My apologies to the Evo community for switching to the Solstice GXP. Could probably have put the Evo in the top five, but if the Pontiacs can go 18 laps they should win T2. The car is that good.
Cheers,

 

I don't blame you, you and Knowles are running 1:45s, right? That is REALLY fast, I don't think the Evo could do that.

 

From the EliseTalk forums:

Provisional
Pos No. Name Make Model Sponsor Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
1 35 Don Knowles Pontiac Solstice Phoenix Perf/Iracing.com/Hoosier 1:46.600 1:47.300 1:45.900 -.---
Pittsboro - NC
2 5 William Ziegler Pontiac GXP Swisher/Phoenix/Hoosier 1:47.300 1:46.400 1:47.600 -.---
StamFord - CT
3 73 John Buttermore Cadillac CTS-V Detroit Muscle 1:49.100 1:47.900 1:47.000 -.---
Pontiac - MI
4 99 Jason Henderson Nissan 350z Trailex/Hoosier/JRZ/DriversRoad.com 1:50.300 1:48.400 1:47.100 -.---
Cincinnati - OH
5 14 Rob Hines Nissan 350z Kumho/Nismo/Carbotech/RedLine 1:47.300 1:47.700 1:47.200 -.---
Arlington - VA
6 2 George Biskup Dodge SRT-4 Biskup Motorsports 1:48.900 1:48.500 1:47.300 -.---
Naperville - IL
7 32 Joseph Aquilante Pontiac Solstice GXP Phoenix Perf/Iracing.com/Hoosier 1:47.300 1:48.300 1:47.500 -.---
Chester Springs - PA
8 75 David Schotz Pontiac Firebird Formula SCCAForums.com/Kumho/Carbotech/HP2 1:47.600 1:47.600 2:25.400 -.---
Chandler - AZ
9 8 William Baten Chevrolet Camaro Z28 Online Architecture; MarksADR;Kumho -.--- 1:49.600 1:47.700 -.---
Indianapolis - IN
10 3 Ken Dobson Nissan 350z Nissan Motorsports/Hoosier Tire 1:48.600 1:48.100 1:48.200 -.---
Sonoma - CA
11 0 Bryan Viviani Subaru STI Hoosier 1:49.500 1:48.800 1:48.100 -.---
Leechburg - PA
12 16 Michael Santos Mitsubishi Evo worksEvo.com 1:51.800 1:50.500 1:48.300 -.--- San Lorenzo - CA
13 15 Chris Brannon Pontiac GTO Kumho,GM Perf. 1:52.500 1:50.500 1:49.500 -.---
Mtn. Home - Ar
14 41 Michael PettiFord Chevrolet Corvette Z28 GO 4 IT Racing Schools/Kumho 1:51.000 1:50.100 1:49.700 -.---
Louisville - CO
15 33 William Moore Jr. Chevrolet Camaro Swift Filters/Kumho/Tim Lally 1:50.800 1:51.100 1:50.400 -.---
Chagrin Falls - OH
16 12 Joe Hermes Nissan 350z Kumho/Nissan/lamborghini Portland -.--- 1:51.500 1:50.500 -.---
Happy Valley - OR
17 11 Kumar Viswalingam Pontiac Firebird Hoosier/Predator Motorsport 1:54.900 1:51.200 -.--- -.---
Cincinnati - OH
18 77 Segundo Quinones Chevrolet Camaro 1:53.100 1:52.700 1:51.300 -.---
Glenwood - MD
19 79 Edward Zabinski Lotus Elise theracingcoach.com 1:51.700 -.--- 1:51.400 -.---
Hallandale Beach - FL
20 34 Marty Grand Mitsubishi Evo IX AMS Performance 1:52.200 1:53.000 1:51.700 -.---
Manassas Park - VA
21 5 Richard Roberts BMW M3 Kinetic Energy Resources/Fall-Line 1:52.900 1:53.700 1:54.600 -.---
Chicago - IL
22 10 John Baldwin Jr. Subaru STi Baldwin Subaru/JB2 Motorsports -.--- 1:53.400 -.--- -.---
Covington - LA
23 9 Steven Christopher Chevy Camaro DTV 021709 Conversion 1:55.300 1:57.300 1:53.700 -.---
Olathe - Kan
24 21 Arthur Brass Ford Mustang HalJoy Renewable Fuels 1:54.000 1:54.300 -.--- -.---
Houston - TX
25 4 Dennis Aubuchon Lotus Elise Kumho Tires 1:58.500 1:55.300 1:55.000 -.---
Arnold - MO
26 2 Spencer Gorham Jr. Nissan 350z Grand Prix Imports/Kumho/Carbotech 1:59.200 1:55.600 1:55.200 -.---
Gresham - OR
27 58 CJ Moses Mitsubishi Evo 9 MR AMSPerformance.com 2:00.400 -.--- -.--- -.---
Gainesville - VA
28 8 Guy Pavageau Chevrolet Camaro Z28 Honest Pierre's Kids Parties -.--- -.--- -.--- -.---
Columbia - MD
29 7 John Tecce BMW M3 BGB Motorsports Group/LLC -.--- -.--- -.--- -.---
Ormond Beach - FL

Looks like those damn Poni's are killing it...the sti wasn't far behind however...push guys push!

