Schaut Speed Racing Blog

You know how when you are waiting to hear about something that you either really want to know or really don’t want to know, everything seems to take longer, the anticipation is higher, and others who don’t get it just think you’re being a little nuts?

Well, that is where I’m at right now. After the great placement this morning and what felt like another awesome track session, I am playing that waiting game! We are somewhere in the gorgeous hills of Pennsylvania cruising along I-76 (following the GTR and Porsche Turbo). But we are still without results….. The suspense is killing me!  There is a great chance that I’ll be in the Top 10 again.  I was catching the Mazdaspeed 5 (incidentally being driven by World Challenge Touring Car Pro-driver Jason Saini) who finished in the top 10 in the first session and definitely knows the track!  But still, I must wait.  and wait.  and wait…..

But there is a likely reason. Mid-Ohio lost power while we were there. Luckily they got a generator hooked up to run the necessary timing equipment, but apparently that was all they could do. I was even forced to have yet another cheese burger (they got those cooked up on the gas grill….)! So we will have to wait…..

A few interesting things and one bad thing has happened in the last 24 hours. First the bad. Our One Lap friend and fellow father/son team of the Corcorans found themselves stranded near Indianapolis during the transit last night. Apparently the engine had some issues and developed a knock. Likely a spun bearing. This unfortunately takes them out of the game. Dan C was on his 20th One Lap. And it was going to be his last. Hopefully he will do one more, so he can say that he finished 20 One Laps!

Now the interesting. Cracked rotors all over the place! The #39 BMW E30 cracked a front. And the Mitsubishi Galant managed to crack BOTH fronts. The left front completely through, from edge of rotor all the way to the hub!!!! Yikes!

OK, back to enjoying the gorgeous view and waiting. Waiting. Waiting……

I’m gonna make this a quick one. Results from the 1st session at Mid-Ohio. I was 6th.  Oh yeah, baby! I love it when a plan comes together!  That is our highest finish so far this week, and I feel really  good about that performance!

With a smoking time of 5:14.943, I slotted right behind Danny Popp/Todd Rumpke (5:14.297) in a Vette, , the #6 STi, #39 BMW E30, #4 GTR and the #3 Porsche GT2.

I’ll credit a lot of my performance to the spectacular car, and the fact that I know this track pretty well (one of my favorite places to go Spec Miata racing).  I got my groove back!

Next up is the “Pro” course of Mid-Ohio, same track sans the kink before keyhole.

On to session 2……

This has been such an unusual year for One Lap.  Once again we arrived at the hotel with enough time to clean up a bit and get a nice sit down dinner (mmmm, Filet Mignon….  although I’m pretty sure not from the drag cows…).  And once again, we awake to cloudless blue skies!  I don’t know what’s going on, but I am NOT complaining!!!!!

Well into the week, I am enjoying myself and my teammates immensely.   We have the car loading/unloading down to a sub-conscious activity.  The transists are smooth and comfortable.  And we are doing very well overall and in class.  What could make this even better?  Easy - We are now at Mid Ohio.  I love this track.  Fast, fun with a good amount of challenge.  Despite having a nose that’s running like a faucet (not sure where I picked up a cold with nothing but clear skies and 70+ degree weather…), I was pumped for this morning’s run.  Since I have had a bunch more track time here at Mid-O in recent years, I get to run both sessions here to try to capitalize on the track knowledge and hopefully move us back into the top 10.

One last blow of the nose and I strap on my helmet and get ready to rock.  Turn one is daunting since you approach it at about 100 mph (104 for us to be exact), and since the turn starts under a bridge, you cannot see through the corner.  Due to this, even on the out-lap, a lot of drivers hit the brakes hard and early.  Knowing the track, I get the green and accelerate up to 3rd gear, slight lift and then pedal back down to the floor.  Man, did it ever feel good to fly through turn 1 at speed - its been far too long!

For the morning session, we are using the kink going into keyhole.  A quick right-left-left before entering the keyhole.  If you know the track and have the right car, the right hander is flat-out.  I touch the brakes on the first lap since the tires are not quite warm yet, but after that its breathing the throttle only…

The car feels great as I rocket down the back straight.  139 is the fastest speed according to the data.  Then its hard on the Cobalt Friction brakes.  These brakes are so effective, I’m able to wait until the 400 mark before getting on the binders! (for reference, I brake at about the 300 ft mark in my Spec Miata, but am only going about 115.).  Then its up and over madness, a few more turns and then down into thunder valley.  With the engine approaching redline through the small valley, the car fills with the breath-taking wail of the M3’s V8!   Just one more thing to love about this car and track!

