Monday, April 19, 2010

NASA TT @ Buttonwillow


I survived my weekend in California and got a glimpse of what to expect at Nationals this fall. The level of prep is significantly higher than here in Colorado. Many of the TT cars are full-on race cars that are trailered to the track.

I worked my way up a finished second or third in TTD but to put my performance in perspective: I'm 10 seconds off the TTD record and 6 seconds off the TTE record. That a lot. In fact the TTC time is faster than the BMWCCA IP M3 LTW I crewed for over the weekend. Fast!

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Helmets

Helmets are quite difficult to pack for air travel. I finally caved and used a bag that was too big to carry on. I hate checking luggage.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Packing for NASA TT @ Buttonwillow

Somehow flying to an event seems more stressful than driving.

Don't forget these important things:

  1. Helmet, gloves, suit, socks, balaclava
  2. Earplugs
  3. NASA License
  4. Traqmate + cables
  5. Instructor intercom
Or these slightly less important things:

  • 2 Long Sleeve Shirts
  • 2 pr pants
  • 2xSox/2xUnd
  • Hat
  • Sunscreen
  • Camera

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Monday, April 12, 2010

NASA TT @ PPIR

It was a little like bringing a gun to a knife fight. Arriving at the track with an untested race car is rarely good for confidence and this weekend was no different. I was pretty anxious especially considering PPIR is an Oval with an infield road section. Driving NASCAR corners is always exciting given the high speeds and concrete walls. During the fist session I was really happy with the car. It was really tight but that is exactly where I expected it to be. Each session I loosened it up a bit with shock adjustments. It just got better and better through the weekend.

By Saturday afternoon I had turned a 1:06.5, fast enough to win TTC be 4 seconds. Sunday I never quite matched that time as I gave passenger rides most of the day. Late in the afternoon, I tried to better it but missed tire pressures a bit and only did a 1:06.7.

Results
Saturday times merged
Sunday times merged

Not bad for an untested car on new track configuration. Next Event: Buttonwillow next weekend (in a different car) and then Pueblo in three weeks.

Sunday, April 04, 2010

Tools at the track

I've been carrying the same tool box to the track since I started racing my first M3 in 1997. The large metal box, a Kennedy 1022 I think, was a gift from my father many years earlier and sat unused under the workbench for a while after upgrading to a full-sized roll-away in the garage. While it has served faithfully for many years, it's size and weight -- 22 Lbs empty -- have become more of an issue while loading and unloading the car. The large size of the box makes it too easy to throw in parts and tools, and the lay-out of the box was not particularly well suited to storing auto repair tools.

Since I'm planning on driving to many events this year, I decided to lighten the load a bit. First I cut the number of tools I bring to the tracl to the bare minimum. I inventoried everything in the box keeping only the essentials. Gone are my 16 oz. ball-peen and dead-blow hammers, nearly the entire 1/2" drive socket set, hex-keys, screwdrivers, wire-cutters, and a bunch of other junk that has taken up shop in the bottom of the box over the last couple of years.

I knew I wanted a tool bag instead of a tool box -- the soft construction makes packing the car easier -- but I initially wanted a bag large enough for my Snap-on Torque Wrench which is over 24" inches long. An on-line search showed few soft bags in that size, so I decided on a smaller bag and to keep the over-sized torque wrench in my 16 Gal. Tote instead.

I found a Husky 16" Large Mouth Tool Bag that seems to work very well. It has ~20 internal pockets and a dozen external pockets. I moved at the necessary tools into the bag yesterday and they fit really well. The size and weight of my tools have reduced by at least 25% and the soft bag is much easier to pack the the steel of the box.

It's probably not as waterproof at the Kennedy so I've added a couple of trash bag to one of the external pockets in case it rains. The bag will debut at the NASA event at Pikes Peak next weekend, we'll see how it does.