TWS Recaps

[JasonLiiR]

Well guys I guess I'll go ahead and start this off then. Showed up Friday morning to drop the car and gear off and get my dyno done. Saturday Practice I had Mr. Rock take a few lap times to see if I was gonna run 1 or 2 and made the decision to run 2.

Race 1 I qualified somewhere in the middle of the pack and spent most of the race watching Bryan, Steve and Mitch duke it out just trying to get up there with them but couldn't pull it off, and had to watch Bryan get an awesome run onto the front straight and motor by me to the finish line on the last lap after he played an amazing race of catch up after an off earlier in the race.

R2 started with high hopes to try and get a good start to maybe gap the fast guys to give me a chance but ended with me behind Randy who had the widest 4th gen I have ever seen in that race but it was fun trying to rattle him a little bit and nice to see him not budge an inch, great run Randy.

On Sunday I qualed in about the same place and spent the first couple laps of Race 3 mixing it up in the middle and just close enough to watch the beginning of what turned out to be a great race long battle between the top 3 and ending with Sam Crumpacker getting his first CMC win on his home track, congratulations Sam.

Race 4 I started with the same hopes as R2 and with what I thought was my best start of the weekend only to see that HP/TQ advantage of the fast 3 (Landrum, Mosty and Crumpacker) motor by me 3/4 of the way down the straight like I was standing still. Otherwise had a great race working my way through some traffic nose to tail with Mitch trying to keep him honest but he kept his cool better than I did and stayed in front of me the whole race.

All in all I had some of the most fun I've ever had this weekend racing with the front mid pack slackers, which certainly helped me learn a bit and hopefully I helped teach a few people some stuff about the track. Also a thanks goes out to Dave Garland for allowing me to run with one of his cool little drift cams all weekend, hope you can use some of the footage I got and thanks again. I'm still hyped up from this weekend and can't wait till Hallett. By the way thanks for all the pats on the back from everyone, I'm slowly trying to work my way up there with the top guys and this weekend was a great leap towards that for me and it was nice to see people notice it.

[Crumpacker]

Awesome job Jason! Glad you decided to come play in the Duece... just imagine when you're up to full Duece trim!

My write up:

Well, my weekend was F'N AWESOME!!! ... w/ a tid bit of frustration mixed in.

It started with the Friday Test n Tune where I seriously doubted my car's reliability and performance. The 54 car hasn't been on track since the Jan NASA race and hasn't seen TWS since last year (maybe as early as last Aug). I had to re-learn how to drive my car at TWS and at first it wasn't going well; it was super twitchy and pushed a bit through L handers. After some camber and toe adjustments, I was doing better but I still couldn't get brakes down for sh*t. I think I turned my practice tires into octagons by the end of a couple sessions. I was really hoping it was just the crap, practice tires that were causing my lock-up issues (turns out it was). I also had an intermittent miss re-appear after I thought I had solved it, then the wheel weights on my L front caught my caliper pin and ripped it off, the lower side of my caliper pulled away from the bracket and was touching the inside of my wheel when I came in. Good thing I keep a caliper pin in my 'spares' box.

Throughout the course of the weekend, I had a plug wire end up on a header causing a miss on left handers and most straits (it went away on right handers when the wire shifted away from the exhaust), a motor mount bolt worked it's way out causing the drivetrain to shift, dinging the driveshaft off the safety loop... and the temps creep'd up a few times. All problems were discovered and solved before they caused any real trouble. *wipes brow

R1 - I qual'd 3rd but started 14th :-\ A friend came out to watch and I asked him for help turning my camera on while on grid... he couldn't get to it and naturally opened the door, well, my passenger door is a bit finicky when it comes to closing. Long story short, it took 11 cars passing me in grid before the door was finally closed and secured. The worst part is we never got the camera on. I worked my way to 5th within the first few laps and made it to 3rd by the end of the race. Hell yeah!

R2 - Invert from R1, so I started 3rd from the back in CMC2. During the first lap I took a shot in the passenger door when Nick spun. I was punted off drivers left and managed to miss the 'death' curbs crossing short course. Mitch and Michael were involved too so I was only knocked back to 11th or so. I cleaned off the tires and checked the suspension through the next half a lap and everything seemed fine. I made it back to 2nd by the end of the race. Hell yeah times 2!!!

