Posting from the road today. Sitting in a parking lot waiting on a client. I got here early and he is late, so I have some free time on my hands.
Talked with Chris again yesterday afternoon. The cage is nearing completion, with all the major components in. All that is left are some extra structural support bars and the center net connection. He should be finished this weekend. Unfortunately I won't be in town to pick up the car. That will have to wait until the second weekend of September, thereby basically guaranteeing I won't be able to drive at the Asphalt Ventures event.
I'm really starting to chomp at the bit for some track time. The summer break always gets to me in that respect, but the fact that the car is being "improved" and my excitement about racing next year have me more impatient than ever.
My saving grace is that I know when the car gets done and I get to find out what this door to door stuff is all about it is going to be worth the wait.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
Too busy
A couple weeks into this little project and only on post number three. Amazingly enough, real life doesn't always lend itself to constant blog maintenance. Surprising, right?
I talked to Chris, my cage builder, this morning and it helped reignite the fire a little bit. He has the main hoop and rear downtubes done. We finalized a couple different items with the rear X and the door bars. When I dropped the car off with him, he estimated he'd have it finished by the end of August. Sounds like he is right on schedule for that. *knock on wood* If he can get it back to me in time, my next driving event will be the Asphalt Ventures event at NCCAR the third weekend of September. Even if I can't get the car ready in time, I'll be instructing at the event. I'm excited to get to check out the new facility and NC's newest road course.
Here are a couple laps of the place:
http://vimeo.com/10837572
I talked to Chris, my cage builder, this morning and it helped reignite the fire a little bit. He has the main hoop and rear downtubes done. We finalized a couple different items with the rear X and the door bars. When I dropped the car off with him, he estimated he'd have it finished by the end of August. Sounds like he is right on schedule for that. *knock on wood* If he can get it back to me in time, my next driving event will be the Asphalt Ventures event at NCCAR the third weekend of September. Even if I can't get the car ready in time, I'll be instructing at the event. I'm excited to get to check out the new facility and NC's newest road course.
Here are a couple laps of the place:
http://vimeo.com/10837572
Friday, August 13, 2010
Blogging on the go
This is my first attempt at posting to the blog from my phone. Hopefully I can make this work well as it gives me the opportunity to post whatever, whenever from wherever.
Since the car is at the cage builder, I can't work on it and use up the energy I tend to store up between track events. I feel much more wound up than usual as the anticipation of going racing is really getting to me. Therefore I am spending inordinate amounts of time on the web researching driver's suits, seats, window nets, etc. While I am holding off on purchases until the cage work is done, that certainly isn't stopping me from double and triple checking my various options.
I have also been watching lots of GTS-2 racing videos to begin to research the performance levels and race craft of those I will be competing with next year. Based on times alone I feel like I will be able to compete well. Since my home region of NASA will be the Southeast Region, there will be a couple of tracks on the schedule (Lowes and Road Atlanta) I haven't been to before and one (Roebling Road) I haven't been to in years. Hopefully doing my homework with these videos will help make my learning curve a little less steep.
It's Friday the 13th and it has been quite a day. Time to settle down for the weekend and focus in on where I go from here.
Since the car is at the cage builder, I can't work on it and use up the energy I tend to store up between track events. I feel much more wound up than usual as the anticipation of going racing is really getting to me. Therefore I am spending inordinate amounts of time on the web researching driver's suits, seats, window nets, etc. While I am holding off on purchases until the cage work is done, that certainly isn't stopping me from double and triple checking my various options.
I have also been watching lots of GTS-2 racing videos to begin to research the performance levels and race craft of those I will be competing with next year. Based on times alone I feel like I will be able to compete well. Since my home region of NASA will be the Southeast Region, there will be a couple of tracks on the schedule (Lowes and Road Atlanta) I haven't been to before and one (Roebling Road) I haven't been to in years. Hopefully doing my homework with these videos will help make my learning curve a little less steep.
It's Friday the 13th and it has been quite a day. Time to settle down for the weekend and focus in on where I go from here.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Getting started
So I decided to start a blog about my plans to go racing next year...and here it is. I'm currently not sure what direction this is going to take, but some things work out better without anything written in stone at the beginning. Or so I hope.
As many of you know, I have spent the last 7 years getting to know the hobby of "high performance driving" inside and out. From my first track event as a wide-eyed rookie in my brand new Nissan 350Z to my current status as a grizzled instructor, I have loved every minute of it. While I continued to hone my talents (and those of my students) of making a car go around track as quickly as possible, I always knew that there was another step to take. And that brings us to today.
My own desires, a bunch of peer pressure, and the all-important encouragement from my lovely wife have led me to make the decision to go wheel-to-wheel racing next year. My plan is to campaign my car in the German Touring Series (GTS) in the National Auto Sport Association (NASA). The GTS category is made up of 6 classes based solely on horsepower-to-weight ratio. My current plan is to race my car in the GTS-2 class, which is made up of cars with hp/wt ratios of 18.49 to 14.50. With a little ballast, the car should be right at the top end of the class ratio.
Speaking of my car, here she is in all her "glory":
A 1993 BMW 325is with the engine from a 1995 BMW M3
She may not be much to look at, but she has it where it counts. She is currently over at Competition Cages getting a new, improved, NASA-legal cage installed. I hope to have her back by the end of the month so that I can continue her transformation from a "track car" to a "race car".
I don't know where this little journey of mine is going to take me, but I'm quite certain it is going to be a blast getting there.
As many of you know, I have spent the last 7 years getting to know the hobby of "high performance driving" inside and out. From my first track event as a wide-eyed rookie in my brand new Nissan 350Z to my current status as a grizzled instructor, I have loved every minute of it. While I continued to hone my talents (and those of my students) of making a car go around track as quickly as possible, I always knew that there was another step to take. And that brings us to today.
My own desires, a bunch of peer pressure, and the all-important encouragement from my lovely wife have led me to make the decision to go wheel-to-wheel racing next year. My plan is to campaign my car in the German Touring Series (GTS) in the National Auto Sport Association (NASA). The GTS category is made up of 6 classes based solely on horsepower-to-weight ratio. My current plan is to race my car in the GTS-2 class, which is made up of cars with hp/wt ratios of 18.49 to 14.50. With a little ballast, the car should be right at the top end of the class ratio.
Speaking of my car, here she is in all her "glory":
A 1993 BMW 325is with the engine from a 1995 BMW M3
She may not be much to look at, but she has it where it counts. She is currently over at Competition Cages getting a new, improved, NASA-legal cage installed. I hope to have her back by the end of the month so that I can continue her transformation from a "track car" to a "race car".
I don't know where this little journey of mine is going to take me, but I'm quite certain it is going to be a blast getting there.
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