Ed Nazarian

We were racing at BRP last weekend, April 17-18, on configuration #13CW.  The last time we were racing at BRP was this same event in 2009, so it’s been a year since the last time I raced there.  I felt rusty at BRP and never really got into a groove, but at least I wasn’t busy this time fixing/wrenching on my racecar like I was at ACS because my front end didn’t get coned this time.  Even though I’ve driven ACS significantly less than BRP, things seemed to click better at ACS.  We rolled with the punches and finished 2 more 35min races totaling 6 that we have finished this season, with a total of 14 races since our last years debut.

Before I proceed with the results, I want to say thank you to a few people.  Thanks to Mike Welch and his guys at RRE for helping fix the damage my car sustained from ACS.  New Griffin IC, lip, undertray, fixed my side skirt and front bumper.  A few months ago Mike also sourced some Carbontrix CF replacement headlights.  Mike installed those also.  Yes, Mike actually works on my racecar.  Want to thank Martin Meade from Girodisc for shipping me some ST43 brake pads.  Also want to thank Robert Fuller, aka Robi, from Robispec for providing me trackside suspension tuning for both races.

This weekend I set some blisteringly fast lap times in my ST2 races, and qualifying sessions…not.  The BMWCCA was racing with us this weekend, so the groups were changed up a bit.  Typically, the group we race in consists of SU, ST, ASC, GTS, AIX, and AI racecars.  This time GTS was in a separate group with BMWCCA, and the AIX/AI drivers skipped this event because they have their own West Coast schedule.  Therefore, our group this time consisted of SU, ST, and they added HC, PT, and Spec E30 with us.  Basically, most of the racecars in our group were significantly slower.  On top of that, we had a really big group, nearly 50 racecars.  So maneuvering through traffic played a significant role that weekend.  Other than that you just needed to get lucky.  The weather was a little on the warm side also, but we managed.

(Saturday Qualifying)

I couldn’t set a fast lap in qualifying if my life depended on it.  Just way too many lower classed cars out there.  Drivers usually cooperate in a race, for the most part, but the Qualifying sessions seem to always be every driver to himself.  Everyone is trying to set a fast lap, and since there were nearly 50 racecars out there you’re basically hitting traffic pretty much every other corner.  And sometimes one corner to the next.

(Saturday Race)

Out of the 10 ST2 racecars, I qualified P8 and finished the race in P6 for ST2.  I thought since we had 10 ST2 racecars, we would get our own rolling start.  But we didn’t.  Instead, we were mixed together with SU, ST1, and a solo Orange AIX Mustang.  So given our mixed rolling start, I was in P15.  Mixing us with those other classes ruined the ST2 race.  Because instead of having the opportunity to battle with other ST2 drivers as a whole from start to finish, we ended up getting scattered all over the track because we had SU and ST1 drivers in between us.  And on top of that, we had to deal with traffic, which scattered us even more.  I was pretty upset with that because as a higher class series, ST2 had the biggest field that weekend.  And we had the potential to have a really close and exciting race from start to finish.  I think it was such a big time waste to have not given us our own rolling start.

As for the race, I’m not sure what happened at the start, but something appeared to get mixed up because I was supposed to be on the left side when we were in formation, but I ended up on the right side.  Beyond that, since we got scattered I only had the opportunity to battle one of the Mazda GTs, Mark Montoya.  Unfortunately, a Super Unlimited driver in a FFR GTM-R prototype held us up quite a bit.  At one point Mark passed him, but I got stuck behind that SU prototype.  Not sure why he wouldn’t just let me by because he was by himself.  I finally got close enough to him at the buttonhook and made a move on him.  I took the inside line and was around his RR.  I was gradually pulling on him and at one point he for whatever reason turned into me a bit and almost drove me off track to the right.  I decided it was now or never so I kept my foot in it and maintained my position.  I passed him at the entry to cotton corners.  You can watch my in-car from Saturdays race to see it all unfold.  Mark then had an off after the bus-stop and I passed him.  If he didn’t have that off I may have never caught him again because that SU prototype had held me up too much.

(Sunday Qualifying)

It was the same deal as Saturday.  I was a bit more lucky with traffic, but still couldn’t set a fast lap.

(Sunday Race)

For Sundays race, out of 10 ST2 racecars, I qualified P6 in ST2, and was P12 for our rolling start.  I finished the race in P5 for ST2.  Sundays race is probably my most exciting race thus far because I was having a major battle with one of the Mazda GTs, Thorpe logemann.  We exchanged positions I don’t know how many times.  But what kills me is that I couldn’t get my GoPro camera to start recording.  Pretty ironic when I think about it.  It’s really upsetting to not have that footage.  And unfortunately, Thorpe doesn’t have any in-car either.  There were many incidents in the race, so on top of trying to deal with traffic, we were also trying to deal with yellows, and double yellows.  At one point I thought the race was going to end under double yellow, but it finally restarted.  At one point I passed Thorpe around the buttonhook and I got lucky with traffic while he got left behind.  In the meantime we passed another Mazda GT.  I caught up to the leaders towards the end, and had them in sight, but I ran out of time.  My in-car from Saturdays race fails in comparison to how exciting this race was.  In fact, if I had in-car from this race, it would have been at the top of my list.

Saturday Qualifying times:

1. 1:54.474 - John Gordon #30 Porsche 996
2. 1:55.123 - Jon Van Caneghem #00 Mazda GT
3. 1:55.557 - Josh Carroll #35 Mazda GT
4. 1:57.001 - James Wagaman #98 Mazda GT
5. 2:00.879 - Thorpe Logemann #3 Mazda GT
6. 2:01.225 - David Beatie #6 Mazda GT
7. 2:02.970 - Team Howard Racing #70 Mazda Rx7
8. 2:03.781 - Ed Nazarian #415 Mitsubishi Evo 9
9. 2:05.787 - Dan Miller #34 Mazda GT

Saturday Race results:

1. 1:57.059 - Josh Carroll #35 Mazda GT
2. 1:56.183 - John Gordon #30 Porsche 996
3. 1:57.122 - Jon Van Caneghem #00 Mazda GT
4. 1:59.024 - James Wagaman #98 Mazda GT
5. 2:01.333 - Thorpe Logemann #3 Mazda GT
6. 2:02.241 - Ed Nazarian #415 Mitsubishi Evo 9
7. 2:03.594 - Dan Miller #34 Mazda GT
8. 2:02.180 - Mark Montoya #50 Mazda GT
9. 2:04.318 - Team Howard Racing #70 Mazda Rx7
10. 2:08.885 - David Beatie #6 Mazda GT

Sunday Qualifying times:

1. 1:54.575 - John Gordon #30 Porsche 996
2. 1:56.350 - Josh Carroll #35 Mazda GT
3. 1:56.596 - Jon Van Caneghem #00 Mazda GT
4. 1:57.349 - James Wagaman #98 Mazda GT
5. 2:00.739 - David Beatie #6 Mazda GT
6. 2:01.596 - Ed Nazarian #415 Mitsubishi Evo 9
7. 2:08.111 - Dan Miller #34 Mazda GT
8. DQ - 2:01.724 - Mark Montoya #50 Mazda GT
9. DQ - 2:02.603 - Thorpe Logemann #3 Mazda GT

Sunday Race results:

1. 1:56.538 - Josh Carroll #35 Mazda GT
2. 1:55.877 - John Gordon #30 Porsche 996
3. 1:57.852 - Jon Van Caneghem #00 Mazda GT
4. 1:59.194 - James Wagaman #98 Mazda GT
5. 2:00.536 - Ed Nazarian #415 Mitsubishi Evo 9
6. 2:01.518 - Thorpe Logemann #3 Mazda GT
7. 2:00.800 - Mark Montoya #50 Mazda GT
8. 2:08.655 - Dan Miller #34 Mazda GT
9. 2:02.502 - David Beatie #6 Mazda GT
10. 2:04.062 - Team Howard Racing #70 Mazda Rx7

In-car race video:
- Saturday Race

Thanks again to my sponsors for their continued support:
- RRE
- Robispec
- Girodisc
- South Coast Mitsubishi
- I’d also like to thank Mike Welch, and Robert Fuller (aka Robi) for their help at the event.

