24 Hours of Lemons - Sears Pointless Race Report 2013

Its quite ironic that my last post was at a airport getting ready for the first race of 2013 and now i'm yet again listening to crying babies at another airport blabbing about that very same race... the circle of life they say, perhaps... :)

But, what a race that was...! I was very happy to see Jerry and Colin, the mighty RX7, Ozer and his family as-well!  Here is a pic from Sat pre-race meeting with the one and only Mr Lemons Jay, figure out who is who  :)

As I had mentioned in my earlier post this would be Ozer's first race... and i have a feeling it will not be his last! :) He did a great job by staying out of major trouble... had a few moments but we all did when we started racing, those were baked and expected in the plan. I look forward to him joining us for more races in the future in different tracks, in different cars...

Also last December the RX7 had losts its racing virginity with some glitches but Jerry really pulled everything together this time and the car ran very strong the whole weekend. Out of 175 cars maybe 20-25 cars had an edge, rest was fair game! :)

We did have some minor brake issues on Sunday which we sorted out afterwards.... losing brake pressure was an interesting experience, it had warnings.. i had to pump the brakes a few laps, then a few more pumps... but I kept on going, was having so much fun...why stop?! :)

As always, here is some racing footage, first 5 minutes of Sunday morning race start, unplugged. The RX7 was a blast to drive, very rewarding closer to the limit... a true mid-engine experience...

Some Unfinished Business :)

Yet again, here I am, at a another airport waiting for my next adventure. This time I will be heading to 24 Hours of Lemons – Sears Pointless.

This will be my 2^nd race on that track, same team, but different car…we will be driving the mighty RX7 with Team Wankle Grumpy Nerds!.  The team made their debut race at Lemons Chuckwalla last December, and let’s just say we ran into some technical glitches and couldn’t complete much laps, but we had a great time at the track and I sampled some racing with the mighty spitfire which was the teams 2^nd car that weekend.

But this weekend will be special, we have some unfinished business! Also it will be special because my childhood friend Ozer, which I had mentioned in my earlier post will be joining us for his first ever lemons race! A quick flashback to my first race almost 3 years ago, I remember the butterflies in my stomach, and I almost couldn’t get out of the pits…as the race cars were not slowing down for me! J I’m really happy for him to taste this.. I’m sure he will be hooked! And I hope he doesn’t blame for me it in the future!

 On other news, as I have been gone for quite a while, a great update! one of my fellow racer friends, who raced with us at lemons races back in the east coast, Andre Gomes has made huge news by winning the 2012 Skip Barber INDYCAR Academy Shootout! You can find more information here : http://www.indycar.com/News/2013/01/1-29-Andre-Gomes-wins-inaugural-Skip-Barber-Racing-School-INDYCAR-Academy

 I’m really happy for him, as I always knew that one day, he will get the opportunity to show his true, raw talent. I suspect this will be the beginning of his new career, and I also suspect he will be very successful, I have no doubt that we are witnessing the birth of a new star!

 This wasn’t easy for Andre however, he almost made it to the VW TDI Cup Iracing had sponsored (which kick-started Wyatt Gooden’s career), but got a DQ for a qualifying incident at the last race. He later on made it from millions of users to the top tier in GT Academy shootout, went to Silverstone, kicked everybody else’s asses (including the instructors) but got eliminated because he was seen as a devil in disguise J But like they say… 3^rd is the charm, and he nailed this one! I am happy to be see him get the opputunity he deserves, and hoping one day when he gets to big leagues sends me a paddock pass ;)

 Anyways, that’s it for now.. I have some more interesting bits of news, but that shall come next round!

Childhood Memories and a License

 When I finally made the move to Seattle from Boston, almost ~5 months ago, I wasn’t entirely coming to a new town without knowing anybody. As they say, the world is really small sometimes. My childhood friends Ozer and his brother Tamer apparently had been living in this rainy town for quite some time, and that was something to look forward to.

Although I haven’t seen them since I was 14-ish, a re-introduction was not necessary. We were in some sense the same people but a bit larger, a bit fatter perhaps but also wiser, and we had larger and faster toys now J It was also great to see them as huge petrol heads and track bugs… carrying the Corvette flag. Bikes, cars… and now also a cute little baby girl J

Since all of us had smelled racing fuel one way or the other, it was time to get the racing license out of the way. Although I had been racing wheel-2-wheel for quite some time, that crap can racing did not require SCCA licenses. I definitely plan to race something more in the future,, not sure what,, but I know the license was the natural next step for me.

All three of us signed up to ProFormance racing school, operating from a local “old time” track, Pacific Raceways. The school owner Don Kitch was great, he covered all fundamentals and on/off track exercises with his team in the condensed 2 day school, compared to other school’s which require 3 + 2 days + $$$ to qualify for SCCA licenses.

While walking in the pits, I also met his cute dog ‘GT’.  A great name, for a racing family dog… but as I looked at him closely, I noticed quickly that he was the dog, whose picture is on the best seller book “The Art ofRacing in the Rain”. A bit of digging and talking to Don reviled that the book author Garth had used Don’s racing school content “Art of racing in the rain” as inspiration for his nove and the picture of his dog on the book. This is an amazing and emotional book(especially if you are into pets) and highly recommended…  trust me you will not be disappointed.

