________________________
________________________
to post your story
________________________
________________________
What is a TrackDay?
coming soon
What is Club Racing?
coming soon
Bowl
O' Fruit: An Esse Turn Diagram
________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Photos
(ofoto) | Year
End Points Standings | Driver
Bio
South Jersey Autocross - CSP Representin'
Photos and Self-indulgent Article by: David Hess - Oct. 31, 2004
I
awoke early, after all I had an extra hour to sleep thanks to
daylight-savings time, however I'm also a new daddy and my daughter,
Amelia, has become particularly good at attracting attention. So
after changing a diaper, I bounded out to my awaiting
"rig". The rig consists of a 1994 White Chevy Suburban
that is well suited to the task of towing a 1989 CRX ITA car sitting upon
a brand-new 18' open trailer. This day the CRX was shod with
brand-new Hoosier A3S03 R-Compound tires, that replaced the older, worn
R3S03 tires that came with the car when bought. I drove out of the
driveway confident that I could win CSP today, an unusually warm day for
the last day in October.
After
the traditional stop at Wawa for some coffee and a package of chocolate
mini donuts to be given to the folks at registration, I was off to drive
a familiar route to Atco Raceway. No I'm not a drag racer, my car
is too slow to enjoy that adrenaline rush, instead, I consider myself a
lateral G-force addict. This particular venue is only a 30 minute
drive, and is great practice for this novice trailer-towing racer.
I feel extremely privileged to be involved with one of the hottest contested class battles during this season's autocross program with the South Jersey SCCA. Matthew Wojkowiak Jr. and myself are separated by only two points this year. However, when factoring in the allowed dropped events, we're dead even. (get the pun, it was Halloween? 8) ) It could very well come down to the last event as to who will claim the CSP championship for 2004.
Matt
and I have been trading first place finishes all season. Each of us
have three
wins. The only thing separating us is an early season 3rd place finish
for Matt, which again becomes moot when considering the allowed dropped
events.
On this second to last event on 10/31, I was having a difficult time pushing the limit around the relatively large sweeping turn towards the front of the Atco parking lot. It was only when riding with Matt's father that I felt and saw what I suspected was the weak spot in my driving. I was simply "pussy-footing" that particular section, but with good reason. The "newer" CRX I own now is more stiffly sprung and hitting that particular section of the course was a jarring experience, and one that had me fearing a breakage. Some may call it competitive, but I call it just wanting more satisfaction out of my driving, I stepped it up a tad during the afternoon.
I
knew my lines were pretty good, but maybe a little too aggressive in spots
where I coned a couple times. So the best place to gain time was
that sweeping section of the course, and this was even more important
because that section looped back on itself, driven twice per run.
(photo left, not taken during "Halloween" event)
Below is a spread sheet showing the C Street Prepared Class results:
| Hess | David | 1989 | Honda | CRX | 48.481 | 3 | 39.815 | 2 | 39.258 | 1 | 38.124 | 1 | 37.613 | 0 | 38.497 | 0 | |
| Wojtkowiakjr | Matt | 1980 | Mazda | RX7 | 39.470 | 1 | 38.918 | 0 | 38.478 | 0 | 38.465 | 0 | 38.085 | 0 | 38.288 | 0 | |
| Wojtkowiaksr | Matt | 1980 | Mazda | RX7 | 42.232 | 24 | 40.473 | 0 | 40.427 | 0 | 39.778 | 0 | 39.793 | 1 | 40.183 | 0 |
We all drove three times in the morning and three in the afternoon. As you can see I was starting to get closer to Matt Jr. throughout the day. I was nine seconds slower, yes I wrote (9), on the first run. Then on the second and third runs the gap narrowed to about one second, but each of those runs were with a cone. It was during the second run in the afternoon that Junior and I ran our best times. I knocked off about another 1/2 second from the previous run's time to land a 37.613. This time gained me the lead for the first time in CSP, and it proved good enough for the day. Neither Matt, nor I couldt beat that time on the last run.
