mazdeuce - Seth said:
Robert and Chris said they drove straight through to get the Big Bad Wolf. Not sure of the logistics, but considering the cars fuel system is unchanged from last year, they still had to stop every 50 miles or so to fill the tank. They did mention that it has the Pro Solo alignment from a couple of weeks ago and that made it a bit darty going through construction zones in the middle of the night. Apparently that did a good job keeping the driver awake. And yes, none of this counts, they came back just to run for fun, they're out of the event from a scoring standpoint.
Google says that is 20 hours. If you left at Noon Sunday I guess you could be at RA by 7am given the 1 hr time change. Damn! However, this also includes that they drove wounded cars. The GTR on 5 cyl could not have been quick back to home. The Honda runs a fuel cell, I think and I think E85 so it needs gas all the time. Wow.
The guys running in the top ten tend to have LOTS of track driving experience, some of them professionally. They also have lots of direct track experience at the tracks being run.
When I ran One Lap in '07 it was a western loop, so between me and my co-driver we'd done most of the tracks. We were still cautious as our car was my DD and I had no desire to ball it up. Despite all that, we did fairly well, with some top 20 finishes and I think an overall finish of 35?
Question about the GTi, how does a valve cover melt? That's not something that tends to see a lot of heat...
Here is a video tour of The Big Bad Wolf and Robert Thorne via GRM and JG
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hlt7fA6KnIA
Here are some on-track sounds at Road Atlanta
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrOrCaEmSkY
In reply to docwyte :
I did not see the valve cover or under hood but I was told by Jack that even though it appears to be the same car as last year, and the shell is the same, a lot of it is New Car. He did comment that it does 12 second quarter miles passes on the drag strip.
I just checked results. Last year the car put down a 15.1 sec 1/4 mile.
docwyte said:
Question about the GTi, how does a valve cover melt? That's not something that tends to see a lot of heat...
If it's a plastic / composite valve cover and you get the oil temps and underhood temps high enough I could see deforming it enough that it doesn't seal anymore. That would count as starting to melt.
In reply to rslifkin :
So take the hood off! My bet is something else is too close to the valve cover, like a turbine housing perhaps. Even then, hard to imagine that a heat shield/vent solution couldn't be figured out.
docwyte said:
Question about the GTi, how does a valve cover melt? That's not something that tends to see a lot of heat...
I was wondering that too. Seems like that much heat would just cause a big engine fire.
They did have a fire the week before. They thought it was an oil line that started the fire. Now they think the valve cover started the fire and that ruptured the line. They have too much going on at the back of the motor and no real airflow due to packaging. Changes are being planned.
What happened to the Speedconcepts GT2 RS? He was at the pointy end of things and I’m not seeing a result from Brainerd at all?
Edit : car#2
In reply to chandler :
He bumped a wall with the nose 1st hot lap this morning... I believe they went home... but I do not know if they will return...
Hollis now has a very very large lead... if he top 5's the next few days he'll be on track for the overall win.
Well, we weren't the slowest E.T., but Seth didn't get the bracket time right, and broke out in the first round. So, we're on the road, and realizing that we've lost A/C.
Hastings, Nebraska for Weds is 80% rain and a high temp of 56. AC not needed though it might be nice to be able to clear the fog off the windshield. Might be wise to apply rainex on the inside for tomorrow.
Thurs in Blackhawk: High of 61 degrees with 60% chance of rain
Friday in Bowling Green, KY: High of 68 degree and 50% rain
No ac? Sound like it’s time to dump the heavy compressor and condenser. Weight means speed.
In reply to bobzilla :
But, Seth, no taking out the condenser in the same fashion as last year. 
onrails
New Reader
5/7/19 7:31 p.m.
In reply to sleepyhead :
Love the pic of that overgrown Malibu passing the Roushstang! Thanks guys! Making us look pretty good.
Who goes to Monnesota to do a track day? Everyone should, Brainerd is awesome. The morning started cold, it's just getting to be proper spring up here. Leaves aren't out on the trees yet and frost on the cars this morning.
From the hotel to the track is three miles, and what a cool track. We started on the Donnybrooke version of the track, how it used to be. Mile long straight with a 100+ mph curve at the end. I was at about 112 or so and I KNOW I could have entered at that speed and continued to accelerate to turn two (which is also at or near 100) but I just couldn't do it. Small lift and down to 100 for the turn in. The back part of the course flowed and just worked exceptionally well. It was by far the most fun I've had this week even though I finished dead last. Two big 100+ mph straights didn't do me any favors. Sleepyhead did a bit better against the competition in the afternoon on the competition course.
After that we did the drags. Somehow this was only the second slowest time.
If I decide that this is my "home" course when I move back to Michigan, I'd be happy with that.
John Welsh said:
In reply to bobzilla :
But, Seth, no taking out the condenser in the same fashion as last year.
I just want to say that atleast one of us got that comment.
So I came across Travis Pastranas' co-driver on the OLOA interwbb site and who do I
see Marcus Lutrell......like in ex Navy Seal badass warrior/author of 'Lone Survivor'?!?!?!?!!!!???
If so awesome....and thank him for his service y'all......be safe
759NRNG said:
So I came across Travis Pastranas' co-driver on the OLOA interwbb site and who do I
see Marcus Lutrell......like in ex Navy Seal badass warrior/author of 'Lone Survivor'?!?!?!?!!!!???
If so awesome....and thank him for his service y'all......be safe
We paddocked next to them at Nelson Ledges on Monday... he saw our Bucee's chairs and came over to talk Texas for a couple minutes in the morning... he gave us this patch for being fellow Texans on this crazy adventure.
Marcus is very much a good 'ol Texas boy and he's entertaining to talk to when he's not running around with their teams media circus stuff.
I've actually driven the small buses his organization uses to transport vets and their families from the airport to their Galveston facility. The Christian Brothers automotive I wrote service for, did the work/maintenance on the buses basically for free or nearly free. Owner of the shop was a good guy and believes in the organization big time.
Alright, we just rolled in to the hotel. I pulled a 3-ish hour stint to get us in, shaving 20mins off the eta enroute.
I ended up moving my photog spot this morning, from turn 6 to 5, after a corner worker showed up to 6. But the “garbage can with cone on top” corner worker at turn 5 let me have the run of the place.
still had a little trouble initially, before boosting my shutter speed to 1/200th. Results from today indicate a major part of my issues is in my “panning technique”. I also got thrown off some trying to get E36 M3s of people going wide in turn 4.
Here’s the pics...
Dueblers being Dueblers...
Traccord looking fast...
The Infiniti Q50 hybrid has turned up the wick the last few days, after being a bit tentative out of the box...
Getting creative with drag-grid photogs... (“can I stand in your open trunk please?”)
Traccord Low E.T. Board:
Hastings appears to be on the edge of a pretty wicked storm, good luck out there today
In reply to chandler :
It is soggy. In theory that's an equalizer, but we'll see how that works out. 
Hastings is incredibly slippery when wet. Be careful...
Well the fast guys are still fast....
Chris Mayfield drew first blood of the week...
How are the guys in the Tesla doing? I wonder what their battery charging schedule looks like.
