929 Evo - Mid Ohio - 1st in TTA and track record!
Apr 13, 2011, 08:36 AM
#1
929 Evo - Mid Ohio - 1st in TTA and track record!
After 7.5 hrs and 466 miles (over 2 days) I pulled into Mid Ohio very early Friday morning. I ran the testday mostly in the rain; we were running the Club Course all weekend. My best lap of 2:10 in the rain and a 1:55 in the last session when the track was a bit drier. Knowing the class leading times would be nearly 20 seconds faster over the weekend... I had my work cut out!
Saturday morning at Mid Ohio was foggy and a bit cold - but worlds better than the Friday testday that was full of rain and 48 degrees for a high. I mounted up last years Hoosiers and put down my first ever 'dry' lap at Mid Ohio of a 1:43x i think to secure a gridspot near the front of the 40 car field.
In S2 I had a 1:42 on my first hot lap just as things were warming up. But on lap #2 I went wide into T8 and spun it. Fortunatley I stayed on track and nothing was damaged. With NASA you lose your times if you spin or go offtrack, so I had no official time at this point.
We had a decent break over lunch and we decided to change the AoA on the ARP wing I was running. Here's where things went wrong... Not sure if it was hosed before or during our adjustment attempt but we had the adjustable rod screw break off inside the nut. We tried drilling it, pounding a hammer into it, pounding a screw into it, using vicegrips to turn the hammer/screwdriver - nothing. It was hosed. I did have a close neighbor (Mark; aka Brad) with a sweet ITR and the same wing! He agreed to let me borrow the supports when our schedules worked out. So we had a plan!
It was nearly time for S3. With little time left, I pulled the wing off completely and for S3 and figured I'd do some 'testing' as to running wingless! Let's just say the car was a bit loose! Braking down the backstraight from 140+ was very loose and any corner entry was loose. So I adopted the brake - get back on the gas - then turn in - method and pulled a 1:43.
S4 & S5 I was able to switch in the borrowed mounts and run with the wing! simply used whatever angle Mark had which was a lower flatter angle and what I was planning on switching mine to anyway. And the track was pretty much dried out except for a few key spots (namely T1 under the bridge). I mounted up the stickered Hoosiers and tossed down a 1:39.9 and climbed into 2nd; sandwiched between 2 Corvettes. I reset the tire pressures for S5 and put down a 1:38.8 taking 1st for the day and just .4 off the track record.
Sunday.
Sunday it was wet; again, as it rained overnight. I skipped S1. In S2 I put down a 1:39.4 and slotted into 2nd as the Corvette in front of me broke the track record! S3 I had planned on being my last of the day as I had a solid 7.5hrs home but I had issues. Basically I was late to grid because I was waiting to switch in the wing mounts (remember I'm sharing them so we keep frantically switching them from Mark's ITR onto my car and vice-versa). I only got 1 hotlap in as I had a 2 lap penalty and had to work through the slower traffic and play nice; no improvement.
I stayed for S4 - and ran a 1:37.6 re-breaking the Club Course track record! The time held up and I got my first record of 2011 at Mid-Ohio. Vid Below.
I've got to thank AMS Performance for fixing some boost leaks and retuning the car. It's running even smoother than before and hitting 143mph on the backstraight. I beat on the car to the tune of 210 miles this weekend with no issues. Also to Aaron @ Winning Formula for the alignment and setup on the new suspension - and also for taking some tire temps for me Sat. The car feels great; but we have a laundry list of potential tweaks already!
Overall; Mid Ohio is a lot of fun. It's super technical and it's faster - a dangerously fun combination. Blind corners, off-camber turns - and combinations of each! Plus a huge backstraight, and if you're running the Pro Course I'm assuming an equally huge frontstraight. I unfortunately had 2 car-buddies find the wall this weekend and they have some repair work!
Video -->
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qic44_2zVsM
Saturday morning at Mid Ohio was foggy and a bit cold - but worlds better than the Friday testday that was full of rain and 48 degrees for a high. I mounted up last years Hoosiers and put down my first ever 'dry' lap at Mid Ohio of a 1:43x i think to secure a gridspot near the front of the 40 car field.
In S2 I had a 1:42 on my first hot lap just as things were warming up. But on lap #2 I went wide into T8 and spun it. Fortunatley I stayed on track and nothing was damaged. With NASA you lose your times if you spin or go offtrack, so I had no official time at this point.
We had a decent break over lunch and we decided to change the AoA on the ARP wing I was running. Here's where things went wrong... Not sure if it was hosed before or during our adjustment attempt but we had the adjustable rod screw break off inside the nut. We tried drilling it, pounding a hammer into it, pounding a screw into it, using vicegrips to turn the hammer/screwdriver - nothing. It was hosed. I did have a close neighbor (Mark; aka Brad) with a sweet ITR and the same wing! He agreed to let me borrow the supports when our schedules worked out. So we had a plan!
It was nearly time for S3. With little time left, I pulled the wing off completely and for S3 and figured I'd do some 'testing' as to running wingless! Let's just say the car was a bit loose! Braking down the backstraight from 140+ was very loose and any corner entry was loose. So I adopted the brake - get back on the gas - then turn in - method and pulled a 1:43.