 

As written yesterday…Internet access actually stinks out here…

<CJ steps on to his Soapbox> So first of all I’d like to apologize for not updating you on our wonderful experience so far, but since I’m a racer I’ve got a thousand excuses as to why

Well we left Friday night less than 24 hours after VIP finished reassembling both Marty and my car. In my case the car came from Dulles Autobody with the paint still drying and without an engine, tranny or transfer case. Great thanks to Marti and the crew at VIP as well as Linh and the team at DAB. Cruising down the highway a few hours and the sparks begin…no not the good kind like in a boxing match…the kind that fly off of bearings when the grease has caught on fire. Marty’s right front trailer bearing had decided that it wasn’t coming with us to Topeka. A quick stop off the side of the highway and Marty’s trailer is now a trike…we figure three tires can carry the weight of one Evo. Well we were right, but the question really is can it do it on Two? So a few hours later we try that out…when the left front bearing shows us that smoke can be as entertaining as sparks. So Marty cruises all the way to AMS’ huge new facility in West Chicago with a new version of a car chariot. We were very lucky to have the world renowned Mitsu engineers available to go to town on the trailer and before we knew it that chariot had 800WHP…no really, they fixed it up good as new. Martin, Mark and Ivan helped us with some quick last minute items and we were off…once again at 10pm, but this time heading for Topeka for real.

We drove almost all night stopping for a few hours rest about three hours from the track. Up bright and early to knock that last bit out and arrive ahead of schedule…well that was the plan and we all know what happens to the best laid plans. So about five minutes later Marty comes over the radio and says he thinks he has an RV tire going down. I check it out and yup…left inside tire is flapping in the wind. The only problem is that in Iowa they don’t believe in shoulders…so he has to creep along, tire parts a kimbo. We finally get to an exit and pull of in to the only available area…which happens to be just below the Iowa State Trooper Barracks. All sleepy eyed and all we beat the heck out of the double wheeled beast. Without a spare we figure...if the trailer could peg leg why not the RV. So with one left rear tire off we go…oh but not so fast. The little patch Marty had to pull in to happened to be softer as he tried to pull out and got completely dug in to the muddy turf. We thought..ok minor set back as I have a monster truck with a huge WARN winch on the front and about 20k lbs of ballast. So I hook it up and hit the go button..he starts to come out pretty easy, but then ends up pulled on an angle since my truck is up on the highway. So reposition the truck a bit and hit the winch go button again and as if scripted by a divine power much more devious than I, the winch dies. Zilch, nuttin, nada… Just about that time Trooper Fife stops by to see why we are axle deep on his lawn. A little discussion later he is on his way and I’m disconnecting my truck to pull the behemoth and its chariot from the clutches of the muddy trooper turf. A little 4 wheel action and FREEDOM! Hook back up and we’re on our way again.

On the road and planning a still early arrival Marty hits me on the radio and asks me to pull up along side and check the single tire. I pull up and tell him on the radio that the tire isn’t bulging and looks good…without any exaggeration and as if just to spit in my eye the devious power that must be named Murphy (as in the Law) the single tire explodes in one of the most spectacular rubber, steel and foam particle explosions that have ever graced the highways of Iowa. Marty did a great job controlling that beast as it ground the wheel in to the pavement. On to the near non-existent Iowa shoulder we went. Ok..we were thinking…we’ve been here before. If the trailer can run on not only 3 but 2 wheels why can’t the RV..right? So all there is to it is to pull a right side wheel off and throw it on the left and at a minimum at least drive it off the next exit. So off comes the good tire to go on the now tireless side. While Marty installs the tire on the other side nearest the high speed traffic, I opt for the safer side and check the pressure on the one remaining tire only to find out it has 21psi in it. For those of you that aren’t familiar with trailer and RV tires they hold like 80psi depending on the weight of the unit. So out comes the nitrogen tank…up to 80 psi and wait…the valve is leaking like crazy. Easy fix we thought as I have a valve kit in the race trailer. Out with the old in with the new… refill and as soon as I got to 40psi…it let go again. Hmm…still not sure what the problem was but regardless we’re stuck.

