Part 3 - NASA Mid-Atantic Event
Fresh off my first day at VIR (see thread on GRM UTCC Event) I was just getting started on the weekend's festivities!
After the GRM awards ceremony, I went back to my pit area to transform/downgrade the car into NASA TTB trim for the weekend which besides a small tire and weight different includes about 50whp less! And guess what; it was still insanely hot. I had the following to switch out:

1. Remove AMS FMIC & piping
2. Install stock FMIC & piping
3. Remove K&N open air setup
4. Remove AMS MBC setup
5. Install stock airbox and stock vaccuum lines
6. Switch tires/rims to my legal 245's for TTB
7. Re-Flash ecu back to my 93oct map

All of that took just over 2hrs; all while sweating profusely. Working in the sandy paddock area wasn't all that run either. It's also fun when you're dripping with sweat as all that sand likes to stick to you. But all just as planned and I packed up for the day to head home and take a well deserved shower.

Sat Morning:
The call was a 7:30am meeting at the track. Because of the heat from the previous day, I felt like I had been up partying all night long even though I wasn't. Great way to start the day and along with the Gatorade and water I was drinking I had to mix in some caffeine as well to get me going!

I had just enough time to tighten everything down and make the morning warmup for TT. I was going to be running my usual TTB trim which is ~300whp & 3280lbs with 245 Hoosiers. Practice went fine although I did pop off a boost line and was overboosting on the last lap so I came in a bit early as I already had a few hot laps in for a good grid position.
NASA Mid-Atlantic does their TT program scheduling quite a bit different from what I'm used to in the MW/GL division. Where I'm used to 5 total sessions; here I was only going to get 2! So that's a lot less track time, and a lot more pressure to have your setup right and a good clean flyer of a lap w/o any offs (4-wheels off = DQ)! I thought I did well, with a 2:13.7 but that stuck me in 4th out of 7! Fortunately I had nearly 4 hrs to figure out where to pick up time. In looking at my data, basically I lost the '*****' I picked up at the end of the previous day through and at the top of the climbing esses - so I knew what I had to do. Even though this was only my 2nd day ever on this track, I wanted at least a podium finish!

The final - other rather the 'other' timed session was around 5pm. I lined up very early and went out and just kept my foot in it. Just like the end of the day Friday, the track was pretty greasy. Did I mention Sat was even hotter than the UTCC event?? I think the high was 103 Saturday and the track conditions showed it. I was clicking off lower times on each of my laps as I struggled through some traffic. My last lap was my best - 2:11.8 which vaulted me into 2nd place; just .5 off the win. I was pretty happy with that outcome. In a sense, I picked up a 1/2 second from the previous day even though I was running 50whp less, thinner tires and more weight! Not bad... I secured 2nd out of 7 and felt pretty good about my chance on Sunday as well.



Sunday:
Only prep work was rotating the tires and tightening everything down. The practice session went just fine and in the 3hr gap before our 11:30am timed session I started packing up for the long trip home. We had an 11:30 timed session and then something like a 4:30pm session which I was not planning on sticking around for - not when I had a 900 mile trip home!

Again I lined up pretty early for the time session to make sure I wasn't late. The hottest part of the day has got to be sitting on grid in your car in your firesuit with zero air movement just waiting for your session to begin. At least once your moving you get some air!

Anyways, once the session started I clicked off a few laps and had a 1:11.2 which was my best to date. I took a partial cool-down then hammered out a final lap. I had to pass 3 cars on this lap and still came away with my best ever - my traqmate showed a 2:11 flat. I did about the best I could and hoped it would hold up.
After about 30min of chugging water and packing I went to check the midday results. And this was how close it was:
1st place: 2:10.998
Me: 2:11.028
Yep, that's just .03 off the win... I was sooo close to taking down the win in TTB from the locals! But, I needed to get home so I packed up the car, said a few goodbyes and took off. All-in-all I was insanely proud of the car. I punished it in 100+ degree temps all weekend to the tune of 200+ track miles and it never flinched at all. I ran both a 100oct 26psi and my normal 93oct AMS Performance tune and kept everything in check with AMSOIL fluids. Thanks again for the great products guys! Also a shoutout to Forgeline rims and Hawk pads; great products.

Here's vid from my only timed session on Sunday. 2 of my best laps; both 2:11's.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNSsvKflW2A

 

The EPIC Journey Home:

Short version:
Heading up over the mountains on the 900 mile trip home Sunday from VIR the truck died. After about 1:15 I had a towtruck there to help me out. I was towed 50 miles to the nearest Nissan dealership. I spent the night in a hotel, check the truck in @ 7:30am and waited. About 2pm I got the word we'd have to overnight parts. Not liking any of my options, I decided to shop for a new or used truck. I testdrove a 2010 Nissan, Ford and GMC and went with the best deal and literally drove out of VA in a new truck!


