That's not a bad idea! If I remember correctly, I was anything BUT the quickest Z last time out, and strapping my transponder to Dave's or Joel's well-driven cars would certainly be an improvement - you guys don't seem to realize just how fast you really are.

Dave (and Joel for that matter) - good luck this weekend if you decide to go for a group 4 checkout...you're definitely qualified, and I'm sure you'll pass the 'close quarters driving test' with flying colors.

 

It's official - I'll be there Saturday.

Joel

edit: Here's the updated list.

Sat/Sun NASA:
1. Dave 90TT
2. GaryM05
3. tsabrale (weather, which is looking good right now!!!)
4. 350ZMPH
5. jgray

Open track Day Friday 9 November:
1. Dave 90TT

 

You're very kind to say these things Gary, even though it's painfully obvious that Dave is a terrible driver. Doh! Just kidding Dave.

So Gary, will you be in the TT next season? I WAS thinking about getting my Group 4/TT certification this weekend. Then I started day-dreaming about a 3-way Z/G NASA TT Challenge with you and Dave90TT next year. A 4-way challenge including dkmura would be even better, but only if he stays away from the surgeons. So, what do you say? You not buying into that Porsche 944 deal are you?

 

Awesome! Looking forward to seeing you there.

As for next year, I will be transferring to Monterey, CA mid summer next year, but I would love to do TT runs with you guys before I go. I think my G falls in a different class, though, but we would at least be on the track at the same time and compare times.

 

Say it isn't so... We'll definitely get some track time in before you leave. What a loss though... You've stepped up and became one of the newest and biggest promoters of the Z, G, NASA communities and events. Will you be back at some point?

Joel

 

It is so, sorry. Good career move for me. If I come back to the Springs, which is not guarenteed, but certainly is an option, and it's the one I would pick if it is up to me, I'll be back here in two years.

Of course, there are some nice tracks in middle California. I'll be right next to Laguna Seca, and there are about 5 others within 300 miles...

 

If anyone gets into Pueblo Friday and wants to get together, give me a call at 719-325-9880

Dave

 

My current plan for next year is to take most of the year off from track events, with one or maybe two exceptions. I think I'm getting burned out after having done this for a few years, to the point where it's not QUITE as much fun as it used to be. I'm hoping that stepping away for a bit will help to cure that (although I have to admit that a multi-Z car TT battle would be a lot fun, all season long).

As for the 944, a friend of mine has bought a donor to build up over the winter into a Spec 944 racer, and I'll be following his progress through that process to determine if it's something that I want to get into in the future, while also keeping other available race car options open.

As for YOUR plans, I definitely think you should move up to group 4 as soon as possible, and then Time Trials after that, as running TT opens up a whole new aspect of strategy (both on track with your driving, and off track with your modding) that makes the event more fun (for the most part, although it can have it's downsides).

One point of clarification, though (you probably know this already, but from reading your post I'm not quite sure): even though TT runs in the same group as group 4, a group 4 sign-off doesn't come with a TT license included in the deal - getting the TT license is a separate process beyond the group 4 sign-off of basically filling out an application and having your driving observed for a few sessions (usually a day) in order to get the TT license application approved. At that point, you're free to join the fun and compete in TT.

Another way to run in TT would be to get your SCCA competition license, use that as credentials to get a NASA competition license, and then run TT on that, as NASA recognizes an SCCA license as valid credentials for a NASA license, and they allow competition license holders to run in TT.

 

Wow - congrats on the great career move, but I'll echo Joel's comment that it'll be tough to see you go. You've quickly become one of our most hardcore track enthusiasts and promoters, and it'll be tough to lose that enthusiasm.

On the upside, you will have some great tracks to run out there in Norcal - Thunderhill has been at the top of my must-drive list for awhile, so maybe at some point in the coming years we can organize a Colorado Z road trip to a track weekend at Thunderhill (or Laguna Seca, or Sears Point, etc etc).

 

At this point it looks like I won't be able to get out of work early enough to make it down there at any reasonable hour, and it'll likely be after dinner by the time I get into town.

