Well as the 2008 season comes to a close its time to remember the roller coaster it was. Staring the year out with a brand new unsorted race car is never easy but I made the transition without too many problems. Time Attack was also switching into high gear, as PTuning’s Time Attack tC Verion 2.0 was debuted in Nashville. I also had a busy schedule instructing with various clubs and attending clinics. Its a shame to see the fellow track rats return to their garages and work on their cars for next year. I’ve heard all sort of plans for the winter, ranging between more power, a better setup, and the big one this year has been aerodynamics.  But lets not get ahead of myself. A little more than a year ago i was saying goodbye to my, Rookie of the year chariot, 944 and began looking for my next race car.

Finding an ad for my corvette on the most unlikely place, craigslist, I embarked on a very long journey to pickup the car, and modify it from SCCA T1 specs, to Nasa ST2. I managed to make the second race of the season and do rather well for myself in the rain, on slicks! I learned a lot about the car and both the car and I came home in one piece.  During this time I signed up for the Pfadt Racing team, which provided contingency money base on finishing position. This provided me access to much needed setup data and long time corvette racers. However, while instructing I threw a belt and the corvette over heated. That sealed the fate of the heads and the gaskets resulting in a tear down. Months later the car was reborn cooler than ever, literally! The next race was one for the history books, racing neck and neck with a good friend. The battle of the vettes raged both days and our lap times were within tenths of each other. We nearly broke the lap record both days untimely missing it by .3 seconds. It was a race I’ll always remember.

While the racing season closed for me with a solid top 10 finish it closed on a low note. A good friend passed away due to an accident on track. A fellow track rat, and friend, Cale Kastanek was injured doing something he loved. He will be missed for sure, as everyone that knew him liked him. I missed this event but its impact is still with the community, and his spirit will live on with all of us.

On a brighter note I met Cale at my first time attack over two years ago and I’ve yet to miss an east coast event.  After driving the PTuning award winning show car in 2007 to a class victory at Summit Point, the stakes were raised. PTuning ruined a perfectly good show car, creating a truly remarkable Time Attack beast. The car underwent a complete transformation, from subs to a cage, from a sound system to a custom turbo kit, and from ok suspension to prototype racing coilovers.  The owners of PTuning entrusted me to jump in the hot seat for 2008 and continue to set fast laps and gain podium finishes. The cars maiden event at Nashville Motorspeedway went very well, earning us our first class win of the season.

Many more followed, but again nothing is every smooth in racing. During the Summit Point Time AttackI bit off more than I could chew at a bad section of track. The result was a huge setback to the PTuning racing program, with months of work laying near a tire wall. Pictures like this went out in mass as the event was know to be the destroyer of cars. The Scion community was shattered to see their representative on the US time attack stage come back on a flat bed. However, just a short 6 weeks later and the car was back out on track setting the pace. At the 2008 Redline Time Att

ack Season finale we once again came out with a class win which also brought PTuning the first ever season champion.

Flyers went out at sema, they were included in the RTA season breif as well as posted in many places on the web. Suddenly PTuning and I were known not only throughout the scion community, but also the time attack community as well. Progress Technology donated the month of May in the grassroots motorsports calendar to the PTuning car. With this many of my friends started posting online, and writing saying they saw my picture. I had the pleasure of being the judge for a scion show/dyno day at PTuning last weekend, and many of the entries had Chris Rado’s signature on their cars. Once I introduced myself I had an offer to sign a dash myself. I discovered 2 things, one being I have a horrible signature and second that I had finally become “famous.” I was stunned when i was asked, but I signed the dash and had a smile on my face from ear to ear. It was amazing to have a fan, that keeps track of how the team does, and is genually interested in the sport.

So with a year like that, where do I go in 2009? Back to the track is the correct answer, but its a lot more than that. I never ended up testing for a Koni Challenge team and with the economy in its current state I’ll have to wait even longer. As with all race cars, the corvette is geting a few parts, maybe a HP gain as well, and i hope to be right at the weight limit next year. The tC is already making 50 more hp than at its last event, and though be making more before we take it out next year. 2009 Should prove to be a lot of fun, and well see what happens.

So there the car sat, for nearly two and a half months, in the garage slowly getting turned into a shelf. I honestly don’t know what motivated me to get started, but one weekday I removed the junk from the car, and started Operation Head Gasket! I was armed with the covrette service manuals, several online how to’s and a desire to have the car running for the October Nasa race. Within a week I had the heads off, and parts everywhere. I started posting on corvette forums about adding a cam or other “while I’m at it” items. I finally decided to just stick with the tried and true stock everything and put it back together. The heads were twisted a little and decked .005″ to fix them. With GM parts from a local dealership I went to town reinstalling everything.

