flyzlow
04-17-2007, 05:10 PM
Race report from the AZHC crew.
Erik and I drove out from Phoenix on Friday. We left his place around 6:30 am and got to the track around 4:45 pm. We made really good time until we both got pulled over and ticketed for speeding, which took almost 30 mins. Anyway, we got to the track and got everything setup and once the track went cold, we walked the whole track (auto-x style) before sundown. That experience actually proved to be really valuable and I'd highly recommend it for anyone going to a new track if you have the chance.
Saturday –
We went out for first practice and were super slow as we felt out the cars and the track. The second practice session was a little better as we got the hang of some of the corners and started to push a little, but with the increase in speed came an increase in mistakes. Erik spun off track twice and I went off once, destroying my splitter, breaking my oil temp sensor, and tearing an axle boot. Luckily, Erik's car didn't take any significant damage and I had brought a spare splitter. I had loaned one of the SoCal H4 guys an axle at Cal Speedway last month, so he had brought a replacement for me, which worked out perfectly as luck had it (racetrack karma I guess). I got the axle replaced and my dad pounded out the airdam, but we didn't get the new splitter on in time for qualifying, so I went out without it. The car was pushy without the splitter, so the best I could manage in qual was 8th. Despite Erik adding rear camber to his car, it was still very loose, so he took it easy and qual'd 12th. Fifteen H4 cars made the grid. We started the race with a standing start, which I had never done and Erik had done only once a few years ago. I spun the wheels like crazy and lost a spot immediately, but was able to gather it up and give chase. Erik was able to pick up a spot or 2 and was only 2 cars behind me when the black flags came out on the first lap for a crash in the first green flag group. The race was restarted with time left for only a few laps. We both got pretty crappy restarts but the car in front of me spun on the 2nd or so lap and we both went by to gain a position. When the race ended just a couple laps later, I was up to 7th and Erik finished 9th.
Sunday –
Unfortunately, it started raining Saturday night and apparently didn’t stop. We got to the track by 7am and everything was very wet and very cold. We had covered up the cars and tools overnight, but the wet and cold killed all of our motivation to do anything. We skipped first practice (only 4 cars went out in the whole session) and put a rain setup on the cars for the 2nd session. When we got out there, there was a lot of standing water and people were falling off the track all over the place. We both spun once or twice but stayed out to try to learn the rain line as much as possible. Qualifying was still wet, but not actually raining. Erik and I were both late to the session because we’d each bought a pair newly shaved RA-1s after 2nd practice. Our zero-tread RA-1s weren’t really cutting it in the standing water. Erik had a little tread on his fronts still, so he put the new tires in the back and set an awesome time that was good enough for 4th in class. I put the new tires on the front and my old ones on the rear, but that made the car looooooooose, so I had to take it easy and qualified 6 seconds behind Erik in 9th. After qualifying, everyone was anxious to see what the weather would do. It started to dry out, but there were still a lot of menacing clouds hanging around. We made a game time decision to go with a mostly-dry setup about 10 mins before the race. It turned out that we’d have been better off on a full-dry setup because the track had dried completely by the time we took the green flag. Having learned my standing start lesson on Saturday, I got a good launch and picked up 2 spots by turn 1. Erik, however, dropped back several spots after spinning the wheels hard. I slotted in right ahead of Erik as things went single file. The leaders didn’t take long to shrug me off and I was able to pull out a couple seconds over Erik within the first few laps, so I was in a pack by myself for most of the race. Erik ended up having a big spin coming out of Talladega on lap 9, but was able to get back on track and keep going. He only lost 2 positions, but his splitter was destroyed as he went off track. My laptimes improved all race and towards the end I was reeling in 5th place, but I couldn’t get it done by the time the checkered flew. So, the finishing order had me in 6th and Erik in 9th.
After the race, we got everything packed up and got out of there by 3pm. We decided to drive straight through, so Erik got home by about 2am and we made it back to Tucson around 3:30. Overall it was a fun weekend and BW is a great track. I’ll see if I can get some of my video hosted so that I can share it.