We were racing at ACS last weekend, March 13-14.  Last time I raced at ACS was this same event in 2009, so it’s been a year since the last time I raced there.  Since I used our Super Touring season opener in February at Big Willow mainly as a shakedown event, I was ready to start pushing it progressively at ACS.  Despite all my efforts, it turned out to be another weekend of struggles.  However, it ended on a completely unexpected result.  I will get into the details accordingly, but for starters I want to say a quick thanks to Mike Welch from RRE for showing up and helping out, and also to Robert Fuller, aka Robi, from Robispec for providing me trackside suspension tuning for both races.

Thus far I have tried to be as patient as possible with mods for my racecar.  I have been patient long enough, so I decided it was time I upgraded something.  One of the mods I’ve been considering is the TRE rear-diff.  I contacted Jon at TRE and we set everything up through RRE.  Being the cool guy that Mike is, he gave me an extra rear-diff and then shipped it to TRE.  This way we can keep mine as backup.  Thanks Mike!  TRE Jon shipped it back to RRE and the guys at RRE installed it for me.  Thanks guys!  Since Robi does my suspension tuning, we will be setting up the car from track to track as things progress throughout the season.  I’ll post a separate thread regarding my initial impressions of the TRE rear-diff coupled with Robis suspension tuning as the season unfolds.  But for now I’ll say that driving my car with the TRE rear-diff feels like I’m driving an entirely new car.  And I’m looking forward to seeing how we can develop my car with it.  Beyond upgrading to the TRE rear-diff, Martin from Girodisc sent me a new set of front 2-pc rotors.  My second set had run its course, so it was time for another set.  I posted a thread about it here:

(Saturday Qualifying)

I noticed right away that the track was setup a bit tighter than last year, especially the last set of turns leading onto the Roval, T16-21.  Since that section leads us onto the Roval, it decreases our exit speed, thereby decreasing our speeds onto the Roval.  I gradually pushed it more and more from our Practice session, to our Qualifying session.

Before I proceed with anything else, I want to give a little welcome to an Evo newcomer, John Hsu.  I think John approached me on Friday while I was getting situated.  He recently purchased an Evo 9, and decided to race with us that weekend in Super Touring 2.  He’s a Honda Challenge driver, so he’s not new to racing, just new to Evos.  He was racing his Integra in H2, and his recently purchased Evo 9 in ST2.  I hope he continues to race his Evo 9 with us in ST2 because it will be really cool to see another Evo out there.  Other than us 2 Evo 9s, there was Scott Howard with his white Rx7, Ryan Cashin with his white Vette, and a guy named John Gordon in his blue 996 Porsche.  The Mazda GT guys skipped this event.

(Saturday Race)

We were part of race group B, which consisted of SU, ST, ASC, GTS, AIX, AI, CMC, and FFR racecars.  Most of the classes didn’t have enough cars, so our rolling start was combined including SU, ST, ASC, AIX, and AI.  And they set our grid according to the overall lap times with respect to each rolling start, not lap times within each class.  So despite qualifying in P2 for my class, I was in P10 for our rolling start.  That meant we had out of class cars in between us which made things a bit difficult.  For whatever reason, there is always one or more out of class drivers that end up racing other drivers.  They hold you up by drag racing you down the straights.  There were plenty of those guys at this event.

Some guys botched the start so a bunch of cars passed me through T1 and T2.  After watching my in-car, 8 cars passed me, 3 of which were my competitors (Vette, Rx7, Evo9), and 5 out of class cars (2 AI cars, 2 AIX cars, and 1 ASC car).  I was held up quite a bit and had to overtake several of those cars.  But my biggest challenge occurred early in the race on lap 3.  On the first lap someone knocked the cone that’s in between T10-11 into the middle of the infield straight.  In lap 3 I was nose to tail with Scott exiting that chicane.  I stepped out to pass him and that cone ended up eating my lip, my entire undertray, and some of my IC.  I didn’t know any of that until the race was done.  After hitting the cone I could hear something dragging around my RF, and I thought it was part of that cone.  After the race I found out it was my undertray.  The entire undertray was hanging by (1) zip-tie the whole time!  I somehow finished the race in 3rd place.  A pretty good result considering my struggles in that race.  Unfortunately, my camera shut off about 8min into the race.  Therefore, you won’t be able to see the out of class cars that were drag racing me the whole time, who btw had none of their competitors around them.  Don’t worry, you’ll see plenty of that from my Sundays in-car race footage.

As for the cone that ate my lip, undertray, and some of my IC, my friend Mark was able to help out.  Mark drives an Evo 9, so he loaned me his lip and undertray.  Thanks a bunch Mark!  On Sunday morning Mike brought me an extra undertray, lip, and a whole bunch of plastic clips.  Mike helped me finish up the rest with some zip-ties.  Thanks Mike!

(Sunday Qualifying)

Mike and my friend, Scott Pennock, helped out by checking my tire temps and pressures.  The undertray and lip felt fine so I pushed it more and more, and it felt like things were progressing.  Unfortunately, I found out afterwards that I forgot to mount my transponder so the officials had to somehow time me manually.  I didn’t get a good qualifying time because of that.

(Sunday Race)

For some strange reason, this event had a whole bunch of drivers who were flat out horrible.  Drivers drag racing out of class cars, incorrect/late grid formation, start jumping, and who knows what else.  It has never been this bad, so I’m a little confused as to what happened.  One in particular was an Orange AIX Mustang.  We were all over him in the braking zones, and the corners, but within a few seconds he would become a dot down every straight.  Then we’re all over him again in the next corner.  Not sure why he wouldn’t just let us by.  There was only 1 other AIX Mustang in that race and that driver was days behind the Orange one.  He was all by himself, and wouldn’t let us by.

As for the completely unexpected result, I won on Sunday.  That race on Sunday is by far my biggest come from behind win, while trying to get around more out of class cars that were drag racing me when they didn’t have any of their competitors around them.  As if that wasn’t challenging enough, the car that took 2nd place, Blue 996 Porsche, hit me on the last lap.  Fortunately, I was able to save a potential spin/off and maintained the lead for a completely unexpected win.  The Porsche was on my tail at the finish line trailing me by .152 seconds.  Meanwhile, the Orange AIX Mustang almost ruined my lead again.

I don’t know how I caught the Porsche in the first place.  I felt like I was so far behind that catching the leader never even crossed my mind, let alone having a chance at winning.  You have to watch the entire race to understand why.  As for getting hit by him, it happened at the apex of T4.  He went in too hot into T3 and nearly drove off track.  I passed him on the inside of T3 and was in front of him shortly.  I was then already turned in and committed to T4 and he came crashing into my right-rear.  Sounds like he went for a last minute out of control pass because you can hear his car slide into mine as his tires lock up.  I’m not sure what actually happened to him, but my best guess is that he went in too hot into T3 and lost control.  And then maybe he was a bit over-zealous and thought he could save it while nearly off-track, and also regain the lead with a last minute pass.

Saturday Qualifying times:

1.  1:48.848 - John Gordon #30 Porsche 996
2.  1:50.331 - Ed Nazarian #415 Mitsubishi Evo 9
3.  1:51.720 - Team Cashin In #32 Corvette Z06
4.  1:52.079 - Team Howard Racing #70 Mazda Rx7
5.  1:52.567 - John Hsu #2 Mitsubishi Evo 9

Saturday Race results:

1.  1:49.222 (in lap 3) - John Gordon #30 Porsche 996
2.  1:49.358 (in lap 8 ) - Team Cashin In #32 Corvette Z06
3.  1:50.144 (in lap 10) - Ed Nazarian #415 Mitsubishi Evo 9
4.  1:50.794 (in lap 6) - Team Howard Racing #70 Mazda Rx7
5.  1:55.052 (in lap 3) - John Hsu #2 Mitsubishi Evo 9

Sunday Qualifying times:

1.  1:50.799 - John Gordon #30 Porsche 996
2.  1:51.688 - Team Howard Racing #70 Mazda Rx7
3.  1:52.618 - John Hsu #2 Mitsubishi Evo 9
4.  1:53.986 - Ed Nazarian #415 Mitsubishi Evo 9

Sunday Race results:

1.  1:49.913 (in lap 11) - Ed Nazarian #415 Mitsubishi Evo 9
2.  1:50.558 (in lap 4) - John Gordon #30 Porsche 996
3.  1:52.660 (in lap 3) - John Hsu #2 Mitsubishi Evo 9
4.  1:50.652 (in lap 3) - Team Howard Racing #70 Mazda Rx7
5.  1:50.192 (in lap 3) - Team Cashin In #32 Corvette Z06

In-car race video:

- Saturday Race
- Sunday Race

Since my camera shut off 8min into the race on Saturday, I’m posting the Sunday race for now because we can only post 1 video every week, given the size of my in-car.  I’ll have Mike post the Saturday race sometime next week and I’ll update it here accordingly.