R3 - I qual'd 2nd, 2 tenths behind Glenn and 5 hundredths ahead of Michael. We drove nose to tail, with me in the middle, for about 20min of the 30min race (felt like an hour). It was insane! 10/10ths while attacking and defending lap after lap after lap. To top off the adrenaline/stress/excitement, my cool suit craps out about 10 min in, nooooo! Every move I made on Glenn was met with a move on me by Michael. Finally the 70 car went a few feet too deep braking into 3 and I got inside between 3-4, the move stuck as we went through 4. Luckily Glenn bobbled in 13/14/15 giving me a few lengths, Michael started working on him and allowed me to pull out a more comfortable lead. I held 1st till the checker and pulled off MY FIRST CMC WIN! OMG WTF OMG WHOOP!!!! Of course I got the customary 'water bottle shower' from the rest of the CMC guys for my first victory and it couldn't have been better timed... remember, my cool suit had stopped working.

And... I've been smiling ever since. ;D

R4 - Invert from R3. I worked my way to 2nd after a few laps then asked the creamsicle for everything she had to catch Michael. I caught him by the last lap, then on the back strait Marshall cut between us hungry for the overall win. It really didn't bother me since Michael would have had to make a big mistake for me to get by. I chuckled in my helmet and thought 'brotherly love' in my head. I'm very happy with another 2nd place finish.

The issues I ran into throughout the weekend just made the victory and podium finishes that much sweeter!



I'll be high off this race weekend for a long time.

[marshall_mosty]

R4 - Invert from R3. I worked my way to 2nd after a few laps then asked the creamsicle for everything she had to catch Michael. I caught him by the last lap, then on the back strait Marshall cut between us hungry for the overall win. It really didn't bother me since Michael would have had to make a big mistake for me to get by. I chuckled in my helmet and thought 'brotherly love' in my head.Sam, Thanks for the understanding... I was really wanting to go from DFL to 1st in the course of the race. I "almost" got there but missed by .04 sec in the end. Again, thanks for not getting too hot about my passing you between 6 and 7. Michael definatetly was hooked up and didn't put a tire wrong during the race and was hard to get by. By the end, my car was overheating (245 water, 290 oil) and the computer was pulling mad timing, as several people came by and asked why I lifted on the straight... I didn't... That's all she had in the end.

[marshall_mosty]

Here is my take:

Friday:
Showed up for a 1/4 day of practice. Figured I would run on 888's and "see" if I could keep up with the pace and burn them up instead of the rare RA-1's. That didn't go well at all as after a 30-minute session I could still powerslide the car onto the front straight before grabbing 4th gear. Infact, I could powerslide just about anywhere, anytime. I guess I can practice my rain driving in the dry... (Thank Toyo!!!).

Saturday:
Practice went well on the RA-1's, as I found they were MUCH better than the 888's.
Qual went okay for the first three laps until my shifter decided to strip all four bolts on the tranny and result in a dislocated shifter ball/socket. I went to downshift to 3rd going into T4 and got somewhere in the ballpark of 9th gear. Went to town and found a heli-coil kit. Was able to get it together for R1. Good thing I got a few good laps in, as I was able to put it on the pole.

R1 put Frank on the high side (P2) and Casey right behind me. By the end of the front straight I went from 1st to 3rd. Note to self... need to find more power somewhere... I was able to get by Casey in T3 and got by Frank in the next few laps. The rest of the race went pretty smooth and ended up in a win.

R2 put me at the back of AI. I was able to fight back through the field to 1st until my clutch cable decided it had enough and shredded at the bellhousing. I ended up coasting to T12 and pulling off for a flat tow back to the pits. Thanks to Wade Z. for the spare cable. I have your replacement on order!

The evening party was great with burgers, tater salad, beans, and best of all BEER. Many stayed around the Ai/CMC garage and traded stories until early in the morning.

Sunday:
R3 put me on pole again and I was able to get around Frank again (after getting passed at the start) and was able to pull off the win.

