Let's Rock The Rock April 14-15 with NASA-SE
04-14-2007, 07:31 PM
#27
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Mid-event update
Hey y'all track wanna-be biatches!
We were blessed with dry warm weather today. I think we'll pay for that tomorrow though. Anyway, today was a great day. Onrails did awesome and really does not drive like someone who only has one event under his belt. We was hauling butt today and handled the track really well. He basically learned the track within his 2nd session and spent the rest of the day going faster and faster. The kid knows how to use the brake pedal too. He was shooting vid all day so we should see some nice footage from him. In his 2nd and 3rd sessions he started exploring the grip levels of his monster sized Azenis. Yeah he got some nice tail out action and handled it very well catching the drift and bringing it back under control.
Tomorrow we are forecast for some crappyh weather. My HPDE1 guy is in a Mazdaspeed Miata with no hard top so if he runs, TA is gonna get a nice soaking.
WellI am gonna take a shower. Peace out biatches!
We were blessed with dry warm weather today. I think we'll pay for that tomorrow though. Anyway, today was a great day. Onrails did awesome and really does not drive like someone who only has one event under his belt. We was hauling butt today and handled the track really well. He basically learned the track within his 2nd session and spent the rest of the day going faster and faster. The kid knows how to use the brake pedal too. He was shooting vid all day so we should see some nice footage from him. In his 2nd and 3rd sessions he started exploring the grip levels of his monster sized Azenis. Yeah he got some nice tail out action and handled it very well catching the drift and bringing it back under control.
Tomorrow we are forecast for some crappyh weather. My HPDE1 guy is in a Mazdaspeed Miata with no hard top so if he runs, TA is gonna get a nice soaking.
WellI am gonna take a shower. Peace out biatches!
04-15-2007, 05:07 PM
#30
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I hope the storms that were here, didn't pass through there, because the rain here was heavy.
TA, I know you did well here, this track was one you were really strong at last time I was with you.
Hope all come home safely.
BTW, off-topic, but looks like a new addition to the Ackerson stable. Get this, this was the wife's suggestion......I had already put a down payment on an Evo RS, when she found this. See you guys in May, after the boost is added.
TA, I know you did well here, this track was one you were really strong at last time I was with you.
Hope all come home safely.
BTW, off-topic, but looks like a new addition to the Ackerson stable. Get this, this was the wife's suggestion......I had already put a down payment on an Evo RS, when she found this. See you guys in May, after the boost is added.
04-15-2007, 07:33 PM
#31
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Weekend report
Well y'all - weekend over and lots of fun was had. Of course it rained today, at times hard. There was still plenty of track time without raindrops but we went out to a wet track every session. The infield at The Rock is pretty slippery as is and the rain makes it worse. Still it gives the driver a good chance to learn fine car control skills. Onrails did fantastic today as well adding smoothness to his reportoire of skills.
I had some interesting times. Yesterday in the first session, I had a nice in track spin coming into the infield. I laid some some beautiful marks on the cheese grater surface. I came in hot after making a later pass and was carrying way too much speed. I had too much trail brakiing into the corner and the rest is history.
Today I got greedy and after going out with HPDE3, I went back out with HPDE4. The rain started falling heavily and my poor Azenis have no tread left in the center. Anyway, I found myself barrelling down the straight into the braking zone for 3 to get into the infield. The puddles had gotten a bit bigger since my last lap. I had scrubbed most of my speed but not enough as I skimmed over the surface of the puddles and into the wet grass. It is not true that you accelerate on wet grass. But, you don 't slow down much either. I saw the barrier coming my way and I knew that I need to look to where I wanted to go but it was hard to take my eyes off the barrier. It's like a moth to light I guess. Anyway, here I am heading straight for the barrier hoping I slow down by some miracle. Then I seel a squish squish and I start sinking into mud. Past the mud is sand. I plow through the mud into the sand where I stop safely. No harm done. At the end of the session the tow truck comes by and I get out of my car sinking ankle deep into the muck. I forgot to put my tied down hooks in the bumpers and we cant find anywhere to hook onto. I convinced the EV driver to take me back to my garage stall to get the hooks. He does and I get gently pulled out of the bog. My shoes are all muddy so I took them off and out them on the roof of my car. Of course as I drive back to the paddock looking for the deepest puddles to splash through to clean off my car, my shoes fell off the roof. I understand the radio chatter was quite entertaining. Anyway, I hosed the wheels off and went out in my next session so I could end on a high note. In that session, I was powering out of 3 and got on it a bit too hard. I went around and into the grass with much less drama. Just a harmless spin.
