A short track report from Road America - Speedseekers event (Oct 16/17)
Looks like had 6 3/S' running this weekend, not nearly as many as back in April, but it was still cool having as many as we did. One guy that was running group-D came up to me in the paddock and said, "I've only ever seen 1 stealth or 3000gt running at a track at a given time, let alone 6!!". I told him he shoulda been here in April when we had 10+
I wasn't sure I'd be able to run my track car this weekend until Wednesday night when I finished some repairs (rear struts, front control arms). By that time, all slots were full so I had to wait for something to open up. Luckily, I found someone who was willing to part with his entire Sunday sessions for a measly $40 (who said open tracking can't be cheap?). Great deal so I jumped on it, and split my track time with SJ.
After the trouble I had with my car this summer (spun bearing at Gingerman, blown AWS lines, etc.) it was great to get it back on the track. I was very happy with both of my track sessions on Sunday. The car handled good through the corners (I notice a little bit of understeer though when pushed harder) and the brakes (carbotech rotors with panther xp pads again) did their job and outperformed almost all of the other cars in my group (note - I said the brake outperformed, not me - the driver). I was able to brake much later than most others were which allowed me to gain some serious ground coming into the turns. The Toyo Proxies were awesome once again and I don't think I've found the limit of these tires. They grip very well and I tried to progressively take certain corners faster as the laps went by - most noticeably the carousel, which I'm very happy with. Thanks to Bob Forrest and a few of the other 3S-racers gang for convincing me to run them.
For a car that is stock (performance-wise), I find it amazing that in the two sessions I ran, the only car that passed me was a kick ass C5 vette (and I later found out why - holy shit), while I was able to pass about 20 or so cars. These cars, with aftermarket brake pads, can hang in with the best of them, even with my mediocre driving skills and only 3 track events under my belt.
Was great seeing everyone again and hanging out... The Iowa Crew, Jack T, Phillip the Mad Russian, Scott "SJ" Cowan, Mike the Mechanic, Brendt, Matt, Adam, Brandon, etc. Looking forward to doing it again in April!!!
Jesse
My dad and I found our way over to the flag man's bridge, and they would let you head out on it. That was also really sweet. You could feel the whole bridge buck and shake when the cars went under.
;)