Sunday recap:
Sunday is when they run the road course. It is organized and run a lot like a typical track day for anyone that has been to one of those. The group was split up into three classes, beginner, intermediate and advanced. Each group would get 5 approximately 20 minute sessions on the track so tons of seat time!
the difference in the run groups were:
Beginner - no passing at all, I believe less strict on safety gear
Intermediate - passing on straights with point by only
Advanced - open passing on the straights.
I ran in the intermediate group.
The course we ran was the LVMS outside road course. I guess it is named that way because the course it outside and next to the big Nascar oval. Its a fun track but much harder on brakes than most of the socal tracks I've run and that came to haunt me. Just based on the parade laps I knew this course was going to be tough on brakes. In my first session out I didn't push that hard but still got some brake fade. Subsequent sessions got worse until my third session where I tried to push on the car I boiled the fluid and by the time I got off the track I had no brakes at all. The consequences of my brake problems meant I had to brake much earlier than I should of had to and a super inconsistent pedal making toe heel braking extremely difficult for me. I was pitting with the Wilwood guys and was taking some flak for not using a more aggressive pad compound on this track.
I sat out my 4th session figuring I was done for the day but then "one ore time" syndrome started and I decided that on my 5th and last session I would try and get near the back of the lineup and just go run some laps for fun. Which is exactly what I did. I decided not to even try and toe heel shift and to just focus on the braking in a safe and controlled manner. I got 3 laps in before I boiled the brake fluid again but I was having a lot more fun as I had taken the pressure off myself. Funny enough I ran my best time of the day in those three laps too.
After pulling into the pits and letting the car cool off it was time to pack up for the long drive home.
I'm super glad I stuck around for the awards ceremony as I won the first timer award. They give this award out to the new driver at Optima that scores the most points. Now technically I scored the second most points of new drivers but since the guy that scored more than me also won his class I got the first timer award. I'm still stoked with the award as there were other newbies there.
One of the coolest things about Optima is that after the finish the award ceremony the post all the results for the weekend. Literally walking back into the pits you can go online and see all your lap times, points scored, etc. It was an even bigger surprise when I went online on my phone and saw I came in 4th in the GTV class. I'm pretty damn proud of this accomplishment.
Finally, I picked up my wife who was working all weekend in Vegas and started the long drive home. Sunday night drive from Vegas to Socal sucks but we got to watch the sun set over the desert which was picturesque.
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
Short clips: Goodguys Pleasanton autocross and pit videos
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