Round 5- TWS Highlights

I am soooo pumped up after this weekend - and now my ego is even more out of control. :) :) :D I will look forward to getting in put back in check at the next event. :?

New shaved tires are indeed a LOT better than too many heat-cycled full tread tires - Thanks to Corey and Michael for that lesson.

Some of you met James Walker who was helping me out on Saturday. He has become my new secret weapon - as long as his wife is out of town or will let him come to the track with me. Hopefully he will be there in October and the chassis tuning can continue.

Tire issues - I didn't change the rubber valve stems when I mounted the new tires and two of them went bad, really strange and lesson learned. Archer motorsports fixed them up real quick while relieving me of the burden of some cash.

Car handled great this weekend - very easy to drive with little or no bad characteristics. It is usually good, but was just better this weekend.

Ford engine did well in the heat but ran hot in traffic during the heat of the day like everyone else's. However, with no oil cooler and running 10w30 Mobil One the oil pressure was dropping at higher RPM's. Running down the straight at 5000 RPM the pressure would drop from 60 psi down to 30 or 20 psi. I've been told that a higher weight oil on hot weekends to run 15W50. Any thoughts?

Speaking of heat - I think my engine mounts are failing again causing the engine to lean to the passenger side. This is in turn causing the driver's side exhaust to be closer to the floorboard and my right heel. In addition, the heat shield that I had under the car fell off at Houston and I didn't properly fix it. My right shoe has actually suffered some heat damage/melting. Had to drive the last half of every session with my right foot up off the floor.

Saturday
Qual Pole Position - 2:00:4xx
R1 - missed the 2 - 3 shift on the start - got 2nd place
R2 - inverted - got 4th place

Sunday
Qual 2nd - 2:00:5xx
R3 - got a good start and with the help of some traffic got my first win!!!
R4 - inverted - major battle with Proctor and Dawdy - got 3rd

Got home and my wife had mowed the yard for me - awesome!

A great weekend overall!! Thanks to Glenn, Todd, and David for being our leaders, thanks to NASA for running a smooth and fast-paced event, and thanks to the staff and corner workers at TWS.

glenn left out the AIX win for me in R3 but no big deal.

Great weekend overall but I think it sealed the deal for a cool shirt for me. This is two years in a row that I have gotten heat exhaustion/dehydration at TWS in August even haven drank 20 bottles of water on Saturday!

Saturday qualifying was great and the cool track afforded me a new personal best at TWS with a 1:54.6 which brought a smile to my face. Race 1 felt faster but alas was slower in the 55's.

Race 2 on Saturday had to be some of the funnest laps I have ever turned. The inverted start was mind boggling and the 3 wide through turn 3 was totally on the edge (I was on the outside!) and then I passed Liebbe on the outside in T4...then seeing Morgan sideways in 6 I thought for sure was going to tear the nose off my car as I followed Micheal and Glenn through the dirt on the inside only to find Donovan, Burch, Landrum and myself about to go 4 wide through 7!!! I backed out and tried Glenn in 8 but he slammed the door and I finally got to pass him going into the carousel. Great fun!!! Got to see Marshall mowing a path in the grass in that T6 episode and grass was flying in the air from his spitter of death! Coming through those turns on lap two we were all dodging his newly bailed hay between 6 and 7!!!

Missed Qual on Sunday morning due to not feeling well and started at the back but found myself in 2nd going into T1...don't know how the hell I pulled that off but the exhaustion started kicking in and I just decided to take it easy along with saving fuel as I was low. I too learned some momentum driving using just 4th and 5th that race. Decided to park it for race 4 due to the way I was feeling. Ended up pulling off on the way home for an hour and half nap which was much needed.

Car ran great all weekend as usual and it was great to feel the pressure from Donovan and Marshal with their new Aero packages. It's going to start getting really interesting at the front of the pack in AI here real soon.

http://www.texicanracing.com/nasatx/...ighlights..wmv



Congrats to RL!

I hope someone dumped their ice chest on ya! Sorry I wasn't there to bump you through Larry/Moe/Curly.

jb

edit: new link

What an awesome weekend!!!
After getting to the track on Friday I knew I had some changes I needed to make to the car to get ready for the new Fulcrum Motorsports wing. Unfortunately I did too much talking and beer drinking and not enough work on the car, thus I was working on the car until 1:00 AM. At midnight I was attempting to install new rear brake pads but couldn't get the rear calipers to spin in to save my life. Huge thanks to Matt White for his idea of a giant C-clamp and some muscle and everything went together well.

Practice and qual. went well as I sorted out the wing adjustment, front camber, and tire pressures. I must have been sleeping on lap 1 as Morgan, Proctor, and Mitch all got past me. There was some awesome racing with Proctor lap after lap until a slight bobble out of T6 opened the door for the pass going into T7. Pumped up with adrenaline after the pass on James I had my eyes set on Morgan. I pushed the car hard to a lap and a half trying to make up ground. As I eyed T12 I just knew I could make the car hold but then went 2-off, then 4-off, then my only option was to drive out to the oval. :oops: The ground was surprisingly smooth with no holes (thank goodness).

