Validating Bumblestook's Pace

We had another perfect weather autocross day today with the NNJR SCCA. It's the 2nd points event of the season for the club and the 2nd time the entrees were maxed out at 175 drivers with 44 drivers in the Pro index class. We were planning on running the tires we ran at Nationals at the DC ProSolo in a few weeks but with BSP having enough drivers to make a class, we have an opportunity to win some tires from Hoosier so I picked up a set of fresh A7s to maximize our chances. Unfortunately, A7s aren't fast when fresh so we took the opportunity with the great weather to scrub them in now.

Ready to scrub in fresh tires - NNJR SCCA - 4-24-2016
Photo by: Andrew Vassallo

First runs were definitely a bit sketchy and slippery on the new tires but after about 2 runs each, they started to come to life and times dropped. Hez and I were trading fast times but as usual Hez zoned in and really picked up the pace. I know this was just a local event which for most of us means practice but with Wilmington ProSolo and DC ProSolo happening next month, the event was packed with top caliber drivers including several national champions. It would be the perfect opportunity to gauge our driving and Bumblestook's speed. 

NNJR SCCA - 4-24-2016
Photo by: Andrew Vassallo

We got 6 runs each in total and it was a heated battle. No one was sandbagging and everyone was driving to their full potential. In the end, Hez was able to bring Bumblestook all the way to 2nd in PAX and RAW overall beaten only in PAX by Mark Daddio in his AS Corvette and RAW timed marginally by Bob Davis in his CSP miata. While I was able to find more time, I was still the usual one second off Hez's time so I ended up 9th RAW and 13th in PAX. It's not a horrible finish but I definitely need to continue working on closing that gap. 

Top PAX results

Top RAW time results

Watching the video of our fastest clean runs, it's clear that additional time could've been extracted in Bumblestook with a perfect line which is a bit mindblowing considering the pace she already has. We weren't even running ethanol yet. This is very encouraging and hopefully Bumblestook will be at the top step of the podium in the upcoming big events. 

NNJR SCCA - Meadowlands, NJ - 4/24/2016