We had a 3 day break after the ProSolo Finale where I got some testing done on Bumblestook to make sure the new axle worked fine. Power delivery through the drivetrain felt normal but I did notice that the steering wheel was slightly crooked when going straight so perhaps the toe had slipped in the front. I didn't think much about it at the time since there really wasn't anything I could do about it.
First runs starting - Day 1 - 9/8/2016
Photo By: Clyde Siazon
It was a nice sunny day for day 1 of competition and we got scheduled to run in the first heat so we got there early to get ready and grid up. First day would be the East Course. The course looked fast and fun with a few slow speed digs that would prove to be our undoing. The tires we were running for Nats was the fresh set we scrubbed in at the last NNJR SCCA event but we may have taken a few too many runs and got them too hot as I noticed some purple discoloration on the outer shoulders.
Getting Ready - 9/8/2016
Photo by: Clyde Siazon
On my first run I focused on trying to push hard and get the tires up to temp and scrub off the outer layer and carried too much speed into the curved walloms (eyebrows) and almost lost it. I somehow managed to avoid spinning and came in with a decent first driver time.
Day 1 - East Course - 9/8/2016
Photo by: GotCone.com
Second drivers then went out and put down flyer first runs with Anthony Porta putting in a killer first run in his Mazdaspeed Miata putting an early 1 second lead over the rest of the field. Hez put in a good time slotting him in 3rd behind Chris Edens in the 26 Motorsports Mazdaspeed Miata. Anthony and Hez would not improve on their first runs but Chris would find some time and take the load over Anthony on his last run. Greg Hahn in the BSP S2000 from Florida found time too on his last run and slotted in 4th after day 1 just 0.2 seconds behind Hez. I struggled stringing the corners together and ended up having to settle for 10th after day 1. We simply didn't have the power to weight ratio needed to pull out of those slow digs like the MazdaSpeed miatas did.
Focusing on the course - 9/8/2016
Photo by: Clyde Siazon
Day 2 started with some heavy overcast that gave way to sun. When I took the photo below of the BSP grid there was some nice sunshine. Only 15 minutes later and just 15 minutes before we'd begin our runs, clouds started to roll in and we had a serious threat of rain. Jose, James and Clyde hurried off to paddock to get our Hoosier wets in case the skies opened up. Thankfully we were saved and the ominous clouds moved on without so much as a drop of rain come down on us.
BSP Grid - Day 2 - 9/9/2016
We'd be running day 2 on the West Course and although it looked a bit funny as we walked the course both Hez and I actually enjoyed driving it. The corners seemed to flow quite well and we had no trouble negotiating the course. Unfortunately, the MazdaSpeed Miatas would continue their domination on this course and extend their lead. Anthony took the lead over Chris on his 2nd run and despite Chris finding time on his final run, it was 0.3 seconds short and Anthony would take the BSP jacket this year.
Day 2 - West Course - 9/9/2016
Photo by: GotCone.com
Despite enjoying our west coast runs, the odd steering behavior started to plague us badly and the usually crisp, precise steering we've come to know so well from Bumblestook wasn't there. It required too much input for her to change direction which was really unusual. Greg took over 3rd spot from Hez who was now sitting in 4th and I dropped on more spot to 11th after spinning in my first run and running over half a second off Hez's time on my last run.
Hez on Day 2 - West Course - 9/9/2016
Photo by: GotCone.com
SCCA Solo Nationals - East Course - 9/8/2016
SCCA Solo Nationals - West Course - 9/9/2016
Hez was able to end up in the trophies with the 4th place finish, taking his first national trophy and would be the highest position Bumblestook's taken in BSP since I started to campaign her in 2013. Despite this, it's a bit disappointing that her overall pace wasn't enough to really put up a fight against the Mazdaspeed Miatas. We'll keep working at it and come back even faster next season.
BSP Trophy Winners for 2016 - In order left to right
Chris Edens (2), Brian Burdette (6), Michael Bright (5)
Anthony Porta (1), Hezron Laluces (4), Greg Hahn (3)
Hez taking 4th place - 9/9/2016
Photo by: Clyde Siazon
Overall I'd still say this has been my most memorable and fun trip to nationals yet. Both Bumblestook and Lupa were there and it was great seeing both of my cars out there racing and spending time with great friends.
Enjoying a good Nebraska dog and lemonade Photo by: Clyde Siazon
Bumblestook and Lupa in paddock
Photo by: Clyde Siazon
When we got the car back to NJ, we took her straight to SJF Performance to get her on the lift. Aside from a cracked exhaust, we found the source of the steering problems. Worn steering rack bushings were causing the entire steering rack to shift as much as 1/4" when we turn the wheel. The sway bar had also somehow come a bit loose. We'll have to get this fixed and get started on the 2017 setup now in case I need to get some more stuff over the winter.