If those plans change and I can get there sooner, though, I'll definitely give you a call. Hope you enjoy the open track day on Friday!

 

Unfortunately, the weather may be a bit better, but I won't be able to make this because of work. There are a few items I need to catch up on. I wanted to make it for both days, but even if I could go, I wasn't able to get a day off or so for a track event because of the workload. For all of you who make the even, have fun! I wish I live closer, it would make things easier.

-Joe

 

So how'd things go this weekend? It doesn't look like you got SNOW like at the last SCCA race, so I'm guessing it was a good time?

 

I can only vouch for Saturday...

The weather was beautiful and the track time remains status quo - the most fun you can have in your car without getting arrested or fathering illegitimate children!

It was great to see Gary and Dave again - you were missed dkmura. I learned how to take T2 at a ridiculous speed, just need to figure out how to stay on the track at the exit The comp school really buggered things up on Saturday as they were on-track with Group 3 for most of the day. Beyond that, there were no issues or negatives to speak of. NASA delivered once again.

I'll let Dave and Gary elaborate more...

Joel

 

Well, it went good, but...


The driving was great. Sunday, I did my HPDE 4 check ride, and while I did not pass (something I needed to discuss further with the instructor, but never got around to, for reasons I will get into in a moment), it was the most fun I have had on a track ever. There were me, and two others from 3 that were doing a check ride, and about 8 instructors zooming around us the entire time. 1 of us passed, the other 2 did not. The driving was a lot of fun, though!

Now for the bad news. I just recieved word from the dealership that they are not going to warranty my transmission replacement. My transmission is completely shot, and a new one is going to cost me a lot. I guess you have to pay to play, however. I spent most of the rest of Sunday afternoon trying to fix it at the track. Got home by being stuck in fifth gear and slipping the clutch, a lot.

Anyways, all in all, it was a great weekend, especially seeing Joel and Gary again. Gary, whenever you want to talk more about stereo equipment, let me know.


When I am less bummed out about my trasnmission, I will write more.

 

Dave,

Sorry to hear you didn't pass into Group 4. Something must have been awry with the testing because I know your abilities are on-par with that group. I'd like to hear what happened if/when you're comfortable telling us (on the board or privately). I also had no idea you were experiencing trouble with your transmission. Did that just develop over the weekend?

Joel

 

It was another great day at the track, and it was awesome seeing Dave and Joel again. One of the highlights of the event (for me, anyway) was watching the two of them take a side-by-side rolling start in the front row of their group during one of their sessions on Satuday.

Another thing I noticed was that it seemed like there were more Porsches than I've ever seen at a NASA event before, of every vintage...quite a site. Other car-related highlights included a Viper running in group 3 and 4 (with different drivers...apparently hitting 150 at the end of the straight with the group 4 driver behind the wheel), an NSX, a Shelby Daytona coupe, several C6 Vettes (including at least one Z06), and several other less-common cars that I'm sure I'm forgetting.

We had one slightly hairy situation in one of the group 4 track sessions on Saturday - a World Challenge SRT-4 had some sort of mechanical problem and stopped on track, right at the turn 7 turn-in point. Yikes!

To make matters worse, I was the first car on the scene, with an Elise hot on my tail, and we arrived before there were any flags up at T6 or T7 (they figured it out and starting waving them just after I passed the stopped car going into T7). Fortunately, I've gotten into the habit of always looking far ahead on track (thanks, dkmura!) and was able to spot the offending car and begin slowing as I was coming through 6A, heading towards 6B, and the Elise behind me to took the cue to slow down there, too (he said afterwards that he wasn't able to see me waving my hand through the car to let him know that I would be slowing up unexepectedly, but he's a highly skilled driver and was aware enough of the situation to start slowing as soon as I did).

We discussed the situation with our group leader in the next download, and I noticed that there was some extra corner coverage at T7 the next time out, so hopefully the message got through about the delayed (IMO) yellow flag.