A quick call to AAA with Marty’s fancy RV membership and after about an hour serial murderer Elvis shows up and makes quick work mounting a spare and replacing the entire valve stem on the other tire. Yeah, Elvis didn’t talk and we surely thought he took this job just to meet people he could filet up on the side of the highway, but he was good at fixing tires. Up and away we go only about four hours later. So ~42 hours, 2 wheel bearings, 3 tires and one winch later we roll in to Heartland Park Topeka at about 4pm local.

So on to what you came here for… Monday starts out a rainy mess, not that big of deal but I’ve never put a tire on this track ever and there is no practice just qualification. By mid-afternoon the track had dried up and we went out for our first and only stint for the day. Normally it is a 20min session so I figured I’d get some laps in more as practice than anything…at least figure out where to turn left and where to turn right. Well SCCA must know our boy Murphy since they decided to split the qual session in to T1 and T2 so each got 10mins. Ouch I just lost most of my practice time… Needless to say I got 5 laps and posted a horrible qual time, but there is always tomorrow I was thinking. Marty ran a very respectable 1:52 on old scuff tires with a heavy fuel load.

After quals someone told me that I had a small smoke cloud following me so I checked it out and it turns out to be the transfer case axle seal on the side of the car that was damaged at Pocono the month before. I tried everything I could to fix the seal with RTV etc. since the dealer had to order the part and it wouldn’t be in until Weds Morn. The RTV ended up not panning out and as if it wasn’t enough…when I started the car it was pissing coolant out the rear of the block.. I was close to putting it on the trailer at this point, especially after we’d both had like 5 hours of sleep since Thursday.

Marty went out for the second qual which he used as another practice and learned some of the new turns that had been added to the track since last year. He ran in the same laptime area as the previous session.

Weds was set to be the best qual day as we were first up in the cool morning air. It wasn’t to be for me since the car still awaited the seal and some means of keeping the green fluid inside the engine. Marty was on better tires and was looking to lay down a quick lap, but once again he only got 10mins and the shortened time frame didn’t allow him time to get in to a rhythm, but was still able to put him in to the 1:51 area.

I spent the day putting my ride back together with a new seal from the local mitsu dealer and some fancy epoxy to seal up the two right side freeze plugs that I believe at least one of which was the leaky culprit.

So the stage is set for Marty to give it one last shot to overcome these new very tricky turns and for me to keep the car together and learn that track as I lay down a respectable qual lap all within a single 20min session at 3:20CT today. Stay tuned as I will update you whenever this crappy HPT WIFI network lets me connect…see I told you racers always have plenty of excuses

 

The morning started with a chill in the air unlike the warmer days that had preceded it. We were scheduled for a 3:20C qualification and both Marty and I had unfinished business here. After running through our checklists setting up the cars it was Go Time. Having had some serious issues earlier in the week I just wanted to have a clean run and return with a running car. Marty on the other hand wanted to move deep in to the field and made the necessary adjustments to his car and mind set to do so.

So we roll out on to the grid…then roll off in previous qualifying order. I was lined up behind STI and decided to try and follow him for a lap to see what kind of line he was running. As a reminder up to this point I’ve had 5 laps lifetime on this track..so call this a qualification was a stretch for me. I wound up the car and halfway through the first lap realized I need by this Subie as it was holding me up. I grabbed a gear and took a hard run on the back straight and sailed off. I layed down some decent laps, but could feel that I really was seat of the pants driving in a reactionary mode rather than attacking the course with precision. The precision is what comes with practice, which Marty and I got very little of  .

In the end I pulled out a 1:52.72 on my 3rd lap (8th lap ever on the track) and Marty dropped more than 3 secs off his time down to a 1:48.62 a great jump that puts him in the mix of things.

On Sunday at just shy of 11am Central we roll off, Marty in 14th and I in 22nd. Mike Santos is just in front of Marty in 13th so they should be able to work together to pickoff the field in front. Bill Z. (WTZ) put his Evo in the trailer in favor of the much quicker (on this handling track) Pontiac Solstice GXP, which GM has setup as a ringer for this class.

Marty had a visit from the Speed Channel Staff and had a segment taped, so look forward to seeing him on TV when they finally air this race.

Stay tuned! I’ll update as soon as this wonderful “Free” wireless Internet gets working.

