“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 – 11/6/2002
The season finale has already passed – this season seems so short – well, too short to have finished well at least. Plans for the winter include the SAME motor that I intended to build last season and some body work that’s been neglected for too long. That coupled with another Grassroots Motorsports Challenge and we’ll see if I’m still sane when the MARRS series continues in 2003.
Thursday, Oct 10
I arrived at the track in a gentle but steady rain and waited with the thundering herd for the flood gates to open so we could stake our claims for paddock space. Fortunately, my buddy Larry, whom I’d helped to build his new ITA Scirocco had arrived early and was close to the head of the line so I was free to relax. Once the gates opened and the herd started rumbling into the paddock, Larry found himself passed by a few truck/trailer rigs before he could squeeze his little VW into the line again.
We were fortunate enough to secure 4 spaces on the pavement which we duly roped off. Then we set-up my canopy and commenced to wait for Rob who had promised to arrive at 6 pm – what he didn’t tell us was which time zone he was using. We sat quietly in the enclosed trailer until about 8:30 pm when we decided to call it quits and let Rob find our spots for himself.
Friday, Oct 11
Arriving at the track, I met Larry and we completed registration and tech.
Once inside the paddock, we found that 2 of our spaces had been re-claimed – one legitimately b/c it wasn’t clearly marked, the other was taken by a rude Club Ford driver who moved our marked cones and set-up his trailer and canopy in our absence. The story from both parties, sad but true was that they’d arrived in the morning during a downpour and had to setup somewhere. Gee – I arrived the night before in a downpour and didn’t have to steal someone’s space – I guess it’s b/c I don’t have the status of driving a Club Ford or a Formula car (read BIG BUCKS).
Since we couldn’t do anything else, we made our way to dinner and prepared for Saturday.
Saturday, Oct 12
Being group 2, we arrived early at the track so we could change tires on Larry’s car and finish some minor prep work on his car such as changing his numbers and taping his lights. Fortunately we finished rather quickly which allowed us some time to prepare mentally for the first qualifying session. The weather was foggy and misty although it wasn’t actually raining which made matters worse because the track would be damp but not damp enough for rain tires.
First Qualifying Session
I decided to go out on the regular race Hoosiers since I had only one other option – the Dirt Stockers which are only for WET conditions (standing water). As we sat on grid, the racing activity came to a standstill because of the heavy, pea soup-like FOG. We argued vehemently that we didn’t need to see since we were already braille-driving experts but the stewards didn’t see the humor in that thought pattern. After 20 minutes or so, the fog cleared enough that we were allowed to run our qualifying session.
On track the Hoosiers defined slippery so I ran extremely slowly to avoid sliding off the track and having to endure the embarrassment of my fellow racers. After a few laps, I started to gain a bit of confidence but found the track to be too slick to get much speed anywhere but on the back straight.
The results were just as disappointing as the session itself – 20th on grid. At least I hadn’t gone off and I’d finally had a session on Hoosiers in less than ideal conditions. The better news was that the skies was clearing a bit so the afternoon session promised to be better.
Second Qualifying Session
For some unknown reason, the weather cleared enough to heat the track which meant better stick from the tires. I found the track conditions, while not ideal to be far superior to those of the morning. This allowed me to push the limits a bit more although several turns remained a bit slick. I was able to catch (and ultimately grid ahead of) several cars that I’d been gridded behind previously.
Unfortunately, the results weren’t as promising as I’d hoped – 13th on grid. Better but certainly not up to my expectations. What was worse was that Larry was gridded well ahead of me!! Oh, the embarrassment…
Sunday, Oct 13
The day started rather rough with the pickup truck losing it’s clutch at the hotel. Fortunately, since it’s a 6-speed manual, I was able to start the truck in gear and drive it without the clutch so we (Larry, his son, Conner, and myself) were able to make it to the track with enough time to prepare for the race.