Wednesday of last week I finally fired the car up, and miracously nothing happened. The motor purred to life, and before we all suffocated in my garage I shut the gar down with the biggest grin ever. She was back! Best of all, I put her back together correctly! I was very happy, although I’m sure my neighbors were not so pleased with the vettes return to life.  Firday I installed the new calipers, new pads,  blead the brakes and buttoned the car back up. I borrowed the super nice Toyota Tundra Limited from PTuning for the weekend and loaded the car up before dawn on satuday. I was at the track to watch the sun rise, and I immediately had a good feeling about the weekend. I got all registered and most of the organizers recognized me and welcomed me back. It had been since march since I had raced with nasa, and as usual they treated me like family… and then they asked for my credit card number, haha.

After registration I had a few hours to kill and I hung out with the “over the hill” gang. They are a bunch of older guys that insturct and drive corvettes. I’ve known them for years, and they are always funny and inviting. It was a good time and their faces were shocked as soon as I pulled up. We exchanged greetings and I unloaded the car for what would be an amazing weekend. The sun had come up but it was still cold, like 50 degrees, and I was standing there in pants and a short sleeve shirt. Correction, I was not standing i was shivvering back and forth.  By the time I was called for the practice session I was actually nervous, since I had not raced in months I wondered if i would be rusty, or forget something vital. As soon as i was released onto track my worries went right out the window and all I could do was admire was my ls6 at full song down the front straight.

I was constantly checking my temps, and they did rise over 220, which is not normal. I brought the car in and wondered what the problem could still be. I opened the hood to find water boiling over in the expansion tank. Wally, My good friend off track and my number one competition on track, comes over and points out I had forgotten to reinstall the front radiator dam. This little piece of plastic feeds air to the radiator, and is vital to keeping the car cool. I touched the top half of the radiator nearly burning my hand, and when I touched the bottom it was cool to the touch. After a good 30 minutes the gang supplied me with some think metal that i could use to fab a damn. 25 minutes later, with the help of an air saw I had cut a piece off that i could use. 15 minutes after that and I had a drill that I was using to make some holes to mount the metal. With a few zip ties later the splitter was on, and My was it low. The oil cooler was also only held on with one bolt because of the thickness of the metal, but with more zipties I secured that so in the event it did fall, it would not take anything out.

Just in the nick of time I was back out on track for qualifying. With a total of 8 qualifying laps I managed to score pole position for the race, which made me the fastest guy, in the fastest group… SWEET! It would be my first time setting the pace for the start, but I was confident I would not have a problem. Wally was back in 3rd and Paul Kaiser the current points leader was 2nd. It was going to be one hell of a race and I’m sure everyone knew it. Just before the race started we got the work that Kaiser was out, and that he had broken a suspension component. So I was first, and wally would start to my outside… boy its just getting better and better.

We staged for the race and I was given the number 1 grid spot, I felt weird being there, but it meant that I was fast, which is something I wanted to know for a while. Off we went behind the pace car wally in tow both warming up our tires and brakes. The pace car dives to pit lane, we round turn 10, and wait. Rolling at 45mph we all wait for the green. The flag drops and we are off! Wally and I both take off, with wallys power he is out in front and I pull in behind him down into turn one. For the next several laps its wally in the lead with me on his bumper. The racing is VERY close, and there were several times where we thought contact would occur, but it never did. Even running inches off his bumper there was never any contact, and his red paint stayed in tact. A few laps later, I saw my opportunity and dove to the inside for turn ten, and side by side we went. I think that was the only lap I crossed the finish line first, but again with wallys power, he gained the position back by turn one. The race finished with us setting some super fast times and running away from the rest of the pack. I finished .319 seconds behind wally which is not too shabby for the first race with the newly put together corvette.

Saturday ended with wally and I taking our cool down lap to the applause of the cornerworkers and crowd. “That was amazing!” is what i head from several people later that night, and it was clear our battle was one of the best. The racing was close, clean, and everyone came home a winner. Later that night a lot of people were talking about the race, and that night the awards banquet never felt so good. Even though I received a 2nd place plaque it was hard earned, and easily one of the best trophy’s I’ve ever received. After a few beers, a lot of food, and good stories from the gang, I headed home. Sunday was going to come early and I still needed to stop by home depot to get another bolt for the oil cooler and splitter.

Up the climbing Esses

GT Sim Race

After all the commotion on Saturday, between breaking the car and setting only one lap I knew sunday I would be on my toes until the time attack was over. I awoke at 6:45 to the sound of Justin’s alarm going off, again. The night before I had agreed to work Grid for the Time Attack on the Main track, because Redline was a little short on people. Without to much time we were out the door and to VIR by 7:30. It was just in time for me to check in, grab my radio and go to work. The next few hours were jam packed with action from all sides. During the practice James Elterman Driving the Takata Time Attack Subaru Sti lost his brakes going into turn 14. That is the turn right after the back straight in which cars, like his, can be 155mph+! The call came in that his car went into the wall and I thought the worst. Accidents there are usually bad and I hoped that with the hans, the cage and the rest of his gear that James would emerge unscathed. His car impacted the wall at 45mph and James did end up walking away. James, a Photographer at the event and I saw James E. AS he exited the medical tent and he said other than a little neck pain he was fine. The car, however, had seen better days. The damage was not horrific, but it would take some time to fix, time James did not have since the Time Attack would start in 20 minutes. James was informed of a “Transfer” rule in which season points can be transfered to another car, once, in the event of an accident.

