Chapter 79*NEW*
S2000 Challenge
In late January, Wurth Motorsports/Bitterman
Time Trials held their first Honda S2000 Challenge event. John
and Aaron went out and bought a bunch of AMB transponders and
associated timing equipment, and decided to run some time trials
using computerized printouts to determine the winner of various
classes. Aaron classed the S2000's according to the following
classes:
*see original article for info
This sounds like fun! Computerized
printouts, various classes depending on modifications, opportunity
for some smack talking. The classing makes pretty good sense to
me, as Aaron
went by what mods actually help for lap times in an S2000. I told
Aaron that I figure that it will take months until the NSX is
ready to compete again, I might as well play around with the
S2000, and this is the perfect opportunity. to
read on go to the official NSX Files story>>
Chapter 78*NEW*
S2000 Club at Laguna Seca
The Flamemobile is still in the
shop. Suspension parts still haven't come in. Larry is working
on fixing my gas gauge again (it had to be recalibrated, as one
of the wires came loose). Also looks like there is a problem with
left rear axle, we have something that sheared off, and parts
have to be ordered for that. After that part finally comes in,
it looks like the rear hub bearing was wiped out, so that had
to be ordered and replaced, along with the hub. But I am patient,
as I set my own expectations that the Flamemobile will not come
alive again until the end of February. As soon as the suspension
is done, we can start working on some minor brake stuff, and other
secret mods to be ready for the Open Track Challenge in May.
I get the F355 back from the 30,000
mile service. The car runs great. But it looks like shit. The
independent Ferrari mechanic apparently detailed my car with WD40
and sand paper. There is a thin film of crap on my windshield,
which drives me crazy, as I clean my windshield off everyone morning
before I take a car out of the garage with a squeegee and Windex
so the window is perfectly clean. But now I can't even get the
window clean, as it looks like there is some overspray of some
kind on the window. They had to take the rear bumper off the car
to drop the motor for the 30,000 mile service, and when they put
the bumper back, there is a big gap between the bumper and the
rest of the car. Usually the gap is about 1/4 of an inch, but
now is it more than 1/2 an inch. It looks like someone rear ended
me. Wayne looks at the paint on the car, and recoils in horror.
He is meticulous about how his street car looks, to the point
where he cleans his rims before he drives his car in the morning.
to
read on go to the official NSX Files story>>
Chapter 77*NEW*
TCRA at Willow
Most of the Christmas and New Year's
holiday was spent with friends and family. Dagmar's sister and
her 4 month old baby cruised in from Australia in the middle of
December, and her husband Tony followed shortly after that, and
her parents right after that. We had a full house at our rented
town home, but we had a lot of fun. Tony is a damn good cook,
so I gained about 6 lbs off my ideal "fighting weight",
gorging ourselves with food and wine like those folks in King
Arthur's Court. We musta drank 30+ bottles of wine, cases of steak
and sea food. My idea of a good wine is a wine that doesn't give
me loogies in the back of my throat after a huge gulp.
Wayne tells me that he will be
racing less this year, so he can save money to put some furniture
in the new house that he and Amy bought. He says that it is ricockulous
to have a huge house, with many of the rooms with little or no
furniture in them. But then the next day, Wayne convinces me to
go to Touring Car Racing Association race for our first event
of the year, despite the fact that he feels this will be the year
that he reduces the amount of time and money he spends on racing.
Wayne is a total contradiction sometimes.....well, make that all
the time.... to
read on go to the official NSX Files story>>
Chapter 76*NEW*
Streets of Willow
I am always behind during Christmas
time. I never get my Christmas cards out on time. I try to buy
gifts that I can wrap up for people, but I get frustrated after
shopping for about 15 minutes, and I end up getting gift certificates.
This year was the same. I was going to free up some time to do
a better job, and then.....a friend invited me to go out to the
Streets of Willow, as a friend of his rented out the track. He
asked if I was going to take the F355 out to the track. I told
him the F355 is still leaking tranny fluid, and might not make
the drive out there, much less rip around the track at the redline,
and the handling seems a little mushy on it.
The NSX is still taken apart, waiting
for some shocks/springs to arrive, but I figure I could take the
S2000 out, and really push it to its limits. If I really want
to push it to its limits, then I gotta throw some sticky tires
on, and decided to get a new set of Yokohama A032 tires for this
event. And if I take the S2000 to the track, then I have to get
some brake pads and brake ducts. And if I do take the S2000 to
the track, I would like to have a little more head protection
in case something goes wrong and I roll the car, so that means
I have to get a roll bar. Oh no, it is starting again......
to
read on go to the official NSX Files story>>
Chapter 75*NEW*
KRC, Enduro, and Dromo
Measuring performance. I mean,
this is the key to improvement in anything. If you can't measure
what you are doing, your past results, etc, how the hell can you
getting better at what you do? At work, or at play, if you aren't
striving to be better than before, you might as well just hang
it up and sit the on the couch all day watching Oprah. Especially
when it comes to people talking about theoretical stuff about
how fast they are or how fast their car is. If you are really
fast, or your car is really fast, sign up for a track event that
publishes lap times and show us what ya got. www.opentrackchallenge.com
will be the the Mother of All Timed events.
