2008 NASA National Championship results
Sep 19, 2008, 08:07 PM
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2008 NASA National Championship results
Im back. What a trip. I dont know how to illustrate it. Here is a little recap before i get into it. I went to go compete at NASA’s National Championships for the first time at Mid-O. It took us 4 days to drive to Mid-O, and another 4 days to drive back. In total, we nearly drove 5,000 miles. How do i feel? One word that comes to mind is drained. So much has happened the past 2+ weeks that i know im going to forget some things here and there. Ill try to keep this short and sweet like all my other threads. 
Smiley If you dont care to read about everything leading up to the actual event, skip the “Getting there” part.
Getting there:
A few days before leaving i got sick. The 2 weeks prior to leaving i hardly got any sleep. In fact, the week prior to leaving there were 3 separate nights that i didnt sleep at all. Not back to back, 3 separate nights. And the nights that i did sleep i hardly got any rest. Either way, not sleeping 3 nights within one week isnt all that great. All the stress and extra work to prep for Nationals finally caught up with me and i got sick. I was in pretty bad shape for 3 days. I was really weak, and my body was killing me. I ate lots of soup and tried to rest as much as possible. It helped a great deal, but i left for Mid-O still a little sick.
The drive there was pretty grueling, but it was a bit better than i anticipated. I suppose all the excitement of Nationals took over and everything else sort of took the back seat. It was pretty fun driving through so many different states, but most of the time we were all business. I would rest while my dad would drive, and then i would drive while my dad would rest. From Socal we drove through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and finally Ohio. It was already challenging enough driving our RV, because for some odd reason there is a bunch of play in the steering wheel. You constantly have to play with the steering, and after a few minutes it gets pretty annoying. If that wasnt enough, the weather and some minor incidents delayed the drive.
While driving, most of the time the weather was pretty cool, with pretty much no heat. What sort of made the drive more challenging was the rain. The rain started somewhere around Texas and followed us all the way to Mid-O. The only time we hit some nasty weather was when we hit Indianapolis. It was really humid there, and we unfortunately had to stay the night. Beyond our issues with the rain, we got pulled over 3 times, where 2 out of those 3 times i was driving.
I never got a ticket, just warnings. After the 2nd time i figured we were going to get pulled over a few more times. The first time i got pulled over was the most entertaining, so ill only cover that one. While driving through Texas on our way to Mid-O we hit some sections that were really windy. That coupled with how challenging it is to drive our RV made for some difficult driving conditions. What happened was that some cop pulled up next to me and drove alongside me for a good 2-3 minutes. Any time you drive next to a RV it really disrupts the RV. I suppose this cop didnt know, and for whatever reason drove alongside me for that bit. I suspected he was up to something but wasnt sure if he was going to do anything. He wouldnt slow down, and he wouldnt pass me. He finally slowed down, got behind me and threw on his lights. He was a *****, and came across a bit prejudice. He said he pulled me over to make sure we werent drinking and driving. I told him that its pretty difficult driving a RV, and the out of control wind wasnt helping. I should have added that he was adding to the problem by driving alongside me for as long as he did, but i didnt want any problems. He asked where we were going, and as soon as i told him why we were going to Mid-O he asked if it was like NASCAR...the irony. He was a little nicer after that. Printed out a warning for me, then let us go our way.
The other major incident was due to a detour. I dont recall what state we were in, or which highway we were on. All of a sudden there were a bunch of cops in the distance slowing down traffic. The highway was closed off, and they were making everyone exit. We didnt really know where we were, and the exit took us into some small town. It was nighttime, so it was a bit difficult to find someone who could point us in the right direction. We got detoured for about an hour. Finally spotted a cop and he pointed us in the right direction. I asked him what had happened, and he said that he was not allowed to say. Not sure what that entails. We finally got back onto the highway, and to our surprise there were like a million cars backed up in traffic on the opposite side. We probably drove a good 10 miles with cars parked on the other side of the highway, while our side was empty. Wow, this thread is really moving along with some great Nationals related info.
A few interesting things I recall while driving was that most states that we drove through didnt have any sort of welcome to so and so state signs. And most of the time there were hardly any signs indicating what city we were in or approaching. Some states were great with signs, while others didnt seem to care about letting you know where you are, or what is approaching. One sign i vividly remember, which was pretty entertaining, said something on the lines of, Hit a worker, $10,000 fine, and lose your license. Saw a few of those, and they made me laugh. Something else i recall was seeing the Carls Jr. logo, but its called Hardees instead in the Midwest. I know, wow, what an educational thread.
After 4 grueling days of driving we finally made it to Mid-O on Friday to a wet track. I had spoken with Jason earlier, and i made my way down to where he was situated. He was there that weekend racing his SRF with his group. Later on Friday night i went out to dinner with Jason and his SRF crew. They are some of the nicest guys i have ever met. Genuinely nice, welcoming, and warm hearted people. I dont recall the last time i met people like them. Jason ended up buying my dinner. Thanks Jason, but if i knew i would have gotten more food. Then on Saturday and Sunday the rain cleared a bit, and i got to watch a few of their races. It was funner than i imagined. On Sunday Jason found some of his in-car footage of his Evo at Mid-O. I spent a good amount of time watching his footage. I was super bored by Sunday so it was a great way to kill some time. I was pretty engaged with the footage because i pulled up a comfy chair and watched the footage as if i was driving. I sat there and went through the motions lap after lap. I figured it would help me get a jump start, and it did.
