In prep for this upcoming weekend's SCCA Vintage race weekend at Laguna Seca, I took the Race Wagon down to the secret location of the IEM Racing bat-cave for a suspension and steering tune-up. We strung up a string box to confirm front-to-rear alignment, reset the front and rear toe and camber settings, then adjusted the cornerwieghts to get the crossweight back to 50-50. Bad … [Read more...] about STRING ‘IM UP!
GETTING THROUGH TECH
An important part of driving your car on a racetrack is passing the required technical safety inspection prior to getting access to the track. While the level of scrutiny will vary by organization, the goals are the same: minimize the possibility of injury to the driver due to a mechanical malfunction, and ensuring that required safety equipment is properly installed. A … [Read more...] about GETTING THROUGH TECH
VARA HIGH DESERT CHALLENGE 2011, Part 3
Wagons, wagons, everywhere... Maybe I'm just noticing old stationwagons more these days, but at this weekend's race there were cool wagons everywhere! I've never been a trend setter, so it's certainly not my doing, but I sure like this fad. These wagons were all cruising the pits at Willow Springs, except the last shot, that one's my wife's ;-) … [Read more...] about VARA HIGH DESERT CHALLENGE 2011, Part 3
VARA HIGH DESERT CHALLENGE 2011, Part 2
Racing by the numbers This weekend's race schedule was one of the busiest ever for me. Saturday included a 30 minute timed practice, a 40 minute qualifying race, a 30 minute enduro practice, and a 70 minute enduro. Sunday's schedule added another 30 minute practice and a 40 minute flag race. 240 minutes, that's 4 hours! Take off 10 minutes per event for warm-ups, … [Read more...] about VARA HIGH DESERT CHALLENGE 2011, Part 2
VARA HIGH DESERT CHALLENGE 2011, Part 1
The Race Report This weekend I raced at the annual VARA Enduro weekend event held at Willow Springs Int'l Raceway, "The Fastest Track in the West". This track certainly lives up to it's name, in the Race Wagon it's a two gear/two shift track. The first half of the 2.5 miles in 4th gear, one upshift and the second half in 5th. That's a lot of time at full throttle, good thing … [Read more...] about VARA HIGH DESERT CHALLENGE 2011, Part 1
MORE LAGUNA SECA TRACKDAYS
It's amazing, but yesterday I nearly got my fill of Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. After two days of continuous track time with Your Private Track Day, I actually went home saying I got enough laps. Phillip Holmes runs a great trackday club, and instructing with his club is a good time. The schedule ran with three groups - Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced/Instructors, and they … [Read more...] about MORE LAGUNA SECA TRACKDAYS