Monday, July 31, 2006

This is a little bit of how our weekend went. Once it all sinks in and some pics are available I'll post them.

Friday. Final load, look over our lists then off. I meet up with Shawn at Full Compass we headed to Elkhart Lake. It was about 5:30 pm when we made it there. Registration started at 6 pm. I had a quick beer while looking over a gorgeous Ferrari 360 that was in the parking lot. Very cool car. Once we registered we unloaded everything, and with the help of Dave Anderson set up. We basically went over everything we had, and needed to do. About 10ish we went into town for some much needed grub.

Saturday. Way to early to be up but with the Miata in Group 1 and the Honda in Group 6 it was going to be a busy day with the way the schedule laid out. Along with Dave, his son Devin pitted with us for the weekend making for a fun time having that much bench racing going on. The extra hands and minds where helpful too. With the end of Group 6 Shawn needed to be out and into the Miata in group one with no down time after the first session. In the heat we had up there. It was no fun, I could see. Once the morning was done the Miata was 26th on the grid of 39 and the Honda 4th on the grid of 38 if my memory of the car total is correct. Lunch was a nice break but then right into the Miata. A 30 minute race and Shawn managed to climb up a few spots to 22nd. Not the best, but not bad for the first time on RA with the Miata. The Honda, 4th place behind a few Porsche 944's and a RX-7.. That night I crashed at my wife's aunt's with the family. Trying to keep the piece so to speak.

Sunday. Early again. I got there about 7:30 am and the rain was just coming in. Devin rolled in a little later and helped his dad Dave pack up since Dave wasn't racing today. Shawn had me wire up the Honda wipers(we had the harness out, never put it back in) so I tackled that as Shawn did some prep work on the Miata. We switched to rains on the Miata, more like streets, and Shawn went out for practice/qualify. He ended up 28th on the grid there. With the wet conditions, it was expected to be back further since the tire combo wasn't really going to be good there. The Honda got Hoosier "Wets" put on and Shawn went out and posted another 4th place qualifing spot. Once we saw the lap times with Shawn on wets, and others on drys, we knew we had a small shot for the finale. After that, another break for lunch and then into the Miata which had the Proxe's for dry back on. Shawn worked the field well and managed to put the Miata up to 19th place when all was done. A big improvement over the previous day. Then it was a relaxing, hot afternoon waiting for the final race of the day in the Honda with Group 6. Shawn finally was on track and didn't waste anytime on the drop of the green shooting past the VW in third. A few turns later and the third place Porsche 944 was pasted. Then it was a matter of clicking of great laps and running down the RX-7. About halfway point of the race Shawn got past him in turn four and didn't look back. Winning the Overall race by a margin of about 10 seconds. Nice to grab your first overall win at a place like RA.

There wasn't much time for celebration, we needed to be packed and out by 7 pm. With the help of Devin and his family we had the rig rolling out in about 50 minutes. Which was nice because it was a long ride home and I am feeling it today, and I didn't even race! Just crewed!

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Road America



















Sorry for the lack of posts on the blog this month. We've been on a mad dash to get everything prepared for Road America and it took a toll on the usual things we needed to do. The Miata is ready to go with it's new colors and decals. The trailer lettering has also started. Both are and have turned out great and we should at least look good when we roll in this weekend. Hopefully all the hard work pays off in some top finishes in the cars.

Wish us luck

Friday, July 07, 2006

Miata Progress










The Miata is progressing nicely. The inside is sprayed and now we will tackle the outside body work and painting. If everything goes according to plan, we should have the #132 SM/ITA ready for Road America.