THSCC Forums

Since I could not attend this season's CMP event I'll have to experience
the event through the words of others. Is the new configuration what
we were all waiting for? Does the place finally have some sort of flow?
How the brake's holding up better (got to be a big improvement there)?
How did the event go in general?

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Mark Vitacco
THSCC TT Chairman
mvitacco@bellsouth.net

Depends. I'm still waiting for a Hampton Inn and an Outback Steakhouse to suddenly appear in Kershaw, and for the entire area to be lifted out of the SC sandhills and placed about 500 miles north where it's not eleventybillion degrees 10 months out of the year. So, no it's not exactly what I've been waiting for.


Yes.


Nope. Every bit as hard as it was before.

Unfortunately an impending wheel bearing failure put me out of the running on Sunday, but weather was good for the most part, I like a wet track cause it equalizes my miata and the high power cars. I liked the original track better, but thats just a personal preference. I believe the event went as all Tarheel events go, really well.
and as far as Matts desires go, the Hampton Inn I'm waiting for, the steak house however is in Camden and it's great (the Old Armory Steakhouse).
Five hundred miles closer would put it in Virginia somewhere, but two hundred fifty would be real good. I had a good time even if I'm a moving chicane.

Of course, I'm biased... something about CMP I just like.

I liked the old configuration, but I like the new one better. In terms of flow, it is Night and Day difference IMO. The lap FEELS 20-30 seconds quicker, even though it MIGHT only be 5-6 seconds tops for most people. Turn 14 is still a bitch, even though it IS 16' wider on the inside now... still haven't quite figured it out. I wish I had more time to sit in on class and discuss it with others.

It is still hard on brakes... potentially even a little harder than before just because entry speeds into T14 and T1 should be a little higher than they were due to config changes; and the added grip of new asphalt around most every other turn makes for higher speeds all over the track.

Tire wear however is MUCH improved if you ask me!

But the absolute BIGGEST improvement is with the track management. Attendees may not see it as much as we do, but CMP this weekend (and my AV event back in March) could not have been more accommodating and easy to work with. By FAR the most pleasant event we've run at ANY track. They didn't even charge us for the oil dry after CR's motor wet down Turn 8/9 (thanks for going offline CR!!!) NOR did they charge us for the three or four sprinkler heads we broke on the skid pad!! EDIT: which, BTW, they replaced IMMEDIATELY without any hassle!

Add to that the new timing tower/classroom (with some kick ass AC I might add), the day-garages, and the paved paddock roads and it's like they found a notepad with everything we've asked for since 1999 and did it all in one off-season.

We WILL Be going back to CMP ... possibly much sooner than later, please keep your eyes and ears peeled for news

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Stacy King
Midlife Crisis Participant

Great weekend! Considering the weather forecast, we dodged a bullet and had great weather.

The changes presented by the new CMP management last year were in place and very welcome. CMP is a much nicer place than it was when I went my first time 5 years ago and still noticeably improved from last year. New additions from last year were skid pad, garages, and T12-T14 reconfiguration. Those guys have not been idle and they are all about customer satisfaction.

Group sizes were quite small. I think Green had only 7 drivers. For me, Red was almost like a private track session with about 8 drivers.

I don't recall any offs that resulted in sheetmetal damage. We did have one motor let go and doused the track in oil at T8. However, it was close to lunch and only impacted White group, who was able to compensate by driving in other sessions.

I think most of the White group compensation was in the Red group. The denser afternoon fields were fun, because it presented more opportunity to drive off line and improvise.

I liked the new configuration - it flowed well and eliminated that bitch of a T13 brake zone. I actually really liked the track a lot after this weekend. Turns 12 & 14 were not as tight, but you still had to brake really hard for 14. I have only one negative comment regarding the track condition: it is too bumpy. Gawd it's rough out there. T5-T7 is a mosaic of different pavings and it's really rough tracking out of T7. Even the new configuration was quite bumpy through T13.

The track is still tough on equipment. I believe quite a few cars went home early due to mechanicals. I had good luck with my brakes this time - no Ferodos for me! Evin Levine was garaged next to me and he was changing a set of the 3000's out of his Bimmer on Saturday. It looked familiar as they were wore down to the backing plates. With the shorter straights it is VIR South course busy, but a lot longer. You're constantly working hard providing input to the car. I found it difficult to find a stretch where I could take a little mental break, relax and check my gages.