James walked down to the Crawford and asked to drive their street Sti once around the track for points. Before James could even take a breath, it was back on track in a different car. A civic also had problems in practice in the morning and decided to pack the car up and not compete in the time Attack. With back to back practice and time Attack I was running around calling cars to grid. The first group rolled down and I started to worry, would my time hold up? Would someone smash my record? James came down in his group and before I released him onto the track he commented about getting right back on the horse. One lap later, James had his points and his season championship.

As the Time Attack wrapped up, I was scurrying around collecting people for the Super Session. IT was a surprise to me that Redline was having one, and i really wish the car had been working to compete in it. Thus far only 3 cars made it off the track without problems, and the rest had only minutes to fix their problems. Just before I was going to release the cars, the Topspeed car came down into the pits and I knew it was going to be a good race. The Cwest s2000 and the Topspeed Subaru were the fastest cars of the weekend, and behind them was the Forged Performance 350z and the DSG Subaru.The start was a sight to see as 4 high powered Time Attack cars went wheel to wheel. After 2 of the 3 laps the Topspeed subaru had a 5 second lead on the s2000 and the rest of the cars were even further back. However, on the 3rd lap the intake manifold on the subaru broke again, and coming down the front straight the S2000 made the pass to take the win. It was an interesting race for sure, and that completed the weekend of Time Attack. I returned the radio back to the tower and just before I left, I asked Timing and Scoring if anyone had beaten my time. “No.” was the word, and with that I was on cloud nine!

I went back to the PTuning paddock to tell the guys the good news! They were all happy, that we had won at VIR, were now undefeated, and had claimed the season Championship in Modified Front Wheel Drive! We sat and talked for a while about the car, about what the problem could be and about the season. There were hints of Time Attack Version 3.0 (right now the car is Version 2.5), more aero, more power, and more fun for sure. I’m also hoping that the 2009 season will bring out some testing days, to really get the car dialed in for Time Attack. With that, we packed up, and drove the car to the awards. The crowd seemed to really like the tC, and Waquas made sure that the car was a clean as ever. We accepted are plaque and were asked to join them in LA for the 2008 awards ceremony. I’m hoping we can make that but we’ll see if the team and I have the time and the money to go out and party in LA. After the awards we packed up, and started the trek home. On the way back there was talk of the setup of the car, and I was asked what kind of times i think the car could do. “A 2:06 is not unreasonable.” I said, thinking that with the power, weight, and a good setup it should be faster than my corvette. Shocking to say really when the Time Attack Car you drive is that much faster than the monster race car in the garage.

I would like to take the time to thank all of the PTuning/Lustine Scion Time Attack tC sponsors again! Without them this would not have happened!
-Lustine Scion www.lustinescion.com for the use of their Toyota Tundra tow vehicle, supplying us with all the factory parts for rebuilding the front-end damage and finanical assistance to help cover the expense of running a race car.

-Progress Technology www.progressauto.com for their race-proven custom time attack coilover setup and rear swaybars.

-Seibon Carbon www.seiboncarbon.com for their lightweight, strong and perfect-fitting carbon fiber hood, doors and trunk lid.

-Toyo Tires www.toyo.com for their extremely sticky and competitive race-compound tires.

-Clutch Masters www.clutchmasters.com for their awesome lightweight and fast shifting stage 6.5 road race twin-clutch setup. This clutch can handle anything our motor can put out.

-FIC www.fuelinjectorclinic.com for supplying us with their new 900cc saturated injectors.

-Chris, from the www.thehotstickers.com for the all the vinyl decal work on the tC.

-The DriveShaft Shop www.driveshaftshop.com for their level 3.9 axles and supplying us with the billet slugs for our custom hubs.

- www.BudskiPhotography.com For possibly the best photographs ever.

The Crew!

]]> http://spazeracing.com/?feed=rss2&p=62 2 http://spazeracing.com/?p=52 http://spazeracing.com/?p=52#comments Mon, 06 Oct 2008 19:49:44 +0000 Ross http://spazeracing.com/?p=52
Wow, Clearly I’m not doing a great job updating my blog as I should, because its been about 5 weeks since the video was put on youtube. I became a local star for wrecking a car in such fashion, and the shop was working on the car as fast as possible. Over those 6 weeks, they assembled a built motor, a built head, pulled, cut welded, and fixed the chassis, had custom hubs machined, and added further chassis stiffening. But the drama of this last weekend started for me as I arrived at the PTuning shop at 5pm on Friday.

The Scion is sitting on the dyno looking like its about to destroy it with the power its about to make. The built motor is in, but the guys were having problems with the throttle body. The throttle body was actually frozen shut as a result of the accident! So they swapped that out and got to business tuning. Everything was looking great until the car hit the limiter at 6250. They rechecked the settings and the ECU was told to limit at 7000, not the stock 6250. The ecu was replaced and everything looked to be good. A few runs later, it hit the stock 6250 again. Maybe it was the piggy back? could that have been damaged from the accident as well? We swapped that and everything looked good.