The SCCA crowd cleared out by Sunday night, and by Monday morning a few NASA people started rolling in. Spent pretty much all day Monday getting situated. The track official who was in charge of parking had a hell of a job to measure and assign all the parking spots. That took forever. Jeremy Croiset had set things up so us Cali guys had our own section. I guess they do that every year. I wanted to be near people i knew, so Jeremy got me a spot with them. The Cali guys were all pretty much the Honda Challenge guys. And since i had spoken with Ryan, with the Evo X from the Midwest, i got him situated so he could park next to me. Ryan shared his spot with James Elterman, so we had a nice Evo and STi spot. In front of us was David Bongiovanni and Edo Stepanyan from Edomoto, and next to us was Jeremy and the rest of the Cali Honda Challenge crew. We had a nice group of guys. Everyone helped each other out. I even had a hand in helping Jeremy put together his wing. Beyond that my dad did some cooking and most of the time Edo and his dad and brother, Dave, Ryan, and a few others would hang out with us, eat, drink and talk the night away. Lots of fun hanging out with those guys and getting to know them.
The Results:
Tuesday and Wednesday were the test days. Ryan and i ran both days together. Tuesday was pretty dead, but Wednesday was a bit more crowded. During the test days i dialed everything back a bunch, and just focused on scrubbing in tires and learning the track. I wanted to save the car, so i had no intentions of pushing things. Beyond that, since i was on a new setup, i wasnt super comfortable going 10/10ths from the get go. Plus, i didnt want to make some mistake that could potentially end my Nationals trip before it even started. Ryan on the other hand was flying around, and ran some times that are unheard of. Ill get into that later though.
Before i get into the results, i want to note that i did some research before i went. I looked around and spoke to some people i know, including Jason, and a little bit with Greg Wallace. I wanted to know what sort of times a typical TTA Evo 8/9 can run at Mid-O. What i basically found out was that i should be capable of running 1:36-1:38s. Here are a few of the top TTA times from last years Nationals:
1. 1:33.889 - Kenneth Smith - C5 Z06
2. 1:34.634 - Todd Kellner - C5 Z06
3. 1:35.074 - Jesse White - C5 Z06
4. 1:35.137 - David Mullen - C5 Z06
5. 1:35.743 - James Elterman – STi
6. 1:37.322 - John Slinkard – S2000
7. 1:38.180 - Greg Wallace – Evo 8
By looking at those times, and having spoken with Jason, i figured even though i have never driven Mid-O, i could potentially run in the 36s. Then, with a little practice i could possibly run in the 35s. And if i get to run every session, and if i get lucky, maybe i could break into the high 34s. But since no other TTA Evo 8/9 had gotten down into the 34s, based on what i had seen, it really didnt seem likely, especially for a guy who has never ran the track. And Mid-O is supposed to be a pretty challenging track. Well, after all was said and done, here are the top TTA times from this year. Due to whatever reasons, there were some late dropouts, and we only had 4 drivers competing in TTA. I got 3rd place, and its nothing to brag about, but im ok with that.
1. 1:33.698 - Ryan Gates - Evo X
2. 1:34.266 - Jesse White - C5 Z06
3. 1:36.262 - Ed Nazarian - Evo 9
4. 1:39.262 - William Kohut - C5 Z06
Our TT days were basically Thursday-Saturday. And we had 3 sessions a day to get our fastest lap. The weather was a force to deal with, because it rained all day Friday. So, pretty much no TT guys drove Friday because it was pretty much pointless from a TT point of view. It also rained Saturday morning, so Saturday was not looking great either. At that point pretty much everyone thought that our Nationals competition was going to end with us sitting around Saturday also. That really sucked because i didnt want to go all the way to Nationals and only drive the 3 sessions of our first day, and then sit around the rest of the weekend because of rain. But by some miracle it stopped raining about 2 hours before our 2nd session, and the sun came out all of a sudden. The track gradually dried up with the help of the groups that drove before us, and by the time our 2nd session was up the track was good to go. I cant believe it cleared up, and im so happy that it did. We got to drive our last 2 sessions, and i was able to run my fastest lap in my last lap of the last session, which happened to be my 7th lap. Ironically, the driver of a Cadillac who was running in TTS was doing a cool down lap in that lap and he ended up blocking me going through Madness. I dont know what he was thinking. I was pretty upset with that situation. I think that cost me from getting into the 35s.
Although, a more unfortunate situation happened for Ryan. There was some mixup with how he had added up his points, and it turned out he was 1 point over the TTA limit. On Thursday, Ryans fastest time was a 1:32.969. He was so much faster than everyone else, and even faster than almost every TTS guy, that they naturally had to check out his car. That is when they found out he was not TTA legal, 1 point over the TTA limit, so his times from Thursday were DQd. I know Ryan wasnt trying to cheat, it was just a simple mistake. And i know that Ryan was devastated. He was pretty much ready to throw in the towel and leave to go run the RTA in Jersey instead. James and i spoke with him and tried to convince him to stay. I didnt want to encourage or discourage him from either, but i wanted to at least tell him what i thought. Basically, i felt that if i was in his situation, having spent that much time/money, i would stay and work it out. But in the end he needed to decide what he wanted to do. Im glad he stayed. Either way, i doubt that 1 point will prevent him from running similar/better times in the future.
