Veteran Member
A little COTA review from the mid-pack and back bunch.
COTA was a blast to race, although the local region struggled to handle the weekend. I had a great time debuting my new car at the only F1 race track in the USA! Besides building me a fast and beautiful car, the OPM gang was top-notch, as always.
Come on Tom pictures are required of the new car 
Veteran Member
Come on Tom pictures are required of the new car
Veteran Member
The week was an exterme dissapointment for me. Wednesday test day my 99 developed a miss, we changed most of the electrical components praying it was not a wire harness. Wednesday I had to work most of the day and when I got back to the track the car was still missing. We changed out the remaing possible culprits only to confirm the dreaded harness problem. Our paddock area was full up with mechanical issues and it did not seem possible for us to get the wire harness changed out in time to go out Friday for practice and pre-qualifying. I made the decision to run back to Houston and get my 1.6 out of the garage, got home about 12:30 am on Friday and woke up at 4:00 to head back to the track. Got to the track around 8:00 and went out to practice with a shattered windshield, (let someone test drive without the hoodpins), brakes that chattered badly and no setup whatsover ever on the car. Go out for the official practice session with the intention of feeling out the car. About 2 laps in the car shuts down mid turn at 14. WTF? Starts and stalls starts and stalls, I know its the AFM so I pull up inside of 16 and wait out the rest of the session. Get back to the pits and sure enough the clip has failed to hold the harness on the AFM, 3 tie wraps later and she is good as new. Started the process of changing pads and rotors when the car cooled down, put the car on the scales and checked the toe, major changes needed. I was running on no food no sleep and i was totally overwhelmed by spedning too many hours working on cars that were not working with me.The official practice session begins with me going out behing Luke Bickham. I almost run over Luke in several of the brake zones as his car was not building heat in the tires and was very twitchy under braking. I know once he gets up to speed we will turn in a good time as Luke is very good in the rain. A few laps in and I get broken off of Luke and John Babot is about to kill me at the end of every straight as he is doing 10 MPH more than me by the end of the straight. As the session goes i am not going any faster and I decide I need to man up and drive like Danny Steyn in the rain. I have my best lap going on lap 5, full on drifting the entire way around 16,17,18 complex, carrying tons of speed and committed to not slowing through 19, blow it wide sideways, still committed to keeping it matted and catch that damn carpet wrong and experience the nastiest set of spins of my short career. 2 feet in thinking don't hit the wall, where are those cars that cant see me going to hit me, and stop facing traffic about the bottom 1/3 of the track. Left black crossing lines all over the wet pavement. I get going again and can't get a clean lap as the session ends. I think i was something like 35th in the practice session and I know I will be by myself for qualifying most of my teammates were in the top 20. Qualifying was on a damp and slippery track, my plan of attack was to go hard early and bridge up to a teammate if possible. The two Anderson's were in front of me and I was able to get by them going into 11 but they went by like i was standing still to turn 12. I'm like well, i guess they had some grunt and got out of the corner better than I did. So I keep working hard to get some speed going, sliding and trying my best to carry speed through the turns. As the session goes on the car is going slower and slower and now I'm worried the something is very wrong with the car. Checkers, hanging head, I'm hosed and think no way this could get worse. As im pulilng into pit lane the car starts to shudder in the rear and bam, total lockup. I think i broke the diff and my weekend was over. Get out and check and I have braker caliper wedged into the wheel and a big gaping hole in the wheel too boot. The rotor is blue from the heat buildup, the mounting bracket has a broken pin in it and I am sure the caliper is cooked. I go looking for parts and get back in time to put on the brake, change the plugs, CAS and anything else I can think of