Anyways, sitting in the class room, and petting GT, and feeding him my sandwich… I was thinking of the mock-race we had planned for the end of the school. I had already qualified with a ~2.5 second margin on pole… and my heart beat was elevated,, GT definitely was keeping me calm.  Hey this was a proper race with equal cars,, and I would be racing with my 2 childhood friends,,, it doesn’t get any better than that…  ‘nough said, here is that video, enjoy J

 

 

Racing a 1971 Datsun with Beach Dudes Racing

It was still dark when we arrived at Ridge Motorsports Park… foggy.. and a bit cold. Driving around the pits looking for my team I wanted to be as quite as possible and  not wake anybody up in their tents….hey it was only 5:30am, only 3 hours to green flag. I was already ready to race…! How could people still sleep…? Still baffles me…

 Anyways, I would be racing a 1971 Datsun station wagon with team Beach Dudes Racing. The car deserved that name with a surf board on top, although none of the drivers were surfers. Perhaps a contradiction… but so was the car. Under the hood it had a Nissan Pathfinder V6 engine delivering a healthy 210 HP to the rear wheels. Weighing only ~2500 pounds I knew this was a going to be a great combo… but little did I know about the track, the Ridge.

 Over the years racing with different teams, different cars on tracks I had never been on.. I came to expect challenges. But Ridge was different, it was a maze of technical high speed, low speed and off camber turns with massive elevation changes. Youtube videos do not do justice for elevation changes(nor iracing).For example the most dramatic is the last turn in Road Atlanta of course.. a true roller coaster ride, but on the videos it always looks like a small hill top.

 I would be starting the race, a 2 hour stint to be exact. I literally had to learn the track the first few warm up laps before green flag dropped… and to be honest it took me at least 20 minutes to figure the damn track out. I took it nice and easy at first as I discovered the car had massive but predictable over steer. I think it was ~30 minute mark when I radioed-in that I would be opening her up… and off she went.

 I don’t remember much after that to be honest… I remember being radioed in to pit in which felt like 20 minutes but was actually 2 hours, getting out of the car and asking where the mechanic of the team was,, and I remember congratulating him for that engine. The brakes and handling struggled but the engine made it up for anything…I mean anything on the track. I don’t think I got passed the last 90 mins of the stint, and surely could have gone even faster if I had bigger balls. Regardless I set the fastest time for the car with a ~5 second margin.

 Thanks to Beach Dudes Racing for giving me the opportunity to race with them and I hope I get to join them for future races… They really have  a great operation, a first in junk car racing, a fully dedicated pit crew, mechanics and the best food on the track!

 Oh.. and of course Coco… the team mascot J

 

 

The Helmet

It was about 8pm or so when we parked in front of a unfamiliar house in the suburbs. Felt a bit odd and awkard place to pick up a piece of art, a helmet to be precise,,,it was also getting a bit dark too.
I was super excited to see my new helmet for the first time... I did not know what to expect, but had been thinking about this moment all day at work.

It was a few months ago when I met Jerrett @ the local kart track during one of the league races. We briefly talked about his helmet designs and some of his earlier work... a racer designing racer helmets! I knew i had found the right person for the task!

We exchanged contact info that day and a few weeks later i received the first sketches of the design. I was super excited to see this in my inbox, as i knew he was onto something...something special, special for me.

 

The design had all the characteristics of an era of Lotus Racing which i had been a HUGE fan off since i was a kid.  The black & gold JPS Lotus livery had been used extensively in the 70's and 80's,  a golden era for Lotus F1...  The cars between 1972 - 1986 ran these colors and won multiple championships and races, driven by the racing gods of those era's. This was a special time for the Lotus team...and the car looked beautiful from every angle.

 

So as a big Lotus fan boy, i knew exactly what type of helmet design i wanted. It had to be dedicated to that time, that era, to Chapman's team and their success! and with such a great color combo i knew this helmet would pop...and stand out, and most importantly give me a warm feeling every time I looked at it.

 

But a vision is nothing if you don't have the right hands, the right tools and the right eyes to craft it.

I knew I didn't, but Jerrett did. Just check out his website, his previous work... you'll get a sense that he is not just painting helmets for racers as a racer himself, but painting pieces of art that you wear during the most intense experiences and moments of a drivers life.

 

Strong and intense experiences allow people to connect and bond with the things they are attached to in those moments, and a helmet is no different. Each race, each "oh shit" moment, or the few, the rare victories... all help strengthen the bond of a driver and his helmet. These helmets don't just protect your head but can inspire you as a driver, be a visual trigger to endless racing memories...moments you can look back and remember. For others they are just pretty objects, but for us its much more then that...and Jerrett, the racer, knew this.