Anyway, all that being said, it was a quality weekend where all the machinery was kept intact and working great.
Good nite!
I had some interesting times. Yesterday in the first session, I had a nice in track spin coming into the infield. I laid some some beautiful marks on the cheese grater surface. I came in hot after making a later pass and was carrying way too much speed. I had too much trail brakiing into the corner and the rest is history.
Today I got greedy and after going out with HPDE3, I went back out with HPDE4. The rain started falling heavily and my poor Azenis have no tread left in the center. Anyway, I found myself barrelling down the straight into the braking zone for 3 to get into the infield. The puddles had gotten a bit bigger since my last lap. I had scrubbed most of my speed but not enough as I skimmed over the surface of the puddles and into the wet grass. It is not true that you accelerate on wet grass. But, you don 't slow down much either. I saw the barrier coming my way and I knew that I need to look to where I wanted to go but it was hard to take my eyes off the barrier. It's like a moth to light I guess. Anyway, here I am heading straight for the barrier hoping I slow down by some miracle. Then I seel a squish squish and I start sinking into mud. Past the mud is sand. I plow through the mud into the sand where I stop safely. No harm done. At the end of the session the tow truck comes by and I get out of my car sinking ankle deep into the muck. I forgot to put my tied down hooks in the bumpers and we cant find anywhere to hook onto. I convinced the EV driver to take me back to my garage stall to get the hooks. He does and I get gently pulled out of the bog. My shoes are all muddy so I took them off and out them on the roof of my car. Of course as I drive back to the paddock looking for the deepest puddles to splash through to clean off my car, my shoes fell off the roof. I understand the radio chatter was quite entertaining. Anyway, I hosed the wheels off and went out in my next session so I could end on a high note. In that session, I was powering out of 3 and got on it a bit too hard. I went around and into the grass with much less drama. Just a harmless spin.
Anyway, all that being said, it was a quality weekend where all the machinery was kept intact and working great.
Good nite!
04-15-2007, 07:36 PM
#32
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Originally Posted by Stop&TurnFreak
BTW, off-topic, but looks like a new addition to the Ackerson stable. Get this, this was the wife's suggestion......I had already put a down payment on an Evo RS, when she found this. See you guys in May, after the boost is added.
04-15-2007, 07:44 PM
#33
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TA, spinning means you are definitley exploring the limits of the car. Good job. I would have loved to be down there, but alas, twasn't meant to be.
BTW, why did you stop running the R's? ;
Why ride, when you know I will let you drive ???? I heard your first instructor was a real good guy....
Just remember, it isn't any 8, it will puke if it goes to 9k.
BTW, why did you stop running the R's? ;
Why ride, when you know I will let you drive ???? I heard your first instructor was a real good guy....
Just remember, it isn't any 8, it will puke if it goes to 9k.
04-16-2007, 07:26 AM
#36
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Originally Posted by Stop&TurnFreak
TA, spinning means you are definitley exploring the limits of the car. Good job. I would have loved to be down there, but alas, twasn't meant to be.
BTW, why did you stop running the R's? ;
Why ride, when you know I will let you drive ???? I heard your first instructor was a real good guy....
Just remember, it isn't any 8, it will puke if it goes to 9k.
BTW, why did you stop running the R's? ;
Why ride, when you know I will let you drive ???? I heard your first instructor was a real good guy....
Just remember, it isn't any 8, it will puke if it goes to 9k.
04-16-2007, 11:16 AM
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My weekend report
Well, I had a total blast at The Rock! I arrived on Friday evening to get registered and go through tech. Since it was still light outside, I decided to take a walk around the track. The first thing that you notice is how banked the NASCAR oval really is. You can barely stand on it and the outside wall is way above your head when you are standing down on the apron. The second thing I noticed was that the surface was very coarse. Cheese grater is a good description of it. The third thing I noticed was all of the car paint on the walls. I vowed not to add any.
