Gambler's Run Open Road Race Results
Gambler's Run Open Road Race Results
Sunday was the Gambler's Run Open Road Race in Elko, Nevada. This year, we entered the 120mph class and took second place with a time of 1.018 seconds away from our target time. We missed the elusive 1st place by .23 seconds 
The race was about 100 miles long with two legs of 50 miles each. The course consists of an open highway that is shut down by the Nevada Dept. of Transportation so you can use both lanes. The cars are sent off at 1 minute increments and there are flaggers every few miles and a Cesna flying overhead the whole time so no part of the course is invisible to Race Control. All course workers are radioed together so safety is their highest priority. They are a top-notch race organizer. See my sig for more info.
Speed categories range from 95 mph to unlimited. Additional safety equipment is required for higher speed categories.
This year, I ran "my friend's" EVO Lancer MR. It is identical to mine but I would never race mine in a rally for warranty reasons. It is exactly the same as mine in every way possible. It was recently modified to have about 295 whp and 120 mph was no sweat for it. Our tech speed was limited to 140 during the race and my GPS indicated a 138mph top speed during the race. At 120, only about .5 bars of boost is required. My water temp and oil temps remained at safe levels. Thanks to ASR Turbos in SoCal for the modifications. The front end definitely feels light above 120 mph. A front splitter would be a nice addition. I think the rear wing and vortex generator on the MR creates a lot of rear downforce because my rear tires are now shot with only 6500 miles on them. I think the sustained high speeds of 100-120 mph on the way out there really did a number on them. The inside few inches are now slick.
The EVO is definitely a better track car than Open Road Racer because the steering ratio is a bit quick and the large side area makes it a bit unstable in cross winds. I'm comparing to the Porsche 996 Turbo, which is obviously in its element above 100 mph. All in all though, the EVO is an incredible car for the money. I'm sold. People were excited to see an EVO there because the majority of the cars are Corvettes, Porsches, and then old muscle cars. Many of the locals had no idea what the car even was during the Saturday car show. They were surprised to see a four door 2.0 liter car in the 120 class.
Last thing....for the Porsche forum guys....we were still part of the Porsche Team and we took first place over the Corvettes. We cleaned their clocks this year. Its usually the other way around.
I'll attach a link to some pictures in a few hours.
The race was about 100 miles long with two legs of 50 miles each. The course consists of an open highway that is shut down by the Nevada Dept. of Transportation so you can use both lanes. The cars are sent off at 1 minute increments and there are flaggers every few miles and a Cesna flying overhead the whole time so no part of the course is invisible to Race Control. All course workers are radioed together so safety is their highest priority. They are a top-notch race organizer. See my sig for more info.
Speed categories range from 95 mph to unlimited. Additional safety equipment is required for higher speed categories.
This year, I ran "my friend's" EVO Lancer MR. It is identical to mine but I would never race mine in a rally for warranty reasons. It is exactly the same as mine in every way possible. It was recently modified to have about 295 whp and 120 mph was no sweat for it. Our tech speed was limited to 140 during the race and my GPS indicated a 138mph top speed during the race. At 120, only about .5 bars of boost is required. My water temp and oil temps remained at safe levels. Thanks to ASR Turbos in SoCal for the modifications. The front end definitely feels light above 120 mph. A front splitter would be a nice addition. I think the rear wing and vortex generator on the MR creates a lot of rear downforce because my rear tires are now shot with only 6500 miles on them. I think the sustained high speeds of 100-120 mph on the way out there really did a number on them. The inside few inches are now slick.
The EVO is definitely a better track car than Open Road Racer because the steering ratio is a bit quick and the large side area makes it a bit unstable in cross winds. I'm comparing to the Porsche 996 Turbo, which is obviously in its element above 100 mph. All in all though, the EVO is an incredible car for the money. I'm sold. People were excited to see an EVO there because the majority of the cars are Corvettes, Porsches, and then old muscle cars. Many of the locals had no idea what the car even was during the Saturday car show. They were surprised to see a four door 2.0 liter car in the 120 class.
Last thing....for the Porsche forum guys....we were still part of the Porsche Team and we took first place over the Corvettes. We cleaned their clocks this year. Its usually the other way around.
I'll attach a link to some pictures in a few hours.
damn that sounds like a lot of fun. too bad more states dont do something like that. i really need to get to a track and learn to drive this thing the way it was meant to be driven. cant wait to see some pics.
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JakeMate,
Why are YOUR tires shot at 6500 miles when you were driving "your friend's car"......
Talk about sympathy pains....... :-))
just kidding, great write up man!
Tony
Why are YOUR tires shot at 6500 miles when you were driving "your friend's car"......
Talk about sympathy pains....... :-))
just kidding, great write up man!
Tony
Great write-up. FWIW, the tire wear is probably from a poor factory alignment. Evo's are notorious for that -> "The inside few inches are now slick"
If you're gonna do a race like that again, you may also want to seriously think about getting a rear undertray. The stock rear bumper generates a lot of drag and acts almost like a parachute at high speeds.
l8r)
If you're gonna do a race like that again, you may also want to seriously think about getting a rear undertray. The stock rear bumper generates a lot of drag and acts almost like a parachute at high speeds.
l8r)