Thanks to Kyle Kimberly for helping with the banners and Brad Mackey for chauffeuring me between the track and hotel. A real big thanks to Rob Harvey for coming out for T&S support. Rob couldn't attend to drive because of a wedding he attended. Still, he found time to sneak down Sat and Sunday to bring/setup equipment and take it home.

Most especially I'd like to thank Brad for Sunday's TT. I found myself out of gas and Brad "loaned" me 3 gallons so I could run. I was in the front of the TT field and didn't have time to go to the gas station. Sunday's TT was great. With only 9 participants, everybody was a winner with a top 10 finish!

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“I feel safer on a racetrack than I do on Houston's freeways.” - A.J. Foyt

Kevin Butler
Mobetta Autosport Spec E30 #612
2003 C5 Z06 Corvette
AFR Miata, SM2 61, '93 w/200 SC'd RWHP - soon to be resurrected
Waaaay too many other projects....

This was my first time at CMP but I had a blast on the skid pad (hopefully it wasn't me who took out a sprinkler!) I cannot wait till next year when I will be out on the track with everyone else! Thanks to everyone who gave me a ride and encouraged me to get out there! I too would like to see it moved alittle closer and not out in the middle of no where!!!

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Malia Fredrickson
Clear Waters Travel
www.clearwaterstravel.com
919-656-8771

I think we had another spectacular event this past weekend. The incident sheet was one of the shortest I can remember, and we even had rain on Friday afternoon and early Saturday morning. The rest of the time was beautiful.

The new facilities are much better now. The new tower and classroom are first class, the day garages have plenty of space, and are useful. They provided a good and safe place to work with out the worry of shifting sand. The Skid pad was a blast, and unlike VIR’s, there was no worry of hitting anything hard.

The track itself does flow a lot better. I have to agree with Kevin’s assessment. The carousel and turn 13 are a lot bumpier and the patches and pavement changes are a challenge. If anything I think the track is even harder on brakes now. You are going much faster into 14 now, and somewhat faster into 1. One of the bright spots about 14 now is because the turn is deeper and smoother, the monster gators aren’t much as a worry as they use to be.

I did feel like I had to learn most of the track again, even though many of the sections hadn’t changed. The lead ins to the new sections and how the pavement is means different lines and approaches now.

In summary I had a great weekend, and I think many others did too. It was good to see many new people out there and a lot of interest from guest. Speaking of which, I think this event had more spectators than any other event we have had.

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Marty Howard
2011 NASA SE Factory Five Challenge Champion
Track Events Logistics Coordinator - TZC/THSCC
2007 Factory Five Challenge Car.
http://www.mh-motorsports.com

Here's a lap from Sunday morning I posted on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KynpPfR23CU

I wonder whether the net braking effect is really worse.

The braking at T12 is about half of what it was and T13 is totally eliminated. Sure you're hitting a higher speed on the approach to T14, but it's been significantly widened, so you don't need to slow down as much. I felt it was a lot like Oak Tree at VIR.

T1 definitely needed a little more braking, but not enough to outweigh the savings in T12 & T13.

Just my $.02 worth.

_________________
“I feel safer on a racetrack than I do on Houston's freeways.” - A.J. Foyt

Kevin Butler
Mobetta Autosport Spec E30 #612
2003 C5 Z06 Corvette
AFR Miata, SM2 61, '93 w/200 SC'd RWHP - soon to be resurrected
Waaaay too many other projects....

Sounds like everyone had fun. From the calls I received, there were a few mechanical issues (a motor, a boiled diff and a few brake pads) from the folks I know around the track.

As for the comments on going back to CMP sooner than later, please keep the masses informed so we can make plans.

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2003 Torch Red Corvette Z06 ST3/TT3 #01

Road Courses: Rock - VIR-F - VIR-N - VIR-S - VIR-P - VIR-G - RRR - CMP - Road Atlanta - CMS - NSS - NCCAR - Mid-Ohio - Watkins Glen
Drag Strips: Red River - Byron - Cordova - Route 66 - Raceway Park - zMAX

In a word, awesome.