On Saturday I met up with TrackAddict and learned that indeed he would be my instructor for the weekend. Awesome! I spent the first couple of sessions taking it easy and listening closely to what TA was telling me. He knows the track very well and of course knows the car. The third and fourth sessions of the day I spent trying to go faster. The banked oval turn is something else! You enter the turn hauling butt and it sort of spits you out the other side and the car moves out towards the wall. As long as you look down the track where you want to go and not at the wall you are fine but it does have that butt pucker factor to it.
On Sunday we had the wet track to deal with especially in the early sessions. It is MUCH different driving in the rain. There is a lot less grip and the wet surface amplifies your mistakes. You really have to be careful with you throttle inputs and be very smooth with the steering. My first session of the day I managed to get the back end around coming into the infield out of turns 3 – 4 after using a little too much throttle. The only harm done was a little mud on the side of the car and some nice marks in the infield grass. TA turned me loose for the last two sessions of the day. It was fun to be out there by myself. I talked myself through the course and tried to think a couple of turns ahead. The last session on Sunday they switched up the schedule a little and had the HPDE1 and HPDE2 sessions run together. There was a lot more traffic and I concentrated on being aware of the other cars around me and looking ahead to the next turn instead of at the guy I was behind. It was a good experience and a great confidence builder. Class time on Sunday was interesting. The classroom instructor took video of our sessions on Saturday and showed them during our class time on Sunday. It was fun to see yourself on track from outside of the car and you could tell how close you were getting to the edge on track out.
Overall I had a great time and I would certainly go back to Rockingham again. TA is a good instructor and he has a great instructing style and a lot of skill. That helps a lot when you are a low time guy like me. I took in car video of all of my sessions so I’ll post some videos when I can get it all edited. I also took some pictures and will post those as well.
On Saturday I met up with TrackAddict and learned that indeed he would be my instructor for the weekend. Awesome! I spent the first couple of sessions taking it easy and listening closely to what TA was telling me. He knows the track very well and of course knows the car. The third and fourth sessions of the day I spent trying to go faster. The banked oval turn is something else! You enter the turn hauling butt and it sort of spits you out the other side and the car moves out towards the wall. As long as you look down the track where you want to go and not at the wall you are fine but it does have that butt pucker factor to it.
On Sunday we had the wet track to deal with especially in the early sessions. It is MUCH different driving in the rain. There is a lot less grip and the wet surface amplifies your mistakes. You really have to be careful with you throttle inputs and be very smooth with the steering. My first session of the day I managed to get the back end around coming into the infield out of turns 3 – 4 after using a little too much throttle. The only harm done was a little mud on the side of the car and some nice marks in the infield grass. TA turned me loose for the last two sessions of the day. It was fun to be out there by myself. I talked myself through the course and tried to think a couple of turns ahead. The last session on Sunday they switched up the schedule a little and had the HPDE1 and HPDE2 sessions run together. There was a lot more traffic and I concentrated on being aware of the other cars around me and looking ahead to the next turn instead of at the guy I was behind. It was a good experience and a great confidence builder. Class time on Sunday was interesting. The classroom instructor took video of our sessions on Saturday and showed them during our class time on Sunday. It was fun to see yourself on track from outside of the car and you could tell how close you were getting to the edge on track out.
Overall I had a great time and I would certainly go back to Rockingham again. TA is a good instructor and he has a great instructing style and a lot of skill. That helps a lot when you are a low time guy like me. I took in car video of all of my sessions so I’ll post some videos when I can get it all edited. I also took some pictures and will post those as well.
Last edited by OnRails; 04-16-2007 at 04:28 PM.
04-16-2007, 06:37 PM
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Originally Posted by olddragger
great write up on rails!
Sounds as if you have been bit by the track bug. Welcome to the asylum.
See ya at Roebling?
olddragger
Sounds as if you have been bit by the track bug. Welcome to the asylum.
See ya at Roebling?
olddragger
I wish I could be at Roebling but we have a baby due that weekend.
04-16-2007, 07:48 PM
#40
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Onrails - once again, I think you did great and displayed great car control skills. You had many opportunities to demonstrate quick hands to catch the car as it tended to step out on corner exit. Your braking was excellent and you showed no fear in the banking.
04-16-2007, 07:52 PM
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Originally Posted by TrackAddict
Onrails - once again, I think you did great and displayed great car control skills. You had many opportunities to demonstrate quick hands to catch the car as it tended to step out on corner exit. Your braking was excellent and you showed no fear in the banking.