All done - 9/9/2016
Photo by: Clyde Siazon
Solo Nationals 2016 Done - Ready to go home - 9/10/2016
Photo by: Clyde Siazon
This weekend was the SCCA ProSolo Finale. Hez was coming into the finale tied for the BSP points lead with Anthony Porta from California in his Mazdaspeed Miata and it would be the first time the two cars/drivers would go head to head this year. On Friday I had taken Bumblestook out on the practice course and found her to be a bit too pushy. Normally she should be pushy on the practice course for her to be good on the competition course surface but I felt it was a bit more pushy than normal. I opted to make a some tire pressure changes and she felt a bit more balanced.
BSP Grid - Day 1
Lincoln, NE - 9/3/2016
Saturday started off fairly nicely but with storms looming in the horizon. We got our morning runs done in the dry and Porta was quick out of the gates. Bumblestook was feeling a bit loose which prevented us from putting down a good time. Hez's left side run and my redlight left side run were only about half a second from Porta's time and after reviewing the video we easily left time out there. On the right side Hez got into cone troubles from the car being loose and I was struggling as well. The morning ended with me having no usable left side times and Hez having no usable right side runs and we were stuck in 3rd and 4th position. No worries though since we'd have both afternoon runs and morning runs the next day to make it up.
Changing to Hoosier Wets
Lincoln, NE - 9/3/2016
We reset tire pressures back to what we normally run at Lincoln to tighten the car up a bit for the afternoon. Before we got to run, the skies opened up and we found ourselves standing in pools of standing water. There was no way we'd be able to go faster so we switched to our wet weather tires to at least do some rain testing and make the most of it. Thankfully the event was instead suspended until the next day so we'd get nice dry runs in the morning. That didn't work out either since on Sunday morning, the course was still wet from some more overnight rain. The conditions could best be described as "drying". The only thing we could hope for was to clean up our runs on our "dirty" sides and try to put in a decent time. Hez was able to find some time on the right course to move up into 2nd but was still off pace. I found time on both sides and coned away a run that would've bumped me into 3rd so ended up 4th, 0.01 seconds off Lee Piccione after the morning session on day 2. This was decent improvement but in the afternoon once the course fully dried we knew we'd be able to make up the lost time as it was fairly obvious reviewing our videos where we had made mistakes and could extract lots of time on both courses.
Broken driver side axle - 9/4/2016
Unfortunately, in the afternoon runs, the perfect conditions for grip also were perfect conditions for finally causing Bumblestook to fail. On Hez's left side course launch, the driver side axle gave way and that ended the event for us. Thankfully no one else found more time so the positions remained as it was from the morning and Hez was at least able to salvage the 2nd place position for the season.
Hez takes 2nd place in BSP for the ProSolo 2016 Season
Lincoln, NE - 9/24/2016
SCCA ProSolo Finale - 9/3-9/4/2016
I always carry spare axles with me to big events so big thanks to Steve Farkas (SJF Performance), Chris Carmenini and Mark Valera for helping us get the axle replace. Bumblestook was back in driving condition and ready for Solo Nationals for this coming Thursday before the day ended. As long as the weather cooperates and we no longer have mechanical issues, I know we can put up a fight this week.
One of the biggest differences between Hoosier A6 and A7s is that the A7s aren't fast right off the bat. They need to be scrubbed in to get maximum performance. Today, during our final local event before heading out to Nationals we did just that. We slapped on the fresh tires we'll be using for Nationals to give them a good scuffing and heat cycle.
Scrubbing in Nationals tires - 8/28/2016
Not surprisingly, a large number of drivers showed up to today's event in hopes of having one last bit of testing/practice before heading out to the big show. A total of 150+ drivers were in attendance and there was no shortage of top level national drivers present. The course featured two extremely sharp 180 turn arounds that put Bumblestook squarely at a disadvantage as we lack the torque to rocket out of these slow speed corners.
RAW Results - NNJR SCCA - 8/29/2016
PAX Results - NNJR SCCA - 8/28/2016
Despite this, Hez and I managed to end at 3rd and 6th overall in RAW times and 6th and 9th in PAX. Given the way the course was laid out and the fact that the top 10 drivers PAX times were all within a very tight 0.5 second spread, I'm very happy with this result. The tires are now in prime condition for competition next week. Also, the 0.2 second gap between Hez and I is the closest we've gotten at a local event which validates that we both have sufficient pace to put up a fight against the rest of the BSP cars in the country.
