24 replies to this topic

[Jim Drago]

Nice video.. Great racing.. made me remember how much I don't like that place. there is a storm drain out in the grass at Turn one with my name on it

 

rarely do you see someone as far out as Trevor was with rear wheels off or almost off the curb save it. Looks like they just barely hung on the curb.. !

 

Nice job

Jim

[john mueller]

Nice guys.  Class looks good and healthy there too.   In VA crazy close one week and again in TX the next !!!

[TMCC90]

Guys it was great racing with you this weekend, very clean, wheel to wheel, and bumper to bumper racing! Congrats on the wins on Saturday Ross, you drove great races and made very few mistakes. Gale you made some unbelievable passes this weekend, I haven't seen many people drive a 1.6 as well as you did all weekend. Great Driving! John you were in the mix all weekend, but drove a great race on Sunday. You showed an extreme amount of patience working with Brett to ensure that we didn't get too far out in front and made the pass to take third at the perfect time. I pushed Ross down the straight for almost the whole race to make it a two car battle at the end, but you managed to stay just close enough to join the battle with 3 laps to go. You capitalized on both of our mistakes the last two laps and took the win on Sunday, Great Job!

 

I want to thank Chris Haldeman with X-Factor racing for the motor and setup and Gas Head Motorworks (GHM), Clint Host, Sam, my brother Sean, and good friend Craig for the track side support and keeping the car underneath me all weekend. Great racing this weekend and look forward to many more races like this!

 

Trevor  

[Tom Hampton]

Well...I was at the other end of the field from all the action above.  But, it was a great time none-the-less.  Initially, I was dissapointed in my performance overall for the weekend, but looking back on it my expectations were probably out of line with reality.  In point of fact, this was only my second time to visit the track.  So, expecting to turn sub-2:05's and qualify/race in the top 20 (of a 45-50 car field) may not have been reasonable.  Last october was my only other trip to the track---in HPDE3/4, where it was rainy and wet most of the weekend.  I did manage to drop my best lap, and average lap times by over 5 seconds from October.  This trip, I concluded my final 3 rookie races---so, I'm a fully licensed racer now.  Pretty damn cool!

 

I love this track.  I learned alot about driving this weekend that I hope I can translate to other tracks.  There isn't much for me to compare to the turn-in for 1 and the transition into 2.  Getting a bump draft down the front stretch and entering turn 1 at 110 plus, while keeping the foot on the floor...wow.  Trying to trail-brake for turn 2 from 105 to 80, and feeling the car get squirly and then transition to loaded on the right and arc-ing to the turn2 curbing...scary and awesome.  I know there was more to be had there, but every milisecond of that turn feels like an exercise in barely avoided disaster.  Heck, I did a full 360 in that turn (moments when there was more chaos than control) twice---once in practice when I came around to find Whistler sideways and coun't control the rotation as I lifted to try and leave room...and once in the race when I just plain lost it.   

 

So many firsts: 

 

1.  My first contact, in Race #1----Someone got inside of me entering turn 6.  I tried to peddle it enough to keep it on track at exit, but I didn't succeed.  With as much rain as we had the mud just sucked me out 4-off, and when I hit the giant lake out there it rotated my nose back towards the track.  In the mean time the #21 car dropped 2-wheels in an unrelated incident.  When I rotated from the water, I clipped his RR door and wheel.  The contact broke his diff, and bent my left inner tie-rod---leaving me with about 2" of toe-in.  I managed to drive "ok" through turn 11, but on the exit of 11 the car unexpectedly veered sharply to the right...so, I gave up and came in to fix the car. 

 

2.  My first (and second) bump draft passing the S/F.  Both times pushed the car past 110 mph entering turn 1.  Once from the #135 in practice and another time from Toby Linder.  As noted above, that's pretty f-ing fun!

 

3.  My first (and second) spin at over 100 mph (see above).  I didn't get stuck in the mud either time, or in any of my other offs. 

 

4.  My first start in a pack of nearly 50 cars (and 2nd and 3rd).  Wow that's a lot of miatas.  And its pretty exciting getting into turn 1 / lap 1 and seeing smoke go everywhere, and trying to keep track of the cars behind, beside, and in front of you as you work to avoid the incident occuring at 90+ just up ahead. Brett's car was pretty tore-up...and it was amazing to see it straight and ready to race before the sun went down.  Awesome job by Brett, Chris H, and the Xfactor team getting that car raceable!

[Tom Hampton]

I should also add a big thanks to Chris and X-Factor Racing for an awesome engine, great setup advice, and probably the best advice of all: "Drop 1 psi on the rears, then stop thinking about the car and get your head right for the race." I did exactly that (well ok, I added fuel and changed the battery in the gopro), and spend the last 20 minutes visualizing running 10 laps around the track. It really helped a TON.