Well, this was an eventful weekend to say the least.  I got the car sorted with new Carbo-tech XP12's and brand new Hoosiers.  I was going for the "IS" record.  

I got to the track with plenty of time Saturday morning to get registered and teched.  But as I was checking lug torque and tire pressure, I noticed my left rear rotor was cracked all the way through!  Oh boy!  I got an old rotor from the trailer and got it on before the first practice run.  Hmm I wander how this difference in rotor thickness is going to make the car react under hard braking?  Guess we will find out!

The car felt really good during practice.  I was running mid 1.28's and the brakes felt fine.  I did well in qualifying and turned a 1.28.083. ( record lap in "IS" is 127.994)  So I was feeling good.  It was my first race with the cool suit.  Wow!  What a difference that made.  My qualifying time was a good second and a half faster than the next "IS" guy. 

I was ready for the first race; this was the sprint race.  I was doing great, the car was handling wonderfully, and I was almost a full length of the front straight in front of the next "IS" guy.  The this is where the weekend went downhill.  I hit oil in the braking zone in turn 1 and the car spun off the track.  I pulled out immediately an tried to continue.  But at turn 3, I knew something was terribly wrong in the front end.  I ended having to pit.  Found the front end was bent.  Ugh.  So I ended up with a "DNF".  Bummer.  Another bummer was I was confronted by the Race Steward because they thought I was a cause of an accident in turn 9 as I was pitting (after I went off and bent my suspension).  I didn't know if something was about to break or not, so I wasn't at race speed.  But I had a pit signal up and was hugging the right side of the track.  After further review they found that it was just a race incident and no one was at fault.  Man!  What a day!

The next morning I picked up my buddy Jim and a toe bar and we headed up to see if we could get the car back together to finish the Enduro.  Found the right control arm was bent and the toe was "IN" 1 inch.  There was a guy that was in the pit right next to us that had a control arm for us.  Aren't track guy's great!  Jim helped me with the control arm.  I had to borrow a 22mm wrench from Barry Battle @ RRT.  But we got the control arm on and we adjusted the toe with my toe bar in time for me to take the car out for a practice run.  The car didn't feel right, but it felt safe.  My lap times showed this.  They dropped a good 2 seconds a lap.

OK so now I'm starting in the back of the pack for the Enduro.  I had a great time with David Hogg, another "IS" guy.  We played cat and mouse for the first 30 min of the race.  Then we were suprised at turn 3 when a "CM" car dumped oil all over the track.  I hit the oil and nearly slid right into the damaged car.  David was alert and made a great save to keep from running into me.  When I got to the by the carnage I thought this would be a good time to pit.  There will be a full course yellow and that will help me catch up with the other "IS" guy.  I check the flags at turn 9 and 10 and saw no yellows, so I pitted. (can't pit on full course yellow unless you have a mechanical) This was good timing because this was about the half way point.  But my luck wouldn't hold out.  They black flagged the group and guess what that meant.  You got it!  Back of the pack again.  Ugh!  But to add to the frustration the car wouldn't start.  David Hogg came over and said he was out because his car started overheating.  We ended up pushing the car down to the trailer where it started up.  I jumped back in and got back to the grid.  Whew!  I get to finish the race.  It took a while before they cleaned up all the oil, so there wasn't much time left in the race.  I ended up "DFL" because of the black flag and had little time to make up ground.  I managed to pass Ross Karlin and Dennis Pippy on the last lap to keep from finishing last.  A dissapointing finish but I was happy to have even finished this race.  Besides I knew who was the fast "IS" guy! :o)  Just goes to show in racing it doesn't matter if you are the fastest, luck is a strong variable.  Beth and Jim were there for me for moral and technical support and that kept me smiling.  They worked hard for me and that makes any time special.  Special thanks to Beth and Jim.  You are the best!   We had a nice dinner afterward and rehashed the events of the weekend.  Laughing over a well deserved beer.  Well, I had the beer they had tea. :o) 

Next race is at Watkins Glen.  David Hogg said he would be there to help me with the line.  Beth said she would come up and help me in the pits ( she tracks a 1999 Camaro and a 2003 Z06),  since she, too, has experience at this track.  Until then.  Take care and keep the shiny side up.