to make the car go. Of course the caliper was problably rubbing way back in the last practice session which explains the egregious speeds the other cars were going past me on the straights. Strategy for the race: BALLS TO THE WALL don't blink or brake, except someone forgot to tell the guys in 30-4x position they will start the race without them if they don't keep up on the pace lap. We are full on the gas exiting 12 and round the corner at 20 in time to see the leaders are already braking in turn 1. Nice so much for the Banzai plan on moving up. 4 laps in I have passed the same 4 cars about 12 times only to be repassed on the next straight. My only hope is carry speed through the turns, I came up on an OPM car (i think, white with some purple) rub him at the exit of 20 and then in turn 1 he takes the inside path and I take the out and about path so I can carry more speed down the hill, he doesn't clear as he stuggled to get the car slowed and turn and I go to brakes but have a soft pedal. The result is I hit him square in the rear and follow him down the hill, as he enters the esses, its clear he has a problem and he pulls off and parks on the inside of 5, I'm pretty sure his diff is broke from the bump. Down to turn 11 and I have next to no pedal, coast on back to the pits on lap 5 or 6 to watch the rest of the race. Great race from a spectators standpoint, crazy finishes (both of them). Now I am pissed that I took the 99 back to Houston as it was fixable just meant missing the official practice day maybe even just half of it. I get in the car and head back to Houston, get a phone call about 45 mins into the trip, "you have to fix it at your house, there will be no access to the garages after 7:00. Ok, no problem, have tools and a helper ready to go. Another 15 mins in to the trip and I get another call. Oh by the way SCCA cancelled tomorrows qualifying so you will have to start the race at the back of the field. That sucked, so I just turned around resigned to the fact I wasn't going to race. Went to dinner with the team, drowned my sorrows in some suds. Got up the next morning to see if I could get some of my money back by withdrawing from Sundays race, NOPE. Your money is ours says the SCCA. So i head to the pits to see if i could help anyone. My buddy Eric Yagel decided to see what I did wrong that caused the brake failure and replace the line that I had installed improperly so it was rubbing the inside of the wheel. He says get ready to race dumb ass and I'm so frustrated I just head back to the trailer to visit with my family. After about 2 hours, I head back to the paddock and start to prep the car for the race. Now I'm starting 57th based on the crappy lap times I turned in the Sat race. At least I get to race with people I have never seen before. I tell the guys in front of me if they lollygag around on the pace lap I'm going by them at 100 mph screaming "I was 7th". We still miss the start which was probably a good thing because there was a huge pile of lockups at the front that caused a chain reaction in the rear. By the end of lap one i was in 45th position as we come to the double yellow. Managed to make it to 29th with the 5 green laps with the help of several 99s that took pitty on me and pushed me down the straights. Big shout out to Amy Mills, Mr. Czarny and Willie the Tard for the bumps that helped bridge up to the next folks.
I was so looking foward to this weekend for two reasons, first and foremost was to meet many of the folks i have met though this forum, Hello Kyle Webb, Mr. Hart, Mr. Czarny, Andrew.... just of few of the folks i got shake hands with. The second was to prove I could race at the front with the best tallent in the country. I spent so much time under the hood i didn't get to do much of either and was terrible by that. However, my kids were with me all weekend and they inspired me to persevere as I would never want them to give up no matter how hard things got. Thanks to my family and friends who put up with me this weekend, especially my dad as he is the proverberal wipping boy when it hits the fan. I hope they do this event again so I can get to meet all the great chacters that race in this class.
I feel your pain. What a series of events, but sounds like you had a descent enough 5 laps to make it somewhat worthwhile.
I had the exact same problem with the rear caliper, bolt backed out and acted like a lathe on the real wheel, and poking a hole thru same.
