Again- this summary of your adventures is most welcome! Also, I didn't realize you were running the outside course with NASA. Maybe I miscounted but we ran all 26 turns during both days of the SCCA Great Salt Race Nationals. I hope you, Dave, JoAnn and Gary all enjoy driving the full course!

I head to Road America on Tuesday, so we'll have to swap stories after I return!

 

Dave and I doubled up our track time by doing several ride-alongs, so we've been able to expedite the learning process. I wouldn't suggest that we're consistently driving the best line, but our times are getting better and it 'feels' like we're running smoother. Dave started running in Group 4 today and I think that was a different challenge for him because there were more cars and some of the drivers we're very aggressive. I really struggled with that group yesterday and today as well. Tomorrow's challenge will be to learn the new section of track. Thanks for your turn-by-turn too Dkmura, we've been referencing your write-up to glean some Muramoto advice in your absence.

 

It's late and apparently I can't count!

Safe travels to Road America and good luck!

 

We ran the outer course (3 miles) on friday and Saturday, and the full course (4.5miles, 23 turns) on Sunday.

I'll give a full report on Tuesday when I get back, and yes, Joel was right, I was the first to spin. Back end came out, I did a 180 and then caught it and cam eback to 90 and went off the inside of the track. The lotus behind me spun to avoid me. I appreciate it!

great times were had by all!

 

The truth of the matter is that Dave was reaching for his beer and knocked it over into the passenger seat. He tried to recover his barley soda as it spilled all over his leather seats - his concentration was robbed from the turn ahead leading to the spin. Upon his return to the pits he muttered something about his next mod being a better cup holder.

 

I hate it when that happens.

 

Day Three:

If there's such thing as a lazy day at the track, this was it. No more students, no more Vettes breathing down our neck, and far fewer people in general since most were headed home. There was a schedule to follow, but I didn't find myself running up and down the paddock as I had done a few times earlier in the weekend.

We began the day as usual with a driver meeting where we discussed the opening of the midfield section of the track.. For the record, Dkmura, there are indeed 23 turns! Our first session was at 6 or 7 tenths through the midfield as we explored the new territory. The entrance caught me out almost every time and I ended up crossing the rumble strips more than once as I tried to pick up speed. We were warned that this section was much more technical and I believe that was an accurate assessment. The perimeter track was much more enjoyable and much faster to run, but I'm eager to get back to Miller to learn the infield more fully. Dave and Gary talked me into staying for at least one more session before leaving and I'm glad I did. I met up with the photographer that I had emailed earlier and invited him to ride along. I think the ride gave him the bug - he's now seriously thinking about some form of motorsport with his Miata. We all started packing (after a nice lunch provided by NASA officials) and I was gearing up for the long ride home. Dave and Gary were sticking around to watch the Spec 944 mayhem, er, race I mean. AND, Dave has promised to return next year barring any major life changing events. We all have high hopes that NASA will return.

 

This is the truth!!!

Well, maybe not, but it makes a good track story.

As Joel said, Sunday, on the full course was interesting. Fun interesting, but definitely interesting.

I just made it back, after 13 hours on the road, and while the drive sucked, it was worth it. I'll be there next year, assuming NASA makes it next year.

More tomorrow after some sleep.

 

OK, OK- maybe it's ME who can't count!

Or maybe on a track where a triple corner complex (demon, devil and diablo) exists, I just counted too many turns! In any case, it's a challenge to remember where the HELL you are on the full course layout!

And I agree with your assessment- MMP is a fun track that I hope to race at in the future!

 

Dave- Glad you made it home safe and sound! Speaking of drives, Tuesday morning I start my 22-hour drive to Road America. 1,075 miles one-way and wouldn't you know it, through some of the worst flooded areas (Iowa and Wisconsin) in the country! Let's hope the race there is worth it...

 

Dave and Joel have summarized the weekend pretty well. Like they've said, my weekend started in frustrating, disappointing fashion, as we found a large pool of oil under the race car after running it for a few moments, right after unloading it from the trailer and putting it into the garage at the track. Of course it couldn't have leaked this much in my garage here in Colorado...it just HAD to wait until after it had arrived at the biggest race of the year (after a day-long tow) before deciding to pool this much oil!!!

Since this was scheduled to be the biggest 944-Spec race weekend of the season, there were lots of 944 racers at the track from all over the west coast. I had several of them look at the oil leak and the source, and while we couldn't 100% confirm EXACTLY where it was coming from, everyone agreed that there were no seals/rings/gaskets/etc in the area where the oil was leaking from, which meant that it was either coming from a crack, or from a seal somewhere higher up on the motor, and then dripping down to the place where we could see it dropping off of. But everyone agreed that it was leaking too much oil when warm to be safe running on track, so I made the difficult decision to pack it in before the weekend even got started. I'm confident that I made the right decision, as I'd rather have just a lost weekend, than a lost weekend, and a blown motor, and any potential damage to my car and others' as a result of oiling down the track if/when the motor went, but it still really, really sucked.

But, the weekend wasn't a total loss, as I was able to run a well-prepped, generously-donated WRX in HPDE4 all weekend, which was a blast, and just when I thought I had everything figured out in that car, I got some very helpful ride-along pointers from uber-instructor Rick Snyder on some tweaks to the line and my driving that made it significantly better. I also got to see a new perspective on a race weekend while helping with radio/communication duties in the Miller Motorsports Park Mustang pace car for the races on Saturday, and I got to spend some time collecting data and discussing tire tuning with a Toyo engineer during the weekend, as well. So, the weekend was far from a total loss, but it definitely didn't go as I had expected it to.

But, best of all, I got to spend lots of time with all of my NASA friends. It was great to see Joel continue to grow his career as a NASA instructor, while driving faster every single session on track. Also, it was fun to spend so much time with Dave P and his pro-photographer wife Jen. We're all very sad to see Dave P. go (it was definitely a bittersweet event, knowing it was the last time I'd get to share the track with him until either next year's NASA event at MMP, or until I go to check out Laguna Seca - whichever comes first)...he's been a credit to our group, but I know that he'll have a great time and make lots of new friends out in NorCal. Dave may not know it, but his positive attitude towards dealing with some of the mechanical issues that he has faced at the track has been a positive influence on me, and helped me deal with the problem that I encountered this weekend in a much more level-headed, constructive way than I might have otherwise!

dkmura - good luck on your tow to Road America, and good luck at the event!!! I'll be waiting to hear how it goes after you return.