Fantabulous weekend at the track, (Mostly) Options

[campbellcj]

Damn, I am really starting to love this car (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wub.gif)

POC Streets of Willow (time trial format); two separate events Sat & Sun. My first trailering experience was uneventful, other than the fact that my car is so low that it's a bitch to load and unload. The front spoiler has to come off, so it needs to get dzus fasteners. The trailer itself pulls nicely and I'm convinced this is THE way to go. Cushy ride, A/C, tunes, and plenty of room for my crap.

I spent Saturday trying to get used to the car, and fighting off dehydration. It was 100F, very dry, and very windy. I didn't drink enough fluids in the a.m. (combined with a few cocktails and very little sleep the night before). My Bosch CD box died while the car was warming up; fortunately JW has seen just about everything over the years, and his old beater van carries a huge supply of spares and tools. Swapped out the boxes, and the car fired right back up (whew).

We ran clockwise direction which is a little slower, but is the direction I have run more often than CCW. I worked on my line and braking all day, taking it relatively easy on the car. I'm finally getting used to the powerband of the small "S" cammed motor; it seems happy running at 4000-7000 all day long and gets really pissy if you drop much below 4000. In one of the practice sessions, I saw something black go flying up over my head at 80-90mph...later found out it was one of my POS old magnetic numbers, which had been stuck on with about 5 pieces of tape but managed to catch some air and go flying. (Now I'm motivated to get my new graphics done.) I scrubbed in the new Hoosiers in the last practice, ran my two timed runs, and put the car away for the night.

After a good dinner, plenty of sleep, and a tasty artery-clogging breakfast, Sunday started off well. It was cooler too, "only" about 90F and a little less windy. Counterclockwise direction today. I let JW (Otto) take the car out on the first practice session, so he could get a feel for the gearing mods we are discussing and also see how far off the carb jetting feels (...a lot...dyno session in the plans). He really hustled the car around the track and said it was a fun ride. Unfortunately my transponder and HotLap timer were both powered off - DOH! He was easily doing 2+ secs a lap quicker than me though; enough faster out of the turns that we could tell just by watching from the pits. He gave me some shift-point tips that helped significantly later.

I ran quite well the rest of the day. I didn't get any little trophies to take home, but I did meet some more great new people...and I shaved 1.16 secs off my previous personal best time. Another 1 - 1.5 secs and I will be seriously competitive for this class (V4). The short gearbox, LSD, dyno tuning, and some additional lightening should do the trick.

Things went downhill somewhat after I left the track. About a mile from my house, where there's a long downgrade, I got stopped by a CHP officer. Oh crap - first time in 4+ years I think. Said I was doing 68-69 vs 55 since I was trailering. He was a pretty young guy and we chatted about the 914 for a minute, then he let me off with a warning...woohoo!

The stop actually occurred right at the offramp to my street. 20 seconds later my cell phone rings. One of my main guys at work, whom I've known for 14 years, died of a massive heart attack yesterday morning. This was not a complete surprise as his health has been pretty shaky for the last couple years, but it is still tragic on a personal as well as professional level. He was one of the most decent, hard working men I have known. RIP, Richard.

Now it's time to unload the car and get ready to burn some meat on the grill later...