East Street Racing / 2 Time National Champion
The week was an exterme dissapointment for me. Wednesday test day my 99 developed a miss, we changed most of the electrical components praying it was not a wire harness. Thursday I had to work most of the day and when I got back to the track the car was still missing. We changed out the remaing possible culprits only to confirm the dreaded harness problem. Our paddock area was full up with mechanical issues and it did not seem possible for us to get the wire harness changed out in time to go out Friday for practice and pre-qualifying. I made the decision to run back to Houston and get my 1.6 out of the garage, got home about 12:30 am on Friday and woke up at 4:00 to head back to the track. Got to the track around 8:00 and went out to practice with a shattered windshield, (let someone test drive without the hoodpins), brakes that chattered badly and no setup whatsover ever on the car. Go out for the official practice session with the intention of feeling out the car. About 2 laps in the car shuts down mid turn at 14. WTF? Starts and stalls starts and stalls, I know its the AFM so I pull up inside of 16 and wait out the rest of the session. Get back to the pits and sure enough the clip has failed to hold the harness on the AFM, 3 tie wraps later and she is good as new. Started the process of changing pads and rotors when the car cooled down, put the car on the scales and checked the toe, major changes needed. I was running on no food no sleep and i was totally overwhelmed by spedning too many hours working on cars that were not working with me.The official practice session begins with me going out behing Luke Bickham. I almost run over Luke in several of the brake zones as his car was not building heat in the tires and was very twitchy under braking. I know once he gets up to speed we will turn in a good time as Luke is very good in the rain. A few laps in and I get broken off of Luke and John Babot is about to kill me at the end of every straight as he is doing 10 MPH more than me by the end of the straight. As the session goes i am not going any faster and I decide I need to man up and drive like Danny Steyn in the rain. I have my best lap going on lap 5, full on drifting the entire way around 16,17,18 complex, carrying tons of speed and committed to not slowing through 19, blow it wide sideways, still committed to keeping it matted and catch that damn carpet wrong and experience the nastiest set of spins of my short career. 2 feet in thinking don't hit the wall, where are those cars that cant see me going to hit me, and stop facing traffic about the bottom 1/3 of the track. Left black crossing lines all over the wet pavement. I get going again and can't get a clean lap as the session ends. I think i was something like 35th in the practice session and I know I will be by myself for qualifying most of my teammates were in the top 20. Qualifying was on a damp and slippery track, my plan of attack was to go hard early and bridge up to a teammate if possible. The two Anderson's were in front of me and I was able to get by them going into 11 but they went by like i was standing still to turn 12. I'm like well, i guess they had some grunt and got out of the corner better than I did. So I keep working hard to get some speed going, sliding and trying my best to carry speed through the turns. As the session goes on the car is going slower and slower and now I'm worried the something is very wrong with the car. Checkers, hanging head, I'm hosed and think no way this could get worse. As im pulilng into pit lane the car starts to shudder in the rear and bam, total lockup. I think i broke the diff and my weekend was over. Get out and check and I have braker caliper wedged into the wheel and a big gaping hole in the wheel too boot. The rotor is blue from the heat buildup, the mounting bracket has a broken pin in it and I am sure the caliper is cooked. I go looking for parts and get back in time to put on the brake, change the plugs, CAS and anything else I can think of to make the car go. Of course the caliper was problably rubbing way back in the last practice session which explains the egregious speeds the other cars were going past me on the straights. Strategy for the race: BALLS TO THE WALL don't blink or brake, except someone forgot to tell the guys in 30-4x position they will start the race without them if they don't keep up on the pace lap. We are full on the gas exiting 12 and round the corner at 20 in time to see the leaders are already braking in turn 1. Nice so much for the Banzai plan on moving up. 4 laps in I have passed the same 4 cars about 12 times only to be repassed on the next straight. My only hope is carry speed through the turns, I came up on an OPM car (i think, white with some purple) rub him at the exit of 20 and then in turn 1 he takes the inside path and I take the out and about path so I can carry more speed down the hill, he doesn't clear as he stuggled to get the car slowed and turn and I go to brakes but have a soft pedal. The result is I hit him square in the rear and follow him down the hill, as he enters the esses, its clear he has a problem and he pulls off and parks on the inside of 5, I'm pretty sure his diff is broke from the bump. Down to turn 11 and I have next to no pedal, coast on back to the pits on lap 5 or 6 to watch the rest of the race. Great race from a spectators standpoint, crazy finishes (both of them). Now I am pissed that I took the 99 back to Houston as it was fixable just meant missing the official practice day maybe even just half of it. I get in the car and head back to Houston, get a phone call about 45 mins into the trip, "you have to fix it at your house, there will be no access to the garages after 7:00. Ok, no problem, have tools and a helper ready to go. Another 15 mins in to the trip and I get another call. Oh by the way SCCA cancelled tomorrows qualifying so you will have to start the race at the back of the field. That sucked, so I just turned around resigned to the fact I wasn't going to race. Went to dinner with the team, drowned my sorrows in some suds. Got up the next morning to see if I could get some of my money back by withdrawing from Sundays race, NOPE. Your money is ours says the SCCA. So i head to the pits to see if i could help anyone. My buddy Eric Yagel decided to see what I did wrong that caused the brake failure and replace the line that I had installed improperly so it was rubbing the inside of the wheel. He says get ready to race dumb ass and I'm so frustrated I just head back to the trailer to visit with my family. After about 2 hours, I head back to the paddock and start to prep the car for the race. Now I'm starting 57th based on the crappy lap times I turned in the Sat race. At least I get to race with people I have never seen before. I tell the guys in front of me if they lollygag around on the pace lap I'm going by them at 100 mph screaming "I was 7th". We still miss the start which was probably a good thing because there was a huge pile of lockups at the front that caused a chain reaction in the rear. By the end of lap one i was in 45th position as we come to the double yellow. Managed to make it to 29th with the 5 green laps with the help of several 99s that took pitty on me and pushed me down the straights. Big shout out to Amy Mills, Mr. Czarny and Willie the Tard for the bumps that helped bridge up to the next folks.