R4 started out crazy... As Frank and I sat on grid, MP came up and asked, "Why don't you grid at the back of the field". I said, "sounds good to me, ask Frank". Frank said "okay", so we gridded at the very back of the field. Working through the entire field was very fun and I hope that all the CMC guys thought the AI guys did an okay job of navigating through the field. In the end I was able to get within .04 seconds of the overall win (right behind Michael)... hard to finish 2nd place to your "older" brother (even if it's only by 8 minutes). :)


Gavin had a blast as well. Thanks to everyone that allowed him to "help". Ask Dr. Frank about his "strategy" on racing, as he gave me 6-7 different ways to "beat Dr. Frank"...

I had a hell of a weekend. See you guys at Hallett.

[Al Fernandez]

Sam, congratulations man!! You certainly earned that win.

[MPHoldway]

First, I need to thank David Neary for his offer to let me drive his street car all weekend. I am overwhelmed by your generosity and faith in me. Second, my husband Casey Holdway: Thank you for letting me have a crack at this pipe you’re hooked on! Finally, my kids: they were good but, wow, can they wreck a camper!

I had maybe the most unbelievable experience at TWS! I put 2 off on my out lap in my first session. Came in to check the car and went back out. I had one OK lap (I think) and then spun off the track coming out of turn 4. End of session. Changed to NT01s.

My instructor was Kurt Kelly. Probably the nicest, most sincere, want to help, coming to find ME before grid, sit and debrief after, Class Act instructor!!! Oh, yeah, and I lost 3rd gear in the 2nd session so I was running in 4th for the rest of the weekend. A bit slow out of a few turns but not dragging too badly.

Sunday started with a few good laps and then I came up on slower traffic in 1 and 2. I made the noob mistake of letting off the gas and braking while still tracking out of 2. Yup, just drove off the left side of the track! Oops! But I kept her running and got back out there to find checkers waving so I just pitted and then went to confess my sins.
The rest of the day was spent at Learning Speed. Not slow, not silly (for my inexperience) until... wait for it... my SOLO run in session 4!

I had an amazing final run and feel really good about what I accomplished throughout the weekend. Yeah, I think, maybe I was the only DE 1 that put two off and went off not once but twice.

The problems now are: 1. I don't have a car. 2. I will not be comfortable going much faster without safety gear. 3. I need a money tree in my back yard!

Hello. My name is Mindy and I am an addict and the wife of an addict.

As my dad would say - I am grinnin' like a jackass eatin' cactus!!!

[Al Fernandez]

Awesome Mindy!!
PS, you do have a car, I'm just curious about what Casey is going to do ;)

[rleng1]

Can Casey bake cupcakes??

[Crumpacker]

Can Casey bake cupcakes??

Maybe 'Cupcake' Covini could help with this one.

Mindy, that's AWESOME!!! Darcie and I are still waiting for our money tree to sprout. Her '89 Mustang track car is in the garage waiting for a CMC makeover. Maybe you gals could work something out...

:D

[MPHoldway]

Thanks, Guys! I haven't actually met Darcie yet but I must admit I was envious when I found out she has her own car... even if it is a parts car sometimes!

[mitchntx]

I was envious when I found out she has her own car

I have a fix for that, you know.

[way2neary]

Mindy, maybe Casey could put in an adjustable seat bracket? Glad you had fun! You did awesome out there! And, now you're hooked!

I can give a quick summary of my weekend. Friday practice, got two laps in and flat spotted a tire. Changed it, went to go out and the car died in staging. Bad battery, I thought. Parked car, charged battery, let's pick it up tomorrow. Saturday morning, find out its not the battery but the starter. Run to store, get starter, miss practice. With help from Marshall, starter is changed in time for qual (thanks again Marshall). Two laps into qual, valve train failure, again! Car parked and I get to watch some more great racing. Leave Sunday morning like a ghost cuz I'm so pissed off about the car!

Actually guys, sorry I didn't get to say the proper farewells. It was great hanging out Saturday, but I didn't want to talk about my car woes any more. F'in car!

[mitchntx]

I didn't want to talk about my car woes any more. F'in Orange #23 AI Mustang!