Meanwhile the rest of the guys are collecting tools, and supplies for the weekend. Everything we could think of was tossed into the back of the truck, even the honda 80cc pit bike. Around midnight the car comes off the dyno, with JUST a WOT tune. After more problems the car was tuned at 19psi to 408whp on the dyno dynamics dyno. I was warned that partial throttle could be problematic but the WOT tune looked like a mountain of power that went all the way to 7800 rpm! Yes, we raised the rev limit that much simply so 5th gear would top out around 176 and not the stock 142! After the tC came off the dyno, the Street Xa went on for a little fine tuning. Packing came to a halt as the tC rolled onto the lift and the front hubs were removed. As it turned out one of the Advan RS wheels was actually bent in the impact. After calling several places another wheel the same size and offset could not be found. A few days prior, slugs of metal were overnighted to a machine shop to be machined to PTunings specifications. These custom hubs were then overnighted to NC to have the splines cut, and arrived back at the shop that morning. They were pressed into another set of spindles and were an easy bolt in to the tC. As 2am neared it was clear that it was going to be a “Drive and arrive” deal like nashville (we drove overnight to the venue), and the drop dead time to get the car on the trailer was 3am. Registration was until 7:30 and we were on track at 7:45! After the hubs were installed, the wheels were fitted and the car was sent to the alignment rack. After 2 minutes of talking the settings were decided on, and the car was nearly done. As the car exited the rack we remembered we had forgotten about the front splitter!

Its now 2:45 and stuff is flying everywhere, but the truck is loaded and waiting the car. at 2:55 the car rolled out of the shop, I drove it once around the parking lot and in the midst of driving the car up onto the trailer I ripped the air intake ducting off. The car went back into the shop and it was repaired. We then decided with the new clutch that rolling the car onto the trailer was the only way to go. We hit the road running at 3:15 for a 4.5 hour drive. It was going to be close but I knew we could do it. “We only need one lap guys!” I said to them so even if we didn’t get to practice 1 lap in the Time Attack would secure us the championship for the year!

After giving some rough directions I tried to get some sleep in the Lustine Toyota supplied Toyota Tundra Limited. It was rough and a 6am we were less than an hour from the track stopping for gas. I grabbed something for breakfast, the biggest Gatorade I could find, and a single Starbucks Ice Coffee. I downed the coffee knowing that the caffeine would be a nice pickup for the morning. We arrived at the track, paid the $50 a person for registration, which is highway robbery! We checked in at the Redline registration, received the number 96 and without a parking pass made out way toward the paddock. After sweet talking 4 marshals we were allowed into the paddock. After finding a spot we all exited the truck to the sound of the PA system requesting the Time Attack cars come to grid for our session. The guys sprang to life, the car was unloaded, the splitter and bumper were attached in record time. We were ready to go.. wait! We needed a transponder! After sending two people to get them, I ran over and after some searching grabbed one from Nik.

Once that was secured, I was off! The car was FAST and the first lap of VIR was great, but the track was slick! During the second lap I took the car to redline, only to find it was 6250 again, and I was cruising at 140 down most of the back straight. No matter, and no time to bring it in, I needed some seat time. After 4 laps I was greeted to spray of water on the windshield. OH NO! As I check the gauges I’m hopping I don’t see the temp gauge pegged. It was fine, and I limped the car back to the pits. We checked it out and determined that it was just a loose fitting. I went back out and the same thing happened 2 laps later. I was done for the session and brought the car back to the paddock space. The guys went back to work and it was determined that it was the fitting and a bad radiator cap! A few guys loaded up and went into town to find a cap, and the rest were diving into the ECU.

In the mean time I had to attend a drivers meeting for the Time Attack and the GT Sim Race. The coffee was starting to wear off and it was hard for me to stay awake at the meeting. My fellow drivers got a kick out of me nodding off, only to get yelled at and wake back up. After the Redline meeting I stayed for the meeting for the GT Sim race, where lucky spectators get to ride along in the Time Attack cars in a “mock” race. 2 laps, no passing, but we can do anything else we want.

Before I knew it they were griding for the Time Attack sessions. I was in the second session so I had a while to wait. While I was waiting I saw a few friends that had made the trek from NC to watch the action. When my session was called I jumped back into the car and headed to the hot pits. This is about the time I noticed the car only had a 1/4 of a tank of gas. That was fine with the old motor, but this new motor has much bigger injectors, so I could be cutting it close. I got the point and off I went! The motor was warm and over the next lap I needed to warm everything else up as well as see if the redline had been moved. Coming down the back straight, 5th gear seemed to stretch forever and I predicted the speed to be in the 160 range. Down though hogpen and onto the front straight I went to take the green. By the time I got to the Climbing Esses I was really in the groove, and noticed the gas light on. “One Lap, Come on baby! Give me one lap!”