In terms of measuring performance,
I just bought one of those AMB timing transponders for the car.
The Touring Car Racing Association is selling them for $302. TCRA,
Open-Track/NASA, Wurth Motorsports, etc. are all using the AMB
timing devices to give accurate, up-to-date results of your previous
session. You can see on a printout your fastest lap, your second
fastest lap, and how you compare to other people in your run groups.
So we decided to go to this four hour karting enduro at...
to
read on go to the official NSX Files story>>
Chapter 74*NEW*
TCRA at Willow
It was Ernest Hemingway who said,
"There are only three real sports in the world: bull fighting,
mountain climbing, and auto racing. All others are just games".
I know, all you non-racing "athletes" will say that
Papa Hemingway is full of shit, and that Shaq, Tiger, Ichiro,
etc. are heroes in their "sport". But what Hemingway
is trying to say is that if any of those well known sports personalities
makes a mistake, the ultimate penalty that could happen is that
you miss a basket, end up in the bunker, get caught looking at
a strike, or lose the "game". In auto racing, if you
make a mistake, the ultimate penalty is destruction of your car,
other cars, your life, and possibly other people's lives.
to
read on go to the official NSX Files story>>
Chapter 73*NEW*
KRC race 6 & 7
It’s been a long time since
the last update. I had a acute case of writer’s block,
caused by the September 11th tragedy. I got stuck in a rut,
constantly watching the news and surfing Internet websites with
the latest info. The media sucks, they fan the flames and
make things worse. And the media elite wonders why so many
people hate the big media companies...
A moment of silence for the victims of the tragedy in New York,
and for the heroes that helped their fellow Americans on that
terrible day.
It is amazing how patriotic everyone has become. I ordered
a flag off the Internet for the house, but it still is on back
order. I have a mini flag on my mailbox, and I have one
of those window flags that I put on the car when the windows are
up, but they usually break off at high speed. I was never
a flag waver before, but I sure am now. If I see anyone
burning a flag, I am running your ass over. to
read on go to the official NSX Files story>>
Chapter 72*NEW*
"Who Really is the Fastest
Driver Around?"
Everywhere in the go-fast community,
there are people who think they are fast. People you talk to on
the street, at race tracks, at the gas station, and ESPECIALLY
on Internet BBS Boards/email lists. They all claim they are "Hot
Shoes", and can pilot a vehicle into a four-wheel drift coming
out of a fast sweeper turn. Everyone claims they are fast, and
that they passed every car at the track in their run group at
their last event, but these claims are pretty hard to actually
prove. Very few car racing clubs post on their websites the lap
times that were accumulated via accurate electronic timing equipment
for their weekend track events.
I mean, if you really can't accurately
measure the results, it is like "fish stories" about
what a huge fish you caught on your last fishing trip. But you
decided to let the fish go, and no one really saw it to substantiate
your claim. I am tired of fish stories. I wanna see some proof.
to
read on go to the official NSX Files story>>
Chapter 71*NEW*
Cruel Cruel
Summer
So far, it's been a cruel summer.
Spring was tough, as we sucked in our two last kart races. At
Willow Springs in May, Wayne and I both had a terrible race. I
came in 7th, and Wayne came in 10th or so out of 13. Amago in
June was worse. I qualified 11 out of 14, and Wayne qualified
a decent 7th. I had a great start in the qual race, passed Wayne,
but then Wayne crashed into me trying to pass me. Of course Wayne
will say it is my fault. So that is now twice in three races that
Wayne took me out. For the final race of the day at Amago, Wayne
took 8th using our spare kart (as he wiped his kart when he crashed
into me), and I took 10th after spinning to avoid two other people
that narrow missed crashing in the final race. To
make matters worse, Jeff took a 1st and a 2nd place in the two
kart races that we screwed up in. And he reminds us every chance
he gets.
For the summer, KRC is taking off
the months of July and August due to the heat, figuring that karting
in 105 degree weather in the desert isn't optimal. But Wayne and
I are itching to do
some kart racing. Or car racing. We need to do some type of racing.....to
read on go to the official NSX Files story>>
Chapter 70
Virgina City
Hillclimb 2001
Well, it is that time of the year
again to go race at one of the few remaining hill climb races
in the United States. This event is the highlight of our
racing schedule, especially since the LA Street Race has been
cancelled due to lack of sponsorship. Apparently Steve Beddor
is no longer doing Pikes Peak, so it looks like this will be one
of the highlights of his racing schedule. The Virginia City
Hill Climb is an event where drivers try to get the fastest time
from the intersection of the 341/342 up to Virginia City via the
5.2 mile truck route. It is a paved road, and the local
police block it off so we can use both side of the road to rip
up the hill. Most of the turns are marked 25-35 mph, and
cars are going through these turns at 75-110 mph, with very few
guard rails. If you happen to screw up a turn,
you either hit the mountain, or you...to
read on go to the official NSX Files story>>