R2 had me starting on the pole w/ the invert. Going into T1 "Madman" Morgan flew past me on the outside followed closely behind by Proctor. Going into T3 Mitch "the proctologist" wanted to get in on the action and late-braked me on the inside and got within 2 inches of Proctor's a$$. (One of the best passes I have seen)
During the end of the race I had some awesome racing with Frank trying to hold off his Cobra for the last 2 laps.

R3 has some excitement at the start and some awesome moves by Jerry and Mitch to avoid disaster, great driving!!

R4 was going to be interesting with Glenn not having 3rd gear. I got past Glenn on the strait and through T1+2. I thought for sure that without 3rd gear I would slowly start to pull away. Lap 2, still there. Lap 3, still there. I look in my mirror and all I see is a giant Moonlite Printing & Graphics decal. This trend follows for all 7 laps as I drive as hard as possible to keep Glenn behind me. On the last lap I put 2-off at the exit of T7 but luckily held on through T8 and the remainder of the lap. All in all it was the hardest I have ever driven the car for a race and it felt great.
I got an extra push of motivation for the last couple of laps as I began to wonder what would happen if Glenn got past me for the win. No CMC racer, past, present, or future would ever hear the end of how Glenn Landrum won the race without 3rd gear, driving with one hand. :D (Awesome drive Glenn!!!!)

It was a great weekend of racing. The car felt awesome thanks to Neal and Fulcrum Motorsports, amazing job.
Great times in the pits, at dinner, and on the track. Great to see everyone this weekend!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jeffburch

http://www.argentlab.I hope someone dumped their ice chest on ya!
jb

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As I was dumping my own ice chest on the ground, I thought what a waste it was because I was so damn hot after loading the car. I should have dumped on me instead.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mitchntx

Nice write up Todd. Thanks for jumping on that. It's great read!

Also, thanks for working that magic in getting the announcer and videographer synced up for a race DVD.

Everyone was stoked about the announcing details of all the drivers. That was a fantastic job, there buddy.

I also enjoyed breaking bread with you Saturday night. I know you are under the gun at work. I appreciate your taking the time away from your family to support the race group.

I love you, man.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Todd Covini

:roll: uh-oh...here we go with bad acronyms :roll:

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Family On Race Day

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I'm onto you Mitch and I'll tell you right now that I'm a sucker for positive reinforcement!!! :wink:

I had a blast running with (behind) you guy's. Special thanks to JB for letting me drive to town in his truck for rear rotors and to Michael for the set of rear pads.

If you all just knew how good I thought I was prior to the weekend you would know I was supposed to win or at least run mid pack in my first weekend of races. I got served a huge plate of humble pie!


JJ

Jerry ...

Again ... kudos to your quick thinking and driving abilities. t saved me some serious body damage and at a great personal expsense. I owe you a large debt of gratitude.

I'll race door handle to door handle with you any time

You will be a great addition to this race group and definite force to be reckoned with.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mitchntx

I'll race door handle to door handle with you any time

You will be a great addition to this race group and definite force to be reckoned with.

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I told yall so!
:wink:
jb

Thanks for another great racing weekend! Had a lot of fun and learned a lot of things.

New motor pulls hard, except for 3rd gear at 5000 rpm and in R4 it added 4th gear at 4400. T7 is interesting in 5th gear. Car won't idle. (Sorry, Glenn. I wasn't being impatient behind you in grid; motor was trying to die.)

On Friday, Mitch took me for a ride and showed me the difference between my comfort zone driving and being fast. It took to some extent. I didn't DFL all weekend; a first for me.

R4, when I pretty well lost power in 4th gear and oil pressure was 35-40psi, I dropped behind Mitch and drafted him down the front straight and into T1 and T2. I kept up, but had to do a pants check between T2 and T3 the first time through. Definitely learned some things riding with and following him. Thanks, Mitch! I had a great time side by side with you through several turns, also.

I learned that you guys will take any opening and I had to drive a really tight line.

Going from 10th to 1st on a start and leading a race for a couple of laps is a blast. I intend to do it again one day and make it stick.

Sunday morning, Rob Liebbe brought me a new sticker and put it on the back of my car. It said "You just got passed by a GIRL!" Awesome gift, Rob! Thanks!

R3, Frank and I had an incredible race going until the last lap when my engine decided that a new MAF and a code clear wasn't enough to keep it happy. You couldn't have put a gnat's whisker between us during the pass. I just couldn't quite keep up while short shifting and he beat me by half a second, but I had a blast trying. Amazing driving, Frank!

As always, racing with you guys just gets better and better. :D