Ohio

Episode VII in this road trip! For previous installments : 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.

I'm not sure which I dislike more -- running in the first run group like I did the previous week at Packwood, or working in the first run group like I would at Toledo. I do know that working grid in the regular competition rounds isn't high on my list either, but I've been doing ProSolos long enough that I could figure it out pretty well. In fact, at NJ, I just sort of started working grid because Howard had taken over start (since the lights were misbehaving at that event). The problem with doing a job well though is that it suddenly becomes expected of you...


Anyway, Pat and I arrived on site around 6:30 so that he could help Learic change her tires. I'd changed tires on the WRX the night before, so for me, it would just be a matter of checking pressures and such before I ran. I went to walk courses and think about some things that Tony Savini had noted the previous evening, and then it was off to grid with Marc Pfannenschmidt for the next hour or so. We were praised for our smooth operation, setting a high precedent for the rest of the heats when we left.

ESP Grid, Saturday morning. Photo by Jen Merideth

While Pat struggled with getting clean runs in the 370Z (Him : "It doesn't handle like an ESP Camaro!" Me : "Duh! I told you it would be like an FS Camaro!!"), I started off with mid 0.6s RTs and decent enough times, except for my first run where I got seriously lost as I turned into the right hand sweeper. On my third run, however, the time was delayed, and as I pulled over to the left side for my last run, I see my running partner hasn't made it off course. In fact, people are starting to walk out on course, and then the SCCA truck rolls out. That can't be good.

Turns out that the brake caliper bracket on the ex-Merideth Mustang had snapped -- not for the first time, either! Fortunately, the damage was minimal, and they had enough parts with them to be able to fix it, just not in time for the co-driver to get runs in. In any event, clouds began to roll in towards the end of our session, and with our group's grid workers slacking at keeping classes together, ESP second drivers barely got two dry runs before the first of several deluges hit.

Very serious bizness.

I was sitting in fourth after the morning runs, with Shawn Alexander  in the lead, Dave Heinrich second and Dave Feighner less than a tenth ahead of me. I was only 0.4 back from Shawn. If it could stay dry in the afternoon, I was hoping I could make up the time.

With some timing issues (equipment malfunctions and the like) caused by the downpour, we ended up with no lunch break, so after taking the car over to paddock, it was almost immediately time to go back to work. However, there was a dilemma for another of the DC area ESP drivers... Evidently, something in the rear end of Sam Vassallo's Mustang broke during Adam George's runs. The initial diagnosis was the Watts link. Adam asked about driving the WRX for the afternoon session, but I pointed out that during a ProSolo, once you switch cars, you can't go back to your original vehicle. I didn't want him to be stuck in the WRX if the Mustang was fixable.

Sam went out to get some bolts from the local mom-and-pop hardware store, after Marcus pointed out that the broken bolt Adam removed wasn't the correct bolt.

He didn't buy out the store, but he brought back myriad bolts in the hopes one would work.

Meanwhile, Marc and I were whipping grid into shape in order to bust through classes as quickly as possible in order to avoid getting caught in the Toledo Tsunami II. While we may have come across as a bit irritable, I hope the competitors in groups 1 and 2 understood that we were trying to help them out by getting dry(ish) runs in.

As we turned the reins to grid over, another batch of storm clouds was building to the west. Marc and I had been checking the radar on his phone, and it looked like it could possibly miss the airport (going just barely to the north of us).

Pat vs. EricK. One time co-drivers, now mortal enemies. ;)

I'm sure the competitors of S5 weren't happy they'd been moved to the back of their grid, but with a few competitors working shift A, it was only fair they had time to get ready to run. The unfortunate thing was that the rain hit right when they were going out for their afternoon runs. Pat took one part-run in Learic's car, and came in, fearing he'd do something damaging in the wet on A6s. There was always Sunday morning, right?

The rain stopped before ESP was ready to go, though there were plenty of wet spots still on course. It was doubtful that any of us first drivers would improve, though the second drivers may have a chance, depending on when grid decided to send them this time.