Thanks again to my sponsors for their continued support:
- RRE
- Robispec
- Girodisc
- South Coast Mitsubishi
- I’d also like to thank Mike Welch, Robert Fuller (aka Robi), Sean Bradley, Mark, and Scott Pennock for their help at the event.

Socal NASA’s 2010 season opener was this past weekend, February 6-7, at Big Willow.  The last time I raced at Big Willow was May of 2009, so it’s been a little over 8 months.  I have been dying to get back out there.  And the last time I drove my racecar on track was at NASA’s National Championship in September of 2009 at Miller Motorsports Park.  So it has been a good 5 months since I have driven it.  Main reason why I haven’t driven my racecar since then is because I was hit during the National Championship race.  Details are here:

Results: 2009 NASA National Championship

Beyond that I had some setbacks that delayed the prep work we needed to fix the damage.  But with a few really late nights during the week leading up to the races and we were able to get the car ready for the season opener.  It wasn’t fun, but we got it done.

Before I proceed I want to thank RRE and Robert Fuller from Robispec for their respective work.  I’m not going to bother with the details of all the work RRE and Robi did.  Simply put, if it wasn’t for their support and hard work none of this would have been possible.  The guys at RRE put in a lot of their personal time to patch up the car.  My friend Sean Bradley came over for a day and also helped out, thanks Sean!  Quite a few parts needed to be replaced and RRE as usual pulled their strings and hooked things up.  Robi then did his work accordingly.  He also applied the necessary alignment/setting adjustments at the track both days.  More than anything because it rained on Saturday, and ended up clearing on Sunday.  Furthermore, I want to thank Mike, Honda Robert, and Robi for being there both days (Sat/Sun), to provide me the support I needed.  It is such a major relief to have them there with me in the trenches.  Unless you race, you cannot understand how valuable that is.

Before I proceed with the weekend, one thing I’d like to mention is my turbo.  In a few recent threads I had noted that before leaving to race at the National Championship, RRE set me up with their GT3076 turbo kit to test out.  Upon returning I decided to go back to my OEM Evo 9 turbo.  Given my setup I am looking to make around 340whp.  That power range coupled with my OEM engine cripples the 3076.  It’s really unfortunate that I can’t further test it in race conditions because despite my limited experience, it appears to be a solid turbo kit.

As for the results, last place both days!  I am not sure why, but I say that with pride.  On a serious note, the season opener was a shakedown weekend for me.  Considering everything that has led up to this point, coupled with the weather conditions, it was a successful weekend.  I got out there, did what I wanted to do, and brought the racecar back unscathed.

Regarding the weather, the forecast was indicating rain on Friday and Saturday, with the potential of rain on Sunday.  Given the weather forecast it was a low attendance weekend.  It ended up raining pretty hard on Friday, and continued to rain on Saturday.  I don’t really have any experience in wet conditions, let alone any experience racing in the rain.  It was strange driving on track with my wipers on.  It was a good experience.

As for lap times, that data is pretty much useless to me at this juncture.  Either way, here are the results.  But before I proceed with that, I am really excited to note that the Mazda GT racecars have stepped things up big time.  They ran some really solid ST2 times on Sunday.  If the season progresses like this, there is going to be some serious ST2 competition this year in Socal.

Saturday Super Touring 2 Qualifying times:
1.  1:42.664 - 98 - James Wagaman - Mazda GT
2.  1:49.545 - 00 - Jon VanCaneghem - Mazda GT
3.  1:51.774 - 415 - Ed Nazarian - Evo 9

Saturday Super Touring 2 Race results:
1.  1:34.390 - 00 - Jon VanCaneghem - Mazda GT
2.  1:35.393 - 32 - Team Cashin In - Vette
3.  1:35.412 - 98 - James Wagaman - Mazda GT
4.  1:44.513 - 415 - Ed Nazarian - Evo 9

Sunday Super Touring 2 Qualifying times:
1.  1:27.118 - 00 - Jon VanCaneghem - Mazda GT
2.  1:28.049 - 98 - James Wagaman - Mazda GT
3.  1:33.551 - 415 - Ed Nazarian - Evo 9

Sunday Super Touring 2 Race results:
1.  1:28.319 - 00 - Jon VanCaneghem - Mazda GT
2.  1:28.591 - 98 - James Wagaman - Mazda GT
3.  1:31.512 - 32 - Team Cashin In - Vette
4.  1:33.099 - 415 - Ed Nazarian - Evo 9

Thanks again to my sponsors for their continued support:

- RRE
- Robispec
- Girodisc
- South Coast Mitsubishi
- I’d also like to thank Honda Robert, Mike Welch, Robi, Sean Bradley, and Mark for their help on Sat/Sun.

I also want to congratulate my friend Mark for getting 2nd place both days in HCH4.  Not only was it Marks first time racing in HC, but it was also his first time driving a HC racecar.  Pretty impressive if you ask me.  Congrats Mark!

About 2 months ago Jathnael “Jay” Taylor, from the Speed Zoku, linked an article of mine on his website. I want to thank Jay for posting this. I didn’t know anything about it so it was a nice surprise. It’s the first time someone has mentioned me, and linked an article of mine:

- From a Super Touring Driver..
- Ed’s Evo

My 2009 race season as a rookie racer is over. It has been an amazing year. I don’t know how I can articulate how amazing it has been to start racing this year. So much has happened from the end of the 2008 season to now. I went from competing in NASA’s Time Trial series, to racing in Super Touring. I’m an example of NASA’s ladder system. I didn’t start in HPDE 1 with NASA, but either way I made my way up the ladder system from HPDE, to time trialing, and now racing. Typing about this now is probably the first time I’ve sat down to think about it all.

The transition into racing, besides all the thrills, has been stressful. Compared to what I go through now, it used to be a walk in the park when I used to get ready for time trial events. Now, the development and preparation is endless. We usually have about 1 month between our regional races, but that 1 month never seems to be enough. The days seem like hours, and the weeks seem like days. I just never feel like I have enough time to rest and get ready.

Having started racing this year has been a great journey. There have been several major unexpected highs, and a ton of challenges stacked with more challenges. I’ve learned a great deal about myself, my friends, my sponsors, and about racecraft. On top of all that, I finished all 6 of my regional races without any incidents. I successfully completed my provisional racing license, and before leaving for Nationals I received my official racing license. Also, on top of being the 1st from Socal racing an Evo in Super Touring, I’m also the 1st to race an Evo at Miller Motorsports Park (MMP) for NASA’s National Championship. Here is everything I accomplished this year:

Details: 2009 Results

* Total of 8 Super Touring ST2 races
* 2 Super Touring ST2 National Championship races
* 6 Super Touring ST2 Socal Regional races
* 6 podiums in a row
* 4 wins in a row
* (2) 2nd place
* Winner of hard-charger award
* (1) Pole position
* All the while as a rookie racer

I had a very successful year of racing this year (which was totally unexpected), but I know that it’s only going to get more challenging from here on out. I have learned that racing, compared to HPDE and Time Trialing, is on a completely different level. I knew that prior to starting racing this year, but I now have that experience. Racing, in one sense, is a major battle of attrition. Parts are going to wear out more quickly, there is going to be contact, and there is nothing you can do but hang on and try to deal with everything accordingly. And the only reason why I was able to hang on so that I could persevere through the challenges and achieve those accomplishments was because of my sponsors and friends. Thank you to all of you for your support:

- RRE
- Robispec
- Girodisc
- SCM
- ACT
- Island tire
- Last, and definitely not least, my crew, my friends, Robert Ramirez (a.k.a. Honda Robert), Sean Bradley, and Mark Homer.

