TWS Recaps

[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!!