I don't think a lot of folks are going to this one.
I am planning on going and OnRails will be there.
Anyone else?

na not me i wont do another one until the weather cools---i will visit at ra though!
OD

na not me i wont do another one until the weather cools---i will visit at ra though!
OD

Not much left after the weather cools! Rockingham Sept and RA in Dec is all for NASA. I am going to have to find some miata friendly clubs, do another SeatTime, or get on TGPR again.

Or all of the above..:eyetwitch

Unless something weird happens I won't be there. I would like to, but June is going to drain me on multiple fronts, won't be able to swing a track weekend in July. BMP may be my last for the year.

I will be. I have a track set of wheels, looking for tires...

I think the 8 will be double-timing again.

I look forward to meeting those who are there also sportin' 8s.

We'll have just relocated to Charlotte before this, so maybe we'll come to check it out if nothing else. I'll look for the other 8 drivers while I'm there. We're still not sure we want to run with NASA, they seem a bit conservative/strict than what we're used to.

We'll have just relocated to Charlotte before this, so maybe we'll come to check it out if nothing else. I'll look for the other 8 drivers while I'm there. We're still not sure we want to run with NASA, they seem a bit conservative/strict than what we're used to.

Interesting. What org have you been running with? What are the differences that you see that you don't like?

Have you checked out the Charlotte club site : cltrx8club.com

We run with SpeedVentures out here in SoCal, and have spoken with a lot of other drivers who run with NASA as wll, and they all say NASA is very conservative and strict. For example, I don't know if they would let us give references or anything to not have to start in HPDE1 our first event with them, even though we have 2 years of track experience. And from what I understand their HPDE4 rules are equivalent to running with the intermediate group with SpeedVentures, as opposed to equivalent to an advanced group. So it might be good to come out and check them out to see what they have to say. I certainly don't want to pay to come out and be forced to run HPDE1 and do lead-follow all day like a newb, you know? That's a waste of money IMO.

Have you run with them before? What are your experiences?

Oh, and yes I have checked out that site, but I need to remember to frequent it more now. :)

hpde 1 doesnt have a lead follow.
olddragger

We run with SpeedVentures out here in SoCal, and have spoken with a lot of other drivers who run with NASA as wll, and they all say NASA is very conservative and strict. For example, I don't know if they would let us give references or anything to not have to start in HPDE1 our first event with them, even though we have 2 years of track experience. And from what I understand their HPDE4 rules are equivalent to running with the intermediate group with SpeedVentures, as opposed to equivalent to an advanced group. So it might be good to come out and check them out to see what they have to say. I certainly don't want to pay to come out and be forced to run HPDE1 and do lead-follow all day like a newb, you know? That's a waste of money IMO.

Have you run with them before? What are your experiences?

Oh, and yes I have checked out that site, but I need to remember to frequent it more now. :)

Each NASA region has slightly different rules for their HPDE groups. I think the NASA-SE HPDE 3 rules are pretty wide open, i.e., Open passing anywhere on the track with a point-by.

Just send an email to NASA-SE registration with your list of experience ( registration AT nasa-southeast DOT com ) and ask them which group you should sign up for. Free and easy. Group 2 is solo now but on track with group 1. Group three is advanced / intermediate combined. Group 4 is mostly instructors but anyone can take a checkride to move to group 4.

HPDE1 = An instructor rides with you, Passing only in the straights with a point-by.
HPDE2 = Solo, Passing only in the straights with a point-by.
HPDE3 = Solo, Passing anywhere with a point-by.
HPDE4 = Solo, Passing anywhere, Point-By not required but recommended

1 and 2 always run together. 3 and 4 are often combined.

