Project "Payback"

[Vegas69]

What a crazy 4 day adventure. We trailered down Thursday afternoon to our resident magazine editor brown noser's house, Dfresh. Commonly known as Doc Renner. I always enjoy pulling a 24ft trailer in LA in rush hour. Anyway, Doug, Cassie, Chris, and Natalie put us up again this year. Thanks again for the hospitality buddy. Dave(Flash) & Rich joined us this year at the house. I don't think Rich will be invited back, he drank all the Renner's beer and snores like a horse.

I had 5200 miles on the clock and my car had never been driven in the rain. That was all about to change. On Friday we all headed out for the cruise. It ended up being about 87 miles that started down the 101 and up a twisty scenic highway. I'm not sure if my car is a cop magnet, but I spotted 4-5 cops on the route. I was towards the back of the pack. It really just sprinkled on the road trip. Rain X doesn't work that well under freeway speeds. My Vintage Air heater works great! The cruise ended at Spectre and we had lunch and bull ****ted. We skipped out and headed back to the house to barbeque and tweak on Dave's car.

It poured all night long. When I woke up Saturday, I wasn't convinced I wanted to race my car in the rain. There was some blue sky starting to show to the West so I went along with it. I ended up going out on the road course 4th in line. I was trying to be last in our group but I hosed myself. As you will see in the photos, they had a sign that said Lake. I have to assume that was due to the lake we had to voyage through on the road course. Driving a 666hp car on a wet race track was a challenge. I had a blast but new it was a handicap for us in the first group. Clearly I had to drive slower and had less grip than I'd have liked. The afternoon groups had a dry track. The main thing I wanted to accomplish was learning the track. I ran a 1:12.xx which was 10 seconds off the winners pace on Sunday. Not bad for being in the rain.

Saturday night Doug put on a party with the famous taco cart and Elvis juice. The house was packed full of liars. I'm pretty sure I was the only sober person in the joint. Quite a roll reversal for me. I hit the sack earlier than most in anticipation for a dry and sunny Sunday. The weather cooperated and it was a beautiful race day. They let us practice in the morning and timed us in the afternoon. I ended up tuning on my rear shocks to loosen up the car. Unfortunately I didn't get a decent charge in my go pro and have no footage to share.

Road Race: In the morning practice, the car was tight.(Pushing) I decided to set it up similar to how I had found it balanced in the autocross. The road race portion is my favorite event. The car could've been looser but it was good. I felt that I had put in 3 good laps. Atleast the best the car and I was capable of that day. I ended up hitting 110mph on the front straight.(Rev limiter in 3rd gear) Rupp said Pozzi hit 111 in Penny so I was cooking. I ran 6th out of 70 or 80 car between the two days. Pretty proud of that result.

Autocross: I didn't get in the top 10 so I'm not sure how I stacked up. I ended up with a best of 39.9. To get in the top 10 you had to be in the high 38's. I really don't think I coud've gone much faster with 100 more attempts. It was a small tight course but I had a blast after I learned the course. I really think the car needs some work to compete with the likes of Finch and Mary Pozzi. I know I do as well.

Speed Stop: I really like this event. I was still running after most in my group had quit. My car still doesn't get out of the hole worth a damn. 1st gear makes it to easy for excessive tire spin. My car pulls like a freight train in 2nd and 3rd. I was chirping in all 3 gears. I just can't find the traction out of the hole. I think it may be due to the really deep 1st gear in the tko 600 or shocks. I didn't get in the top 10 mainly due to my launch. I ran the fastest time last year at the event with my R888's beating DSE, Finch, so I'm still not happy with my performance. I think the lack of launch and slightly less grip under braking put me outside the top 10.

I'll post my finishing spot once the results are posted. Everybody has stepped up their games significantly in the past year. What a blast we all had. Thank to all that made it happen.

[Vegas69]

[Vegas69]

[Vegas69]

[coolwelder62]

Look's like a bumper mounted weed eater would have been helpful out on the autocross. Good job Todd. Scott

[Vegas69]

This is my first event with my new coil springs. The car was definitely better. After reviewing the photos and the feel of the car, I know the car needs some work yet. That is good news since I clearly didn't win the title. The car still has to much body roll and the brake pad knockback is still slowing me down. I talked to Kyle Tucker at DSE about my front shocks. I have them 1 click from full hard and the car still rides really nice up front. He has offered to dyno my shocks for free and replace them if they are faulty. He said the car should be really stiff with that setting and they aren't. I'm going to take him up on it. to DSE for nothing but pure professionalism. I'm going to start with the shock dyno and then add a smaller rear bar if that doesn't solve my body roll. I'm not sure where I had my rear shock settings in the photos so that is the only variable.

The car is going to get a floater eventually. While the brakes are there without a pump, they are a little spongy. It's the worst in autocross. I think the axle bearings are wearing and loosening up. I think the fronts are doing more work than they should be. Unfortunately, this will likely require rehooping my rear wheels for less back space to make room for the floating end.

Here are the photos that have me convinced my chassis still needs work:




Here

[KPC67]

Great pictures Todd, all three cars look great beside eachother.
I like the pic of Dave's car in your mirror, with the cop in his

[KPC67]

oops. just took another look and see thats not Daves car.
still a cool pic none the less

[CrossRamRich]

A workhorse no less!

[bigtyme1]

Looks like you had a blast Todd. someday I'll have a hard top