This was event #2 for me, with #1 being at VIR, so I can't comment on the track changes. I can say, however, that the facilities were actually really nice, the A/C in the tower classroom was ICE cold, and the track only got better for me through the weekend as I learned it's subtleties.

I didn't notice bumps too bad except through 13, where early point-by's often had me foot to the floor entering 14, but bumps through that section (especially on the inside passing line) kept the car just unsettled enough to make it a bit unnerving having a car on the outside of the bend, forcing me to have to back-off a bit.

I will say that race pads absolutely ROCK, and despite having issues with pad bedding making a significant brake shudder in the front, it was nice to actually not have to stand on the brakes to make it do something.

I did, however, split a power steering line sometime before my second session Sunday causing my PS pump to start complaining, but big thanks to Vincent for loaning me his dremel and extension cord, and the gas station around the corner for carrying PS fluid, which got me back on track for most of my next session without issue. This was the third time having hose clamps in my toolbox actually saved the day, though a first on one of MY cars.

Big thanks to Brad, Stacy, and the rest of the track crew for a great weekend!

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Dustin Fredrickson
-- I'm a nobody --

It was my motor that blew at CMP. My car was checked out by a Subaru
dealer on Wed before the event. A clean bill of health was given. and I was
pumped for my second event. I had a super instructor(Mike Skeen of Speedvision fame) and was really hauling for my 1st session in green group
as I was first on grid and had clear track! I was just starting to see traffic on
lap six when I noticed I was down on power through the first few turns. I thought maybe my brakes were dragging, and checked the e-brake handle
(funny what goes through your mind at those times)and made it through
T5, shifted gears and poof!!! suddenly I was leaving a huge trail of pure white smoke, with some coming into the cabin. when I realized what happened, I pulled off line and headed for the grass and a barrier close to
a flag station. This is the worse feeling, a million thoughts go through your head, most ot which are like, Oh CRAP, I.m going to be the cause of this session being cut short (happened to me at VIR when some dude forgot to
put gas in his EVO). After what seemed like an eternity, I saw a tow truck
with what looked like a dozen bags of oil dry go past. This truck later came back and went by again with ANOTHER 12 bags or so and finally came back to tow me in. Well, at this point I was as low as I could be. Lets see...blown motor, 5 lap weekend.. 20 bags of oil dry at who knows
how much $$$$$ per bag....... Everyone could not have been nicer!!! I went to this event barely knowing anyone, and at gave everyone a good
reason to be pissed at the lone Subaru driver who got green group cut short and got an instructor session cancelled. (clean-up took a while).
I made it my goal to thank all CMP track workers at lunch for all the clean up and they were great. They just seemed to take it in stride. Thanks to
Steve Card and Ken Wood for helping load my wounded car!! You BMW guys were great to hang with! Thanks to Stacy for all his help. This was a
tough learning experience but I'll be back!!![/i]Robert Goodwin

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2008 Burnt Piston Award Winner!!!!

I think that was my favorite HPDE yet, I had a ball and love the track. The problem with my brother's white CRX turned out ot be a broken intake cam. No major damage, just some bent valves. The head's already shipped off to my head guy, so expect to see him out again soon.

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"Every ship is a minesweeper, once."

I don't think it's quite as hard on brakes for what you mention...you used to super heat them at the end of that back straight, then you had two more healthy presses pretty quick then another fairly quick one. No cool down time. Now you super heat them, but then you only have another mild press before a lot of time to cool them again.

The track is definitely easier on tires since much of the hard cornering and some of the braking is on the new pavement.


--Donnie

So did anyone get any pictures?

_________________
“I feel safer on a racetrack than I do on Houston's freeways.” - A.J. Foyt

Kevin Butler
Mobetta Autosport Spec E30 #612
2003 C5 Z06 Corvette
AFR Miata, SM2 61, '93 w/200 SC'd RWHP - soon to be resurrected
Waaaay too many other projects....

It's at best a wash. You remove a tap of the brakes at the old 13, but it's replaced with a good deal more speed to remove at turn 14 now. And since kinetic energy increases with the square of velocity...

You're just used to driving a slow-ass Miata, which is not abusive to brakes ever, unless your name is Kevin Butler.