We run with SpeedVentures out here in SoCal, and have spoken with a lot of other drivers who run with NASA as wll, and they all say NASA is very conservative and strict. For example, I don't know if they would let us give references or anything to not have to start in HPDE1 our first event with them, even though we have 2 years of track experience. And from what I understand their HPDE4 rules are equivalent to running with the intermediate group with SpeedVentures, as opposed to equivalent to an advanced group. So it might be good to come out and check them out to see what they have to say. I certainly don't want to pay to come out and be forced to run HPDE1 and do lead-follow all day like a newb, you know? That's a waste of money IMO.

Have you run with them before? What are your experiences?

Oh, and yes I have checked out that site, but I need to remember to frequent it more now. :)

LOL, no lead-follow even in DE1. Get good contact info for NASA-SE
hint (registration@nasa-southeast.com)
Ask them about your experience. Worst case, you do a check run in DE2 and get signed off to DE3 same morning.
DE 3/4 generally run together. And many of those are TT.

Am curious what you think might hold you back speed wise? Just the group you are in? Or the track rules? Not being insulting, but sometimes there are different here/

Each NASA region has slightly different rules for their HPDE groups. I think the NASA-SE HPDE 3 rules are pretty wide open, i.e., Open passing anywhere on the track with a point-by.

Just send an email to NASA-SE registration with your list of experience ( registration AT nasa-southeast DOT com ) and ask them which group you should sign up for. Free and easy. Group 2 is solo now but on track with group 1. Group three is advanced / intermediate combined. Group 4 is mostly instructors but anyone can take a checkride to move to group 4.

HPDE1 = An instructor rides with you, Passing only in the straights with a point-by.
HPDE2 = Solo, Passing only in the straights with a point-by.
HPDE3 = Solo, Passing anywhere with a point-by.
HPDE4 = Solo, Passing anywhere, Point-By not required but recommended

1 and 2 always run together. 3 and 4 are often combined.

Well that doesn't sound much different than what I'm used to then. Maybe it's just NASA out here that's more strict.

LOL, no lead-follow even in DE1. Get good contact info for NASA-SE
hint (registration@nasa-southeast.com)
Ask them about your experience. Worst case, you do a check run in DE2 and get signed off to DE3 same morning.
DE 3/4 generally run together. And many of those are TT.

Am curious what you think might hold you back speed wise? Just the group you are in? Or the track rules? Not being insulting, but sometimes there are different here/

Yeah I'll definitely check into it with them. I'm mostly concerned about being held up by strict passing rules (only on certain areas of track) or dis-courteous drivers who don't give point-bys. Like anyone, I just want to make sure I can drive at my own pace, not someone else's. I'm just going on what I've heard from other drivers, I'll probably head down to this event to discuss it with them in person and see the track first-hand. Do they allow passengers that I might get a ride-along with someone here? :)

I am signing up for this one, hope to see you guys there. The stang goes in the shop next week, hopefully, will be back with the new goodies :). If not, I just hope to be back :(.

I just want to make sure I can drive at my own pace, not someone else's. I'm just going on what I've heard from other drivers, I'll probably head down to this event to discuss it with them in person and see the track first-hand. Do they allow passengers that I might get a ride-along with someone here? :)

There is always going to be the occasional butthead that doesn't wanna let you by, but the workers are pretty good about tossing the blue/yellow pass flag.
And yes, you can ride with an instructor. We usually have a fair number of our instructors (SE-club) but not sure who is going yet. Lots of folks did Roebling, and are just getting home from Barber, and then Road Atlanta is Aug. CMP might not be a big event for us since NASA has already been there a couple times this year.
Am sure we can find someone to haul you around though.

StopTurn - Good luck on the stang! Hope to see you there!

Things are panning out, good news is the door is back on, bad is I need the quarter panel fixed. Other than that, things are good. Car is as strong as ever, which is to say underpowered, but solid!

Bump!
am going afaik/

I signed up yesterday. :jump:

Excellente! :)
I was just coming here to bump this and see who else was going.

If TA can't make it, I may have half a hotel room for you. Am staying at Colony as usual.
If you haven't followed it, BRE racing is tossing a big ass party on Sat. Live music, free beer, etc. Nice guys, they were next to us at Barber.