In the end, everyone was mystified as to how he was so much faster. Jesse is not only an experienced driver, he is also a local Mid-O guy. So there is no way anyone can simply show up and run nearly 1.3 seconds faster than him. Beyond that, during our test day Ryan tested out the C71s that i sold him, because he was going to run those tires for Nationals. And during our test day, based off of his Traqmate, he ran a high 1:31, iirc something along the lines a 31.7, or a 31.9. So if you take that time into consideration, Ryan was a good 2.3 seconds faster than a local guy who is apparently a pretty damn good driver, doing all this his first time at Mid-O. And compared to me, thats a good 4.2 seconds faster than my car. I dont claim to be some amazing driver, but there is no way my car can touch Ryans Evo X. Its not like i was parking it in some corner. And its not like i was going to wake up the next day, roll out of bed, and all of a sudden be 4 seconds faster. Now, i know that im one of those guys that likes to take his time to get faster when driving a new track. So i know that if the weather permitted, i would have eventually gotten into the 35s. But i dont know if i could have gotten into the 34s, let alone a 31. Either way, im sure Ryan would have improved also, so no matter what, his car would have still been a good 4 seconds faster than mine. Now this in no way should take away from what Ryan accomplished at Nationals. He overcame a very devastating situation, and against all odds the weather somehow cleared up just in time for our last 2 sessions where he set his fastest official TTA times. So, major congrats to Ryan for what he overcame to achieve the TTA National Championship.
But the reality is that i dont see how my car can all of a sudden be 4 seconds faster. There are still a few things i can change on my car, but i seriously doubt those changes will entail 4+ seconds. And having spoken with Ryan, it appears the Evo X is simply that much faster. He swears that his Evo X is significantly better than his previous Evo 9 in every way. I dont recall which track he was referring to, but he said that his Evo X compared to his previous Evo 9 is a good 6 seconds faster on that track with similar mods. To be completely honest, i didnt believe him at first because his numbers dont add up. His car weighed in at around 3,500 lbs, and on the Dynapack at Nationals his car put down 330-340 whp from what i recall he said. But he had swapped out some performance parts to be TTA legal when he put down those numbers on the dyno at Nationals. Either way, im sure with the proper adjustments he can put down more power. So when Ryan said his Evo X is a good 6 seconds faster i thought maybe he just got better as a driver, or maybe he made some miscalculation. But now i believe it, because the times speak for themselves. Ryan in his Evo X, given his test day time, was a good 4.2 seconds faster than me in my Evo 9. Its not a 6 second difference, but its close enough. Maybe he improved a tad, maybe my setup is a bit better than his previous Evo 9 setup. Either way, the amount he claims his Evo X is faster than his previous Evo 9 is close enough to how much faster his Evo X is relative to my Evo 9. And again, there are some changes that i can make to my car, but i seriously doubt those changes will entail 4+ seconds. This is obviously great news for the Evo X, but im not sure how NASA will class it next year. If they dont re-class it, for now i dont foresee anyone touching the Evo X in TTA. So if you didnt believe it before, believe it now, the Evo X is magical.
Oh and before i forget, NASA hosted a huge dinner party for everyone at the track. During dinner they made a huge announcement. I know some of you already know because i was so excited that i called a few of you guys. Anyways, the next 2 years Nationals will be held at Miller. They are going to alternate Nationals every two years between Miller and Mid-O. So Nationals in 2009 and 2010 will be at Miller, then back to Mid-O for another 2 years. If everything works out well for everyone, look to see a nice Socal and Norcal contingent at Nationals next year.
As far as pictures, im still getting it all sorted out. As soon as i put some things together ill post some pics.
In my previous thread i already thanked those that helped me get prepared for Nationals, but here they are again:
- http://www.tuningtechnologies.com
Alfred for all the time/effort he has put into tuning my car. Its been running strong for more than 2 seasons. I cant be happier. Jenn for all the little things. Nick for simply understanding what i need, being able to keep track of it all, and doing all the necessary legwork to get everything situated. And all the other guys at Tuning Tech who have worked on my car. These guys have been running around above and beyond to get everything ready for me.
- http://muellerized.com
John for his suspension expertise. Simply put, he knows how to setup a car. When they were setting up my car for Nationals we had an unexpected wheel bearing situation. John decided it would be best if i left my car overnight so they could put in extra time to make sure everything was ok. Then they paid to get me a rental. Orlando drove me to the airport and we luckily found something last minute. Everywhere else was sold out. The next day they replaced both of my front wheel bearings to be safe, and Chris finished up the car. I am so fortunate my wheel bearing issue presented itself when i was at Muellerized. I could have easily gone all the way to Mid-O and probably within the first lap my front wheel bearing would have given up and a disaster could have possibly entailed.