Thanks TA! I've had good instructors.
04-16-2007, 09:30 PM
#43
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More pics
Hogcar
More pics here http://www.photos.tmitbyh.com/rockin...p?g2_itemId=14
and here: http://clemsonscc.com/Gallery/album.php?aid=1386
More pics here http://www.photos.tmitbyh.com/rockin...p?g2_itemId=14
and here: http://clemsonscc.com/Gallery/album.php?aid=1386
04-17-2007, 08:36 PM
#47
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Originally Posted by olddragger
Maybe it's time to checks your rims for stresser's?
I wish that pic had you standing by your car! glad all are ok!
olddragger
I wish that pic had you standing by your car! glad all are ok!
olddragger
My rims are just fine. I simply drove over grass until I reached the soft stuff, then sank in. It was surreal as I was going very slow but was unable to stop at all. ABS was pulsing but the car wouldn't turn or stop. It was like being on ice. I stopped right at the beginning of the sand.
The big question is whether I try to get another event out of myh tires. I hate to get rid of them because I can't see any cord yet. But I know they are shot because I was so much slower inthe infield than any of my videos. Painful! I don't want that at Roebling. Hopefully I get a call from JB soon...
04-18-2007, 06:57 AM
#48
Smooth Criminal
Originally Posted by TrackAddict
Hows this?
My rims are just fine. I simply drove over grass until I reached the soft stuff, then sank in. It was surreal as I was going very slow but was unable to stop at all. ABS was pulsing but the car wouldn't turn or stop. It was like being on ice. I stopped right at the beginning of the sand.
The big question is whether I try to get another event out of myh tires. I hate to get rid of them because I can't see any cord yet. But I know they are shot because I was so much slower inthe infield than any of my videos. Painful! I don't want that at Roebling. Hopefully I get a call from JB soon...
My rims are just fine. I simply drove over grass until I reached the soft stuff, then sank in. It was surreal as I was going very slow but was unable to stop at all. ABS was pulsing but the car wouldn't turn or stop. It was like being on ice. I stopped right at the beginning of the sand.
The big question is whether I try to get another event out of myh tires. I hate to get rid of them because I can't see any cord yet. But I know they are shot because I was so much slower inthe infield than any of my videos. Painful! I don't want that at Roebling. Hopefully I get a call from JB soon...
Glad you stayed away from the barriers. And it looks like you guys had fun, as usual, bunch junkies.
04-18-2007, 03:54 PM
#49
gREAT PIC ta!
What I meant about checking rims was that most racers change there wheels every 2 yrs or so. When there is a good bit of curbing or a fair number of spins they watch them close. Minute cracks can appear. Seriously. No one wants a rim failure dude! You fortunate bastard get to track a good bit so I thought i would just mention it.
By the way my 17 inch RA's are still in pretty good shape-- sell all 4 for $50 just to make room. I know you can get 3 more weekends from them. Time to get the 17" wheels?
They are actually a tad shorter than my hoosiers therefore giving the exit just a little more grunt. I can actually run Roebling completly in 4th gear only changing to 5th on the front straight.
OD
What I meant about checking rims was that most racers change there wheels every 2 yrs or so. When there is a good bit of curbing or a fair number of spins they watch them close. Minute cracks can appear. Seriously. No one wants a rim failure dude! You fortunate bastard get to track a good bit so I thought i would just mention it.
By the way my 17 inch RA's are still in pretty good shape-- sell all 4 for $50 just to make room. I know you can get 3 more weekends from them. Time to get the 17" wheels?
They are actually a tad shorter than my hoosiers therefore giving the exit just a little more grunt. I can actually run Roebling completly in 4th gear only changing to 5th on the front straight.
OD
04-18-2007, 05:54 PM
#50
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OD - thanks for the tip. I'll examione them closely this weekend. If they have cracks, I'll buy 17s and your tires...
I am in a hotel room in Charlotte with my tires and track gear stacked in the corner of my room. I can smell the rubber! I head home tomorrow evening. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed.
I am in a hotel room in Charlotte with my tires and track gear stacked in the corner of my room. I can smell the rubber! I head home tomorrow evening. I can't wait to sleep in my own bed.