2009 In a Nutshell

Well the 2009 season is over and the trophies have been awarded (congratulations Tristan) and it was a bitter-sweet year for me.  On the one hand, I got to race at a new track (New Jersey) and I turned my fasted lap time ever at Summit Point but then there was the wreck over Labor Day that may have ended my short-lived fascination with auto racing.

I'm definitely taking the next season off to regroup and short of a cash windfall the possibility of building another car for 2011 is remote.

So thank you for taking a few minutes every month or so to read my rantings and maybe we'll pick this up again in the not to distant future.

Dave...OUT!

Labor Day Double - Part 2

Not such a good weekend after all. Looks like #91 had its' final outing this weekend after I ended up in the tire wall on the outside of Turn 9 during qualifying on Sunday.

Both ends of the car are pretty badly banged up and the engine has shifted forward and to the right. The front suspension looks to have collapsed and the sheet metal that forms the shock towers has literally torn. It took a flat-bed wrecker and 5 guys to shoe-horn it all back into my trailer where it will stay until I figure what I'm going to do for next year.

All I can say is I'm very glad I was wearing my HANS device that I got from OG Racing!

Labor Day Double

Well September is here and that means two things...my birthday and the Labor Day Double MARRS race at Summit Point!

By popular demand the weekend is a two sanction event meaning you can get your annual 2-race requirement fulfilled in the one weekend. This brings out A LOT of people (affectionatley know as 'license keepers') to the track which is both good and bad. Good because the number of entries have been slipping this year and bad because some of these folks have not turned a wheel in anger since this time last year! It's usually quite exciting.

As I've already got my required races under my belt I've registered for the second of two events on Sunday/Monday.

With a freshened suspension (new struts and bushings) I'm hoping for some good consistent lap times. I'm a little suspect of the alignment and camber settings but as long as it's close and tracks straight we'll be OK. The plan is to take it easy during qualifying and then put it to them in the race.

In Car Video - MARRS 6 / Race 2

More race video from NJMP...

In-Car Video: MARRS 6 / Race 1 (7/18/09)

MARRS 6 - New Jersey Motorsports Park

After a slow haul in summer traffic we departed J&L Automotive in Chantilly in James' 37ft RV towing my trailer at around 5pm and arrived in Millville, NJ 7 hours later!

Registration opened at 7am on Saturday and I was in and out within the hour. We unloaded the car and setup the canopy, compressor, tires, etc... and got prepped for the practice session later that morning. Qualifying was more of a learning experience and my lap times proved it. Driving a new track always takes a few sessions to get to know the line but by the end of the practice session I had most of it figured out.

I was placed 16th or 17th on the grid for the qualifying race on Saturday and after the dust settled I spent most of the race battling with Tom Martin (VW Golf) and Jim Weaver (another 2002) for 10th place. Turn 1 is a uphill blind right-hander that takes a few laps to garner the courage to hit the apex and floor it hoping the track is open once you crest the hill. This is difficult enough to do when you have the corner to yourself now imagine a car in front, beside and behind you all trying to occupy the same space after the flag drops. High on the 'pucker-meter.'

Running a multi-class field does present some problems as the faster ITS/ITR cars will put a lap on you about 3/4 of the way through the race but I give them just enough room to pass me without letting it interfere with my race. However, there was the pesky ITS BMW that was faster down the straight but just could'nt get it together through the twisty parts of the track. His line for turn 1 was ridiculous - fast up the inside, hard on the brakes complete with tire smoke and the rear dancing like it was on ice. Inevitably his slow exit which made his previous actions a moot point. He went off several times during the race but always caught up to me on the straight. Other drivers had problems with a dangerously slow ITS Datsun 240Z but I was able to get around him without incident. I managed a 10th place finish and a much better appreciation of the track.

During my post-race inspection I noticed my front right strut was leaking diminishing its dampening capabilities. Rummaging through my spares I found two rears but no fronts. According to a few more mechanically knowledgeable people than I it wasn't bad enough to stop me from racing on Sunday and besides, the track is mostly right-hand turns and the few lefts were not that high speed.

Sunday's 20-lap race started just as exciting and Tom and I picked up where we left off in the first race. I managed to stay in front of him for the first 5 or so laps but he was able to pass me when we came across some traffic. I trailed him for another lap or two until we came to turn 1 where the aforementioned ITS BMW had overcooked the corner and put at least two wheels in the dirt exiting the corner. The non-track surface is very hard and the fine dust seems to hang in the air for a long time. This apparently spooked Tom and he faded right and opened it up for me to pass him on the left. Now I'm not overly courageous but I could see well enough through the dust that the BMW had already gone so I pounced.

Tom and I continued to circulate with him catching me in the slower turns 3 and 4 where his front-wheel drive worked better but then I would pull away slightly on the faster open areas of the track. We were pretty well matched and I was hoping to stay in front of him for the rest of the race. We eventually caught Matti in his usually much faster BMW 2002 with two laps to go. Matti did his best to hold us off but Tom managed to use traffic again to his advantage and got by me with one lap to go. The section called 'Lightbulb' is a long, banked and fast right-hander leading to the front straight and all three of us were nose-to-tail upon entry. Matti went low and Tom went high. I apparently had more speed exiting the turn than both of them and stuffed my nose up under Tom's bumper with Matti on my right. I don't know how we didn't touch but as we motored past Matti I pulled out and managed to get within a couple feet of Tom's nose before we crossed the finish line; Tom in 8th and me in 9th.

It was a great race and despite losing a place at the end I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend and look forward to coming back to NJMP next year. Hopefully James will save me a space in the RV again too.

New Jersey

Well I'm registered for the joint MARRS/NARRC Lightning Challenge race in NJ July 18 & 19 and I've talked James into taking us up there in his RV - once he figured out he could tow my trailer without any problem it really didn't take much convincing.

Looking forward to running the new Lightning track.