I was so looking foward to this weekend for two reasons, first and foremost was to meet many of the folks i have met though this forum, Hello Kyle Webb, Mr. Hart, Mr. Czarny, Andrew.... just of few of the folks i got shake hands with. The second was to prove I could race at the front with the best tallent in the country. I spent so much time under the hood i didn't get to do much of either and was terrible by that. However, my kids were with me all weekend and they inspired me to persevere as I would never want them to give up no matter how hard things got. Thanks to my family and friends who put up with me this weekend, especially my dad as he is the proverberal wipping boy when it hits the fan. I hope they do this event again so I can get to meet all the great chacters that race in this class.
Michael
Your too hard on yourself.. Several good things did come out of the weekend.
First and foremost.. You earned the pretty East street racing sticker, signed no less by yours truly losing your qualifying bet..
Second.. The why story with your dad was one of the funniest things I have ever heard..
Lastly, I really wish you would have called me.. I had that harness, I actually used it Sunday morning, my guys put it the car in about 10-12 minutes. That harness is VERY easy to change as you will find out. You need a smaller guy than you likely, but it is easy.
Seriously, sorry for your misfortune. You are a good sport and a lot of fun.
Jim
East Street Auto Parts
Jim@Eaststreet.com
800 700 9080
Zulu rain warrior
Thanks for the write-up Michael. Sorry it didn't go so well.
Danny
Danny Steyn Racing | DSR YouTube Channel
Danny Steyn Photography | Adept Studios | Ocean Machinery | OPM Autosports | Rossini Racing Engines | G-Loc Brakes |
2 x SCCA Runoffs Champ | 1 x NASA National Champ | 6 x June Sprints Champ | 10 x ARRC Champ
1 x SCCA Super Sweep | 2 x Triple Crown | 4 x Hoosier Super Tour Points Champ | 6 x Majors Points Champ | 5 x SEDiv Driver of the Year
Zulu rain warrior
So for those of you that have any interest in watching a lap that never happened - here it is. I also have it on good authority, that it is, in fact, quite categorically THE BEST DAMN LAST LAP THAT NEVER HAPPENED, PERIOD!
And yeah, I know, I cant drive worth a damn!
Danny
Danny Steyn Racing | DSR YouTube Channel
Danny Steyn Photography | Adept Studios | Ocean Machinery | OPM Autosports | Rossini Racing Engines | G-Loc Brakes |
2 x SCCA Runoffs Champ | 1 x NASA National Champ | 6 x June Sprints Champ | 10 x ARRC Champ
1 x SCCA Super Sweep | 2 x Triple Crown | 4 x Hoosier Super Tour Points Champ | 6 x Majors Points Champ | 5 x SEDiv Driver of the Year
Veteran Member
Nice Video Danny, I see what others are saying that its such a wide track that it makes for lots of dive bombs and side by side racing. Looks like it was a hoot.
come on guys get that video up.
Frank
TnT Racing
SCCA Ohio Valley Region
Member
Come on Tom pictures are required of the new car
I love my new car. You can see some photos here:
and here
http://tomhartracing.com/?page_id=293
Tom Hart
#44 SM and T-4
2014 SC Driver of the Year
2015 SE Championship Series Spec Miata Champion
2016 SE Championship Series Spec Miata Champion
Veteran Member
I love my new car. You can see some photos here:
and here
Gorgeous car Tom. Nicely done.
Veteran Member
So for those of you that have any interest in watching a lap that never happened - here it is. I also have it on good authority, that it is, in fact, quite categorically THE BEST DAMN LAST LAP THAT NEVER HAPPENED, PERIOD!