I have a fix for that, you know.

[Casey_SS]

Here's my weekend recap - Friday morning I went and dyno'd the car to see how far off I am from AI and how the motor is doing. Haven't dyno'd it since I first built the motor and wrote the tune for it several years ago. Put down 4 hp more than before but it peaked 500 rpm lower and fell off fast. Time for new valve springs. Still way over power for AI and the heaviest car out there to boot....crap. Have to figure what I want to do about that.

Went out in the afternoon and farted around for a bit to shake off the cobwebs and then back out for an honest run which felt really good. No laptimes though so no idea where I stand. Saturday practice went well and I found myself passing a bunch of ST2 guys and even Marshall once when he was struggling on some old 888s. Hmmm...maybe I really have something here. Wiley wasn't able to make it so I didn't have anyone to race in AIX so talked to the guys and was graciously invited to run AI. Went back out and ran a 1.58.1 in qualifying....holy crap!! My previous best was a 2.07 and the car hasn't changed much...just seat time. I guess it really does make a difference. That earned me a third place spot in the first race....next to Jay Culley's monster. Had almost as much fun driving next to him on the warmup lap listening to that thing as I did in the race. Almost ;)

Pulled off a great start and found myself in the lead going into turn 1. Holy crap...wasn't expecting that....what the hell do I do now?! Tried to hang onto it but lifted a little too soon and Frank got next to me on the outside, made it stick and just drove around me coming out of 2. Tried to really nail my setup for 3 and suck back up to him but was so focused on that I forgot about Marshall and left the door wide open for him. Rookie mistake...he outbraked me into 3 and just took the hell off. Note to self....

He and Frank battled for a few turns which allowed me to close the gap a bit but not nearly enough. Drove the piss out of the car trying to catch Frank, hoping he would make a mistake somewhere but he never did. Marshall lost his clutch cable later in the race and pulled off which put me in P2. Continued trying like hell to catch Frank but just couldn't close the gap. Started to simmer down a bit but this black speck in my mirror kept getting closer. Aww crap...Glenn! Re-engaged ludicrous mode and held on a few more laps to finish 2nd overall. My first podium playing with the big boys! Very pleased....until...turning to get on the scales in impound the car kinda lurched and made a loud bang from the rear. Asked the tech guy what I hit and he looked at me like I was stupid. Uh-oh...

Pulled the diff cover and knew my weekend was over. Cracked the posi case in half and part of it had a ring gear pattern on it. No bueno. After that I just focused on helping Mindy and two of my buddies that were running DE. They all did GREAT!! Especially Mindy....very proud of her. She hasn't stopped smiling yet. Reminds me of my first time...errgh....DE I mean. All in all a great weekend....really enjoyed it. Can't wait for Hallett :)

[Fbody383]

Made it to turn 3 on the warmup lap. (I did get to "draft" the EV through NASCAR 3 and 4 at some ridiculous speed)

*** ON TRACK OBSERVATION ~ So I know the car is WAAAYYYY down on power and I'm watching the mirrors really closely and driving way track left coming out of 1 when I get overtaken by three Pooorshuuuuuu-s. Mostly ok except I think the silver one was so crossed up I could see through the car sideways. He came too close to "winning" warmup ***

Threw parts at it Saturday (actually used my fancy new fuel pressure guage) and set the entrance road ET record, twice.

Drank beer Saturday night, sold gas Sunday morning, and should have AKM cable at the house tomorrow to start sluething through the PCM.

[michaelmosty]

Wow, I had a fun filled weekend!!!
I did a 1/2 day of practice on Friday and worked out some kinks on the car. First session I had the passenger side brake duct come loose. Second session I had alot of smoke in the car while coming down the front straight. I pulled off next to the T1 corner station just in case the car was on fire. Thankfully it ended up being a plug in the transmission that was leaking onto the exhaust. I don't know how a plastic plug in a transmission could heat up and burn a hole in the middle of it (stupid mechanic).

