Sebring

Just finished the weekend at Sebring Int Raceway in Florida. Having so much fun. JBWelded engine block is holding together. No leaks so far. Got checked into HPDE2. Had to scrub the last 3 sessions the last day due to a stripped transmission mount. Bolt went missing at some point, and the threads are messed up. Oh well, I met my goal of climbing the ladder, and learned a lot too. Experienced what I think is knockback for the first time as I am getting faster. Either that or my brake fluid was starting to boil.....maybe I ought to bleed some fresh fluid through it as the car was in storage for awhile before me putting it on the track. EDIT - After some schooling from a fellow racer, I apparently am delinquent on fresh brake fluid. Every event Im told to bleed fresh Motul 600 into it. Sebring is hard on brakes!

Got CMP May 4-5th. Hoping to check into HPDE3 there so I can run at Hallett.

BTW, Most people are looking at me funny with a full cage built CMC racecar in HPDE1/2. 1st instructor walks up to my car late while other cars are launching. Instructor tries to open the door as if the nascar doorbars were't obvious and then realizes he was too fat to climb into my car and he acts like Im crazy for having this car and then he gigged for not having padding on the passenger section of the rollbars. Fixed it. Anyways.....in the beginning I felt extremely out of place, but I am grateful that I got a good instructor the 2nd time around and for the rest of the weekend (chief instructor). Others in the HPDE1/2 classroom come to me asking how much HP Im making and they are amazed when I say 260ish....they all think Im making 450+. I myself am pretty amazed at what 260hp can do. Still lots to learn.

Dude, that's how it goes. A little old CMC car is pretty capable...

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Originally Posted by Fbody383

Dude, that's how it goes. A little old CMC car is pretty capable...

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So true. Going fast is as much about know when to use the brakes as it is about knowing when to use the throttle.
Momentum management. If you can do it well on 200 treadwear tires, actual race tires will make you pucker up
the first few times before you reach the limit.

My 1st event I had no in car camera. For this event at at Sebring, I installed a camera and upon review I can see 1000 mistakes that I didn’t see, feel, or realize before. What a great tool for coaching. Even if it is just me self coaching my own videos. I could post them here but you guys probably don’t care to see an HPDE video. Too many rolling eyes at me I’m sure lol.

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Originally Posted by Fbody383

Dude, that's how it goes. A little old CMC car is pretty capable...

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I've found the same. The dollar per lap time ratio of CMC vs AI just isn't there. Like Patterson said, it's a financial cliff. I will say the higher the average speeds are for a given track, the greater the disparity vs a car with a superior platform, but for lower speed tracks it seems to be far more an equation of power/weight vs tire width. You're also forgetting to acknowledge the massive skill disparity in the n00b driving classes which massively outweighs any of the previously identified variables. I could probably hustle a POS Miata around most of the HPDE1/2 participants whilst hating the fart sound it eminates and exchanging its speedometer for a calendar. Even if you can't race this year, you'll realize why you NEED to knock out comp school ASAP. It will be a truly eye opening experience even without a comp license attending Hallett. Some HPDE types may attempt to impress upon you that learning only occurs there, however I assure you that it very much continues to occur upon becoming a racer.