CSP
is usually a particularly difficult class to place well in PAX (adjusted
times to even out the classes). Out of 68 drivers, Matt placed 13th
and I placed 9th. I wouldn't have really noticed, but a friend, Alan
Pozner (pictured right), pointed out this "remarkable" feat to
me at the end of the day. He said something like, "Ninth in CSP
is pretty good, and it looks like you have some good
competition." What about unadjusted times? Well, I'm also
very happy and somewhat surprised that I wound up with the fourth fastest
raw time, and about 1/2 second slower then a C-5 Corvette.
| Class | No | Last Name | First Name | PAX Time | Best Time | Percentage | Make | Year | Model | Color | |
| 1 | STU | 34 | Barnes | Kevin | 30.877 | 37.336 | 1.17 | Subaru | 2004 | WRX | Blue |
| 2 | FM | 16 | Sibulsky | Ron | 33.242 | 37.393 | 8.92 | Red Devil | 1985 | F-440 | Pur/Yel |
| 3 | AS | 986 | Brennan | John | 31.089 | 37.547 | 1.86 | Porsche | 2001 | Boxter S | Black |
| 4 | CSP | 92 | Hess | David | 31.482 | 37.613 | 3.15 | Honda | 1989 | CRX Si | Yellow |
| 5 | CS | 31 | Borden | John | 30.600 | 37.731 | 0.26 | Mazda | 1999 | Miata | Blue |
| 6 | CSP | 161 | Wojtkowiakjr | Matt | 31.877 | 38.085 | 4.44 | Mazda | 1980 | RX7 | White |
The
top four placed finishers in PAX are pictured from right to left; Andre
Downey (DS), John Borden (CS), Jeff Craven (STX), and Alan
Pozner (DS). Of the top four finishers in PAX, three of them drive
cars classified within Stock rules. The third place finisher in PAX,
Jeff Craven, is a SlideRule
Cup competitor and drives a car in the Street Touring X
class. Each of the top competitors was awarded some Hankook
"Swag". (yeah the tire manufacturer) Hats, shirts are
awarded at each event, and at the end of the year the persons with the
most top finishes are awarded free Hankook tires. Not such a bad
deal considering the entry fee for each event is about 25 bucks.
| Class | No | Last Name | First Name | PAX Time | Best Time | Percentage | Make | Year | Model | Color | |
| 1 | DS | 26 | Downey | Andre | 30.521 | 38.440 | 0.00 | Subaru | 2002 | WRX | Red |
| 2 | CS | 31 | Borden | John | 30.600 | 37.731 | 0.26 | Mazda | 1999 | Miata | Blue |
| 3 | STX | 8 | Craven | Jeff | 30.693 | 38.608 | 0.56 | Subaru | 2004 | WRX | White |
| 4 | DS | 53 | Pozner | Alan | 30.731 | 38.704 | 0.69 | Acura | 2000 | Integra | Yellow |
I also had the opportunity to take a few photos. The one above of Alan, in his yellow Integra Type R, is one of the best photos I took that day. The thumbnail photos below are some of the other photos that capture the feeling of the day:
_________________
My goal this year is to win the CSP class in SJ, and the goal seemed pretty feasible with Steve Ashcraft absent from the area this year. However Matt W. Jr., has made this accomplishment, no small task.
My goal for 2005 is to win rookie of the year in either SCCA's Improved Touring class, or NASA's Honda Challenge competition. This means autocrossing will take a back seat to these other events. As I write this, I'm preparing for my first track day with the "new" CRX. I'm just a little nervous, perhaps excited is a better term, especially since this will be my first Friday At The Track with BSR as an "experienced" driver. This means I'll be on track without an instructor. While I've driven on track days without an instructor in the car before, and during the SCCA driver's school in February of this year (2004), Summit Point's main course is a bit more demanding then the other courses I've been on while going it alone. Roebling Road has plenty of run-off room, and the North Course at Pocono is also pretty straight forward. Summit has a few turns that require full attention when driving at the limit. Turn one, requires lot's o' brakin', Turn 3 is a semi-blind left-hand turn, Turn 4 is the elevator shaft, I'll let that one speak for itself, and turns 9 and 10 are what would be considered "balls" turns. I can't wait!
__________________________________________________________________
Photos (ofoto) | Year End Points Standings | Driver Bio
________________________
________________________
________________________
Frequently Visited:
________________________
________________________
________________________
Yahoo Groups
________________________
________________________
Miscellaneous
________________________
________________________
Tradin' Links
________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
nerdsracing.com, the nerds_racing yahoo group, and the nerdsracing forum are all avenues of information and entertainment only. This is not an official listing of events, nor are we directly affiliated with any particular club or venue. Check with each club before attending their events to double check that the dates are correct and that any pre-event requirements have been met. nerdsracing in all its forms takes no responsibility for any event you attend. That responsibility is solely on the driver who attends these events and the event host. Racing is inherently risky, some types of racing are less risky then others, but regardless you should research and chose your event being conscientious of the possible risks.
Interested in webpage design, or simply your own personal racer page? We can help!
__________________________________________________________________
If you have any questions feel free to email the webmaster, or post your question on the NERDS_racing yahoo group.