High Plains Raceway - 1:57.6 SRF3 Qualifying Lap

This was my fastest qualifying lap in my SRF3 from the August 2018 SCCA Majors race at High Plains Raceway in Colorado. It is my quickest lap around HPR to date (despite the missed shift) and put me on pole for both races over the weekend. The data between the July and August races was interesting - I mainly gained speed from a better exit from Turn 2 onto the back straight and also seemed to have a bit more straight-line speed - could be from the engine breaking in more or from alignment changes I made before the August race.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSKgFCx75wo

Solo Nationals Onboard Video

This is my fastest run from Day 2 of the 2017 Solo Nationals on the West Course - 61.554s. It was good enough for 2nd quick on the day and moved me up from 14th to 6th in class after a slower than normal Day 1 result.

2017 Mineral Wells ProSolo in a C-Street 2016 ND MX-5

These are my fastest runs from the 2017 Mineral Wells ProSolo - 40.068 on the left, 40.649 on the right. I won C-Street by 0.5s - it was a tough battle with several former National Champions. I am driving a 2016 Mazda MX-5 in C-Street class. Thanks to Deana for the co-drive!

Spec Racer Ford onboard video from the Lone Star Majors race at Texas World Speedway

This was my fastest lap (1:55.632) of the Sunday qualifying session at the SCCA Lone Star Majors race at Texas World Speedway during Memorial Day weekend 2017. I was on pole position for both races over the weekend. This was my first trip to TWS. It is a fast and fun layout. I hope it stays around!

Highlights from Sunday's Spec Racer Ford Race at COTA

COTA Super Tour Qualifying - Onboard Video

This is my fastest lap from Spec Racer Ford qualifying at the 2017 SCCA Hoosier Super Tour event at the Circuit of the Americas. This was my first race weekend in a Spec Racer Ford and it was pretty darn fun to drive at COTA despite the low engine power. I qualified 5th in class with a 2:37.274 which put me about 0.8s off the Pole. 

Yaw Moment Racing Newsletter - October 2016

I'm a bit late posting this to the website but this was last newsletter I sent out recapping Solo Nats and the Runoffs. I will have a new newsletter coming out shortly with 2017 plans.  Email me at yawmomentracing@gmail.com if you would like to be added to the mailing list. Thanks!

Runoffs Updates

The schedule for the 2016 SCCA Runoffs has been released. I will have four qualifying sessions on Monday (9/19) through Thursday (9/22) at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The Touring 4 race is scheduled for 5:10pm on Friday (9/23) and will be 40 minutes or 23 laps - whichever comes first.

I will post live timing info as we get closer to the event. I need one more race weekend on the SCCA US Majors Tour to qualify for the Runoffs. More details on that later!

Also released is the paddock map which shows just how many parking spots is needed to house the SCCA's biggest club racing event. I've heard rumors that this may be the biggest entry count in the history of the Runoffs....we shall see. When the reservation system opens up later this month, I will hopefully be getting a paved spot - need to be quick on the mouse click I think. Grass is fine until it rains...

The draft test day schedule has also been released by the SCCA. Damn, the first two days are expensive! I don't have nearly enough vacation/dough to make that happen but will likely run the Sunday session to get dialed in before the quali session on Monday the 19th.

In NOLA This Weekend for the SCCA Majors Tour

 We are in Nawlins this weekend for the first round of the Mid-States Conference US Majors Tour. The car is back together and running well. Yesterday I picked up my first pole, led every lap and took home the win in Touring 4 class. I run in Group 5 which has a large mixed field (40+cars) with 9 different classes including some cars on DOT race tires and some casrs on full slicks.

 

 Saturday's race was 25min and today's race is 18 laps or 35min (whichever comes first). Right now, Jim Drago has pipped me for Sunday's pole with a faster race lap yesterday (1:59.2) but I have a chance to re-claim the pole in qualifying today. A 35min race will actually be the longest stint/race of my career and certainly a bit different than autocross!

Qualifying today is 10:10am and the race is at 3:10pm. 

