Wow, Addicted!!!!

[kens03cobra]

I reached my limit of sitting on my deck (with a cold one of course) and hearing the cars on the track (Summit Point, WV)......SO

I attended my first on track event this weekend :banana::banana: I have always considered myself a "good driver" as we all do ;-) and I wanted to either prove that to be true, or humble my dumb azz.

Well, I started by helping tech on Firday night, then to my first drivers meeting at 8 Sat morn, followed by the Novice class meeting, and finally on the track with an instructor riding shotgun.

I soon realized how much I did not know, but also confirmed I may have some "basic skills" needed to survive out there. IT IS DIFFERENT

First session = learning the course, trying to find a line, and not get run over.
Second session = more fun, smoother, and therefore faster :burnout:
Third Session = Regressed in the middle of the run a lil, not smooth, and learned that trying to go faster = slower

That ended the first day


Sunday - meetings, class review, and an Instructor with FOCUS experience. Went out, tried new things, went very well and smooth. Passed my first Terminator, and no one passed me this session.

Second session, back with original Instructor (COBRA GUY, great instructor, for COBRA's) and demonstrated some new lines learned from previous instructor.

I believe the instructor was impressed, at least he said so :rockon::rockon: was much smoother, faster, passing Mustangs and Subaru's

Third session, practiced going deeper into the turns, more brake, made it around the track even better, no one passed me.

I ended up passing vettes, and keeping them behind me all day. Tires got tired and were screaming all day, but I was proud to be able to scare the instructor in the "toilet bowl" turn they have there, the karassel I believe they also call it. As I would "dive" into the bowl in 3rd, MAT the gas, and hang on, then you get launched out to up hill "S" curves.


All said and done, best dayum weekend I have had in a long time.

The FOCI did quite well, I was impressed with what we accomplished.

I am stock with exception of a K&N drop in filter, and a Jon Lund tune.

She hauled azzzz

TOTAL FUN :rockon::rockon:

Mods are coming and I will def be back,

I need some sticky tires oke:oke:

If you have not driven your perfomance vehicle on a true course, you have not driven your performance vehicle "YET" trust me on this one.

Ken

:beer::beer:

 

[BlackBolt9]

Welcome to the club, get ready to go broke

 

[PETSNKE]

Welcome to the club, get ready to go broke

+1

 

[dragon40k]

Hi Ken I attended as a novice as well, and am already thinking of making another event or two this year. You must have been the Blue focus that passed me (red terminator). I only let one focus by all weekend and he gave me the point by the next straight. I just wanted to see if you were really faster than me in the corners. My instructor was Lowell (who drove a focus I don't think he liked riding in the terminator)and I had someone named Joe (who was awesome) who runs a couple of events at Watkins Glens.

 

[wheelhopper]

Great summary of the weekends events Ken. Except, Subarus and Vettes are not fast, at least in this forum. Don't worry about rushing out for super sticky tires just yet. As I recall you were still on stock brake pads and fluid. You will find now that you are doing these events that fluids need to be flushed and/or changed after nearly every event.

I also had a great time there. First time that I have come off track with the brakes smoking. Big thanks to GCassidy for the 2nd session ride along, to help me get my line. I also came to terms at this point that Terminators do not need 2nd gear on the track, at least at Summit Shanandoha.

 

[ac427cobra]

Ken:

Glad to hear you had a good time. Now like BlackBolt says, "kiss your money good-bye"! :lol:

Vettes are not fast, at least in this forum.

Vettes ARE fast. Fortunately for us Mustang guys, 97% of their drivers are slow!!! :lol:epper:

:thumbsup: :coolman::beer:

 

[Jimmysidecarr]

The proverbial "Track Pipe" has been passed.:beer:

Another one hooked!

Hold off on the sticky tires, they will slow down your learning curve. They will also bite you much easier since they let go with very little warning, and you will be going much faster on them, so there is a lot less margin for error.
Getting to the point where you can catch the tail if it dances out without thinking about it takes repetition/practice.
When it becomes automatic it becomes much quicker. Then you will be able to catch a dance out on R compounds, because you will feel it coming and already be there with just enough correction.:thumbsup:

Besides sliding the car is a freaking blast! Sometimes I want to put my streets back on just to have fun sliding again!:rockon::banana:epper:

 

[kens03cobra]

Hi Ken I attended as a novice as well, and am already thinking of making another event or two this year. You must have been the Blue focus that passed me (red terminator). I only let one focus by all weekend and he gave me the point by the next straight. I just wanted to see if you were really faster than me in the corners. My instructor was Lowell (who drove a focus I don't think he liked riding in the terminator)and I had someone named Joe (who was awesome) who runs a couple of events at Watkins Glens.