Saturday Practice and Qual went normal. The only issue was bottoming out the car crossing the back straight before T10. I tried various lines to try and find the smoothest (thanks Keystone) way through.
Race 1 had an awesome battle with Glenn for the first half until the exhaust started getting louder and louder. It was bottoming out on the flange where the h-pipe connects to the rear flowtube. Finally it got really loud when the drivers side pipe got ripped off. I had a good 5-10 second gap on the next car behind me so I thought hopefully nobody would hit it and damage their cars. Well, it ended up I think 4 people hit it to varying extents but thankfully I don't think there was any significant damage. (I plan to cut all flanges off the new exhaust and tuck it all up higher so this crap never happens again!!) I nursed the car home not knowing exactly what had happened and managed to hold off an extremely hard charging Sam for 2nd place.

Before R2 I checked and my battery was loose. The hold down had broken inside the box and I was left scrambling to fix it last minute. Nick Valentine came through with some metal strap and Wade loaned me his cut-off wheel to get me out in time, thanks guys!! Wade even made a trip to his house and brought back an extra stock h-pipe for me to use to get my exhaust fixed. Sorry I ended up not using it but the generosity was amazing!!

Race 2 I started near the back and held position through T1+2 before the incident in T3. As everyone bailed left Mitch and I had no where to go and I unfortunately got into the back right of Mitch's car. Sorry Mitch!! I looked out and saw the hood buckled so I took the shortcut back to the pits at T3 and down the gravel road. Thankfully Mitch was able to get his bumper repositioned and my damage was all cosmetic as it barely got into the upper core support. I went into Jerry's trailer to watch the in-car video and when I came out my car was taped up and ready to go!! Dr. Frank put his surgical hands to work with the help of Kyri and many others to get the car looking good again. The red and silver duct tape matched great and Frank even cut some black tape into strips to match the stripe and black numbers on the headlight cover!! You guys are awesome, that was such a great feeling seeing that tape job.

Saturday night was the usual b/s-ing with burgers and beer. At one point Jeremiah asked, "dang, did y'all have this much fun at every event last year"? YES, you need to quit going back to your hotel at 9:00 for your beauty sleep!! Jeremiah and Papa Kellam ended up leaving around 2:00 AM (after we found a way out) and everyone crashed out after that.

Sunday qualifying put me 3rd behind Glenn and Sam with all of us w-in 1/4 of a second.
Race 3 started and Glenn, Sam, and I started the battle of all battles. On lap 1 I had a run on Sam coming out of T6 and we went side-by-side up T7 with me on the inside. Right after turn-in I looked over only to see Sam about 1 foot away from me!! He regained position going into T8 and the battle continued. Sam would try a move on Glenn, I would try one on Sam, then Sam would try again on Glenn, etc. I don't think I have ever seen Glenn drive as hard as he drove fighting to keep Sam behind. Sam would not be denied as Glenn went a little wide into T3 Sam got a run and made the pass going into T4. I then put my sights on Glenn and after 2 laps he bobbled coming onto the front straight and I knew it was my chance. We drove side by side down 2/3rds of the front straight, into T1 + 2 with me still on the outside, and I was in position to outbrake going into T3. After that I looked up to get my sights set on Sam but Holy Crap had he put some distance b/w us. I tried like mad to close the gap but ended up having to put all my focus on not letting Glenn by me. I held on to 2nd but was blown away by Sam in his first ever win (in a Toyo race to boot), the 3 car battle we had was one of the most exciting races I have had to date.

Race 4 had me starting 10th and I got a great start and went for the high side. Going into T1 I tell myself to nut up and keep your foot on the gas. I got by Jay into T1 and Wade exiting T2 and had the lead by T3. Towards the end of the race I saw Sam slowly getting closer and closer. On the last lap there was "AI traffic" and I ended up holding on for the win.

It was an amazing weekend as always and I can't wait for the racing and festivities that is HALLETT!!

[jeremiahkellam]

Saturday night was the usual b/s-ing with burgers and beer. At one point Jeremiah asked, "dang, did y'all have this much fun at every event last year"? YES, you need to quit going back to your hotel at 9:00 for your beauty sleep!! Jeremiah and Papa Kellam ended up leaving around 2:00 AM (after we found a way out) and everyone crashed out after that.

The only problem was that I could barely drive myself home the next afternoon! I was worthless!!