“Track Side,” A day in the life of a Track Junkie…, This is humorous series of articles written by my good friend Matt Y, who is a devout SCCA track junkie, running his ’87 VW Golf GTI (more affectionately referred to as, “the General Li”). These articles give you a look into what racing is really like. It’s not always fun and games… Sit back, relax and see what it’s like to be “Track Side.” — Eric M, GTA Webmaster – 10/1/2002
The weekend’s results weren’t as good as expected although the car ran it’s fastest lap. Unfortunately the competition was running just that much faster. At least with two races, one on Sun and one on Mon, I had a chance to get some decent track time on the Hoosiers which seem to have started to make a difference.
It’s come to my attention that many folks don’t have a clue about SCCA’s road racing program so I’ve taken the liberty of adding some links to our local region of SCCA and the tracks that I’ve run in the past season:
- Washington DC Region – SCCA: http://www.wdcr-scca.org/
- Summit Point Raceway: http://www.summitpoint-raceway.com/
- Watkins Glen International: http://www.theglen.com/
- VIR: http://www.virclub.com
Thursday, Aug 29
Arriving earlier than usual (around 4:30 pm), the entrance to the track was PACKED full of racers attempting to secure paddock space. I was fortunate to have been about the last trailer inside the facility – all the others were stuck on the road. Fortunately the flood gates opened earlier than normal and we were slowly streaming in by 5:30.
I was lucky and secured my “normal” paddock space in the woods and I proceeded to set-up shop. Unfortunately I found the nest of ground bees (hornets from what I’m told) – after getting stung 3 or 4 times, I made it to a friend’s paddock space where he kindly swept away the hornets that were clinging to my shirt. Another racer commented that brake cleaner killed bees so I loaded up with a borrowed can and tried to finish setting up my site. After ANOTHER 3 or 4 stings, I secured the canopy and LEFT!! Someone asked if I was allergic to bees – Gee, after 6 or 7 stings, if I’m not already dead, I guess the answer would be NO.
Friday, Aug 30
Since ITA was running in the last group, I decided to skip registration on Friday and save myself some wear and tear (on the car and my body) so I stayed home and did nothing except enjoy the sensation of bee stings on my waist, back, underarm, stomach, inner and outer arm – Oh what a feeling…
Saturday, Aug 31
Not being used to arriving on Saturday, I was a bit late and barely arrived in time to get registered and teched before the first qualifying session for Sunday’s race. Many thanks to fellow competitor Art Jaso who graciously rushed over and helped me get the car ready.
Qualifying for Sunday’s race
The weather was cool and sunny so I was ready for a nice fast qualifying session. The session itself was uneventful as I found myself timid entering turn 1 which helped to increase my lap times. As a result as I found myself 13th on grid after the session.
Qualifying for Monday’s race
As the weatherman had threatened, the skies turned cloudy as we prepared for our final session on-track (and the final session for the day). With the cooler temperatures, the tires took a bit longer to reach operating temperature but I started to get a better feel of where I needed to turn-in on Hoosiers as compared to the trusty Toyos. While the session felt better, my results were again disappointing with another 13th grid spot.
Sunday, Sep 01
Again taking advantage of being the last race group, I arrived around lunchtime. Unfortunately the morning was filled with light rain and drizzle which isn’t conducive for racing. As the day progressed, the biggest concern was “which tires” – the Hoosiers are mainly for DRY conditions, the Hoosier Dirt Stockers are only for pouring rain so I was faced with the dilema of using the Toyos which are OK in the rain or the Hoosiers which are unknown in the rain. After several hours of antagonizing, I decided to go with the Toyos.
Race #1
At the start of the race, the conditions were mostly cloudy but with no rain or mist. I’d banked on sloppy conditions but to no avail so I started the race at a disadvantage with lesser tires (Toyos). I found myself almost giddy driving on the Toyos since they offered so little grip compared to the Hoosiers. Twice I found myself sideways in turn 3 as I went thru the turn, looking out the passenger-side window. Hhmm – maybe I shoulda gone with the Hoosiers…
I found myself getting caught and passed by the likes of AJ in his MR2 and Wade in his FX-16 (along with a small herd of other cars) because I was so “loose” on the Toyos. After 7-8 laps, we rounded turn 10 and were confronted with a pit marshal that was frantically signaling for traffic to “keep left” for the slow moving vehicles (ambulances). Apparently the ambulances hadn’t seen his frantic signals as they ALSO moved left – nothing like catching a lumbering box that’s moving 60 mph SLOWER than yourself. We all quickly moved to drivers’ right and passed the slower vehicles as we approached turn 1 – Nick Nicase’s car was stuffed into the wall at the end of turn 1, upside down and having appeared to have rolled numerous times. As we came around again, the ambulance hadn’t left the scene so it became apparent that while spectacular, the incident wasn’t as bad as could have been expected. My excitement in turn 1 came a few laps later as I turned in – the rear decided to pass the front and I found myself facing the inside wall on drivers’ right – doh!! I quickly counter-steered, drove over the curbing, thru the mud and back onto the track without even losing a position (mainly because I was so far behind at the time). No sooner did I get back on the track and the mist started coming down fairly heavily. Entering turn 3, I immediately noticed the car under-steering and decided to slow down. As we entered turn 6, AJ gave a quick point and I passed him as his Hoosiers offered him less grip than my Toyos.
The last excitement for the day came in turn 9 on the last lap – At the apex of the turn, the rear again decided to swap positions with the front and I found myself fighting the car thru the grass on the inside of turn 9. AJ, ever the opportunist, took full advantage of my mistake and repassed me before we entered turn 10 – ugh.
The final results were, to say the least, disappointing – 14th OA, 13th in class. At least the car, while a bit muddy, was still intact and ready for Monday’s race.
Monday, Sep 02
Arriving after lunch AGAIN – yes, I’m lazy, what can I say – I set about putting the Hoosiers back on the car figuring that they couldn’t be any worse than the Toyos. The weather was a bit brighter although the clouds alternated between dark and light which created a bit of anxiety.
Race #2
After a terrible start, I found myself chasing down the same yellow Miata that hit me in MARRS 5 and cost me a finishing position. Closing rapidly on the Miata, I took the opportunity to use every intimidating move I knew just to remind him that he’d cost me a position AND he didn’t have the courtesy to say “sorry”. I finally pushed my way past him (not literally) in turn 6 and actually left him behind. The rest of the race I found myself concentrating hard on a mid-90’s Civic SI that was a good match for the General Li. I found myself to be a bit faster between 2 and 3 and at one point I stuck the nose of my car in to see the other car’s reaction. We raced side-by-side into turn 4 where I decided that prudence was the greater form of valor and I backed off instead of having him push me off the track. This seemed to work a bit as I found the Civic getting closer and closer but alas, the “Last Lap” sign was waved and I found myself a bit too far behind to get past the Civic before the checkered flag.
Another disappointing but consistent finish – 14th OA, 13th in class.
The next race is the last MARRS race of the season – Oct 12-13.
~Matthew
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