And yeah, I know, I cant drive worth a damn!
That was one hell of a cool down lap. I'd say you can drive pretty well Danny. Only the track not going straight at the right time prevented you from going into the lead. Great weekend by many and I'll bet there are some weary forearms out there.
Veteran Member
I love my new car. You can see some photos here:
and here
Wow Tom, the car looks fantastic. It looked even better accelerating away on Brian's video. Very nice 
Member
Killer GT40 scheme.I love my new car. You can see some photos here:
http://tomhartracing.com/
and here
http://tomhartracing.com/?page_id=293
The Cuban Missile
And yeah, I know, I cant drive worth a damn!
It's not that you can't drive, it's that we're terribly worried about the cramp in your right thumb! 
Alex Bolanos - #57
Sponsored by Autotechnik, Momo USA, Apex Alignment, and Amazon.com
Veteran Member
New drinking game - shooters every time Danny gives a 'thumbs-up'.
Member
New drinking game - shooters every time Danny gives a 'thumbs-up'.
We wouldn't make it a lap!
The Cuban Missile
Thanks to Lone Star region and the Texas boys for the hospitality, the track and event ran better than I think everyone expected after the false start. It was great seeing a lot of you from the forum, come over to the east coast sometime! Special thanks to Chris Haldeman for letting Autotechnik crash at the track Thursday night and for everything else, I have special admiration for drivers at the pointy end who get their hands dirty like I do.. class act.
The weekend went reasonably well for me, the car was on rails all week but felt a bit off on the straights. The mystery was solved when the crank pulley bolts finally broke in the Sat SM race causing me to retire with the timing wheel, belt, and crank pulley sitting on the belly pan (this couldn't have happened in the STL race? 
). Put her all back together and I had a car I could fight with on Sunday, and what a brawl it was. As great as the track layout is it is very conducive to two of my least favorite things about racing in general: blocking and dive bombing. I'll post my race video soon but I think we have a bit of a problem in SM currently. Either way, second place and the track record is a great result.
Congrats to Craig Berry on the win, he drove a smooth calculated race. I may have had something for ya if I could have hopped out of the boxing ring, maybe next time.
Shout out to Autotechnik's newest hotshoe John Carter who finished 7th on Sunday, watch for this kid... he's the real deal. Thanks to Momo, Apex Alignment, and Autotechnik's Jeff and Cory for their help, Andrew broke pretty much everything this weekend and somehow we all made it to grid on time for every session. 
Alex Bolanos - #57
Sponsored by Autotechnik, Momo USA, Apex Alignment, and Amazon.com
Member
The Cuban Missile
Anyone know if there's a replay of the live commentary somewhere? Anyone have podium/race photos or know who the event photographer was?
Alex Bolanos - #57
Sponsored by Autotechnik, Momo USA, Apex Alignment, and Amazon.com
Member
Anyone know if there's a replay of the live commentary somewhere? Anyone have podium/race photos or know who the event photographer was?
I have a card from Digital Race Photography...Jackpuryear.com.....but there isn't anything on their webpage...i haven't tried calling , but did send an email....no response yet
Veteran Member
Thanks to Lone Star region and the Texas boys for the hospitality, the track and event ran better than I think everyone expected after the false start. It was great seeing a lot of you from the forum, come over to the east coast sometime! Special thanks to Chris Haldeman for letting Autotechnik crash at the track Thursday night and for everything else, I have special admiration for drivers at the pointy end who get their hands dirty like I do.. class act.
The weekend went reasonably well for me, the car was on rails all week but felt a bit off on the straights. The mystery was solved when the crank pulley bolts finally broke in the Sat SM race causing me to retire with the timing wheel, belt, and crank pulley sitting on the belly pan (this couldn't have happened in the STL race?
Congrats to Craig Berry on the win, he drove a smooth calculated race. I may have had something for ya if I could have hopped out of the boxing ring, maybe next time.
Shout out to Autotechnik's newest hotshoe John Carter who finished 7th on Sunday, watch for this kid... he's the real deal. Thanks to Momo, Apex Alignment, and Autotechnik's Jeff and Cory for their help, Andrew broke pretty much everything this weekend and somehow we all made it to grid on time for every session.
Nice comeback on Sunday Alex, great job!
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