As for the 2009 Socal NASA Championship, I don’t know what place I took overall because the final season points have not been assessed yet. When that happens I will note it accordingly. I know I didn’t win it because I missed too many races. But for what it’s worth, I was in 1st place after my first 6 races with a total of 580 points. The 2nd place driver was very close behind me with 565 points. Unfortunately, after getting hit at Nationals, I was not able to repair my car to participate in our last 4 races (Oct/Nov). That incident cost me a podium finish for the season. Even though I didn’t have enough points to win the Socal Championship, if I had been able to race in October and November I would have had a chance at a podium, and possibly 2nd place overall. But that’s racing. The 2009 season is over, but the 2010 season is right around the corner. In less than 3 months we are back at Big Willow to start the 2010 race season. I must say that it all went by really fast.

The 2009 NASA National Championship was September 10-13 at Miller Motorsports Park (MMP), in Utah. It was a week packed with challenges stacked with more challenges. We endured a great deal of hard work and perseverance. I realized for the first time how much my real sponsors care. They are the reason why we were able to get things done.

(Getting ready)

About a month or two before Nationals, we started preparing my car at RRE. My cars home away from home is at RRE, so we have spent tons of time there working on lots of different things. There are a few things we upgraded on my car before I went: brake duct kit, fuel surge tank, and a turbo kit. RRE reached out to AMS who set me up with their fuel surge tank. Thank you AMS! RRE then set me up with an AMS brake duct kit that they found locally for me. And the biggest one of all, RRE totally hooked me up with their GT3076 turbo kit.

RRE is a primary example of what a sponsor is all about. If it wasn’t for Mike, I don’t see how I would be able to race. Mike is not only a veteran, but he is a genuinely nice and caring guy. More than anything I consider Mike and everyone at RRE my friends. Everything I say about them I say from the bottom of my heart. And I say it not because I have to, but because I want to.

RRE is there to help me progress. Their support is tremendous. And most importantly, they help me out because they want to. I don’t have to beg and plea with them to get them to help out. They have families, and a personal life outside of all this, but they somehow make the time to help me out. You have no idea how many nights and days, including weekends, they have spent with me, and my car. There is no way I can articulate how amazing RRE has been for my racing program. On top of all that, Robert Ramirez (a.k.a. Honda Robert) made arrangements to come up to Miller for the entire week to crew for me. Honda worked extremely hard all week. He was the brains and muscle at Miller. I’m not sure how I would have been able to get through the challenges we encountered if he wasn’t there.

Before we left, there was a great deal of time spent on lots of little things. Beyond all that, since my wheel bearings hadn’t been replaced in about a year, I figured it would be best if we replaced all 4 to be safe. So I made a call to South Coast Mitsubishi, and they sponsored me with 4 new wheel bearings. SCM’s support doesn’t end there for my National Championship trip. All those details will be noted later in this thread accordingly. But to keep things relatively short for now, I want to say a big thank you to South Coast Mitsubishi for sponsoring me with some more vital parts. Those parts were the only reason why we were able to continue at Nationals. We encountered some braking issues, and SCM shipped me a master cylinder and 4 OEM calipers overnight. Something had malfunctioned and our only solution was to replace those parts. I don’t have a spare for every single part, so we had to find those parts somehow. I called South Coast Mitsubishi and within a few hours they shipped me those parts overnight. Thank you so much!

At this time I also want to say a thank you to my newest sponsor, Robispec. Robi has joined the team and is now doing my suspension tuning. Robi is one busy guy, but he sure is enthusiastic. Even though he had his hands full, and given the limited amount of time he had to help me prepare for Nationals, he stepped up to the plate with open arms. We are taking baby steps, but what we are doing is for the better. Robi did quite a bit of work on my car before Nationals. Even though we are starting from scratch and have a great deal of work ahead of us, I’m happy for the first time with that regard. Robi has a great deal to offer, and just like RRE, I don’t have to beg and plea with him to get him to help me out. He is forthcoming with ideas, and all he does is try to help me progress. Before we left for Nationals, he even made arrangements so that we can do a test day at Big Willow. Totally last minute, but he made it happen. All I had to do was show up and drive, that’s it.

( Tuesday, September 8 )

We arrived at the track late Monday night. Honda was already there and ready to go. MMP offered a separate test day on Tuesday, but it was a bit too expensive for me, so I opted to skip the Tuesday test day. Instead, I used Tuesday to unpack everything and get situated. Spent most of Tuesday just getting situated, learning the facility, and meeting some people. I must say that Miller has a really nice facility.

( Wednesday, September 9 )

The NASA test day was on Wednesday, so I couldn’t wait to get out on track and learn MMP. I realized for the first time on Wednesday that MMP is much harder on brakes than I had estimated. My brake pedal didn’t feel normal, and it gradually got worse as the day progressed. Something didn’t feel normal, but I wasn’t sure what to think. I also noticed right away that my peak boost was down a good 2psi due to the altitude. Prior to going, from what I had gathered I was supposed to lose around 2psi of boost, but either way it was interesting to actually see it happen.

As for the track, other than the front straight, it really doesn’t have any other sections that are extremely high speed. Coming off the front straight, T1-4 are the last set of corners that are relatively high speed. The rest of the track involves short straights that are coupled with low-mid speed corners. It’s a great deal more technical than I had anticipated. It’s a very deceptive track. Overall it’s a flat track, but it does have some elevation changes. And there really aren’t any major reference points, so it took me a few laps during the first session to remember where I was. I found myself braking a few times where I needed to be on the gas. Overall, I was captivated by its challenges, and couldn’t wait to get back out every session.

Before I get into the results, I want quickly explain how Nationals works. During Nationals we have 3 days of racing. Our group was group D, which comprised of Super Unlimited, Super Touring 1, Super Touring 2, American Stock Car, and Performance Touring A cars. Our races were scheduled on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. On Thursday and Friday we had a Practice session, followed with a Qualifying session, and then a Qualifying race on each day. When a race is finished, you get points according to how you finished, 100 for 1st, and so forth. NASA then adds your points from both races, which then determines what your grid position will be for the National Championship race on Sunday.

( Thursday, September 10 )

Practice Session:
Since my first race was scheduled on Thursday, Honda and I bled my brakes on Wednesday night. My brake pedal felt ok, but it never felt normal. I was confused, so I didn’t know what to think. I thought that maybe it was just me, but my gut feeling was that something was not right. We ran our Practice session and then our Qualifying session.

Qualifying Session:
Since something didn’t feel right with my brakes, I didn’t focus on laying down fast laps. I stuck to my routine and worked on different scenarios. During our Qualifying session I qualified 7th out of 9 cars with a 2:09.080. Here are the results from our Qualifying session:

1 - 2:06.164 - Jon Van Caneghem - Mazda GT
2 - 2:06.653 - James Wagaman - Mazda GT
3 - 2:06.770 - Ron Farmer - Corvette Z06
4 - 2:06.817 - Bobby Fischer - Cadillac CTS-V
5 - 2:07.293 - J.R. Smith - Corvette Z06
6 - 2:08.157 - Kenneth Smith - Corvette Z06
7 - 2:09.080 - Ed Nazarian - Mitsubishi Evo 9
8 - 2:12.839 - Tom Dragoun - Mazda GT
9 - –:–:–.— - Scott Howard - Mazda RX7

Qualifying Race:
Since something didn’t feel right with my brakes, my plan for the Qualifying Race was to just get out there and feel things out. However, the challenges were endless, and they began to unfold from the beginning of the race. While parked at the grid, some car in the front of the pack was having problems. Some cars were let out, then the rest of us were held up. A bunch were let out again, then when I approached I was held up. By the time they let me out of grid my group was gone. At the time I didn’t know how far ahead they were, but I never imagined what was about to happen.