Pre-Grid
To make matters worse, a steady rain was falling which meant that I’d certainly switch to my rain tires (Hoosier Dirt Stockers) to have any chance of completing the race. Having installed the tires, I changed into my drivers’ suit and tried to prepare myself for a rain race which is quite different from a dry race since the limits of adhesion are SIGNIFICANTLY lower AND an off-track excursion in the rain often means a visit to the tire-wall or getting stuck in the mud.
Race!!
The start was one of my best in recent history, picking up several positions immediately. Entering turn 1, I found myself side-by-side with Larry in his Scirocco. I stayed next to him until we entered turn 3 where I muscled myself in front of him. Even with rain tires, the track was treacherous. This being my second race on these tires, I found myself able to brake at the same markers as in the dry but cornering speeds had to be lowered.
After only 2 or 3 laps, I noticed that my visibility was getting dramatically reduced even though I had my wipers on “High”. Another half-lap later, I realized that the drivers’ side wiper had come loose and was flopping loosely on the fender – doh!! I was mostly alone so visibility, while bad, wasn’t unbearable. Then I happened upon Nick DiMeo who decided to spin his RX3 in turn 6. Re-entering well ahead of me, I caught him in turn 9 and worse, caught the spray from his tires. I stayed behind Nick for several laps, using him as a track marker so I could more readily identify braking markers and turn-in points.
A few laps later, I found turn 3 becoming rather slick although I initially thought that I’d merely entered faster than before. On the next lap however, the rear-end started to come around in a gentle spin. Instinctively, I counter-steered but the rear continued to come around. As I finally regained control, the track turned to the right and I was left with nowhere to go but into the mud – yuk!! As I went off the pavement, traction went to nothing and I made a roughly 270 degree rotation with the car facing towards the wall. Worse yet, I’d stalled the engine when I locked up the brakes. Once I got the car refired, I was able to get the car back on track and found myself behind Peter Doane in his multi-colour (read: UGLY) MR2.
I proceeded to give chase although Peter was also on rain tires which meant that we were fairly evenly matched. The difference is that the MR2 is mid-engined and rear-wheel drive, the General Li is front-engined and front-wheel drive. I was able to catch Peter in the Carousel (6,7,8) but didn’t have the power to pass him exiting 9. Once we hit turn 10, he’d power away from me without any effort. There’s nothing like being embroiled in a close race in the rain with NO WIPERS. Peter was kind enough to move right on the front straight so I could see the track and turn 1 although I was unable to get past him – he contends that he was driving in the water to cool his tires, I contend that he was teasing me by showing me the turn but never letting me around him.
As we passed the start/finish line, I glimpsed the “1 lap” sign which was my do-or-die signal. I waited patiently behind Peter and made my move entering turn 10 – I deep braked Peter and took the inside line which is rather risky, even in the dry. Exiting 10, we encountered a Showroom Stock Neon that fortunately stayed well to drivers’ left. Unfortunately Peter powered pass me as we reached the start/finish line and to my dismay, the “1 lap” sign was STILL on display. Apparently they’d raised the sign too early!! Too late for me since I’d already played my hand with Peter. He had a better run into turn 1 and opened up a tiny margin on our last lap. As we came thru turn 10 for the last time in the 2002 season, Peter was far enough ahead that I didn’t have a chance of getting past him so I was resigned to finish behind Peter in 12th.
The finale
Again, the results were disappointing especially considering the fairly strong finish of 2001 and the strong start in 2002. I’m planning to finally build the motor that I wanted to build for 2002. If nothing else, I need to go thru the car completely to figure out what’s broke and what’s worn out. Perhaps that’ll get me back to where I’d like to be (top 10) in 2003. I don’t expect any wins since the CRX and the 240SX are simply too fast for the ole VW.
The 2002 standings weren’t as good as the 2001 standings – I finished 6th behind Eric Kurzhals whom I beat the previous year (after running over his car). Results and standings are here: http://www.wdcr-scca.org/points/points2002.php
I’ll try to provide some updates during the off-season – until then, zoom-zoom.
~Matthew
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