Very very long version:
I packed up, said some goodbye's and took off around 2pm local. I knew I could not and should not try to log the entire 900 miles in one stretch, so I figured I'd drive until I got tired and/or it got dark and rest for the night (hotel/rest area; whatever). However, I only made it about 1 hour...
Leaving VIR and heading west I had about 60 miles of twisting and turning 2-lane road before I got to the interstate. The worst part being the last 25 miles - remember those 9% downhill curves I mentioned on the way in? Well, now it was time to trek upward through them. The worst part was 4.5 consecutive miles of 9% uphill curves, and I had the truck in 2nd gear running about 3k rpms, A/C off etc... I was about 1/3 of the way up this stretch when the truck started bucking, like someone was jamming the brakes. Well, that all my momentum pretty quick and I can to a deadstop in about 20 ft. I waived around
the 4 cars behind me and tried to take stop of the situation. Every light on my dash was on - SRS, 4WD. SLIP, Service Engine Soon, etc. The truck wouldn't rev over 1400rpms so I wasn't going anywhere!
So I sat there in the middle of an 'S' curve with it still in the upper 90's probably, with the A/C off and the heater on high and me hanging out the window trying to wave traffic from both directions safely around me. I was assuming it'd overheated. The truck has thrown 4 different Check Engine Lights and my brake controller was flashing 2 different codes as well! I popped the hood; nothing was steaming or leaking anywhere. I checked the trailer and all looked normal.
After about 30min I called my fiance and tried to elicit opinions as I wasn't in the best of moods. I then used my GPS to find someone to tow me - figured it was a good plan 'B' if the truck wouldn't cool down and 'reset' itself. I called probably 12 places; only 1 answered and didn't have towing. I called the fiance back and I realized I had no idea where the closest city even was! She mentioned insurance and I thought - bingo; call them. I eventually got to an operator that thought I was wanting to report an accident; but she connected me to somebody. I told him I was heading west from Danville about an hour ago and was on the 9% grades and he said he'd find me and 'be right there'.
In the meantime I kept trying the truck, but it wouldn't rev. I kept running the heater on high, clearing the CEL codes, I even unplugged the battery to try and 'reset it' but nothing changed. I called my Dad who is a lifelong mechanic and works on Semi's now and he had some suggestions, ut nothing I hadn't tried!
About that time a state cop came up behind me. He asked me how long I'd been there and I said probably 20min. He said he got the call 30+ minutes ago, and I realized I had no concept of time and it'd been well over an hour already. 15min or so later the towtuck came by, said he'd turn around and be right back remember it's a 2-lane curvey road on the side of an f'in mountain). So the tow truck guy - I thought ironically named Jolly Towing - hooked onto the truck and pulled it and the trailer 'the hell outta there' which is exactly what the cop wanted. Once we found some extra space in a few miles he pulled over and we re-evaluated.

Meanwhile, my fiance is patrolling the Nissan forums for answers and texting me suggestions! I was still assuming the truck overheated and would be reset eventually. Once the truck was on flat ground, it would idle and roll by itself but still not rev over 1400rpms. So, completely out of ideas, the truck as loaded up onto the wrecker and the trailer connected to the ball hitch and away we went. I decided to have it taken to the nearest Nissan dealer - a scenic 50 miles away!
We unloaded the truck in the dealership parking lot - I settled up my bill (don't ask) and made sure to say thanks for the help. It was about 5pm. I called all the Nissan dealership to try and leave a message to get me in first thing; no answer; no machine; nothing. I walked down the street to the GM and Ford dealership and the same deal; no answering machine or anything.
I got some food and A/C and ended up spending the night in a $38 hotel only because it was within view of my truck, car & trailor. I got up several times to make sure it was ok! A lot of the locals were swarming around the car looking at it and snapping some pics and whatnot - with the stickers and everything it sure does stand out!
I used their very crappy wifi at the hotel to look up all the engine codes & check out each of the dealerships stock for Plan B - which was to trade the truck in. The engine codes were all electrical or pedal assembly related so I wasn't sure what the deal was.
I got the truck checked into the Nissan service area at 7:45am. I checked on it a few times throughout the morning and finally got a so-so diagnoses of some melted wiring around mid-morning but they needed to verify and everyone was busy - so back to waiting.
At this point I visited the nearby Ford dealership and testdrove an F-150 (they only had 3 there). Never really liked the F-150's; always wanted the F-250 PowerStroke Diesels but I can't seem to justify the $54k and up pricetag!
About 2pm in the afternoon I got the official word from the Nissan service department that my main wiring harness was fried. This happened because he exhaust rusted through and literally fell off so the extra heat was apparently too much. The fix was to overnight 2 harnesses, have them installed and hope that fixes everything and the main engine control module wasn't fried as well. So assuming they could overnight the parts, they needed 4-5hrs of labor the next day to get everything in - and they couldn't gaurantee they'd have someone to do the work. So I seen my options as:

1. Order parts and wait. If fixed, I could leave around 6pm Tuesday. If parts not fix, then reorder parts again and wait another 2 days, etc.
2. Have someone come down and tow my car/trailer & me the 750 miles home. Come back for the truck when it was fixed. My Dad has a 1/2 ton as well, but he was 14hrs away and just off an 18hr trip himself from Sat/Sun.
3. Fly home. Come back for the truck/car/trailer when it was fixed. Hopefully store the car/trailer somewhere a bit safer. Flights weren't really pentiful nor cheap. I figure an easy $1k to fly me out and then me & my fiance back next week along with a car rental from the airport.
4. Buy new truck; drive out that night.

I talked with the service guy directly to make sure we had everything straight and he said I had until 4pm to get the overnight parts order in (about 2 hours). I found a Nissan salesperson and once again explained my situation. They had 2 Titan's on their lot in the config I wanted. So I got the keys to 1 and took it to lunch to try and sort out this mess. A detailed call to the fiance for some advice and money situation discussions and a full stomach and I was off.
I figured I'd check the GM store as well. They only had two 1/2 tons there, I guess they lost their affiliation or whatever awhile back when GM shutdown dealerships and whatnot. So I took a quick testdrive and they whipped up a quick estimate for me and I headed back to the Nissan place. I was still waiting on #'s from the Ford place, I was told their main guy was in a closed door sales meeting.
Long story short... the Nissan guy came down a bunch when I said I was headed back to the Ford place to get my #'s. And I bought a new 2010 Titan. 30min to transfer all my belongings, 50min to do finance paperwork and I was off. By 8pm I was at the first rest area stocking up on fluids and 5hr energy. I made it to about 11pm an stopped near Knoxville, TN. After 3.5 hrs of sleep I headed back out and eventually made it home about 1pm in the afternoon. New truck did great, I varied the speeds from 60-82mph on the interstates and it did great. The bluetooth device came in very handy to keep me awake and alert! I think I'm still tired and/or my buddy just thinks it needs all that caffeine to operate!

 

Nice times man. Glad you've still got some cashflow. lol, buying a new truck right now would be unpossible for me. Wish I could have made it to this event. Would have been good to meet you. First NASA MA event I've missed in years and it looks like I'll have to miss a few more this year.... Money's not looking good... but I'm fighting to keep the car in the driveway!!!

 

What a freakin' nightmare!

Great composure Nathan; talk about a "no win" situation but it looks like turned out well in the end

 

Yeah, money sucks. One of the reasons I was ok with a new truck was that I finally sold my old house! Not sure if you read the other thread i have about the trip down and the UTCC event; but the side-trip to STL was to close on the house!
So that helped...

Exchanged a mortgage for a truck payment I guess.

 

That's got to be one of the most stressful situations I've ever read about. Makes me think twice about the 20 hr tow we're contemplating from upstate NY for an event in Arkansas.

Eh, it's my buddy's truck and car so what am I worried about...

 

Haha. Good times. Great story

 

nice new truck!

I had a friend with a similar issue w/ his Titan

Nathan, Id suggest something like Allstate RV Roadhelp if youre going to be doing a lot of towing long distances.... saved my **** before.

 

Thank, I'll look into that right away.....edit - SIGNED UP!

My insurance is supposedly going to cover part of the tow. Something like to the nearest shop - but there wasn't much closer unless they towed me back down the mountain and that didn't sound like a great idea! I went for the dealer; eventually worked out.

 

great times and nice truck.

 

lol, nice. I'm glad you can do it. Great to see other lancer owners out there when I can. Don't think you had the picture up before, very nice combo. I like the bright red truck and blue car. Keep the speed down, that combo's an eye catcher!

 

Wow sounds like an epic chain of events just getting home! Glad everything worked out in the end and you went with the most sensible option even if it cost some money. Great results on the track too, sounds like you are really getting used to that car.

 

Congrats on the new truck,,, at least something good came out of the headach the old truck gave you.

brand new truck has AMSOIL for her

 

It sure was. Only thing I've figured out - drive it like hell!

Thanks. And it's already been drained and filled with AMSOIL!

 

So I've had a lot of people ask me - Would you go back to VIR?

In a word - YES.
Might I travel a different route; yes. And hopefully next time I do a 2000 mile trip I have some sort of pit crew; but nearly all of my trips are alone.

And I did add on some Allstate roadside coverage!