101 replies to this topic

[Ernie Jr.]

Today was a great day at Homestead Miami Speedway for the second race of the second NASA Florida region event. I took the win in the Spec Miata race. I qualified 4th and the top four all were within 1 tenth of a second. The top for were 2 seconds faster then 5th place. Selin Rollan was my drafting partner in qualifyed and the race. We were able to bump draft around the entire banking. At the start I fell to 5th but got to third within the first lap. Me and Selin Rollan teamed up and passed first and then pulled away from the field of 25 very competitive spec miatas with a few national winners in the field. We were hitting speeds of 122 mph while bump drafting compared to the 112 mph without bump drafting. I stayed behind him and pushed him the entire race... until the last lap. I found out earlier in the race I don't have the power to pass him by pulling out of the draft in the banking. The only chance I had was in turn eight, a tight hairpin leading to the backstraight, where my 1.6 liter miata has better launch against his heavier 1.8 liter. So on the last lap in turn eight I drafted as much as I could and pulled out. I got the lead and was able to hold off Selin in NASCAR turns 3 and 4 and take the win. I achieved a time of 1.40.5 which is very quick and would be considered a front runner in a SCCA National. I tested and got times on my Mazda 2. I was able to get a 1.48.2 consistently and that is about 6 seconds off a decent Spec Miata time. Overall a great weekend and now off to Sebring on March 30th.

Special thanks to Bob Van Epps my Coach, Race Pack, Rossini racing Engines, Joe Heck Racing, Metro Wrapz

[Ernie Jr.]

Here is me bump driving Selin Rollan.

Attached Files

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[Danny Steyn]

Congrats Ernie - anytime you beat Alex Bolanos and Selin Rollan, you are wheeling a car!

Also big shoutout to Nick Malatesta, getting his first Spec Miata win

[Ernie Jr.]

Thank you it was a tough race. Me and Selin teamed up to pull away from Alex.

[Ernie Jr.]

I can't wait to be eligible to race in the SCCA Nationals at HMS and Daytona next year. It will be fun to race with such great drivers.

[Alex Bolanos]

Can you post the video from Saturday's race? You started last right?

[LarryKing]

Nice!

Track looks like a hoot - I love rovals.

[Ernie Jr.]

Can you post the video from Saturday's race? You started last right?

Were trying to get Saturday's video up, but it is giving us some problems. And yes I started last.

[Ernie Jr.]

Does anyone else have any video from the event?

[William Bonsell]

Good job kid....now just get a really good camera and mount into the car and you'll be a YouTube sensation!

[Blake Clements]

Who built the motor in the camera car?

[Ernie Jr.]

Who built the motor in the camera car?

The motor is a new factory Mazda short block with a Rossini Pro head that was just installed before this event. We also have our own in house dyno that we have done over 200 runs with that car to get optimum torque and hp by adjusting FP regulator and also on board I have a AFR gauge and know how to set it for different conditions. We also have a specific setup for HMS running the banks. We make the car have the least rolling resistance possible to get maximum speed.

[Muda]

.

[Ernie Jr.]

Look at my lines also, I never dropped a wheel off hence losing speed.

[Jim Drago]

The motor is a new factory Mazda short block with a Rossini Pro head that was just installed before this event. We also have our own in house dyno that we have done over 200 runs with that car to get optimum torque and hp by adjusting FP regulator and also on board I have a AFR gauge and know how to set it for different conditions. We also have a specific setup for HMS running the banks. We make the car have the least rolling resistance possible to get maximum speed.

Ernie
Congrats on the win, very good job driving. Your car looked like it was on rails, good job on set up too. Looks like you nailed it. On a side note... save that engine, you will likely never get another like it again... I have made the mistake of wasting the really good ones during the year and regret it now. When you get one that good, put it on ice until the big races when you will need it. Your car is very fast or Selin and Alex's car were way off?

[Ernie Jr.]

Ernie
Congrats on the win, very good job driving. Your car looked like it was on rails, good job on set up too. Looks like you nailed it. On a side note... save that engine, you will likely never get another like it again... I have made the mistake of wasting the really good ones during the year and regret it now. When you get one that good, put it on ice until the big races when you will need it. Your car is very fast or Selin and Alex's car were way off?

Thank you very much. Also we set the toe and camber setup to give least resistance in a straight line and on the banking. It hurt me very little in turn in, but helped a lot on exit and straight way speed. We already tested the setup two weeks ago at the FARA 2 hour enduro and sprint races on the banking. We also repacked the wheel bearing recently to provide again the least resistance. Also out of the 8 miatas in my fathers shop, mine is the easiest to push. Go figure.

[Jim Drago]

good to see you working so hard on the little stuff, it all adds up

[Ernie Jr.]

Here is video also of me testing my new B-Spec on the banking. I was able to get a 1.48.2 consistently and that is about 6 seconds off a decent Spec Miata time.

[Ernie Jr.]

I knew going into this race with such a long straight and banking that i would not hurt much to sacrifice corner entry speed for better straight way speed. We figured this all out by going back and forth with setup at the FARA races.

[Ernie Jr.]

Now we are deciding what setup for Sebring in 2 weeks.