NNJR SCCA - 8/28/2016
We're coming into nats in the best form we've ever been. The car is 100%, we're 100% but we know we'll have to give 110% to make it all count in Lincoln.
After the fresh alignment, fresh fluids and new front brakes, Hez and I attended the NNJR Porsche Club of America's autocross to make sure everything was operating as expected. Lupa was there at this event driven by Clyde so I finally got to see both my cars in action together for the first time. Lot J at the meadowlands is quite bumpy and Mark Labbancz did an incredible job making a course that minimized the bumpiness as much as possible and was well balanced. I'd say it was arguably the best course we've seen in that particular lot.
The fleet - NNJR PCA - 8/21/2016
Just before the event started, we got hit hard with heavy rain and our first two runs were sketchy at best. Super wide Hoosiers and standing water don't really mix well. We both went around the course gingerly as there was no need to risk the car for a local event this close to Nationals. The course dried up by our 3rd and 4th runs and we finally got the brakes to bed in and the tires scrubbed nicely.
Fast cars/driver duking it out - NNJR PCA - 8/21/2016
Photo by: Jake Namer
In the afternoon, the gloves came off and the battle was on between the fast cars/drivers. Dan had his SM STi there codriven by him and Jake and it was incredible seeing Bumblejockey Hez fighting for RAW time against a SM car. Only a tenth of a second split for the top time of the day. Bumblestook felt 100% on point and we're looking forward to the final practice/testing this weekend before heading out for Lincoln later this month.
During my last visit to SJF Performance we discovered that the front brakes were done for. I immediately placed an order for new brakes. This time, I switched to Wilwood rotors made from their proprietary Spec37 iron alloy (part numbers 160-11839 and 160-11840). I was told that the premature brake wear was likely due to us exceeding the temperature envelope of the brakes. These rotors are designed for much heavier use and should help manage heat better. They're also slotted which should help keep the pads clean and avoid a lot of the grooving that happened on the old rotors. I went with another set of Hawk HP+ pads (HB100 N.480) and ordered new brake hat bolts just in case the old ones needed replacement.
New rotors, pads and bolts - SJF Performamnce - 8/20/2016
Wilwood Spec37 performance rotors - 8/20/2016
SJF made quick work of replacing the rotors and pads. The old bolts were still in good shape so he just cleaned them and reused. We'll just keep the fresh bolts as spares. The bolts were torqued to 150in/lb (12.5ft/lb) and red loctite was applied to all bolts. The new rotors have more vanes and smaller gaps between them and is a pound or two heavier. I presume the added weight is needed for thermal capacity and more efficient braking. Even though the added weight does kill some performance in the form of more rotating mass, it should give us better stopping power and many races are won/lost in the braking zones.
New pad left, old pad right - 8/20/2016
New rotor left, old rotor right - 8/20/2016
New brakes installed - 8/20/2016
With the brakes out of the way, we took the current set of "practice" tires off the set of wheels on Bumblestook and mounted some fresh Hoosiers. These will be our tires for the championship and we'll scrub these in either next weekend or on the practice course in Lincoln. The four tires we'll be using were all won by Hez during the past two ProSolo wins so thankfully we didn't have to shell out cash for new tires this year.
Fresh tires getting mounted - 8/20/2016
Finally, since we don't leave anything to chance, the engine oil was replaced with some fresh Amsoil. This is probably a bit overkill considering it's been only about 100 miles since we replaced the oil earlier this year but with the car being run so hard and running on Ethanol, we do this before Nats just for peace of mind.
Oil Change - 8/20/2016
Last year we also made a silly mistake of not removing OPR from the tires between competition days so I picked a Dewalt brushless battery powered oscillating tool. I had SJF dull the edges and corners off the blade we'll be using for scraping so it doesn't cut into the good rubber but still be able to separate the OPR effectively from the tires.
DeWALT Oscillating Tool - 8/20/2016
Oscillating blades - 8/20/2016
Tomorrow we'll be running with the NNJR Porsche Club to bed in the brakes and test out the new alignment. The other set of wheels with the tires we'll be running at the ProSolo Finale are on the car. Those were our Nationals set from last year and tomorrow's event will be a good way to scrub them in nicely and clear out any left over OPR from last year. It is now only 11 days until we leave for Lincoln and we'll have just two more events to give her a final shake down.
