar and Myself are heading north to pick up good old #55 and keep it alive this weekend!
</TD></TR></TABLE>Cool... #55 lives on. Good deal. The mini itr is being painted this week - CW none the less.
Thread Starter
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 5,871
Likes: 0
From: Jetsetter
Re: (lanceh)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by lanceh »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">so clayton will you be bringing the king car to chris' party on sat? how much for some 'private time'?
thanks for the write up. sounds like a great vacation.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Sure thing.
thanks for the write up. sounds like a great vacation.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Sure thing.
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 10,980
Likes: 0
From: Look up!
Re: A Week with King Motorsports - Atlanta WC (Ausmith)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ausmith »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Cool... #55 lives on. Good deal. The mini itr is being painted this week - CW none the less.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Yes. Mark could not stay away from the R scene to long. We will be picking up the freshly fixed and painted #55 Saturday Morning! I am sure he will post pics!
Cool... #55 lives on. Good deal. The mini itr is being painted this week - CW none the less.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Yes. Mark could not stay away from the R scene to long. We will be picking up the freshly fixed and painted #55 Saturday Morning! I am sure he will post pics!
Thread Starter
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 5,871
Likes: 0
From: Jetsetter
Re: A Week with King Motorsports - Atlanta WC (chad)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by chad »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
best short story i've read inawhile....i think this is readers digest material....
"the event prep" a pitcrew's story!!
</TD></TR></TABLE>
LOL... thanks d00d. I wrote it in between meetings at work
best short story i've read inawhile....i think this is readers digest material....
"the event prep" a pitcrew's story!!
</TD></TR></TABLE>LOL... thanks d00d. I wrote it in between meetings at work
Thread Starter
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 5,871
Likes: 0
From: Jetsetter
Re: A Week with King Motorsports - Atlanta WC (George Knighton)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by George Knighton »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What a wonderful narration.
Thanks for taking the time to do it and share it.</TD></TR></TABLE>
No problem. Glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks for taking the time to do it and share it.</TD></TR></TABLE>
No problem. Glad you enjoyed it.
Thread Starter
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 5,871
Likes: 0
From: Jetsetter
Re: A Week with King Motorsports - Atlanta WC (Jaker)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jaker »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I never knew Bob Endicott was such an old fart!</TD></TR></TABLE>
Hey that's not very nice.... Would you say that to his face?
Hey that's not very nice.... Would you say that to his face?
Thread Starter
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 5,871
Likes: 0
From: Jetsetter
Re: A Week with King Motorsports - Atlanta WC (Smitdog)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Smitdog »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Yes. Mark could not stay away from the R scene to long. We will be picking up the freshly fixed and painted #55 Saturday Morning! I am sure he will post pics! </TD></TR></TABLE>
Cool cool. Good memories in that car. If he wants pics of it's journey from Reno to Madison let me know!
Yes. Mark could not stay away from the R scene to long. We will be picking up the freshly fixed and painted #55 Saturday Morning! I am sure he will post pics!
</TD></TR></TABLE>Cool cool. Good memories in that car. If he wants pics of it's journey from Reno to Madison let me know!
Thread Starter
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 5,871
Likes: 0
From: Jetsetter
Re: A Week with King Motorsports - Atlanta WC (Ausmith)
Reponding to IM's - Yoshihiro Nezu is an engineer from Mugen. He worked on the Mugen F1 engine program and was responsible for developing the K20 World Challenge motor. He does all of the development, assembly, dyno tuning, and support of the motors. That also includes the ecu programming and datalogging.
He drives a Honda Beat with ITB's... Nezu-san is a very cool guy... he is a good sport and adapts very well to American culture
He drives a Honda Beat with ITB's...
Nezu-san is a very cool guy... he is a good sport and adapts very well to American culture
Thread Starter
Honda-Tech Member
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 5,871
Likes: 0
From: Jetsetter
Re: A Week with King Motorsports - Atlanta WC (Jaker)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jaker »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I meant no disrespect, and get the impression from your description that he'd say the same about himself!</TD></TR></TABLE>
I figured as much... Yes, Bob does joke around about his age.
I figured as much... Yes, Bob does joke around about his age.