Too. Many. Mustangs. Where all my F-bodies at??

As Dave and I pulled to the line, I realized that, yes, the course was going to be too damp for improvement. The airport doesn't drain particularly well since it's so flat. So, these runs were going to be for fun.

In the end, while waiting in impound, Dave and I talked about the few things we were able to learn in the dry areas on course, especially the finish slaloms. It was funny that we both were trying to do the same thing -- recon in the dry sections -- and despite vastly different cars, we were able to conclude the same thing; we weren't driving fast enough in several areas.

The rain was at least good for some striking photos. This one was taken by Craig Wilcox.

Some of the second drivers were able to improve, primarily due to getting a clean run on one side or another, but the top four remained the same going into Sunday's runs. Upon release from impound, I changed to the street tires -- I did not want to be caught in the rain Saturday night nor Sunday morning on the A6s -- then we headed over to Smokey Bones to hang out with some Ohio peeps for dinner before calling it a night, despite their best attempts to get us to go karting.

My phone is tethered to my pocket so that it doesn't magically disappear during dinner. Blurry photo by Sean O'Gorman.

Who's idea was it to start Sunday morning ProSolo runs an hour earlier than Saturday? It's like they hate night owls like myself. ;) Still, Pat and I got on site around 6:45, and I walked each course again. It's not like I didn't know what I needed to do, but walking helps me remember where I need to place the car.

The forecast was for no precipitation until later in the afternoon, and the early groups showed that the Saturday deluges had evidently wiped the slow off the course. Some of the ladies class competitors were dropping 1-2 seconds out there, and while that raised my spirits regarding ESP, it also scared me. I could drop 1.5s, but what about everyone else?

I watched and monitored Pat's progress while changing back to my A6s in paddock. His first two runs were fast, and put him momentarily into the S5 lead, but Joe Barbato dropped the hammer on his last two runs while Pat red lit and went slower. Still he held on to the second spot, 0.349 back from Barbato, in a car he'd never driven before.

It wasn't too long until it was my turn again.

Sunday's grid looks a lot like Saturday afternoon grid.

Pat went to turn on the camera, and it was dead. I was sad, but it meant I would definitely set my fastest times, since I couldn't record them. And, yes, first runs were fast, as expected, though I definitely left something on the table as I realized I'd left the AC/defrost on for my first run. :o I dropped another 0.5s on my first left side run, but my right side runs were killing me. I needed to step it up. I managed to barely nick the 30s on my last right, with a 30.9, and my subsequent 30.2 on the left was at that time only eclipsed by Dave Heinrich. It was good enough for third at that point, but with second drivers coming up, I wasn't hopeful to stay there.

Sure enough, Dave's son, Josh, came out of nowhere to grab second spot, only 0.1 off his dad, and running an impressive 30.2 on the right. Adam finally capitalized on the warm tires that Sam gave him and took fourth, a mere 0.006 behind Feighner. I would stay in the final trophy position, just a smidge over 0.7s back from the lead, knowing I left at least that much time on the table, and consoling myself with the fact that I was driving by myself on seriously old tires while everyone who finished ahead of me had been on stickers for the weekend.

I put the car in paddock, my name in for the bonus challenge and then started gridding up the Ladies Challenge to try to beat the rain. I didn't get lucky enough to be drawn for the bonus two weeks in a row (though Sam Krauss was drawn and could have driven my car, but he'd already left). The third epic flood (or was it the fourth? or fifth?) hit during the first round of the Super Challenge, making things very interesting, especially for matchups of R-comp vs. R-comp or R-comp vs. slick.

Voted least desirable umbrella girls for the event. ;) Alex says he only had one dry shirt, hence running shirtless here. Yes, he cleared it with the Chief of Safety.

The final came down to an ST car and an F125 on rain tires. The STC car, driven by Jason Frank, took the win.

Final round matchup

Pat had graciously changed my tires and loaded up my car during the Challenges, so all I had to do after we collected our trophies (and those of some friends who'd left already) was say our goodbyes. He'd ridden out with Adam, Sam and Mike Kline, so they left about an hour before me. Once I got on the road, I realized I was dead tired -- working in the rain probably didn't help -- and I only got as far as Youngstown before I grabbed a hotel for the night.