I worked on getting my tires up to temp, but I knew I had to catch the field so I tried to drive around during that warm-up lap a little more quickly. By the time I hit T13 I realized it was too late. My group was in formation and was waiting to take the green flag. By the time I hit the front straight the green flag had already dropped and my group was entering T1. I couldn’t believe it. At that point I figured my 1st race was done. Fortunately, my group got a little bunched up and I was able to catch the back of the pack by the 2nd lap. I made a few moves the next few laps and I progressed from 7th to 4th place. My brakes were not feeling right and I could feel my brake pedal deteriorating. Two of my competitors were on my tail and I tried my best to hold my position. Unfortunately, my brakes did not hold up. With about 3 laps to go my brake pedal got extremely soft. I further extended my braking zones, and started pumping my brake pedal. Then my brake pedal dropped to the floor with 1 lap to go. I started pumping my brake pedal urgently but there wasn’t much of a response. There were only a few corners left before the race ended, but I had no other choice but to let my 2 competitors by. With a few corners left I lost my 4th place position, and fell back to 6th. During the cool-down lap I had to use my e-brake a few times, but it didn’t help. My brake pedal was on the floor. I coasted around the track and carefully exited. Honda had to physically slow me down as I rolled into impound. The last few laps were very nerve wrecking because all I could think about was my brake pedal. And when the race was done I had to keep my distance from everyone and everything because I was afraid of simply rolling into someone or something. Here are the Qualifying Race results:

1 - 2:05.889 - Kenneth Smith - Covette Z06
2 - 2:06.280 - Bobby Fischer - Cadillac CTS-V
3 - 2:04.803 - Ron Farmer - Covette Z06
4 - 2:08.246 - Scott Howard - Mazda RX7
5 - 2:09.283 - Jon Van Caneghem - Mazda GT
6 - 2:09.286 - Ed Nazarian - Mitsubishi Evo 9
7 - 2:14.261 - J.R. Smith - Covette Z06
8 - 2:05.930 - James Wagaman - Mazda GT

After the race I still didn’t know what to think. My gut feeling was that something was not right with my brakes, but I thought that maybe it was just me. Maybe I was too hard on my brakes. But I have been much harder on my brakes before, namely my Socal Regional races at Buttonwillow in May. I had (2) 35min races that weekend against the Mazda GT’s. Both races were intense from start to finish. And each one was much longer than this Qualifying race. My brake pedal got soft during those 2 races also, but my pedal didn’t fall to the floor. And like I said, each of those races were much longer. As you can see, I was confused, and didn’t know what to think. Honda helped me and we went through a few bottles of brake fluid that night in preparation for Friday.

( Friday, September 11 )

Practice Session:
I was optimistic with my brakes because we had gone through a few bottles of brake fluid on Thursday after my race. My brake pedal was firm, and we figured there was simply lots of air in my system. But since my pedal was firm we thought everything was good to go. Friday morning I got suited for my practice session and got ready to go. I turned on my car and applied my brakes. My pedal went down half way and my heart stopped. I was really confused because my brake pedal was firm the previous night. I pumped my brake pedal and my pedal got firm, but then a few seconds later it would get soft again. I was stressing out. I couldn’t believe what was happening. I kept thinking…what am I supposed to do? What is going on? Why is this happening now? I decided to still go out for the Practice Session, but I was going to take it easy and feel things out. I did a lap or two very carefully, but I didn’t feel that it was safe for me to continue. I exited and Honda and I started discussing our options.

We figured that we needed to replace my master cylinder and my calipers. Problem was that I didn’t have an extra master cylinder, let alone extra calipers. We got on the phone and started making some calls. I called South Coast Mitsubishi, Girodisc, and some local Utah racers that I had met. After a bunch of back and forth phone calls, and a whole bunch of waiting and stressing out, SCM found me a master cylinder and calipers. They assured me everything was good to go and they were going to overnight me everything so I could have it all on Saturday. They had to overnight everything because it was Friday. Packages don’t arrive on Sundays, and since my National Championship race was on Sunday we had to receive everything by Saturday to get it all installed and ready to go. One of my local contacts called me back and said he found me some parts also. He knew Vesko Kozarov and Lara Tallman, who were the people that had campaigned an Evo 9 in SPEED World Challenge. I kept them as my backup for the just in case factor.

( Saturday, September 12 )

First thing I did Saturday morning was I went to shipping and receiving. I checked to see if my package had arrived, but they said no. I went back several times and the anticipation was killing me. As the hours progressed the anticipation evolved into more of an overwhelmingly stressful situation. I had this bad feeling that was brewing because everyone told me the package would arrive in the morning. I checked again around noon, and I noticed a few packages had arrived. But the MMP worker told me none of them were mine. He then said that if it hadn’t have arrived by then, maybe something was wrong. My heart dropped and I was stressing out tremendously. If I couldn’t get those parts, my trip to Nationals was pretty much done. I couldn’t sit around and wait any longer. I got in touch with the local MMP racers I had met and they put me in touch with Vesko. I called Vesko, and I was surprised that he made the time to actually help me out. He was in the midst of preparing for a Grand-AM race, but he took the time to find the parts I needed. I told him the situation about how my package hadn’t arrived yet, and he said he had the parts I needed ready to go. If my package didn’t arrive all I needed to do was to give him a call. Even though I didn’t have his parts in my possession, it was a relief to know he had something for me as a backup. Shortly after that I went back to shipping and receiving and to my surprise my package had finally arrived. There is no way for me to describe how relieved I was. A big thank you goes out to South Coast Mitsubishi for sponsoring me with those parts, and getting them to me overnight. Its times like that when you realize who really has your back.

I rushed back with the package and Honda got started. It was around 1pm, and we only had about 3 hours. I had 1 practice session on Saturday at 5pm, so our plan was to get the car ready so I could test it then. Honda took everything apart and worked like a mad man. I helped him as much as I could, but we couldn’t get it done in time for me to make the 5pm practice session. It was a really long stressful day, and Honda attacked it like a freight train.

Before leaving for MMP, since I didn’t have any extra brake pads, I called Martin at Girodisc to get some as backup. Martin shipped them to the track for me, and they arrived on Friday. It’s a good thing Martin set that up for me, because my pads were starting to wear a little thin. When I had Martin set me up with those pads my plan was to keep them as my backup set. Instead, we ended up installing the entire set on all 4 corners. Thank you Martin! Honda left with his ride and I finished everything up that night. Since I missed the Saturday practice session, I went for a little test drive on Saturday night when I finished. I figured if my braking issue was not resolved by then, there was nothing else left that we could do. Right away I knew my brakes were back to normal. I tested them out on some backroads and everything felt solid. But given what I had been through, I was going to wait to see how things would be the next day.

( Sunday, September 13 )

Practice Session:
There was a great deal of anticipation brewing. I got suited and got ready for my only practice session on Sunday. If my brakes didn’t work then, my trip was over because our National Championship race was a few short hours later. I got out there and gradually got up to speed. My brakes felt solid, but I couldn’t help to feel a little skeptical. I gradually pushed it more and more, and everything felt fine. At that point I knew everything was finally working again.

The weather forecast indicated that it might rain on Sunday, and it did. It periodically rained. Honda helped me bleed my brakes one last time. Then at some point it started getting extremely windy. For a second I remembered the 2008 Nationals. Last year at Mid-O, during the last day at Nationals we got hit with remnants of Hurricane Ike which pretty much obliterated the entire Mid-O facility. So when it started getting extremely windy at MMP, all I remembered was 2008 Nationals. As if our challenges were not enough, this out of control wind came flying in, the irony. I was in the midst of changing my engine oil, and it was quite the challenge. We surrounded the front of my car with all sorts of contraptions to block the wind. Otherwise my engine oil was going to splatter all over the place as it drained. That ended up taking a lot longer than I had anticipated. A great deal of my time was lost accordingly. Next thing I knew I was about 45min away from my National Championship race. Honda unfortunately had to leave because of his ride, so I was rushing desperately. I had to finish that up, get my wheels/tires mounted, fueled up, and wrap up everything in between. By the time I got suited and strapped in I could see my group getting situated at the grid. I was in a mad rush. I drove over to the grid, and as I pulled into my spot they called 1min. I had a few seconds to compose myself and the next thing I knew they were signaling us out on track.