- http://southcoastmitsubishi.com
Rigo and the powers that be at SCM. They recently stepped up and helped me out quite a bit. Thanks for all the stuff you guys hooked me up with, and for the support. I really feel welcome there.
- http://www.girodisc.com
Martin for his phenomenal 2 piece rotors, and for his great customer service.
- http://www.islandtire.net
Andrew for being so easy to work with, no matter if im bringing 1 set, or a gazillion sets. And to top it all off he is such a great guy.
Video Clips:
Descriptions: https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...86&postcount=9
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttizo3orq-E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm5KItFfROs
Smiley If you dont care to read about everything leading up to the actual event, skip the “Getting there” part.Getting there:
A few days before leaving i got sick. The 2 weeks prior to leaving i hardly got any sleep. In fact, the week prior to leaving there were 3 separate nights that i didnt sleep at all. Not back to back, 3 separate nights. And the nights that i did sleep i hardly got any rest. Either way, not sleeping 3 nights within one week isnt all that great. All the stress and extra work to prep for Nationals finally caught up with me and i got sick. I was in pretty bad shape for 3 days. I was really weak, and my body was killing me. I ate lots of soup and tried to rest as much as possible. It helped a great deal, but i left for Mid-O still a little sick.
The drive there was pretty grueling, but it was a bit better than i anticipated. I suppose all the excitement of Nationals took over and everything else sort of took the back seat. It was pretty fun driving through so many different states, but most of the time we were all business. I would rest while my dad would drive, and then i would drive while my dad would rest. From Socal we drove through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and finally Ohio. It was already challenging enough driving our RV, because for some odd reason there is a bunch of play in the steering wheel. You constantly have to play with the steering, and after a few minutes it gets pretty annoying. If that wasnt enough, the weather and some minor incidents delayed the drive.
While driving, most of the time the weather was pretty cool, with pretty much no heat. What sort of made the drive more challenging was the rain. The rain started somewhere around Texas and followed us all the way to Mid-O. The only time we hit some nasty weather was when we hit Indianapolis. It was really humid there, and we unfortunately had to stay the night. Beyond our issues with the rain, we got pulled over 3 times, where 2 out of those 3 times i was driving.
I never got a ticket, just warnings. After the 2nd time i figured we were going to get pulled over a few more times. The first time i got pulled over was the most entertaining, so ill only cover that one. While driving through Texas on our way to Mid-O we hit some sections that were really windy. That coupled with how challenging it is to drive our RV made for some difficult driving conditions. What happened was that some cop pulled up next to me and drove alongside me for a good 2-3 minutes. Any time you drive next to a RV it really disrupts the RV. I suppose this cop didnt know, and for whatever reason drove alongside me for that bit. I suspected he was up to something but wasnt sure if he was going to do anything. He wouldnt slow down, and he wouldnt pass me. He finally slowed down, got behind me and threw on his lights. He was a *****, and came across a bit prejudice. He said he pulled me over to make sure we werent drinking and driving. I told him that its pretty difficult driving a RV, and the out of control wind wasnt helping. I should have added that he was adding to the problem by driving alongside me for as long as he did, but i didnt want any problems. He asked where we were going, and as soon as i told him why we were going to Mid-O he asked if it was like NASCAR...the irony. He was a little nicer after that. Printed out a warning for me, then let us go our way. The other major incident was due to a detour. I dont recall what state we were in, or which highway we were on. All of a sudden there were a bunch of cops in the distance slowing down traffic. The highway was closed off, and they were making everyone exit. We didnt really know where we were, and the exit took us into some small town. It was nighttime, so it was a bit difficult to find someone who could point us in the right direction. We got detoured for about an hour. Finally spotted a cop and he pointed us in the right direction. I asked him what had happened, and he said that he was not allowed to say. Not sure what that entails. We finally got back onto the highway, and to our surprise there were like a million cars backed up in traffic on the opposite side. We probably drove a good 10 miles with cars parked on the other side of the highway, while our side was empty. Wow, this thread is really moving along with some great Nationals related info.
A few interesting things I recall while driving was that most states that we drove through didnt have any sort of welcome to so and so state signs. And most of the time there were hardly any signs indicating what city we were in or approaching. Some states were great with signs, while others didnt seem to care about letting you know where you are, or what is approaching. One sign i vividly remember, which was pretty entertaining, said something on the lines of, Hit a worker, $10,000 fine, and lose your license. Saw a few of those, and they made me laugh. Something else i recall was seeing the Carls Jr. logo, but its called Hardees instead in the Midwest. I know, wow, what an educational thread.
After 4 grueling days of driving we finally made it to Mid-O on Friday to a wet track. I had spoken with Jason earlier, and i made my way down to where he was situated. He was there that weekend racing his SRF with his group. Later on Friday night i went out to dinner with Jason and his SRF crew. They are some of the nicest guys i have ever met. Genuinely nice, welcoming, and warm hearted people. I dont recall the last time i met people like them. Jason ended up buying my dinner. Thanks Jason, but if i knew i would have gotten more food. Then on Saturday and Sunday the rain cleared a bit, and i got to watch a few of their races. It was funner than i imagined. On Sunday Jason found some of his in-car footage of his Evo at Mid-O. I spent a good amount of time watching his footage. I was super bored by Sunday so it was a great way to kill some time. I was pretty engaged with the footage because i pulled up a comfy chair and watched the footage as if i was driving. I sat there and went through the motions lap after lap. I figured it would help me get a jump start, and it did.
