2012 Track Thread: Schedules, Plans, Goals, and any Random Discussions
 

Here are a few schedules from a few organizations. Feel free to post all things track related.

NASA-SE:
February 11-12 Carolina (CMP)
March 9-10-11 Road Atlanta
April 14-15 Roebling Road
May 19-20 Carolina(CMP)
June 15-16-17 Road Atlanta
July 7 Charlotte
August 4-5 Road Atlanta
September 5-9 NASA Nationals @ Mid-Ohio
October 20-21 Atlanta (AMP)
November 10-11 Carolina (CMP)
November 30 8 Hr Enduro @ Road Atlanta
December 1-2 Road Atlanta


NASA-MA:
VIR Feb 17-19
VIR Mar 23-25
Summit Apr 28-29
Summit Jun 16-17 Hyperfest
VIR Jul 20-22
Summit Aug 18-19
VIR Oct 12-14
Summit Nov 3-4


NASA-TX
DATE LOCATION
Jan 28-29 Motorsports Ranch Houston
Mar 17-18 Motorsports Ranch Cresson
April 28-29 Texas World Speedway
May 12-13 Grand Sport Speedway
June 9-10 Hallett Summer Shootout
June 30-July 1 Harris Hill Road
Sep 6-9 Mid Ohio Sports Car Course
October 6-7 Eagles Canyon Raceway


NARRA
MARCH 13-15 Road Atlanta - Braselton, GA
MAY 11 - 13 Road America - Elkhart Lake, WI
JUNE 8 - 10 New Jersey Motorsports Park - Millville, NJ
JULY 6 - 8 Virginia International Raceway - Alton, VA
AUGUST 24 - 26 Monticello Motor Club - Monticello, NY
SEPTEMBER 21 - 23 Texas World Speedway - College Station, TX
OCTOBER 19 - 21 Watkins Glen International - Watkins Glen, NY


MVP Track Time

March 10 - 11: NOLA Motorsports Park [New Orleans, LA] - "Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler"
April 14 - 15: Putnam Park [Greencastle, IN] - 6th Annual - "Tax Freedom Track Weekend"
May 12-13: Heartland Park [Topeka, KS] - "Yes Toto, We Are In Kansas"
June 11: Autobahn Country Club I [Joliet, IL] - Full 3.56 Mile Track
July 7-8: Road America [Elkhart Lake, WI] - "Another Weekend at Road America"
August 6: Autobahn Country Club II [Joliet, IL] - Full 3.56 Mile Track
October 13 - 14: Road America [Elkhart Lake, WI] - 3rd Annual - "Cheese Heads On Track"
November 17 - 18: Road Atlanta [Braselton, GA] - 4th Annual - "Flyin' Tureky Trot"


Goals, Plans, etc...

I dropped a valve at my last event of the year. In the process of having that taken care of. I'm working(or should I say Dan and Brian are) on fine tuning my car setup a little and adding a couple of new parts. Once I get on track and verify everything is good, my next move is to put a little effort into real aero.

Most importantly for me this year is turning as many laps as I can. Having just moved to TX, I have alot of new tracks to learn.

That being said, I'm hoping to be able to hit a VIR and Road Atlanta event or two either once I get back in the Spring or later in the fall.

I'd like to hit the NARRA RA and VIR event, head west, and then do TWS.

Hope to be able to do the UTCC again, but not sure at this point.

I'd like to get a 2:00.XX at VIR and a 1:30.XX at Road Atlanta in TTS/ST2 trim.

Previous best time at VIR was a 2:05.XX in the dead heat of July, on tires that were pretty old, and two severely cracked rear rotors with little to no brake pad left(I always have plenty of excuses :D). I ran the 2:05 when I just the gear I was in throughout various locations on track and now know that the car probably had a 4 or 3 that day. With the suspension now dialed in a little better(2:05 was on a new and untuned shock set up), new clutch flywheel, a better set of tires, and cooler weather I think I can hit 2 flat. It's a goal.

