I protoured the *bleep* out of Optima COTA (Roadtrip!)

[SSLance]

Thanks for sharing your story as always Chad, I clicked this thread while laying in bed watching the Royals game last night and was pissed I couldn't watch the videos because it would wake the wife up. Now today I'm waiting until I get to work so I can crank up the good speakers while watching them!!

Congrats on a successful trip, sounds like a blast. I have to ask one thing though, did you have a backup plan to get the car home if you had some sort of mechanical issue while there?

I am hearing bits and pieces of some other's mechanical issues from the weekend, some of them spectacular...sounds like the big track and excessive heat were hard on a lot of cars.

Did you all see pictures of Ken's ventilated block?

[Chad-1stGen]

Originally Posted by DBasher

Hell yeah you did! Nice job, again.

Thanks, again!

Originally Posted by glassman

That, is, the, Ultimate Street Car.

Congrats Chad!!! I was gonna ask you if you trailered it or drove it. As you know, i protoured the sh* t outa my car and still havent drivin home from Texas successfully. (heck, even didnt make it home in my carrera from texas successfully either!!, i think texas wants me to stay lol)

I really think we should get a point for every street mile in this competition, and a sniffer test lol....

we'll see as i plan on CA to Chicago, then Chicago to Texas for the hall of fame road tour, i think i'll trailer it home (sent via trailer) from that point'

This, though, is what i really like about "protouring", thanx for takin the time to post here Chad, it trully is a "Bitchn Ride"...... Cheers

Thanks! You are no stranger to the road trip. There was some Facebook debate stirred up on the subject of extra points at USCA for driving but I understand why they don't do it, nor am I looking for extra points myself. I totally get why a more cautious or even sane person would trailer a car to long distance to run hard on a race track. As Lance alludes to below there was some carnage that weekend for sure. I personally witnessed 5 cars that needed to go home in trailers including 2 catastrophic engine failures and 1 car fire.

Originally Posted by Sonar Chief

Awesome write-up as usual these memories will be engraved in your brain for a long time, great job!!!

Michael

For sure. Thanks!

Originally Posted by SSLance

Thanks for sharing your story as always Chad, I clicked this thread while laying in bed watching the Royals game last night and was pissed I couldn't watch the videos because it would wake the wife up. Now today I'm waiting until I get to work so I can crank up the good speakers while watching them!!

Congrats on a successful trip, sounds like a blast. I have to ask one thing though, did you have a backup plan to get the car home if you had some sort of mechanical issue while there?

I am hearing bits and pieces of some other's mechanical issues from the weekend, some of them spectacular...sounds like the big track and excessive heat were hard on a lot of cars.

Did you all see pictures of Ken's ventilated block?

Yep I saw that block. Crazy! Also saw a car about to reach the tipping point on burning to the ground but was put out before that point. Still tons of damage.

My though process on backup plans started with speculating on my odds of needing a backup plan. Part of that translated to how hard I drove on the Roadcourse. I didn't leave a lot on the table or anything and drove the Roadcourse maybe 8/10ths where I might of driven 9/10ths if close to home. Otherwise I had three ideas 1) fix whatever broke. I had enough tools to fix most shade tree mechanic stuff. 2) if catastrophic failure occurred then rent a truck and trailer and drive it home (as expensive as this might be if still be money ahead with all the times I haven't trailered) or 3) if the motor blew then as it is a Mast and they are in Texas take it to them to be fixed . I allocated a full extra day off to account for any of the above. Thankfully, my car did what it has done at all other track days and drove itself home.

[SSLance]

Sounds like a well thought out plan!

I'm scared to ask...who's car caught on fire? And to your knowledge did anyone get charged exorbitant amounts of money for damage they may have caused to the racing facility?

[Chad-1stGen]

Originally Posted by SSLance

Sounds like a well thought out plan!

I'm scared to ask...who's car caught on fire? And to your knowledge did anyone get charged exorbitant amounts of money for damage they may have caused to the racing facility?

Something of a plan at least :p.

Regarding the fire, I don't know whose car it was. A yellow 6th gen Vette. I didn't want to be that guy asking a bunch of questions about it right after it happened.

This is the price list I received when I signed up for COTA:

COTA is one of the very few FIA certified tracks in the US and as such, they have substantial damage fees. Please understand that you are responsible for any and all damages caused by you or your vehicle during the weekend. You will be required to sign a damage acknowledgment document and leave a credit card with us during the weekend to pay for any damages. Damage fees are:

- Guard rails - $195 per foot
- Tech pro barrier - $975 per block
- Catch fence panel - $780 per panel
- Catch fence pole - $975 per pole
- Oil dry absorbent - $65 per bag
- Liquid spill on track - $500 per corner (if you oil down the entire track this will cost you $10,500)
- Liquid spill paddock/pit lane/garages - $500 per area
- Pavement damage track/paddock/pit - TBD

Both blown motors resulted in a corner being oiled down so I'm sure they paid some money. The price list exists for a reason and I'm sure is strictly adhered to by the track.

