2006 One Lap of America
 

Well, I sold the Nissan to my brother and replaced it with an RX8. The Sentra was a fine One Lap car (won the econo class) but now it's time to play with the big boys in SSGT2. Going with the "keep it simple" approach, the car preparation consists of Mazdaspeed everything (already installed when I bought it), a trailer hitch to haul the obligatory barbeque trailer, tires (Yokohama ADVAN Neova AD07) and brake pads.

We'll be at the following tracks:

Saturday May 6 (AM) Tirerack (wet skidpad) - Southbend IN
Saturday May 6 (PM) Autobahn Country Club - Joliet IL
Sunday May 7 Mid America Motorplex - Pacific Junction IA
Monday May 8 No Problem Raceway - Bell Rose LA
Tuesday May 9 Roebling Road - Bloomingdale GA
Tuesday May 9 (PM) Tirerack - Midway GA (passage control)
Tuesday May 9 (late PM) Florence Speedway - Timmonsville SC
Wednesday May 10 - VIR - Alton VA
Thursday May 11 - Putnam Park - Mt. Meridien IN
Thursday May 11 (PM) - US 41 Dragway - Morocco IN
Friday May 12 - Road America - Elkhart Lake WI
Saturday May 13 - Tirerack (dry skidpad) - Southbend IN

Stop by and say "hi" - we'll be the old farts in the red RX8. Probably the only RX8 unless some of you get off your arses and enter.

Check out the website http://www.onelapofamerica.com for more info.

We are one of the two principal Emergency Barbeque Racing entries. Emergency Barbeque Racing: combining motorsports with fine dining since 1998. EBBQ racing "when barbeque is more than a meal, it's an emergency!"

http://www.ebbqracing.com

How can you call this "Lap of America" when you're not even coming close to the West Coast?? :(

>> How can you call this "Lap of America" when you're not even coming close to the West Coast??


The route varies year to year and is based primarily on availability of racing venues and the distance between tracks. Check out the site and you'll see we've gotten to the west coast a lot. In fact we've had at least two start/finishes in Long Beach.

Guess I'll keep my eyes open for it next year then...

Good luck brother.

Goodluck Mike, it's nice to see an RX-8 in it.

On a side note, does anyone know what Ron Adee is running this year? When I was at AMS earlier this year they said he had just ordered up some custom fabricated parts, but I doubt he's running an Evo.

How do you expect the RX8 do to against other cars in SSGT2 that will potenially have hundreds of more hp than you do?

To finish 1st, 1st you must finish. :) There's also 'just because it's there'.

Good luck guys! For many years, friends have been trying to get me to do this event, and every year I say 'next year' after I look at my finances and vacation available.

go get 'em ;)

hmmm... i've been meaning to do a road trip....

Oh, I am by no means trying to piss in his wheaties, I wish him all best as One Lap is a great event (I've crewed for two years for some friends). My comments here are more for a general discussion on the RX8s competitiveness. Just taking on the event should be commended. I'm just trying to point out that before they dump a ton of money in a RX8, it just may not be the best platform to start with. If they just want to run for the fun of it, heck just keep it stock and enjoy.

Here's the basic rules of their class:

SSGT2-

- Sports/GT cars with an original MSRP under $40,000 – Engine displacement under 3.5L

- Unless otherwise specified all vehicle modifications are allowed (this includes engine transplants), provided they meet with the spirit of the event; requirements of safety, good taste, common sense, etc. - bascially you can do anything!

- Tires: Entered vehicles will run on mass-produced, readily available DOT-approved tires with highway-legal (2/32 of an inch) tread depth (no shaving permitted). The same set of tires will be used throughout the event unless changes are deemed necessary for safety reasons by the organizers. Corsa series, R-rated tires, any tires with a manufacturers wear-rating of less than 140 or tires intended for autocross style competition are specifically banned.


So the class comes down to any 3.4L or less sports car that MSRP'd for less than $40,000 when new and you have to run a spec tire. That's it. If you dump $100k in parts in the car after the fact, no problemo.

So tell me how you complete against a 400+hp STi/Evo in a RX8 and hope to win the class? Even with all go-fast mods and a turbo/supercharger, the best you can get from a RX8 is about 300hp. While RX8s do great on autox and low speed handling, on a road course (and drag race if they are doing that this year) power is king.

There is certainly no guarantee that the RX8 will come close to dominating its class. That said, there have been lot's of 500hp killer machines that dominated first few track events only to leave a retched pile of broken engine bits all over the tarmac before the halfway point.

First and foremost, One Lap is an endurance event. We're scored on our track performance but the transit sections claim many a car (think 500 overheating horsepower stuck in Atlanta rush hour traffic). Driver fatigue can be a major factor as well, especially during those midnight encounters with Bambi. (Yup, we've lost more than a couple of cars to wildlife strikes.) So, there's a lot to be said for entering a basically stock vehicle.

Then there's the comfort factor. I've run a rolling grenade with full cage and 2 inches of ground clearance. A lot of fun on the track BUT after first 500 miles of no air-conditioning and your fillings starting to vibrate out of your teeth, a stock Buick Park Avenue starts looking pretty good.

- Mike

Mike... one of my friends is the car that hit the Boar a few years ago in his Subaru. :) Dodging wildlife in the wee hrs of the morning is very much a part of the 'race'.

Heavily modded cars rarely go the distance, unless tons of R&D is invested and/or they are well known cars. Look at why Porsches 911/993/etc. still dominate, not always the fastest but everyone knows how to modify and prep them and they seem to be there at the end.

Otherwise, I've seen many break down at autox events, hardly demanding events. Last two sport compact comparisons I remember seeing;
-one had two Evo's going at it by master tuners, only one made it through the quarter mile while the other blew a rod
-another had a tuned Jetta, Skyline and Cobalt going at it, and none made it through the timed track portion

Going with a near stock car may be the ticket. Good luck.

MCR - best of luck in this great race!

Since we're less than a week away from the start I thought this could use a bump..

Looking at the entry list you guys are going to have a really rough time doing well in class (3xNoble 400s :eek:), best of luck none the less. I'm hoping to go to Road America to spectate, if I do I'll stop by and say hello.

Adee is running a twin turbocharged chevy engined Viper that I'm sure is making some ungodly amount of power, AMS will have their time attack Evo there (they used their drag car last year :lol:), and Ford SVT is backing a '07 Shelby GT500. Should be a fun year!