Yea that was me, we had a blast did we not.

I was with Tom on that session and when we passed you I felt we could stay ahead in the turns, I told him you were going to eat me going up the hill and said just give him the pass sign. I believe we let you by up the bridge straight correct? Nice running with you, so I guess I did get passed that session now that I think about it :bash:

tons of fun though right.....

I passed a red vette and was looking to a yellow one, I ran out of gas and pulled in early in conjuction with a black flag,

they flagged all the BLUE cars to see if we were paying attention.

what did you think about the silver focus number 77 :lol1:


I could not get back out after that :whine::whine:

Ken

:beer::beer:

 

[Maynor]

Damn tootin' on the track/crack pipe getting passed on. Agreed with everyone else on the R compounds. You've got more to learn still on them and don't be bashful about running in the rain... smooothhhness really counts which helps you in the dry too.

Congrats and glad it was a safe one.

 

[dragon40k]

Yea that was me, we had a blast did we not.

I was with Tom on that session and when we passed you I felt we could stay ahead in the turns, I told him you were going to eat me going up the hill and said just give him the pass sign. I believe we let you by up the bridge straight correct? Nice running with you, so I guess I did get passed that session now that I think about it :bash:

tons of fun though right.....

I passed a red vette and was looking to a yellow one, I ran out of gas and pulled in early in conjuction with a black flag,

they flagged all the BLUE cars to see if we were paying attention.

what did you think about the silver focus number 77 :lol1:


I could not get back out after that :whine::whine:

Ken

:beer::beer:

Oh yeah it was a blast. I did the same event 3 years ago and it was fun then. Second session day 2 things were starting to slow down for me. It is just so hard to pay attention to all the things that need paying attention to.

I was suprised when I saw a focus in my mirror. I thought to myself those guys with the foci say they are fast in the turns lets see just how fast. I was actually suprised I was able to keep up with you in the few turns.

I never even saw any of the vettes near me. I saw the silver foci and the saleen cars about ever 2nd or 3rd lap. My first instructor Lowell called the orange saleen driver a "****ing idiot".

My other instructor Joe said I was the only one to catch the black flag the first time they waved it at me. I barely got my hand up to acknowledge it as I was going about 100mph down the back straight when I got it.

Joe told me to get some better tires. He didn't say slicks or even R compounds but he said to get a track tire and leave the suspension alone. My tires went from able to pass PA inspection to now you need tires to pass. The outside edge of the fronts was nearly bald by the end of the day and it was plowing like a mofo. They had at least a 1/4" going in.

 

[wheelhopper]

Vettes ARE fast. Fortunately for us Mustang guys, 97% of their drivers are slow!!! :lol:epper:

:thumbsup: :coolman::beer:

I stand corrected.

 

[Lumpydogs]

Ken,

That's great. Glad you had a good time. :coolman:

Keep the car stock (for now) and start saving your pennies cuz it starts to get expensive around the third or fourth year. epper:

I trust you also met some good people out there. The paddock is usually full of them :-D

 

[ACMUSTANG]

glad you had fun, is a great event down there

 

[ac427cobra]

I stand corrected.

:thumbsup::coolman::beer:

PS I hear the numbers in other parts of the Country may be different, but in the Midwest it's 97%.

 

[gcassidy]

Ken, how are your tires and pads? You've checked them by now, right?

I was Ken's instructor for most of the weekend (Cobra guy), and I was amazed with his progress after his session out with an instructor that runs a Focus. Not surprised, but impressed. Tom Newman is also a great instructor, and I want to thank him for jumping in the right seat for a session.

The beauty of the Shen circuit is it's a great equalizer in cars. Very technical (Bill Scott designed it as a training track) with a balance of handling and horsepower sections.

Ken, once you're over on the main track, you'll find only 95% of the Vette drivers are slow.

Congratulations on the addiction. :thumbsup:

 

[TroyV]

The Boston group did have a few technical problems, and a few dropped out.