Toledo ProSolo Results

The rest of the trip was pretty easy. I stopped in Hancock to explore that part of the C&O Canal for a while, then rolled up to the house in the late afternoon. And sadly, the trip was over, marking what is the for me, essentially the end of summer.

Looking down the Potomac River

Abandoned structure near Lock 52. Probably the lock master's home.

Watch where you're walking...er... slithering!

Tonoloway Aqueduct

Any place can be a rest stop.

Until next year, oh western frontier!

All photos that I took

My YouTube Channel

My Instagram

Triskelion Racing

Post Title Origins

• So Lonely, The Police
• Everybody Have Fun Tonight, Wang Chung
• The Distance, Cake
• On The Road Again, Willie Nelson
• No Particular Place to Go, Chuck Berry
• Six Days on the Road, Sawyer Brown
• Ohio, Black Keys

The Beers that Came Back

• 11th Hour IPA, Crow Peak Brewing 
• Spotted Cow, New Glarus Brewing
• Moon Man No Coast Pale Ale, New Glarus Brewing
• Full Suspension Pale Ale, Salt Lake Brewing Co.
• IPA, Odell Brewing Company
• Alaskan Black IPA, Alaskan Brewing Company
• (traded for) Lake Erie Monster, Great Lakes Brewing Company
• (traded for) White Rajah, The Brew Kettle
• (traded for) Head Hunter, Fat Head's Brewery

Practice Makes Perfect

What a long weekend! Two days of autocrossing with two different clubs. Three different courses. Lots of ESP competition. And me needing to scrape a lot of rust.... okay, let's be real here. It's not rust. It's fear I'm trying to overcome out on the course. Fear that the car isn't going to handle the way it's supposed to. Fear that the tires aren't going to stick. And, the biggest fear of all -- that the car is going to break again. I went through this two years ago after the driver's side control arm failure, and after last year's passenger side failure, followed by the head gasket, I find myself questioning every little squeak, groan and thunk, which can be pretty distracting on less-than-glasslike surfaces like FedEx Field and the Blue Crabs Stadium.

The Autocrossers Inc. double felt more like a triple when all was said and done. The morning saw ESP running in the last heat, and I had concerns about a sweeper leading into a far-too-short finish area. After a few cars did, indeed, have problems there, some minor changes were made, but non-ABS cars were still making things look a bit hairy from the timing van, where I was working the computer.

As for my morning runs, well, to put it succinctly, they sucked. The first run wasn't too awful in comparison, but while everyone else was dropping seconds, I dropped tenths plus coned. The third run felt great, but coming into the finish, when I went to hit the brakes, I only caught the pedal with the edge of my shoe. The result was that my foot slipped off into that little space between the gas and brake, the car was in that split second of overboost where it keeps accelerating, and I went through the outer wall of the finish chute, punching at least one cone so hard, the bumper cover popped off on the driver's side. Having been told during the first heat that anyone who coned in the finish area was a DNF, I just pulled around to get off the course. Of course, that run was a second faster than my first run, and clean until the end, so I was pretty angry with myself.

Then, just before my last run, Mike Lane had to come by and ask questions about my Crawford AOS, like why there wasn't a clamp on the tube off the top of it. I am often happy that I can bleed my own brakes, so knowing how the AOS works and what that tube on the top is... yeah. So, Mike squeezes the tube and proclaims that it's "barely on there," so I start messing with it to see if there is any "slack" to push it on further. Next thing I know, I'm holding the tube in my hand, and it's not connected to anything. Crap. I have no idea what I may have just done and how to correct it, but after a quick (and somewhat panicked) phone call to IAG, I find out that it's an unpressurized vent tube, and all I have to do is put it back on and make sure the other end isn't going to dump any possible venting on something hot.