[jeff71]

I'd love to see your list of items tools, parts etc for a road trip like this?

[Rod P]

awesome!

[Flash68]

Chad wins.

The end.

[Chad-1stGen]

Originally Posted by jeff71

I'd love to see your list of items tools, parts etc for a road trip like this?

Hi Jeff,

My list is below. All of the tools fit in the trunk and I keep all my clothes/personal items on the back seat.

1. 1.5 ton aluminum floor jack
2. 2 jack stands
3. 2 doubled up 2x4 boards (needed to efficiently jack up the front end due to the low ride height). Also serve as wheel chocks when jacking the rear end.
4. Cheap cigarette lighter plug air compressor
5. Folding chair with sunshade
6. Star wrench (tire iron)
7. Extra oil
8. Drill with socket for lug nuts

Tool box with:

1. Typical assorted pliers, screwdrivers etc.
2. Full set of metric & SAE shallow and deep 3/8 drive sockets & wrench
3. Set of common metric & SAE 1/2 drive sockets & wrench plus 1 1/8" socket for front spindle
4. ft lb torque wrench
5. Full set of SAE & std allen wrenches
6. Set of SAE wrenches from 1/4" up to 3/4"
7. Set of metric wrenches from 10mm to 17mm (10, 15 & 17 most common used sizes on my LS motor)
8. Large crescent wrench that covers sizes from 3/4 or 17mm to over 1"
9. Pipe wrench
10. Multi meter
11. roll of 14 gauge wire
12. electrical & pipe tape
13. wire stripper & pliers
14. Hammer!!

Extra parts

1. Couple of common 35a STDT relays (works on every relay on my car except electric fan
2. Extra 70a STST heavy duty relay for electric fan
3. Extra 1156 & 1157 bulbs (don't want a last minute burn out costing D&E points)
4. Extra fuses
5. Extra sway bar end link kit (has broken once mostly my fault from panhard bar adjustment)
6. Extra bleeder screw kit (has broken once)
7. BP40 Willwood track pads for front and rear
8. Generally, I don't bring much in the way of spare parts as I have had great luck.

I did that off the top of my head so I might be forgetting some things.

[Spiffav8]

Sounds like a great adventure!! Thanks for sharing!!

[CarlC]

Originally Posted by Chad-1stGen

Hi Jeff,

My list is below. All of the tools fit in the trunk and I keep all my clothes/personal items on the back seat.

1. 1.5 ton aluminum floor jack
2. 2 jack stands
3. 2 doubled up 2x4 boards (needed to efficiently jack up the front end due to the low ride height). Also serve as wheel chocks when jacking the rear end.
4. Cheap cigarette lighter plug air compressor
5. Folding chair with sunshade
6. Star wrench (tire iron)
7. Extra oil
8. Drill with socket for lug nuts

Tool box with:

1. Typical assorted pliers, screwdrivers etc.
2. Full set of metric & SAE shallow and deep 3/8 drive sockets & wrench
3. Set of common metric & SAE 1/2 drive sockets & wrench plus 1 1/8" socket for front spindle
4. ft lb torque wrench
5. Full set of SAE & std allen wrenches
6. Set of SAE wrenches from 1/4" up to 3/4"
7. Set of metric wrenches from 10mm to 17mm (10, 15 & 17 most common used sizes on my LS motor)
8. Large crescent wrench that covers sizes from 3/4 or 17mm to over 1"
9. Pipe wrench
10. Multi meter
11. roll of 14 gauge wire
12. electrical & pipe tape
13. wire stripper & pliers
14. Hammer!!

Extra parts

1. Couple of common 35a STDT relays (works on every relay on my car except electric fan
2. Extra 70a STST heavy duty relay for electric fan
3. Extra 1156 & 1157 bulbs (don't want a last minute burn out costing D&E points)
4. Extra fuses
5. Extra sway bar end link kit (has broken once mostly my fault from panhard bar adjustment)
6. Extra bleeder screw kit (has broken once)
7. BP40 Willwood track pads for front and rear
8. Generally, I don't bring much in the way of spare parts as I have had great luck.

I did that off the top of my head so I might be forgetting some things.

We might need to make that list just a bit bigger ;-)