All said and done, I had a great 3 laps.  Damn near flawless as far as I can tell - and the data backed it up with my 2 flying laps being within a couple tenths of a second; and within a couple tenths of the “Theoretical fastest lap”.  I was catching the VW GTI, and pulling away from the Mazda5 that gridded behind me.  Both of those are good things for overall placement.

Right now we are waiting for results to be posted.  And for the second session to begin.  Slight course change with no kink before the keyhole.  It should be fun!

Needless to say, I was less than pleased with the results from this morning. I was ready for some retribution! Especially considering that without the gearbox being a little shifty, I would have placed 15th….  But that is all part of this great event called the One Lap of America.  Consistency and no mistakes or problems yields great results at the end of the week (one of the other teams adorns their car with a good One Lap mantra “Shit better not happen” - quaint, maybe a bit cliche, but in the back of everyone’s minds!).  And if a setback occurs, you find a way to recover as best you can.  Keep pushing, keep finishing.  What was is done; you can only control what happens next!  One of my favorite quotes of all time from George Carlin: “Always do whatever’s next”. Certainly, sir!

The solution was to skip using 2nd gear and just see what I could pull staying in 3rd going through the problem corner from the morning. With tire pressures raised a bit, ambient/track temperatures up, and another delicious track-side burger in my stomach, I headed back out on track.

The session went much better, with the car feeling more balanced and not as eager to slide around. I was able to get to the apex on most of the corners I was missing in the morning. Dropping a bit of time each lap and without the snafu of the mysterious disappearing gear, I took a whopping 7.5 seconds off my total time! Much better!

With the improvement in time, I finished 15th overall. We still sit in 11th place overall and with the other M3 sneaking between us and the Panamara, we extended our lead in Luxury sedan. I’ll have to get the story on how the M3’s and Porsche’s sessions went tomorrow once we get to Mid Ohio (one of my favorite tracks, by the way. I’m REALLY looking forward to this one!).

In other notes, The #6 Subi did not make the the second session, as it was still in the air.  One of the super-charged mustangs broke a tensioner bracket (and lost the tensioner out on track), shredding a belt.  And the #3 Porsche currently leading was up in the air with a broken rear sway bar link as we were leaving.  Hopefully all these guys get their cars in working order and we will see them at Mid Ohio tomorrow.  On the positive side, the GT-R replacement for Rankin/Taylor/Krolowicz made an appearance.  Its still a silver 2-door coupe with a orange stripe down the side and tastefully modified, but it is now a Subaru Imprezza….

A few of the other bloggers are doing well and having a blast - check out what they are up to too!

-http://www.racingforthechildren.org/ (Raising money to help out kids)

-http://onelapfordogs.com/ (Couple of great lap puppies in a C4 vette, raising money for SPCA)

-http://nigelracingonelap.blogspot.com/  (Nigel’s the car - appropriate for a Mini!)

For now, we continue our very straight and easy (cough, cough – BORING) journey east. Other than changing lanes occasionally, I don’t think Nick has had to use the steering wheel in a good 30 miles. Despite the lack of enticing roads, Illinois and Indiana are behind us. Ohio is all around us. Including some tool in a VW GTI that looks/sounds completely stock who kept trying to “race” us….. sure we have a sweet looking ride, but keep it on the track buddy, keep it on the track… (Dang…. should have taken a pic of that one! Even if its just for my own enjoyment…)

It’s still relatively early. Estimated arrival time to the hotel is a little after 9 pm. Perhaps a delicious sit-down mean will await us at our destination that is only 80 miles away.

We woke up early once again to blue skies and sunshine.  After a normal One Lap night sleep (aka, 5-ish hours) and another hotel continental breakfast (along with the weakest coffee of the trip - but still far better than that first cup a few days ago) we head out to the track.  Getting close to the track, we can see the Arc glistening in the morning sun.  Quite the site!

Its my turn to race; did my track recon run and then suited up and got the car in line.  Gateway is a “Roval”, or Road-course/oval that uses part oval and part infield road course.  For this track, turns the road course starts at normal start finish, but exits onto the infield before turn 1; re-entry is just before turn 3, after which we run the 3/4 turn of the oval and front straight.  Slight banking (nothing like Daytona!).

We’ve adjusted the tire pressures to account for one being high and one low at Hallet, other than that no changes.  As the second group of cars heads out, the #6 Subaru STi makes some rather odd noises leaving the line.  This is followed by a bunch of smoke a few corners later.  It turns out that those 600+ ponies twisted and broke the left rear stub-axle….  DNF for the session but the car is in the air as we speak with the team trying to make repairs so they can continue in the fray.