I had to take a short mechanical for the phone call, and after the third run my head wasn't really in it. Still, my fourth run was sadly my fastest, almost a second slower than the blown run. :(

I managed to correct some of the craniorectal inversion in the afternoon. I knew the car was rotating more that I was used to on the Blue Crabs Stadium lot, so I started to try to trust what the car was going to do a bit more, and take advantage of it. I was still too tentative in a few spots, and I never did feel like I got the second half of the long slalom right, but I finished 7th in Pro class (versus 10th in the morning), and 17th on index (versus 20th). Baby steps.

 
In the end, while I wasn't particularly happy with my overall finish at the event, two things occurred that somewhat changed my mental approach to the next day's event. First of all, just before my third run in the afternoon, there was a significant timing delay after I was sent to get in the staging line. Bored, I pulled my phone out of the glovebox and saw I had a text message from an unfamiliar number. It turned out to be from a former student, who'd moved to the Clarksburg district last year, and she just wanted to let me know that I was "still the best." After all I went through this past year, at points literally being told that I was crushing students' hopes at being successful, this text meant more to me than I could possibly explain. I think it was little wonder than I dropped a second on that run.

The other thing was that I saw an older man sitting a few grid spots away in his faded red SN95 Mustang, sporting novice class magnetics. I went over to chat with him to see how he was doing, and after talking to him for a bit, I find out that he had just had chemotherapy the previous week. Why? He was diagnosed with lung cancer two years ago, and given a year to live. !!! He's a Vietnam veteran who'd been exposed to Agent Orange, and after his diagnosis, he has been trying to cross as many things off his "bucket list" as he can. Going out and having as much legal fun in his Mustang as he can is one of those things. Talking to him suddenly makes finishing second or third against the rest of ESP so trivial.


The WDCR autocross was the next morning, and ESP was in the first heat. While I despise getting up so early, I hate working and changing tires in the rain even more, so this was actually a good thing.

I backtracked on the trust of the car that I'd been building on my first run, and was off the pace by 2+ seconds. When Pat says to me that he was carrying so much speed through the finish, he didn't think he was going to be able to get his Hot Wheels Camaro to slow down, I knew I was sucking. I knew it all boiled down to trusting that the tires would stick, especially on the wonky surface that is FedEx Field.

Pushing the car harder from the start, making sure I was looking at the correct spot through the showcase turn so that I didn't turn in early, getting on the gas earlier -- all of these things together made for a significant time decrease between my first and second runs. Of course, that put me where I should have been on my first run, so I was still behind the eight ball in the standings. So, on the third run, I needed to, as Pat would say, "make it fast or make it entertaining."

Well, someone else made it entertaining, so I was going to get a rerun. And it was starting to sprinkle. I did not have my hopes up as I went out for my third run (again), especially when I blew the right hander coming back towards the finish. The car just did not want to slow down, and I attributed it to the moisture.

With it definitely starting to sprinkle even harder, at this point, I was worried about stuff sitting out getting wet. Grid sent me back to the line at barely the five minute mark (I just left the car running, and nearly froze when I got back in since I had the air conditioning on full blast).

Shockingly, it was my best run, though only good for second in class, as Adam is finally getting his head around Vassallo's Mustang... more proof that I can't just sail through ESP on the merits of owning a fast car any more. Still, in a less-than-optimal course conditions, I was only 0.1 back, so I wasn't too disappointed.... except for the fact that all my stuff ended up getting soaked in the deluge, and the weather hasn't improved enough that I can leave the floor mats and such out to dry, so they are still mouldering in the trunk.

Next event? Well, for the WRX, it's Packwood, where Sam Krauss will be joining me. I might try to make it out to the AI event on the 14th, but since I plan to start my trek on the 16th, I don't want to play with fire there. Guess I'll look for a codrive or something.

Oh, and tremendous thanks to Gabe Dunn and Jerry Byrd for letting me use their GoPro cases this weekend! Hopefully, mine is delivered today.

You Always Remember....

It's so cliche. "You always remember your first." But, more so than the D Stock Ladies National Championship, more so than the E Street Prepared Ladies National Championship, I will remember my first open class trophy at the SCCA Solo National Championships as being one of the most incredible times in my autocrossing career.