You can follow along here: www.scca.com/live

T4 RX8 Update - Car is in pieces now

It's been radio silence here for the past few weeks. I've been busy in the shop since my first race weekend at MSR Cresson three weeks ago. Despite the frigid weather that weekend, it started reasonably on Saturday morning. I was the only T4 car there (small field overall, non-points early season race) and there is no data/times for T4 cars on this Cresson configuration to go on so I didn't really know where the car's pace should be. My goal was to push, feel how it performed over a race distance, and generally "get used to" club racing on a practice weekend. The RX8 felt great under braking and had a good balance. I'm till having an issue with the trans popping out of 3rd with any throttle lift, so I was mostly driving one-handed. Not ideal but I can work around it. I bought a spare 2009 transmission which will be going in the car, and I will rebuild the current trans.

It all went to hell in qualifying though.....I ran 3 flyers and got my lap time in a range I thought was decent and then had a slight miss in 4th gear on the double apex left. I ran around 2 more laps trying to diagnose the problem (intermittent anywhere on track vs. only in corners vs. only in that corner, etc.) when the motor took a dump. Darin George at MER (Mazda Enterprises Racing) was nice and towed me over to their shop. He did a compression test which showed great compression on Rotor #2 and zero compression on Rotor #1. Basically, something broke and I needed a rebuild.

I got my motor to MER the following Friday and they tore it down. The side seals on Rotor #1 had burned up. Rotor # 1 needed to be replaced, but luckily the rotor housing was OK. The engine failure was actually a blessing in disguise because we found several "potential rules issues" with the engine that was in the car. In the end, MER brokered a deal with Texas Autosports to purchase my original engine and I purchased a freshly rebuilt, fully factory spec RX-8 engine. I will be able to pick the motor up next Thursday the 11th and then I can get started on getting the car back driveable. I will take the car back to MER on the 20th for engine tuning prior to my first race.

My next race on the schedule was supposed February 13th-14th at TWS. TWS regional is out now, so my next race will be the first Mid-States Conference Major at NOLA Motorsports Park. I was really hoping to have the regional races to practice before NOLA, but I will go ahead and throw myself into the deep end with a Majors weekend. No time like the present to find out if I'll be competitive or not this year.

First Hurdle for Runoffs 2016

My first hurdle for my goal of the Runoffs in 2016 has been passed - Full SCCA Competition License.....Check. I am planning my first race to be MSR Cresson in January.

Spending lots of time/money to try and win red jackets.....

After a quick typo correction by SCCA Gear, the new jacket just came back in the mail. Thanks to SCCA Gear for being easy to work with and for the quick turn-around. It looks great. Now to work hard over the off-season and add to the collection next year!

SCCA TX Region Solo at Lone Star Park last weekend

I took the FR-S up to Dallas last weekend to run a local autocross with the TX Region at Lone Star Park. My friend Stefan co-drove with me and we had Ali and our buddy Taylor as our pit crew. This was my first autocross since Solo Nationals so it was good to be back between the cones with the FR-S. I ran the BFG Rival S tires that I tested before Solo Nationals mainly to save my Bridgestones for next season and to continue to get a feel for how these tires work on my car and on different surfaces/conditions.

We started off working course during Heat 1. The course was very gravelly which was made even worse by a rain shower in the middle of the Heat. C-Street ran during Heat 2 and we had a drying course (mostly dry) for the first three runs, then a brief rain shower for the 4th run, followed by decent conditions as it dried for our 5th and final runs. The weather was up and down all day as it poured during Heat 3, but luckily we were able to sneak out for lunch and avoid the majority of the wet weather. 

Taylor rode with Stefan and I for a few runs to get the feel for the sport of autocrossing. For my 3rd run, I took it solo and was able to drop in a 57.1s time. I only bettered it on a re-run at the end of the Heat after a timing error on my 5th run. This run clocked in at a 56.9 which was good enough for the C-Street class win and top PAX for the day by 1.4s. For sure the course conditions and weather shook up the PAX results, but I was still happy to have the FR-S take 1st and 2nd overall. 