- Scott
Erik and I drove out from Phoenix on Friday. We left his place around 6:30 am and got to the track around 4:45 pm. We made really good time until we both got pulled over and ticketed for speeding, which took almost 30 mins. Anyway, we got to the track and got everything setup and once the track went cold, we walked the whole track (auto-x style) before sundown. That experience actually proved to be really valuable and I'd highly recommend it for anyone going to a new track if you have the chance.
Saturday –
We went out for first practice and were super slow as we felt out the cars and the track. The second practice session was a little better as we got the hang of some of the corners and started to push a little, but with the increase in speed came an increase in mistakes. Erik spun off track twice and I went off once, destroying my splitter, breaking my oil temp sensor, and tearing an axle boot. Luckily, Erik's car didn't take any significant damage and I had brought a spare splitter. I had loaned one of the SoCal H4 guys an axle at Cal Speedway last month, so he had brought a replacement for me, which worked out perfectly as luck had it (racetrack karma I guess). I got the axle replaced and my dad pounded out the airdam, but we didn't get the new splitter on in time for qualifying, so I went out without it. The car was pushy without the splitter, so the best I could manage in qual was 8th. Despite Erik adding rear camber to his car, it was still very loose, so he took it easy and qual'd 12th. Fifteen H4 cars made the grid. We started the race with a standing start, which I had never done and Erik had done only once a few years ago. I spun the wheels like crazy and lost a spot immediately, but was able to gather it up and give chase. Erik was able to pick up a spot or 2 and was only 2 cars behind me when the black flags came out on the first lap for a crash in the first green flag group. The race was restarted with time left for only a few laps. We both got pretty crappy restarts but the car in front of me spun on the 2nd or so lap and we both went by to gain a position. When the race ended just a couple laps later, I was up to 7th and Erik finished 9th.
Sunday –
Unfortunately, it started raining Saturday night and apparently didn’t stop. We got to the track by 7am and everything was very wet and very cold. We had covered up the cars and tools overnight, but the wet and cold killed all of our motivation to do anything. We skipped first practice (only 4 cars went out in the whole session) and put a rain setup on the cars for the 2nd session. When we got out there, there was a lot of standing water and people were falling off the track all over the place. We both spun once or twice but stayed out to try to learn the rain line as much as possible. Qualifying was still wet, but not actually raining. Erik and I were both late to the session because we’d each bought a pair newly shaved RA-1s after 2nd practice. Our zero-tread RA-1s weren’t really cutting it in the standing water. Erik had a little tread on his fronts still, so he put the new tires in the back and set an awesome time that was good enough for 4th in class. I put the new tires on the front and my old ones on the rear, but that made the car looooooooose, so I had to take it easy and qualified 6 seconds behind Erik in 9th. After qualifying, everyone was anxious to see what the weather would do. It started to dry out, but there were still a lot of menacing clouds hanging around. We made a game time decision to go with a mostly-dry setup about 10 mins before the race. It turned out that we’d have been better off on a full-dry setup because the track had dried completely by the time we took the green flag. Having learned my standing start lesson on Saturday, I got a good launch and picked up 2 spots by turn 1. Erik, however, dropped back several spots after spinning the wheels hard. I slotted in right ahead of Erik as things went single file. The leaders didn’t take long to shrug me off and I was able to pull out a couple seconds over Erik within the first few laps, so I was in a pack by myself for most of the race. Erik ended up having a big spin coming out of Talladega on lap 9, but was able to get back on track and keep going. He only lost 2 positions, but his splitter was destroyed as he went off track. My laptimes improved all race and towards the end I was reeling in 5th place, but I couldn’t get it done by the time the checkered flew. So, the finishing order had me in 6th and Erik in 9th.
After the race, we got everything packed up and got out of there by 3pm. We decided to drive straight through, so Erik got home by about 2am and we made it back to Tucson around 3:30. Overall it was a fun weekend and BW is a great track. I’ll see if I can get some of my video hosted so that I can share it.
- Scott