Todd I wish I was there manning the pits for you! Hope you had a great time (like you wouldn't) and got in some serious track time. Looking forward to the after action report.

:unibrow:

I woke up at 5 AM today and loaded half the garage up in Kelli's truck. We headed for Spring Mountain at about 6:15 AM. It was a really gorgeous morning and the sunrise was almost mars like in my rear view mirror. Just a really great 75 mile ride. I didn't have much to do but torque the wheels and adjust the rear shocks before the race. The first time out I was sandwiched inbetween a boat load of cars and really had no where to go. It was so slow that my lap times were a full minute faster in the second heat. The second run I decided to wait until it had started to go out and give myself some room. The race was black flagged right when I got in my car! Luckily I ended up with some space to RACE!

Let's start with the good first. :D The car really really surprised me. :yes: It really stuck to the track well and the handling was fantastic. The brakes I conintually whine about were actually really good on the track. Once they get a little heat in them they work great. I still liked a quick pump before the corners but it wasn't really needed. The motor ran really strong and I never saw the oil pressure drop below 25psi in the corners. I'd say the accumlator is working well. It was around 90 degrees in the first run and almost 100 in the second. :faint: Water temps hit 210 and stayed there. I really don't know how hot the oil got. I shot the oil filter and it was 200 and the oil pan was bewteen 210-250. Hot enough I would say.

The bad: I lost almost all my power steering about 3 laps into my first run and it came back a little and was notchy as hell. The second heat I was running way faster and pushing the car. It once again lost most of the power steering and at the end of the heat the front seal on the pump puked some fluid. The pump is junk. It was ok on the way home but still a little notchy here and there. I work out alot and trying to steer 275mm R888's around a road course is like arm wresting super man.

All and all a great day that was cut a little short. I just need to buy a better power steering pump from turn one. I ended up running the 4th quickest lap of the novice group. I suppose 15-20 of the 30-40 cars has transponders.

Here are some photos and video Kelli took for me.
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...Racing2Fav.jpg
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...Racing2010.jpg
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...acing2Fav1.jpg

Two cars ahead of me went off the track and I'm telling you it was like being in the closet with the lights out. It was like days of thunder man. I slowed way the hell down and putted through the cloud of dust. Check it out!
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/a...ing2Filthy.jpg

The video quality is pretty bad. I gave Kelli a ton of crap but she actually did pretty well since it was really hard for her in the places available. There really isn't any action of my fastest portions but you get the drift. Triple digits were definitely in play big time. We ran 3.2 miles and the other end was the fast portion.





Last but certainly not least, the victory donut!



It was definitely a "watch this" moment!

Sounds like a good day Todd. So new steering pump is on the list, I take it.
You must have crapped yourself when the 2 cars wiped out in front of you. I can't believe how much dust collected on your car because of that.
Glad you and Payback came out ok.:thumbsup: :cheers:

Man thats soo cool. My guess is you'll be back soon. Man Im jealous!

looking good bro i enjoyed the you victory vid very nice:cheers:

"Yeah.. HOT ROD!!" lol.... Looks like a fun time. The Camaro sounded real good. :thumbsup:

and there it was. :lol: Looks like a great day despite the little steering pump issue.

:thumbsup:

Congrads Todd--very cool. Next time will be even better i'm sure.

What gives on the P/S pump? Was it a stocker--just wondering why the failure--did the fluid get to hot perhaps?

Doug

It was definitely overheating of the power steering fluid. I'll research some pumps and probably end up with a cooler. I can't say I didn't expect and issue, but not in 3 laps. The car really was getting it! After trying to muscle it around a some corners, I fully understand why that stock type 2 pump said f u. LOL

Great day Curtis. Wish I could've run a few more full bore laps but I knew it was a shake down run since I had planned to run an autocross event and honestly wasn't fullly prepared for the road course.

I will say that the pavement was absolutely perfect out there today. It was a thrill to run on that road course. I really hadn't even come close to memorizing the course. If only I could get rid of the redneck gene.