It was only seventh in ESP. It was the last trophy position in the class. But, to me, it finally validates my driving in a way two ladies class championships and too many times on the bubble never could. 

trophy and picture (picture from Rupert Berrington Photography)

Let's rewind to the Friday after the Packwood ProSolo. I'd left my car at IAG Performance because the timing belt was about to fail -- talk about excellent timing! -- and so my departure to the Northeast Divisional Championships was being delayed. A couple of my west coast friends, especially Kevin Dietz and Mike Lillejord, had encouraged me to at least ask my principal about taking off time for the SCCA Solo Nationals. I was skeptical, because he hadn't seemed very keen on my going out last year, but I told them I'd at least ask.

I emailed my resource teacher first, to see if she had a feel for whether he'd approve it or not. I knew she'd let me go, but she wasn't the one who had to give final approval. Her response was, "If you're going to ask, you'd better ask today, since he'll be on vacation all next week." Crap. The last day for "early" registration (ie., $150 vs. $300) was that day, and I really wasn't prepared to ask. This was worse than asking Joel Fehrman about codriving Stompy, and that took an entire six-pack. Feeling sick to my stomach with nervousness, I crafted an email (which included a link to the "Why We Go" post on SoloMatters) and sent it. About an hour later, I got a response asking me to clarify which days I was actually asking for, and I emailed back, "Just Thursday and Friday." Shortly thereafter, he said, "Then I support your time off. Good luck."

I was incredulous, and so needed to find a sub, someone to take my car out, a flight, and a rental car, ASAP. When I got to NEDivs, I mentioned the need for a driver, and both Dan Shalkowski and Jeff Hurst said they might be able to do it. In the end, Dan's the one who took the car out.

Wednesday, August 31, I left work at 2:30, got home to finish up a few domestic duties and then drove the green terror to the airport to catch my flight. As usual, I was in and through security in about 15 minutes, and so proceeded to kill time on my phone until the flight. Having the inflight WiFi was pretty cool and got me another FourSquare badge.

about 40000 feet, on the way to Milwaukee

the "mile high" badge on foursquare :)

We landed in Milwaukee ahead of schedule, and I checked in with the gate attendant to find out that the second part of my journey was on a "regional jet." This would be a plane that would test my ability to deal with confined spaces. Fortunately, it was only half full, so everyone had their seat and space next to them. I slept for about 30 minutes, and as usual, the descent woke me up. I staggered into Omaha Eppley's terminal, blinking furiously to clear off my contact lenses, and encountered Mark Davis and Brian Larose, who were fresh from Lincoln. Evidently, Mark's girlfriend was on the same flight I had been.

I grabbed my craptastic rental car (a Hyundai Accent with rock-like seats), and headed to Lincoln and blessed sleep. While Pat had tracked down where Dan paddocked the WRX and changed the tires, the car still needed to be teched, and I needed to register and walk the course. I went to sleep probably around 1AM local time (after being up at 5AM Eastern time), and the alarm went off waaaay too early at 5AM.

Got the numbers on the car, and crap cleared out and into the rental, then took it to a nearby gas station to get the fuel level up to where it needed to be. Instead of going for the 95 octane at the Harley dealer, I just went for close and cheap and, yeah, sucked it up with 91 octane. Anxiety was setting in, and I wanted to make sure I got two course walks. I was happy to see Nancy and Mari at the registration area at 6:50, so got checked in, then waited 10 minutes at tech before anyone could look at the car. I took it straight to grid and walked twice.

We were on the West Course (designed by Kevin Youngers) first, and even though I'd been in town less than 12 hours, I'd already heard unflattering things about it. Sure enough, the first half of the course was comprised of fairly tight slaloms (wall-loms) and offsets before it opened up into a "regular" course. I'd been warned by a couple of people to recognize that the start lights were pretty far from the staging line, and if I gave it up a little bit before the lights, I wouldn't push out too much into the first slalom.

I have no idea where the moth came from, but it wasn't in the car when I left it with Dan.