Ran a 1:33.XX at Road Atlanta with better tires in August, but with a dropped valve and light rain. I feel better about a 1:30 at RA than a 2 flat at VIR.


So let's hear it... what are your guys offseason plans, schedule for next year, goals.

Well that didn't take long!

I had a lot of mechanical trouble in 2011, but I made one good decision—do 3 events at the same track, instead of 3 events at 3 different tracks, and it paid off in getting off my 2:12 plateau at VIR, down to 2:08. That was run in cold weather, with fresh tires, but a big ass exhaust leak.

Plans for 2012 include some (hopefully) mechanical reliability/consistency, loosing some weight (car, not me), consolidating that 2:08 into regular 2:08's or less in less in regular summer conditions, and taking the gains in high speed corners off to other tracks like WGI and Summit, and cracking lower times there too.

Brent, if you're going to make it all the way up to VIR, let me know when.

My car is in the shop getting a new a t04e 57 p trim 1.15 AR which is .15 more than I have which may help or hurt who knows but the 1.0 AR is back ordered indefinitely. I'm hoping the increased flow will allow for lower boost and cooler temps which is always a plus but it could hurt my torque down low which is already pretty bad :(

4.3 is in now in along with the lower 5th gear which should be good for a second plus or minus a 10nth or two.

Adding a rotary extreme (REA knock off) rear diffuser and feed side skirts because I want to look faster going slow :) Don't think these will really help with aero but who knows so fingers crossed.

Better brake ducting, oil cooler ducting and trans undertray. The undertray/splitter should shave some time because currently it's bare.

Pull out the m2 bar and add a full cage.

Try some cheater A6s because everybody else is doing it :egrin:

Hope for a low a 2.02 at VIR and a low 1.18 at SPR.

We should try for another Rotary meet at VIR or even RA which could include some FL boys etc... and it's also probably easier for Brent.

I'll try my best to go to any VIR or SPR events that other rotary track rats can make it to.

how about rotary/rx7/rotary at heart? :D

Ooh shit look what I started on the 1st day of the new year 2012 LOL

LS7/RX7/Rotary it's all good :icon_tup:

We should definitely get the track crowd together. You guys interested in something in the spring? Not sure on dates yet, but should be able to solidify something within the next month or so.

Maybe throw Mid Ohio into the mix too. I think it'd be about the same distance as Road Atlanta for you guys and that could throw Damian, GooRoo, RockLobster, and Logan@Defined with his NA 20b into the mix. Thoughts?

I'd be in to RA, since I've actually driven it before (pre-FIA). Great circuit.

Happy Holidays and a Prosperous New Year everyone!!!

After a challenging and rewarding season running here in the San Francisco region of the SCCA I just started tearing my car apart. This past season, in our region, there were two serious crashes (one in GT-1 and the other in Spec Miata) resulting in "jaws of life" extractions and helicopter flights to nearby trauma centers. Thankfully both drivers survived and are recovering, however these crashes highlighted deficiencies in my car's safety systems. T My main concerns are these: my car is now way too fast for its bolt-in roll cage, there is no reason not to run a full containment style seat and standard window nets are only designed to keep things out of the car.

I cut my old cage out yesterday and will have a quality cage built around a new RaceTech 4009HR seat. I will also install a Safecraft driver-side head net in addition to the standard window net. I think this will be money well spent and relieve some anxieties I've felt about my car.

I will be sending my motor off to be re-built and will install a Haltech stand alone ECU. I have run an Apexi PowerFC for a few years and have no complaints except there is probably 40-50 lbs of wires everywhere in the car that are an electrical nightmare just waiting to happen. I will spend the extra bucks on the Haltech Platinum 2000 over the 1000 in case I find that 20B motor. I think while I'm upgrading some things I'll install a Race Technology Dash 2 to clean up the cockpit.

