So I took off Friday afternoon with plans of coming by the Ranch to visit and maybe try out Elvira on the 1.3, before heading to Granbury to mow the lawn. I found out that no members had been running all day, so I figured it was a good time to go out and feel this car out......
I'll preface "the rest of the story" with all the excuses I can come up with:
1. I haven't been on the track in close to a year.
2. I'm in a new car that I still am not comfortable with, although it was getting better, until today.
3. I had no clue as to how the alignment was.
4. I had swapped tires a few days earlier from 205/45/17's to 215/55/16's.
5. My ego got the best of me.
The rest of the story:
Now I've been on the 1.3 a few times and I know how difficult it is, but Hey, I'm a racecar driver. I can handle this, even with all the excuses above :( Wrongo Bucko.
First lap down the hill.....an extra fifty HP makes things happen a bit quicker! Miss the first apex by a mile. Down at the bottom, I know I could take the left at the bottom flat in Sunny, but lift a bit cause I just know I'm going a whole bunch faster. Down the short chute toward the hill and set up for the climb. Turn in feels good and I head for the apex, at which time she starts to push. I lift to keep on the asphalt and lose all my momentum as I go thru the esses and over the rise. I don't remember my line, but I see the turn-in cone and it's coming up awfully fast. Miss it by a bit and trail brake into the long right-hander. Oops, here come the tail.... I give it all the opposite lock I can find and I'm scrubbing lots of speed, but manage to gather it all up, as I head for the never-ending left turn. Again, turn-in feels really good, but as I try and accelerate out, she won't turn and I have to lift again as I see the outside edge of the track coming at me. The push now abruptly turns into oversteer and around she comes. I'm glad I'm the only one on the track as I turn around and head toward turn one. I miss my turn in point by about half a track width, but get "close" to the apex as I fly down the hill and up-shift to fourth for the first time. As I get to the bottom, my lack of confidence takes over and I'm feathering the throttle thru the right-left and again I'm heading for the hill. OK, lets try this a bit different, so I go real deep, and trun toward the inside curb, hoping that will help me rotate, which it does.......another spin ensues, but I gather it up without losing too much momentum, thru the esses and over the top. The rear kicks out slightly as she gets light and I think....fun! OK, so here I come. Knowing how loose she got on the right-hander last lap, I lose a bit more speed as I turn in, somewhere near the apex (plus or minus), and we make it a bit further before the rear jumps out again. This time I hang on to it and actually feel a bit better. I actually get to fourth just as I take the little dog-leg to the left and head for the last turn. I get a decent heel & toe downshift, turn it, and almost make it all the way thru the turn, but more push and I have to lift just a bit this time. YEE! HAA! I'm flying toward start/finish and up-shift to fourth. OK, I know the 1.6 was quicker if I took turn one in fourth, because the downhill picks up speed so much quicker, so I try it. Am I going to make it? I think so...... OH NO, edge of track, front right drops off and I'm no longer in control! "This is scarey", I think as the right rear drops off and the spin to the left begins and I know whats on the other side of the track....rocks, gully, tire wall!!!!! As soon as all four wheels are on ashalt again, BoTH FEET IN, hoping I could get her stopped in time, but it gets real bumpy and since I'm facing backwards, I can't see whats coming, but I know that tire barrier isn't far away. Luckily, we stop about ten feet from it, and I think "I'm so lucky...", followed by "I'm so STUPID!".
I started pulling out, but chose the worst spot possible and dropped the left front in a hole and knew I was gonna need help. I found the best route out, which meant going backwards, so I pulled out the tow hook and screwed it in as I waited for a tow. It only took seconds to pull me free and I drove it out. Brian said the right front was down, but I could still drive it back, so I did. By the time I got back to the paddock, I could feel that it was even lower, and a few minutes later in was completely flat.
Now, I remember the MX-5's don't have a spare, and I don't even have the "repair kit". As it turned out, it wouldn't have helped as the tire had an inch and a half slice in the sidewall from one of the sharp rocks I bounced over. I borrowed an air tank from Tim McGrath's shop and got enough air in it to move it out of the way and pulled the wheel. That's when I found the hole.
OK, ruined tire, no spare, what to do? MER's shop is just at the other end of the building, but I know they are in Cleveland racing. BTW, they had a great weekend, as Jason Saini won both days and Andrew Caddel finsh third and second! Great job, guys(and Julianne)! I thought just maybe I might find something lying around the shop, and luck was finally on my side. Just outside the back door was an MX-5 rim with a badly flat-spotted Toyo RA-1. The rim was also cut up really bad on the inside, apparently from a brake failure. It was marked "trash", and I figured I could make it home on it, so I borrowed it, tucked my tail between my legs, and headed for Springtown.
So, here I sit on Monday morning with not a lot going on in the office, so I thought I would put this in writing, for several reasons. The first one, that has really been bugging me, is the attitude I've been throwing around on the forum. I've called down many of the young kids for their aggressive attitudes and egos, and now I do worse than any of you, and I apologize to all. I'm sorry and embarrassed, so maybe this all happened for a reason. I will try and do better. I need to heed my own advice.
Secondly, I haven't taken the '06 to the Ranch on purpose, because I have heard wild stories of terrible alignments on these cars from the factory. I told myself I needed to get an alignment first. Although I only got a bit more than two laps, I believe the right front has positive camber and the left rear
is towed out. We shall see in a few weeks...... Bottom line, I just wanted ya'll to know that it's important to know where you car is at, mechanically, BEFORE you go on the track. More importantly, know where your head is. You can guess where mine was...... I always knew where my Spec Miata was, and I guess I've gotten complacent and made to many assumptions. Stupid driver......
