“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 – 5/21/2002
After 2 years of missing the races at VIR (Virginia International Raceway), the fates finally allowed me the opportunity to experience this racing wonderland first hand. After the practice day and 2 races, the experience is simply spectacular – the track is amazingly fast and deceptive while the facilities are akin to a country club (probably b/c VIR refers to themselves as a Country Club for Motorsports Enthusiasts).
Thursday, May 9
Since I’ve never run VIR (1st year the car wasn’t complete, the 2nd year I was on business travel), I felt compelled to run the Friday open practice so I left a day earlier than originaly planned. En route, I stopped in Richmond on business which partially financed the tow expenses but also added a few hours to my already lengthy trip. Aside from torrential rains (I passed a few fish swimming down the highway), the trip was relatively uneventful. Upon arrival, the VIR officials found me an excellent paddock spot that provided room for the Red Barn (my borrowed 27′ enclosed trailer) as well as an additional spot for the RC Imports cars (3 in all). After dropping the trailer, I made quick tracks to the hotel.
Friday, May 10
Arriving bright and early, I stood in line to register and then ran off to get the car ready for the practice day. I mis-heard an announcement and almost missed my first session – fortunately some folks paddocked nearby clued me in but I was in such a rush that I had only a rudimentary idea of the track layout. Fortunately I gridded with a small herd of cars which helped me to at least find the track. After the first two sessions I started to get a good handle on where I could gain some time and which turns were “throwaways”. I worked hard on accelerating early enough to hit the climbing esses in 5th gear, flat out!! The most difficult turn was the sweeping left entering Oak Tree – the track falls away to drivers’ right which means that the car has lots of room to push – in other words FAST!! Oak Tree itself was essentially a throwaway since the turn is so tight although it leads onto the longest straightaway – again, 5th gear, flat out!! That leads into the roller coaster – a series of steep down hill, off-camber turns that are awesome when they’re hit properly and terrifying if you’re off-line. The second most difficult turn was at the bottom of the roller coaster – an super-steep downhill right hander that leads into a sweeper that begins the front straight – yet another turn where the driver must trust that the track won’t move and will contain enough grip to keep the car on-track.
The only real excitement came in the last session entering the NASTYCAR turn. I’d just passed in ITB car and commenced my turn-in when the motor simply shut off – doh!! I’d experienced this once before when the car decided to eat an intake valve (thanks to Intersport Performance’s excellent craftsmanship – NOT) Pulling off, I tried cranking the car to no avail so I opened the hood to look around (and see if the chipmunks were all still alive). Lo and behold – the coil wire had popped off. Whew!! I snapped it back on and took off to finish my session.
After 5 20 minute test sessions, the car developed a terrible vibration under braking. Since the rotors were over one season old, I decided to change them for new ones. The old ones were heat cracked (nothing new) but the backsides of the rotors were heavily blued from heat and rather worn. After the prep for the Saturday/Sunday races, I was just a bit exhausted so I packed up and traipsed back to the hotel for dinner and a good night’s sleep.
Saturday, May 11
Back at the track nice and early, I prepared to go out on track with the real racers – much different from a test day where everyone is out to learn, racers are out to be fast. A night’s sleep was beneficial and the track became much easier to drive although it wasn’t as intuitive as good ole’ Slummit Point.
The first qualifying session was relatively uneventful except for the fast ITS cars that buzz-bombed me on the straights – nothing like rolling flat out at 120 mph and getting passed by cars moving 10 and 20 mph faster!! The result was a 35th starting position out of about 45 cars – not great but about 6th out of the MARRS competitors.
The race itself went rather well except for the start. Exiting the roller coaster, the field accelerated smartly in anticipation of the start – since this isn’t normal for Summit Point, I didn’t roll onto the throttle soon enough and was taken by several cars before the green flag. Fortunately I was able to pass those cars and a few others before entering the Esses – woohoo!! I was able to gain enough speed in the esses to catch some of the ITS cars in the climbing esses (they were slowed by traffic as well) and I passed at least one car in the left-hand sweeper before Oak Tree – fast but deceptive turn. At one point, I was passed by an ITA Mazda RX4 – as I followed him into turn 1, he lost an oil line which caused me to shoot off the track in 1 costing me 2 positions immediately. Back on the track, I repassed one car and commenced to chase the other in attempt to recapture my position. Unfortunately the checkered flag flew too soon and I finished down 1 position although due to a disqualification, I ended up 5th in MARRS points.
The only negative in the Saturday was when Rick, driving Rob’s new Mercedes 190E 16v, hit a spinning CRX entering the esses – the CRX spun, Rick headed for the dirt and the CRX “followed” him. The damage to both cars was rather severe – the CRX lost most of it’s RR quarter panel while the MB bent the dog-leg behind the RR door (read a very BAD place).
Sunday, May 12
Now that I was an old-hand at VIR, I went out for qualifying with some confidence amongst a small herd of ITS cars which actually help me go faster b/c I was working to catch them although they have more power than ITA cars. The session went very well except for a stone kicked up by an ITS car that broke the windshield on the General Li – so much for a cheap weekend…to add insult to injury, I found myself gridded in the SAME position as the previous day – 35th.
The second race resulted in another lousy start – this time I accelerated with the pack as we exited the rollercoaster but the field checked up and caused me to loose momentum which cost me 2 positions at the start. Entering the 2nd turn, I was able to get by one of the cars and entering the esses, I tucked inside an ITS RX7. As we approached Oak Tree, I caught up to Rick and almost hit him when the car in front of him (Marshall driving Pat’s old 325is) practically parked in Oak Tree. I tried drafting the MB b/c it’s the only car taller than the General Li but it was experiencing running problems and Rick quickly waved me by. The rest of the race was an on-going battle with 2 ITS 325is cars and an ITS RX7. All the cars eventually passed me on the back straight – all 4000′ of it!! Entering turn 1, the RX7 spun and I repassed him with 2 laps remaining. He caught back up to me on the back straight but I managed to keep him behind me for the final lap. Exiting the rollercoaster, I was extra cautious and braked lightly before turning into the final right leading onto the front straight – to my benefit (since I have pistons and valves unlike the rotary), I had enough torque to pull myself down the track while the RX7 lost it’s speed advantage. Try as he may, the RX7 pulled to about the rear of the door as we passed start/finish – whew, talk about a race!!
The aftermath
All told the event was a success. I had a number of concerns having never run VIR and even more concerns since I would be starting the test day having never seen the track let alone study a map. Now that I’ve run an event at VIR – suffice it to say that I WILL return.
The next event is Jun 15-16 back at Slummit Point, until then…
~Matthew
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