The SCCA crowd cleared out by Sunday night, and by Monday morning a few NASA people started rolling in. Spent pretty much all day Monday getting situated. The track official who was in charge of parking had a hell of a job to measure and assign all the parking spots. That took forever. Jeremy Croiset had set things up so us Cali guys had our own section. I guess they do that every year. I wanted to be near people i knew, so Jeremy got me a spot with them. The Cali guys were all pretty much the Honda Challenge guys. And since i had spoken with Ryan, with the Evo X from the Midwest, i got him situated so he could park next to me. Ryan shared his spot with James Elterman, so we had a nice Evo and STi spot. In front of us was David Bongiovanni and Edo Stepanyan from Edomoto, and next to us was Jeremy and the rest of the Cali Honda Challenge crew. We had a nice group of guys. Everyone helped each other out. I even had a hand in helping Jeremy put together his wing. Beyond that my dad did some cooking and most of the time Edo and his dad and brother, Dave, Ryan, and a few others would hang out with us, eat, drink and talk the night away. Lots of fun hanging out with those guys and getting to know them.
The Results:
Tuesday and Wednesday were the test days. Ryan and i ran both days together. Tuesday was pretty dead, but Wednesday was a bit more crowded. During the test days i dialed everything back a bunch, and just focused on scrubbing in tires and learning the track. I wanted to save the car, so i had no intentions of pushing things. Beyond that, since i was on a new setup, i wasnt super comfortable going 10/10ths from the get go. Plus, i didnt want to make some mistake that could potentially end my Nationals trip before it even started. Ryan on the other hand was flying around, and ran some times that are unheard of. Ill get into that later though.
Before i get into the results, i want to note that i did some research before i went. I looked around and spoke to some people i know, including Jason, and a little bit with Greg Wallace. I wanted to know what sort of times a typical TTA Evo 8/9 can run at Mid-O. What i basically found out was that i should be capable of running 1:36-1:38s. Here are a few of the top TTA times from last years Nationals:
1. 1:33.889 - Kenneth Smith - C5 Z06
2. 1:34.634 - Todd Kellner - C5 Z06
3. 1:35.074 - Jesse White - C5 Z06
4. 1:35.137 - David Mullen - C5 Z06
5. 1:35.743 - James Elterman – STi
6. 1:37.322 - John Slinkard – S2000
7. 1:38.180 - Greg Wallace – Evo 8
By looking at those times, and having spoken with Jason, i figured even though i have never driven Mid-O, i could potentially run in the 36s. Then, with a little practice i could possibly run in the 35s. And if i get to run every session, and if i get lucky, maybe i could break into the high 34s. But since no other TTA Evo 8/9 had gotten down into the 34s, based on what i had seen, it really didnt seem likely, especially for a guy who has never ran the track. And Mid-O is supposed to be a pretty challenging track. Well, after all was said and done, here are the top TTA times from this year. Due to whatever reasons, there were some late dropouts, and we only had 4 drivers competing in TTA. I got 3rd place, and its nothing to brag about, but im ok with that.
1. 1:33.698 - Ryan Gates - Evo X
2. 1:34.266 - Jesse White - C5 Z06
3. 1:36.262 - Ed Nazarian - Evo 9
4. 1:39.262 - William Kohut - C5 Z06
Our TT days were basically Thursday-Saturday. And we had 3 sessions a day to get our fastest lap. The weather was a force to deal with, because it rained all day Friday. So, pretty much no TT guys drove Friday because it was pretty much pointless from a TT point of view. It also rained Saturday morning, so Saturday was not looking great either. At that point pretty much everyone thought that our Nationals competition was going to end with us sitting around Saturday also. That really sucked because i didnt want to go all the way to Nationals and only drive the 3 sessions of our first day, and then sit around the rest of the weekend because of rain. But by some miracle it stopped raining about 2 hours before our 2nd session, and the sun came out all of a sudden. The track gradually dried up with the help of the groups that drove before us, and by the time our 2nd session was up the track was good to go. I cant believe it cleared up, and im so happy that it did. We got to drive our last 2 sessions, and i was able to run my fastest lap in my last lap of the last session, which happened to be my 7th lap. Ironically, the driver of a Cadillac who was running in TTS was doing a cool down lap in that lap and he ended up blocking me going through Madness. I dont know what he was thinking. I was pretty upset with that situation. I think that cost me from getting into the 35s.