If you haven't followed it, BRE racing is tossing a big ass party on Sat. Live music, free beer, etc. Nice guys, they were next to us at Barber.

I lurk the NASA forums pretty regularly. Looks like it's gonna be fun Sat night!

I am signed-up and I should be there as well unless someting un-forseen keeps me.

If extra "Mustang Sauce" was good to me @ Barber then more must be better :) so I'll pack a little extra for CMP.

See ya there.

Lol - mustang sauce

I am official now. w00t!

Did I just w00t?

I will be there with ROAR Racing, we will be bringing our new track prepped car and most likely one of our KONI Challenge cars.

I am definitely not going to make this one as I have family obligations. I'll be doing Road Atlanta with BMW July 5 and 6 though so I'll get some close track.
Onrails - have fun in TT.

I'll have fun for sure!

Sorry you won't make it. I'll be sure to take some video.

TA - won't be the same without you. Was hoping you could make it.

OnRails - TTC? Lol. I am paddocking with you and TA2 competing in TTC. Can't wait for the discussions!

I8U - you guys are easy to find!

Waldo - You getting there fri or coming in Sat morning?

OnRails - TTC? Lol. I am paddocking with you and TA2 competing in TTC. Can't wait for the discussions!

Going to be a lot of fun for sure. I hear there have been some improvements made to the Gold Monster so I'm not going to start talking smack just yet. :lol:

I should be there Friday evening sometime before dark. I am returning from the Blue Ridge Parkway Friday morning, and I have got a lot to do to the car before I get to Kershaw.

So what's the head count on who will be there which days? I need to know how many ppl to look for when I get there!

So what's the head count on who will be there which days? I need to know how many ppl to look for when I get there!

Glad you're planning on coming down!

I won't be going down until early Saturday morning if you want to drive down together. I'm talking EARLY though. I'm leaving Pineville around 5AM. Otherwise I'll see you down there!

I know of 4 of us who will be there Sat and Sun:

Dano in a red Miata
TA2 in a gold Mustang
Waldo in a silver RX-8
Me in a grey RX-8

Kind of a light turnout for us.

Glad you're planning on coming down!

I won't be going down until early Saturday morning if you want to drive down together. I'm talking EARLY though. I'm leaving Pineville around 5AM. Otherwise I'll see you down there!

I know of 4 of us who will be there Sat and Sun:

Dano in a red Miata
TA2 in a gold Mustang
Waldo in a silver RX-8
Me in a grey RX-8

Kind of a light turnout for us.

Really, really, light turnout. Timing just funky this year with the 4th, and the Rolex the week after.

OnRails - You know if you don't want to get up that early, you can crash at the hotel Fri night. Show up whenever.

TA2 - when are you planning on driving up?

I should be at the track before 5 to catch some of the Enduro, tech, and register.

Waldo, Katc - I will be in a 97 red miata with some random white stickers on it.
PM if you want my cell. Not sure what paddock space will be like, but be nice if we can all group together.

Ya I think since we're only going to check things out and won't be running our cars, we'll probably head down sometime post-5am. But thanks for the offer, I'll be taking you up one that next time I'm sure. :)

Hey Guys.

ROAR will be there in full force, with 3 cars.

#63 and #61, which are in the body shop right now after the Koni Challenge race at Mid-Ohio. #61 is definitely doing the Enduro on Friday with drivers John Mossey and Jose Escobar. #63 may be doing the enduro as well with father/son team Alfredo and Andrew Carbonell (one of our Koni drivers). For the weekend, John and Jose will split up and race in PTB in the #61 and #63 cars.

Also, the #60 car will have two drivers in DE sessions, with Michelle Slater in DE1 and the Stacie Haynes in DE2.

Hope to see everyone there!


-- Adam

I am soooo jealous right now. This is my favorite track and REALLY would love to be there.

To the entire ROAR team... You guys are always a blast to hang with.

