Got my NASA provisional license

NYSpeed Automotive
1

Great weekend at New Jersey Motorsports Park. Ran the Lightning track with the NASA northeast region on Friday and I intended to run races on Saturday and Sunday. Got through the Competition School with a busted motor, but learned a ton and got used acquanted somewhat with wheel to wheel racing. It’s a whole different ball game than DE events.

For anyone interested in getting their Comp license with NASA (or SCCA for that matter), preparation and support is very important. The school is a bit hectic and you go right from the car to the class room and back to the car. There is very little downtime, so having a bit of a crew is essential.

The car was ready, but really needed a last minute valve adjustment/check before I hit the road. The rocker arms were making a ton of noise and probably had loosened up a bit in the first 100 miles or so, but I had to hit the track, so I let them go. Mid way through the second track session I heard a loud bang, and I hoped to God it was the guy next to me. Asking him later, he said he thought he had a bit of a backfire, so I didn’t panic just yet. The 3rd session was the first at full speed, the first two were simple drills run at about half speed, just to see if you could handle the car and learn the track. Full speed was still pretty slow for me, I had no power coming out of the corners, but still felt confident about my driving and the car. My little SpecE30 was getting blown away by the American Iron Mustangs and the GT3 M3s, but I was holding my own against the cars in my class, with the exception of the straights. Lunch came and my support had taken off with the truck, some of the tools, most of my cash, and the water I really needed to drink. The next session was closing in, so I took the $16 I had in the trailer and bought 4 gallons of gas at the track. No tools to check the valves, they’d have to wait. I was really moving, relatively speaking, this session. I had passed a few guys in my class and was holding them off through the turns well enough to keep them behind me even with the straights coming up. The second to last classroom session we decided to take a much needed break and have our full on practice race in an hour. This would be enough time for me to go over the car and really put down an impressive lap time. This is where I found 2 broken rocker arms. Intake on #4, exhaust on #5. Intake wasn’t opening at all, exhaust might be opening half way. Great, I guess this is why I was so slow all morning. Then I noticed the coolant, must have busted the head too. My day was finished. My weekend was finished. This sucks. I check in with the Comp school director who tells me he saw enough to pass me and good luck with the bad motor.

All in all, I learned a descent amount about wheel to wheel racing. If you take the DE line, you leave yourself open to everyone and their brother to pass you. If you don’t prepare you car and keep an eye on it, your weekend will end before it begins. Cars are EVERYWHERE, different classes means that someone may always be coming up behind you.

Now it’s time to find a new head, get the car back together, and get my 4 races in!

2

It’s gota be wild trying to drive with that many cars out there. Sucks that your car didn’t hold up though.

3

After 5 months of sitting around I finally hit the track for my first wheel to wheel (W2W) competition. I bought a freshly (but several years old) rebuilt head off of another 'Speeder and threw it on the car. Never touching anything else with the 197kish motor I bought and resealed off of MPD47 (thanks!). Did one autocross at the Army Depot to make sure I put everything back together correctly and there weren’t any other major issues. Car ran ok other than a lousy idle, but I figured load it up on the trailer and take it down to THUNDER AT THE GLEN. This was a NASA Northeast event, a great group of people and tons of fun. The NASA races are typically run with a PDA DE event, so there was a quite a mix of cars. Friday was open track, Saturday and Sunday were practice/qualifying/race each day.

Being Watkins Glen, my home track, I figured I had the line down and knew the ins and outs of each turn. Time to see what kind of times I’ll put down and where I’m losing ground in the corners to the much more experienced (and better) drivers. I was really running the car hard, pushing the braking zones deeper and deeper as I got more confident in practice. Sliding the car through the turns I figured I was going to be right in the mix of things come race time. My first timed laps were posted and the wind was completely taken out of my sails. I was almost 10 seconds off the mid-pack pace for SpecE30. What was I doing wrong? I checked in with a few other the other SpecE30 guys to see if they had any comments based on what they might have seen on track. The consistent suggestion was to brake later and don’t leave the door wide open for the guy behind you to pass (but don’t be a dick and block the faster cars). Being on my provisional license for 4 races, I figured I’ll still keep out of everyone’s way, but push the braking zones even further. By the end of the first day, I was about 4 seconds a lap faster. I had started to notice in the toe of the boot the car refused to increase in revs until the track leveled out (the sole of the boot). This was a problem for the people behind me as I was holding them up. Foot planted firmly to the floor in 3rd gear just wasn’t cutting it. As I started to grow more and more aware of the cars closing in behind me, I began driving the hell out of my mirrors. This caused me to apex way early for the heel of the boot and track out into the grass beyond the rumble strips. Being cold and wet out, I chose to try and ride it out and ease back onto the racing surface. This is where I spun. The spin was inevitable, but 2 feet in controlled it and stopped my rotation. I was able to keep the car running and ease back onto the track and end my session a bit early. End of day 1.

