Who the #$#% is Jason Ogburn??

So many Jasons....so many wrongs. Nice editing GRM.

2014 SCCA ProSolo Finale and Solo Nationals

Well, this is the time of year I usually get pretty lackadaisical about writing blog posts. It's been a few weeks since I competed in my 5th Solo Nationals and my 2nd ProSolo Finale. As with most things in racing, there was good and not so good, but overall it was a fun week in Lincoln with my family.

Dad and I in grid for the Pro Finale

Making a spring adjustment during the Pro Finale

The Pro Finale turned out to be a 2-Heat event (rained on Sunday), but a 3rd day would not have affected the outcome. Greg McCance was unstoppable en route to his 2nd consecutive ProSolo Championship in ESP. I was the "best of the rest" and the fastest RWD car but at 1.5s back from the Subaru, I had no chance. I finished 2nd for the season ESP ProSolo points - on to next year!

At the starting line during the Pro

Pro Finale Results

With Monday as a test/rest day, we kicked things off in Heat 1 of the 2014 Solo Nationals. As I have done in three out of my five Solo Nats trips, my first run on Day 1 was my quickest, I hit a cone, and it would have put me in first or less than a tenth out of first. I got kick this habit next year! I finished the first day in 3rd place 0.4s back from Billy Brooks and Greg McCance in the Subaru. This issue was the diff was on its way out. It had started to act up during the ProSolo but I thought it would be OK for the rest of the event but I was starting to get more and more inside wheelspin. With 0.4s to make up on Day 2, the differential decided it didn't want to "differentiate" anymore. I nursed the car through three runs, but I anytime I looked at the throttle with lateral load in the car the inside rear tire spun up and I couldn't control the attitude of the car with the throttle at all. Frustrating end to the season, but it's just a hard lesson for future racing. When it's the biggest race of the year, make sure the car is in top order....on to next year!

West Course Map

East Course Map

Solo Nationals Final Results - Congrats Billy!

Here is some incar video:

A lot of A-Stock Jackets in this group

Getting ready for the Solo Nats rockin a new sleeve look

Good thing we bought her a dog bed..........

#IAMTHESPEEDHUNTER: A Camaro Built To Corner

I meant to share this earlier, but my buddy Jeff Stroh and his C Prepared Camaro were featured on one of my favorite websites - SpeedHunters. This is the video that got him on the site:

Here are links to the SpeedHunters article and Jeff's blog Oversteer Garage:

SpeedHunters Article

Jeff's Blog

See ya at Solo Nats Jeff!

ESP is back on the ground!

Thanks to Josh and Joe for all the help getting the transmission in and back out of the Camaro. We got the car on the ground Monday night and it ran great. I can actually use 1st and 2nd whenever I want which is a nice change. The Camaro will be going to the dyno this weekend for prep for Nationals which is just right around the corner. 

Trans is back from TX Drivetrain Performance

Up and back trip to Weatherford yesterday and I have the transmission back from being mended. 2nd gear and selector ring both head heavily worn engagement teeth which was the cause of the 2nd gear shifting issues. After a full rebuild it will hopefully feel better than new. Trans will be back in and the car will be driveable again by Wednesday.

Camaro transmission in for a rebuild

Thanks to Josh and Joe for helping me pull the trans. Hopefully picking it back up soon and will actually be able to shift it into 1st or 2nd!

Super long extension!

GRM Ultimate Track Car Challenge!

Last Friday, I drove in the Grassroots Motorsports' Ultimate Track Car Challenge in my Dad's daily driver and autocrosser, the 2009 Mini Cooper JCW. We were seriously outgunned by some high-dollar racing cars but it was still fun track time. After some tire fitment issues in the morning sessions, I was able to get down to a 2:18.8 on the VIR Full Course in the 3rd and final timed session which put me in 38th place overall. This is the first time we have run race tires on the Mini and it was a learning experience. The balance was off (too tight) but it was decent enough out of the box to set a lap time. Definitely needs some tuning though. It's definitely the hardest I've worked to get beat by 30 seconds on a single lap! This event was less about competition and more about getting to race for a day as a family, which was great. Thanks to my Mom coming to the track to hang out, my Dad for lending the Mini, and Rich Schollmann and Sam Nixon for making the trek to VIR and helping sort the issues we had early!

In-car video here: LINK

Getting ready in pits

A little tire rub up front....

Coming through Turn 3

Nice panning shot

Photos Credit: David Ogburn

See more of my Dad's photos here: LINK

ProSolo Points Update

I'm guaranteed a tie for first with max points going into the ProSolo Finale after the win at Toledo and Dad is sitting in 6th with 24 points. The ESP Camaro is set for a battle in Lincoln.