Waldo and KAtC10, welcome to the group. Hope we can get you down to Road Atlanta and Roebling Road too.

Adam,
Since I know you guys are running, I will make sure I get there for the Enduro.

Enrty List is up: http://www.nasa-southeast.com/WebList.pdf

I don't see TA2 on the list. Is he still coming?

Not sure about TA2

Anywhoo - schedule is up!
http://www.nasa-southeast.com/schedule.pdf

They have a Fri schedule up for Turn 1 track events Each group has 7 sessions. *drools*

Enrty List is up: http://www.nasa-southeast.com/WebList.pdf

I don't see TA2 on the list. Is he still coming?

I am comming. Had forgotten to sign-up :crazy:

The site let me in so I hope it's cool. It's a light turn-out but I think TTC is going to be intersting with Everette, Gary, John, and yours truly.

Anybody needs a roomie?

TA2 - you have a PM. Glad you remembered to register!



4

I am comming. Had forgotten to sign-up :crazy:

The site let me in so I hope it's cool. It's a light turn-out but I think TTC is going to be intersting with Everette, Gary, John, and yours truly.

Anybody needs a roomie?

I count 5 of us in TTC. 2 Mustangs, 2 BMW, 1 RX-8.

Looks like it might rain on us in the afternoon each day.

Fantastic. I thought the rain was great.

I don't mind a quick boomer to cool things off when it the middle of summer. And while I didn't love driving in it, I did learn a lot and would do it again. Just hopefully they are brief.

I have been snakebit this year about getting (dry)laps in.
RA- 4.5 sessions. 1.5 wet
CMP - 4 wet sessions, 3 dry
RR - 2 sessions with seat-time and down with mechanical
BMP- 0 sessions - new convertible rules

Anywho - Ya'll wanna paddock back in the HPDE overflow area on the map again? Always plenty of room to spread out, and it is close to bathroom, snackbar, and good viewing area for T1-3.

I don't mind a quick boomer to cool things off when it the middle of summer. And while I didn't love driving in it, I did learn a lot and would do it again. Just hopefully they are brief.

I have been snakebit this year about getting (dry)laps in.
RA- 4.5 sessions. 1.5 wet
CMP - 4 wet sessions, 3 dry
RR - 2 sessions with seat-time and down with mechanical
BMP- 0 sessions - new convertible rules

Anywho - Ya'll wanna paddock back in the HPDE overflow area on the map again? Always plenty of room to spread out, and it is close to bathroom, snackbar, and good viewing area for T1-3.

You are having a tough year at the track man. I hear you on the rain thing though. I don't like driving in it but I have learned new things by doing so.

I think the paddock spot we had last time was pretty good like you said. I'd vote for that again.

Works for me

http://www.nasa-southeast.com/i/events/cmppaddock.jpg
HPDE overflow area.

I will see what I can hold when I get there. WOOT!


3

It's all jiggy for me, got the confirmation email from Julie yesterday.

Rain is fine for me too, this time I have tires that will actually offer traction in the wet stuff and I had pretty good practice last time we were at CMP with my zero wet traction tires...

The paddock suggestion works for me too. I liked that spot a lot

Cool, Hpde overflow area,
Hope to be there by 5 so I will try to mark out a spot for us.
Do my best to hold as much space as possible,

Cool, Hpde overflow area,
Hope to be there by 5 so I will try to mark out a spot for us.
Do my best to hold as much space as possible,

Watch out for CrossFires

I will probably park in SU with the group I hung out with last time, but I definitely will meander over to HPDE. I am most likely going to cheap out and sleep in a trailer.

I dont think my 8 will be doing double duty like last time, so I should have more free time. I couldnt find myself not paying attention to the track when my car was racin' and I wasnt.

I will probably park in SU with the group I hung out with last time, but I definitely will meander over to HPDE. I am most likely going to cheap out and sleep in a trailer.

I dont think my 8 will be doing double duty like last time, so I should have more free time. I couldnt find myself not paying attention to the track when my car was racin' and I wasnt.