National Championship Race:
Our National Championship race is 45min long. All my races thus far have been 35min long, so my overall plan was to take my time. Since I had missed our Qualifying Race on Friday, I had the least amount of points in my class. Therefore, I was grid up in last place in our group, which was comprised of Super Unlimited, Super Touring 1 and Super Touring 2 cars. We were one of the groups that had a special internet broadcast deal with SpeedCastTV, so we had the 1st rolling start, and we were lined up as one entire group. I was in no hurry to challenge my competitors, so I was not going to make any aggressive passes yet. I kept telling myself that it was a long race, and that I was going to stay away from everyone. If someone was going to pass me I was going to let them by with ease. We did our warm-up lap and I couldn’t wait any longer. As we went through the last set of corners I remember thinking that I couldn’t believe we had made it through all those challenges. It had been one hell of a journey, and there is no way I can explain how significant of a trip it had been. We turned onto the front straight in formation and moments later the green flag dropped. However, like I said in the very beginning, “it was a week packed with challenges stacked with more challenges. A great deal of hard work and perseverance.” Little did I know then that my challenges were not over just yet.

After the green flag dropped everyone took off down the front straight. Some people were pretty settled while others were weaving around looking for holes. I stuck to my plan and passed a few cars down the front straight because they were low risk maneuvers. We were a long train of Super Unlimited and Super Touring cars all bunched together. I was towards the back, but had already moved up 2-3 spots in my class. I had 2 Mazda GT’s on my tail and was in no big hurry to maintain my position. We approached T5, and I noticed they took the inside line. I backed off, gave them plenty of room, allowed them to pass me, and tucked in right behind them.

During that 1st lap there was an incident, and as we turned onto the front straight a double-yellow was presented at start/finish. Everyone backed off, but one of the Mazda GT drivers didn’t see the double-yellow and went flying by the entire field. It was pretty funny. The pace car came out eventually and collected the field. We did that 1 lap under the pace car, then as we came around onto the front straight the pace car exited, and the green flag dropped restarting the race. I had another low risk pass on the Mazda GT down the front straight, so I took it. He trailed me through the next few corners and we approached T5. I maintained the outside line and as I turned in I noticed that he moved over and tried to tuck in on the inside of me again. Something inside me told me to give him more room this time. So instead of turning in even more, I moved over far right to give him all the room he needed. I remember glancing over and thinking there was enough room next to me to stick another car there. The next thing I know he comes crashing into me sending me off track. I was shocked. I couldn’t believe that he came crashing into me. There was tons of room next to me. I just couldn’t believe it. I was a little dazed. I waited for some cars to pass, and when the coast was clear I got back on track. Right away I realized something was wrong. My car was limping around, and as soon as that happened I realized that my National Championship race was over. I was devastated. I just couldn’t believe what had happened. I knew of the driver who had hit me because he is a Socal racer. And I know he is a veteran racer, so on top of that I was shocked that out of all the people he was the one who hit me. I limped around the last few corners, pulled into impound, and that was that. We both filled out incident reports. NASA officials looked at our forms, checked out our cars, and asked some questions. They finally came over and told me that he was DQ’d and I was free to go.

I eventually made my way back to my spot and started packing up. He came over later on and I could tell he felt horrible about the situation. He apologized and admitted that it was his fault. He admitted that he came in too hot. He also acknowledged that he saw me move over far right to give him more room. I was thankful that he apologized and that he admitted that it was his fault. Either way I was devastated. I couldn’t believe that after all the hard work Honda and I had put in that week, it all came to a crashing end on the 1st lap of the restart. I’m a rookie racer, so my experience with such matters is just beginning. Either way, I have never endured as many challenges and hardships at any event. Honda and I worked really hard all week. I came back without any trophies/rewards, but the experience I gained in result of how we persevered is priceless. There really is no way I can explain how significant of a trip it was. And I owe that all to my sponsors, and my crew, Honda Robert.

The ironic part of that race was that I ended up getting 4th place. As the week progressed we lost 2-3 ST2 cars. In the final race 7 of us started the race, but only 3 finished. The driver who hit me was DQ’d, so he took last place. And the other 2 had issues and did less laps than me. Even though I was hit, which ended my race, I had done more laps than them so I ended up with 4th place.

On a side note, it seemed like quite a few people had issues also. Namely, some of the Socal guys I know. Terry Free was having issues all week also. He first went into the wall at the exit of T6. I was behind him when that happened. He almost had it, but his rear end stepped out way too much and into the wall he went. They repaired his damage and he was back out. Then he had clutch issues which apparently never got resolved. To top it all off his engine blew again. Terry has had quite a few engine issues, so it was sad to hear his trip ended in that fashion. Beyond Terry, my friend Scott Howard was battling issues also. Scott is a fellow Super Touring 2 racer who races a 1985 RX7. I don’t recall his issues in detail, but I think he was having electrical issues at the end. His troubles ended up preventing him from racing in the National Championship race. I’m confident that if he was able to race, he was in a position to win it. He was down on power, but regardless of his issues, he ran a pretty fast time in one of the practice sessions, a 2:04xxx. The really sad part is that he didn’t get to race during the 2008 Nationals either. He blew his engine last year on the first day. Its 2 years in a row now that he has gone to Nationals, but hasn’t been able to race. I know that once he gets his car sorted, he will be one of the fastest guys in Super Touring 2.

As you all can see, the only reason I am able to race is because of my sponsors. And the only reason we were in a position to persevere at Nationals was because of them. Without them I would not be able to do any of this. So a big thank you to all of them:

- RRE
- Robispec
- Girodisc
- SCM
- ACT
- Island tire
- And all my friends

Beyond them I also want to thank my crew, RRE veteran, Robert Ramirez (a.k.a. Honda Robert). Honda was the brains and muscle at MMP. We had so many challenges thrown at us all week, and Honda literally attacked them all like a freight train. If he hadn’t have come, I don’t know how I would have been able to progress, let alone make it through the entire week. You are one of the people I trust and know that I can count on. Thank you for everything!

(In-car footage)

Here is my in-car footage from the 1st Qualifying race. I’ve adjusted the position of my camera, so you should notice that the footage is much better now:

My 1st Qualifying Race

Here is in-car footage of the National Championship race from another driver. For whatever reason, my camera malfunctioned so I don’t have any in-car footage from this race. This car is in Super Touring 1. You will see me in the picture from around the 40sec marker. I get hit a bit after the 7min marker in T5:

In-car footage of me getting hit

Ever since the NASA National Championship started in 2006, Nationals has been at Mid-O for 3 years now, 2006-2008. I was fortunate to go last year (2008), and it was an amazing trip from Socal to Mid-O and back. More than anything, I feel lucky I was able to go last year because this year is the 1st year that Nationals will be at Miller Motorsports Park (MMP) in Utah. When we were at Mid-O last year, NASA made an announcement during the dinner banquet that Nationals is going to alternate every 2 years between Mid-O and MMP. So for 2009-2010 we would be at MMP, then back to Mid-O for another 2 years, and so forth.

It has almost been a year now, and the 2009 National Championship at MMP is right around the corner (Sep 10-13). Last year at Nationals I was competing in NASA’s Time Trial series in TTA. This year I started racing in Super Touring. The transition from NASA’s Time Trial series into NASA’s Racing series with Super Touring has been amazing to say the least.

Judging by the current Super Touring entry list, I’m going to be the only Evo racing in Super Touring at Nationals this year. I have seen 1-2 Evos signed up for Time Trial (Ryan Upham in TTS), but I haven’t seen any Evos listed in any of the race groups. So unless there is some last minute entry (Dave Fazzino, ST2 Evo from the East coast), not only am I going to be the only Evo, I’m also going to be the 1st Evo racing at MMP for NASA’s National Championship. I’m leaving soon, so the anticipation is killing me.

We have been really busy preparing my car at RRE the last few weeks for Nationals. I can’t even begin to explain how amazing RRE has been for my 2009 race season, let alone how hard they have worked to help me prepare for Nationals. Lots of things to check and address. Coupled with that we made some changes recently for the better. Too many things to note so I will not get into those details at this juncture. I will address everything in my post-Nationals race thread when I get back.

Good thing is my car will be raced rigorously at Nationals. Because other than our Practice and Qualifying sessions, I will have 2 Qualifying races, and our 45 min National Championship race. If I can make it through the entire weekend, that will quantify a strenuous amount of racing.