Toledo ProSolo in the ESP GT500!

With a business trip putting me in Ohio in late June, I was able to run the Toledo ProSolo for the first time this year thanks to Jeff Cox and his high horsepower Mustang GT500. Thanks Jeff....it was fun man! We had 16 drivers in class sporting mainly V8 muscle car variants except for reigning ESP Champion Greg McCance and his Subaru WRX.

Photo Courtesy of Perry Bennett @ AutoXPix.com

We lucked out with three dry heats despite being threatened by rain all weekend. I arrived at the track Friday night just in time to run practice starts in the new-to-me equipment which proved very helpful over the weekend as I was cutting 0.500 - 0.650 lights all weekend....better than I do in my freakin' Camaro! I finished P2 after the first heat about 1s behind McCance who clearly had the strongest pace all weekend. Car issues put Greg out of the 2nd heat but he was able to hang onto 1st place in class. I picked up pace in the GT500 but a few others improved even more dropping me back to 4th place.

Lined up for Sunday Morning

This setup a show down on Sunday morning as we had good conditions and a surface that normally picks up grip throughout a ProSolo weekend. Unfortunately, Greg had to drop out after his 2nd run with further drivetrain issues leaving the door wide-open for one of the Mustangs to take the top spot. With a half-second gain on my first left-side rum, I moved into 1st place and came away with a very surprising 0.111s victory Bitter sweet due to competitor car issues, but a win nonetheless meaning two Hoosiers for my man Jeff Cox and two ESP class wins heading into the ProSolo Finale!

Onto the Super Challenge where the field was incredibly tight - I think the qualifying delta was around 0.2s! I had my best Challenge to date marching to the Final Four as I got even more comfortable with the heavy, high horsepower muscle. I came up against Jason Frank in the Final Four round and scored a come-from-behind victory by 0.2s.....except for hitting the last cone on the course which bounced me out of the Finals! I tagged another cone in the 3rd-place round to put me in 4th overall.

In-Car video: LINK

Here is the SoloMatters.com writeup: LINK TO FULL ARTICLE

SoloMatters ESP recap:

Once again, Greg McCance drove his E-Street Prepared 2002 Subaru WRX over half way across the country to compete. He held the lead in ESP after Saturday morning over Dave Ogburn III, who was co-driving Jeff Cox’s 2010 Ford Mustang GT500 on Hoosier Tires. Greg suffered a broken hub during the Saturday afternoon session, but still managed to hold onto the lead as Dave continued to work on the handling of the Mustang. McCance was able to get the car ready for the Sunday session, but suffered a broken differential on his first run of the day. Dave Ogburn III dialed in the car and was able to laid down times to win ESP by 0.111 seconds, Dave Heinrich finished third only 0.031 behind McCance.

SoloMatters Super Challenge recap:

All of the close class battles meant a low margin to get into the Super Challenge; you needed to be within 0.263 seconds of the class winner to qualify. There were lots of very close battles and very few red lights throughout the challenge rounds. The final four drivers in the Super Challenge featured Dave Ogburn III from ESP versus Jason Frank from STS, and Chris Harvey from CS versus John Vitamvas from SPB. In the first matchup, Jason Frank held a lead after first runs, but Dave Ogburn III laid down a smoking fast run beat Frank back with enough time; however, a cone awarded the win to Frank. Chris Harvey was able to defeat John Vitamvas to move into the finals. The final round didn’t disappoint, Jason Frank held a 0.124 second lead after the first run, they switched sides and Chris Harvey was first back on the second run, but not enough to make up the margin; Jason Frank took the Super Challenge win by 0.055 seconds.

Postcards from Monaco

Getting caught up on blogging. A few things to recap.....starting off with actually finishing posts about my trip to Europe...

Here's the quick summary: Monaco is awesome and you should go GP weekend or any other weekend if you can.

Here are some photos which will show you why:

Driving through the Alps en route to Monaco

La Ferrari sighting

Stepping out of the Monte Carlo Train Station

Subliminal advertising.....

Port Hercule

The Fort Antoine amphitheater (hint: it was in GoldenEye)

GP2 teams lining up for their turn on track 

Caterham GP2 

That's a nice building!

Our view of pit lane

Roughin' it....

Koenigsegggggggggggggg!!!!!! 

Casino de Monte Carlo

The Famous Fairmont Hotel Hairpin

Partying til 5am at La Rascasse

Racing two scooters on the GP Track with some ahole going the wrong way.....