Definitely come look for us (an 8, a gold mustang, and a red miata)

I am most likely going to cheap out and sleep in a trailer.

Hope it's not an open trailer! :)

2?

I gotta unsubscribe from this thread. It's making me sad cause I can't come out to play.

You guys wanna rent the skidpad for an hour?
Would be really fun!

Silver - Sorry you can't make it! Myself be ready!

Spent last night at Hooters with Whenson and Gimlet. Came home and packed the car. All I needz to do is grab the Ezup and I am out

Silver - Sorry you can't make it! Myself be ready!

Spent last night at Hooters with Whenson and Gimlet. Came home and packed the car. All I needz to do is grab the Ezup and I am out

So I'm assuming you were able to locate the EZup?

I haven't packed up yet but I spent last night watching track video. :)

Looks like my best laps came from getting turn 4 - 7 just right. Also, a few tenths can be found in turn 8 and a few through the kink if you are brave.

Thanks TA -
I have the other EZup so we should be good. Will try to holler at you tonight anyway when I get settled.

Guys, I just want you to know that I'm truly thinking about ya'll right now. I had to go back and look at my vids from CMP. Have a blast and I look forward to your reports.

Nice to meet everyone yesterday! Hope the rest of the weekend went well. :)

Katc - pleasure to meet and your boyfriend! Glad you stopped by.

Weekend story to come soon. I left at 3, and am just settling down.
It was hot, it was fun. Zero Rain (except on the way there, and the way back - what is it about Augusta?).

Another fun weekend. Sorry many of my great friends couldn't make it.

Set up paddock in our usual CMP spot, and not long after TA2 arrived. A former TA2 student was right across from us, and next to us was a Thunder racer (Norman) and his crew. It was hot, so everyone took their time getting set up. Looked at the clock and it was time to boogie back to Camden. Small fiasco at the gate, so we didn't leave for another 15 mins.

TA2(aka Torqueaholic) had me follow him out and showed me a great shortcut that cuts out all of lovely downtown Camden, its large police force, and all the stoplights and 35mph zones. Kudos!
Anywho - it was late, we just grabbed fast food and hit the hotel.
OnRails met us at the track when we got there Sat.

First session - sucked. 1 and 2 combined, lots of trains, and I just couldn't get out of my own way. Almost went off during a double yellow. :icon_no2:
Next 3 sessions were great. Worked on a lot of stuff.
It was HOT, but bearable, low humidity.
OnRails wife came over for the afternoon with their son and the dogs.
Katc10 came by with her boyfriend and hung out.
It was fun watching OnRails and TA2 checking timesheets for TT.
In the end, it was a 1-2 finish in TTC for our friends. :)

Standard awards ceremony (bbq and beers), but we didn't stay for the BRE party. Went back and cooled off, hit Chilis. 12 hrs in the heat had been enough.

In some scheduling oddness, NASA sent out a DE1/2 group first on Sunday. (my group). I was playing it cool- and had just worked up to speed when we get red flag at like 9 mins in.
Very new 350z in DE2 f'ed up the kink. Ended up sliding track right on the wet grass, and didn't stop till he had made an 8 ft hole in the tire wall. Luckily it slowed him down so hitting the tree didn't hurt too bad.

Will post more later,,,,

d

I survived my first Time Trial! After running with the TT group this weekend I'm hooked. :) There were 5 of us in TTC which made it a little more exciting. Three Mustangs, a BMW, and me in the RX-8. Going into this weekend I was looking at the past lap times in TTC at CMP. From that data I was sure that the guy to beat would be Everette in his BMW. Turns out though that TA2 was the guy to beat on Saturday. The modifications he has made to the Mustang have made that thing very fast. Fast enough to take 1st place in TTC on Saturday. Congrats to TA2! I reached my goal going in which was to beat the BMW on Saturday (which I barely did) for a 2nd place finish. Yahoo! The bad news is that I managed to cord one of my track tires Saturday. Not wanting to end up in the tire wall due to a blown tire, I switched to my 380 treadwear street tires for Sunday. I was actually pretty impressed with them. They did a lot better than I was expecting. My lap times were much slower with the street tires but I still had a lot of fun and I managed to avoid coming in dead last.