If everything works out beyond that, after Nationals we will be back to close out our 2009 season with our last 4 Socal regional races at BRP (Oct and Nov). Now I just need to make it out to Nationals and hope everything works out. If any of you want to see Nationals, don’t be shy, come on out and show us some love. Besides, I can sure use all the help I can get. Here is my schedule for Nationals. I’ve excluded my Practice and Qualifying sessions, so this is just a schedule of my races:

Thurs, Sep 10: Qualifying Race
Fri, Sep 11: Qualifying Race
Sun, Sep 13: National Championship Race (45 min)

Some of the races will be shown live on the internet at SpeedCastTV. I don’t know the details but from what I was told the Super Touring race is one of the ones that will be shown. If you are interested, go to that link to find out how.

In case I don’t make it back alive, I need to say a quick thank you for now to my sponsors and friends who helped me get ready for Nationals:

- RRE
- Girodisc
- SCM
- ACT
- Island Tire
- And all my friends

I will be skipping my 2 races from this upcoming event to save that money towards our National Championship trip, which is coming up in September. This ACS event is a 3-day event. Friday is a Test/Tune day for the racers. HPDE will also be available for everyone else. Saturday and Sunday will be the regular schedule consisting of HPDE 1-4, TT, and the Race groups. I will most probably go to this event to help out by instructing.

Due to low funds, I am skipping these 2 Buttonwillow races. However, I am going to stay involved by going out there and instructing.

I was at Big Willow on May 23-24 racing in Super Touring. Its been a long while since I’ve competed on that track. The last time I competed there was May 24-25 2008, and that was when I was competing in NASA’s Time Trial series in TTA. That was also when I first encountered problems with my brakes, which later on I found out was due to my calipers (that were so generously replaced afterwards by SCM). Big Willow is probably my favorite Socal racetrack, so I have been dying to race on it.

So it has been over a year since I competed at Big Willow. On top of that, since I was having braking problems during our May 2008 event I was never comfortable/confident with my car to drive it at speed as I typically would. So the last time I competed at Big Willow and was able to drive the track at speed without any issues was during our February 2008 event when I was running in TTA. Basically, its been a long while, so you can imagine how much I have been anticipating this event.

Well, it must be some sort of major coincidence, because I was having issues at Big Willow again for the same May event. This time around it wasn’t my calipers, it was my alignment. However, John from Muellerized is working with us to better develop my car from one race to the next. While at Big Willow we kept in touch with John quite a bit, and he helped as much as he could to assist us in adjusting my rebound/compression to amend the setup to suit me better. That coupled with adjusting my tire pressures helped, but in the end the car was going to handle how the alignment was setup. Since I have never done my own alignments, I didn’t want to risk making adjustments on my own. Besides, I wanted to race the car I had qualified with because I didn’t want to make alignment changes and go into my race not knowing how the car was going to handle.

Sponsors and Supporters:
Before I proceed with the results of my 2 races at Big Willow, I want to say a big thanks to the people who made that weekend possible. Without their support I would not be able to do all this:

- Mike/RRE - Mike and everyone at RRE are the best. We are gradually making changes to my car, and this time around we changed the OEM oil pan for a Moroso oil pan through AMS. And since my video camera has been giving me issues lately, Mike hooked me up with 2 GoPro HERO cameras to try. That’s right, I finally have some in-car to show!
- John/Muellerized - For keeping in touch with me all weekend through many phone calls to help adjust my setup, despite the fact that it was Memorial day weekend.
- Rigo and the powers at SCM - For replacing my front OEM calipers again. These guys are great.
- Martin/Girodisc - For hooking me up with new replacement rotors and pads. Thank you Martin.
- My track friends for helping out all weekend - Sean Bradley, Mark Homer, Rob Burgoon, and Honda Robert (even though I told him to stay home and rest, he still showed up on Sunday). Thanks also to Scott Pennock and Scott Howard for helping out with pictures.
- To all the spectators who came over Sat/Sun for moral support to see how I was doing. I really appreciate that.

Previous lap times:
In the meantime I also want to cover what sort of times I have ran in the past at Big Willow with my previous setups to illustrate how my car has progressed:

February 9, 2008 = 1:35.498
- Competing in TTA
- OEM suspension, 255/40/17 RA1s, 91oct map, 21psi boost making roughly 315whp

May 25, 2008 = 1:33.162 (with severe braking issues)
- Competing in TTA
- Muellerized JICs, 275/35/18 Hankook C71s, 23psi boost making roughly 340whp

Moving onto my results from Saturday and Sunday. Since Big Willow is probably my favorite Socal racetrack, given how long its been since I have competed on it without issues (over a year), it would be a major understatement if I said I have been anticipating these 2 races for a long time. And to add icing on the cake, my competition was there, the Mazda GT race cars. Since my 2 previous races against them at BRP were so close, I couldn’t wait to see how I would do against them at Big Willow.

Saturday
It was hot and windy. High 80’s, to low 90’s. It wasn’t ridiculously hot like how it gets in the summer, but it was hot enough. Our race was after 2:30, basically when the sun is beating down on us the most. And the wind was strong enough that you could feel it through the transition of T8-9. The wind was also a factor down the front straight being head strong, which slowed me down quite a bit. And since my alignment had made my car out of my control, it was a recipe for failure. Given the weather, and since I hadn’t competed on Big Willow in over a year, I decided to turn my boost down. My boost ended up peaking at 21.6psi. I’m really not sure how much power that entails, but if I had to guess I would say somewhere around 320-330whp. I got out there for our qualifying session, and right off the bat I realized that I couldn’t control my car. I was not comfortable, and I had no confidence in my car. My qualifying time was really bad.

After qualifying I thought to myself that I could swear I saw more Mazda GTs out there than what was listed for our qualifying session. I then found out that 3 of them are running in a new class called STR. That class was just created this year for tube-frame cars. Since tube-frame cars get hit with a specific modification factor for being a tube-frame chassis, they created a new class for them where they don’t have to take that modification factor. Essentially, they can be a little faster now since they’re no longer going to get hit with that modification factor. And 3 of them had decided to run in that class to get credit towards qualifying for Nationals. They ended up racing with us in our rolling start, but they got classed separately at the end of the race. On a separate note, there was a Vette racing with us in ST2. He didn’t finish the race on Sat, and I think he missed the Sunday race due to a mechanical.

Moving on with what happened after qualifying. Since that was the first time I realized my car was out of my control, I got on the phone with John to try to figure out what I can do to change things. I made some changes to my rebound, compression, and tire pressures and crossed my fingers.

During the race the car didn’t handle any differently, but with the adjustments I had made it was a bit better settled through T8. I definitely was not comfortable/confident with my car in my race. And anyone who knows anything about racing knows that being comfortable/confident with your racecar is paramount. I don’t know how I did it, but I somehow went from nearly last place in my class, all the way to 1st place. I also totally missed the green flag for our rolling start. They dropped the flag really early, pretty much after the exit of T9. It would have been fun if I had seen it. It took me 3-4 seconds to realize they dropped the green flag. I pretty much sat there while everyone took off.

I worked so hard to get to the front. I had to pass a car, or several cars, almost every single lap. It took me 11 laps to get into 1st place. I then set my fastest lap in lap 12. I was in the lead from lap 11-13 and I gradually increased the gap between me and the 2nd place driver, Josh Carroll. Given how close both my races were against Josh at BRP, I wanted to continue pushing it to increase the gap between us as much as I could. Then on lap 14 I had an off that pretty much ruined me. The last time I have had an off was around Oct/Nov of 2007 while running in TTA. At the time it was raining during that event, and I didn’t have the proper rain tires. So basically, its been a very long time since I have had an off.

Here is what happened. I was approaching T8. In the distance, pretty far away, I saw a RX8. Given how far ahead of me he was, I had planned to pass him down the front straight. Then all of a sudden it felt to me that he was coming to a stop toward the entry of T9 because he went from being really far away, to all of a sudden being right in front of me. I got on my brakes and downshifted quickly. My car got a little out of control, and I ended up putting my 2 left tires off. I tried my best to control my car. I ended up going from putting 2-off, to having 3-off. The only tire that was still on track was my RF (right-front). I thought I caught it momentarily, but then it felt like I was going to drive straight across into the infield. I couldn’t control it, and overcorrected to avoid driving into the infield (because the infield is where all the danger is at), and ended up going off on the outside of T9.

