Unloading the truck last Sunday night was particularly difficult, mostly due to the late hour and complete exhaustion from what had been 'one of those weekends' for a lot of NASA racing and HPDE participants. However, I had to chuckle as I looked down to see the torn up piece of fiberglass someone had slipped in my truck. The brilliant red paint was unmistakable, Ferrari 355 circa 1997, but more about that in a minute.

The 2008 United States Touring Car Championship has shaped up as quite a season, with a tie for points between the Goodsport Racing / Robispec Evo and the Dodge SRT4. With a first and third in the first two races of the season, we were staying on budget, making it to the races, and making our appearances on the podium, which was more that I had hoped for.

Qualifying on Saturday was a dissapointment, to say the least. While the new KAAZ rear diff, setup by Rearend Specialties in Santa Clara, CA, would lock up nicely and the car felt reasonably balanced, we were four seconds off the pace set by the Dodge. Our tight budget had also extended the rebuild time for major components, and a major failure might only be a curb hop away, necessitating a conservative driving style.

We got down to it, and starting making laps and taking measurements with our Innovate data acquisition tools. Four hours later after a few alignments, some pressure and shock adjustments, and some review of my video to keep learning and optimizing the track, we decided things were looking good for qualifying the next day.

Sunday's second qualifying session was not a dissapointment, netting second on the grid only a few tenths behind the leading B18 Civic. The Dodge SRT-4 had actually set fast lap, but was repositioned for failing tech inspection after qualifying.

The Evo has the least power to weight ratio of the field, a tax on the AWD benefits and superior Robispec suspension, so keeping ahead on the long straights was certainly going to be an issue. I knew a couple of my competitors would stop at nothing to take me out for the win, so I contemplated letting them go at the start and just tucking in behind to wait for the inevitable show.

At the start, my trusty '04 Evo RS did not disappoint and I found myself a few car lengths ahead by the first turn. So much for waiting...

Here's a video of the first lap of Thunderhill, run backwards (clockwise) and over the crow's nest. The track was relatively new for all of us, so this race would be one where we were all learning while racing, and made for some great action during the race.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pA7oujuWU2I

By lap three, the Dodge SRT-4 had made its way through traffic and was pretty much on my bumper, and any attempts to prevent a pass would simply allow the rest of the pack to catch us. The Dodge gets by and I settle in to see what I can do about making him burn off his tires.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9lxnLHtyGY

For the next two laps I was able to keep up with the SRT-4, but the driver wasn't going to make a mistake so I would have to use traffic to get by. Finally on lap five we hit a bunch of spec 944s and I feint to the outside of turn two. The SRT-4 takes the bait, I jump inside, and successfully pick up the lead while picking off the Dodge. With ten minutes to go in the race, I wasn't sure I could hold off the ever more aggressive Dodge, so I tightened my belts, put on my race face, and got to work. Here is the pass on video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAd-pfqLwr4

There was enough traffic to keep a gap on the Dodge, the Cobalt SS was a few seconds back and didn't appear to be a threat, so I thought I was pretty golden as we crossed the white flag.

A big hit on my back bumper from the Dodge as we apexed turn thirteen indicated that this race wasn't over quite yet, but the slower Ferrari just ahead of us was all I needed to get around to the front side of the track where the Evo's superior handling would keep me in the lead. As I entered eleven, I could see the Ferrari saw me and was giving me room to get through with us two wide. Unfortunately, the Dodge driver let the red mist get to him, and tried to pass us both on the outside.

I saw him skidding towards the Ferrai in my mirror and immediately dove down into the dirt to keep away from the inevitable mess that was about to unfold. I heard the impact, and the Ferrari immediately shot into the side of my car, sending us both further into the dirt on the inside of the turn. Here's the action from the last lap on video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LOd4R07dcg

I was surprised to see the Dodge exiting the turn, missing half of the front end but still running pretty good. I was in second gear before we stopped, off to catch the hopefully wounded Dodge, with impure thoughts in my mind. The first turn told a different story, however, as it was immediately obvious that the front left suspension and tire had suffered mortal damage. It was all I could do to limp the car around the track on the rim, hoping to save podium. I was immediately passed by Tom Lepper in the California Cobalt SS, but had enough gap to cross the checker in third place.

The officials didn't seem to like the loss of self control by the Dodge driver any more than Dennis Clark in the Ferrari or myself, and immediately disqualified him from the race and assigned an additional one race suspension. As I inventory the parts that need to be replaced and the body work that needs to be done, I feel little consolation, but that's racing.

With an official second place finish, Goodsport Racing takes the lead in the season points race and is looking forward to the continuing battle with the race winner and second place season points holder, Tom Lepper and Rod Rojas in the California Cobalt SS.

Many thanks to all those who helped make this happen, including my great crew help from John and Martin, Robispec, of course, and Innovate Technology without whom we wouldn't have the data to make the great improvements that got us to the front of the grid.

 

Nice finish! Sorry to hear about all the damage, that truly sucks! Very nice pass, I saw that coming, good job setting him up.

Once again, nice job man! Good luck getting the car up and running again.

Ryan

 

Poor Ferrari!

Oh yeah... you guys too.

 

Thanks for sharing the story - I like the video highlights!

Out of curiosity, on which track in your series does the Evo have the greatest advantage (presumable due to AWD and handling prowess)? On which track is most disadvantaged by its power/weight ratio?

Thanks!

 

Very thrilling story ... sounds like a lot of fun was had despite the unfortunate impact on the last lap. Poor judgement on the part of the SRT4 driver. As they say "thats part of racing".

 

Good post, thanks for the read. Better luck next race with that guy sitting out... should make for a more brilliant result!

 

Excellent post! Thank you.

 

 

^ WTF?!? The SRT4 driver must think that he's doing rallycross, not road racing...

l8r)

 

Excellent post!!!

Looking forward to coverage of the next event, hopefully with less damage!

Good luck

Duncan

 

I wish you had a chase cam.

 

Sucks to here. Is the KAAZ rear LSD the only aftermarket diff in the car? How tight is the lockup?

 

Great story - very sorry to hear about the damage but at least you salvaged a podium finish. The pass you made in traffic was just beautiful - set him up nicely and made sure he was balked by the slower cars. Excellent driving!

 

Yes, the KAAZ rear diff is the only one I've changed. It's an '04 RS so it has a passive center diff and a helical front.

It's locked up way tighter than you could run on the street...lets just say pushing it in the paddock is no longer possible...