 

click the pdf results file....Marty

Class/Course:T2
Session:Q4
PDF results file

Provisional

PosNo.NameMake ModelSponsorQ1Q2 Q3 Q4 135Don KnowlesPontiacSolsticePhoenix Perf/Iracing.com/Hoosier01:46.62601:47.33301:45.86401:46.214Pittsboro - NC279Edward ZabinskiLotusElisetheracingcoach.com-.----.----.---01:45.993Hallandale Beach - FL305William ZieglerPontiacGXPSwisher/Phoenix/Hoosier01:47.25101:46.41701:47.55801:46.190StamFord - CT432Joseph AquilantePontiacSolstice GXPPhoenix Perf/Iracing.com/Hoosier01:47.33401:48.33401:47.47601:46.479Chester Springs - PA514Rob HinesNissan350zKumho/Nismo/Carbotech/RedLine01:47.33801:47.74801:47.22201:46.826Arlington - VA673John ButtermoreCadillacCTS-VDetroit Muscle01:49.10901:47.87201:46.95801:56.897Pontiac - MI775David SchotzPontiacFirebird FormulaSCCAForums.com/Kumho/Carbotech/HP201:47.55901:47.59602:25.35801:46.972Chandler - AZ899Jason HendersonNissan350zTrailex/Hoosier/JRZ/DriversRoad.com01:50.27601:48.35901:47.11401:50.226Cincinnati - OH902George BiskupDodgeSRT-4Biskup Motorsports01:48.88001:48.47701:47.303-.---Naperville - IL103Ken DobsonNissan350zNissan Motorsports/Hoosier Tire01:48.58101:48.08601:48.17301:47.621Sonoma - CA118William BatenChevroletCamaro Z28Online Architecture; MarksADR;Kumho-.---01:49.55501:47.69801:48.705Indianapolis - IN120Bryan VivianiSubaruSTIHoosier01:49.45701:48.76701:48.10901:49.004Leechburg - PA1316Michael SantosMitsubishiEvoworksEvo.com/Hoosier01:51.78001:50.51201:48.27101:48.996San Lorenzo - CA1434Marty GrandMitsubishiEvo IXAMS Performance01:52.22101:52.98701:51.72001:48.629Manassas Park - VA1515Chris BrannonPontiacGTO01:52.53901:50.46101:49.52401:50.030Mntn Home - Ar1641Michael PettiFordChevroletCorvette Z28GO 4 IT Racing Schools/Kumho01:50.95401:50.05501:49.741-.---Louisville - CO1733William Moore Jr.ChevroletCamaroSwift Filters/Kumho/Tim Lally01:50.83701:51.09901:50.41301:51.395Chagrin Falls - OH1812Joe HermesNissan350zKumho/Nissan/lamborghini Portland-.---01:51.53401:50.47901:51.399Happy Valley - OR1911Kumar ViswalingamPontiacFirebirdHoosier/Predator Motorsport01:54.90801:51.225-.----.---Cincinnati - OH2077Segundo QuinonesChevroletCamaro-.---01:52.66001:51.32201:52.399Glenwood - MD2110John Baldwin Jr.SubaruSTiBaldwin Subaru/JB2 Motorsports-.---01:53.435-.---01:52.471Covington - LA2258CJ MosesMitsubishiEvo 9 MRAMSPerformance.com02:00.408-.----.---01:52.872Gainesville - VA235Richard RobertsBMWM3Kinetic Energy Resources/Fall-Line01:52.93001:53.73501:54.56901:53.420Chicago - IL244Dennis AubuchonLotusEliseKumho Tires01:58.46801:55.32401:55.02001:53.169Arnold - MO252Spencer Gorham Jr.Nissan350zGrand Prix Imports/Kumho/Carbotech01:59.20801:55.57101:55.18901:53.173Gresham - OR269Steven ChristopherFastF22DTV 021709 Conversion01:55.34401:57.32701:53.73502:00.894

 

Good Lord, Ed Zabinski out of nowhere. Ed is a great driver, looks like there might be a good race ahead.

CJ, Marty and Bill, best of luck out there guys! Keep me updated, damn I wish I was out there.

 

Props to CJ and Marty for overcoming numerous obstacles just to arrive. I'm looking forward to the Speed Coverage.

WTZ, can you reveal any of the suspension/tire setup info that makes the Solstice so hot (doubt it, but had to ask)?

 

wow, lol, battles inside of battles to get there, to even drive. lol.

Should be a good race. Zabinski seemed to pull the rabbit out of the hat both last quals down here at sebring and homestead, and is one hell of a driver (I take a corner at 110ish, no brakes), he takes it at 140+. no brakes.)

 

Thanks for posting, CJ. Your posts are always a good read.

GOOD LUCK to all Evo drivers!!

l8r)

 

Congrats guys! I'm so happy things are finally coming together for you two. As CJ told me, perseverance will prevail. Never give up, as soon as you do you've lost. Go Go Go!

 

Incredible story just to arrive!

Good luck guys.

 

<< Doing the rain dance all week

hahaha, thanks for the calls guys. Glad you are both ready to go out there and give them hell.

 

I believe the front running Solstices are running 275 width Hoosier Autocross compounds. Combine this with around 280hp and a weight of 2800 and you have a winner

 

jesus. thats nuts. whats the min. weight listed? do they have to take any ballast like the evo does?

Can't believe they let them have that much rubber though, dang.