Al
06-11-2006, 11:58 PM
Today I competed in my first real competition race at the Mile!!!
I'd have to say it was a good day despite the massive snowplowing my car did. I can't say that I won the race, but I definitly built up some skill during the day.
My best lap time was 1:29.667 with the majority of them within .75 seconds. Despite the improvements I made, I found new issues as the day progressed.
The biggest issue seemed relative to braking on rough surfaces. If I was near the threashold and ran over a bump, I'd get a nice gray cloud in my mirrors. Also, I found that on the ring, I needed alot of steering input during the long right-hander. I'm guessing that I had a slip angle greater than 8 deg up front with the rear end sliding out too.
Probably my favorite part of the track was transitioning from the ring to the front straight. Even after I straighened out, my car would still be sliding towards the wall. Usually, I would stop drifting about a few feet from the wall. A time or two, I felt I was about to contact the wall so I had to steer a little to avoid possible contact.
Because of my experience on the oval, I gained a LOT of respect for NASCAR. In all honesy, I'd have to say that the oval part was my favorite part of the track: it was the fastest. Even though the car inputs were minimal, going into a turn with cars on all sides is a real challenge! if I ever get the chance to now, I want to try out Slinger or another oval track.
My goal for the next race is to buy a 'real' set of race tires. I asked a bunch of people at the track and the most common recomendation were those new Hoosier tires. I also made a list of things to do to my car ranging from moving the seat farther forward to fixing the hood latch to getting a better steering wheel. I'll start with the cheap stuff first.
One other thing: I have one of six races completed to acquire a full comp license!!!
I'd have to say it was a good day despite the massive snowplowing my car did. I can't say that I won the race, but I definitly built up some skill during the day.
My best lap time was 1:29.667 with the majority of them within .75 seconds. Despite the improvements I made, I found new issues as the day progressed.
The biggest issue seemed relative to braking on rough surfaces. If I was near the threashold and ran over a bump, I'd get a nice gray cloud in my mirrors. Also, I found that on the ring, I needed alot of steering input during the long right-hander. I'm guessing that I had a slip angle greater than 8 deg up front with the rear end sliding out too.
Probably my favorite part of the track was transitioning from the ring to the front straight. Even after I straighened out, my car would still be sliding towards the wall. Usually, I would stop drifting about a few feet from the wall. A time or two, I felt I was about to contact the wall so I had to steer a little to avoid possible contact.
Because of my experience on the oval, I gained a LOT of respect for NASCAR. In all honesy, I'd have to say that the oval part was my favorite part of the track: it was the fastest. Even though the car inputs were minimal, going into a turn with cars on all sides is a real challenge! if I ever get the chance to now, I want to try out Slinger or another oval track.
My goal for the next race is to buy a 'real' set of race tires. I asked a bunch of people at the track and the most common recomendation were those new Hoosier tires. I also made a list of things to do to my car ranging from moving the seat farther forward to fixing the hood latch to getting a better steering wheel. I'll start with the cheap stuff first.
One other thing: I have one of six races completed to acquire a full comp license!!!