Down the back straight one more time, the needle pegged at 140 and the car at full song for what seemed like forever. Back onto the brakes, though 14, down the roller coaster though hogpen and a sputter. Crossing the line I had done it but the car was out of gas. I pulled off in turn 2 and took the car behind the wall. After getting back to the paddock I informed the guys what had happened. We got a little laugh out of it, and we started discussing changes for the next day. After we filled the car all the way up it was nearly time for the GT sim race.

I got the car back into the pits and was loaded up with passengers 4 times. We were all having a blast giving the spectators a simulated race. Each had a good time, and even I was being a little daring. However, on the 4th person, rounding southbend we dropped 4th gear. Suddenly there was nothing, and I knew my weekend was over. I dropped the passenger off in the pits, and returned to the paddock with the bad news. The guys were a little bummed, but we were all so tired that no one put up might of a fight saying our weekend was done. By then they had released the times, and we set a 2:12, which is by no means blazingly fast, but we had to hope it would hold up for one more day.

We packed the truck up and went in search of food and more importantly a hotel to spend the night. We ate in danville, and somewhere between danville and south boston I passed out. I woke up in a hotel parking lot and decided I needed the 3 S’s! After some talking we went to sheetz grabbed some beer and everyone sat and drank in our room. It was then I posted on Time Attack Forums about our day, having a Miller Chill, watching Petit Le Mans, and talking with the team. It was the best night at the track I’ve had. Even with everything that happened, it was great to just sit and talk with the guys over a beer. At about midnight we all retired setting our alarms for 6:30am, to make it to the track for practice the next morning.

I would like to thank the PTuning Sponsors:
-Lustine Scion www.lustinescion.com for the use of their Toyota Tundra tow vehicle, supplying us with all the factory parts for rebuilding the front-end damage and finanical assistance to help cover the expense of running a race car.

-Progress Technology www.progressauto.com for their race-proven custom time attack coilover setup and rear swaybars.

-Seibon Carbon www.seiboncarbon.com for their lightweight, strong and perfect-fitting carbon fiber hood, doors and trunk lid.

-Toyo Tires www.toyo.com for their extremely sticky and competitive race-compound tires.

-Clutch Masters www.clutchmasters.com for their awesome lightweight and fast shifting stage 6.5 road race twin-clutch setup. This clutch can handle anything our motor can put out.

-FIC www.fuelinjectorclinic.com for supplying us with their new 900cc saturated injectors.

-Chris, from the www.thehotstickers.com for the all the vinyl decal work on the tC.

-The DriveShaft Shop www.driveshaftshop.com for their level 3.9 axles and supplying us with the billet slugs for our custom hubs.

- www.BudskiPhotography.com For possibly the best photographs ever.

I’ll post about sunday a little later

In better news the team and I will be looking forward to getting the car back this week. We have a whole slew of parts on order and we are still trying to make the VIR deadline. I’ve also been invited to help The Redline Time Attack Crew Work the New Jersey Motorsports Park event. So I’ll be up there for that, although not driving a car.

Without further ado the video!

This past weekend at the track was really the biggest roller coaster I’ve ever had. The ups were just as high as the downs low, and something happened that I would never have expected. Dealing with the after effects has been a little easier than I thought they would be, and its nice to have PTuning standing in my corner! They are the best guys I’ve ever met, and they are my family! But you all want to hear what happened don’t you? Ok, ok, onto how the weekend went.

Saturday started life with a clean tC with brand spanking new Toyo r888’s in 285/30/18 on brand new wheels, hubs (custom hubs that were 5×114.3) and heavy duty axles. The tires were accompanied by Progress Technology’s new 1″ rear sway bar! The car was towed by a Lustine Toyota Tundra Limited. Let me tell you this truck ROCKED! Leather seats, Nav, you name it, complete with PTuning and Lustine Vinyl on the side, and the best part is the color. The truck was “Super White” which is the same color as the Time Attack Car. We got there just as the drivers meeting started and Chris and the guys went though the usual procedures for their events. With the carnage in the morning, both times I went to grid to go out in a session, it was canceled. I decided to try for the intermediate session after lunch and learned that the 285’s were insane! I was clearly the fastest car on track but i was still learning the car. I went out again in that group but with the number of cars i didn’t get a clean lap. However, i did have a passenger, CarbonXe from Scion Life. He came all the way down from NJ with his father to watch this event. When he asked for a ride, MrC was cool enough to let him hop in for a session. By the third session, I was flying! The car was really hooked up, with the Brand new Tires from Toyo, and the rear sway bar from Progress the car was a turning machine. There was NO understeer on entry, or mid corner. There was a little throttle steer, but its to be expected with a FWD car. After a good 5 laps the car was acting funny, almost like a flat. I had been experiencing terrible knock back earlier in the morning and I figured this was unrelated. I came out of the carousel and tested to see if there was a flat, I shook the car a little and even brake checked it… nothing. I continued the lap at 2/3’s speed and as soon as i turned into the pistol grip something let go. I had very little steering and drive, I went off, down the hill and stopped on the motorcycle chicane. The car had enough life in it for me to move it back into the pits, but something was wrong. As we diagnosed the problem it became apparent that the hub was toast. It had actually separated and the wheel was held on by only the brake caliper! With a quick series of phone calls we located some bearings and Saturday night we went back to the shop. We managed to press out the new hubs and press in the old hubs (stock hubs) and new bearings. The car was put back together just after midnight under the light of our loaner Toyota Tundra.

