Speedway Motors 2012 SCCA Solo National Championships Music Video

I didn't hit a cone or spin at the 2012 Solo Nats so the Goodyear Eagle RS / StranoParts.com Camaro didn't have much of a chance to the video....but it is still worth a watch. Some of our good friends made the video which is good to see!

Slidin' Sideways in my Scion FR-S at H2R w/ Video

I went to Harris Hill Road this past weekend for my first track day in the FR-S. My buddies and I arrived around Noon during one of the H2R challenge races, and we were able to start lapping at 2PM after the races. Yama who is an H2R member and our guide for the day took me out for me sighting laps to start the on-track fun. After two solo Sessions, I started to push a bit more and got down to a 1:33.8s lap. After starting in the 1:35s range, I was happy to shave two seconds off without taking too much risk of balling up my daily driver. I'm sure there was a 1:32 out there.....but with only about 9 hot laps on the track prior to my 1:33.8s lap that was only going to happen if I didn't own the car or have to drive it home! I was also able to take Yama, Stuart, and Josh out for a demo ride in the new car so we could all have some fun. To feel the car out and get comfortable sliding it around, I also did some drift practice (see video below). All in all, we got about two hours of open track time before some heavy rain started. It showed no sign of letting up and there were some big thunderstorms predicted for our drive home, so we bolted. 

Despite getting cut short on track time, it was a blast. The FR-S is great on track - it was fun for the time attack laps and great for drifting out of the box. My car is only slightly modified, but from what I've read about the stock tires on track performance, I'm glad I was able to put the Goodyear tires on my car before going to H2R. It has great yaw damping and is very controllable in a slide especially in 2nd gear where you can use your right foot to steer more. Some more power would help in higher speed (3rd and 4th gear corner) drifting because it is hard to keep the drift alive on corner exit with the current engine output. For grip driving, it has one of the better stock balances of car's I've driven in it's price range. Most vehicles have strong understeer balance from the factory, but the Scion is easy and rewarding to make dance with the pedals. I was only running 3 laps stints to be easy on the engine, tires, and brakes, but I did not get any brake fade all day....which is not bad for a factory brake system. I'm glad I finally got to experience how this car is supposed to be driven.....and it didn't disappoint!

Here is in-car video with data overlay from my two fast laps:

Some drifting clips:

Yama and I at Micky D's on the way to H2R

View from the H2R Pits

My Rear Tires after some abuse at H2R - they hold up pretty well!

We got hailed on by this storm on the way home....not fun

Another Trip to Paradise - Bondurant Advanced Road Racing Class

Entrance to the Bondurant School including the Tony Stewart liveried Vette

Well, some of you may not consider Chandler, Arizona paradise, but you can't deny that the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving is great fun and fantastic place to learn the craft of driving cars to the limit. I completed a 3-Day Advanced Road Racing class at the Bondurant school two weeks ago with two of my co-workers. We had three students including myself and two instructors for the class which makes for an excellent instructor/student ratio. My instructor was Pete Miller and I also worked with Austin Robison who both did an excellent job during the school and provided expert feedback to each student.

Drifting fun on the Firebird West Track

We were very fortunate to be able to driver three different tracks during the three day class. We started Day 1 in the Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sports on sticky Goodyear Eagle F1 tires and drove the Bondurant School track for a full day. For Day 2, we moved to the Firebird West Track and were welcomed with rainy conditions! This sounds like a negative but getting wet track time is rare and provides an excellent car control training ground. I also managed to have some fun drifting the oval section of the West Track as you can see in the photo above! After Day 2, my co-workers and I rented shifter karts for two hours and had loads of fun ripping around the Bondurant SuperKart school track. Thanks to Alan Rudolph to making it possible!

Rooster tailing in the wet on the West Track

Another wet driving shot from the West Track

For Day 3, we moved to the Firebird East Track which is my favorite track that the Bondurant School has to offer. In addition to the great track, we were allowed to drive the Bondurant Camaros in addition to the Grand Sport Corvettes which allowed myself and the other students to get driver training in multiple platforms which really helps to fine-tune advanced driving skills.

Group shot with my classmates

This was my third Bondurant class and fifth trip to the facility and I really enjoyed my experience this year. The Bondurant schools offers a top-notch training ground with great instructors, ample track time, and track-worthy vehicles. I would highly recommend a trip to Chandler, AZ to get faster on the track and to have a little fun along the way.

I took many hours of GoPro video and will post a compilation of the different tracks and cars when I get some time in the next few weeks. Stay tuned!

Here are some other photos from the trip:

Gordon stock car in the Bondo Museum

Ford GT40 in the Bondo Museum

A little baseball action after a full day of on-track activities

Updated Goodyear Contingency for 2012 Solo Nationals

Goodyear has updated it's contingency program for the 2012 Solo Nationals. They are paying 4 tires for 1st place and 2 tires for 2nd place. There is a minimum of 5 competitors required to pay out for 1st and 2nd place. This applies to all DOT-R and race tire classes. See the link below for more details:

http://scca.cdn.racersites.com/prod/...r-Solo-NC1.pdf

SCCA's Solo Nats contingencies article has been updated also:

http://www.scca.com/solo/news.cfm?cid=51101

2012 SCCA Texas Solo National Tour Race Report

Carving Cones in College Station, TX

Event: 2012 SCCA Solo Texas National Tour 
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/index.cfm?eid=3595 

PAX Results - http://www.sccaforums.com/forums/forumid/9/threadid/425743/scope/posts  

 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

Tires Tires Tires.....

I will be running Goodyear Eagle RS tires on my ESP Camaro Z28 this year. I just a received a shipment of 315/35ZR17 tires that should last me the full season. Hopefully, I can help put Goodyear on the top step at this year's Solo Nationals in Lincoln, Nebraska. I can't wait to put some laps on the fresh sneakers!