Monday, May 7, 2007

Carolina Motorsports Park Recap

This weekend was MUCH different from the others. . . . none of the BeerTech cars found a wall!!! We were racing in lovely Kershaw SC. The track is really strange. The first 11 turns are great flowing turns, awesome. The last three are the worst set of turns I've ever done. No flow at all, it totally ruins the track. Oh well, at least there's only three of them.

Saturday started with cloudy skies that gave way to rain right before practice. It only rained lightly all days so dry tires would work. That's great seeing as we are too poor for rain tires, ha! Practice was our first time on the track, so it was throw away just to learn the track. I qualified 12th out of 18, and I believe Scott qualified 17th out of 18. I love the rain. We did a standing start which is REALLY fun. I spun all the way through 1st and 2nd gear and had to defend against a fast moving Steven Canterbury on the outside of Turn 1. The pack stayed close and I tucked in and tried to stay with them. I had a nice long spin coming out of turn 14 doing a nice 360 into the grass. I lost a handful of spots but got going again in front of Steven. I spent the entire rest of the race reeling in Herrington and Al Taylor who were in an epic battle. I made up about 10 car lengths to challenge them on the last two laps before we all got screwed by a turdbo 944 that ruined our race. He wasn't even racing for position. I finished 12th I think. Scott had a clean spin free race and brought the car home in one piece, really nice given the condition and considering he spun 3 or 4 times through practice/quali.

Saturday Start


Sunday the skies cleared and the track dried out. I pulled off before we went out for practice because I left my jack in the trunk. Whoops. When I went back out, the car started to overheat on the first lap. I pulled it in and found a cut coolant hose. The motor/chassis flexing was letting the fan hit the hose. Fortunately for me, the Rev. Al Taylor came prepared with spares and donated a hose to BeerTech in return for our further support of his inebriation. With the car fixed, quali began. I ran a 2 min flat, 3 seconds off pole, not bad for my 4th session on the track. It put me right back in 12th again. Scott qualified 17th with no spins. The start of the race was a blast and I got a great launch, but not enough to get by anyone. After that it was pretty boring as I was about .5 seconds off of Travis and Al's pace, so I was losing about a car length a lap. I spent the rest of the race lapping by myself. . . . BORING. Scott and I finished where we started and had no wrecks or spins.

Not the best racing I've had, but the track was fun and the Spec E30 guys always make the weekend a blast. Johnny Allen, Team Salazar, Gasman, and the Al and Travis show had us laughing (and Al burping and farting) all weekend. I hope Earl takes a little longer to get an "I" car because he's going to be quick when he does. It was great the see the Canterbury race family again - James is a hangman pro and a hot dog terrorist. The BeerWreck curse continued when Vic had contact early and went off late in the race promptly after getting a sticker, DAMN YOU SALAZARRRR!!! Johnny didn't put his off though when he got a sticker. . . . he must be more talented than Vic. . .

Thanks for tuning in.

JP
















8 comments:

MelissaCoates said...

I love how if someone’s car breaks at the track somebody always seems to have a spare part to share. It’s great you guys help each other out like that.

You didn’t mention the accident that happened before you started your race. I guess because no E30s were involved.

The Colorado Carrs said...

ummmm did dad see the chicken?

and Red DOES NOT have a chewing problem ;)

Shanna Mac said...

um, so i just watched the video. is this safe? am i going to have to start worrying about you kids?!?!!

gracen would like to come see you race in person. let us know when there might be a good one for us to catch.

JP Coates said...

We are racing at Rockingham in mid June, the weekend after the beach trip. It is a small track where you can watch all the way around from the tower, and its a quick trip down US 1.

Yes, it can be very dangerous. It was a Mustang that got flipped on its roof. The guy walked away uninjured due to all of the saftey measures we have in the cars. We've all spent many years learning to drive fast AND safe on track. At least 50% of what I spent to build the car was all safety related.

The Colorado Carrs said...

I really want to post...

can I ..Please!

The Colorado Carrs said...

looks like alot of fun JP I'm guessing you got that roll-cage built like you wanted, did you tie the seats in to it?? Must be quite a rush to be in a race.... Are you doing much damage to your car?? "I wanna go fast!!" for some reason comes to mind...I know a mexican guy who's great at airbrushing flames on the hood. If you buy him tequila you get the General Lee Special. No Really looks like a terrible amout of fun and remember "helmets save lives." M.

The Colorado Carrs said...

Thats from Myron!

JP Coates said...

We didn't tie the seat into the cage as we are only allowed 6 points of contact for the cage, plus two for foot protection. It gets very awkward trying to tie the seat in given the rules. My floor is reinforced and I have a custom seat mounting directly on the floor. I was also concerned with seat height.

No damage at all. The other two guys were involved in wrecks by themselves. There is not a lot of car-to-car oontact at all.

I think the flames would look pretty sick on the Mazda!

JP