Sunday morning Chris Rado give us an axle nut, the last piece of the tC puzzle, and now we are back in business. I’m back on the old 255’s, and everything is going great. The car is insanely fast, and we are kicking ass and taking names. We continued to hound some of the modified RWD guys and really cement just how fast our little TC is. Before we knew it The Time Attack was starting and on the first street class run my good friend David Ortiz had some problems exiting “big bend.” The result was David emerging from a twisted and mangled e36 M3. The car was clearly totaled as the trunk was shifted over and the front right corner was missing. My heart sank, but at lease David was ok. This was yet another wreck in this event, which was quickly becoming the most expensive event ever. The Modified Time Attack was next, and I brought the car up to grid. We were behind the P&L Subaru about mid pack. The perfect place really, as I knew Paul in the P&L car was fast! The three laps flew by and I managed a 1:38.609, which was good enough for 1st in class 8th over all in modified!!! I brought the car back into the paddock to greet the guys and tell them I had nailed it but that was short lived as the Unlimited Time Attack was next. Everything was going fine for the first two laps, but on my 3rd timed lap for the unlimited class, I jumped over the jump, and kept my foot in it too long. As soon as I hit the brakes I knew it was over, and I was going for a ride. I slammed into the carousel and I had too much speed to stay in it. I flew out of it, into the grass and into the wall I went. I managed to move the wall a little, and break just about everything in the front of the car. The windshield shattered on impact, as well as the passengers mirror ejecting from the car. I must have cursed for a good few minutes and when I finally settled down

I stuck my hand out the window and wave. That way people knew I was ok, but I was not going to get out of the car until I knew it was safe. Because it was the last lap and there were only 5 cars on track I sat for a few minutes before the EMS crew arrived. When the arrived, they asked “How are you?” and they chuckled when I said “Pissed!” I got the usual go around with any pains and what not, but i was fine. My Ego was shattered and I was pissed to mess up this piece of art. I then helped the wrecker guy load the car up and thanked everyone for coming to my aid.

After the car was put down in the paddock The whole crew came up to me and asked if I was ok before they even looked at the car. I was still hyped up and pissed, somewhere between a virtual breakdown, and wanting to destroy something. With the swarm of people around the guys started to assess the damage. We tore off the hood, and the fender, and it looks like the strut tower is still ok. Seems like the car will need to appointment on a frame machine and spend some time in the paint booth. The goal is to have the car running in 6 weeks for the seasons last event, GT Live at VIR. If we win that event, we are the series champs for our class, and we’ll be known as the fastest modified FWD car in the country. This was my goal for the season, to be number one! I’m really hoping we can do it despite this setback and I know there will be more than one sleepless night in the coming weeks. I was checked out by a Doctor yesterday and given a clean bill of health. I have a little whiplash, but nothing 800mg of IBuprofen 3 times a day cant handle.

I Would like to take the time to Thank PTuning for letting me drive their car. Its really an honor to be part of their team and without the cage, and the craftsmanship that when into that car, my accident would have been a lot worse. I want to thank our sponsors as well Progress Technology for their awesome coilover setup and swaybars. Seibon Carbon for their Carbon hood and decklid. Hawk Performance for their awesome DTC-60 racing pads. Toyo Tires for their ultra sticky and competitive R888 racing tires. Phillip from Mackin Industries for getting us the new Advan Racing RZ 18×10s wheels that we were running in the front. Lustine Scion for loaning us a brand new, fully loaded Toyota Tundra 4×4 limited to hall the ptuning tC. This truck is Awesome, period. A special thanks to Keith from Lustine for setting this all up and helping us throughout the weekend. I also want to thank Chris Rado, for giving us parts, and giving us support after the accident.

The original plan was to attend all 4 east coast Redline Events, but the schedule was to tight for the car to be finished for Gateway (St. Louis). The next event was at Nashville Speedway, and with the moons and stars aligning right, final touches were made and the team hit the road late friday night. The grueling 10 hour drive was split up and even with the lack of air condition, and torrential ran in spots we made it to Nashville. Driving though the night allowed the team to be one of the first in line when the gates opened. Little time was wasted, the car was unloaded from the trailer, the tent was setup and all the tools were moved into the garage. In no time what once was an empty garage spot became the official PTuning Garage.

The weekends Time Attack also had the addition of a car show but on by Import Alliance. This attracted a HUGE crowd of people, and in the midst the usual suspects attended the Time Attack. The morning started off with a drivers meeting with the who’s who of drivers. People like Scott Bush from BS racing, Robert Fuller from RobiSpec, Chris Rado for World Racing, James Elterman with his newly developed Takata Sti and Others. With the Time Attack cars shuttered from the heat in the garage, and the car show raging outside, there was certainly a lot to do. With the first practice session approaching the car was checked over and off to the grid I went. I checked over the gauges and headed out onto track for V2.0’s first outing. The lap was going well until I passed a slower car and hit about 80. When I did, the hood decided that it was not going to stay shut and opened right into my view. Thankfully I was close to the pits, so I came in and surveyed the damage. Initially I though the brand new Seibon Hood was ruined, but when I closed the hood, the only thing i saw was a little clear coat missing. By this time the team was there and helped me get the hood closed. Once we did I jumped back in the car and finished the session.