I’m convinced that I saved myself from a near roll-over from my Saturday race. The reason why I’m convinced that I saved myself is that I kept my foot in it, i.e. I kept my foot on the throttle. When you watch my in-car footage, you can see it as soon as I put 2-off. You should notice that as soon as I put 2-off I got right back on the throttle. I then ended up going from putting 2-off, to having 3-off. The only tire that was still on track was my RF (right-front). Had I have panicked and lifted or gotten on the brakes, given the position my car was in, all that weight would have transferred to the front and my rear end would have stepped out even further in the dirt. And since I was carrying roughly 100mph through that section, going off sideways and lifting or getting on the brakes would have caused my car to roll-over instantaneously. Therefore, by keeping my foot on the throttle I prevented my rear end from further stepping out at around 100mph, and saved myself from a near roll-over. If you watch the part where I went completely off (not when I first put 2-off), at first it appears I went off pretty sideways. With further review, you should notice that I actually went off pretty straight

To my surprise nothing happened, because I thought I was going to roll, and my car ended up stopping pretty quickly. I was probably no more than 30 ft off track. My car felt ok, and I knew I had lost the race, but I drove back on track to continue the race. I was devastated, but I was determined to finish the race. I then quickly realized something was not right because my car couldn’t drive all that well in a straight line. I came into the pits and luckily Sean was standing around. Sean and Karen Salvaggio quickly checked my wheels/tires, and told me everything looked fine. So maybe my tires had picked up a bunch of debris. I saw the white flag drop, and something inside me told me to finish the race. I figured I was in last place at that point but I still wanted to finish the race.

After the race when I checked our results, it turned out I got 2nd place. 2 drivers didn’t finish the race (the Vette and 1 Mazda GT), and the 2 other Mazda GTs had fallen 3-4 laps behind me. So if I had stayed in the pits longer and if I had decided to not finish the race, those other 2 Mazda GTs would have passed me and I would have gotten 4th place. By getting back out there and finishing the race I ended up in 2nd place.

Im really embarrassed by my times, but given what I went through, I cant believe I ended up in 2nd place on Saturday and Sunday. It sure is depressing to think about how hard I worked on Saturday to go from nearly last place to 1st place in 11 laps, given how my car was handling, to then lose it with 3 laps to go. However, im really happy with how I persevered. In actuality, I credit that to my friends, because without their support, I would not have been able to pull through. Not only were they hands on, they also provided tons of moral support. Looking back on that, I realize more now how vital their overall support was. Thanks a bunch guys!

So, despite the issues I was having, I fought through it on Saturday and went from nearly last place to 1st place in 11 laps. Set my fastest lap in lap #12. Had an off in lap #14 that I was certain ended my race. Since my car seemed ok I decided to finish the race. And to my surprise I ended up getting 2nd place. I lost the race that I should have won, but I felt like I won. On Sunday I dialed things back a bunch. I really had no other choice because I had no confidence in my car, and I was never comfortable especially considering my off from Saturday. I fought through it again and somehow managed to get 2nd place again on Sunday. I learned quiet a bit that weekend. More than anything, I credit my perseverance to the unconditional support of my friends. Sean, Rob, Mark, Honda, they really did a hell of a job helping me out.

Specs:
Here are a few specs of my car from Saturday and Sunday. I was able to get on the scales on Saturday, so I can calculate a more accurate w:p ratio (weight:power).

- 3210 lbs = CW (competition weight)
- 21.6 psi = Peak boost with my MBC
- 320-330 whp = How much power I’m estimating my car was making given my boost
- 10.33-10.03 = My adjusted w:p ratio given those numbers

So given my CW and those other figures, im estimating that I was underpowered for ST2 by a good 50-60 whp.

Saturday Super Touring 2 Qualifying times:
1. 35 - Josh Carroll - 1:31.875
2. 77 - Jonathan Greenfeld - 1:33.571
3. 98 - James Wagaman - 1:33.674
4. 06 - Bob Stebbins - 1:33.739
5. 415 - Ed Nazarian - 1:35.025
6. 34 - Dan Miller - 1:36.584

Saturday Super Touring 2 Race results:
1 35 Josh Carroll - 1:32.780
2 415 Ed Nazarian - 1:32.427 (in lap #12)
3 06 Bob Stebbins - 1:34.200
4 98 James Wagaman - 1:34.174
5 34 Dan Miller - 1:38.739
6 77 Jonathan Greenfeld - 1:34.109

Sunday
After Saturdays race a bunch of people came over periodically on Saturday and Sunday to see how I was doing. Everyone was supportive, really nice, and tried to boost my confidence. I had no idea so many people were actually following my battles the entire race. During the race I could see there were a lot of people watching, but I didn’t think they were following my battles. I was surprised by how many people that I had never met before who came up to me after the race. It was really nice to know so many spectators were watching my race closely. Everyone’s support helped me a bunch, but I couldn’t get over what had happened. I’m not sure if I will ever get over it mainly because how hard I worked given my issues. John was great over the phone and helped a great deal. After the race he offered that I trailer my car to them and he would adjust everything in time so that I could get back for my race on Sunday. I was exhausted, so Costa Mesa seemed like on the other side of the planet at the time. I decided to forgo that option and to see how the car was going to drive Sunday and to deal with it accordingly.

I got my tires flipped on Sunday. With Johns guidance we made a few more adjustments to my rebound, compression, and tire pressures. Given the circumstances, I decided to run the same amount of boost on Sunday. I got out there for qualifying and the car felt better than what it did after my off from Saturday, but overall it felt a bit worse than before my off. I suspect that was due to my off. But my tires felt much better, so that was probably just due to me picking up debris after my off. My qualifying time was a bit better than Saturdays qualifying time, but it was nothing close to what I knew I was capable of running. My boost ended up peaking at 21.6psi.

Even though I ran faster in qualifying on Sunday, my qualifying position didn’t change from Sat. Since the Vette wasn’t running with us on Sunday there were 5 of us, and given my time I was grid up in 4th. Given what I had been through, I had a really good race on Sunday. My confidence and my comfort with my car was shattered, but I fought through it. I went from 4th to 2nd within the first 2-3 laps. I was behind Josh for about 2 laps. I then got held up by a SRF through T8-9. Josh took off after that, and I never caught up to him again. Josh was about 2.5 seconds faster on Sunday, while I was about 1.664 seconds slower.

Since I’m on my OEM engine and OEM turbo, going into this event I really wanted to break into the 1:29s in my race by Sunday. Even though I was severely underpowered for ST2, I’m capable of doing it. Unfortunately, I found out on Saturday that was not going to happen. What I’m really frustrated over is that I will have to wait until 2010 to race at Big Willow again, because we don’t have any other races there this year. I suppose I will just have to deal with waiting until 2010.

Sunday Super Touring 2 Qualifying times:
1. 98 - James Wagaman - 1:32.233
2. 06 - Bob Stebbins - 1:32.495
3. 35 - Josh Carroll - 1:32.902
4. 415 - Ed Nazarian - 1:34.356
5. 34 - Dan Miller - 1:35.440

Sunday Super Touring 2 Race results:
1. 35 - Josh Carroll - 1:30.327
2. 415 - Ed Nazarian - 1:33.763 (in lap #3)
3. 98 - James Wagaman - 1:34.794
4. 06 - Bob Stebbins - 1:34.022
5. 34 - Dan Miller - 1:34.478

In-car footage from Saturdays race and Sundays race:
- Saturdays race

- Sundays race

Here is Josh’s in-car from Saturday. It took me 11 laps to pass Josh to take the lead. You can see me faintly in his mirrors from around 13:20. I gradually closed in on him, then I finally passed him at 16:00. You can then watch me as I try to increase the gap between us. I’m working pretty hard to lay down some fast laps safely. In the meantime I set my fastest lap in lap #12 with a 1:32.427. You then will see my off in lap #14, from 21:52-22:00 where I lit up a long trail of dust along the outside of T9:
- Josh’s in-car from Saturday