Dave - Ouch! Sorry to hear about the transmission. What are it's symptoms? Is it stuck in gear, will it not stay in a gear, all or none of the above? Did the dealer give you any indication of exactly why they wouldn't cover it's replacement? Would it be worth trying to find a dealer in Denver that could give you a second opinion? I know you said you'll write more when you're less bummed about your transmission - I completely understand, so don't feel compelled to add any more detail than you're ready, before you're ready.

Also, do you mind if I ask who your group 4 check ride instructor was? Not that it matters, really - I'm just curious. How did you feel the checkout went? I agree with Joel's assesment that you've got the skills to drive well in that group - the checkouts always seem hairier than anything I've ever actually seen happen in that group (which I guess is how they should be, but they can be a little...intense sometimes).

 

Very nice summaries- but inquiring minds want to know: did GaryM05 clinch the TTC title that weekend? Did Jgray taste the dust at the exit of T2, or did it lead him to discovering an excellent line into the entry for T3? Finally, the slowly turning story of Dave90TT's tranny is yet to be told. Have you pulled it down yet? I may be able to help get Nissan parts at a discounted price. Let me know.

 

Well, there was nobody else running TTC this weekend, and as far as I know there wasn't anyone else that ran the number of events that I did or consistently finished higher than I did this season (although from any one event to the next there was stiff competition in my class all season long from those who showed up, until this weekend when I ran unopposed), so I'm ASSUMING that I took the championship, but until I see or hear anything official I don't want to speculate.

I'll let Joel answer about the details of his experience in T2, but I will say that he set a blistering lap of 1:50.005 during that session, so he must have been doing something right.

 

Ok, here's what happened:

I've always had difficulty getting the car into reverse. Lately (the past couple of months) I've had a minor 5th gear grind. No big deal, considering that I have an upgraded clutch, a short shifter, and I am putting almost 200 more HP through the tranny than the factory diesgned for. Nothing really worried me.

However, on my last session at PMP, I had trouble shifting into 5th on the front straight. I would put it in fifth, release the clutch, and the engine would just rev up, as if it were still in neutral. Same thing with sixth. So, for the rest of that session, I just stayed in fourth, and worked on the rest of the course, without worrying about good lap times.

I came back, parked the G, let it idle for about 5 minutes (in neutral) and went to the download. After that, I restarted the G, and tried to put it in fifth. No problem it goes in fifth....but then it won't come out, and the shifter acutally feels like it is in neutral. I jack it up, and look at it, and the linkages are all fine, and I have the guys from MAC Autosports look at it as well, and everything external to the actual transmission looks fine. AFter two hours of screwing with it, I decide to drive home, stuck in fifth gear. Mind you, the clutch still works fine, and I do a lot of clutch slippage in order to get it home. I had mapped out my route, and there were no stop lights that were going up hill II could start from a stop on flat ground, but uphill would be problematic, especcially pulling a trailer. I made it home fine, finally.

Monday, I have it flatbedded to the dealership in hopes that they would warranty it, but I wasn't really counting on it, based on the large number of aftermarket parts directly in the powertrain (clutch, JWT TT kit, short shifter, etc...) And they didn't, but they were more than willing to sell and install a new tranny, which they did. I looked at the insides of the old tranny, as well. It was bad... I thought about installing the new tranny myself, but decided against it, based on the time factor.

Anyways, my G is all better now, and I have rethought some of my driving practices, especially at the track. I will be a bit more gentle with my downshifts, and I will attempt to not break this tranny.

However, this will definitely not keep me from going back to the track next season!

Dave

 

I tasted the dust in a big way.

The sun was going down, ambient air was cooling, track was clear, and I was testing the limit. In the previous lap Ipushed hard throughout the entire course and was intent on matching that effort again, only to be shut down on T2. My rear end broke loose and by the time my brain got the signal, I was perpendicular to the track. Following dkmura text book procedures - both feet went down and I held the wheel, controlled the line-of-travel (in the dirt and in reverse) as best I could. She finally came to rest and I checked the track for reentry, then gingerly limped back to the pits to check for damage (some dust on the fenders and a few tumble weeds stuck in the undercarriage).

As Gary mentioned, I did improve my personal best on the previous lap, which is very cool! It almost makes up for the off-track excursion.

Joel