I jumped out of the car after the first session grinning ear to ear! The car was AMAZING! The Progress Technology coilovers were insane, the Hawk Performance pads took your face off during braking, the cage added a lot of stiffness, the feather light Seibon carbon fiber hood and the 335hp from the turbo was intoxicating! Now it was up to me, I had only a handful of practice session to get used to the car, and the track. After a few sessions we opted to mess with the tire pressures to try and get car to rotate better. The option of adding some rear toe out was there, but my banzi style of braking into turn 1 made that a no go.

While practice raged on the track the car show was in full force outside. The crowd circulated though the garages and many people stopped at the PTuning tC to sing its praise. “Blazingly fast!” “Insane!” “Quickest front wheel drive I’ve seen!” Were all comments made by spectators about the cars performance. Everyone wanted to know what we had done to the car, especially what we’d done to the motor. Every time we said “only 335hp”, and “stock motor” a shocked look ensued. Its amazing but true, that the stock 2.4L tC motor with the custom PTuning Turbo kit was still 100% reliable. The power was very linear and down right scary! Once the boost crested 10psi, you better be holding on as the car was accelerating like a bullet from a gun.

A few members from Scion Evolution, Scion Life, and other scion clubs came by, and one lucky individual received the ride of his life. Even though I was lacking on that run, i think he is now set on getting his car tuned for 14psi as well. Numerous other people asked for rides as well but we were not able to accommodate anyone else. By the afternoon the first problems started to rear their ugly heads. The nylon press fittings for the vacuum lines started to melt. They were quick repairs, but we ended up melting both fittings off the wastegate. With some extra hose, and a little ingenuity the team was able to replace the fitting with another fitting and rig up some hose that would not melt.

After a good day of practice it was clear that the car was fast. Many of the teams were commenting on the car and on some of my “interesting” maneuvers on track. With day one behind us we packed up and headed to the hotel for showers, and to dinner. With a good nights sleep Sunday still came to soon. We were at the track early in the morning checking over the car and gearing up for the Time Attack that afternoon. Another drivers meeting, and a tech inspection later the team and car were ready to go.

We decided to run modified as well as unlimited just to see what the car could do. The morning practice went well and the car was getting faster. There was still a lot of push and it was clear that messing with the tire pressures was not working as much as we’d hoped. Just before the first time attack session it was suggested that we remove the front sway to add some compliance and front end grip. We decided that we would do this between the time attack sessions just to make sure we post a fast time with the current setup. With the registration in process a second transponder was never issued to us for the modified class. Not knowing this we ran the first modified session for no time. Heat broken we grabbed another transponder and removed the sway bar.

What a difference that made! The car felt so much better in the in field, but the down side was the car became even more swirly under braking for turn one. I decided that the car could stop and turn enough that I would come off the banking wide open throttle and brake on the pavement after the transition. I was doing 135-140mph and the maneuver was risky, but the rewards were close to a second of time. Even with the sway disconnected it was time to grow a pair and wrestle the car down to a suitable speed to turn in for turn one.

With only minor problems the entire weekend the car was fast out of the box and will only get faster! Inspecting the car after the last session it was discovered that 3 of the 4 bolts holding the turbo to the manifold were missing! Again, a small problem, but something that may have held the car back in the end. After both Time Attack sessions were over I felt that the car performed very well. The power, setup, reliability etc, were all perfect! The car goes back under development, and inspection before the next event. All the problems from Nashville will be addressed and the team will be back in force for the next Time Attack at Summit Point!

I would like to thank all the guys from PTuning for building the car, and allowing me to drive it like I stole it! I’d also like to thank our Sponsors Progress Technology, Hawk Performance, and Seibon!

-Ross

After the damage report onto the fun stuff, how the car ran on track! I do believe that “like a bat out of hell” was used at least once on friday as people noticed me running nose to tail with a c6 z06 on hoosiers. I mean while was running very tired kumho 710’s that the car came with! So its time to put some new tires on the car, or enter a drift competition at summit. I had some great slides coming out of 6 into 7 and 8. I’ve become very diligent about catching slides with this car because I cannot turn the wheels to full lock. The 17×11’s are just to wide up front and actually hit the A-arms! Even with the tires, i managed to have a few good sessions running as with that c6 z06. On monday and tuesday my buddy wally came out with his st-2 prepared vette and we ran side by side for a while. This was honestly the most fun I’ve had with my car since I’ve owned it. The vette is just SO fast, that I need to have someone with another fast car for me to “chase” for an HPDE to even be fun!