Here is what I liked about TT:

1. You are gridded by lap times. This is great because the guys in front of you are a little faster and the guys behind you are a little slower. This makes for lots of pretty clean laps. I also got to do battle with cars that were pretty even and run nose to tail with them. In HPDE you might find that other car that is running a similar pace to you and you might not. If you are on different parts of the track then you'll never find them. It really adds to the fun to have someone to chase or run away from that is just as fast or a little faster than you are. It would be a good thing if they had lap times in DE3 if nothing else for gridding purposes.

2. You get laps times after your session. It's fun to see if what felt like the fastest session of the day really was. Also I don't have to wait till after the event to go home and time every lap on my video.

3. It's not really that much different than DE3 as far as keeping up with the other drivers. In fact, since 3 and 4 run together so often it's a lot of the same people since there are so many instructors in TT. The only real difference is that a point by is not required. In reality though you get one almost every time. The only time you really don't is when it's obvious anyway like on a long straight when you have a much faster car behind you. Everyone plays very nice. You do have to keep an eye in your mirrors though.

4. There is a chance you will get to hug the trophy girls. :)

Both days were hot. Glad we didn't see any rain but it would have cooled things off a little. Got to meet Katc10 and her boyfriend. Nice folks. They came down to check out NASA. Hope they can come out and do some events with us. Met waldo briefly. He was busy most of the weekend working on a friends race car so we didn't get to chat long.

I could tell talking to Dano that he was doing really well. He is thinking several corners ahead and even got the point by from an STI. Way to go!

TA2 did very well with the gold monster. Congrats on your first place! It was really cool to be number one and number two in TTC on Saturday night. Glad I could help out with Everette and the season points.

I've got some great video to share of me battling with Everette and trying to keep up with TA2. I'll try to get some of it processed tonight.

Can't wait! Was this an old or new track layout weekend?

More from the weekend.

Thanks to OnRails and TA2 listening to me blabber on. I hadn't done a full solo weekend before, and I was yammering on about every little thing. Hanging out is always the best part. Good stories, good times.

Lots of great folks paddocked around us also.
Ronnie in the SVT Focus hung out, Norman Phelps was right next to us with his Thunder Mustang. What a fun guy. He signed our tech sheets in the paddock fri night, and got his crew to do TA2's brakes and rotors Sat night.
(Surprise! TA2 needed brakes!)
Tripper and the CCR guys helped me out with a CEL (i am gonna buy a code reader dammit) and we talked for a while. Very cool folks.

Bonus points to the folks at EverCool Bandana. Yup, I need to get some for you guys. They help alot in the heat.

L8- FYI - The chicks in the paddock were freaking hot! Best collection of talent I have seen at any event bar none. It was mind boggling.

I won't be going back out on the tires I have. They are street tires with tread, but no life left in em. In the process of getting new one's now (with new wheels).

Most interesting sight of the weekend - White guy, 6'4" , shaved head, large initials tattoo'ed into back of head,
on his forehead - softball sized tattoo of what looked like a Hello Kitty.
After he picked up his trophy for winning a race...........
He was walking thru the covered garage area barefoot, carrying a large live rooster, and drinking a 40oz Old English 800 Ale.

Can't wait! Was this an old or new track layout weekend?

New layout

L8- FYI - The chicks in the paddock were freaking hot! Best collection of talent I have seen at any event bar none. It was mind boggling.

Talent...lol.

You're right though. I've been noticing more women in general at these events lately. Hope they keep coming despite the chicken guy....

Maybe they are attracted to the chicken guy?
Who wouldn't want a tall tan guy carrying his own Rooster.....and a Hello Kitty tatted on his forehead.