After the short delay to get the car safely off the track, its finally my turn to run.  Heading out for the recon lap, the car feels OK, although not much grip on the track.  Hopefully the tires will warm up and I’ll be all set to go.  I get the green and take off, with some words of wisdom from a local racer, I fly into turn 1 and its go time.  Tires still are not warm enough as the car is sliding around a bit, a bit more with the tail end.  It might be fun, but its not exactly the fastest way around!  I continue around with quick hands and some small corrections since the grip never came up.  Track is still a bit “green”.

Things went well until lap 3; entering the last tight left-hander to enter the oval, I cannot find second gear.  4th, 3rd, reverse gate, sure - but not the one I want!!!!  I end up sticking it back in 3rd and accelerating away at a mediocre pace…  Looking at the data, I lost 5 seconds with that little move… And it turns out there is only a very slight advantage with dropping to 2nd (I’ll be leaving it in 3rd for this afternoon!)

As for the grip, it never really got better.  Tire pressures showed us why, as we were down 2-3 lbs all around - this track doesn’t have the grip to get the normal 10 degrees of pressure rise we see at other tracks.  At least the changes we did make evened out the pressures.  Now we know the right balance, we just need to add a few lbs all around for the afternoon.

Unfortunately, my gearbox issue dropped enough time to put me in 23rd spot.  Take out that 5 second loss and I would have been 14th.  The Panamara managed 20th.

We now sit in 11th overall, and 1st in class by a minimal 5 pts.  But with a plan to eliminate the issue from this morning (no 2nd gear!) and hopefully more grip with the increased tire pressures, we should be able to recover and get back to top 15 times.

20 min to go until the next session.  I’m gonna sit back and relax a bit and get my mind back to 100% for the track!

The official time for the Low ET was 13.644, good for a surprise 23rd.

Being out in the first round of the bracket, along with the other M3, gave us 310 pts overall and what should be 15 pts in class.  The Panamara made it only to the second round, so gained 5 pts in both class and overall.

Starting day 5 at Gateway, we sit tied for 10th with the Ultima GTR.

After the great results at Hallet, we made our way over to Tulsa for the drags. This post will be quick since so was the drag! Ha!

Dan got the honors (uh, OK… neither of us wanted to do it. Too much buildup and prep/time for 13 seconds of just going straight… But since I did the drags the last 2 years, it was my turn to watch!).

In the Low E.T., with a bit of tire smoke off the line and in 2nd gear, the car crossed the ¼ mile in a not-quite-impressive 13.6ish. Official are not up yet, but judging from all the horsepower in the group and seemingly large number of cars in the 12’s and low 13’s, I’m guessing our placement isn’t in the top 10 overall. I do know that we were 2nd in class, as the other BMW ran in the 14s and the behemoth of the Porsche Panamara ran a blistering 12.08!!!!! I guess that AWD and launch control and whatever other gizmos Porsche stuffed in there work!  We are estimating that we will still hold onto 1st in class, but will drop to 10th overall.  But hey, its only Monday.  4 more tracks to go….

Top honors went to the 2010 Porsche Turbo of Hugh Bate in a blistering 10.9!!!! Followed by the remaining Nissan GTR of Catseby Jones; crossing the line in 11.48 seconds! Dang that’s fast, and absolutely amazing at how quickly those cars leave the line with the launch control engaged!

Best burn-out goes to the Charger. Man do I ever need to get the picture up-loader to work! I have a good shot, and I swear the car IS in there somewhere…. J

Bracket drags didn’t go much better, as Dan was knocked out in the first round. At least this one isn’t worth too many points.

With the 1st half of the 400 mile transit over to St. Louis done and the team fed, I have given up the driver seat and gladly jumped in the back seat. Update the blog, check. Watch some video of Gateway, up next. Catch some early Z’s, soon!

Goodnight!

We are currently chilling out with a bit of down-time at Tulsa Dragway waiting for the Low ET and Bracket Drag events to start.  So, what better opportunity to check results and update the blog???

After the great lunch (Thanks Kicker!) and some relaxing in the 77 degree sunshine, the second time trial session started at Hallet.  A few tweaks to the tire pressures and reviewing the data and the car (and driver) are set to go.  The changes paid some good dividends as Dan was able to shave off about 2.5 seconds in total time!  Good thing he did too, since the #39 E30 BMW that is right behind us in overall points managed to finish this session without spinning, and the VW GTI was able to run the full session at full speed (they had some fuel issues in the morning).  With a finishing time of 4:32.965, Dan finished 10th.  This has moved us to 9th overall as the #6 Subaru STi beat us and moved up a spot.