The trip started with a five hour flight from DC to Vegas, and in normal fashion I was asleep for most of it. Once I got to vegas I met up with one friend and we headed out to REI to pickup some last minute things. The weather had changed a lot, and a cold front had moved in for the weekend. Flagstaff was getting snow and there were reports that the canyon might as well. I’m glad I only packed shorts, and that there was an REI 10 minutes from the airport. After picking up some pants, and long sleeve shirts we went back to the airport to pick up the 3rd member of our party. After that we drove the 3 hours to Seligman, Az where we spent the night. A few hours later we were up and packing out stuff into a truck from Hydros Adventures. Our guide, steven, turned out to be a really cool 20-something year old bartender/guide with a ton of stories. After a stop for supplies, and a flat tire we arrived at the drop off point and packing more stuff for the hike down into the canyon.

After repacking, grabbing the food we’d need for the trek down, we had a few minutes to enjoy the views. They were amazing, beautiful red rock with sage and tan grass sparsely populating the hill sides. We then got the first taste of the hike, the “switchbacks!” From the drop off point the trail falls 1000ft in a mile or so. They are a series of goat paths down the side of the cliff, but on the way down they are not that bad. Once at the bottom the temperature was at least ten degrees warmer than at that top, and there were no longer hill sides, there were only red rock canyon walls. The hike down was doted with little climbs on the rock face onto cool places. We even ate lunch on a rock that was 10 feet off the ground and quite removed from the trail. A little over 4 hours later we arrived at the village, and only another two miles to the camp site! Before we knew it we heard the roaring water of the Havasu Falls. Without much warning or build up we were staring at the most beautiful waterfall I’ve ever seen.

Now I don’t take the best pictures, which means the falls a lot more spectacular in person. We then walked the remaining mile to the campsite. The river flows right though the  middle of the campsite, with cool blue green water. We located a spot near one of the canyon walls, and right under a cave. While waiting for our gear to arrive via the mule train, we set off exploring the caves. We found 3 caves around the campsite and throughly explored each.  The climbs up to the caves were a lot of fun and some were very challenging. Steven told us about Canyoneering, which is a sport that combines Hiking, rock climbing, repelling, caving, etc into one. He told us about some of his expeditions and i was instantly sold! It sounded amazing, seeing cool places and repelling into canyons that not many people see! Later that night we walked over to Mooney falls at the south end of the camp site. Mooney falls has the biggest drop of any of the falls, and has a technical climb down to the bottom. With huge signs saying “Climb at your own risk” it really is not for the faint at heart. But it was starting to rain, and the day was almost over. After setting up the tents and sleeping gear, we all sat down and ate Chilli we brought with us. Angle hair pasta, a few cans of Dixie Chili and we were happy as could be.

The next day it was up early and we all decided that we wanted to hike down to Beaver Falls. Its a 6 mile hike round trip over some “interesting” terrain. But before that we had important business to attend to, like throwing a frisbe off the top of mooney falls! No joke, what we thought would be the coolest disk throw ever, turned out to be a little bit of a bust. The disk skirted the outside of the falls, and then was sucked down into the mossy area 20-30 feet from the falls. That meant we get to go swimming! Now on a normal day this would be fine, but its maybe 60 degrees, and the water is a LOT colder. So we climbed down, stripped and waded into the water and jumped in. After the first 5 minutes I stopped feeling the cold water and it actually became enjoyable!

After a few hours swimming and enjoying ourselves we were on our way to Beaver falls. Shortly into the hike we crossed onto a less traveled path which lead us to climb over some rocks and actually walk down the river. We then found some of the most beautiful falls I’ve seen. They were small, but created a good sized grotto with an amazing view. After we returned to the trail we happened upon a rope swing that provided an hour or so of entertainment. There are few things in life better than rope swings into crystal colored water. Even if it was cold, it was worth it, and I’d not been on a rope swing since I was knee high to a grasshopper. We eventually hiked to the “interesting part” of the trail, which consisted of a “ladder,” ropes, and a few cool climbs up the canyon walls. After getting to beaver falls, we realized that while it was cool looking, it was the journey that made the falls special, not the destination.

The hike back was much shorter, but just as good. Steven had told us about an old mine that was just north of the campsite. After returning the the site, and changing clothes we then trekked to the mine. Again, anything we could climb, scale, or shimmy into, we were there! We went down into the small shafts, and up into some other ones, and we all spotted each other to make sure no one got hurt.  By the time we got out of the mine, it was fairly dark and we decided to head back to camp. We broke out the camelpack of whiskey and had a great time.

Again it was up early, pack up the gear and get headed out. The hike out was a blur, since we pushed as hard as we could to get out of the canyon. Only a few stops and 3 hours later we were at the bottom of the switchbacks. Well, now we understood the faces of the people we passed by two days ago. It was rough, but by the time we got to the time the view was still amazing, and we were still alive. Although after adding it all up, it was 30 miles of hiking in 3 days. Thats a ton of hiking for 3 hour of shape guys, but it was a BLAST!!! For more pictures you can look here and I’d HIGHLY recommend Havasu Falls as a place everyone needs to go before they die. The hike is great, the falls are amazing, and the trip is something you’ll never forget!