Carving Cones in College Station, TX
Date: March 17-18th, 2012
Car: 2001 Chevrolet Camaro Z28
Class: E Street Prepared
Tire: Goodyear Eagle RS (AC Compound)
Driver (s): Dave Ogburn, David Ogburn (my Father) co-driver
Combined Day 1&2 Results
Total Competitors: 162
Class Competitors: 6
Class Finish Overall: P2 (trophy position)
Delta to 1st Overall: 3.827s
Delta to 1st (raw time, no cones counted) Overall: 2.074
PAX Index Finish Overall: 25th
Day 1 Results
Class Finish Day 1: P2 (trophy position)
Delta to 1st Day 1: 2.752
Delta to 1st (raw time, no cones counted) Day 1: 0.999s
PAX Index Finish Day 1: 62nd
Day 2 Results
Class Finish Day 2: P2 (trophy position)
Delta to 1st Day 2: 1.075s
Delta to 1st (raw time, no cones counted) Day 2: 1.075s
PAX Index Finish Day 2: 6th
Results Links
Overall Results - http://www.scca.com/events/
Lined up on the starting line for Day 1 of the 2012 TX Nat Tour
My Parents, Ali and I traveled to College Station, TX for the 2012 Texas National Tour last weekend. This was my first National Tour event and overall it was a success. My Dad got his first bit of seat time in our Camaro and really enjoyed the car - he is enjoying getting back to RWD! We had 6 competitors in the ESP class for the two-day shootout. Weather was good and luckily the rain stayed away all weekend. On Day 1, I had trouble with the cones and finished up well back from 1st place due to hitting cones on my two fastest runs. My 2nd run was my only clean run of the day and a spat of brake hop near the finish ruined my run and therefore I started Day 2 2.7s back from Mark Madarash and his 1988 Trans Am.
During the Friday test session and Day 1's competition runs, I was struggling with overall braking capacity which was hurting my ability to trail-brake and "point" the car on turn-in. I made a front brake pad compound change before the Day 2 competition runs which made a big difference. Combine that with some better driving and I improved my pace relative to the PAX index results and Mark's times. At day's end, I had a clean 61.1s lap in the bank which was good enough for P6 in PAX out of 162 competitors. However, Mark had another strong day and finished with a 60.0s run that propelled in to Top PAX for Day 2.
For my first National event in the Camaro, I am pleased with the 2nd Place trophy, but finishing 2 seconds in raw pace back from 1st place is strong motivation to improve the car/driver competition as we move toward the Solo Natoinal Championships in September. I have several items to develop on the car that should help me pick up valuable tenths on my ESP class competition. Additionally, the Goodyear Eagle RS tires we are running this year will be a key advantage over my Hoosier-shod compeitors at future National events.
My Dad finished his first ever event in the Camaro in 4th place out of the 6 ESP competitors. He did a great job adapting to the new car and had some fun along the way too! As always, it was great fun racing my family and I am looking forward to our next National Tour event over Memorial Day.
Onboard video from each day's fast runs:
Photos of the variety of cars racing in the Texas Solo scene:
Beautiful 2011 Championship Winning D-Mod Lotus
Mark's Championship Winning ESP Trans Am
Dad Ripping up the Texas Concrete
Justin Barker on a Flyer in an A-Stock Corvette
Wicked Fast B-Mod Racer
Greg Piper's F-Mod Formula 500
Lane Borg Won A-Stock Class in 2004 Corvette
Photo credit: Ali Rutherford
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