I'll be interested to hear Adam's thoughts on SS at nationals, especially since it was such a wicked fast class and he co-drove with one of the best autocrossers of all time (Gary Thommason) in his GT3.
I had a much better drive on Day #2, but did not move up in the standings. After thinking about it...I just way underdrove the car on Day #1. I got a bit spooked after almost spinning the car a few times on Sunday's practice course and thus turned it down a notch - that turned out to be a mistake. Anyway, I drove really hard on Day #2 and was happy with my effort. I had a major mistake on each of my first two runs, which I feel easily cost me putting down the 3rd fastest time of the day and maybe even the second quickest. As it was, I was right in the mix and my times would have put me well into the trophies in AS and BS, so I can't complain too much. With such a fast class you have to drive the wheels off the car each day and hope that the runs are clean and free of any major goof ups.
A quick note about tire cooling....even though it was about 60 degrees with a lot of wind on Day #2, our tires overheated by 3rd runs. I had a feeling that I should spray them down, even though it was cool and windy, but failed to do so. Most everyone else slowed down on their 3rd runs as well, likely due to the same thing. It's almost impossible to get the tires too cool before a run on Hoosiers and Kumhos.
The Solstice is a really great car. I think, even if I had the two best drives of my life...while I could have got reasonably close there is no way I could have won the class. Someone like Tim Aro could have made up the difference, but he still would have had to be on his "A" Game.
I had a good chance to win the Pro Finale, as I was close to the leaders going into Sunday morning, but just drove poorly that day. Ironically, the best thing I've done all year was turn early and get setup well for all the key features...and that just did not happen on Sunday....I guess that's why I have a regular job and don't race cars for a living
Anyway, I did hang on to 4th place in the season points championship, so that was OK.
New Nationals Site at Heartland Park
Overall, I'm very pleased with the new site. While the off line grit was a pain at the Pro, it was much less of an issue as the week went on. Overall, the grip was good and it will just take everyone a while to recalibrate from concrete to asphalt. Ultimately, I think this change will help make the sport more affordable as folks don't have to drive all over the country trying to find good concrete to run on to prepare for Nationals. Plus, tire wear is much better on asphalt. Ironically, the surface at Sanford is close to the grip at HPT and thus makes for good practice for anyone wanting to get ready for a trip to Nationals. Danville is also close, but is not as gritty.
It was nice to have a large covered rest room facility/tech/impound area located right next to the coruse and grid. The site is also much more camping friendly than Forbes Field. Though, Donnie stayed on site and said the noise from the mid-week dirt track race was annoying. For those needing gargae space for working on your car or for vendors sales, they have bays for rent. While it's not perfect, it's a pretty decent setup that we are lucky to have access to.
Eric
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