I will have my telephoto lense . . .

 

So what class does your car qualify as? I am excited to see your set-up and get out on the track with you. Should be a lot of fun.

And as for the "special event"....

-Brian

 

Class 4 . . . 210HP

After lots of work, Grand Am has approved 15" wheels for the car . . . really good news. I don't think I'll have the 15's ready for Vegas but should be ready to go for Miami.

I will probably run the 205/40/17 Toyos that I used on my Spec car. Probably a disadvantage but closer to the setup the car will eventually have with the 15's.

Looking forward to it !!
Randy

 

Awsome! It should be a well populated class. I will be running the same tires. Can't wait...

-Brian

 

Ali Basakinci will drive in Miami. Ali is fast and consistent. He started the Mini Challenge group a few years ago in Phoenix.
Ali also qualified the 22 Nuzzo car 10th last year at PIR. That was one of the Mini's best Q positions last year.

Randy

 

May the Force be with you!

 

DON"T EVER STAY AT THE SADDLE WEST RESORT. What a dump . . . if the termites ever stopped holding hands, the place would collapse. The Saddle West was the recommended hotel for this event . . .

The event was fun but loaded with controversy. The first race was a demolition derby. There were parts scattered everywhere. There were only 8 cars in total and two of the 8 were well over the 210 HP limit as the race class is defined.

Anyway . . . I qualified 3rd, as was expected because of the HP differences. One of the cars claimed 228 HP at the wheels . . . and I believe him as he smoked me on the straight! He had at least 50 hp me . . . I probably weighted 100 lbs less.

Phil Wicks uses a standing start. Since I have ever done a standing start and never even tried one . . . I went from 3rd to last instantly. I was talking to one of the driver's who has raced the series regularly and he was telling me how he practices his 60 foot times . . . ummm

Anyway, around mid lap 4 I was back to 3rd when I was hit from behind and knocked off track. As it turns out, I was hit squarely on the right rear wheel. There was no body damage but the wheel was trashed and suspension damaged.

I withdrew and parked it. With two upcoming point and $$ paying races in the next few weeks I chose to pack it in for the day. There is/was too much at stake to risk damage to the car. I did not start the second race even though I had the parts to fix it and race again. In fact, I loaned some parts to another racer so he could race again.

The good news is that I was testing some setups and that was successful. The car felt really good and with the corrected tire size, the gearing was fantastic.

I'm suddenly feeling pretty good about Miami. We have the engine management issues under control and it now looks likes the suspension problems are close to being solved. (Koni . . ! R U Listening?)

Koni has the shocks as of this morning and I expect them to provide a good setup when we arrive in Miami.

That's it. The next race is Miami / Homestead in a few weeks. Unfortunately, it will not be televised. I will provide onsite updates from my PC.

Randy

PS: Thanks to the 'Sin City' Mini club for putting on a great event at AMVIV. It was well organized . . . lots of fun. I highly recommend it for next year,

 

Glad to see some good came from the weekend. Sorry your introduction in the series was such a harsh one. It really did remind me of the videos I have seen from the UK challenge .

It was also good to see you and the car. A VERY fine piece of machinary you and your team has put together, and quite fast considering the limitations in your rulebook. I look forward to seeing the results this year in Grand-AM.

And again, if you ever need an extra hand to help out at one of the races, I'm your man (BrianDBlack@gmail.com).

-Brian

 

Brian . . .

Did we meet?
Boy do I feel like a dumb A** . . . I would have recognized your NAM ID had you told me. . . then again maybe you did and I need to move to the next level of dumb S***!!!!!!!!!

Sorry, I met a lot of people and my mind is now a little blank.

Thanks for the words of encouragement.

Randy

 

Ok, enough with the racing stories. Randy, where are the telephoto lens proofs that you were there...

 

too bad that you got rid of all of those extra toyo's! they are being put to good use by mini's here in florida. thanks. i was at homestead this past weekend watching the irl crowd.....i'll be back there next month to cheer you on.

 

I borrowed your air at the beginning of the day (the young guy with brown hair and a black driving suit)... Its ok, I dont remember half the people I meet at AMIVIV either .

-Brian

 

You didn't miss a thing and not worth wasting film on . . . even when you are only wasting pixtels!

 

I remember . . . I gave you the CO2 bottle that I use to keep my Trailer tires aired. It was first thing before I hooked up the nitrogen.

I wish I had realized . . .

Randy

 

Hello Brian,
How was the event? Sounds like it was a little rough compared to the events last year, no bent metal in our events except for Randy's encounter with the tire barrier.
As usual, only write-up I found about the event was under this thread, no official reports from the Phil Wicks camp.
Call up Fran Hughes at BMWCCA club racing and get your license, send her all previous races results and experience as well as copies of any other competition licenses you may have.
There will several races in Texas this year, your car should qualify for J-Prepared ( if you have not changed pulley).
Regards,
Steve

 

If not for all of the bumpin, it would have been a very good race. The cars were quite close during the race, and I am sure it was exciting from the spectators point of view. As soon as I get the car back up to snuff, I will get in touch with the BMWCCA. All I want at this point is seat time. Phil's series is a great way (for me) to get that, even if there are some growing pains. And also, if you need any help at an enduro or other race, shoot me an e-mail. I would be glad to help.