If there's one thing for sure, no matter how meticulous you are with alignments, you need check and adjust your alignment regularly if you're pushing your car hard enough. Bumblestook was last aligned before I tucked her away over the winter and after over half a season of hard driving, she was long overdue for another one.
Getting ready for alignment - SJF Performance - 8/7/2016
As expected, some of the settings had drifted over the past few months simply from the G forces generated by the car under extreme cornering. I had reduced front camber on the front right and toe settings were quite a bit off norm. Despite Bumblestook's good pace yesterday at NNJR SCCA, she wasn't running at optimal settings. SJF redid the alignment to incorporate a few changes I wanted to make to have the front end work a bit better. The new alignment settings are:
Front:
-3.6 camber
4.9 caster
0 toe
Rear
-2.5 camber
0.06 (1/16") total toe in
This is pretty much what we started with early in the season but added another 0.2 degrees of negative camber up front. Looks like we'll also have to replace the tie rod ends after Nats. There's a bit more play that we'd like. It's minor but this is definitely on the list of things to do when we get back.
Alignment in progress - SJF Performance - 8/7/2016
Next up, the diff fluid was flushed. I know we really don't need to replace diff fluid this frequently but it's a cheap and effective way to be able to check the health of the diff. The fluid looked very clean. No metal shavings or excessive carbon buildup at all were found on the drain bolt. The driveshaft bolts were double checked and confirmed that they have not slipped since we installed them and finally we checked the front brakes.
Front brakes done - SJF Performance - 8/7/2016
Hmm, besides the rotor being purple from all the heat generated from braking yesterday, we did find that we had managed to go through an entire set of front pads in just 93.6 miles. How do I know it's exactly 93.6 miles? Because when we replaced the brakes at the beginning of the season, I reset the trip meter to find out how many miles we ran the car each year and it read 93.6 miles as of this afternoon. It's probably got about one event of brake pad left so I'm going to replacing the pads and the rotors again before nationals. I guess it's true that races are won in the braking zones because killing brakes in less than 100 miles was achieved with a fair amount of winning.
As a side note, the lights on the trailer were also replaced as the old ones were no longer functioning correctly. The brake and turn lights were working but not the running lights. I got some new replacement lights and they're working great so the trailer is now 100% sorted for the trip.
The last event we did with Bumblestook was at the Toledo ProSolo about 6 weeks ago. In the meantime, I got her on the dyno to fix the burbling/power issue when holding certain RPMs and was mostly just taking a nice mental break from racing. Hez did a few events in Rad's STR car to stay fresh. With only 4 weeks left before we head out to Nationals, it was time to let Bumblestook get some exercise and finish up our testing. It's almost showtime.
NNJR SCCA - 8/6/2016
My main goals this weekend were:
Mentally get my head back into autocross
Verify if the tune indeed fixed the random burbles we'd feel at certain RPMs
Make sure she continues to feel ready for battle
As a driver, I wanted to focus on early aggression and making fast runs right out of the gate
In Grid - NNJR SCCA - 8/6/2016
With a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon, the NNJR SCCA opted to switch from the usual 3 heat layout to a 2 run group, 4 heat layout. This meant we'd get 4 runs in the morning and 4 runs in the afternoon. Our first runs were basically throw away since the tires had lots of little rocks on them from storage and the course was still very dirty. We then kicked up the speed and Bumblestook responded. I instantly felt comfortable driving her again and the early aggression paid off as I found myself outpacing Hez for the first time in quite a while after morning runs were done.
Morning results - 8/6/2016
In the afternoon, Hez, after having his coffee and donuts turned into a driver possessed and started knocking out blazing times working his way up the ladder. In his last run he sealed the deal and took fastest time of the day (FTD) and top PAX out of all drivers despite a few bobbles. This is encouraging as it means she had even more pace left in her. We ended up 1st and 3rd in RAW and 1st and 11th in PAX and thankfully the rain stayed away until we had packed up and left the venue.
Final RAW time results - 8/6/2016
Final PAX results - 8/6/2016
Bumblestook once again proved she's battle ready and the tune did in fact work perfectly. We were able to lay down power without issue and her balance continues to be spot on.
NNJR SCCA - 8/6/2016
Overall I think we achieved the goals for today's test. Despite a slew of heavy hitters not holding back, Hez was able to continue to be fighting at the top. Bumblestook felt absolutely incredible. I was able to find pace early. As far as things to work on before nats:
I have to continue to work on finding more pace and close the gap to Hez
Hez has the pace but needs to work on getting to that pace in fewer runs
We'll continue our testing in 2 weeks but for now it's time to get her back to SJF Performance for her final alignment before Nats.