I'm exhausted. We left the hotel with the double trailer rig around 4:30am yesterday morning. We arrived in Boston at around 2:20, but it took us until almost 6 to unload the cars, return the trailer to its owner, and unload the truck. Mick (E30 M3) and I pulled into a truck stop to take on some diesel and we were next to a semi rig. Mick's GMC duramax and two car trailer was just about 12 feet less in length. It was LONG.

The event was an eye opener for me on a few levels. I experienced limp mode for the first time this weekend. I attribute this to a few factors. The sessions were 30 minutes (the ones that didn't end with a black flag), and I was spending an awful lot of time running nose to tail with folks, and not getting enough air flow. I was driving 7 to 8/10ths all weekend.

Notes: Surplus Hankook Z211 C50 tires are cheaper and as good or better than V710's. VERY sticky. Not following my 3 hot laps to 1 cool lap rule was a mistake. Lotus Exige drivers should not try to drag race up bridge straight after giving a point by. Certain drivers in the advanced groups at the event should either buy stickier tires, or not drive 10/10ths and spin out or have an off 3 times a day. All the griggs cars are WAY too low in front. I could see almost all of them bottom the front suspension on the back straight and even have puffs of tire smoke from rubbing on fenders or inner wheel wells. I'm sure an inch of height won't kill the car's turn in.

I had a chance to A/B Carbotech XP12's and Cobalt XR2's. To be very honest, I like the Carbotech pads more. They didn't have as much initial bite early in sessions as the XR2's did, but they stayed the same all session, where the XR2's seemed to become less effective over the same time period.

My car only clocked about 115 track miles, which is less than any year I've been there.....but I did take Mick's E30 for my last session. The car is amazing. The speeds I could carry in the carousel and the corkscrew were in a word....fast.

 

[gcassidy]

Sure was good to see half of New England down there again, Troy.
Congrats on getting the Titanic home.

+1 on long run sessions. I got in 107 miles, but I don't quite lap as fast as you. And I had developed an engine vibration that curtailed my last session.

This is some of what I wanted Ken (OP) to see when I dragged him there. The friendships you can build up and the camaraderie that I think is somewhat unique to track events. Shared experiences (and shared oil slicks).

And for the record, my spin was just to test the corner marshall. I saw the yellow coming up about halfway through it, so he passed. :kaboom:

 

[brkntrxn]

Welcome to the habit!

"Track time begets more track time" is my favorite quote from a track buddy of mine (pretty fast Z06 driver - will be in the 3% - but he started out with an 05 Mustang, LOL).

There is no satiating the craving for speed, g-loads and slip angles; you can only delay the hunger long enough to figure out how to get back out on track.

I am going to have that engraved on my "track pipe".

 

[GR40Must]

Hey Guys we all had a blast tooo!!! Not trying to hijack your thread but open track driving is like Herion!!!! It is very addictive and only gets better and more expensive depending on how fast you want to go.
Brian puts on a great event.
Our Grigg's Cobra was to low the first day and we set it up higher for Sunday with no problems,also switched to 17in tires for more clearance. Summit Point is known for eating up cars too.

I think the guy in the 77 Focus had a few problems or was not all there,Kevin said he did not respond to any instruction. He felt bad for the kid but also did not want to ride with him anymore.
Kevin was frustrated and passed him off to another instructor on Sunday,because he felt that his instructing was not getting in to the drivers brain.

We all had a blast with no big issues,we ate a Blower belt on the Griggs Cobra on sunday but it was soon repaired and back in action.
Thanks [email protected]

 

[Kevin@PAS]

what did you think about the silver focus number 77 :lol1:

The driver of this car was my student and he was definitely having some troubles with his learning curve, but it's nothing to laugh about. People learn at different speeds. Hopefully he'll be back on track and keep learning.

Speaking of learning curve...I was the guy in the 130whp Sentra that was blackflagged for not lifting for the 400hp+ Cobras on the back stretch after giving a wave-by because I had too much corner/exit speed for them to catch me. :dw:

I had fun. All weekend was just a test and tune for me and my PTE car for NASA Hyperfest. Seems I was getting picked on for being the loud import though. I spent more time on pit road after some bullshit black flag then on track. My only complaint is that I wish we had open passing rules. This sitting in line behind big hp cars waiting for them to rocket down a straight away gets old lap after lap. They'd be lying if they said they couldn't hear me. Such is life for a low hp car.

Big thanks to Brian and Jeff and all that helped make this event go very smoothly. Couldn't have asked for better weather. If my car is still in one piece, I'll be back next year!