ESP was in the second heat, and I was the fourth car off. It was funny that after me, in quick succession, was the rest of the DC area crowd -- Adam George (codriving with "Big" Mike Snyder in Strano's Mustang) was fifth, Pat was sixth and Brian Burdette was ninth. Some people like to play the numbers game and run as close to 99 as possible, especially at Nationals, but with the exception of Adam (because he was codriving this time), we all stuck with our usual numbers (me = 34, Snyder = 41 (141), Pat = 59 and Burdette = 75).

So, my first run was less than awe-inspiring. I was literally winded after making it through the wall-loms and into the five-cone slalom that marked the beginning of the "fun" part of the course. I did exactly what Strano told me not to do in the showcase sweeper, and turned in too early because of the trick cone, but the rest of the course (the last fourth?) was okay. I knew several places I could improve, and my 71.7 was quite poor in the big scheme. Pat was sitting pretty with a run that was 3rd quickest. Lots of people had cones, though my time was slow enough that several of those with cones were still beating me.

I tried to give it up a little more through the start lights on my second run, but I was carrying more speed due to a harder launch, and I still pushed out a little bit. I tried to be tighter on the cones through the first section, because I wasn't going to gain anything significant on speed, just on minimizing real estate. I saw the trick cone in the showcase, and wasn't fooled, gave up a bit too much at the bottom of what some people called the "banana", and came in with a 1.3s improvement. Back to the bubble.

So, third runs come up, and I launch hard, and push out into the opening slalom. Gahhh! I rein it back in and try to recover. The showcase feels good; I don't get fooled this time either. I dive harder into the end part of the banana, and then I see it, like Launcelot finding the Holy Grail.

Downed cone. Corner worker backing away frantically, knowing she can't get it before I get there.

I stop briefly and yell, "Thank you!!" while pointing at the cone, then take off again at about 80-85% so that I don't give Adam a rerun. Everyone in grid knows I just got the bonus round, and as I pop the hood, Courtney Cormier (ASP National Champ!!) is bringing Pat's spray bottle over and checking my tires. He sprays the fronts as I pull a psi or two out, Jay Storm is keeping tabs on the hood, and then I get the call to go to the line.

A gotcone.com photo from the West Course.

I correct my understeer from the start, and drive a little harder into the banana, while checking up just before tagging the outside cone at the end of the element. I manage to look a little further ahead into the final two sections, and make it even smoother than before, and the final time... 69.328, another 1.1s improvement. I know I left a lot on the table, but when the results come out and show me in 7th and final trophy spot, I'm kind of happy. Madarash, of course, is leading.

"Kind of" because it's the same damned spot I seem to be in when I run open class every year. "Kind of" because less than 1 minute after I look at those results, all of a sudden, "revised" results come out, and I'm in 8th.

I'm confused, and then I see Mark Walker has moved up to fourth, because where there had been two cones on his third run, now there are none. I am not happy, since I stopped for one of those cones, and I tell him as much. He seems a little less sure that his third run was clean after I say something to him, but he doesn't talk to the chief steward to tell this, and many people in the class aren't aware of the revision, much less why there was a change. I'm hoping for integrity to prevail, since he did seem a bit less sure his run was clean after I talked to him, and I can't believe the fates would let me be behind someone who knowingly hit a cone again (after Dale Klein knowingly coned his dry run on the South Course and I finished behind him, one out of the trophies), so I don't pursue the issue.

Our nemesis, class leading car owned by Mark Madarash.

Jason Kolk and Dave Heinrich aren't so nice though. After seeing the corner logs clearly displaying two cones (one of which was the one I stopped for), and no ambiguity in who hit the cones, they track down the girl who was backing away from the cone when I had to stop, as well as the corner chief, and in the end, the cones are added back to Walker's final run, putting him back in 9th position for the start of the second day. Not everyone knew that the cones had been put back on, including me.