Although, a more unfortunate situation happened for Ryan. There was some mixup with how he had added up his points, and it turned out he was 1 point over the TTA limit. On Thursday, Ryans fastest time was a 1:32.969. He was so much faster than everyone else, and even faster than almost every TTS guy, that they naturally had to check out his car. That is when they found out he was not TTA legal, 1 point over the TTA limit, so his times from Thursday were DQd. I know Ryan wasnt trying to cheat, it was just a simple mistake. And i know that Ryan was devastated. He was pretty much ready to throw in the towel and leave to go run the RTA in Jersey instead. James and i spoke with him and tried to convince him to stay. I didnt want to encourage or discourage him from either, but i wanted to at least tell him what i thought. Basically, i felt that if i was in his situation, having spent that much time/money, i would stay and work it out. But in the end he needed to decide what he wanted to do. Im glad he stayed. Either way, i doubt that 1 point will prevent him from running similar/better times in the future.
In the end, everyone was mystified as to how he was so much faster. Jesse is not only an experienced driver, he is also a local Mid-O guy. So there is no way anyone can simply show up and run nearly 1.3 seconds faster than him. Beyond that, during our test day Ryan tested out the C71s that i sold him, because he was going to run those tires for Nationals. And during our test day, based off of his Traqmate, he ran a high 1:31, iirc something along the lines a 31.7, or a 31.9. So if you take that time into consideration, Ryan was a good 2.3 seconds faster than a local guy who is apparently a pretty damn good driver, doing all this his first time at Mid-O. And compared to me, thats a good 4.2 seconds faster than my car. I dont claim to be some amazing driver, but there is no way my car can touch Ryans Evo X. Its not like i was parking it in some corner. And its not like i was going to wake up the next day, roll out of bed, and all of a sudden be 4 seconds faster. Now, i know that im one of those guys that likes to take his time to get faster when driving a new track. So i know that if the weather permitted, i would have eventually gotten into the 35s. But i dont know if i could have gotten into the 34s, let alone a 31. Either way, im sure Ryan would have improved also, so no matter what, his car would have still been a good 4 seconds faster than mine. Now this in no way should take away from what Ryan accomplished at Nationals. He overcame a very devastating situation, and against all odds the weather somehow cleared up just in time for our last 2 sessions where he set his fastest official TTA times. So, major congrats to Ryan for what he overcame to achieve the TTA National Championship.
But the reality is that i dont see how my car can all of a sudden be 4 seconds faster. There are still a few things i can change on my car, but i seriously doubt those changes will entail 4+ seconds. And having spoken with Ryan, it appears the Evo X is simply that much faster. He swears that his Evo X is significantly better than his previous Evo 9 in every way. I dont recall which track he was referring to, but he said that his Evo X compared to his previous Evo 9 is a good 6 seconds faster on that track with similar mods. To be completely honest, i didnt believe him at first because his numbers dont add up. His car weighed in at around 3,500 lbs, and on the Dynapack at Nationals his car put down 330-340 whp from what i recall he said. But he had swapped out some performance parts to be TTA legal when he put down those numbers on the dyno at Nationals. Either way, im sure with the proper adjustments he can put down more power. So when Ryan said his Evo X is a good 6 seconds faster i thought maybe he just got better as a driver, or maybe he made some miscalculation. But now i believe it, because the times speak for themselves. Ryan in his Evo X, given his test day time, was a good 4.2 seconds faster than me in my Evo 9. Its not a 6 second difference, but its close enough. Maybe he improved a tad, maybe my setup is a bit better than his previous Evo 9 setup. Either way, the amount he claims his Evo X is faster than his previous Evo 9 is close enough to how much faster his Evo X is relative to my Evo 9. And again, there are some changes that i can make to my car, but i seriously doubt those changes will entail 4+ seconds. This is obviously great news for the Evo X, but im not sure how NASA will class it next year. If they dont re-class it, for now i dont foresee anyone touching the Evo X in TTA. So if you didnt believe it before, believe it now, the Evo X is magical.
Oh and before i forget, NASA hosted a huge dinner party for everyone at the track. During dinner they made a huge announcement. I know some of you already know because i was so excited that i called a few of you guys. Anyways, the next 2 years Nationals will be held at Miller. They are going to alternate Nationals every two years between Miller and Mid-O. So Nationals in 2009 and 2010 will be at Miller, then back to Mid-O for another 2 years. If everything works out well for everyone, look to see a nice Socal and Norcal contingent at Nationals next year.
As far as pictures, im still getting it all sorted out. As soon as i put some things together ill post some pics.
In my previous thread i already thanked those that helped me get prepared for Nationals, but here they are again:
- http://www.tuningtechnologies.com
Alfred for all the time/effort he has put into tuning my car. Its been running strong for more than 2 seasons. I cant be happier. Jenn for all the little things. Nick for simply understanding what i need, being able to keep track of it all, and doing all the necessary legwork to get everything situated. And all the other guys at Tuning Tech who have worked on my car. These guys have been running around above and beyond to get everything ready for me.
- http://muellerized.com
John for his suspension expertise. Simply put, he knows how to setup a car. When they were setting up my car for Nationals we had an unexpected wheel bearing situation. John decided it would be best if i left my car overnight so they could put in extra time to make sure everything was ok. Then they paid to get me a rental. Orlando drove me to the airport and we luckily found something last minute. Everywhere else was sold out. The next day they replaced both of my front wheel bearings to be safe, and Chris finished up the car. I am so fortunate my wheel bearing issue presented itself when i was at Muellerized. I could have easily gone all the way to Mid-O and probably within the first lap my front wheel bearing would have given up and a disaster could have possibly entailed.