-Brian

 

The 197 car is getting it's final prep for Miami today and tomorrow.

We were having some transmission problems in Las Vegas so we installed the new spare. We think the syncros were damaged when we changed the fluid. It seems the transmission likes the factory fill better than some of the more slippery after market products.

There are some who will dispute this theory but we think the factory fluid is the way to go. I have had two tranny's act up after changing fluid. We are sticking with the factory fluid from this point forward.

The car is being setup for it's first run on the 15" wheels. We were quite surprised at how much brake clearance remains. We expected it to be much tighter. We have a little leeway in the Grand Am brake rules. This clearance (albeit small) may allow us to improve the braking a little bit. If we are reading the rulebook correctly, we can increase the rotor size to 105% of stock. Not much, but better than nothing.

I found a set of ROTA RB wheels, 15x8 with a 35mm offset. They are a knockoff of Panasport Wheels. While we don't intend to race on them, they closely match the wheels we will use.

We are pleased with the clearance and more importantly, the shock travel. The smaller diameter tire forces us to (this is a good thing) raise the car to meet the ride height minimums. Raising the car, stretches the suspension . . . therefore, more travel. The car is NOT actually higher . . . that's the beauty of the smaller wheels.

I am having Kodiak race wheels built and should see the 1st set by Wednesday and the remaining sets before Miami. As always with racing . . . everything is last minute. We will use the Rota wheels as 'transport' wheels after the Kodiaks show up.

-----------------------------------------------

As some have heard, we are building a second car. We expect to be testing by Lime Rock but will not campaign the car until June.

Here is a picture :

Eventually, it will be red like the 197 and we hope to acquire the Grand number number '198'.

We decided to build the second car when GA approved the 15" wheels and tires. We think the wheel change was critical to making the cars competitive. The 17's just didn't fit.

We will keep you posted on the new build.

The Transporter leaves for Miami on Thursday morning . . . and then to Iowa.

Randy

 

Good luck, dood. .......great to know you're building another racecar. That'll give me something to drive!

 

I just noticed, but are there more split races this year? I think this is a good thing, especially on a big track like Homestead...

About one more week!

Any more insight if you guys will make the trip to Laguna Seca in mid May?

 

At this point, we will NOT be at Laguna . . . sorry. I would really like to go as it is one of my favorite tracks. The GA schedule is absurd . . . back to back, with only 6 days between the actual races (3 days to drive cross country . . .) I suspect many teams will have this problem and entry lists and numbers will be lower than expected.

HOWEVER, that could change if we do exceptionally well in Miami and Iowa. If there was a 'points chase', I think we would have to show up and deal with the travel issues.

Regardless of what happens, I cannot go to Laguna due to a personal schedule conflict. I would have to delegate team management duties to someone else.

Finding drivers would not be a problem.

-------------------

The transporter is in Texas. We expect to meet in Miami on Wednesday. I still do not have the racing wheels from Kodiak.
I spoke to them yesterday and was assured they would be waiting for us . . .

I have a fall back position if they don't show.

Randy

 

I saw that LRP is the very next week... and now I actually remember asking before! Sorry about that. Just really excited about seeing you guys at Laguna...

Listen, if it factors-in any, I'd be glad to assist however I can, including taking at least a day off work, and during the weekend of course. And I'm sure others could be rounded-up... if need be (nice finishes in Miami and Iowa).

Thanks Randy!

 

Thanks TonyB . . . I know that I can count on NAM members if the need arises and I will not be afraid to ask!

 

Well, you in Miami? Hope you got your wheel situation resolved... Best to you guys!

 

randy: i am in so. fla. and will be at the race. if there is anything that you need (other than more umbrella girls) pm me and i'd be happy to help out. looking forward to this weekend.

 

Thanks Bean. Come to the race, I'll find something for you to do! The more the merrier.

The car is at the track . . . garage # 23c

Tomorrow morning (Friday) we will reinstall the modified Koni Shocks. They lengthen the travel which should improve their performance. The 15" wheels have dramatically improved the suspension geometry. We will have over one inch of additional shock travel at all 4 corners.

The 1st set of Kodiak Race wheels arrived. They are fantastic . . only 10lbs each and highly polished . . . gorgeous! I fitted them up today. . . perfect! I am really relieved. It seems our measuring was correct and they were built correctly too. The other two sets are with FedEx and will be here tomorrow.

We took another stab at the fuel mapping before the car was shipped. We 'tweaked' a few more HP out of it and improved the torque curve.

We installed a new transmission. We had some synchro problems with 2nd & 3rd gear.

We are ready to go !!

I'll post some updates from the track as time allows.

Thanks!
Randy