Thursday night festivities included beer (of course), some of Shuman's carne asada at the ATL... uh, SEDiv tent, foursquare and just chilling with friends old and new. The new divisional tent idea was kind of cool, except that the Great Lakes and Southwest tents were so far away from the Southeast tent that it was difficult to interact with multiple people. Many went over to the SWdiv area for Bigwheel ProSolo, while others were at GLDiv for a cookout there.

I was pretty tired after an extremely long day on Wednesday, and so we headed back to the hotel "early." Granted, I still didn't go to sleep until close to 1AM, and I'd only done one course walk on Andy Hollis's East Course, so I wanted to be there early to walk at least twice again, which meant another day of 4-5 hours of sleep.

Brad Owen's '06 WRX.

PJ Corrales had warned me about the "boxes" on this course, and not to be greedy with them, while Matthew Braun came over to tell me his ideas on making it through this course's showcase sweeper. I was trying to internalize all of this when the start of the second heat came, all too soon.

My first run was, again, less than awe-inspiring; a 66.3 just wasn't going to get it done. I'd launched way too softly, was way too tentative in too many places, and just left a ton on the table. It was as if I was trying to sabotage myself and my attempt to get into the trophies. I picked a couple of spots to try to maximize my improvements (including the start, which Sammy yelled at me about, transmission be damned), and set out on run #2 to get it done.

A 1.3s improvement after charging harder from the get-go. The 65.082 didn't make me happy, especially knowing I'd left time everywhere, and in fact, my Facebook status reflected that I wanted even more time on my third run. I was still on the cusp of a trophy, and I knew there was still time out there that could be mine.

The Merideth Mustang and Heinrich's Boss (codriven by Jason Kolk)

My third run, I gave it everything, and I pushed out in the showcase sweeper, almost tagged a cone in the boxes, and then everything went to hell. As I made the right hand turn toward the finish run, I heard something in the rear, and just wondered. Then, on the brakes and tossing the car into the finish "bus stop," I heard it again, and got scared. When the car stepped out on me, I didn't even fight it to keep it off the cones, as I was more worried that I had an axle that had given up the ghost, like Martin Kriz at the Atlanta Tour. In fact, I had Andrew Howe listening to the rear end as I came back to my grid spot, but he pronounced it "okay." The time wasn't there anyway, as much as it felt like it, and while some people were already congratulating me on a trophy position, there were still two people behind me that had more than enough on me after the first day, they were very likely to get by me on their last runs.

bumper covers don't like hitting four cones in quick succession at 50+ mph.

So, it was with extreme apprehension that I watched Mike Snyder (who was sitting in 6th after the first day) and Kent Kroll (who was third after the first day) take their last runs. Sean O'Gorman was standing with me, letting me know that Snyder needed a "mid 65" run to get by me, but he didn't tell me what Kent needed. Both Mike and Kent were on the course at the same time, and my eyes are scanning back and forth to watch both of them so rapidly that I probably looked like I was experiencing vertigo. Snyder crossed with a 65.7.... enough for 8th, as Heyward announced, and twenty seconds later, Kent and his broken shock crossed with a 65.9... and when Heyward said that I had won my first open class trophy and Sean congratulated me, I told him, "No. I want to see the final results. And then I'll wait another 30 minutes until they are final."

And that's what I told everyone, because I didn't believe it. And when the finals came out, and they were final -- no weird revisions moments after I saw them -- that's when the tears of happiness started to fall. Heyward wanted me to come over to the announce vehicle to talk, so I pulled myself together enough to sound coherent on the mic, and thank Burdette and Snyder and Adam and Pat for the competition to make me better all year. And then Heyward turned the mic over to Raleigh Boreen (who was happy for me, but wished I'd done it in Pat's purple Camaro), and he cried too. He knows how hard it is to get a trophy, especially when it's "expected" of you, and he was honored to be the one who got to present me with that trophy later on at the awards banquet.

Parking in between BSP Champ Corey Ridgick and SMF Champ Brian Karwan had to help, right?

Ten tries in open class, and I finally did it. Thank you to everyone who helped make it happen. I still find it sort of surreal. :)

I pinched my arm, and the trophy was still there.