S4 & S5 I was able to switch in the borrowed mounts and run with the wing! simply used whatever angle Mark had which was a lower flatter angle and what I was planning on switching mine to anyway. And the track was pretty much dried out except for a few key spots (namely T1 under the bridge). I mounted up the stickered Hoosiers and tossed down a 1:39.9 and climbed into 2nd; sandwiched between 2 Corvettes. I reset the tire pressures for S5 and put down a 1:38.8 taking 1st for the day and just .4 off the track record.
Sunday.
Sunday it was wet; again, as it rained overnight. I skipped S1. In S2 I put down a 1:39.4 and slotted into 2nd as the Corvette in front of me broke the track record! S3 I had planned on being my last of the day as I had a solid 7.5hrs home but I had issues. Basically I was late to grid because I was waiting to switch in the wing mounts (remember I'm sharing them so we keep frantically switching them from Mark's ITR onto my car and vice-versa). I only got 1 hotlap in as I had a 2 lap penalty and had to work through the slower traffic and play nice; no improvement.
I stayed for S4 - and ran a 1:37.6 re-breaking the Club Course track record! The time held up and I got my first record of 2011 at Mid-Ohio. Vid Below.
I've got to thank AMS Performance for fixing some boost leaks and retuning the car. It's running even smoother than before and hitting 143mph on the backstraight. I beat on the car to the tune of 210 miles this weekend with no issues. Also to Aaron @ Winning Formula for the alignment and setup on the new suspension - and also for taking some tire temps for me Sat. The car feels great; but we have a laundry list of potential tweaks already!
Overall; Mid Ohio is a lot of fun. It's super technical and it's faster - a dangerously fun combination. Blind corners, off-camber turns - and combinations of each! Plus a huge backstraight, and if you're running the Pro Course I'm assuming an equally huge frontstraight. I unfortunately had 2 car-buddies find the wall this weekend and they have some repair work!
Video -->
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qic44_2zVsM
Last edited by boomn29; May 27, 2011 at 06:40 AM.
Apr 13, 2011, 09:02 AM
#4
One of them had the track record for about 1 hr on Sunday too!
I talked with with Danny Popp a little too - he was running a class higher than me in TTS. He mentioned the Vette contingent from the SE was the faster ones and I had to agree with him after visiting VIR last year and seeing a few of them.
Apr 13, 2011, 03:10 PM
#6
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Congrats Nate. Having watched your video, you make it look so easy. Im sure youll be even faster come Nationals. I looked up my time from 2008 Nationals, and youre much faster than me because we ran the Pro Course at the time (which is faster than the Club Course). IIRC, at that time i remember the locals saying that the Pro Course is around 1-2sec faster. The fastest i ran that weekend was a 1:36.262. Whats ironic is that i ran that time during the last lap of my last session. Given how youve been doing, i think youre going to give everyone a run for their money at Nationals. Btw, have you heard which course theyre planning on running at Nationals?
Regarding your adjustable rod issue, do you recall what it felt like when you were adjusting it? Was it easy to turn, or did it require some effort to turn it? Was it tight from the first turn, or did it gradually get tighter requiring more effort to turn it? The previous owner may have cross-threaded it, but i dont think youll ever know. If you didnt loosen up all/most of the bolts on your wing, you may have caused it yourself. Because when you turn that adjusting rod, it should require little to no effort. If you have to put some effort into it, its because you havent loosened up enough of the other bolts on your wing. And if that happens you should stop right away and loosen up all the other bolts before you cross thread your rod.
Regarding your adjustable rod issue, do you recall what it felt like when you were adjusting it? Was it easy to turn, or did it require some effort to turn it? Was it tight from the first turn, or did it gradually get tighter requiring more effort to turn it? The previous owner may have cross-threaded it, but i dont think youll ever know. If you didnt loosen up all/most of the bolts on your wing, you may have caused it yourself. Because when you turn that adjusting rod, it should require little to no effort. If you have to put some effort into it, its because you havent loosened up enough of the other bolts on your wing. And if that happens you should stop right away and loosen up all the other bolts before you cross thread your rod.
Apr 13, 2011, 03:22 PM
#7
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Congrats Nathan; that's quite an accomplishment and what is more impressive is that was your 1st time at Mid-O 
The car seems totally dialed in and running very strong
The car seems totally dialed in and running very strong
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Apr 13, 2011, 05:34 PM
#9
Great job Nate! Way to represent I like the looks of that track. Hard to believe it was your first trip the way you were scooting.
Well, that was the case. Perkins and Nunally were Vette class of NASA-SE, but both of them just completed comp school and moved to PTA. The TTA winner at RA in March (yet another spce06) was 5 seconds off their winning times from last year.
I like the looks of that track. Hard to believe it was your first trip the way you were scooting.Well, that was the case. Perkins and Nunally were Vette class of NASA-SE, but both of them just completed comp school and moved to PTA. The TTA winner at RA in March (yet another spce06) was 5 seconds off their winning times from last year.
