Spaze Racing

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!