And now... what to do to make the car better for next year? For one... maybe I'll get new tires just before Nationals instead of "making do" with last year's tires. As for the rest... well, there are more suspension bushings, and I guess I should do a lightweight battery. And maybe get rid of the rear wing? It's a street prepared car... it's always a work in progress, right?

I'm gonna need more than a snarky magnet to stay ahead of the DC guys in the future.

Final results are up on SCCA.com.

Review : Kartboy Driveline Bushings

As I mentioned previously, I received a "care package" from Kartboy that included a white Delrin shift knob, an oil filler cap and some bushings. I had to wait until after the Washington Auto Show to have the bushings installed, and because of prior commitments (okay, okay, I had hockey games and hockey class to go to), had to wait almost a week after dropping the car off at IAG Performance before I could pick it up.

I also had IAG install a set of Whiteline steering rack bushings at the same time.

I've had the chance to put some miles on the car in the last week, and figured I'd give a quick review on how the car feels with the upgrades.

Bear in mind that the rear differential outrigger bushings and the transmission cross member bushings really just completed the Kartboy driveline ensemble I'd started when I ordered the front and rear shifter bushing combo from Turn In Concepts at the time I was installed the double adjustable MODE Racing shifter. Kartboy also sent a set of their pink exhaust hangers.

Kartboy PINK exhaust hangers for the WRX

Since picking up the car last Friday, I've logged over 400 miles, combining highway, rural and stop-and-go traffic along the way. My impressions :

• There is a lot less clutch shudder when starting off from a stop sign/stop light. I didn't ask what the condition of the stock cross member bushings was, but I have to wonder if they were "dead," so to speak. There is still some shudder, but the whole "movement-of-the-drivetrain" is certainly minimized now.
  
• I can't get away with lugging the motor at less than 1800rpm. I'm guessing this is due to the exhaust hangers and so the exhaust is vibrating. It's a bad habit of mine from driving a torque-monster Camaro Z28 anyway, so it's better that I don't do it.
  
• I should have upgraded all of the transmission bushings (shifter, cross member, etc.) at the same time. Piecemeal wasn't the right way to do it, but hindsight is 20/20.
  
• I'm not noticing much from the steering rack bushings, but maybe I need to be in a more aggressive setting, ie., an autocross.
  
• Overall, I'm happy with the changes so far. Hopefully, the upgraded bushings will aid in keeping the transmission a bit happier this year than last. If it goes... I'm likely looking at taking the car to Street Modified with an upgraded unit (PPG gear set or even an STi six speed) rather than dealing with repeated rebuilds.

So, thanks again to Kartboy and IAG for the parts and the installation. I'll update my thoughts once I've played with the car on race rubber.

Back Again

For the third year in a row, the Subaru Impreza WRX will be back at the Washington Auto Show as part of the WDCR SCCA exhibit. One of these days, they are going to make me join the region. ;)

As usual, I've done a few things to the car since it was on display last year. It's got a Sparco race seat on the driver's side now. Billy Brooks sent me a MODE Racing double adjustable short shifter, to which I added a TurnInConcepts bushing, plus Kartboy front and rear shift bushings.

It's got the purple Rota Grids with 285/30R18 Hoosier A6s, plus zzyzx coilovers that I bought in Greg McCance's fire sale.

The day before I took the car to the Convention Center, I received a "care package" from Kartboy that included a white Delrin shift knob, some drivetrain bushings, an oil filler cap and exhaust hangers.

I managed to get the oil filler cap and the shift knob installed, but the rest will have to wait until I pick the car up after the Capitals vs. Penguins game on February 6th. Then I take the car up to its second home, IAG Performance, where it will also be getting some steering rack bushings.

The worst part is, I'm liking the modding of the car, but I'm still not excited about the upcoming season. I did get my own HD camera for the holidays (my mom bought a GoPro Hero HD camera for me), and so I can do more video. But, I'm still kinda scared about breaking things. Maybe I can convince Pat to let me use his new-to-him F150 Lightning and Econoline trailer when he's not playing with his ESP Camaro.

We shall see.