Apr 13, 2011, 08:08 PM
#10
Congrats Nate. Having watched your video, you make it look so easy. Im sure youll be even faster come Nationals. I looked up my time from 2008 Nationals, and youre much faster than me because we ran the Pro Course at the time (which is faster than the Club Course). IIRC, at that time i remember the locals saying that the Pro Course is around 1-2sec faster. The fastest i ran that weekend was a 1:36.262. Whats ironic is that i ran that time during the last lap of my last session. Given how youve been doing, i think youre going to give everyone a run for their money at Nationals. Btw, have you heard which course theyre planning on running at Nationals?
Yep everyone; first time to the track. 2nd trip out with the new suspension and I've literally changed nothing yet. So we've got some tweaks planned to be sure. Hell, I've got some different configs I'd like to test. I'd also love to run the Pro Course as that's what most of the people think we'll be running at Nationals. But nobody is saying.
Just dunno if I'll get back to Mid Ohio or not - 955 mile roundtrip and all!
Apr 13, 2011, 09:10 PM
#11
Nathan - AWESOME JOB! Congrats on the new record!! It took me 4-5 trips to MidOhio to run those times, and that was in a car that is lighter and more HP than yours. Outstanding. Did you run the new wheels there?
I wanted to be there so badly, but everything I've done refreshing and updating my car this year has taken at least twice as long as I had planned. I think I"m going to skip the rest of the season and start prepping for next year NOW!
J/K!
As for the club course vs pro course - the Pro Course is the shorter one without the chicane in the front straight, right? Yoiu ran the Club course WITH the chicane thing?? Or do I have them backwards?
I wanted to be there so badly, but everything I've done refreshing and updating my car this year has taken at least twice as long as I had planned. I think I"m going to skip the rest of the season and start prepping for next year NOW!
J/K! As for the club course vs pro course - the Pro Course is the shorter one without the chicane in the front straight, right? Yoiu ran the Club course WITH the chicane thing?? Or do I have them backwards?
Apr 14, 2011, 04:54 AM
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As for the Club vs Pro - I was told their is 3-4 seconds difference.
Yep everyone; first time to the track. 2nd trip out with the new suspension and I've literally changed nothing yet. So we've got some tweaks planned to be sure. Hell, I've got some different configs I'd like to test. I'd also love to run the Pro Course as that's what most of the people think we'll be running at Nationals. But nobody is saying.
Just dunno if I'll get back to Mid Ohio or not - 955 mile roundtrip and all!
Yep everyone; first time to the track. 2nd trip out with the new suspension and I've literally changed nothing yet. So we've got some tweaks planned to be sure. Hell, I've got some different configs I'd like to test. I'd also love to run the Pro Course as that's what most of the people think we'll be running at Nationals. But nobody is saying.
Just dunno if I'll get back to Mid Ohio or not - 955 mile roundtrip and all!
Im sure that 955 mile roundtrip drive is tough. Gas prices arent helping either. But every time you think that, think of me. If i want to make it out there its nearly a 5,000 mile roundtrip drive.
Thats like you driving out to Mid-O 5 times. And when Nationals heads "west" its still a decent drive for me at around 1,500 miles. So think of me and you will cheer up. 
Last edited by Bueller; Apr 14, 2011 at 04:56 AM.
Apr 14, 2011, 06:29 AM
#13
For reference:
A buddy of mine that runs TTB was hitting 102 with the chicane/bustop last year, and w/o it running on the Pro course he stretched it to 114. He was hitting 132mph on the backstraight for each. His times were 2.8 seconds apart.
@Bueller - I know; I know. I initially put in multiple trips to MO on my schedule, but honestly I was hoping I could eliminate at least 1 of them. What's your thoughts on Nationals this year? That ST2 bunch seems to keep getting bigger!
Apr 14, 2011, 09:36 AM
#15
Correct. The Club has the chicane (aka bustop) in it so it's slower. The Pro is faster
For reference:
A buddy of mine that runs TTB was hitting 102 with the chicane/bustop last year, and w/o it running on the Pro course he stretched it to 114. He was hitting 132mph on the backstraight for each. His times were 2.8 seconds apart.
@Bueller - I know; I know. I initially put in multiple trips to MO on my schedule, but honestly I was hoping I could eliminate at least 1 of them. What's your thoughts on Nationals this year? That ST2 bunch seems to keep getting bigger!
For reference:
A buddy of mine that runs TTB was hitting 102 with the chicane/bustop last year, and w/o it running on the Pro course he stretched it to 114. He was hitting 132mph on the backstraight for each. His times were 2.8 seconds apart.
@Bueller - I know; I know. I initially put in multiple trips to MO on my schedule, but honestly I was hoping I could eliminate at least 1 of them. What's your thoughts on Nationals this year? That ST2 bunch seems to keep getting bigger!
Car looks smooth.
In TTR Unlimited my EVO ran 1:31.1 in a 3,000lb car with Hoosiers on the Pro Course at the 07' Nationals so your time is super fast for TTA. Keep up the good work.