Who's going to Thunderhill on Saturday 5/24?

[Orange Crush 1LE]

Originally Posted by LagunaSecaZL1

Todd, nice meeting you too. I was really impressed with my ZL1. Your 1LE looks awesome with the big wing, CCW and race numbers. It is really fast, and shows how much good preparation is worth. Best of luck on the engine "problem". Keep us informed on the outcome. I'll let you know about my next track day. I want a ride in your machine!


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Thanks man, looking forward to meeting up again soon.

[Orange Crush 1LE]

Unfortunately, it was a difficult day for me. First the good…

I was excited to participate in my first NASA time trial. If you’ve ever thought about taking it up a notch from HPDE days, time trials are a nice option to compete without the elevated risk of wheel-to-wheel racing. If you’re not familiar with time trials, here’s how they work. Every competitor has a transponder that communicates lap times to the NASA officials. It’s just like running in a HPDE group, but everyone is racing against the clock. The driver with fastest time of the day in each class wins, it’s that simple. The cars are broken into classes, so you’re racing against similarly modded cars. NASA has 4 unlimited classes that are based almost entirely on weight/HP ratio. Other than that, basically anything goes- big crazy wings, wide wide rubber, you name it. I competed in the TT2 class.

To make my car competitive, I wanted to have the lowest weight / highest HP I could without getting bumped to TT1 (dominated by modded Vettes, Vipers, and other uber-exotic machines). So I added a set of heads and ported intake to bump me to 497 RWHP and 473 RW Ft-Lb, just before the track event.

In the morning, they did a warm-up session with literally about 70 cars! They combined the HPDE4 advanced group with the time trial cars for this warm up session, all later sessions they would separate TT from HPDE4. This means you have everything from Spec Miatas to 1,000 HP CTS-Vs and highly modded ZR1s on track at the same time. I had never gridded with more than 20 cars previously, this was a zoo! I gridded starting 30th, although my car was one of the faster cars. They didn’t have a previous lap time to determine where to put me.

After lap 1, I began to work my way through traffic. This was my first time driving Thunderhill bypassing the Cyclone, so I was taking my time learning the new line. Still, the Camaro felt planted, actually fantastic at this track that is well suited for big HP cars. By the third lap I was taking it easy but starting to increase my speed and having some fun. Then, I noticed a cloud of blue smoke behind me. Was that coming from my car??? I continued to pass cars and the smoke seemed to worsen. Next thing I know, I get “meatballed,” the special black flag for dreaded mechanical problems. Unfortunately I had to make another complete 3.2 mile lap before being able to pit. The engine began to miss. I limped it around and pulled into the pits, to find my engine knocking something awful. Then a few drops of oil began to form under the car. I checked all the obvious things, loose plug wires Etc, but the sound was telling me my engine was done. A mechanic came over and confirmed it.

On the bright side, in heavy traffic and just warming up my car turned a 2:03.6 lap without pushing it hard. I had only made 4 laps before getting meatballed. With open track and more seat time to learn this track configuration, the car should be solidly below 2 minutes per lap. So I got a brief glimpse of how she’ll do once I get the engine sorted out.

Because I drove my car all the way from San Jose, I was in a bind. Peter, a fellow competitor that was parked next to me was doing the dream tour- he trailered his race-prepped Civic all the way from Florida to tour the great tracks of the Western US. Peter offered to cut his day short and trailer my car 3-1/2 hours all the way back to my home in San Jose! What a hell of a nice guy! He then drove back to the track Saturday night so he could compete in time trials Sunday, hoping he kicked some butt.

Last night I got her put away in the garage, and opted for a tall glass of red wine over putting her up on jack stands. Feeling a bit deflated. But I can’t complain I suppose, I've had a good 20 track days this past year with not a single mechanical failure or body damage. Now I can only hope that the engine builder does the right thing and treats me fairly. If the failure was caused by workmanship or defective parts in the new heads, this will be on him. But the oil leak has me wondering if I have a hole in the side of my block, which I’m guessing I’d have to swallow the cost of.

Here are a couple of shots of the car in race trim, with the required NASA markings and contingency stickers to win free tires and brake pads. The last shot is loaded on Peter's trailer, ready to make the disappointing journey home. I hope to have it fixed in time to compete with NASA at Laguna Seca in July.

