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
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