Miss out on the chance to compete in the 2022 Tire Rack One Lap of America Presented by Grassroots Motorsports Magazine? Good news: You can now be a fly on the wall as our director of marketing and digital Assets, Tom Suddard, joins GRM contributor and tire tester Andy Hollis in competing for the top spot in a 2018 McLaren …
Andy Hollis reduced to "tire tester" overshadows his accomplishments a bit, but I get it LOL. Also very interested in the Sundae Cup group of cars!
!
Greetings from beautiful Indiana! Or at least, greetings from its airspace. I'm about to touch down.
And the McLaren seems to be sticking to old habits. I just received this text from Andy:
Let the fun begin!
Only like 5 miles from airport to hotel.
Maybe the fleet of Sundae Cup cars make Uber runs to supplement their one lap costs
Hmm... so far this is a funny looking McLaren. I guess I should just be thankful I didn't have to ride in the typical Uber like a Honda Fit or something terrible like that.
Success: I'm here in the One Lap parking lot:
And the McLaren's tires are almost done being mounted:
I'd be "Old Home Day" for me, standing on the concrete under the tower at Grissom. My 'home away from home' for a week at a time, every third week, for six years, still stands after a fashion, across the runway from where the autocross course is usually laid out.
305th ARW, Grissom AFB, 1979-1985
Dang shame, Bertie's Tavern has been closed for years. I could use a dart game and a couple cold ones at the old 'Dirty Floor'...
So let's talk about that tire mounting problem.
Choosing tires for One Lap is a tricky proposition: Teams must run something 200tw or higher, and one set of tires has to last the entire event including all those highway miles.
As our own Ultimate Track Tire Guide says, that left two real options for Andy and the McLaren: Michelin's Pilot Sport 4S, which is a fantastic all-around choice, or Yokohama's stickier and pickier Advan A052 that would dominate in good weather.
After much deliberation, Andy decided this morning to go with the A052 and had Tire Rack's mobile installation crew come to the One Lap start parking lot to install the tires. Things were going great until the last tire, which the tech returned unmounted with bad news: The bead was torn and couldn't be installed.
Damn.
A052s in McLaren sizing are unobtainium, so Andy took it as a sign from the universe to switch to Michelins. The McLaren is now wearing a set of Pilot Sports, and the first event starts tomorrow.
Tires mounted, we did a test fit of luggage and confirmed everything we had would fit in the miniature frunk:
My wife and I are spectators. Our son is all prepared to set records for a Kia in the Race. We plan on hovering only in Nashville and Putnam Park at this point. However, our Tahoe took today, Friday, to break a gas tank strap. We hadda track down a replacement (and we live in BFE). Looks like we may make it to Nashville after all. Everybody have a fun and safe time!
Keep your eyes peeled.for the jellybeans at the back! 
Good morning from OLOA!
Next stop: Tire Rack's wet skid pad.
Wet skid pad is complete! Next stop is Grissom for an Autocross.
And we're here! Sorry for the slight time delay; I drove last stint.
We aren't even in line for the skid pad yet. I hate you so much.....
So, where are all the other cars? Everything in OLOA happens according to run order, so we run according to car number for now and then according to qualifying order after the first track day.
We're number two, so we're at the front of the group for now.
And for those of you wondering "wow, doesn't that make OLOA way more difficult for slower cars, who have to stay way later at each track each day before starting their transits?"
I guess there's a reason Andy bought a McLaren for this event....
In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :
I told Andy a few minutes ago "you know I don't really need a house. Maybe I should get a 720S, too!"
Time for course walking:
And it is WINDY.
In reply to Tom Suddard :
In front running cars I hear there are sit down dinners with waitresses and everything.
The back running cars have to pick the gas station at the exit that looks like it might have the "better" bad food.
There's also eating free BBQ in the interior of a $300,000 car.
We've got about two hours until the course opens. There's some seriously cool (and probably radioactive) ruins next to grid:
You'll need to log in to post.