As for next season, I don't plan on chasing points but will run in ITE as well as SP (super production - basically run what you brought for the tube framed guys...think 750-1100 RWHP monsters). I bought a second set of rims so I can run Hoosier R6s in ITE and Hoosier radial slicks in SP. I'm not planning on running the full schedule but I'll see how things go and what other fun things I could be doing with my life.

I would like to run a Pro race this year...there will be several opportunities in WC and maybe MX-5 Cup in Northern California during 2012. Then I'd like to have another swing at the 25 hours of Thunderhill, one taste was not enough.:nod:

Best,

Guy

I hope to do the following events with MVP Track Time. I had a blast this past season with them at Road America. Anyone else from the midwest?


June 11: Autobahn Country Club I [Joliet, IL] - Full 3.56 Mile Track
July 7-8: Road America [Elkhart Lake, WI] - "Another Weekend at Road America"
August 6: Autobahn Country Club II [Joliet, IL] - Full 3.56 Mile Track
October 13 - 14: Road America [Elkhart Lake, WI] - 3rd Annual - "Cheese Heads On Track"


Now I just need to sort out the tire situation. 255/40/17 or 285/30/18 all around? Going with 17's will save some money for other goodies....

I'm always down for a weekend at RA. I know I won't be back for NASA-SE's March event, but I'm kind of thinking about the April 14-15 NARRA event. I've heard they are pretty chill events. They have DE, TT, and W2W. The TT are pretty cool and are generally straight power to weight. Trophy's are really REALLY nice. Won't know for a while longer, but what is mid April looking like for you guys?



Hey Guy,
Happy Holidays and a prosperous New Year to you as well! I definitely understand your safety concerns. It's amazing how many people will spend money on everything but safety mods. I like to think that I'm still worth more than my car, despite what my fellow track rats tell me :D

I have the same racetech seat. That's another reason I want to redo my cage, so I can redo it around this seat(opposed to the seat the cage was built for). I test fitted it a couple of years ago, but couldn't really get the layback angle I wanted with my bulkhead. Fritz ingrained into me the importance of side impact protection(thanks dude!) so I need to get on the ball with that. My driver floor is sectioned and lowered a few inches to help with head clearance.

Looks like you have some really nice mods planned for this year!

I'm sure you have all kinds of good Haltech guys in your area, but if not, hit up Steve Kan. He knows Haltech's very well and is a really great tuner. He just configured a Haltech(w/ patch) to be plug and play for our stock harness.

Definitely let us know if you are going to do another pro race. Would be super cool to see you in WC race.

As you know, Mark and MVP are a top notch organization with tons of track time for the money. Also a very safe and fun environment.

What kind of tires are you looking to run? How much power does your car have?

I'm out in Rockford. Although I am not running a rotary powered car next year I am going to be racing in the Midwestern Council ST1 class with a '72 240z. I did a couple of events last year in ST1 with the car, pretty much a street car. When I am done with it this winter it will be more reminiscent of a GT2 car.

Ryan

I think the 17 versus 18 question comes down to the size of your brake package. That is what you have now, and what you might go to in the future.

Niles (Shpnout) runs the Haltech Platinum 1000 in his FD so in going this route I have a working prototype an hours drive away. Yes, Steve is quite talented when it comes to the rotarys and Haltech, he has tuned Niles' and my car for the past two years. I'm sending my motor to Steve later this week and will use his services to tune my car when it's reassembled.

Guy

As usual I'll be driving or working most of the NASA-SE events. Two goals: get the FB I just bought to where I can track it, and get to HPDE3. The former should happen, the latter may be a bit optimistic. I've got 3 DE1s under my belt and approval for DE2 at Road Atlanta and CMP.

Welcome ep3, we normally have a pretty good group of RX-7/8/everything else where we paddock. It started out as the garx8club and still is, there are just alot of guys that aren't driving 8's. Really nice group. Def. stop by and say hello.

Life moves fast, picked up a set of BBS RGR 18x9.5 +45 all around. Now its a choice between 285/30/18 tires. AD08 and R888's have good reviews with R888 being more of a streetable r comp. Car see's under 1k miles a year on the street and 4 HPDE's.