The #20 Porsche Panamara did well in the afternoon, finishing 17th with a 4:38.731, with the #23 M3 finishing in a time of 4:48.285 good for 29th.

This session wasn’t without some drama and excitement.  A battle of the un-expected ragged on track as the #54 Honda Civic (this car has a gorgeous supercharger/turbo combo, putting about 300 HP to the wheels… in a car about 2000 lbs.!) caught the Mazda 5 (er, Mazdaspeed 3 in a minivan body?) on track at one of the most difficult corners.  With neither driver wanting to lose any time, neither backed off.  The result was the 2 racers going side-by-side over the crest of a hill into a blind right turn - The Honda put 2 wheels off, kept his foot in it and made the pass going into the next left-hander…  woh!

Its going to be interesting and tough to stay in the top 10 for Schaut Speed Racing.  There are some seriously fast cars in this group, a few of which had less than desirable results at the wet skid-pad (primarily the #39 BMW and #6 STi) that are slowly cathing up to us.  But its a long week yet, and if we can keep up with these consistent top finishes, we should be OK.  This one will probably go down to the wire!!!!!

Well, the drag should be starting soon.  Results may not be so good here.  Its time for the high-horsepower Vettes, mustanges, GTR, Porsches, etc to shine!  Including our main competition - The Panamara with its AWD, 500+ HP and launch control are good for a blistering 3.5 second 0-60 and 12.xxx second quarter mile!  We will see shortly!

Another beautiful day with the sun shinning and not a cloud in the sky.  The whole One Lap crew made their way to a nice little track just off of Hwy 412 in the Oklahoma country side.  Hallet is our destination for today, where 2 more time trials will be run before heading out to Tulsa Dragway later tonight.

Hallet has a lot of character, and with the multiple blind corners, elevation changes and changing camber, it makes this track more suited to technical driving skill than pure horse power.  We arrived early enough to get a good spot in the shade and out to the track for a little research.  Dan took off on the scooter while Nick and I went for a nice run around this 1.9-ish mile track.  Its Dan’s turn again behind the wheel, hoping to improve on our overall position with a few more solid sessions.

With temps in the mid 50’s and lined up behind the Evo X, he takes to the track.  Nick and I make it over to one of the premier viewing stands to watch the action.  By the second hot lap, we can see that Dan has made up a lot of time to the Evo.  Certainly looked like he was flying out there!  With a few nice drifts around the turn right in front of us, we liked what we saw!!!!

Final time was a 4:35.741.  This was good for 9th overall in the session.  And has brought us up to 8th in the overall standings!!!!!  Wow!

When Dan came in, one of his first comments (after “Boy, was that a HOOT!”) was “These brakes are amazing!  I’m not using them enough!”  That’s what I like to hear; Props to Cobalt Friction!!!!!

We got to enjoy a free lunch courtesy of one of this years event sponsors - Kicker Car Audio!  It was delicious - Thanks!

The cars are lining up for the afternoon session.  Time to see what Dan can do!

Its 9:48pm in Tulsa, OK.  Its One Lap.  And I feel like I don’t know if I’m really awake.  I mean, we supposedly left the track, drove a whole bunch of miles (route book said 480…), checked into a hotel with the sun still shinning, then went to go get a delicious sit-down dinner (mmmmm, BBQ ribs…….  dang it, I’m sorta hungry again!), and now I’m back at the hotel laying on my bed and blogging….  Someone pinch me, because usually at this time of night we are stopping for the 2nd time for either gas or food with 2-3 more hours of driving ahead of us!

But this IS reality.  And I love it!

Somewhere along the modified route (about 80 miles less than the suggested one…), Verizon finally decided to put some more cell towers up and I was able to check results.   I managed to take a mere 0.4 seconds off my time from this morning.  Had a few shifting issues as I fully get used to the car again (managed to shift into neutral a couple of times on one lap, loosing about 2 seconds….) and wasn’t completely happy with the grip balance between front and rear (we will try reducing the rear tire pressures a bit for tomorrow).  All said and done, other drivers found more time out there.  I ended up 16th overall, and once again 1st in class.

Times within the Luxury sedan class were pretty close, with less than 10 seconds (and 9 places) separating the SSR M3 and the #23 M3, with the Porsche splitting the difference.

This has given us a small lead of 10 points in class and puts us in 10th place overall.

With a LOT of time left and another 13 events, a lot can happen yet, so keep checking back for more details!.  We will be at Hallet tomorrow where Dan will be trying to continue our consistent good finished; followed by a low E.T. and Bracket drag tomorrow night before we head over to St. Louis for Tuesday.

And with that, I’m going to sleep!