Here are the results:

Class Results

Overall PAX Ranking....certainly effected by course conditions

Onboard Video:
56.9 run helmet cam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jGgVYVQocM
57.1 run helmet and pedal cam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWOqApehfTE

New hardware for the trophy cabinet

SCCA Solo Triad

from SCCA.com (credit Rupert Berrington)

SCCA press release on the Solo Triad winners for this year. Very proud to win this in my first year of running the Scion FR-S in C-Street and to be in the small company of drivers who won it this year.

http://www.scca.com/articles/1998174-six-racers-take-home-solo-triad-awards

SportsCar's "Who Will Win" at the 2015 SCCA Solo Nationals

Chris Fenter is the pick in C-Street for 2015, but I got a mention in this year's article. We have a huge class so it will be a battle to see who can try to prove SportsCar wrong.

Colorado Championship Tour Autocross with a view of Pikes Peak

Good result this past weekend in my final National SCCA event before Solo Nationals in September. After a very late arrival Friday night, I ran first heat on Saturday and wrapped the weekend with a win on Sunday. Ali and I took a short vacation after the race and went hiking in the Garden of the Gods and then I drove up the famed Pikes Peak highway. With the hill climb coming in two weeks, it was very cool (/terrifying...) to drive to the 14K foot summit. More photos from the event to follow.

Here is my onboard video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1tCL5L2JR4&feature=youtu.be

Thanks to my partners:

Colorado Championship Tour this Weekend at PPIR

We are headed to CO this afternoon for my first Colorado Championship Tour in the FR-S. Slight setup change (different front bar) from Mineral Wells to try something new, but the main purpose is to have some fun and practice for Solo Nats. As usual, C-Street is one of the biggest classes. Here is the entry list for this weekend:

CS Runs first heat and the format will be same as Solo Nationals - 3 runs Saturday and 3 runs on Sunday. 

Live timing: sololive.scca.com/

Live audio/video: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/SCCASolo

Shreddin' Tires at the Mineral Wells ProSolo

It was a hot one this past weekend in Mineral Wells for the ProSolo, but the entry count was up over 200 and the courses were fun compared to the normal too-tight-too-slow ProSolo courses. I was able to pick up my second win of the season which gives me maximum points going into September's ProSolo Finale in Lincoln. I led after each Heat but couldn't find any time more time on Sunday morning in Heat 3. I sweated it out while my competitors time started to drop, but I was able to hang on for the 0.37s victory. 

See below for photos and onboard video:

Thanks to the Rutherfords and their large cameras for the great photos from Saturday!

............

Hot Day - spraying the tires during the driver change

Dad out on track

My onboard video:

Left-Side: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajZJ5mMTJMI

Right-Side: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9PMnVN7dYs

Next up, Ali, the dog and I are off to the Colorado Championship Tour the following weekend. I'm looking forward to my first event at PPIR and the chance to practice the "Solo Nats" format one more time before the big show in September.

Thanks to Ali, my family and my partners for the support this weekend:

Another trip to Lincoln - Another Spring Nats in the books

I'm a bit behind and I need to get ready for the Colorado Tour this weekend so I'll cut to the chase...

ProSolo

I finished P3 in the ProSolo behind both Chris's in the MX-5. I red-lit a faster run in Heat 3 but it would would have still left me hundredths behind Harvey and with a good gap to Fenter. I left a lot of time at the lights and with my 60/200ft times. That little MX-5 is killing me off the line - I'll need to improve here before the Finale. 

Championship Tour

I finished P2 in the Champ Tour in a large 21 car field. We had wet weather on Day 1 and Fenter stretched out a 0.8s lead going into Day 2. On Day 2, I made some damping changes and the car felt the best it had all weekend in Lincoln. I was able to match the MX-5 on Day 2 but had no chance over overcoming the Day 1 gap.

Here is onboard video from Lincoln:

Day 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhyVDrNhoaI

Day 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yatv7OxQ1lg