SCCA Autox at FedEx Field

Here's a link to a gallery of pics that my sons and I took out at the SCCA national event at Fedex Field this past Saturday. Along with the event, we got to see other 'festers. In the gallery you'll see Pinecone's LTW, along with a gratuitious shot of Bren's and my M3s gracing the parking lot (rather than the track). Unfortunately, pictures of Clyde's RX-8 didn't come out, and we had to leave before Nick325xiT's heat.

http://alextbaum.smugmug.com/gallery/128968/1/4665340

Alex

No good pics of clyde's RX-8. Oh well.

I'll do a write up later (preview: I sucked). Still too tired, and right about to go out to a late breakfast with the family.

Me too. On saturday I didn't suck TOO much (i.e. I was consistent with the performance of the other local folks in A-Stock), but on Sunday my performance fell through the floor.

Dammit.

Originally Posted by ·clyde·

No good pics of clyde's RX-8. Oh well.

I'll do a write up later (preview: I sucked). Still too tired, and right about to go out to a late breakfast with the family.

Ok Clyde. Here's a bad one. (Bad picture of nice car...)




Alex

here're more pix

fed ex 2004

Ahhh, I knew that Axis of oversteer sticker on the hood of those cars looked familiar


Was the course as fast on Sunday, or did they tighten it up?

Originally Posted by bren

Ahhh, I knew that Axis of oversteer sticker on the hood of those cars looked familiar


Was the course as fast on Sunday, or did they tighten it up?

Faster, many of the turns opened up instead of closing in....the whole event was fantastic.

Faster! Wow, that's hard to believe. Some of those sections on Sat. were already startlingly fast. I'm sorry that I missed out on running in the event

The fact that they were faster is probably why I was so slow Sunday. I just couldn't get it right and ended up VERY slow.

Hey, I know him!! Looks like Alex pulled off another 1st place finish in DSP!! He'll be down there again next weekend for the Pro Solo.

Originally Posted by Andy

Hey, I know him!! Looks like Alex pulled off another 1st place finish in DSP!! He'll be down there again next weekend for the Pro Solo.

those DSP e30's were really cool and very fast!

Originally Posted by Andy

Hey, I know him!! Looks like Alex pulled off another 1st place finish in DSP!! He'll be down there again next weekend for the Pro Solo.

That guy's rear wheelwell was doing a good job of shaving the edges off his tires.

Originally Posted by AC

those DSP e30's were really cool and very fast!

I couldn't agree more!! Alex is one heck of a good driver too!!

Originally Posted by bren

That guy's rear wheelwell was doing a good job of shaving the edges off his tires.

Yup, he's known for that. He had to do quite a bit of fender work to fit that much rubber up under there. Although, looking at the pic from DC, it appears he's gone with a bigger wheel, 17s, 18s maybe? I can't tell, but I have not seen that wheel/tire combo on his car yet.

Here's a close up of his previous wheel/tire combo... pretty tight!!

Originally Posted by ·clyde·

No good pics of clyde's RX-8. Oh well.

I'll do a write up later (preview: I sucked). Still too tired, and right about to go out to a late breakfast with the family.

Hey, I resemble that remark. The "I sucked one."

The car ROCKS. But I just haven't had enough seat time on the Ho-hos to find the limits
. The first day the car thought it was out for a Sunday grandmother fdrive. I kept pushing it harder and harder each run, it it sjust seemed to be saying" so, are we going to actually go fast or what."

Sunday was better, I got the car working in a few places, but stil not enough.

BUT, I wasn't DLF.

We all had our issues.

I dug myself a hole out there on Saturday that there was no recovering from. Didn't expect to catch Lee (we are at a significant horsepower and weight disadvantage but his DRIVING won the class), but I did expect to be closer to the car owner and Mike in Lee's car.

It was a very humbling experience, finished 4th, just .074 out of third.

Next time I'll try looking ahead. I hear that is a good thing to do. Anyone ever heard that before?

I loved the course, both forward and backward.

Saturday I was something like 3 seconds off the pace of the fastest E46 M3 driver, but somehow Sunday I did a lot better and was a half a second faster than the fast E46 M3 from Saturday. Nick and I had a great battle going on... it was a blast. I can't wait to get on some better tires. I'm sick of competing against guys on Hoosiers with my Ecstas.

Thank God I got that GC sway bar on before the event... the car can slalom pretty well now. What a transformation from that simple mod!

Ken

Originally Posted by kenkamm

I loved the course, both forward and backward.

Saturday I was something like 3 seconds off the pace of the fastest E46 M3 driver, but somehow Sunday I did a lot better and was a half a second faster than the fast E46 M3 from Saturday. Nick and I had a great battle going on... it was a blast. I can't wait to get on some better tires. I'm sick of competing against guys on Hoosiers with my Ecstas.

Thank God I got that GC sway bar on before the event... the car can slalom pretty well now. What a transformation from that simple mod!

Ken

Ken,

Was yours the other Mystic E46 or the PY E46?

Alex

Originally Posted by kenkamm

I loved the course, both forward and backward.

Saturday I was something like 3 seconds off the pace of the fastest E46 M3 driver, but somehow Sunday I did a lot better and was a half a second faster than the fast E46 M3 from Saturday. Nick and I had a great battle going on... it was a blast. I can't wait to get on some better tires. I'm sick of competing against guys on Hoosiers with my Ecstas.

Thank God I got that GC sway bar on before the event... the car can slalom pretty well now. What a transformation from that simple mod!

Ken

Bah.

Real men run on street tires.

Originally Posted by kenkamm

Thank God I got that GC sway bar on before the event... the car can slalom pretty well now. What a transformation from that simple mod!

Ken

I am really going to need a second job

Originally Posted by SoloII///M

Next time I'll try looking ahead. I hear that is a good thing to do. Anyone ever heard that before?

Yes, this is one of those things that takes a lot of practice. I don't look far enough ahead on a daily basis, and when it comes to an event, I often find myself not looking far enough ahead. Case in point, MRIU this year. First run, not looking ahead near the course finish and plow a few cones for being on a bad line. Look ahead better the next time and it was like the sea had parted.

So yeah, I'm right with you. Need to look ahead better every time I'm in *any* car so looking ahead -- for me -- becomes the norm and not something I need to remind myself.

It's amazing how bad habits can develop over time.

Originally Posted by BahnBaum

Ken,

Was yours the other Mystic E46 or the PY E46?

Alex

Neither. Mine's Silver, with the gunmetal OEM 18s.

(pic from April 18th SCCA event):


Ken

Originally Posted by SoloII///M

Next time I'll try looking ahead. I hear that is a good thing to do. Anyone ever heard that before?

The hills added another level of difficulty to looking ahead. I think there were a few areas that threw me off because it wasn't possible to see over the crests. Wasn't the finish on Sunday kind of like that? That last left-hander is fuzzy in my memory... like you couldn't see how wide you really could go after the pointer until you were almost there...

(...or maybe I just failed to look.)

Ken

So frustrating to finish a run and realize that you just weren't looking ahead far enough. I kept repeating that theme throughout the weekend and for some reason I just didn't do it. I really will be happy to get back in my own car again...

Witness my poor driving on Sunday in all its glory...

Man was I far from the cones, and my driving was far too tentative.

http://nrubenstein.dreamhost.com/200...%20Run%202.WMV

Originally Posted by bren

I am really going to need a second job

No kidding. Figuring that the new Ho-ho SO4s will get 50 runs, that works out to a little over $4 per run PER TIRE. And that's for the 245/40-17s on the LTW.

The ones for the E46 are even more expensive per run.

But the other bad news is, the hotter tip for the E36 is 18" wheels.