- http://southcoastmitsubishi.com
Rigo and the powers that be at SCM. They recently stepped up and helped me out quite a bit. Thanks for all the stuff you guys hooked me up with, and for the support. I really feel welcome there.
- http://www.girodisc.com
Martin for his phenomenal 2 piece rotors, and for his great customer service.
- http://www.islandtire.net
Andrew for being so easy to work with, no matter if im bringing 1 set, or a gazillion sets. And to top it all off he is such a great guy.
Video Clips:
Descriptions: https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...86&postcount=9
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttizo3orq-E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm5KItFfROs
Last edited by Bueller; Oct 6, 2008 at 09:43 AM.
Sep 22, 2008, 10:04 AM
#2
Hit a work, $10,000 fine and 14 years in jail! Seems a bit lop-sided to me.
Congrats to all.
A lot of people have been griping about reclassifying the C5 Z06. Not sure what these results will end up doing. If they do somehow reclassify the Evo X; I just hope they don't penalize the Evo 8/9 in anyway.
Sep 22, 2008, 11:02 AM
#3
Congrats on everything Ed! It was awesome to meet you and I enjoyed parking by you.
I really don't have an explanation on why the times were so fast, hard to say without a back to back comparo. But if you thought it was fast now.....just wait til Nov
Again, congrats Ed! Im glad you and your Father made it home safe and had a fun trip!
Ryan
I really don't have an explanation on why the times were so fast, hard to say without a back to back comparo. But if you thought it was fast now.....just wait til Nov
Again, congrats Ed! Im glad you and your Father made it home safe and had a fun trip!
Ryan
Sep 22, 2008, 02:30 PM
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Was it in IL? In IL we have the following:
Hit a work, $10,000 fine and 14 years in jail! Seems a bit lop-sided to me.
I ran in Midwest TTA part of this year. I've been on track with both Ryan and Jesse. Both are good friendly guys. Jesse is a very good driver and claims his car is "so easy to drive". Ryan threw down a time @ Gateway that shocked me back in April on a much earlier setup - so I knew what he was capable of right away this year.
Congrats to all.
A lot of people have been griping about reclassifying the C5 Z06. Not sure what these results will end up doing. If they do somehow reclassify the Evo X; I just hope they don't penalize the Evo 8/9 in anyway.
Hit a work, $10,000 fine and 14 years in jail! Seems a bit lop-sided to me.
I ran in Midwest TTA part of this year. I've been on track with both Ryan and Jesse. Both are good friendly guys. Jesse is a very good driver and claims his car is "so easy to drive". Ryan threw down a time @ Gateway that shocked me back in April on a much earlier setup - so I knew what he was capable of right away this year.
Congrats to all.
A lot of people have been griping about reclassifying the C5 Z06. Not sure what these results will end up doing. If they do somehow reclassify the Evo X; I just hope they don't penalize the Evo 8/9 in anyway.
As far as the Evo X, im not sure what they will do with it. Either way, i seriously doubt they will re-class the Evo 8/9. They have plenty of data on them.
Sep 22, 2008, 02:34 PM
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Congrats on everything Ed! It was awesome to meet you and I enjoyed parking by you.
I really don't have an explanation on why the times were so fast, hard to say without a back to back comparo. But if you thought it was fast now.....just wait til Nov
Again, congrats Ed! Im glad you and your Father made it home safe and had a fun trip!
Ryan
I really don't have an explanation on why the times were so fast, hard to say without a back to back comparo. But if you thought it was fast now.....just wait til Nov
Again, congrats Ed! Im glad you and your Father made it home safe and had a fun trip!
Ryan
Sep 22, 2008, 03:31 PM
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It would be cool to review Ryans Traqmate data against an EVO 9. Or for that matter any of the other TTA cars.
Or do you guys have in-car that can be run side-to-side.
Or do you guys have in-car that can be run side-to-side.
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Sep 23, 2008, 06:33 PM
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Things i forgot to mention:
1 - I totally forgot to mention the Hurricane!!! We got hit with some portion of it on Sunday. Literally about an hour before my dad and i finished up packing, it started getting windy. We honestly didnt think anything of it because we just figured that was typical Mid-O weather. Meaning, before going to Mid-O i was told by many people that the weather in Ohio is such that if you dont like the weather, wait for 10 minutes and it will change. And that was totally true throughout our entire stay at Mid-O. One minute it would be cloudy, one minute the sun would come out, then the next thing you know its raining cats and dogs. The weather was very unpredictable. So when it started getting windy on Sunday we never thought anything other than its just getting windy. Then as we were leaving, all of a sudden, it went from being windy to just out of control windy.
I was walking out of the bathroom trying not to fall on my face, and out of nowhere i see a port-o-potty flying by me. It missed me by a few feet. I didnt know what to think. I rushed to get in our RV, and when i opened the door it nearly tore out of its place. The track was a mess. We left in a hurry, but had no idea that it was going to continue like that for the whole night. It was just too windy to drive, because it felt like our RV was going to flip any second. We decided to exit and wait it out. The diner we ate at lost its power shortly. A few hours later we hit the road again.