[Nor Cal ZL1]

Wow Todd that sucks about the mechanical issue. Hope you get it sorted. That is super cool that a fellow track runner helped you out. That is really really cool of him. Best of luck on the mechanical problems.

Todd

[Nor Cal ZL1]

Laguna thanks for your report on how the ZL1 handles the heat. With your reported temperatures I think I will wait until fall to run the car on the track. Those temps are above my comfort level.

[Orange Crush 1LE]

Originally Posted by Nor Cal ZL1

Wow Todd that sucks about the mechanical issue. Hope you get it sorted. That is super cool that a fellow track runner helped you out. That is really really cool of him. Best of luck on the mechanical problems.

Todd

Thanks. On the bright side, this will hopefully be less expensive than kissing a wall would have been

[MLAZ1990]

Damn Orange Crush, that sucks! Hope you get it fixed soon! Don't know what I'd do without my car.

[Orange Crush 1LE]

Originally Posted by MLAZ1990

Damn Orange Crush, that sucks! Hope you get it fixed soon! Don't know what I'd do without my car.

Thanks. It will be a challenge to get it fixed soon because my engine builder just happens to be moving to a new location. So, he can't even look at it for a couple of weeks. I don't want to miss too many time trials, I'd like to earn points at each event. He's a reasonable guy, I hope he gets on it right away and gives me a fair shake.

[MTCobra]

Originally Posted by Orange Crush 1LE

Thanks. It will be a challenge to get it fixed soon because my engine builder just happens to be moving to a new location. So, he can't even look at it for a couple of weeks. I don't want to miss too many time trials, I'd like to earn points at each event. He's a reasonable guy, I hope he gets on it right away and gives me a fair shake.

Hey Todd,

That really stinks. Hopefully it's not too big of an issue.

It's good to hear you were able to get your car hauled back home. As I told you this is my biggest fear since I'm in CA without the family and drive to, and luckily from, the tracks.

We need to develop a Camaro support group where we commit to helping one another get home should something break .




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[Orange Crush 1LE]

Originally Posted by MTCobra

Hey Todd,

That really stinks. Hopefully it's not too big of an issue.

It's good to hear you were able to get your car hauled back home. As I told you this is my biggest fear since I'm in CA without the family and drive to, and luckily from, the tracks.

We need to develop a Camaro support group where we commit to helping one another get home should something break .

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Thanks man. I should have just left the engine alone, it was making good power. Hindsight is 20-20 of course. Agreed, if one or two guys in a group trailer their streetable cars, at least we'd have a way to get a broken car back home.

[Orange Crush 1LE]

I started a thread in the Engine forum, hoping to get some insights on where to go from here. If any of you track rats have recommendations, I'd love to hear them:

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=360446

[cornerspeed92]

Dude, that's really bad news, sorry to hear that. On a lighter note take a look at the homepage 1LE's rule!!!

[CrystalRedTintcoat]

Peter with the civic from Florida paddock'd two down from me at Laguna a week ago Monday. David Rey is going to do a write up about him as he's been touring the us doing HPDE and NASA events. Lots of HOD stuff. I'm sure David would love this story too.

[Orange Crush 1LE]

Originally Posted by cornerspeed92

Dude, that's really bad news, sorry to hear that. On a lighter note take a look at the homepage 1LE's rule!!!

Hey that's cool! This has been quite a ride, complete with potholes but mostly good times. Hard to believe that I just started tracking a little over a year ago, I had no idea what hit me. And you were riding bikes not too long ago. I'm not going to let this dampen the fun this has been and will be.

[Orange Crush 1LE]

Originally Posted by CrystalRedTintcoat

Peter with the civic from Florida paddock'd two down from me at Laguna a week ago Monday. David Rey is going to do a write up about him as he's been touring the us doing HPDE and NASA events. Lots of HOD stuff. I'm sure David would love this story too.

Small world, I'll fill David in when we return to T-Hill in a couple weeks. I was so tired when Peter dropped me off that I didn't ask him for his contact info. I hope he kicked butt in his time trial Sunday. He's good people.