Will move to a BBK after 2012 season and hopefully finally get rid of the twins.

Hi Guy

I run a 4009HR seat in my car, they're manufactured about 10 mins from where I live. They're a fantastic seat and I love mine.

The only thing I'll change is to cut the floor and drop the seat 50mm to give me a bit more head room. I'm 5'11'' and find that my head rubs against the cage bar running along the side of the car above the door.

When we put the seat in we made some small alterations to the drive tunnel to help get as far into the middle of the car as possible, but that's not quite enough.

Hope that's of some use ...

Cheers
Shaun

Here are a couple of pictures of mine attached.

Thanks! I recognize your car now; won't be too much trouble finding you if it's there.

Oh yeah, sorry... those were of the racetech seat fitment :D

I won't be around much this year, but def. stop by and talk. It's a super nice group. Not to mention, one of the guys is the service manager at Camping World right down the street so he normally brings an RV/Motorhome to beat the heat or cold depending on the time of year. The guy with the navy blue LS2 FC(SN is Legoken on here) ran an 13b FB for several years before upgrading mid year 2011.

BTW all, 2012 Time Trial rules are now posted: http://www.nasaforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=52031

Only major change I see for SUR is active aero is now ban. I'm kind of glad about that. As people continue to develop their cars, this was next on the list for some of the already really fast drivers.

So now that I narrowed down my tire choice, 245/45/16 Toyo R888 or 285/30/18 AD08's, what is everyone doing about safety?

I'll be looking for some FIA certified seats and belts that fit with a RaceShop Roll Bar. Seems like the best bet are the Recaro's from the RZ?

Also picked up a 99 ABS pump and computer that supposedly has EBD however can't find any definite answer. Trying to find this out before doing all the required fabrication to install. It does have 6 solenoids and looks identicle to a Bosch 5.3 unit however the prop valve looks identicle to my 94 setup. The 6 solenoid 2001-2002 pump has a different looking prop valve. hmm......

I've been around drag racers for awhile thus have to ask, do driveshaft loops and scatter shields have a place on road race cars? Only talking about HPDE here however after seeing the video of a brand new mustang driveshaft total the car at 135mph I am thinking twice... :scratch:

Bottom mount seats aren't an ideal option for road racing but the RZ seats are certainly better than the stock seats.

If you plan on going to the track a lot I'd go with some race seats and six point harnesses along with some sort of head and neck safety device.

There's a huge difference between a 245 size tire and a 285 size tire. The stock size or say 225 to 255 can be run on the stock susp and brakes and the 275 and up size will require coilovers with 600lb plus springs, sways bars, sway mounts, big brakes etc.....

The stock ABS system works fine.

Thanks for the advice.

Currently running Ohlins 11k front and 11k rear with the thicker 93 rear sway bar. Stock sized brakes with 929 MC, Racing Brake ET800 pads all around, and super blue. I'll put the AWR front sway mounts on this season.

As far as seats, my searching shows the only sliding side mount rails around are the Brides. These however appear to cause rubbing with aftermarket recaro's on the door panels. I'd hate to give up the sliding ability by going with the Atomic Rex mounts.

If you don't have track experience I'd go with the smaller tires because they'll cost less and you'll be able to reach the limit sooner which will allow for faster growth at a safer speed.

Regarding the seats there are endless compromises between a track car and a street car you just have to decide what's more important. Usually 3 years down the road you're loading your car on a trailer and rarely drive it on the street lol.

Hey Fritz, the smaller tires are R Compound tires, the larger ones are not. Seems like it'd be a 6 of 1, half dozen of the other scenerio. You'd know better than I would. I do think the AD08's would be safer for street use as well as last significantly longer.

Agree with Fritz on the seat too. RZ is better than stock, but not up to par with a real race seat. You'll also have to modify the seat to properly install a 5 or 6 point harness... which could also compromise the integrity of the seat.