2 - Something else i completely forgot about. When i was at Mid-O the weekend before Nationals, as i noted in my first post, SCCA was there for their event. Well, a T2 350Z was destroyed on Sunday, and the driver walked away. I wasnt watching that race, so i never saw it. Although, i did see him out there the day before. Here is a link with more pics, and his in-car footage:
***I ask that you guys not post any of those pics in this thread. Reason being that my computer is a piece of crap, and it will make it very difficult for me to view my thread.***
http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f223...00/index2.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvdaMMrmkF8
http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/1...ashsccazf4.gif
1 - I totally forgot to mention the Hurricane!!! We got hit with some portion of it on Sunday. Literally about an hour before my dad and i finished up packing, it started getting windy. We honestly didnt think anything of it because we just figured that was typical Mid-O weather. Meaning, before going to Mid-O i was told by many people that the weather in Ohio is such that if you dont like the weather, wait for 10 minutes and it will change. And that was totally true throughout our entire stay at Mid-O. One minute it would be cloudy, one minute the sun would come out, then the next thing you know its raining cats and dogs. The weather was very unpredictable. So when it started getting windy on Sunday we never thought anything other than its just getting windy. Then as we were leaving, all of a sudden, it went from being windy to just out of control windy.
I was walking out of the bathroom trying not to fall on my face, and out of nowhere i see a port-o-potty flying by me. It missed me by a few feet. I didnt know what to think. I rushed to get in our RV, and when i opened the door it nearly tore out of its place. The track was a mess. We left in a hurry, but had no idea that it was going to continue like that for the whole night. It was just too windy to drive, because it felt like our RV was going to flip any second. We decided to exit and wait it out. The diner we ate at lost its power shortly. A few hours later we hit the road again.
2 - Something else i completely forgot about. When i was at Mid-O the weekend before Nationals, as i noted in my first post, SCCA was there for their event. Well, a T2 350Z was destroyed on Sunday, and the driver walked away. I wasnt watching that race, so i never saw it. Although, i did see him out there the day before. Here is a link with more pics, and his in-car footage:
***I ask that you guys not post any of those pics in this thread. Reason being that my computer is a piece of crap, and it will make it very difficult for me to view my thread.***
http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f223...00/index2.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvdaMMrmkF8
http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/1...ashsccazf4.gif
Oct 6, 2008, 09:40 AM
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Here are 2 video clips. I will update my first post to incorporate these clips also. You can locate them at the bottom of my first post:
The following are in-car clips from my friends car, Scott Howard, who was running his 1st gen RX7 in TTS. Im right in front of Scott in these clips. Unfortunately, Scotts engine blew on the first day. I felt so bad for him. Btw, both of the following clips are available in a high quality version. Just click on the "watch in high quality" link.
Both of these clips are from the 1st session of our 1st day (Thursday). I was running on some not so fresh tires to save my new tires for when they mattered. In front of me is Tage Evanson, running in TTS, and the red car blocking us iirc was a TTU Mustang. I dont know what was up with that Mustang. The car seemed pretty squirrely in the corners, but since it was a TTU car it was fast enough in the straights that it was a bit difficult to pass him at will. We were stuck behind him for an entire lap. Tage left the door open for Scott and i, so we passed him coming out of the Carousel. I then made a move on the Mustang before T1, but it didnt seem like he wanted to let me pass yet, so i backed off:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttizo3orq-E
In this clip i had just passed the Mustang down the back straight. Shortly after, i noticed Scott had passed him also. The set of tires i was running for qualifying were used and were starting to fall off at that point. Since i had ran the day before, and he hadnt, i wasnt sure if he wanted to follow me around a bit or not. I gave him a little room down the straight after T1, and he passed me going into the key hole. I guess it was a good practice session for him since he was also racing in ST2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm5KItFfROs
The following are in-car clips from my friends car, Scott Howard, who was running his 1st gen RX7 in TTS. Im right in front of Scott in these clips. Unfortunately, Scotts engine blew on the first day. I felt so bad for him. Btw, both of the following clips are available in a high quality version. Just click on the "watch in high quality" link.
Both of these clips are from the 1st session of our 1st day (Thursday). I was running on some not so fresh tires to save my new tires for when they mattered. In front of me is Tage Evanson, running in TTS, and the red car blocking us iirc was a TTU Mustang. I dont know what was up with that Mustang. The car seemed pretty squirrely in the corners, but since it was a TTU car it was fast enough in the straights that it was a bit difficult to pass him at will. We were stuck behind him for an entire lap. Tage left the door open for Scott and i, so we passed him coming out of the Carousel. I then made a move on the Mustang before T1, but it didnt seem like he wanted to let me pass yet, so i backed off:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ttizo3orq-E
In this clip i had just passed the Mustang down the back straight. Shortly after, i noticed Scott had passed him also. The set of tires i was running for qualifying were used and were starting to fall off at that point. Since i had ran the day before, and he hadnt, i wasnt sure if he wanted to follow me around a bit or not. I gave him a little room down the straight after T1, and he passed me going into the key hole. I guess it was a good practice session for him since he was also racing in ST2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm5KItFfROs