The SCCA or Sports Car Club of America Solo National Championships 2013 was a test of man and machine. The temperatures were blistering hot both days I ran and keeping both the car and myself cool and hydrated was an uphill battle. I had light-headedness and severe muscle cramping despite drinking over two gallons of liquid both days. I stayed away from large amounts of alcohol which would have contributed even more to my dehydration.
The first day of competition brought the long and fast East course with several pin turns and a few slaloms and sweepers. The car felt great and was able to take most maneuvers at no less than 50% throttle with minimal stab braking. After my first run I went to talk to my beautiful wife to make sure she was ok and also to check that she recorded the run from the sidelines, she was and did. Upon returning to my car to check tire pressure and temperature I noticed that my rear exhaust hanger was gone and the tailpipe was an inch off the ground and swinging freely. I quickly attached four zip-ties to the pipe and connected it to the tow hooks in the rear and hoped it would hold, it did. So I bled my tire pressure down to the optimal pressure went out and picked up over a full second on my second run landing me squarely in second place!
My Third run brought overheated tires which I failed to check the temp and spray them down with water to cool them prior to my last run on the East course. Also had a decent amount of "other people's rubber", OPR, caking my rear tires on their contact patch. I simply bled the tires down to the optimal PSI and went on my last run but was a full second off my previous best run, due to lack of traction both under braking and cornering.
The end of first day competition had me Second in my class of twenty-four and a half second out of First place with the last (7th) trophy spot being about half a second behind me. Very tight competition to say the least. Now this is where the mistakes start.
At the end of the day 1 I should have been scraping the OPR off my rear tires which I failed to do. The car was low on fuel and I needed to get a gallon and a half to make it through the next day of competition. I chose to go to Shell to get "premium" fuel and was shocked to see they only offer 91 octane fuel! My car is tuned for MINIMUM 91 octane, and runs like crap with significantly less power on anything but 93 or higher octane, but I was stuck and had to fuel with what they had.
Day two brought the West course which was slower and more technical with slaloms, sweepers and high speed lane change type maneuvers. It also brought clear skies, 95* temps with 95% humidity or at least that's what it felt like. The track surface was easily over 150* which will instantly heat and overheat your tires. I went out on my first run with the usual plan, smooth fast and clean, give them something to think about. But after the first four maneuvers the tires were overheated in the front and the OPR on the rear tires caused me to lose the rear end sliding out from under me at high speed, I lost control of the slide and almost came to a complete stop. Now I am behind the 8 ball and NEED to have a fast clean run on my second if I hope to hold onto a trophy spot.
Second run had Aaron Williams in my grid spot spraying down one sides tires while I sprayed down the other side tires with water to cool them off. We talked about keeping it in line and some driving technique as well as him threatening me if I didn't "clean it up", it was just what I needed. My second run was clean and free from slide/spin outs and I put down a competitive time. My god it was hot, I almost fainted after bending over to check my tire PSI EVERY TIME I bent over, not good, felt sick to my stomach and had random weird cramps everywhere.
Some time later I went to take my last and final run of the SCCA Solo National Championships with everything to lose. Was in second on day 1 and my second run of day 2 put me back into 6th place of 24 in class. I had to pick up some time and keep myself in contention. With more pit help from Aaron and words of encouragement I managed to pick up a few tenths on my last run despite the lack of grip and held onto the 6th of seven trophy spots in the class.
This was long time coming, me taking my car I built in my moms driveway with love sweat blood and tears, bringing it to the National Championships and proving that I had not only turned a grocery getter family sedan into a competitive racecar, But that I myself can pilot a car to a trophy at the biggest stage in Grassroots Motorsports.
The first day of competition brought the long and fast East course with several pin turns and a few slaloms and sweepers. The car felt great and was able to take most maneuvers at no less than 50% throttle with minimal stab braking. After my first run I went to talk to my beautiful wife to make sure she was ok and also to check that she recorded the run from the sidelines, she was and did. Upon returning to my car to check tire pressure and temperature I noticed that my rear exhaust hanger was gone and the tailpipe was an inch off the ground and swinging freely. I quickly attached four zip-ties to the pipe and connected it to the tow hooks in the rear and hoped it would hold, it did. So I bled my tire pressure down to the optimal pressure went out and picked up over a full second on my second run landing me squarely in second place!
My Third run brought overheated tires which I failed to check the temp and spray them down with water to cool them prior to my last run on the East course. Also had a decent amount of "other people's rubber", OPR, caking my rear tires on their contact patch. I simply bled the tires down to the optimal PSI and went on my last run but was a full second off my previous best run, due to lack of traction both under braking and cornering.
The end of first day competition had me Second in my class of twenty-four and a half second out of First place with the last (7th) trophy spot being about half a second behind me. Very tight competition to say the least. Now this is where the mistakes start.
At the end of the day 1 I should have been scraping the OPR off my rear tires which I failed to do. The car was low on fuel and I needed to get a gallon and a half to make it through the next day of competition. I chose to go to Shell to get "premium" fuel and was shocked to see they only offer 91 octane fuel! My car is tuned for MINIMUM 91 octane, and runs like crap with significantly less power on anything but 93 or higher octane, but I was stuck and had to fuel with what they had.
Day two brought the West course which was slower and more technical with slaloms, sweepers and high speed lane change type maneuvers. It also brought clear skies, 95* temps with 95% humidity or at least that's what it felt like. The track surface was easily over 150* which will instantly heat and overheat your tires. I went out on my first run with the usual plan, smooth fast and clean, give them something to think about. But after the first four maneuvers the tires were overheated in the front and the OPR on the rear tires caused me to lose the rear end sliding out from under me at high speed, I lost control of the slide and almost came to a complete stop. Now I am behind the 8 ball and NEED to have a fast clean run on my second if I hope to hold onto a trophy spot.
Second run had Aaron Williams in my grid spot spraying down one sides tires while I sprayed down the other side tires with water to cool them off. We talked about keeping it in line and some driving technique as well as him threatening me if I didn't "clean it up", it was just what I needed. My second run was clean and free from slide/spin outs and I put down a competitive time. My god it was hot, I almost fainted after bending over to check my tire PSI EVERY TIME I bent over, not good, felt sick to my stomach and had random weird cramps everywhere.
Some time later I went to take my last and final run of the SCCA Solo National Championships with everything to lose. Was in second on day 1 and my second run of day 2 put me back into 6th place of 24 in class. I had to pick up some time and keep myself in contention. With more pit help from Aaron and words of encouragement I managed to pick up a few tenths on my last run despite the lack of grip and held onto the 6th of seven trophy spots in the class.
This was long time coming, me taking my car I built in my moms driveway with love sweat blood and tears, bringing it to the National Championships and proving that I had not only turned a grocery getter family sedan into a competitive racecar, But that I myself can pilot a car to a trophy at the biggest stage in Grassroots Motorsports.