There are pics btw - Rooster wasn't for a sacrifice - they have a pen set up by the trailer,

:lol:

Here is a video from CMP. This is one of my battles with Everette in the BMW. This was a really fun session. It takes me a few laps to catch him but he starts getting loose and finally lets me go by. You can also see TA2 in front of both of us but we never get close to him. Enjoy!

This is a large file. 158 MB. Runtime about 7 minutes.
Right-Click and Download to view:

TTC RX8 Chasing BMW (http://www.charlottesoftware.com/CMP/TTC_RX8_Chasing_BMW.wmv)

Onrails - just watched the video. First of all nice job indeed. You demonstrated excellent car control skills. You get back on the throttle early and stay in it until you go to the brakes (deep). Very nice indeed. I have 2 bits of advice.
1. Coming out of turn 7 - don't hug the track edge driver's left. Instead drive a straight line from track out to turn in for turn 8. This shortens the track distance and will drop lap time but maybe a 10th of a second. In TT, 10ths can be the difference between 2 cars. I lost at Roebling by a few hundredths!
2. Wait a fraction of a second longer before executing your downshift. It sounds like you are pretty close to overrevving the car on the blip/clutch release.
At any rate, a masterful job.

Onrails - just watched the video. First of all nice job indeed. You demonstrated excellent car control skills. You get back on the throttle early and stay in it until you go to the brakes (deep). Very nice indeed. I have 2 bits of advice.
1. Coming out of turn 7 - don't hug the track edge driver's left. Instead drive a straight line from track out to turn in for turn 8. This shortens the track distance and will drop lap time but maybe a 10th of a second. In TT, 10ths can be the difference between 2 cars. I lost at Roebling by a few hundredths!
2. Wait a fraction of a second longer before executing your downshift. It sounds like you are pretty close to overrevving the car on the blip/clutch release.
At any rate, a masterful job.

Thanks for the tips. I'm always open to advice. I've noticed that it's gotten a lot harder to get better lap times at CMP. It has now come down to mostly trying to make as few mistakes as possible.

I think you hear me overreving the car coming into 11. I was trying to get the car down into 2nd gear instead of my normal 3rd to see if I could keep him from pulling away. You can tell that his car has more horsepower and would probably eat my lunch at a track like Road Atlanta. Same thing with the TTC mustangs that I was able to beat at CMP.

I'm still debating what to do about the tire situation but the smart move would be to move down a tire size and into TTD. Cheaper for me and more competitive for the car. It's just that the 275's and I have had such good times together. :) Wonder if there are any more of those used Ultraleggeras out there?

I'll have some more video processed tonight.

^Great video OnRails! I would really like get down to CMP sometime soon and have my first track experience. Just need to save up some money for it.

^Great video OnRails! I would really like get down to CMP sometime soon and have my first track experience. Just need to save up some money for it.

Check out this link: http://www.nasa-southeast.com/workers.jsp

You can earn track days by working the events. May be an option for you.

John, watched your video with envy. That BMW was all over the place. You were pushing him down the track and he was feeling the pressure. When he would exit 3 I would cringe. I thought he was going to loose it once there and that would not have been pretty. On the other hand, you looked very much in control and only got squirrelly a couple times and only once did you really loose any time (turn 11). Good stuff! Thanks for sharing.

Very Nice. I heard your descriptions of it this weekend, but love seeing the vid.

Man, do what makes you happy with tires (or gives you the flexibility to hit as many events as possible - whichever that is). TTC and TTD are both competitive groups, and you have pretty much shown you'll be someone either group will be taking notice of.

Ok here is some more video.

The first is just one or two laps but it shows a "moment" I had in the kink. I don't even remember this happening so apparently it didn't make a big impression on me at the time but I saw it when I was watching my videos later and thought "Holy Crap. I almost lost it."

