THSCC Forums

Go Chris!!!

Those partial results are a killer tease for those of us stuck at work. Hopefully she can get one more great run in.

Assuming there aren't any major delays, Spratte should be in the middle of running right now. Go David!!!

I'm not sure when the other guys are running but hopefully we'll get an update soon.

Jim

Chris finished in 2nd and Donna in fifth. Carol Kolk beat Chris 2nd run time on her third run. Congratulations to Chris and Donna for their usual excellent driving.

It looks like Rick and I were typing at the same time. Thanks for the update.

Excellent job Chris!

Jim

David drops to ninth place, but still finishes in the trophies. Congratulations David.

Great job David! That is one tough crowd in GS. From the results, it looks like the super Minis held their own against the turbo Minis. I was talking with Rob Carpenter before I left and he mentioned that the winner, Ron Williams, has run the HPT solo pad *many* times this year (~9 times total perhaps). It looks like the home court advantage paid off. I think David was standing there during the conversation but I forget since I was totally slobber-knockered on Motrin.

Now comes the most important battle of the season-- the fight for X class supremacy and Top Gun world domination.

Jim

I thought it was whether the Nissan GT-R was faster than the Carrera GT

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02 Focus SVT
STF 9

Aaron and Bryan just finished up in 4th and 14th, respectively. Great job, guys!

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Keith Q.
2008 Top Gun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmX8XuZ_DCo&NR=1

Oh, that's easy. The CRX on 'Stones. Duh...

Jim

But only when you use your NAAAAWWWWWSSSS!!!

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02 Focus SVT
STF 9

Whew. What a day. I'm done.

What a day. Great running today. I was cautious my first run out. Those slaloms on really cold rear tires had about every other MINI spinning yesterday on the West course, I wanted a clean run off the bat. Didn't get it. Picked up a cone, but I kept most of the car behind me.

Then on the next two runs I overcooked in two different places. The sweeper the first time. And the final slalom. There's no margin in this crowd.

I want to put a big thanks out to the entire Tarheel club. The people in it now and the people before that have really made it the premiere club it is. I learned how to do this stuff with you guys.

Specifically, I want to shout out to my paddock crew, Jim, Aaron and Bryan. The weekend wouldn't have been the same without you guys. The 11venty million course walks, the help in grid form Aaron. Hats off.

Also, a thanks to Eric, Chris, Donnie and Jonathan Roberts. All you guys made it easier for a noob to have a decent showing at his first Nats.

Heading home via Chicago tomorrow.

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Not spectacular just decent.
I'm not sure what I'm driving.
Maybe an ITR in DS.
Or half-assed STX prepped 330.

I kind of wish I'd gone, but the vacation time ended up just not being there so it's just as well. 60 drivers in AS! IIRC S2000s in 1st, 3rd and 4th. Solstii, Corvettes, STIs in the mix too so that's pretty cool.

Next year for sure. I'll have time enough in the car by then to be "used to it" and hopefully I'll have the setup basically finished (still playing with shock settings). Maybe a fancy pants titanium exhaust by then too, who knows.

A huge congratulations to all the THSCC folks who went up and showed so well. Let's not forget Eric's strong finish in the Pro finale either! Buckley went and showed that the Crossfire can be a weapon in DS. Spratte held his own against the turbo Minis with a great drive. And Chris in 2nd! You go. That's huge!

Goes to show what a strong group of drivers we've got as "local clubs" go.

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Karl S.
2014 Baby, 2014 House, 2013 Ford Focus ST, 2013 BMW 328i, 1994 Mercedes E320
(Insert passive aggressive signature line here)

Nice to be back home, that's for sure. Eric and I pulled out of the site about 5pm CDT and got in about 6pm EDT yesterday.

Chris drove great and were it not for the GM driver's last run she would have won. I really think she out-drove her, but the Solstice is just plain faster on a transition intensive runway type course than the STi.

I got a rerun on my first run thanks to someone walking through a timer and them not noticing times were off for something like eight cars. It was the most egregious timing error I've ever seen at a Nationals and something I've never even seen Tarheel do. I mean cars went from getting times in the forties to times in the nineties and yet they kept sending car after car after car without fixing it.

I didn't make great use of the rerun getting a pretty crappy first "real" time. Did better in my next run, but was experimenting with shifting. Decided I didn't really care to put a great time in and wanted to play with shift points some more on my last run hoping to find something I could help Jonathan with. We were very in between second and third on that course. I really think that the absolute fastest way for us would have been with four shifts to third and three downshifts to second, but two of those up and downs would have only gained a tenth or so each, so the risk/reward model just wasn't there. Both times I tried it I could *almost* hold it on-line after the upshift, but just not quite. So Jonathan was left riding limiter several times. He would have probably dropped another half second or so on his last run, but his third gear upshift for the finish was apparently a fifth gear upshift instead.

I think had I not been experimenting I could have easily gotten another half second, maybe a bit more. But I didn't really care to protect my 48th position from day one and decided to play a bit. If I had even remotely thought our car was the car to have on the second day I may have tried harder to just "win day two", but we all know that wouldn't have happened either way, so what the heck. Besides, I was so bummed about my stupidity on day one that I couldn't concentrate when walking the day two course anyway. *shrug*

I "learned" a whole lot of things this past week that I thought I already knew. Now I know them better, I guess.


--Donnie

Bryan and I made it home by 10am EST yesterday. It's pretty sad considering I finished very well, yet after all the bullshit with the protest, I decided to skip getting my trophy and head home right after the event.

I know I left .5 second or more out there on day 2, but my driving was pretty far off with the backlash from the protest and not focusing. Looking at the video proved it. I'm still happy that I got 4th, but I should have nailed down third. I met some really good guys in DS and looks like I have an opportunity to co-drive with Kinch Reindl in CO whenever I want. It would be interesting to drive a Type R.

As for the protest, whether people think it was weenie or not, unless you were there, you have ZERO clue. The car I protested was clearly illegal, with items outside of what I protested that would have been deemed illegal as well, which I would have considered a weenie protest. - AB

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'14 Toyota Sequoia Platinum 4WD
Super Westerfield Bros - '93 Integra - LeChump Du Jour
STX 93 - Scion FR-S

I know I have zero clue but since it was you, I'm pretty sure there was some weenie involved somewhere Do tell what happened? I read back through the posts and didn't see anything about your protest.

I've been involved in enough nationals protest intrigue to know that can really stress you out. I can see why you would want to just GTFO.

Shawn

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OK so I'm back in. Now which tire should I buy??

My own opinion is that at something like Nationals, there's NO SUCH THING as a weenie protest. Illegal is illegal. Period, end of discussion. I've held onto my stock sidemarker lenses for this exact reason, and removed the aftermarket shift knob for the same. Even for locals, I want everything to be as on the up and up as I can make it. Good for you Aaron for calling someone on something.

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Karl S.
2014 Baby, 2014 House, 2013 Ford Focus ST, 2013 BMW 328i, 1994 Mercedes E320
(Insert passive aggressive signature line here)