Day 2 was the big day. My first qualifying session and first race. I shaved another second off my fastest lap in qualifying enough to put me 38th on grid (out of 38…), but closer to the pack. SpecE30 had a 9 car field and we chose to grid together at the back of the pack (where I was anyway). As we rolled around to the start/finish line after the pace lap I prepared for the green flag. I got a great start and picked up 2 quick positions on the inside heading into turn 1. I got squeezed a bit by another guy in our class, perfectly legal, and dropped back a spot. At this point, heading through turn 1 and into the esses I realize the car really is down on power. The guy in class behind me didn’t have much momentum but he was able to drive around me like I was coasting up the hill. Half a lap later, the field had left me behind. 5 laps in there was a full course yellow, I had to keep up my pace to catch the back of the field. Once I did, the yellow flagged went away and it was time to get on the gas again. I hung with a Porsche 944 and a Porsche SuperCup car who obviously had issues. Heading into the bus stop I out broke the 944 and picked up a short lived position. He pushed me out into the grass and I had to drop in behind him. That was short lived as his motor exploded coming into the carousel. 5 laps later I was lapped by the top two cars in the field. Cross the finish line and feel a huge sense of relief, my first ever race was complete. 7 cars had a DNF, so I wasn’t last. I coast into my garage space and the car runs out of gas, guess I had less than I thought. End of Day 2.

Sunday, Day 3, more of the same. In practice my brake pedal is mush and I decide to replace the wafer thin pads on the rear of the car. 3 seasons is all I can get out of rear pads I guess. Head out for qualifying, the car feels sluggish again and the brakes aren’t much better. I set my fastest lap of the weekend in this session. Another 2 seconds of my time. Feeling confident that I’m not that far behind the field, I think bleeding the brakes one more time ought to give me the confidence I need to brake even later in the race. Qualified 35th today, out of 35… Same grid scheme as yesterday, same number of SpecE30s. Another good start for me coming off the pace lap, got 2 positions again and didn’t lose them until the back straight. Drafting is a real thing I found as I was able to get into 5th gear about 200 feet sooner than usual, but heading into the bus stop I was passed by the other 2 guys in my class and I was able to hang on to the back of the field until the toe of the boot where the car fell on it’s face again. More of the same in this race, but I wasn’t lapped. I wasn’t able to shave any more seconds off my lap time, but I did finish the race. 30th (I think) overall, 2 races down. Half way to getting off the provision and a plan to get some power back for next season.

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:tup:

keep at it and you’ll improve! Just finishing races at all means you’re doing something right

5

good read! I really hope to get into racing some day…

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I know I’m better than back of the pack, especially since I’m not in the slowest class for the race group. A few more horses from a rebuild and I can start learning to really race. Then figure out what I don’t know how to do.

Racing (or being on track in practice and qualifying with no point-bys) is entirely different than DEs.

7

Congrats on the license and your first W2W race. Keep it up. Nice writeup too. What time did you get down to at the Glen?

8

Did bleeding your brakes ever help the feel? or was it something else?

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A SLOOOOOOOOOW 2:27 lap…

Class record for SpecE30 was set that weekend of 2:20, but the mid-pack guys were 2:23-2:24

---------- Post added at 09:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:53 PM ----------

Never figure it out, could be the clutch needs to be bled as well or the master cylinder is going. The car stopped fine without pumping, but the pedal was soft.

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He pushed me out into the grass and I had to drop in behind him. That was short lived as his motor exploded coming into the carousel.

:lol: Great read man!

11

2:27 isn’t bad at all. I’m sure you’ll find a few more seconds out there and be right in the thick of things.

12

Sounds like a great time even if the car wasn’t up to par. :tup:

Hope you keep updating this thread as you continue racing.

13

Eh…my unofficial time with the same car (lower mileage motor that leaked more oil) was 2-3 seconds faster. Unofficial though…

---------- Post added at 01:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:39 PM ----------

Will do, no more updates until spring though.

14

Congrats Greg! Looking forward to hearing more. I may have another M20/trans for you if you’re interested :wink:

15

Might not be a bad idea!

16

great read!!! keep up the great work and remember that I’m just down the street if you ever need a hand working on the car or whatever. I need to get my car back together x1000000

17

:tup: Good job. Sounds like the motor might need refreshing, but even with a tired motor, you’ll get faster once you learn the track. For that kind of car, carrying momentum through the turn will minimze your losses somewhat even if the car is lacking power.

18

What is the power & weight restriction in the spec e30 class? Or is there any?

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Nice dude!

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Min weight is 2750# with driver. Max power is whatever you get from a completely stock M20B25 motor with a “factory service manual” type rebuild. The most I’ve seen is around 165ish at the rear wheels.