The second is how things changed when I went to the street tires. (Kumo Ecsta SPT) They still did pretty good considering but I end up running with some different cars. Running the street tires was actually a lot of fun. It made me concentrate more on threshold braking and avoiding getting into the ABS.

Right-Click and Download to watch. First video is 47 MB. Second video is 125 MB.

Loose In The Kink (http://www.charlottesoftware.com/CMP/RX8_Loose_Kink_20080712.wmv)

On Street Tires (http://www.charlottesoftware.com/CMP/TTC_RX_Street_Tires_20080712.wmv)

on rails --if you want to downside tires i could have a deal for you.
i have 17x8 enkei rp2 wheels with r5 hoosiers 225/45 size(we all know hoosiers run wide:), the tires do not have a lot of heat cycles and plenty of wear left. Since i have upgraded my power --i need bigger tires/wheels.
by the way the tires/wheels weight is 40lbs a corner!!! Thats with lugnuts!! That is over a 10 lb weight advantage over stock.
PM me if you are interested in talking.
olddragger

on rails --if you want to downside tires i could have a deal for you.
i have 17x8 enkei rp2 wheels with r5 hoosiers 225/45 size(we all know hoosiers run wide:), the tires do not have a lot of heat cycles and plenty of wear left. Since i have upgraded my power --i need bigger tires/wheels.
by the way the tires/wheels weight is 40lbs a corner!!! Thats with lugnuts!! That is over a 10 lb weight advantage over stock.
PM me if you are interested in talking.
olddragger

PM sent. I think what I have would be perfect for a supercharged RX-8.

We had another awesome weekend.

We laughed, we cried, we crushed brake pads, we burned tires, we won some, we sweated a lot, we had a ball!

Danno did really well as a solo driver with no off-track excursions or other issues. Good job, you looked smooth on the track.

OnRails was cookin' on his first outing in TTC. I really had to turn up the wick to stay ahead of him. Good job man and it was great to meet your charming better half and your son.

Ronnie was having a blast in his Focus again until he ran into the mis-fire issue, I think he finally has it figured out.

Norman was paddocked next to us and we had a great time shooting the breeze with him and his mechanic helper friends helped me a great deal on the Saturday evening brake job.

I had one student in a brand new Bullitt Mustang, he was a good driver to begin with and got better as the weekend went along. His friend was there also in a new Bullitt and we did some lead / follow but my guy was clearly faster.. Good instruction ;)

My other student was a kid whom just graduated from high school and got an '03 or so STI. We were pretty much the slowest car in HPDE 1A at the beginning of the weekend and finally got a few point-by's on Sunday after some serious encouragement to use the gas pedal and show me at least 6500 rpms on the tach for all shifts.

I was happy with my TTC weekend. It was worth a set of brake pads to beat Everette on Saturday. My best time was a full 3 secs faster than my fastest lap in April even if the track conditions were not near as good as they were back then. CMP is still the toughest track for me and I was pleased with the improvements.

I did a tire rotation on Sunday am and for some reason that combined with the corners being buttered up pretty bad from saturday made my car pretty loose for the first session and Everette got me by about .4 sec. On John's advice I added 2 PSI in the back for the second session and that was good enough to again get the upper hand on Everette, we had a great battle for about 3 laps but he lost it comming out of turn 4 and DQ'd.

Alas, that wasn't good enough I could not match the prior session's times so Everette won on Sunday. The good thing is thanks to OnRail's heroic efforts on Saturday I got a points advantage over the weekend. I turns out Everette is a great guy we had a nice chat Sunday afternoon and we talked about a possible Kart challenge at the track up in Charlotte one of these days.

There were some pretty nice cars on track including a brand new looking Audi S5 in HPDE3, the new Bullits, and a few Lotus Sevens and other interesting rides.

I am geting psyched about RA already..

Glad you guys had fun, I missed this due to work, again, and a bad steering shaft. More parts are still coming in, and hopefully they will all be on before RA again this fall.

Glad to see everyone is still poking along.

STF