This past weekend, Laguna Seca Raceway in Salinas California was host to the 2007 Redline Time Attack Finals. It was down to the very very last minute for the Relentless Autosports and Double Down 350Z crew to get the car to the event, but we arrived at the track at 4:00am Saturday morning after a 7 1/2 hour drive up from San Diego. Suspension swaps, wheel problems, and other gremlins left the crew tired and us drivers with almost no practice come race time.

Unfortunately, I got absolutely no practice in the 350Z before going out for his timed session in Street RWD and did my best to adapt as quickly as possible to an unfamiliar track and an unfamiliar car setup. Fortunately, I drove the Z to a 1st place finish in the Street RWD class despite the situation!

Scott Bush (WA2GOOD) had very little practice as well before heading into his timed sessions for the Modified RWD class and was also able to adapt quickly and make the best of the situation driving the car to a 2nd place finish in the Modified RWD class!

So what seemed like a potentially bad weekend for the Double Down 350Z and its crew ended up being a great one and this was a great way to end he 2007 season. See you in 2008!!!

2007 REDLINE TIME ATTACK SEASON RESULTS:

1st Place Street RWD - California Speedway
2nd Place Unlimited RWD - Buttonwillow Raceway
1st Place Street RWD - Laguna Seca
2nd Place Modified RWD - Laguna Seca

And a very special thank you to our sponsors who have helped us get through 2007...

Relentless Autosports
GTSPEC
Jim Wolf Technology
World Motorsports
Stance USA
Axis Wheels
SPL Parts
Toyo Tires
Megan Racing
TH Motorsports
ModifiedGuide.com
LOT USA / Bride
Kognition Design
J&J Vinyl Co.
Fabulous Graphix

And of course our team and other friends who have helped along the way...

Scott Bush
Mike Bonanni
Mark Brent
Jim Wolf
Clark Steppler
Chris Frick
Pat Laughlin
Noah Marques
Heather Davis
Kelli Walthers
Jordan Swanson
Mike Mishler
fallenromeo

THANKS AGAIN TO EVERYBODY FOR MAKING 2007 A BREAK-OUT YEAR FOR THE DOUBLE DOWN TIME ATTACK 350Z!!!!!!!

Here are some of the pics as I find them...

From MadEvo on NorCalEvo.net...

 

congrats sincity! need pics though

 

Thanks! They should start popping up soon I am guessing. If you see some floating around the internet, feel free to post them up.

 

Congratulations to Scott and Mike! That is an awesome accomplishment!

 

^^^Thanks Kuah! Wish you could have been out there with us...

 

Nicely done.

 

Thanks again everybody, it is very hard to make a car competitive in street, modified, and unlimited RWD classes while having to stay within the street class rules so we are very happy with our results. We also ran in the Unlimited class, but we were on used Hoosiers that we got off of eBay last minute and they were 275/35/18 all around. We usually run a 285 or 295 up front and 315 in the rear so we knew that the car would not be too competitive on those but it was worth a try for the price we paid for them. If we did not do that, we would have not been able to run that class at all because we had no other tires.

Next year, this Z will not be running the Street class, only Modified and Unlimited so we will be able to take the car a little further with the modifications.

 

do you run the angled pipes for max. decibel level reasons at the track?

 

Yep, there was a 92db level cap on the event. If you broke that noise barrier, during your timed sessions, then that lap would not count and you would not be allowed back on track after that lap, so if you broke it on your first lap on your first timed session, you basically threw away that entire session.

 

Thats great news Mike, I was looking for the results of these last two events that you guys had on your schedule. Glad to see you and Scott and the whole team STILL doing well. How did the EVO do?

 

Thanks! The Evo didn't do too well. The biggest killer of that car was that it was WAY above the 92db sound limit so I had to coast with the clutch in for a good 5-6 seconds as I passed the microphone each lap. The slipping clutch didn't help either . I don't remember the times for that car, but I do know that it didn't place 1-3 in the Street AWD class.

 

Congrats!
I am curious about the times you ran. Care to share?

Thanks,
Marc Mc

 

Congratulations on two fine times. The car looks great.

 

Sure. We are waiting for final results to be posted, but here's what we remember...

Unlimited Class - 275/35/18 eBay Hoosiers all around 1:38.3xx

Modified Class - 295/30/18 F, 315/30/18 R Toyo R888 1:38.4xx

Street Class - 285/30/18 F, 295/30/18 R Bridgestone RE050A 1:41.9xx

 

I fixed it for you^^^ LOL

I never realy got a clean lap on the Hoosiers AT ALL, but even if I would have it would not have been within 2 seconds of what it would have been with a good set of our regular hoosiers, in the proper sizes for the car. It is a futile attempt anyways with this car in its street class form to try to place in the unlimited class (on the west coast). I would guess a conservative 1.33 ish with this car as it is on this track with the proper sized Hoosiers and just one more day of tweaking. Still not quick enough to have placed well.

All in all we were not too impressed with our performance and the results were surprising for this event. We are hopeing that next year we will be better prepared, better funded (or funded at all, Hahaha) and as a bi-product, even quicker.

 

how competitive was the competition in the classes?

 

you guys are great man, love to see the Z doing what it was designed to do. Amazing car and i wish speed tv would actually televise these events or at least be availble to stream or view the entire event online or something i watch the unitech car in the rolex series blow up on speed tv. i wish i could see your Z killing the competion on the coarse aswell.lol and from what i hear this wasnt the most optimum setup.

 

More competitive than I have seen in a time attack so far. The competition keeps getting steeper and steeper. There are some VERY well equipped car showing up more and more

 

Congrats on representing and excellent work for both teams.

I've always wanted to race at Laguna.

 

Thanks for the support. I wish more people would use the Z for what it is made for (not driving in a straight line) Hahaha. We definately could have gone quicker with a little more time with the car and more track time, but sometimes you have to play the cards your are dealt, and just see what happens.