 

Long story, long story... I was happy like a kid when i saw the helmet that night, in his garage, on the desk he painted numerous other helmets. It was beautiful, crisp and to the point... and it had every single detail and the great lines that capture the essence of a JPS Lotus F1 car from that era... I'm a very happy customer, and look forward to working with Jerrett in the future again...and also racing against him! :)

Here are some pictures I took last night, enjoy:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

End of Summer

How can something end, if it hasn't even started..?

Looking at my friends Facebook summer vacation pictures in a office with no windows... i tried to remember last time sand was stuck in my shoes. :)

It has surely been a interesting summer so far, a lot of challenges, a lot of learning... and learning that i need to learn more. But looking back at the early days of summer, i had no idea what was in store for me.  If i had to describe my summer in a few words, probably would be "A bit of a discovery...".

It was also a bit of a discovery, when i finally took the drive 2 hours up North to the Canadian border last weekend to a new karting facility, Sima Raceway. I would be driving a 30HP 125cc Parilla non-shifter kart for the first time on ~1 mile track. (With top speeds ~80mph)

Compared to the rental karts I have raced in F1 Outdoors/Indoors(Boston) and PGP(Seattle) which come with ~9HP... 30 HP was a true "discovery" for me.

I still remember, the first time getting out of the pits, on the front straight... the sheer force of the acceleration, just felt endless... as i approached the first turn, i noticed the brute force of the brakes, discs all around and the amount of grip those tires had. The G forces were absurd... i felt like i was about to fly off the kart as i picked up speed.

The sensitive pedals, required respect... A skidding, bouncing kart, would cause my feet to modulate the pedals even more, and cause even more bounce.... in the process destroying ones rib bones. Luckily I had my new rib protector, which saved my life.... well until my neck,couldn't take it anymore :)

My instructor, who is a sponsored pro racer from Italkarts, David Jurca was great. We walked the track, went over different approaches one takes for driving a kart at speed, and he showed great patience,,, with my in-patience :)

I think he was a bit concerned at first, with my lack of cautious approach, he had to call me in a few times and ask me to take it easy :) But i have to say, not one spin, not one wheel off... we both figured out i could handle it at the end of the day... but the weakest link was my neck.

Watching kids 1/2 my age take on 20 minute stints, while having to pit after 5-6 laps was embarrassing to say the least. But apparently a common expected outcome for average joe stepping in a kart my instructor said :) So i guess, i need to get in shape.... this winter for next season :) Not sure how to improve my neck muscles though...

Here is some on board action from my last session:



On other news, i will be racing at 14 Hours of Chump Car @ Ridge Motorsports Park with Team
Beach Dudes Racing :) A 1972 Datsun 510, with a V6 swap!!! :) More to come on this later... But here is the sketch of the car from the team:

Getting my hands Dirty :)

Yes, finally I can sit down and put my thoughts, and words together.

It has been a bit more than a month since I completed the move from Boston to Seattle.

It has been completely crazy in so many different levels… moving to a new town, finding a new place, getting used to a new job… a whole new job, which is both exciting and demanding. It is no exaggeration when I admit that I have been working probably 60 hour weeks since I got here…from day #1.

I joined the new job at a time when a lot had to be done, a lot was expected,,, and I knew I had to get my hands dirty, and dirty fast…and break all mental and emotional barriers that will slow me down, and focused on getting up-to speed right away….  Am I there? No…but my hands are dirty…and each day I am learning, improving, and understanding my new purpose in life J

The thoughts of leaving so many things behind also adds a bit of spice on top…but life is a bit like racing, you have to stop looking back, the things you have passed… and look forward.

Just like I dived head first into the new challenge, the new job… I decided to jump right into to some racing action… to help with stress J I found a great outdoor karting track(Pacific Grand Prix), which either run’s bi-weekly league’s or 90 minute enduro’s every other week. So I signed up to both events … the first weekend I arrived here J

Pacific Grand Prix track layout supports multiple config's and the great thing about this place,,, outdoor track,,, in Seattle it rains… and they are using made in china, cheap hard slick tires J So expect some great rain action from me.,, when it starts to rain of course, I’ve been honestly waiting for it to rain…where is the $@$@$ rain in Seattle?!?

I have already started winning races in the league’s which consists of a 15 minute x (practice + qualifier + heat #1 + final race).But I have found myself attracted to a greater challenge, the 90 Minute Enduro…in the Ironman class, which means while most people race in 2-3 people teams and switch drivers during a 90 minute race,,, I race with a select few crazy, hard core karters who go 90 minutes solo…rain or shine J We all know each other by name… J

My first enduro,,, and I was leading 80 minutes of the race, until when I was re-lapping somebody, who took both of us out and also fractured my rib in the process… I continued the remaining 10 minutes of the race with tears in my eyes… while losing -5 seconds a lap because I couldn’t turn left anymore,, and came in second. Right now,, I’m waiting for a new rib protector in the mail, and also waiting patiently(!) for my ribs to heal…so I can go out, and kick some ass!

But in the meantime, here are some pictures from the events & podiums from the league race which I came first, and a video of the final race. (I will be recording more videos from enduro events in rain, when i can heal & and can race again :) )

Here is some racing action, i had qualified 5th, and finished 1st :)